Direct decays of heavy quarkonia

The branching ratios are evaluated of the ψ (3770) and (4S) decays into ππ, , ωπ⁰, ωη, ωη ′, π, η, η′, , . They arise due to the transition through the real intermediate states and , respectively. It is shown that some branching ratios exceed the three-gluon one by an order of magnitude. The rates of the decays ,

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and are evaluated also. τ-C and B factories coul be good tools for studying all decays mentioned.     

Photinos from gravitational collapse

Very light photinos, if they exist, should be produced in a SN explosion. Using the data from SN 1987A we set limits on the masses of selectrons (and squarks), the SUSY particles involved in the production (and diffusion) of photinos in the stellar medium. The bounds obtained are

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, where .     

Neutrino masses, mixing and hierarchy

We build a model to describe neutrinos based on strict hierarchy, incorporating as much as possible, the latest known data, for Δ_sol and Δ_atm, and for the mixing angles determined from neutrino oscillation experiments, including that from KamLAND. Since the hierarchy assumption is a statement about mass ratios, it lets us obtain all three neutrino masses. We obtain a mass matrix, M_ν and a mixing matrix, U, where both M_ν and U are given in terms of powers of Λ, the analog of the Cabibbo angle λ in the Wolfenstein representation, and two parameters, ρ and κ, each of order one. The expansion parameter, Λ, is defined by

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, and ρ expresses our ignorance of the lightest neutrino mass m₁, (m₁=ρΛ⁴m₃), while κ scales s₁₃ to the experimental upper limit, s₁₃=κΛ²≈0.16κ. These matrices are similar in structure to those for the quark and lepton families, but with Λ about 1.6 times larger than the λ for the quarks and charged leptons. The upper limit for the effective neutrino mass in double β-decay experiments is 4×10⁻³ eV if s₁₃=0 and 6×10⁻³ eV if s₁₃ is maximal. The model, which is fairly unique, given the hierarchy assumption and the data, is compared to supersymmetric extension and texture zero models of mass generation.     

On the normalization of Gamow functions

It is proved that the definitions of the norm given by Berggren and Romo are identical. Regularization in ref. ¹) with any convergence factor of the form

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leads to the same result. The existence of the norm is also established for the proton. The norm for neutrons is analytically given.     

A thermodynamic and electrical conductivity study of nonstoichiometric cerium dioxide

Thermodynamic and dc electrical conductivity measurements were performed on nonstoichiometric CeO_2−x to characterize the electrical behavior and defect structure in the vicinity of the n to p transition. Using the mass action approach, activation energies of 2.57, 1.15 and 0.63 eV were obtained for the electron, hole and ionic partial conductivities respectively (600–1000°C, 1<P_o2<10⁻⁴ atm). Thermodynamic measurements of 99.99%CeO_2-x by electrochemical coulometric titration yielded expressions for point defect concentrations per cm³ and nonstoichiometry in the impurity dominated region at 800°C as follows:

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. Thermodynamic constant composition measurements revealed a decrease in the partial molar enthalpy (from - 10 eV) with decreasing stoichiometry for x<10^−2.8. This decrease is attributed to defect reaction involving both holes and electrons.     

Mössbauer effect studies of the 74.5 keV level of Dy

Recoilless absorption measurements of the 74.5 keV γ-rays of ¹⁶¹Dy were carried out using

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absorbers. The analysis of the absorption spectrum obtained with the nitrate absorber yielded a value of 1.38 ± 0.02 for the ratio of the g-factor of the 74.5 keV and the ground levels of ¹⁶¹Dy and a value of 0.58 ± 0.04 for the corresponding ratio of the quadrupole moments. Relying on previous measurements of the ground level moments, the values derived for the magnetic and quadrupole moments of the 74.5 level are −0.377 ± 0.012 n.m. and 1.5 ± 0.2 b, respectively. These values are compared with the values predicted by nuclear theory. The isomeric shift between DyNi₂ and absorbers was found to be 0.9 ± 0.2 mm/sec.     

Update on pion weak decay constants in nuclear matter

The QCD sum rule calculation of the in-medium pion decay constants using pseudoscalar–axial-vector correlation function,

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is revisited. In particular, we argue that the dimension 5 condensate, , which is crucial for splitting the time (f_t) and space (f_s) components of the decay constant, is not necessarily restricted to be positive. Its positive value is found to yield a tachyonic pion mass. Using the in-medium pion mass as an input, we fix the dimension 5 condensate to be around −0.025 GeV²−0.019 GeV². The role of the N and Δ intermediate states in the correlation function is also investigated. The N intermediate state is found not to contribute to the sum rules. For the Δ intermediate state, we either treat it as a part of the continuum or propose a way to subtract explicitly from the sum rules. With (and without) explicit Δ subtraction while allowing the in-medium pion mass to vary within 139 MeVm_π^*159 MeV, we obtain f_s/f_π=0.370.78 and f_t/f_π=0.630.79.     

Quadrupole collectivity of Ne and the boundary of the island of inversion

The excitation of the neutron-rich nucleus ²⁸Ne has been investigated via heavy-ion inelastic scattering in reversed kinematics. The value was determined to be , which is smaller than expected from the low excitation energy of the first state. A comparison with theoretical predictions suggests that the suppressed collectivity in ²⁸Ne is characteristic of nuclei lying on the boundary of the ‘island of inversion’.     

Study of the decay

Using data from the FOCUS (E831) experiment at Fermilab, we present a new measurement for the Cabibbo-suppressed decay mode D⁰→K⁺K⁻π⁺π⁻. We measure: Γ(D⁰→K⁺K⁻π⁺π⁻)/Γ(D⁰→K⁻π⁻π⁺π⁺)=0.0295±0.0011±0.0008. An amplitude analysis has been performed in order to determine the resonant substructure of this decay mode. The dominant components are the decays D⁰→K₁(1270)⁺K⁻, D⁰→K₁(1400)⁺K⁻ and D⁰→ρ(770)⁰(1020).     

Is the β phase maximal?

The current experimental determination of the absolute values of the CKM elements indicates that 2|V_ub/V_cbV_us|=(1−z), with z given by z=0.19±0.14. This fact implies that irrespective of the form of the quark Yukawa matrices, the measured value of the SM CP phase β is approximately the maximum allowed by the measured absolute values of the CKM elements. This is for , which implies =π/2. Alternatively, assuming that β is exactly maximal and using the experimental measurement sin(2β)=0.726±0.037, the phase γ is predicted to be γ=(π/2−β)=66.3°±1.7°. The maximality of β, if confirmed by near-future experiments, may give us some clues as to the origin of CP violation.     

The dilambda and the pentaquark in the constituent quark model

We use the non-relativistic constituent quark model and the bag model to study the stability of the dilambda H = (uuddss) and pentaquark states

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. While they are stable in the limit of exact SU(3)_F flavour symmetry between u, d, and s quarks, the H and the P become unbound when a realistic breaking of SU(3)_F is introduced.     

Measurements of decays into and

Based on a sample of 5.8×10⁷ J/ψ events taken with the BESII detector, the branching fractions of J/ψ→2(π⁺π⁻)η and J/ψ→3(π⁺π⁻)η are measured for the first time to be (2.26±0.08±0.27)×10⁻³ and (7.24±0.96±1.11)×10⁻⁴, respectively.     

Symmetry breaking and the decays ψ′ → J/ψπ(η) and J/ψ → η(η′) γ

The theoretical mechanisms for the decays ψ′ → ψπ⁰ and ψ′ → ψη, which violate SU₂ and SU₃, respectively discussed. It is argued that symmetry breaking in the decay amplitudes may be as important as π⁰ −η −η′ mixing. The π⁰ −η mechanism ψ′ → ψν → ψπ⁰ leads to Γ(ψ′ → ψπ⁰) = (3.3±1.0) × 10⁻³ Γ(ψ′ → ψν), but this number may be enhanced by a factor as large as 12 by π⁰−η′ mixing and isospin violation in the decay amplitude. The related decays ψ → ηγ and ψ → η′γ are also discussed.     

Generalized holonomy of supergravities with 8 real supercharges

We show that the generalized holonomy groups of ungauged supergravity theories with 8 real supercharges must be contained in

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, where is the generalized structure group. Here n=4ν is the number of preserved supersymmetries, so the allowed values are limited to n=0,4,8. In particular, solutions of ungauged supergravities in four, five and six dimensions are examined and found to explicitly follow this pattern. We also argue that the G-structure has to be a subgroup of this generalized holonomy group, which may provide a possible classification for supergravity vacua with respect to the number of supercharges.     

Experimental study of the time-dependent rate of K → πππ

The time-dependence of the decay rate of initially pure K⁰ into the final state (π⁺π⁻π⁰) has been studied in search for the decay k_S⁰→π⁺π⁻π⁰. No evidence is found in a sample of 384 observed events. The ratio of the CP -violating K_S⁰ amplitude and the K_L⁰ amplitude is η₊₋₀ = (0.13_−0.20^+0.17) + i(0.17_−0.26^+0.27); the ratio of the CP-conserving K_S⁰ amplitude and the K_L⁰ amplitude is < 0.4. The energy dependence of the K⁰→π⁺π⁻π⁰ matrix element is found to be a₊₋₀ = −0.31 ± 0.03.     

How unitarity imposes a steep small-x rise of spin structure function gLT=g1+g2 and breaking of DIS sum rules

We derive a unitarity relationship between the spin structure function g_LT(x,Q²)=g₁(x,Q²)+g₂(x,Q²), the LT interference diffractive structure function and the spin-flip coupling of the pomeron to nucleons. Our diffractive mechanism gives rise to a dramatic small-x rise

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, where δ_g is an exponent of small-x rise of the unpolarized gluon density in the proton at a moderate hard scale for light flavour contribution and large hard scale for heavy flavour contribution. It invalidates the Burkhardt–Cottingham sum rule. The found small-x rise of diffraction driven g_LT(x,Q²) is steeper than given by the Wandzura–Wilczek relation under conventional assumptions on small-x behaviour of g₁(x,Q²).     

The new multiplet, heavy baryon mass predictions, meson–baryon universality and effective supersymmetry in hadron spectrum

The recent measurement by CDF M(Σ_b)−M(Λ_b)=192 MeV is in striking agreement with our theoretical prediction M(Σ_b)−M(Λ_b)=194 MeV. In addition, the measured splitting agrees well with the predicted splitting of 22 MeV. We point out the connection between these predictions and an effective supersymmetry between mesons and baryons related by replacing a light antiquark by a light diquark. We discuss the theoretical framework behind these predictions and use it to provide additional predictions for the masses of spin- and spin- baryons containing heavy quarks, as well as for magnetic moments of Λ_b and Λ_c.     

Discrete symmetry and CP phase of the quark mixing matrix

A simple specific pattern of the two 3×3 quark mass matrices is proposed, resulting in a prediction of the CP phase of the charged-current mixing matrix V_CKM, i.e., sin2₁(β)=0.733, which is in remarkable agreement with data, i.e., sin2₁=0.728±0.056±0.023 from Belle and sin2β=0.722±0.040±0.023 from BaBar. This pattern can be maintained by a discrete family symmetry, an example of which is D₇, the symmetry group of the heptagon.     

Factorization of large-x quark distributions in a hadron

We present a factorization formula for valence quark distributions in a hadron in x→1 limit. For the example of pion, we arrive at the form of factorization by analyzing momentum flow in the leading and high-order Feynman diagrams. The result confirms the well-known 1−x scaling rule to all orders in perturbation theory, providing the nonperturbative matrix elements for the infrared divergence factors. We comment on resummation of perturbative single and double logarithms in 1−x.     

QCD sum rule study of the masses of light tetraquark scalar mesons

We study the low-lying scalar mesons of light u, d, s flavors in the QCD sum rule. Having all possible combinations of tetraquark currents in the local form, QCD sum rule analysis has been carefully performed. We found that using the appropriate tetraquark currents, the masses of σ, κ, f₀ and a₀ mesons appear in the region of 0.6–1 GeV with the expected ordering. The results are compared with that of the conventional currents, where the masses are considerably larger.