Search

We investigate the $\phi$ meson nuclear transparency using some recent theoretical developments on the $\phi$ in medium self-energy. The inclusion of direct resonant $\phi N$-scattering and the kaon decay mechanisms leads to a $\phi$ width much larger than in most previous theoretical approaches. The model has been confronted with photoproduction data from CLAS and LEPS and the recent proton induced $\phi$ production from COSY finding an overall good agreement. The results support the need of a quite large direct $\phi N$-scattering contribution to the self-energy.

A dynamical estimate is given for the Boltzmann entropy of the Universe, under the simplifying assumptions provided by Newtonian cosmology. We first model the cosmological fluid as the probability fluid of a quantum-mechanical system. Next, following current ideas about the emergence of spacetime, we regard gravitational equipotentials as isoentropic surfaces. Therefore gravitational entropy is proportional to the vacuum expectation value of the gravitational potential in a certain quantum state describing the matter contents of the Universe. The entropy of the matter sector can also be computed. While providing values of the entropy that turn out to be somewhat higher than existing estimates, our results are in perfect compliance with the upper bound set by the holographic principle., Comment: 15 pages

Expressing the Schroedinger Lagrangian ${\cal L}$ in terms of the quantum wavefunction $\psi=\exp(S+{\rm i}I)$ yields the conserved Noether current ${\bf J}=\exp(2S)\nabla I$. When $\psi$ is a stationary state, the divergence of ${\bf J}$ vanishes. One can exchange $S$ with $I$ to obtain a new Lagrangian $\tilde{\cal L}$ and a new Noether current $\tilde{\bf J}=\exp(2I)\nabla S$, conserved under the equations of motion of $\tilde{\cal L}$. However this new current $\tilde{\bf J}$ is generally not conserved under the equations of motion of the original Lagrangian ${\cal L}$. We analyse the role played by $\tilde{\bf J}$ in the case when classical configuration space is a complex manifold, and relate its nonvanishing divergence to the inexistence of complex-analytic wavefunctions in the quantum theory described by ${\cal L}$., Comment: 6 pages

The classical thermostatics of equilibrium processes is shown to possess a quantum-mechanical dual theory with a finite-dimensional Hilbert space of quantum states. Specifically, the kernel of a certain Hamiltonian operator becomes the Hilbert space of quasistatic quantum mechanics. The relation of thermostatics to topological field theory is also discussed in the context of the emergent approach to quantum theory, where the concept of entropy plays a key role., Comment: 12 pages, refs. updated

The $\phi$-meson properties in cold nuclear matter are investigated by implementing resonant $\phi N$ interactions as described in effective approaches including the unitarization of scattering amplitudes. Several $N^*$-like states are dynamically generated in these models around $2$ GeV, in the vicinity of the $\phi N$ threshold. We find that both these states and the non-resonant part of the amplitude contribute sizably to the $\phi$ collisional self-energy at finite nuclear density. These contributions are of a similar strength as the widely studied medium effects from the $\bar K K$ cloud. Depending on model details (position of the resonances and strength of the coupling to $\phi N$) we report a $\phi$ broadening up to about $40$-$50$ MeV, to be added to the $\phi\to\bar K K$ in-medium decay width, and an attractive optical potential at threshold up to about $35$ MeV at normal matter density. The $\phi$ spectral function develops a double peak structure as a consequence of the mixing of resonance-hole modes with the $\phi$ quasi-particle peak. The former results point in the direction of making up for missing absorption as reported in $\phi$ nuclear production experiments., Comment: 17 pages, 2 figures

We study charm production in ultra-relativistic heavy-ion collisions by using the Parton-Hadron-String Dynamics (PHSD) transport approach. The initial charm quarks are produced by the PYTHIA event generator tuned to fit the transverse momentum spectrum and rapidity distribution of charm quarks from Fixed-Order Next-to-Leading Logarithm (FONLL) calculations. The produced charm quarks scatter in the quark-gluon plasma (QGP) with the off-shell partons whose masses and widths are given by the Dynamical Quasi-Particle Model (DQPM), which reproduces the lattice QCD equation-of-state in thermal equilibrium. The relevant cross sections are calculated in a consistent way by employing the effective propagators and couplings from the DQPM. Close to the critical energy density of the phase transition, the charm quarks are hadronized into $D$ mesons through coalescence and/or fragmentation. The hadronized $D$ mesons then interact with the various hadrons in the hadronic phase with cross sections calculated in an effective lagrangian approach with heavy-quark spin symmetry. The nuclear modification factor $R_{AA}$ and the elliptic flow $v_2$ of $D^0$ mesons from PHSD are compared with the experimental data from the STAR Collaboration for Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ =200 GeV and to the ALICE data for Pb+Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ =2.76 TeV. We find that in the PHSD the energy loss of $D$ mesons at high $p_T$ can be dominantly attributed to partonic scattering while the actual shape of $R_{AA}$ versus $p_T$ reflects the heavy-quark hadronization scenario, i.e. coalescence versus fragmentation. Also the hadronic rescattering is important for the $R_{AA}$ at low $p_T$ and enhances the $D$-meson elliptic flow $v_2$., Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, to be published in the Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on Strangeness in Quark Matter (SQM2015), 6-11 July 2015, JINR, Dubna, Russia

The width of the $\omega$ meson in cold nuclear matter is computed in a hadronic many-body approach, focusing on a detailed treatment of the medium modifications of intermediate $\pi\rho$ states. The $\pi$ and $\rho$ propagators are dressed by their selfenergies in nuclear matter taken from previously constrained many-body calculations. The pion selfenergy includes $Nh$ and $\Delta h$ excitations with short-range correlations, while the $\rho$ selfenergy incorporates the same dressing of its $2\pi$ cloud with a full 3-momentum dependence and vertex corrections, as well as direct resonance-hole excitations; both contributions were quantitatively fit to total photo-absorption spectra and $\pi N\to\rho N$ scattering. Our calculations account for in-medium decays of type $\omega N\to \pi N^{(*)}, \pi\pi N(\Delta)$, and 2-body absorptions $\omega NN\to NN^{(*)},\pi NN$. This causes deviations of the in-medium $\omega$ width from a linear behavior in density, with important contributions from spacelike $\rho$ propagators. The $\omega$ width from the $\rho\pi$ cloud may reach up to 200 MeV at normal nuclear matter density, with a moderate 3-momentum dependence. This largely resolves the discrepancy of linear $T$-$\varrho$ approximations with the values deduced from nuclear photoproduction measurements., Comment: 7 pages, 4 eps figures; v2: includes 3-mom dependence of width and additional discussion

The strongly coupled phase of Yang-Mills plasma with arbitrary gauge group is studied in a $T$-matrix approach. The existence of lowest-lying glueballs, interpreted as bound states of two transverse gluons (quasi-particles in a many-body set up), is analyzed in a non-perturbative scattering formalism with the input of lattice-QCD static potentials. Glueballs are actually found to be bound up to 1.3 $T_c$. Starting from the $T$-matrix, the plasma equation of state is computed by resorting to Dashen, Ma and Bernstein's formulation of statistical mechanics and favorably compared to quenched lattice data. Special emphasis is put on SU($N$) gauge groups, for which analytical results can be obtained in the large-$N$ limit, and predictions for a $G_2$ gauge group are also given within this work., Comment: Fig. 4 corrected and references added

The strongly coupled phase of Yang-Mills plasma with gauge group SU(3) is studied in a $T$-matrix approach. The existence of lowest-lying glueballs, interpreted as bound states of two transverse gluons (quasi-particles in a many-body setup), is analyzed in a non-perturbative scattering formalism with the input of lattice-QCD static potentials. The relevance of the singlet and the (colored) octet and 27 channels at finite temperature is discussed. We compute the equation of state of the system in Dashen, Ma and Bernstein's formulation of statistical mechanics and compare to quenched SU(3) lattice data. Further analysis for the general case of SU(N) is envisaged., Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, Proceedings (PoS) of QNP 2012, April 16-20, 2012, Ecole Polytechnique, Palaiseau, Paris

The properties of strange mesons ($K$, $\bar K$ and $\bar K^*$) in dense matter are studied using a unitary approach in coupled channels for meson-baryon scattering. The kaon-nucleon interaction incorporates $s$- and $p$-wave contributions within a chiral model whereas the interaction of $\bar K^*$ with nucleons is obtained in the framework of the local hidden gauge formalism. The in-medium solution for the scattering amplitude accounts for Pauli blocking effects, mean-field binding on baryons, and meson self-energies. We obtain the $K$, $\bar K$ and $\bar K^*$ (off-shell) spectral functions in the nuclear medium and study their behaviour at finite density, temperature and momentum. We also analyze the energy weighted sum rules of the kaon propagator as a quality test of model calculations. We finally estimate the transparency ratio of the $\gamma A \to K^+ K^{*-} A^\prime$ reaction, which we propose as a feasible scenario at present facilities to detect in-medium modifications of the $\bar K^*$ meson., Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, invited seminar in New Frontiers in QCD 2010 -Exotic Hadron Systems and Dense Matter- (NFQCD2010), Kyoto, January 18-March 19, 2010

We study the structure and formation of the $\phi$ mesic nuclei to investigate the in-medium modification of the $\phi$-meson spectral function at finite density. We consider (${\bar p},\phi$), ($\gamma,p$) and ($\pi^-,n$) reactions to produce a $\phi$-meson inside the nucleus and evaluate the effects of its medium modifications to the reaction cross sections. We also estimate the consequences of the uncertainties of the ${\bar K}$ selfenergy in medium to the $\phi$-nucleus interaction. We find that it may be possible to see a peak structure in the reaction spectra for the strong attractive potential cases. On the other hand, for strong absorptive interaction cases with relatively weak attractions, it is very difficult to observe clear peaks and we may need to know the spectrum shape in a wide energy region to deduce the properties of $\phi$., Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures

The properties of $K$ and $\bar K$ mesons in nuclear matter at finite temperature are obtained from a chiral unitary approach in coupled channels which incorporates the $s$- and p-waves of the kaon-nucleon interaction. The in-medium solution accounts for Pauli blocking effects, mean-field binding on all the baryons involved, and $\pi$ and kaon self-energies. The $\bar K$ spectral function spreads over a wide range of energies, reflecting the melting of the $\Lambda (1405)$ resonance and the contribution of hyperon-hole components at finite temperature. In the $KN$ sector, the quasi-particle peak is considerably broadened with increasing density and temperature. We also study the energy weighted sum rules of the kaon propagator by matching the Dyson form of the propagator with its spectral Lehmann representation at low and high energies. The sum rules for the lower energy weights are fulfilled satisfactorily and reflect the contributions from the different quasi-particle and collective modes of the spectral function. We analyze the sensitivity of the sum rules to the distribution of spectral strength and their usefulness as quality tests of model calculations., Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, to appear in the proceedings of 10th International Conference on Hypernuclear and Strange Particle Physics (Hyp X), September 14th - 18th, 2009, Tokai, Ibaraki, Japan

We study the properties of strange and charm mesons in hot and dense matter within a self-consistent coupled-channel approach for the experimental conditions of density and temperature expected for the CBM experiment at FAIR/GSI. The in-medium solution at finite temperature accounts for Pauli blocking effects, mean-field binding of all the baryons involved, and meson self-energies. We analyze the behaviour in this hot and dense environment of dynamically-generated baryonic resonances together with the evolution with density and temperature of the strange and open-charm meson spectral functions. We test the spectral functions for strange mesons using energy-weighted sum rules and finally discuss the implications of the properties of charm mesons on the D_{s0}(2317) and the predicted X(3700) scalar resonances., Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures, invited talk at XXXI Mazurian Lakes Conference on Physics: Nuclear Physics and the Road to FAIR, August 30-September 6, 2009, Piaski, Poland

We present a theoretical study of the properties of the a1(1260) axial-vector resonance in a cold nuclear medium. In the vacuum, the a1(1260) resonance is generated dynamically from the interactions of a pseudoscalar and vector meson (rho pi and K barK*) in a coupled channel chiral unitary approach. Medium effects are implemented through the modification of the rho and pi propagators at finite nuclear density from well established microscopic many-body calculations. The in-medium pion spectral function accounts for the coupling to N-hole and Delta-hole excitations including short range correlations, whereas the in-medium rho incorporates modifications of its virtual pion cloud as well as direct resonance-hole excitations. The resulting in-medium a1(1260) exhibits significant broadening with increasing density as reflected in the rho pi scattering amplitude. The possible relation of our results with partial restoration of chiral symmetry in nuclear matter is discussed in terms of in-medium Weinberg sum rules., Comment: 22 pages, 9 figures, PTPTEX

We study energy weighted sum rules of the pion and kaon propagator in nuclear matter at finite temperature. The sum rules are obtained from matching the Dyson form of the meson propagator with its spectral Lehmann representation at low and high energies. We calculate the sum rules for specific models of the kaon and pion self-energy. The in-medium spectral densities of the K and anti-K mesons are obtained from a chiral unitary approach in coupled channels which incorporates the S- and P-waves of the kaon-nucleon interaction. The pion self-energy is determined from the P-wave coupling to particle-hole and Delta-hole excitations, modified by short range correlations. The sum rules for the lower energy weights are fulfilled satisfactorily and reflect the contributions from the different quasi-particle and collective modes of the meson spectral function. We discuss the sensitivity of the sum rules to the distribution of spectral strength and their usefulness as quality tests of model calculations., Comment: 19 pages, 6 figures; one figure added, enhanced discussion, version to appear in PRC

We study $\phi$-meson production in nuclei to investigate the in-medium modification of the $\phi$-meson spectral function at finite density. We consider (${\bar p},\phi$), ($\gamma,p$) and ($\pi^-,n$) reactions to produce a $\phi$-meson inside the nucleus and evaluate the effects of the medium modifications to reaction cross sections. The structures of the bound states, $\phi$-mesic nuclei, are also studied. For strong absorptive interaction cases, we need to know the spectrum shape in a wide energy region to deduce the properties of $\phi$., Comment: Talk given at EXA08, Vienna, September 2008. To be published in the Proceedings, Hyperfine Interactions. 6 pages, 6 figures

We present a study of the $\pi\pi$ scattering amplitude in the $\sigma$ and $\rho$ channels at finite temperature and nuclear density within a chiral unitary framework. Meson resonances are dynamically generated in our approach, which allows us to analyze the behavior of their associated scattering poles when the system is driven towards chiral symmetry restoration. Medium effects are incorporated in three ways: (a) by thermal corrections of the unitarized scattering amplitudes, (b) by finite nuclear density effects associated to a renormalization of the pion decay constant, and complementarily (c) by extending our calculation of the scalar-isoscalar channel to account for finite nuclear density and temperature effects in a microscopic many-body implementation of pion dynamics. Our results are discussed in connection with several phenomenological aspects relevant for nuclear matter and Heavy-Ion Collision experiments, such as $\rho$ mass scaling vs broadening from dilepton spectra and chiral restoration signals in the $\sigma$ channel. We also elaborate on the molecular nature of $\pi\pi$ resonances., Comment: 14 pages, 14 figures. Contribution to Hard Probes 2008, Illa de A Toxa, Spain, June 8th-14th 2008

We study the properties of $K$ and $\bar K$ mesons in nuclear matter at finite temperature from a chiral unitary approach in coupled channels which incorporates the $s$- and p-waves of the kaon-nucleon interaction. The in-medium solution accounts for Pauli blocking effects, mean-field binding on all the baryons involved, and $\pi$ and kaon self-energies. We calculate $K$ and $\bar K$ (off-shell) spectral functions and single particle properties. The $\bar K$ effective mass gets lowered by about -50 MeV in cold nuclear matter at saturation density and by half this reduction at T=100 MeV. The p-wave contribution to the ${\bar K}$ optical potential, due to $\Lambda$, $\Sigma$ and $\Sigma^*$ excitations, becomes significant for momenta larger than 200 MeV/c and reduces the attraction felt by the $\bar K$ in the nuclear medium.The $\bar K$ spectral function spreads over a wide range of energies, reflecting the melting of the $\Lambda (1405)$ resonance and the contribution of $YN^{-1}$ components at finite temperature. In the $KN$ sector, we find that the low-density theorem is a good approximation for the $K$ self-energy close to saturation density due to the absence of resonance-hole excitations. The $K$ potential shows a moderate repulsive behavior, whereas the quasi-particle peak is considerably broadened with increasing density and temperature. We discuss the implications for the decay of the $\phi$ meson at SIS/GSI energies as well as in the future FAIR/GSI project., Comment: 35 pages, 10 figures, 1 table

We attempt a unified treatment of heavy quarkonia and heavy-quark diffusion in the Quark-Gluon Plasma. Our approach is based on finite-temperature T-matrices with interaction potentials estimated from the heavy-quark internal energy computed in thermal lattice QCD (lQCD). In the charmonium sector S-wave bound states (J/\psi, \eta_c) survive up to temperatures of ~2 T_c, not inconsistent with constraints from euclidean correlation functions in lQCD. In the open-heavy flavor sector, the T-matrix interaction reduces heavy-quark diffusion substantially, leading to fair agreement with single-electron spectra at RHIC and suggestive for a small viscosity-to-entropy ratio close to T_c., Comment: 6 pages, 12 eps-figs, Proc. of 24. Winter Workshop on Nuclear Dynamics, South Padre Island (TX, USA), April 05-12, 2008

We study the evolution of heavy quarkonium states with temperature in a Quark Gluon Plasma (QGP) by evaluating the in-medium Q-\bar{Q} T-matrix within a reduced Bethe-Salpeter equation in both S- and P-wave channels. The underlying interaction kernel is extracted from recent finite-temperature QCD lattice calculations of the singlet free energy of a Q-\bar{Q} pair. The bound states are found to gradually move above the Q-\bar{Q} threshold after which they rapidly dissolve in the hot system. The T-matrix approach is particularly suited to investigate these mechanisms as it provides a unified treatment of bound and scattering states including threshold effects and the transition to the (perturbative) continuum. We apply the T-matrix to calculate Q-\bar{Q} spectral functions as well as pertinent Euclidean-time correlation functions which are compared to results from lattice QCD. A detailed analysis reveals large sensitivities to the interplay of bound and scattering states, to temperature dependent threshold energies and to the "reconstructed" correlator used for normalization. We furthermore investigate the impact of finite-width effects on the single-quark propagators in the QGP as estimated from recent applications of heavy-quark rescattering to RHIC data., Comment: 24 pages, 17 figures

We study the kaon nuclear optical potential including the effect of the \Theta^+ pentaquark in a self-consistent approach, starting from an extension of the Juelich meson-exchange potential as bare kaon-nucleon interaction. Significant differences between a fully self-consistent calculation and the low-density T\rho approximation are observed. Whereas te influence of the KN -> \Theta^+ absorption process is found to be negligible, due to the small \Theta^+ KN coupling, the two-nucleon mechanism (KNN -> \Theta^+ N), estimated from the two-meson coupling of the pentaquark, provides the necessary additional kaon absorption to reconcile with data the systematically low theoretical K^+ nucleus reaction cross sections., Comment: 3 pages, 6 figures, to appear in the proceedings of the IV International Conference on Quarks and Nuclear Physics (QNP06), Madrid, Spain, June 5-10, 2006

We study the evolution of heavy quarkonium states with temperature in a Quark-Gluon Plasma by evaluating an in-medium Q\bar{Q} T-matrix within a reduced Bethe-Salpeter equation in S- and P-wave channels. The interaction kernel is extracted from finite-temperature QCD lattice calculations of the singlet free energy of a Q\bar{Q} pair. Quarkonium bound states are found to gradually move across the Q\bar{Q} threshold after which they rapidly dissolve in the hot system. We calculate Euclidean-time correlation functions and compare to results from lattice QCD. We also study finite-width effects in the heavy-quark propagators., Comment: 3 pages, 6 figures, to appear in the proceedings of the IV International Conference on Quarks and Nuclear Physics (QNP06), Madrid, Spain, June 5-10, 2006

In the first part of the talk, we briefly review the problem of parton-energy loss and thermalization at the Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider and discuss how heavy quarks (charm and bottom) can help to resolve the existing experimental and theoretical puzzles. The second part of the talk is devoted to the properties of heavy quarkonia in the (strongly interacting) Quark-Gluon Plasma (sQGP) and their consequences for observables in heavy-ion collisions., Comment: Invited talk of first author at 2006 workshop on "Continuous Advances in QCD", Minneapolis, May 11-14, 2006; 14 pages, 17 figures and 1 style file

In these lectures I make an introduction to chiral unitary theory applied to the meson baryon interaction and show how several well known resonances are dynamically generated, and others are predicted. Two very recent experiments are analyzed, one of them showing the existence of two $\Lambda(1405)$ states and the other one providing support for the $\Lambda(1520)$ resonance as a quasibound state of $\Sigma(1385) \pi$. The use of chiral Lagrangians to account for the hadronic interaction at the elementary level introduces a new approach to deal with the modification of meson and baryon properties in a nuclear medium. Examples of it for $\bar{K}$, $\eta$ and $\phi$ modification in the nuclear medium are presented., Comment: Lectures given in the Workshop on Hadron Physics, Puri (India), march 2005

The $\pi\pi$ scattering amplitude in the $\sigma$-channel is studied at finite baryonic density in the framework of a chiral unitary approach which successfully reproduces the meson meson phase shifts and generates the $f_0$ and $\sigma$ resonances in vacuum. We address here a new variety of mechanisms recently suggested to modify the $\pi\pi$ interaction in the medium, as well as the role of the $s-$wave selfenergy, in addition to the $p-$wave, in the dressing of the pion propagators., Comment: 26 pages, 17 figures

In this talk I report on selected topics of hadron modification in the nuclear medium using the chiral unitary approach to describe the dynamics of the problems. I shall mention how antikaons, $\eta$, and $\phi$ are modified in the medium and will report upon different experiments done or planned to measure the $\phi$ width in the medium., Comment: 10 pgs, 3 figs. Invited talk in the Workshop on in Medium Hadron Physics, Giessen, Nov 2004

We study the binding energy and the width of the $\Theta^+$ in nuclei, associated to the $K N$ and $ K \pi N$ components. The first one leads to negligible contributions while the second one leads to a sizeable attraction, enough to bind the $\Theta^+$ in nuclei. Pauli blocking and binding effects on the $K N$ decay reduce considerably the $\Theta^+$ decay width in nuclei and medium effects associated to the $ K \pi N$ component also lead to a very small width, as a consequence of which one finds separation between the bound levels considerably larger than the width of the states., Comment: Presentation in the 10th International Baryon Conference BARYON04

We study the interaction of the $\Theta^+$ pentaquark with nuclear matter associated to the $KN$ decay channels and to the two meson cloud. We find that the potential is attractive and could be strong enough to lead to the existence of $\Theta^+$ nuclear bound states., Comment: Invited talk at the International Workshop on Strangeness Nuclear Physics,July 29-31, 2004,Osaka University, Osaka, Japan