Higgs production at next-to-next-to-leading order

We describe the calculation of inclusive Higgs boson production at hadronic colliders at next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO) in perturbative quantum chromodynamics. We have used the technique developed in ref. [4]. Our results agree with those published earlier in the literature.     

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.     

The process p¯↦γπwithin the handbag approach

We analyse the exclusive channel pˉ↦γπ⁰, assuming handbag dominance. The soft parts are parametrized in terms of CGLN amplitudes for the qˉ↦γπ⁰ transition and form factors for the pˉ↦qˉ ones; the latter represent moments of Generalized Distribution Amplitudes. We present a combined fit to Fermilab data from E760 taking simultaneously into account information from other exclusive reactions, especially from pˉ↦γγ data. Overall a nicely consistent picture emerges, such that one can hope, that our theoretical analysis will be reliable also for the kinematics of GSI/FAIR, which, hopefully, will provide much more precise and complete data. Consequently, data from this facility should improve our knowledge both on the proton-antiproton distribution amplitudes and the pion production mechanism.     

Hadron structure on the lattice and in the continuum

Hadron structure physics has in recent years reached a level of precision which allows for a change of perspective. Model-based arguments are often quite unreliable. However, meanwhile they can be more and more replaced by controlled and systematic QCD approaches. The story of the strange electric form factor, which provided much of the motivation for the PAVI Conference series provides a typical example to illustrate this statement. However, high-precision theory is technically very challenging and progress is, therefore, unpleasantly slow. This fact and the present status in general is illustrated by a few typical examples.     

Chiral perturbation theory for nucleon generalized parton distributions

We analyze the moments of the isosinglet generalized parton distributions H, E, , of the nucleon in one-loop order of heavy-baryon chiral perturbation theory. We discuss in detail the construction of the operators in the effective theory that are required to obtain all corrections to a given order in the chiral power counting. The results will serve to improve the extrapolation of lattice results to the chiral limit.     

Generalized parton distributions for the nucleon in chiral perturbation theory

We complete the analysis of twist-two generalized parton distributions of the nucleon in one-loop order of heavy-baryon chiral perturbation theory. Extending our previous study of the chiral-even isosinglet sector, we give results for chiral-even isotriplet distributions and for the chiral-odd sector. We also calculate the one-loop corrections for the chiral-odd generalized parton distributions of the pion.     

Partons and jets at the LHC

I review some issues related to short distance QCD and its relation to the experimental program of the large hadron collider (LHC) now under construction in Geneva.     

The QED vacuum polarization function at four loops and the anomalous magnetic moment at five loops

The anomalous magnetic moment of the muon is one of the most fundamental observables. It has been measured experimentally with a very high precision and on theory side the contributions from perturbative QED have been calculated up to five-loop level by numerical methods. Contributions to the muon anomalous magnetic moment from certain diagram classes are also accessible by alternative methods. In this paper we present the evaluation of contributions to the QED corrections due to insertions of the vacuum polarization function at five-loop level.     

First and second order quantum phase transitions in multi-band superconductors

In multi-band and inter-metallic materials superconductivity can be destroyed by applying external pressure in these systems. In many cases the critical temperature is driven continuously to zero, the superconducting to normal transition being associated with a superconducting quantum critical point (SQCP). In this paper we propose a model for this type of SQCP based on the increase of hybridization as pressure is applied in the material. We study a two-band superconductor with hybridization V between these bands. We use a BCS approximation and include both inter- and intra-band attractive interactions. We show that for negligible inter-band interactions, as hybridization increases there is a second order phase transition from a superconductor to a normal state at zero temperature at a critical value of the hybridization V_c. This SQCP can be reached by pressure, since this external parameter controls hybridization in the system. We also find discontinuous transitions at zero temperature and the appearance of a gapless superconducting (GS) phase in a certain range of hybridization in the case of inter-band interactions being dominant.     

Dimension-2 condensates, <Emphasis Type="Italic">ζ</Emphasis>-regularization and large- N<Subscript>c</Subscript> Regge models

Dimension-2 and -4 gluon condensates are re-analyzed in large-N_c Regge models with the ζ-function regularization which preserves the spectrum in any ˉq channel separately. We demonstrate that the signs and magnitudes of both condensates can be properly described within the framework.     

Low- x QCD physics from RHIC and HERA to the LHC

We present a summary of the physics of gluon saturation and non-linear QCD evolution at small values of the parton momentum fraction x in the proton and nucleus in the context of recent experimental results at HERA and RHIC. The rich physics potential of low-x studies at the LHC, especially in the forward region, is discussed and some benchmark measurements in pp, pA and AA collisions are introduced.     

Quantitative comparison of filtering methods in lattice QCD

We systematically compare filtering methods used to extract topological excitations (like instantons, calorons, monopoles and vortices) from lattice gauge configurations, namely APE-smearing and spectral decompositions based on lattice Dirac and Laplace operators. Each of these techniques introduces ambiguities, which can invalidate the interpretation of the results. We show, however, that all these methods, when handled with care, reveal very similar topological structures. Hence, these common structures are free of ambiguities and faithfully represent infrared degrees of freedom in the QCD vacuum. As an application we discuss an interesting power law for the clusters of filtered topological charge.     

Operator product expansion of inflationary correlators and conformal symmetry of de Sitter

We study the multifield inflationary models where the cosmological perturbation is sourced by light scalar fields other than the inflaton. The corresponding perturbations are both scale invariant and special conformally invariant. We exploit the operator product expansion technique of conformal field theories to study the inflationary correlators enjoying the symmetries present during the de Sitter epoch. The operator product expansion is particularly powerful in characterizing inflationary correlation functions in two observationally interesting limits, the squeezed limit of the three-point correlator and the collapsed limit of the four-point correlator. Despite the fact that the shape of the four-point correlators is not fixed by the symmetries of de Sitter, its exact shape can be found in the collapsed limit making use of the operator product expansion. By employing the fact that conformal invariance imposes the two-point cross-correlations of the light fields to vanish unless the fields have the same conformal weights, we are able to show that the Suyama–Yamaguchi inequality relating the coefficients _fNL$f_{\mathrm{NL}}$ of the bispectrum in the squeezed limit and _τNL${\tau }_{\mathrm{NL}}$ of the trispectrum in the collapsed limit also holds when the light fields are intrinsically non-Gaussian. In fact, we show that the inequality is valid irrespectively of the conformal symmetry, being just a consequence of fundamental physical principles, such as the short-distance expansion of operator products. The observation of a strong violation of the inequality will then have profound implications for inflationary models as it will imply either that multifield inflation cannot be responsible for generating the observed fluctuations independently of the details of the model or that some new non-trivial degrees of freedom play a role during inflation.     

Spectroscopic determination of the order parameter of coupled bilayers at =1

We report inelastic light scattering measurements of spin excitations on coupled electron bilayers with relatively large tunneling gaps at total filling factor ν_T=1. We show that the pseudospin polarization order parameter, where the pseudospin labels the occupation of symmetric and antisymmetric levels, can be determined from the energy of long wavelength spin excitations. Our experiments indicate that the order parameter in the quantum Hall ground state collapses at the incompressible–compressible phase transition. The latter is driven by decreasing the tunneling gap through the application of an in-plane magnetic field.     

Infrared gluon and ghost propagators from lattice QCD

We report on the infrared limit of the quenched lattice Landau gauge gluon and ghost propagators as well as the strong-coupling constant computed from large asymmetric lattices. The infrared lattice propagators are compared with the pure power law solutions from Dyson-Schwinger equations (DSE). For the gluon propagator, the lattice data is compatible with the DSE solution. The preferred measured gluon exponent being ∼0.52, favouring a vanishing propagator at zero momentum. The lattice ghost propagator shows finite-volume effects and, for the volumes considered, the propagator does not follow a pure power law. Furthermore, the strong-coupling constant is computed and its infrared behaviour investigated.     

The analysis of space–time structure in QCD vacuum II: Dynamics of polarization and absolute X-distribution

We propose a framework for quantitative evaluation of dynamical tendency for polarization in an arbitrary random variable that can be decomposed into a pair of orthogonal subspaces. The method uses measures based on comparisons of given dynamics to its counterpart with statistically independent components. The formalism of previously considered X-distributions is used to express the aforementioned comparisons, in effect putting the former approach on solid footing. Our analysis leads to the definition of a suitable correlation coefficient with clear statistical meaning. We apply the method to the dynamics induced by pure-glue lattice QCD in local left–right components of overlap Dirac eigenmodes. It is found that, in finite physical volume, there exists a non-zero physical scale in the spectrum of eigenvalues such that eigenmodes at smaller (fixed) eigenvalues exhibit convex X-distribution (positive correlation), while at larger eigenvalues the distribution is concave (negative correlation). This chiral polarization scale thus separates a regime where dynamics enhances chirality relative to statistical independence from a regime where it suppresses it, and gives an objective definition to the notion of “low” and “high” Dirac eigenmode. We propose to investigate whether the polarization scale remains non-zero in the infinite volume limit, in which case it would represent a new kind of low energy scale in QCD.     

带有2+1味道Wilson费米子的格点量子色动力学在有限温度、有限密度下的相变

利用格点规范理论研究了带有2＋1味道费米子的量子色动力学在有限密度及温度下的相变问题,研究了去禁闭相变与化学势和裸质量参数之间的依赖关系,并利用有限体积效应分析以及Monte Carlo模拟的演化序列所反映出的特点对相变的类型做了确认,给出了相结构图. 关键词： 格点量子色动力学 相变     

Present status of lattice QCD at nonzero T and μ

I review a few selected topics in lattice quantum chromodynamics, focusing more on the recent results. These include (i) the equation of state and speed of sound, (ii) J/ψ suppression, (iii) flavour correlations and (iv) the QCD phase diagram in the μ-T plane.