Baryon-baryon and baryon-antibaryon interaction amplitudes in the spin-momentum operator expansion method

Partial-wave scattering amplitudes in baryon-baryon and baryon-antibaryon collisions and amplitudes for the production and decay of baryon resonances are constructed in the framework of the spin-momentum operator expansion method. The approach is relativistically invariant and it allows us to perform combined analyses of different reactions imposing analyticity and unitarity directly. The role of final-state interactions (triangle and box diagrams) is discussed.     

Thermal treatments and characterizations of pellets for SPES direct target

In this work targets of graphite-rich lanthanum dicarbide have been produced through carburization and sintering of suitable precursor pellets obtained by mixing and pressing lanthanum oxide and graphite powders. The results about the control of the production process and the investigation of the physical properties of the pellets, performed respectively through thermal analyses (TG/DTA) and X-ray diffraction (XRD), are reported and discussed.     

Resonances and final-state interactions in the reaction pp → pK+Λ

A study of the strangeness production reaction pp → pK⁺Λ for excess energies of ε≤150MeV, accessible at high-luminosity accelerator facilities like COSY, is presented. Methods to analyze the Dalitz plot distribution and angular spectra in the Jackson and helicity frames are worked out and suitable observables for extracting information on low-lying resonances that couple to the KΛ system and for determining the Λp effective-range parameters from the final-state interaction are identified and discussed. Furthermore, the chances for identifying the reaction mechanism of strangeness production are investigated.     

Pion-nucleon charge exchange amplitudes above 2 GeV

The amplitudes for the pion-nucleon charge exchange reaction of the Karlsruhe-Helsinki and the George-Washington-University partial-wave analyses are compared with those of a Regge-cut model with the aim to explore the possibility to provide high-energy constraints for theoretical baryon resonance analyses in the energy region above 2GeV.     

Exclusive electroproduction of pion pairs

We investigate electroproduction of pion pairs on the nucleon in the framework of QCD factorization for hard exclusive processes. We extend previous analyses by taking the hard-scattering coefficients at next-to-leading order in α_s . The dynamics of the produced pion pair is described by two-pion distribution amplitudes, for which we perform a detailed theoretical and phenomenological analysis. In particular, we obtain constraints on these quantities by comparing our results with measurements of angular observables that are sensitive to the interference between two-pion production in the isoscalar and isovector channels.     

ψ(3770) and B meson exclusive decay B → ψ(3770)K in QCD factorization

Belle has observed surprisingly copious production of ψ(3770) in the B meson decay B → ψ(3770)K, whose rate is comparable to that of B → ψ(3686)K. We study this puzzling process in the QCD factorization approach with the effect of the S-D mixing considered. We find that the soft scattering effects in the spectator interactions play an essential role. With a proper parametrization for the higher-twist soft end-point singularities associated with kaon, and with the S-D mixing angle θ = - 12^°, the calculated decay rates can be close to the data. Implications of these soft spectator effects to other charmonium production in B exclusive decays are also emphasized.     

Excitation of the Roper resonance in single- and double-pion production in nucleon-nucleon collisions⋆

In most investigations the Roper resonance is sensed only very indirectly via complex partial-wave analyses. We find indications for its excitation in the invariant nπ⁺ mass spectrum of the pp → npπ⁺ reaction at M ≈ 1360 MeV with a width of ≈ 150 MeV . The values fit very favorably to the most recent phase shift results as well as to the observations at BES. In the near-threshold two-pion production pp → ppπ⁰π⁰ , where the Roper excitation and its subsequent decays via the routes N ^* → Δπ → Nππ and N ^* → Nσ are the only dominant processes, we find its direct decay into the Nσ channel to be the by far dominating decay process --in favor of a monopole excitation of the Roper resonance.     

Study of ω-meson production in pp collisions at ANKE

The production of ω-mesons in the pp → ppω reaction has been investigated with the COSY-ANKE spectrometer for excess energies of 60 and 92MeV by detecting the two final protons and reconstructing their missing mass. The large physical background was subtracted using an event-by-event transformation of the proton momenta between the two energies. Differential distributions and total cross-sections were obtained after careful studies of possible systematic uncertainties in the overall ANKE acceptance. The results are compared with the predictions of theoretical models. Combined with data on the φ-meson, a more refined estimate is made of the Okubo-Zweig-Iizuka rule violation in the φ/ω production ratio.     

Heavy-quarkonium physics from effective-field theories

I review recent progress in heavy-quarkonium physics from an effective-field theory perspective. In this unifying framework, I discuss advances in perturbative calculations for low-lying quarkonium observables and in lattice calculations for high-lying ones, and progress and lasting puzzles in quarkonium production.     

Latest results onJ/ψ anomalous suppression

The NA50 experiment deals with Pb-Pb collisions at 158 GeV/nucleon at the CERN SPS accelerator. TheJ/ψ production is studied through the muon decay channel, using the Drell-Yan dimuons as a reference. New results based on recent analyses, from data taken with improved experimental conditions and using different centrality estimators, are presented and compared to an update of those already obtained from previous data samples. The stepwise pattern of the anomalousJ/ψ suppression as a function of centrality, already present in these previous results, is confirmed. This observation could be a fingerprint of the theoretically predicted melting of charmonia resonances in a deconfined quark-gluon plasma. On leave of absence from York College, CUNY, New York USA On leave of absence from YerPhI, Yerevan, Armenia     

On momentum dependence of the reaction π− p→ωn near threshold

We discuss the near–threshold behavior of the ω production amplitude in the reaction π⁻ p→ωn. In contrast to the results of earlier analyses we find that the averaged squared matrix element of the production amplitude must be a decreasing function of energy in order to describe the existing experimental data. Received: 11 August 1999     

Spin and isospin effects in the NN → NKΛ reaction near threshold

The spin and isospin structure of the amplitudes and observables for K⁺Λ production in nucleon-nucleon collisions in the near-threshold region is analysed. Five experiments are required in order to isolate the amplitudes, up to an overall phase and two discrete ambiguities, in a model-independent way. It is shown that, with reasonable values for the relative strengths of the π and ρ terms in a meson-exchange model, one expects production on the neutron to be significantly stronger than that on the proton. Negative values of the spin-transfer coefficient D_NN are also predicted due to π-ρ interference.     

Partial decay widths of baryons in the spin-momentum operator expansion method

The cross-sections for photo- and pion-induced production of baryon resonances and their partial decay widths to the two-body and multi-body final states are calculated in the framework of the operator expansion method. The approach is fully relativistic invariant, and it allows us to perform combined analyses of different reactions imposing directly the analyticity and unitarity constraints. All formulae are given explicitly in the form used by the Crystal Barrel Collaboration in the partial-wave analysis.     

Polarization observable measurements for γp → K+Λ and γp → K+Σfor energies up to 1.5 GeV

Beam asymmetries and hyperon recoil polarizations for the reactions γp → K ⁺Λ and γp → K ⁺Σ⁰ have been measured from the threshold production to 1500MeV with the GRAAL facility located at the ESRF in Grenoble. These results complement the database for the beam asymmetry, covering for the first time the production threshold region. Recent theoretical analyses are presented for which the beam asymmetry data bring interesting new information and allow to better determine some resonance parameters. Most importantly, these results strengthen the need of a new D₁₃ state around 1900MeV.     

First measurement of the helicity dependence for the γp → pπreaction

The helicity dependence of the total cross-section and the invariant-mass distributions in the (pπ^±) and (π⁺π^-) final states for the γp → pπ⁺π^- reaction have been measured for the first time at incident photon energies from 400 to 800MeV. The measurement was performed with the large-acceptance detector DAPHNE at the tagged photon beam facility of the MAMI accelerator in Mainz. Although this channel is found to be predominantly excited by the intermediate production of a Δπ state, both the measured unpolarized and the helicity-dependent observables are generally not well described by the existing theoretical models.     

Investigation into the antibacterial behaviour of suspensions of ZnO nanoparticles (ZnO nanofluids)

The antibacterial behaviour of suspensions of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO nanofluids) against E. Coli has been investigated. ZnO nanoparticles from two sources are used to formulate nanofluids. The effects of particle size, concentration and the use of dispersants on the antibacterial behaviour are examined. The results show that the ZnO nanofluids have bacteriostatic activity against E. coli. The antibacterial activity increases with increasing nanoparticle concentration and increases with decreasing particle size. Particle concentration is observed to be more important than particle size under the conditions of this work. The results also show that the use of two types of dispersants (Polyethylene Glycol (PEG) and Polyvinylpyrolidone (PVP)) does not affect much the antibacterial activity of ZnO nanofluids but enhances the stability of the suspensions. SEM analyses of the bacteria before and after treatment with ZnO nanofluids show that the presence of ZnO nanoparticles damages the membrane wall of the bacteria. Electrochemical measurements using a model DOPC monolayer suggest some direct interaction between ZnO nanoparticles and the bacteria membrane at high ZnO concentrations. On visiting from the Tianjin University of Science & Technology, Tianjin, P.R. China.     

Photoproduction of πmesons off protons from the Δ(1232) region to Eγ = 3 GeV

Photoproduction of π⁰-mesons was studied with the Crystal-Barrel detector at ELSA for incident energies from 300MeV to 3GeV. Differential cross-sections dσ/dΩ, dσ/dt, and the total cross-section are presented. For E _γ < 3GeV, the angular distributions agree well with the SAID parametrization. At photon energies above 1.5GeV, a strong forward peaking indicates t-channel exchange to be the dominant process. The rapid variations of the cross-section with energy and angle indicate production of resonances. An interpretation of the data within the Bonn-Gatchina partial-wave analysis is briefly discussed.     

Two-pion production in deuteron-deuteron collisions at low energies

The cross-section for the dd →^4Heππ reaction is estimated near threshold in a two-step model where a pion created in a first interaction produces a second pion in a subsequent interaction. This approach, which describes well the rates of 2π and η production in the pd →^3Heππ and dd →^4Heη reactions, leads to predictions that are much too low compared to experiment. Alternatives to this and the double-Δ model will have to be sought to explain these data.     

Photoproduction of η -mesons off protons

Photoproduction of η -mesons was studied with the Crystal-Barrel detector at ELSA for photon energies in the range from 0.75 to 3GeV. Total and differential cross-sections are presented. The η mesons are detected in two decay modes, in η → 2γ and in η → 3π⁰ → 6γ . The cross-sections vary slowly as functions of energy and η production angle suggesting that only few resonances make significant contributions to the cross-section. For photon energies above 1.5GeV, the differential cross-sections show a strong forward peak due to meson exchanges in the t channel. A comparison of the η -photoproduction cross-sections with SAID and MAID as well as with a partial-wave analysis performed on our data in combination with other data sets shows good agreement. The Bonn-Gatchina partial-wave analysis suggests that the largest contribution to η photoproduction for energies below 3GeV proceeds via three resonances, the well-known N(1535)S ₁₁ , via N(1720)P ₁₃ , and a newly suggested N(2070)D ₁₅ .