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T. Mannel

Publications and source records attributed to T. Mannel.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
arXiv2026

A dispersive method to study CP asymmetries in hadronic multi-body $B$ decays

We present the details of a dispersive method to construct the amplitudes for hadronic multibody $B$ decays based on the universality of pairwise hadronic final-state interactions at low invariant masses. This approach allows us to split the amplitude into source terms controlled by phenomenological parameters and final-state interactions, governed by the precise knowledge of two-body dynamics, both resonant and non-resonant. As a concrete application, we make use of the well-determined low-energy pion-pion ($\pi\pi$) interactions to understand the enhanced localized CP violation observed in $B^{\pm}\rightarrow K^{\pm}\pi^+\pi^-$. Fitting only angle-integrated CP-asymmetry data, the method successfully predicts the Dalitz plot differential distribution of events and of the CP asymmetry in the low-energy region. This allows for a better understanding of the large localized CP asymmetry recently reported by LHCb, which is shown not to be driven by an absolute enhancement of CP-violating effects, but by a suppression of the CP-conserving part resulting from the interplay of several partial waves. Moreover, we show that the widely-neglected non-resonant isospin-2 contributions play an essential role in the description of CP violation in this system. The method can be straightforwardly adapted to other multibody decays, where final-state two-hadron interactions drive the CP violation.

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arXiv2025

Understanding large localized CP violation in $B^\pm\to K^\pm\pi^+\pi^-$ using dispersive methods

We utilize the universality of pion-pion ($\pi\pi$) final-state interactions at small invariant masses to understand the enhanced localized CP violation in $B^\pm\to K^\pm\pi^+\pi^-$, using a dispersive approach. From a fit to the integrated CP-asymmetry data, we successfully predict the Dalitz-plot kinematic distribution of the asymmetry in the low-energy $\pi\pi$ region, including the large localized CP violation recently observed by LHCb. An essential role is played by the contributions of isospin 2. This formalism, whose parameters have a physical meaning, can be adapted straightforwardly to other systems with CP violation enhanced by final-state interactions.

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arXiv2023

Cometary dust collected by MIDAS on board Rosetta II. Particle shape descriptors and pristineness evaluation

The MIDAS (Micro-Imaging Dust Analysis System) atomic force microscope on board the Rosetta comet orbiter investigated and measured the 3D topography of a few hundred nm to tens of $\mu$m sized dust particles of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko with resolutions down to a few nanometers, giving insights into the physical processes of our early Solar System. We analyze the shapes of the cometary dust particles collected by MIDAS on the basis of a recently updated particle catalog with the aim to determine which structural properties remained pristine. We develop a set of shape descriptors and metrics such as aspect ratio, elongation, circularity, convexity, and particle surface/volume distribution, which can be used to describe the distribution of particle shapes. Furthermore, we compare the structure of the MIDAS dust particles and the clusters in which the particles were deposited to those found in previous laboratory experiments and by Rosetta/COSIMA. Finally, we combine our findings to calculate a pristineness score for MIDAS particles and determine the most pristine particles and their properties. We find that the morphological properties of all cometary dust particles at the micrometer scale are surprisingly homogeneous despite originating from diverse cometary environments (e.g., different collection targets that are associated with cometary activities/source regions and collection velocities/periods). We next find that the types of clusters found by MIDAS show good agreement with those defined by previous laboratory experiments, however, there are some differences to those found by Rosetta/COSIMA. Based on our result, we rate 19 out of 1082 MIDAS particles at least moderately pristine, i.e., they are not substantially flattened by impact, not fragmented, and/or not part of a fragmentation cluster.

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arXiv2023

Cometary dust collected by MIDAS on board Rosetta. I. Dust particle catalog and statistics

We aim to catalog all dust particles collected and analyzed by MIDAS, together with their main statistical properties such as size, height, basic shape descriptors, and collection time. Furthermore, we aim to present the scientific results that can be extracted from the catalog (e.g., the size distribution and statistical characteristics of cometary dust particles). The existing MIDAS particle catalog has been greatly improved by a careful re-analysis of the AFM images, leading to the addition of more dust particles and a detailed description of the particle properties. The catalog documents all images of identified dust particles and includes a variety of derived information tabulated one record per particle. Furthermore, the best image of each particle was chosen for subsequent studies. Finally, we created dust coverage maps and clustering maps of the MIDAS collection targets and traced any possible fragmentation of collected particles with a detailed algorithm. The revised MIDAS catalog includes 3523 MIDAS particles in total, where 1857 particles are expected to be usable for further analysis (418 scans of particles before perihelion + 1439 scans of particles after perihelion, both after the removal of duplicates), ranging from about 40 nm to about 8 ${\mu}$m in size. The mean value of the equivalent radius derived from the 2D projection of the particles is 0.91 ${\pm}$ 0.79 ${\mu}$m. A slightly improved equivalent radius based on the particle's volume coincides in the range of uncertainties with a value of 0.56 ${\pm}$ 0.45 ${\mu}$m. We note that those sizes and all following MIDAS particle size distributions are expected to be influenced by the fragmentation of MIDAS particles upon impact on the collection targets. Furthermore, fitting the slope of the MIDAS particle size distribution with a power law of a r ${^b}$ yields an index b of ${\sim}$ -1.67 to -1.88.

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arXiv2020

Challenges in Semileptonic B Decays

Two of the elements of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa quark mixing matrix, $|V_{ub}|$ and $|V_{cb}|$, are extracted from semileptonic B decays. The results of the B factories, analysed in the light of the most recent theoretical calculations, remain puzzling, because for both $|V_{ub}|$ and $|V_{cb}|$ the exclusive and inclusive determinations are in clear tension. Further, measurements in the $\tau$ channels at Belle, Babar, and LHCb show discrepancies with the Standard Model predictions, pointing to a possible violation of lepton flavor universality. LHCb and Belle II have the potential to resolve these issues in the next few years. This article summarizes the discussions and results obtained at the MITP workshop held on April 9--13, 2018, in Mainz, Germany, with the goal to develop a medium-term strategy of analyses and calculations aimed at solving the puzzles. Lattice and continuum theorists working together with experimentalists have discussed how to reshape the semileptonic analyses in view of the much higher luminosity expected at Belle II, searching for ways to systematically validate the theoretical predictions in both exclusive and inclusive B decays, and to exploit the rich possibilities at LHCb.

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arXiv2019

Dust of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko collected by Rosetta/MIDAS: classification and extension to the nanometre scale

The properties of the smallest subunits of cometary dust contain information on their origin and clues to the formation of planetesimals and planets. Compared to IDPs or particles collected during the Stardust mission, dust collected in the coma of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko during the Rosetta mission provides a resource of minimally altered material with known origin whose structural properties can be used to further the investigation of our early Solar System. A novel method is presented to achieve the highest spatial resolution of imaging possible with the MIDAS Atomic Force Microscope on-board Rosetta. 3D topographic images with resolutions of down to 8\,nm are analysed to determine the subunit sizes of particles on the nanometre scale. Three morphological classes can be determined, namely (i) fragile agglomerate particles of sizes larger than about 10\,$\mathrm{μm}$ comprised by micrometre-sized subunits that may be again aggregates and show a moderate packing density on the surface of the particles; (ii) a fragile agglomerate with a size about few tens of micrometres comprised by micrometre-sized subunits suggested to be again aggregates and arranged in a structure with a fractal dimension less than two; (iii) small, micrometre-sized particles comprised by subunits in the hundreds of nanometres size range that show surface features suggested to again represent subunits. Their differential size distributions follow a log-normal distribution with means about 100\,nm and standard deviations between 20 and 35\,nm. All micrometre-sized particles are hierarchical dust agglomerates of smaller subunits. The arrangement, appearance and size distribution of the smallest determined surface features are reminiscent of those found in CP IDPs and they represent the smallest directly detected subunits of comet 67P.

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arXiv2019

Synthesis of the Morphological Description of Cometary Dust at Comet 67P

Before Rosetta, the space missions Giotto and Stardust shaped our view on cometary dust, supported by plentiful data from Earth based observations and interplanetary dust particles collected in the Earth's atmosphere. The Rosetta mission at comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko was equipped with a multitude of instruments designed to study cometary dust. While an abundant amount of data was presented in several individual papers, many focused on a dedicated measurement or topic. Different instruments, methods, and data sources provide different measurement parameters and potentially introduce different biases. This can be an advantage if the complementary aspect of such a complex data set can be exploited. However, it also poses a challenge in the comparison of results in the first place. The aim of this work therefore is to summarise dust results from Rosetta and before. We establish a simple classification as a common framework for inter-comparison. This classification is based on a dust particle's structure, porosity, and strength as well as its size. Depending on the instrumentation, these are not direct measurement parameters but we chose them as they were the most reliable to derive our model. The proposed classification already proved helpful in the Rosetta dust community and we propose to take it into consideration also beyond. In this manner we hope to better identify synergies between different instruments and methods in the future.

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arXiv2017

Rosetta photoelectron emission and solar ultraviolet flux at comet 67P

The Langmuir Probe instrument on Rosetta monitored the photoelectron emission cur- rent of the probes during the Rosetta mission at comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, in essence acting as a photodiode monitoring the solar ultraviolet radiation at wave- lengths below 250 nm. We have used three methods of extracting the photoelectron saturation current from the Langmuir probe measurements. The resulting dataset can be used as an index of the solar far and extreme ultraviolet at the Rosetta spacecraft position, including flares, in wavelengths that are important for photoionisation of the cometary neutral gas. Comparing the photoemission current to data measurements by MAVEN/EUVM and TIMED/SEE, we find good correlation when 67P was at large heliocentric distances early and late in the mission, but up to 50 percent decrease of the expected photoelectron current at perihelion. We discuss possible reasons for the photoemission decrease, including scattering and absorption by nanograins created by disintegration of cometary dust far away from the nucleus.

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arXiv2017

The footprint of cometary dust analogs: I. Laboratory experiments of low-velocity impacts and comparison with Rosetta data

Cometary dust provides a unique window on dust growth mechanisms during the onset of planet formation. Measurements by the Rosetta spacecraft show that the dust in the coma of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko has a granular structure at size scales from sub-um up to several hundreds of um, indicating hierarchical growth took place across these size scales. However, these dust particles may have been modified during their collection by the spacecraft instruments. Here we present the results of laboratory experiments that simulate the impact of dust on the collection surfaces of COSIMA and MIDAS, instruments onboard the Rosetta spacecraft. We map the size and structure of the footprints left by the dust particles as a function of their initial size (up to several hundred um) and velocity (up to 6 m/s). We find that in most collisions, only part of the dust particle is left on the target; velocity is the main driver of the appearance of these deposits. A boundary between sticking/bouncing and fragmentation as an outcome of the particle-target collision is found at v ~ 2 m/s. For velocities below this value, particles either stick and leave a single deposit on the target plate, or bounce, leaving a shallow footprint of monomers. At velocities > 2 m/s and sizes > 80 um, particles fragment upon collision, transferring up to 50 per cent of their mass in a rubble-pile-like deposit on the target plate. The amount of mass transferred increases with the impact velocity. The morphologies of the deposits are qualitatively similar to those found by the COSIMA instrument.

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arXiv2008

Role of "Intrinsic Charm" in Semi-Leptonic B-Meson Decays

We discuss the role of so-called "intrinsic-charm" operators in semi-leptonic B-meson decays, which appear first at order 1/m_b^3 in the heavy quark expansion. We show by explicit calculation that -- at scales mu <= m_c -- the contributions from "intrinsic-charm" effects can be absorbed into short-distance coefficient functions multiplying, for instance, the Darwin term. Then, the only remnant of "intrinsic charm" are logarithms of the form ln(m_c^2/m_b^2), which can be resummed by using renormalization-group techniques. As long as the dynamics at the charm-quark scale is perturbative, alpha_s(m_c) << 1, this implies that no additional non-perturbative matrix elements aside from the Darwin and the spin-orbit term have to be introduced at order 1/m_b^3. Hence, no sources for additional hadronic uncertainties have to be taken into account. Similar arguments may be made for higher orders in the 1/m_b expansion.

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arXiv2007

Analyzing B_s - bar B_s mixing: Non-perturbative contributions to bag parameters from sum rules

We use QCD sum rules to compute matrix elements of the Delta B=2 operators appearing in the heavy-quark expansion of the width difference of the B_s mass eigenstates. Our analysis includes the leading-order operators Q and Q_S, as well as the subleading operators R_2 and R_3, which appear at next-to-leading order in the 1/m_b expansion. We conclude that the violation of the factorization approximation for these matrix elements due to non-perturbative vacuum condensates is as low as 1-2%.

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arXiv2007

Testing the left-handedness of the b \to c transition

We analyse the spin structure of inclusive semileptonic b \to c transitions and the effects of non-standard model couplings on the rates and the spectra. The calculation includes the {\cal O} (α_s) corrections as well as the leading non-perturbative ones.

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arXiv2006

Can $B -> X_c \ell ν$ help us extract |V_{ub}| ?

We study radiative corrections to $\bar{B} \to X_c \ell \barν_\ell$ decays assuming the power counting $m_c \sim \sqrt{Λ_QCD m_b}$ for the charm-quark mass. Concentrating on the shape-function region, we use effective field-theory methods to calculate the hadronic tensor at NLO accuracy. From this we deduce a shape-function independent relation between partially integrated $\bar{B} \to X_c\ell\barν_\ell$ and $\bar{B} \to X_u \ell \barν_\ell$ spectra to leading power in $1/m_b$, including first-order corrections in the strong coupling constant. This may provide an independent cross-check on the determination of the CKM element |V_{ub}|.

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arXiv2006

Shape Functions from B -> X_c \ell ν

We study inclusive semi-leptonic (B -> X_c \ell ν) decay using the power counting m_c ~ \sqrt{Lambda_{QCD} m_b}. Assuming this scaling for the charm-quark mass, the decay kinematics can be chosen to access the shape-function region even in b -> c transitions. To apply effective field theory methods in this region we extend SCET to describe massive collinear quarks. We calculate the tree-level decay rate, including O(Lambda_{QCD}/m_b) power corrections, and show that it factorizes into a convolution of jet and shape functions. We identify a certain kinematical variable whose decay spectrum is proportional to the universal leading-order shape function familiar from b -> u decay, and speculate as to whether information about this shape function can be extracted from data on b -> c decay.

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arXiv2005

Power corrections to B\to X_u l ν(X_sγ) decay spectra in the "shape-function" region

Using soft-collinear effective theory (SCET), we examine the 1/m_b corrections to the factorization formulas for inclusive semi-leptonic B decays in the endpoint region, where the hadronic final state consists of a single jet. At tree level, we find a new contribution from four-quark operators that was previously assumed absent. Beyond tree level many sub-leading shape-functions are needed to correctly describe the decay process.

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arXiv2003

Asymptotics of the perturbative series for f_{B^*}/f_B

We investigate the structure of the leading IR renormalon singularity in the QCD/HQET matching coefficients for heavy-light quark currents beyond the large-β_0 limit. From this result, we derive the large-order behaviour of the perturbative series for these coefficients, and for ratios of meson matrix elements, such as f_{B^*}/f_B.

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arXiv2003

Towards a Generic Parametrisation of "New Physics" in Quark-Flavour Mixing

We consider a special class of dimension-six operators which are assumed to be induced by some new physics with typical scales of order Λ. This special class are the operators with two quarks which can mediate transitions between quark flavours. We show that under quite general assumptions the effect of these operators can be parametrised in terms of six parameters, leading to a modification of the (at tree level flavour diagonal) neutral currents and to an ``effective CKM matrix'' for the charged currents, which is not necessarily unitary any more. The effects of these operators on charged and neutral currents are studied.

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