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We propose a model for the quark-antiquark interaction in Minkowski space using the Covariant Spectator Theory. We show that with an equal-weighted scalar-pseudoscalar structure for the confining part of our interaction kernel the axial-vector Ward-Takahashi identity is preserved and our model complies with the Adler-zero constraint for pi-pi-scattering imposed by chiral symmetry.
Roles of turbulence in the context of magnetic reconnection are investigated with special emphasis on the mutual interaction between flow (large-scale inhomogeneous structure) and turbulence. In order to evaluate the effective transport due to turbulence, in addition to the intensity information of turbulence represented by the turbulent energy, the structure information represented by pseudoscalar statistical quantities (helicities) is important. On the basis of the evolution equation, mechanisms that provide turbulence with cross helicity are presented. Magnetic-flux freezing in highly turbulent media is considered with special emphasis on the spatial distribution of the turbulent cross helicity. The cross-helicity effects in the context of magnetic reconnection are also investigated. It is shown that the large-scale flow and magnetic-field configurations favorable for the cross-helicity generation is compatible with the fast reconnection. Difference between the spatial distributions of the turbulent MHD energy and cross helicity plays an essential role for localizing the reconnection region. In this sense, turbulence and large-scale structures promote magnetic reconnection mediated by the turbulent cross helicity.
We report on the calculation of the matrix elements of nucleon to pseudoscalar decay through a three quark operator, a part of the low-energy, four-fermion, baryon-number-violating operator originating from grand unified theories. The direct calculation of the form factors using domain-wall fermions on the lattice, incorporating the u, d and s sea-quarks effects yields the results with all the relevant systematic uncertainties controlled for the first time.
We present the results of our recent analysis of the meson-photon transition form factors F{sub P{gamma}}(Q{sup 2}) for the pseudoscalar mesons P {pi}{sup 0},{eta},{eta} Prime ,{eta}{sub c}, using the local-duality version of QCD sum rules.
The strong coupling constants of the heavy spin-1/2 and spin-3/2 baryons with light pseudoscalar and vector mesons are calculated in the framework of the light cone QCD sum rules. Using the symmetry arguments, some structure independent relations among different correlation functions are obtained. It is shown that all possible transitions are described by only one invariant function, whose explicit expression is structure dependent.
We formulate an extended linear {sigma} model of a quarkonia nonet and a tetraquark nonet as well as a complex iso-singlet (glueball) field to study the low-lying scalar meson. Chiral symmetry and U{sub A}(1) symmetry and their breaking play important role to shape the scalar meson spectrum in our work. Based on our study we will comment on what may be the mass of the lowest possible scalar and pseudoscalar glueball states. We will also discuss on what may be the nature of the sigma or f{sub 0}(600) meson.
The effect of pions on the nuclear shell structure is analyzed in a relativistic Hartree-Fock approximation (RHFA). The Lagrangian includes, in particular, a mixture of {pi}N pseudoscalar (PS) and pseudovector (PV) couplings, self-interactions of the scalar field {sigma} and a {sigma} - {pi} interaction that dresses pions with an effective mass (m*{sub {pi}}). It is found that an increase of m*{sub {pi}} strongly reduces the unrealistic effect of pions, keeping roughly unchanged their contribution to the total binding energy.
The structure of the scalar mesons has been a subject of debate for many decades. In this work we look for qq states among the physical resonances using an extended Linear Sigma Model that contains scalar, pseudoscalar, vector, and axial-vector mesons both in the non-strange and strange sectors. We perform global fits of meson masses, decay widths and amplitudes in order to ascertain whether the scalar qq states are below or above 1 GeV. We find the scalar states above 1 GeV to be preferred as qq states.
We discuss the feasibility of a weak charged current experiment using a low energy electron beam. A first goal is to measure the Q{sup 2} dependence of the axial-vector form factor g{sub a}(Q{sup 2}). It can be measured model-independently and as robustly as for electromagnetic form factors from typical electron scattering experiments, in contrast to the methods used so far to measure g{sub a}(Q{sup 2}). If g{sub a}(Q{sup 2}) follows a dipole form, the axial mass can be extracted with a better accuracy than the world data altogether. The most important detection equipment would be a segmented neutron detector with good momentum and angular resolution that is symmetric about the beam direction, and covers a moderate angular range. A high intensity beam (100 uA) is necessary. Beam polarization is highly desirable as it provides a clean measurement of the backgrounds. Beam energies between 70 and 110 MeV are ideal. This range would provide a Q{sup 2} mapping of g{sub a} between 0.01 <Q{sup 2}< 0.04 GeV{sup 2}. 60 days of beam can yield 14 data points with a subpercent statistical and point to point uncorrelated uncertainties on each point. Such an experiment may also allow to measure the free-neutron magnetic form factor G{sub M}{sup n}. The experiment employs the usual techniques of electron-nucleon scattering and presents no special difficulty. Higher energy extensions are possible. They could yield measurements of g{sub a}(Q{sup 2}) up to Q{sup 2}=3 GeV{sup 2} and the possibility to access other form factors, such as the almost unknown pseudoscalar form factor g{sub P}. However, the experiments become much more challenging as soon as beam energies pass the pion production threshold.
Calculations have been carried out for C{sub 4}H{sub 4}X{sub 2} cyclic molecules, with X=O, S, Se, and Te, characterized by the presence of magnetic-field induced toroidal electron currents and associated orbital anapole moments. The orbital anapole induced by a static nonuniform magnetic field B, with uniform curl C=∇×B, is rationalized via a second-rank anapole magnetizability tensor a{sub αβ}, defined as minus the second derivative of the second-order interaction energy with respect to the components C{sub α} and B{sub β}. The average anapole magnetizability a{sup ¯} equals −χ{sup ¯}, the pseudoscalar obtained by spatial averaging of the dipole-quadrupole magnetizability χ{sub α,βγ}. It has different sign for D and L enantiomeric systems and can therefore be used for chiral discrimination. Therefore, in an isotropic chiral medium, a homogeneous magnetic field induces an electronic anapole A{sub α}, having the same magnitude, but opposite sign, for two enantiomorphs.
The weak η-meson production off the nucleon induced by (anti)neutrinos is studied at low and intermediate energies, the range of interest for several ongoing and future neutrino experiments. We consider Born diagrams and the excitation of N{sup *} (1535)S{sub 11} and N{sup *} (1650)S{sub 11} resonances. The vector part of the N-S{sub 11} transition form factors has been obtained from the MAID helicity amplitudes while the poorly known axial part is constrained with the help of the partial conservation of the axial current (PCAC) and assuming the pion-pole dominance of the pseudoscalar form factor.
We use a symmetry-preserving regularization method of ultraviolet divergences in a vector-vector contact interaction model for low-energy QCD. The contact interaction is a representation of nonperturbative kernels used Dyson-Schwinger and Bethe-Salpeter equations. The regularization method is based on a subtraction scheme that avoids standard steps in the evaluation of divergent integrals that invariably lead to symmetry violation. Aiming at the study of heavy-light mesons, we have implemented the method to the pseudoscalar π and K mesons. We have solved the Dyson-Schwinger equation for the u, d and s quark propagators, and obtained the bound-state Bethe-Salpeter amplitudes in a way that the Ward-Green-Takahashi identities reflecting global symmetries of the model are satisfied for arbitrary routing of the momenta running in loop integrals.
Molecular chirality has long been monitored in the frequency domain in the ultraviolet, visible, and infrared regimes. Recently developed time-domain approaches can detect time-dependent chiral dynamics by enhancing intrinsically weak chiral signals. Even-order nonlinear signals in chiral molecules have gained attention thanks to their existence in the electric dipole approximation, without relying on the weaker higher-order multipole interactions. We illustrate the optimization of temporal polarization pulse-shaping in various frequency ranges (infrared/optical and optical/X ray) to enhance chiral nonlinear signals. These signals can be recast as an overlap integral of matter and field pseudoscalars which contain the relevant chiral information. Simulations are carried out for second- and fourth-order nonlinear spectroscopies in L-tryptophan.
Axion-like particles (ALPs) belong to a class of new pseudoscalar particles that generically couple to photons, opening the possibility of oscillations from photons into ALPs in an external magnetic field. Having witnessed the turbulence of their magnetic fields, these oscillations are expected to imprint irregularities on a limited energy range of the spectrum of astrophysical sources. In this study, Chandra observations of the Hydra galaxy cluster are used to constrain the value of the coupling of ALPs to photons. We consider the conversion of X-ray photons from the central source Hydra A in the magnetic field of the cluster. The magnetic field strength and structure are well determined observationally, which adds to the robustness of the analysis. The absence of anomalous irregularities in the X-ray spectrum of Hydra A conservatively provides the most competitive constraints on the coupling constant for ALP masses below 7 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -12} eV at the level of g{sub {gamma}a} < 8.3 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -12} GeV{sup -1} at the 95% confidence level. Because of the specific phenomenology involved, these constraints actually hold more generally for very light pseudo-Nambu-Goldstone bosons.
Assuming that the mass peak at 750 GeV reported by the ATLAS and CMS Collaborations is due to a spin-0 particle that decays into two photons, we present two weakly-coupled renormalizable models that lead to different production mechanisms. In one model, a scalar particle produced through gluon fusion decays into the diphoton particle and a light, long-lived pseudoscalar. In another model, a $Z'$ boson produced from the annihilation of a strange-antistrange quark pair undergoes a cascade decay that leads to the diphoton particle and two sterile neutrinos. We show that various kinematic distributions may differentiate these models from the canonical model where the diphoton particle is directly produced in gluon fusion.
Within a nonrelativistic framework, spin is generally included as an intrinsic angular momentum. It is proposed here that consistent results can be obtained with a spatial wavefunction of an oriented complex exponential ${e}^{\mp {\boldsymbol{i}}\hat{{\bf{a}}}\varphi }$, where the bivector ${\boldsymbol{i}}\hat{{\bf{a}}}$ is written in terms of the pseudoscalar i = e x e y e z and the axis of rotation given by the unit vector $\hat{{\bf{a}}}$, which is generally an (effective) magnetic field direction (this can also be written as ${e}^{\mp i{\boldsymbol{\sigma }}\cdot \hat{{\bf{a}}}\varphi }$ in terms of the Pauli vector σ). The wavefunction is a multivector and not a complex scalar. The signs in the exponential correspond to the two directions of rotation around the axis. The transformation properties of these wavefunctions are given by the Pauli spinors. Finally, spin can be viewed as a zero-point rotation arising from the noncommutativity of the momentum and the vector potential.
In a previous work we investigated the propagation of fast moving charged particles in a spatially constant but slowly time dependent pseudoscalar background, such as the one provided by cold relic axions. The background induces cosmic rays to radiate in the low-energy spectrum. While the energy loss caused by this mechanism on the primary cosmic rays is negligible, we investigate the hypothetical detection of the photons radiated and how they could provide an indirect way of verifying the cosmological relevance of axions. Assuming that the cosmic ray flux is of the form J(E) ∼ E{sup −γ} we find that the energy radiated via this mechanism has a power spectrum k to the power of minus gamma minus 1 over 2 for proton primaries and k to the power of minus gamma over 2 for electron primaries, which dominate for low values of k where the effect is maximized. Unfortunately this radiation is shadowed by the synchrotron radiation background making the observation of this effect very difficult. Yet its detection would constitute direct evidence of the presence of a cold axion background.
In the recent years, the number of detected very high energy (VHE: E > 100 GeV) gamma-ray sources has increased rapidly. The sources have been observed at redshifts up to z = 0.536 without strong indications for the presence of absorption features in the energy spectra. Absorption is however expected due to pair-production processes of the propagating photons with the photon bath in intergalactic space. Even though this photon density is not well known, lower limits can be firmly set by the resolved emission from galaxy counts. Using this guaranteed background light, we investigate the behaviour of the energy spectra in the transition region from the optically thin to the optically thick regime. Among the sample of 50 energy spectra, 7 spectra cover the the range from optical depth τ < 1 to τ > 2. For these sources, the transition to τ > 2 takes place at widely different energies ranging from 0.4 TeV to 21 TeV. Consistently, in all of these sources, an upturn of the absorption-corrected spectrum is visible at this transition with a combined significance of 4.2 standard deviations. Given the broad range of energies and redshifts covered by the sample, source-intrinsic features are unlikely to explain the observed effect. Systematic effects related to observations have been investigated and found to be not sufficient to account for the observed effect. The pair-production process seems to be suppressed in a similar way as expected in the extension of the standard model by a light ( < neV) pseudoscalar (axion-like) particle.