QCD corrections to the Drell-Yan mechanism and the pion structure function

We compute the differential cross section dσ/dQ² dy for lepton pair production up to first order in the strong coupling constant α_s. We show that, in the region where the theory applies and where the statistical accuracy of the experiments is good, the ratio of the QCD correction to the Drell-Yan cross section is approximately constant, and that its magnitude is in good agreement with the results of the CERN-NA3 experiment. We thus show that, within the framework of this first-order calculation, the shape of the pion structure function extracted from dilepton production in πp collisions is approximately correct. We also comment on the average transverse momentum of the dilepton due to gluon or quark recoil.     

Spin-dependent parton distributions in polarized deep inelastic lepton nucleon scattering

We analyze the recently measured first moment Г ^p (Q ²) of the structure functiong ₁ ^p (x,Q ²) obtained in deep inelastic scattering of polarized electrons from polarized protons. It is shown that the recent experimental result Г ^p (〈Q ²〉?10 GeV²)? 0.113 implies a polarized strange quark sea whose total polarization Δs(μ²)??0.22 is comparable to Δμ(μ²)?0.74 and Δd(μ²)??0.50 already at a typically hadronic scale μ=0(1 GeV). Most remarkably, the total polarization due to quark distributions Δμ(μ²)+Δd(μ²)+Δs(μ²) practically vanishes which implies that the spin of the proton is carried by the gluons, ΔG(μ²), and/or the angular momentum of the partons. This surprising conjecture can be experimentally tested with heavy quark production in longitudinally polarized lepton-nucleon scattering. In particular the (real) photon-gluon fusion process γg→Q \(\bar Q\) provides a rather unique measure of ΔG(x,Q ²).     

Large perturbative corrections to the Drell-Yan process in QCD

The total cross section $\text{d}\text{σ}\text{d}\text{Q}{}^2$ for the production of a muon pair of invariant mass Q²via the Drell-Yan mechanism and the Feynman x_F differential cross section $\text{d}{}^2\text{σ}\text{d}\text{Q}{}^2\text{d}\text{x}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>F</mtext>}}$ are calculated in QCD retaining all terms up to order α_s(Q². The calculations are performed using dimensional regularisation of the intermediary infrared and collinear singularities, but we present our results in a form independent of such details. The corrections to both these cross sections coming from radiative corrections to the lowest-order $\text{q}\text{q}$ annihilation diagram are found to be large at present values of Q² and S when the cross section is expressed in terms of parton densities derived from leptonproduction, for all Drell-Yan processes of practical interest. Numerical calculations are presented which show, for any reasonable parametrisation of the parton densities, that the neglect of higher-order terms in α_s(Q²) is not justifiable. The quark-gluon diagrams on the other hand give small corrections in this order and are only important for PP scattering.     

Electroproduction of η mesons in the region of the resonanceS 11(1535) at momentum transfers of 2 and 3 GeV2

We report on results of η-electroproduction in the resonance region at momentum transfers ofQ ²=2 GeV² and 3 GeV². The differential cross sections obtained in the region of the second nucleon resonance strongly support the dominance of theS ₁₁(1535) in this channel. The total transverse virtual photoproduction cross section of theS ₁₁(1535) shows a flatQ ²-dependence ～e ^?0.39· Q ². Comparison with the total resonant γ _v p cross section in the second resonance region aroundW=1.5 GeV shows that theD ₁₃(1520) production decreases much faster (～e ^?1.6· Q ²). The data are not compatible with the simple harmonic oscillator quark model with spin and orbit excitation of a quark only.     

Direct photon production beyond leading order in QCD

The significance of the quark-quark scattering process (quark+quark→quark+quark+photon) for the production of large-q_T real photons is discussed in the framework of perturbative QCD. To extract the finite contribution of this process to the differential cross section dσ/dy d²q_T (hadron 1+hadron 2→photon+anything) we define the gluon distribution and the quark-to-photon fragmentation function beyond the leading approximation. The calculations are performed consistently in the dimensional regularization scheme. Our numerical estimates show the resulting finite qq→qqγ contribution to be a small (order α_s/2π) correction in comparison with the basic QCD subprocesses.     

Leading logarithms of heavy quark masses in processes with light and heavy quarks

The matrix elements of operators containing both heavy quark (Q) and light quark (q) fields can contain large logarithms of the type ln(m_Q²/μ²), where μ is a typical QCD mass scale and m_Q is the heavy quark mass. We outline a method for summing leading logarithms of this type. We apply it to the decay constant f_M of a low lying pseudoscalar meson M with Q̄q flavor quantum numbers and predict the ratios of decay constants for mesons with different heavy flavors. We also apply it to a matrix element of a four-quark operator which is relevant for B⁰−B̄⁰ mixing.     

ψψ production at collider energies

We estimate ψψ production at collider energies in the framework of perturbative QCD. TheO(α _s ² )?(α _s ⁴ ) parton cross-sections, with the non-relativistic approximation for the heavy quark bound states, are used. This first insight into the characteristics of the kinematical distributions allows predictions on the predominance of the quark, gluon orB meson production mechanisms in particular kinematical regions.     

Higher-twist effects in deep-inelastic scattering

Non-scaling, non-factorizing 1/Q² contributions to cross sections are derived for semi-inclusive deep-inelastic scattering, ?N → ?′πX. These higher twist terms are dominant at large z = p_π · p_N/Q · p_N. They provide unusual (1 ? y) terms in the cross section. as well as asymmetries in the azimuthal angle dependence. Calculations are also presented for the quark to pion fragmentation function D_π(z, Q²).     

Measurements of elastic scattering in alpha-alpha and alpha-proton collisions at the CERN intersecting storage rings

We measured the elastic scattering of $\text{αα}\text{at}\text{s}\text{= 126}\text{GeV}$ and of αp at $\text{s}\text{= 89}\text{GeV}$. For αα, the differential cross section dσ/dt has a diffractive pattern minima at |t| = 0.10 and 0.38 GeV². At small |t| = 0.05?0.07 GeV², this cross section behaves like exp[(100 ± 10) t]. Extrapolating a fit to the data to the optical point, we obtained for the total cross section α_tot(αα) = 250 ± 50 mb and an integrated elastic cross section σ_e1(αα) = 45 ± mb. Another method of estimating σ_tot(αα), based on measuring the interaction rate, yielded 295 ± 40 mb. For αp, dσ/dt has aminimum at |t| = 0.20 GeV², and for 0.05 < |t| < 0.18 GeV² behaves like exp[(41 ± 2) t]. Extrapolating this slope to |t| = 0, we found σ_tot(αp) = 130 ± 20 and σ_e1(αp) = 20 ± 4mb. Results on pp elastic scattering at $\text{s}\text{= 63}\text{GeV}$ agree with previous ISR experiments.     

The total cross section for the production of heavy quarks in hadronic collisions

We present the results of a full calculation of the QCD O(α_S³) radiative corrections to the total cross section for the production of a heavy quark pair. We find large contributions for parton subenergies near threshold and well above threshold. The implications for the production of top and bottom quarks at collider energies are discussed.     

Forward-backward asymmetry of hadroproduced heavy quarks in QCD

It has been argued that higher order 2→3 O(α_s³ QCD processes play an important role in the hadroproduction of heavy quarks. We propose forward-backward or charge conjugation asymmetry as a distinctive signature of the higher-order QCS production mechanism. We analyse the physical origin of the asymmetries and show that observed forward-backward asymmetries for the heavy quark or decay lepton are 5% or less for realistic experimental conditions. Observation of asymmetries in excess of our calculated values would signal the production of heavy quarks via unconventional mechanisms.     

Two-photon exchange in p⊆)p→ℓ+ℓ−X and a comparison with QCD

A thorough study of lepton-pair production from two-photon annihilation in p?)p collisions is presented. The differential cross section is calculated over a large range of energies (27?√s?800 GeV as a function of the dilepton mass M as well as the dilepton transverse momentum Q_T and the Feynman variable x_F. No kinematical approximations (such as the equivalent photon approximation) are made. For Q_T ≈ 0 the two-photon mechanism represents an important fraction of the pp→e⁺e^?X cross section already at ISR energies, whereas at ISABELLE energies it dramatically dominates in the interval 0?Q_T?1 GeV. At ISR energies these conclusions follow from a direct comparison of the two-photon contribution with pp→e⁺e^?X data. For the ISABELLE energy range the expected O(α_s) QCD contribution to pp→?⁺?^?X, corrected for soft gluon radiation to all orders (in leading bilogarithmic approximation), was taken as a reference. At larger Q_T and ISR energies the γγ contribution is negligible, whereas at √s = 800 GeV γγ/QCD? 10–20% almost everywhere. Furthermore, two-photon candidate events from the ISR are shown to be in reasonable agreement with theory. A decomposition of the γγ cross section into contributions from both proton vertices being elastic, inelastic and of mixed configuration is given. The results provide important clues for a future isolation of the two-photon mechanism.     

Two-loop QCD corrections to top quark width

We present O(α_s²) corrections to the decay t → bW in the limit of a very large top quark mass, m_t ⪢ m_W. We find that the O(α_s²) effects decrease the top quark decay width Γ_t by about 2%: Γ_t = Γ₀ (1 − 0.8α_t (m_t) − 1.7α_s²). The complete corrections are smaller by about 24% than their estimate based on the BLM effects O(α_s²). We explain how to compute a new type of diagrams which contribute to Γ(t → bW) at the O(α_s²) level.     

Production of a charmed-meson pair in photon-photon interaction

The cross section for the exclusive production of a pair of charmed mesons in photon-photon interaction is calculated on the basis of the constituent model. The resulting predictions are compared with the predictions of heavy-quark effective theory. It is shown that the light valence quark of the D meson plays a significant role not only in hadronization but also in the process leading to the production of a heavy c quark. Moreover, it is shown that, because of the strong interaction of a primary photon field with the charge of a light quark, a similar situation persists even in the limit m _Q → ∞, whence it follows that the application of heavy-quark effective theory to the case of photon-photon interaction is incorrect, since one of the dominant mechanisms of the production of heavy mesons is disregarded in this case.     

Remarks on optimized predictions for the Drell-Yan process

We discuss the optimization of the Drell-Yan pair production cross section calculated atO(α _s ) and compare it with theO(α _s ² ) results of van Neerven et al. It is shown that the optimized predictions do agree analytically with the latter calculation near the phase space boundary. They also provide a good numerical approximation wherever the stability equations have a solution.     

Production of ultraheavyS-state bound statesη Q (0− +) andψ(1−−) in multi-TeV collider energies

We study the Higgs-boson exchange interaction in ultraheavys-state bound statesη _Q (0^{? +}) and ψ(1^??) composed of ultraheavy quarksQ. Owing to the strong Higgs-ultraheavy quark interaction, the production of such bound states is hugely enhanced in multi-TeV collider energies over the case of bound states via gluon exchange alone.     

Heavy flavor production at high energyep colliders

The total production rates for heavy quark pairs due to gauge boson fusion processes at high energyep colliders are evaluated. At HERA,b \(\bar t\) production dominates overt \(\bar t\) production form _t ≧60 GeV and is observable up tom _t ?80(90)GeV where the number of expectedb \(\bar t\) events is about 15(10) for ∝L=200pb^?1. Including the contributions fromep→WX→btX the total number of expectedbt events amounts to about 50 events form _t ?80GeV. The influence of thresholds for heavy quark pair production is also studied for the relevant structure functionsF _i (x,Q ²) and shown to contribute to the measured scaling violations. All these effects are sensitive to the heavy quark massesand to the shape of the gluon distribution which can thus be tested experimentally by analyzing heavy quark pair signals.     

SU(2N f) ⊗O(3) light diquark symmetry and current-induced heavy baryon transition form factors

We study the current-induced bottom baryon to charm baryon transitions in the Heavy Quark Symmetry limit asm _q→∞. Our discussion involvess-wave tos-wave as well ass-wave top-wave transitions. Using a constituent quark model picture for the light diquark system with an underlyingSU(2N _f)?O(3) symmetry and the heavy quark symmetry we arrive at a number of new predictions for the reduced form factors that describe these transitions.     

Laser-rf double-resonance hyperfine structure measurements of the metastable 3d 4s 1 D 2 state of43Ca

The hyperfine structure of the (3(d 4s)¹ D ₂metastable state of⁴³Ca has been measured using theABMR-LIRF method (atomic beam magnetic resonance, detected by laser induced resonance fluorescence). The measurements yielded for the magnetic dipole and electric quadrupole constantsA=?17.650(2) MHz andB=?4.642(12) MHz, respectively. From the measuredB factor the spectroscopic electric quadrupole moment (uncorrected for shielding effects) has been calculated to beQ(⁴³Ca)=?0.062(12) barn. In addition, isotope shifts in the lines (3d 4s)¹ D ₂(3d 4p)¹ F ₃ ⁰ and (3d 4s)¹ D ₂(4s 5p)¹ p ₁ ⁰ for the stable calcium isotopes have been obtained by high resolution laser spectroscopy.     

Heavy-light meson spectroscopy and Regge trajectories in the relativistic quark model

The masses of the ground, orbitally and radially excited states of heavy-light mesons are calculated within the framework of the QCD-motivated relativistic quark model based on the quasipotential approach. Both light (q=u,d,s) and heavy (Q=c,b) quarks are treated fully relativistically without application of the heavy-quark 1/m _Q expansion. The Regge trajectories in the (M ²,J) and (M ²,n _r ) planes are investigated and their parameters are obtained. The results are in good agreement with available experimental data except for the masses of the anomalous $D^{*}_{s0}(2317)$ , D _s1(2460) and $D_{sJ}^{*}(2860)$ states.