On the influence of the cosmological constant on gravitational lensing in small systems

The cosmological constant Lambda affects gravitational lensing phenomena. The contribution of Lambda to the observable angular positions of multiple images and to their amplification and time delay is here computed through a study in the weak deflection limit of the equations of motion in the Schwarzschild-de Sitter metric. Due to Lambda the unresolved images are slightly demagnified, the radius of the Einstein ring decreases and the time delay increases. The effect is however negligible for near lenses. In the case of null cosmological constant, we provide some updated results on lensing by a Schwarzschild black hole.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figure; v2: extended discussion on the lens equation, references added, results unchanged, in press on PR

Search for b --> u Transitions in B^{+-} --> [K^{-+} pi^{+-} pi0]_D K^{+-} Decays

The authors present a study of the decays B{sup {+-}} {yields} DK{sup {+-}} with D mesons reconstructed in the K{sup +}{pi}{sup -}{pi}{sup 0} or K{sup -}{pi}{sup +}{pi}{sup 0} final states, where D indicates a D{sup 0} or a {bar D}{sup 0} meson. Using a sample of 474 million B{bar B} pairs collected with the BABAR detector at the PEP-II asymmetric-energy e{sup +}e{sup -} collider at SLAC, they measure the ratios R{sup {+-}} {triple_bond} {Lambda}(B{sup {+-}}{yields}[K{sup {-+}}{pi}{sup {+-}}{pi}{sup 0}]{sub D}K{sup {+-}})/{Lambda}(B{sup {+-}}{yields}[K{sup {+-}}{pi}{sup {-+}}{pi}{sup 0}]{sub D}K{sup {+-}}). They obtain R{sup +} = (5{sub -10}{sup +12}(stat){sub -4}{sup +2}(syst)) x 10{sup -3} and R{sup -} = (12{sub -10}{sup +12}(stat){sub -5}{sup +3}(syst)) x 10{sup -3}, from which they extract the upper limits at 90% probability: R{sup +} < 23 x 10{sup -3} and R{sup -} < 29 x 10{sup -3}. Using these measurements, they obtain an upper limit for the ratio r{sub B} of the magnitudes of the b {yields} u and b {yields} c amplitudes r{sub B} < 0.13 at 90% probability

Searches for the baryon- and lepton-number violating decays B^0\rightarrow\Lambda_c^ \ell^-, B−→Λℓ−B^-\rightarrow\Lambda\ell^-, and B−→Λˉℓ−B^-\rightarrow\bar{\Lambda}\ell^-

Searches for B mesons decaying to final states containing a baryon and a lepton are performed, where the baryon is either {Lambda}{sub c} or {Lambda} and the lepton is a muon or an electron. These decays violate both baryon and lepton number and would be a signature of physics beyond the standard model. No significant signal is observed in any of the decay modes, and upper limits in the range (3.2 - 520) x 10{sup -8} are set on the branching fractions at the 90% confidence level

Observation of the Rare Decay B+ \to K+pi0pi0 and Measurement of the Quasi-two Body Contributions B+ \to K*(892)+pi0, B+ \to f0(980)K+ and B+ \to chic0K+

We report an analysis of charmless hadronic decays of charged B mesons to the final state K{sup +}{pi}{sup 0}{pi}{sup 0}, using a data sample of (470.9 {+-} 2.8) x 10{sup 6} B{bar B} events collected with the BABAR detector at the {Gamma}(4S) resonance. We observe an excess of signal events, with a significance above 10 standard deviations including systematic uncertainties, and measure the branching fraction and CP asymmetry to be {Beta}(B{sup +} {yields} K{sup +}{pi}{sup 0}{pi}{sup 0}) = (16.2 {+-} 1.2 {+-} 1.5) x 10{sup -6} and A{sub CP}(B{sup +} {yields} K{sup +}{pi}{sup 0}{pi}{sup 0}) = -0.06 {+-} 0.06 {+-} 0.04, where the uncertainties are statistical and systematic, respectively. Additionally, we study the contributions of the B{sup +} {yields} K{sup +}(892){sup +}{pi}{sup 0}, B{sup +} {yields} f{sub 0}(980)K{sup +}, and B{sup +} {yields} {chi}{sub c0}K{sup +} quasi-two-body decays. We report the world's best measurements of the branching fraction and CP asymmetry of the B{sup +} {yields} K{sup +}{pi}{sup 0}{pi}{sup 0} and B{sup +} {yields} K{sup +}(892){sup +}{pi}{sup 0} channels

Observation and Polarization of B->phiK1+ and phiK*2+

With the full BABAR data sample of 465 million B{bar B} pairs, they observe the decays B{sup {+-}} {yields} {psi}K{sub 1}(1270){sup {+-}} and B{sup {+-}} {yields} {psi}K*{sub 2}(1430){sup {+-}}. They measure the branching fractions (6.1 {+-} 1.6 {+-} 1.1) x 10{sup -6} and (8.4 {+-} 1.9 {+-} 0.9) x 10{sup -6} and the fractions of longitudinal polarization 0.46{sub -0.13-0.07}{sup +0.12+0.03} and 0.80{sub -0.10}{sup +0.09} {+-} 0.03, respectively. They also report on the B{sup {+-}} {yields} {psi}K*{sub 0}(1430){sup {+-}} decay branching fraction of (7.0 {+-} 1.3 {+-} 0.9) x 10{sup -6} and several parameters sensitive to CP violation and interference in the above three decays. Upper limits are placed on the B{sup {+-}} decay rates to final states with {psi} and K{sub 1}(1400){sup {+-}}, K*(1410){sup {+-}}, K{sub 2}(1770){sup {+-}}, or K{sub 2}(1820){sup {+-}}. Understanding the observed polarization pattern requires amplitude contributions from an uncertain source

Search for Bbar to Lambda_c+ X l- nu Decays in Events with a Fully Reconstructed B Meson

We present a search for semileptonic B decays to the charmed baryon {Lambda}{sub c}{sup +} based on 420 fb{sup -1} of data collected at the {Upsilon}(4S) resonance with the BABAR detector at the PEP-II e{sup +}e{sup -} storage rings. By fully reconstructing the recoiling B in a hadronic decay mode, we reduce non-B backgrounds and determine the flavor of the signal B. We statistically correct the flavor for the effect of the B{sup 0} mixing. We obtain a 90% confidence level upper limit of {Beta}({bar B} {yields} {Lambda}{sub c}{sup +} X{ell}{sup -} {bar {nu}}{sub {ell}})/{Beta}({bar B} {yields} {Lambda}{sub c}{sup +} X) < 3.5%

Search for CP Violation using T-odd Correlations in D+ to K+K0spi+pi- and DS+ to K+K0spi+pi- Decays

We search for CP violation in a sample of 20,000 Cabibbo-suppressed decays, D{sup +} {yields} K{sup +}K{sub S}{sup 0}{pi}{sup +}{pi}{sup -}, and 30,000 Cabibbo-favored decays, D{sub s}{sup +} {yields} K{sup +}K{sub S}{sup 0}{pi}{sup +}{pi}{sup -}. We use 520 fb{sup -1} of data recorded by the BABAR detector at the PEP-II asymmetric-energy e{sup +}e{sup -} collider operating at center of mass energies near 10.6 GeV. We search for CP violation in the difference between the T-odd asymmetries obtained using triple product correlations of the D+ (D{sub s}{sup +}) and D{sup -} (D{sub s}{sup -}) decays, respectively. The T violation parameter values obtained are {Alpha}{sub T} (D{sup +}) = (-12.0 {+-} 10.0{sub stat} {+-} 4.6{sub syst}) x 10{sup -3} and {Alpha}{sub T}(D{sub s}{sup +}) = (-13.6 {+-} 7.7{sub stat} {+-} 3.4{sub syst}) x 10{sup -3}, which are consistent with the Standard Model expectations