Measurement of light scalar mesons in many-body decays in the PHENIX experiment at the Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider

The unique design of the PHENIX detector at the Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider allows one to detect neutral and charged particles produced in high-energy collisions of heavy ions. This circumstance made it possible to measure many-particle decays of light mesons, such as K _S ⁰ →π⁰π⁰, η→π⁰π^?π⁺, and η→γγ in p + p, d + Au and Au + Au collisions at the energy \(\sqrt {S_{NN} }\) = 200 GeV. The latest results of measuring the differential production cross sections, ratios of particle yields (K _S ⁰ /π⁰ and η/π⁰), and the nuclear modification factors (\(R_{dA}^{K_S }\), R _dA ^η , R _AA ^η ) in a wide range of transverse momenta (from 2 to 12 GeV s^?1) are reported.     

Calculation of the fine structure of the triplet state $$\tilde a^3 A_2 $$ of the ozone molecule by the method of multiconfiguration self-consistent field

The zero-field splitting of the \(\tilde a^3 A_2 \) state of the O₃ molecule is interpreted on the basis of ab initio quantum-chemical calculations. The spin—orbit coupling with the ground X¹A₁ state is shown to make the main contribution to the zero-field splitting of the \(\tilde a^3 A_2 \) term (the state of the ³σπ type). The calculated parameters D and E agree well with experiment.     

On the summation of divergent perturbation series in quantum mechanics and field theory

The possibility of recovering the Gell-Mann–Low function in the asymptotic strong-coupling regime by known first-order perturbation-theory (PT) terms β_n and their asymptotics as \(\tilde \beta _n \) as n → ∞ is investigated. Conditions are formulated that are necessary for recovering the required function at the physical level of rigor: (1) a large number of PT coefficients are known whose asymptotics has already been established, and (2) there is no intermediate asymptotics. Higher orders of PT, their asymptotic behavior, and power corrections are calculated in quantum mechanical problems that involve divergent PT series (including series for a funnel potential, the ? ₍₀₎ ⁴ model, and the Stark effect in a strong field). The scalar field theory ? ₍₄₎ ⁴ is considered in the \(\overline {MS} \) and MOM regularization schemes. It is shown that one cannot make any definite conclusion about the asymptotics of the Gell-Mann–Low function as g → ∞ on the basis of information available for the above theory.     

Pentaquarks—status report

I discuss the recent experimental and theoretical developments following the discovery of the 8⁺ pentaquark, an exoticuudd \(\bar s\) baryon resonance observed in theKN channel by several experiments, and an exotic Ξ^*?? (ddss \(\bar u\)) reported by NA49 at CERN. I focus on the theoretical interpretation of the data, both in terms of quark and chiral degrees of freedom, on the predictions for related exotic states, and on several unresolved questions raised by the experimental data, such as why some experiments observe the pentaquarks and other don't, the apparently extremely narrow width of the Θ⁺ and the determination of its parity. I also describe the likely properties of the proposed heavy-quark pentaquarks, an anticharmed exotic baryon Θ _c uudd \(\bar c\) and Θ _b ⁺ (uudd \(\bar b\)) which are expected to be extremely narrow or even stable against strong decays. H1 recently reported observation of a possible Θ _c candidate inD ^*? p channel. Pentaquarks are also being searched for ine ⁺ e ^? annihilation and γγ collisions in the LEP data and atB-factories.     

VEPP-2000 project: Collider,detectors, and physics program

The new VEPP-2000 e⁺e^? collider of maximum energy 2000 MeV, which is under construction at the Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics (Siberian Division, Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk), is briefly described. Experiments at VEPP-2000 will be performed with two upgraded detectors, CMD-2M and SND. A precise measurement of the total cross section for the process e⁺e^? → hadrons and of the partial cross sections for its exclusive hadronic channels is the main point of the physics program for this machine. These measurements will be aimed at testing QCD and the VMD and CVC models, as well as at refining the hadron contribution to fundamental constants such as the muon anomalous magnetic moment \(a_\mu = \frac{{g - 2}}{2}\) and the fine-structure constant α_em(M _Z ² ). Measurements of the nucleon form factors in the reactions e⁺e^? → p\(\bar p\), n\(\bar n\) at their threshold will also be of great importance.     

Ds+ → π+ π+ π− decay: The $$1^3 P_0 s\bar s$$ component in scalar-isoscalar mesons

We calculate the processes \(D_s^ + \to \pi ^ + s\bar s\) and D _s ⁺ → π⁺resonance, respectively, in the spectator and W-annihilation mechanisms. The data on the reaction D _s ⁺ → π⁺ρ⁰, which is due to the W-annihilation mechanism only, point to a negligibly small contribution of the W annihilation to the production of scalar-isoscalar resonances D _s ⁺ ?π⁺f₀. As to spectator mechanism, we evaluate the \(1^3 P_0 s\bar s\) component in the resonances f₀(980), f₀(1300), and f₀(1500) and broad state f₀(1200–1600) on the basis of data on the decay ratios D _s ⁺ ?π⁺f₀/(D _s ⁺ ?π⁺_θ). The data point to a large \(s\bar s\) component in the \(f_0 (980):40 \lesssim s\bar s \lesssim 70\% \). Nearly 30% of the \(1^3 P_0 s\bar s\) component flows to the mass region 1300–1500 MeV, being shared by f₀(1300), f₀(1500), and broad state f₀(1200–1600): the interference of these states results in a peak near 1400 MeV with the width around 200 MeV. Our calculations show that the yield of the radial-excitation state\(2^3 P_0 s\bar s\)is relatively suppressed, \({{\Gamma (D_s^ + \to \pi ^ + (2^3 P_0 s\bar s))} \mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {{\Gamma (D_s^ + \to \pi ^ + (2^3 P_0 s\bar s))} {\Gamma (D_s^ + \to \pi ^ + (1^3 P_0 s\bar s))}}} \right. \kern-\nulldelimiterspace} {\Gamma (D_s^ + \to \pi ^ + (1^3 P_0 s\bar s))}} \lesssim 0.05\).     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">B</Emphasis>-meson decays into charmonium states in the ATLAS experiment

The paper presents several recent ATLAS results on the analyses of B-meson decays into charmonium states. These include the measurements of B⁺ mass and the fractions of J/ψ mesons produced in b-hadron decays in pp collisions at \(\sqrt s\) = 13 TeV in the center of mass system. The measured partial widths and polarizations in B _c ⁺ → J/ψD _s ^(*)+ decays and CP-violation parameters in B _s ⁰ → J/ψ? decays in pp collisions at 7 and 8 TeV in the center of mass system are also presented.     

Contributions of scalar leptoquarks to the cross sections for the production of quark-antiquark pairs in electron-positron annihilation

The contributions of scalar-leptoquark doublets to the cross sections \(\sigma _{Q\tilde Q} \), for the production of quark-antiquark pairs in electron-positron annihilation are calculated within the minimal model based on the four-color symmetry of quarks and leptons. These contributions are analyzed versus the scalar-leptoquark masses and the mixing parameters of the model at colliding-particle energies in the range 250–1000 GeV. It is shown that the contributions in question are of greatest importance for processes leading to t-quark production. In particular, it is found that, with allowance for the contribution of the scalar leptoquark of charge 5/3 and mass in the range 250–500 GeV, the cross section \(\sigma _{t\tilde t} \) calculated at a mixing-parameter value of k_t ～ 1 may be severalfold larger than the corresponding cross section \(\sigma _{t\tilde t}^{(SM)} \) within the Standard Model. The possibility of setting constraints on the scalar-leptoquark masses and on the mixing parameters by measuring such contributions at future electron-positron colliders is indicated.     

Parametrization of supersingular perturbations in the method of rigged Hilbert spaces

A classification of bounded below supersingular perturbations à of a self-adjoint operator A ? 1 is suggested. In the A-scale of Hilbert spaces \(\mathcal{H}_{ - k} \sqsupset \mathcal{H} \sqsupset \mathcal{H}_k \) = Dom A ^k/2, k > 0, a parametrization of operators à in terms of bounded mappings S: \(\mathcal{H}_k \to \mathcal{H}_{ - k} \) such that ker S is dense in \(\mathcal{H}_{k/2} \) is obtained.     

Influence of photon-neutrino processes on the cooling of a magnetar

The influence of a strongly magnetized dense plasma on the photon-neutrino processes γe ^± → e ^±ν\(\bar \nu \), γ → ν\(\bar \nu \), and γγ → ν\(\bar \nu \) is considered; invariant amplitudes of the γe ^± → e ^±ν\(\bar \nu \) and γγ → ν\(\bar \nu \) reactions are calculated. The contributions from these processes to the neutrino luminosity are calculated in the special case of a cold plasma. Under these conditions, the contribution from the process γ → ν\(\bar \nu \) to the neutrino emissivity is shown to be strongly suppressed compared to the contributions from the photoneutrino and photon conversion processes. Since the neutron star cooling curve can be modified through a change of the neutrino luminosity in a strong magnetic field, the magnetic field strength in the outer crust of the magnetar is assumed to be constrained.     

The Elusive p-air cross section

For the \(\bar pp\) and pp systems, we have used all of the extensive data of the Particle Data Group [K. Hagiwara et al. (Particle Data Group), Phys. Rev. D 66, 010001 (2002)]. We then subject these data to a screening process, the “Sieve” algorithm [M. M. Block, physics/0506010], in order to eliminate “ outliers” that can skew a χ² fit. With the “Sieve” algorithm, a robust fit using a Lorentzian distribution is first made to all of the data to sieve out abnormally high Δχ _i ² , the individual i^th point’s contribution to the total χ². The χ² fits are then made to the sieved data. We demonstrate that we cleanly discriminate between asymptotic ln s and ln² s behavior of total hadronic cross sections when we require that these amplitudes also describe, on average, low energy data dominated by resonances. We simultaneously fit real analytic amplitudes to the “sieved” high energy measurements of \(\bar pp\) and pp total cross sections and ρ-values for \(\sqrt s \) ≥ GeV, while requiring that their asymptotic fits smoothly join the the σ _pp and σ_pp total cross sections at \(\sqrt s \) = 4.0 GeV—again both in magnitude and slope. Our results strongly favor a high energy ln² s fit, basically excluding a ln s fit. Finally, we make a screened Glauber fit for the p-air cross section, using as input our precisely-determined pp cross sections at cosmic ray energies.     

$$\bar K$$ optical potential at finite temperatureoptical potential at finite temperature

The \(\bar K\) optical potential is microscopically calculated from the \(\bar K\)N effective interaction in nuclear matter at T=0 and finite temperature, with the aim to adapt our calculations to the experimental conditions in heavy-ion collisions. In the rank of densities (0-2_ρ0), the finite temperature \(\bar K\) optical potential shows a smoother behaviour compared to the T=0 case. The model has also been applied to the study of the ratio between K⁺ and K^? produced at GSI with T around 70 MeV. The results point at the necessity of introducing an attractive \(\bar K\) optical potential.     

Analysis of th e $$Hb\bar b$$ coupling constant and CP-violation eff ects at th e futur e e+ e− collid er

The \(e^ + e^ - \to b\bar bv\bar v\) process, where υ is an electron, muon, or τ-lepton neutrino, is analyzed in detail for the general form of the coupling constant of a Higgs boson with b quarks, with the (m _b /v)(a+Iγ₅b) parameterization of the \(Hb\bar b\) interaction. This process is shown to be highly sensitive to this coupling constant. Experiments at the future with \(\sqrt s = 500 - GeV\) linear collider will provide limits of 2 and 20% for deviations of the parameters a and b, respectively, from their Standard Model values. Results concerning the \(e^ + e^ - \to b\bar bv\bar v\) process in combination with the independent measurements of the partial width \(\Gamma _{H \to b\bar b}\) can testify to the CP origin of the Higgs sector of the theory.     

Neutron-antineutron oscillations in the trapping box

The problem of n-\(\bar n\) oscillations for ultracold neutrons confined within a trap is reexamined. It is shown that the growth of the \(\bar n\) component with time is to a decent accuracy given by \(P(\bar n) = \varepsilon _{n\bar n}^2 t_L t\), where \(\varepsilon _{n\bar n}\) is the mixing parameter and t _L ～ 1 s is the neutron propagation time between subsequent collisions with the trap walls. Possible corrections to this law and open questions are discussed.     

Neutrino-astrophysics,nuclear physics,and particle physics at intense,pulsed, stopped-pion sources

Intense pulsed proton beams of ～ 1 GeV impinging on high-Z targets are intense sources of ν_μ from the (τ=26 ns) decay of π⁺, and \(\bar \nu _\mu \) and ν_e from the stopped μ⁺ decays. A pulse structure, narrow in time, allows the separation of reactions due to ν_μ from those from reactions involving \(\bar \nu _\mu\) and ν_e. The energy spectra are in the energy range of interest to nuclear astrophysics. A number of possible experiments relevant to solar neutrinos, supernovae collapse, weak interactions in nuclei, and intrinsic properties of neutrinos are discussed.     

Phenomenology of light- and strange-quark simultaneous production at high energies

This letter presents an extension of EPL116(2017)62001 to light- and strange-quark nonequilibrium chemical phase-space occupancy factors (γ_q,s). The resulting damped trigonometric functionalities relating γ_q,s to the nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energies (\(\sqrt {{s_{NN}}} \)) looks very similar except different coefficients. The phenomenology of the resulting γ_q,s(\(\sqrt {{s_{NN}}} \)) describes a rapid decrease at \(\sqrt {{s_{NN}}} \) ? 7GeV followed by a faster increase up to ~20 GeV. Then, both γ_q,s become nonsensitive to \(\sqrt {{s_{NN}}} \). Although these differ from γ _s (\(\sqrt {{s_{NN}}} \))obtained at γ _q (\(\sqrt {{s_{NN}}} \))=1, various particle ratios including K⁺/π⁺, K^?/π^?, Λ/π^?, Λ?/π^?, Ξ⁺/π⁺, and Ω/π^?, can well be reproduced, as well. We conclude that γ_q,s(\(\sqrt {{s_{NN}}} \)) should be instead determined from fits of various particle yields and ratios but not merely from fits to the particle ratio K⁺/π⁺.     

On the structure of the von Neumann algebras generated by local functions of the free bose field

It is shown that the von Neumann algebra\(R_\mathfrak{B} \)(B) generated by any scalar local functionB(x) of the free fieldA ₀(x) is equal either to\(R_\mathfrak{B} \)(A ₀) or to\(R_\mathfrak{B} \)(:A ₀ ² :). The latter statement holds if the state space space\(\mathfrak{H}_B \) obtained from the vacuum state by repeated application ofB(x) is orthogonal to the one particle subspace. In the proof of these statements, space-time limiting techniques are used.     

Lepton polarization asymmetries in rare semi-tauonic $$ b \rightarrow s $$ exclusive decays at FCC- ee

We consider measurements of exclusive rare semi-tauonic b-hadron decays, mediated by the \(b \rightarrow s \tau ^+ \tau ^-\) transition, at a future high-energy circular electron–positron collider (FCC-ee). We argue that the high boosts of b-hadrons originating from on-shell Z boson decays allow for a full reconstruction of the decay kinematics in hadronic \(\tau \) decay modes (up to discrete ambiguities). This, together with the potentially large statistics of \(Z\rightarrow b\bar{b}\), opens the door for the experimental determination of \(\tau \) polarizations in these rare b-hadron decays. In the light of the current experimental situation on lepton flavor universality in rare semileptonic B decays, we discuss the complementary short-distance physics information carried by the \(\tau \) polarizations and suggest suitable theoretically clean observables in the form of single- and double-\(\tau \) polarization asymmetries.     

Surface superconductivity and<Emphasis Type="Italic">H</Emphasis><Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">c3</Emphasis></Subscript> in UPt<Subscript>3</Subscript>

Ginzburg-Landau (GL) theory is used to study surface superconductivity for UPt₃ for various order parameter symmetries (OPS), andH _c3 is found for all principal directions of the surface normal\(\hat n\) and the field [1]. Assuming specular reflection, and allowing for reorientation of the antiferromagnetic symmetry breaking field in the models withE _1g ,E _2g ,E _1u , orE _2u symmetry, the experiments of Keller et al. [2] with\(\hat n = \hat a\) can be qualitatively explained for all OPS except possiblyA _1u ⊕B _1u . The implied GL parameters then predict qualitatively different and OPS dependent behavior for\(\hat n = \hat a^* \) and\(\hat n = \hat c\). Study ofH _c3 for these surfaces would give strong clues about the OPS of UPt₃.