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3D printing technologies are currently enabling the fabrication of objects with complex architectures and tailored properties. In such framework, the production of 3D optical structures, which are typically based on optical transparent matrices, optionally doped with active molecular compounds and nanoparticles, is still limited by the poor uniformity of the printed structures. Both bulk inhomogeneities and surface roughness of the printed structures can negatively affect the propagation of light in 3D printed optical components. Here we investigate photopolymerization-based printing processes by laser confocal microscopy. The experimental method we developed allows the printing process to be investigated in-situ, with microscale spatial resolution, and in real-time. The modelling of the photo-polymerization kinetics allows the different polymerization regimes to be investigated and the influence of process variables to be rationalized. In addition, the origin of the factors limiting light propagation in printed materials are rationalized, with the aim of envisaging effective experimental strategies to improve optical properties of printed materials., Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures

The exclusive semileptonic decay Lambda_b -> Lambda_c + l nu_l is investigated including both radiative and first-order power corrections in the inverse heavy-quark mass, while the Isgur-Wise function is calculated within a light-front constituent quark model. It turns out that the dependence on the model parameters can be effectively constrained using recent lattice QCD results at low values of the recoil. Our final predictions for the exclusive semileptonic branching ratio, the longitudinal and transverse asymmetries, and the longitudinal to transverse decay ratio are: Br(Lambda_b -> Lambda_c + l nu_l) = (6.3 \pm 1.6) % |V_{bc} / 0.040|**2 \tau(\Lambda_b) / (1.24 ps), a_L = -0.945 \pm 0.014, a_T = -0.62 \pm 0.09 and R_L/T = 1.57 \pm 0.15, respectively. Moreover, the theoretical uncertainties both on a_L and the (partially integrated) R_L/T are found to be quite small and, therefore, the experimental determination of these quantities is a very interesting tool for testing the Standard Model and for investigating possible New Physics. In this respect the sensitivity to extract unique information both on the strength and phase of possible hadronic right-handed currents is illustrated., Comment: in Proceedings of the International Conference PANIC '99, Uppsala (Sweden), June 1999

A review of the hadron electromagnetic form factors obtained in a light-front constituent quark model, based on the eigenfunctions of a mass operator, is presented. The relevance of different components in the q-q interaction for the description of hadron experimental form factors is analysed., Comment: 6 pages, Latex, 3 Postscript figures included. Proceedings of "Nucleon 99", Frascati, June 1999. To appear in Nucl. Phys. A

We present an investigation of the Isgur-Wise form factor relevant for the semileptonic decay Lambda_b -> \Lambda_c + l nu_l performed within a light-front constituent quark model. Adopting different baryon wave functions it is found that the Isgur-Wise form factor depends sensitively on the baryon structure. It is shown however that the shape of the Isgur-Wise function in the full recoil range relevant for the Lambda_b -> \Lambda_c + l nu_l decay can be effectively constrained using recent lattice QCD results at low recoil. Then, the Lambda_b -> \Lambda_c + l nu_l decay is investigated including both radiative effects and first-order power corrections in the inverse heavy-quark mass. Our final predictions for the exclusive semileptonic branching ratio, the longitudinal and transverse asymmetries, and the longitudinal to transverse decay ratio are: Br(Lambda_b -> \Lambda_c + l nu_l) = (6.3 +/- 1.6) % |V_bc / 0.040|**2 ~ tau(Lambda_b) / (1.24 ps), a_L = -0.945 +/- 0.014, a_T = -0.62 +/- 0.09 and R_L/T = 1.57 +/- 0.15, respectively. Moreover, both the longitudinal asymmetry and the (partially integrated) longitudinal to transverse decay ratio are found to be only marginally affected by the model dependence of the Isgur-Wise form factor as well as by first-order power corrections; therefore, their experimental determination might be a very interesting tool for testing the SM and for investigating possible New Physics., Comment: revised version with inclusion of PQCD corrections and improved discussion of power corrections, to appear in Physical Review D

The momentum distributions of the constituent quarks inside the nucleon and the prominent electroproduced nucleon resonances are investigated in the two most sophisticated, available quark potential models, based respectively on the assumption of the valence + gluon dominance and on the exchange of the pseudoscalar Goldstone-bosons arising from the spontaneous breaking of chiral symmetry. It is shown that both models predict a large, similar content of high-momentum components, due to the short-range part of the interquark interaction, which affect the behaviour of both elastic and transition electromagnetic form factors at large values of the momentum transfer. The electromagnetic form factors are calculated within a relativistic approach formulated on the light-front, adopting a one-body current with constituent quark form factors. The results suggest that soft, non-perturbative effects can play a relevant role for explaining the existing data on elastic as well as transition form factors (at least) for Q**2 ~ 10 - 20 (GeV/c)**2., Comment: in Proc. of the Joint ECT*/JLAB Workshop on "N* Physics and non-perturbative QCD", ECT* (Italy), May 18-29, 1998

The effects of the exchanges of both pseudoscalar and vector mesons among constituent quarks on the mass spectra of light baryons are investigated, paying particular attention to the contribution of tensor and spin-orbit terms. It is shown that the latter ones heavily affect the calculated spectra at variance with the empirical observation of the weakness of the baryon spin-orbit splittings. The relativistic suppression of the strength of the interaction among light quarks is argued to be a possible way to reproduce the light-baryon mass spectra., Comment: to appear in the Proc. of the 3rd Int. Conf. on Quark Confinement and the Hadron Spectrum (CONFIII), JLab (Newport News, USA), June 7-12, 1998

The Drell-Hearn-Gerasimov sum rule for the nucleon is investigated within a relativistic constituent quark model formulated on the light-front. The contribution of the N - Delta(1232) transition is explicitly evaluated using different forms for the baryon wave functions and adopting a one-body relativistic current for the constituent quarks. It is shown that the N - Delta(1232) contribution to the sum rule is sharply sensitive to the introduction of anomalous magnetic moments for the constituent quarks, at variance with the findings of non-relativistic and relativized quark models. The experimental value of the isovector-isovector part of the sum rule is almost totally reproduced by the N - Delta(1232) contribution, when the values of the quark anomalous magnetic moments are fixed by fitting the experimental nucleon magnetic moments. Our results are almost independent of the adopted form of the baryon wave functions and only slightly sensitive to the violation of the angular condition caused by the use of a one-body current. The calculated average slope of the generalized sum rule around the photon point results to be only slightly negative at variance with recent predictions of relativized quark models., Comment: latex, 11 pp., 1 figure with epsfig.sty

The space-like elastic form factors of baryons containing a heavy quark are investigated within a light-front constituent quark model in the limit of infinite heavy-quark mass, adopting a gaussian-like ansatz for the three-quark wave function. The results obtained for the Isgur-Wise form factors corresponding both to a spin-0 and a spin-1 light spectator pair are presented. It is found that the Isgur-Wise functions depend strongly on the baryon structure, being sharply different in case of diquark-like or collinear-type configurations in the three-quark system. It is also shown that the relativistic effects lead to a saturation property of the form factors as a function of the baryon size. Our results are compared with those of different models as well as with recent predictions from QCD sum rules and lattice QCD simulations; the latter ones seem to suggest the dominance of collinear-type configurations, in which the heavy-quark is sitting close to the center-of-mass of the light quark pair., Comment: latex, 15 pp., 6 figures with epsfig.sty

The parameter-free predictions for the $N - P_{11}(1440)$ and $N - P_{33}(1232)$ electromagnetic transition form factors, obtained within our light-front constituent quark model using eigenfunctions of a baryon mass operator which includes a large amount of configuration mixing, are reported. The effects due to small components in the baryon wave functions, such as S'- and D-wave, are also investigated., Comment: to appear in the Proceedings of the International Workshop on Hadron Dynamics with the new DAPHNE and CEBAF facilities, Frascati, Italy, 11-14 November 1996

A parameter-free evaluation of the $N - P_{11}(1440)$ electromagnetic transition form factors is performed within a light-front constituent quark model, using for the first time the eigenfunctions of a mass operator which generates a large amount of configuration mixing in baryon wave functions. A one-body electromagnetic current, which includes the phenomenological constituent quark form factors already determined from an analysis of pion and nucleon experimental data, is adopted. For $Q^2$ up to few $(GeV/c)^2$, at variance with the enhancement found in the elastic channel, the effect of configuration mixing results in a significant suppression of the calculated helicity amplitudes with respect to both relativistic and non-relativistic calculations, based on a simple gaussian-like ansatz for the baryon wave functions., Comment: revised version to appear in Phys. Lett. B

The elastic and transition electromagnetic form factors of mesons are investigated within a light-front constituent quark model. The general formulae for the space-like matrix elements of the one-body component of the electromagnetic current, including both Dirac and Pauli form factors of the constituent quarks, are presented. Our results for the pion charge form factor and the $\pi \rho$ transition form factor are reported and compared with those obtained within various relativistic approaches in a range of values of the four-momentum transfer accessible to $CEBAF$., Comment: 5 pages as .uu encoded postscript file

We have evaluated nucleon and pion electromagnetic form factors using for the first time eigenfunctions of a light-front mass operator, reproducing a large set of energy levels, and constituent quark form factors in the one-body current. The comparison with the experimental data yields valuable information on the electromagnetic structure of light constituent quarks and on the different role played by their Dirac and Pauli form factors., Comment: 5 pages as .uu encoded postscript file

A parameter-free evaluation of the $N - \Delta$ electromagnetic transition form factors is carried out in a light-front constituent quark model, based on $N$ and $\Delta$ eigenstates of a mass operator which reproduces a large set of hadron energy levels. A one-body electromagnetic current, including the constituent quark form factors previously determined within the same approach from nucleon and pion experimental data, is used. Our prediction for the magnetic transition form factor is compared with the results both of phenomenological analyses of experimental data for the $\Delta$ electroproduction, and of an analysis which includes the effects of off-energy-shell $\pi - N$ final state interaction., Comment: 13 pages as .uu encoded postscript file; to appear in Phys. Lett. B

The form factors of the $\pi \rho$ and $\pi \omega$ radiative transitions are evaluated within a light-front constituent quark model, using for the first time the eigenfunctions of a light-front mass operator reproducing the meson mass spectrum and including phenomenological Dirac and Pauli quark form factors in the one-body electromagnetic current operator. The sensitivity of the transition form factors both to the meson wave functions and to the constituent quark form factors is illustrated. It is shown that the measurement of the $\pi \rho$ and $\pi \omega$ radiative transitions could help in discriminating among various models of the meson structure., Comment: 9 pages, latex, 4 figures available as separate .uu file, to appear in Phys. Lett. B

The charge form factor of $\pi$ and $K$ mesons is evaluated adopting a relativistic constituent quark model based on the light-front formalism. The relevance of the high-momentum components of the meson wave function, for values of the momentum transfer accessible to $CEBAF$ energies, is illustrated. The predictions for the elastic form factor of $\pi$ and $K$ mesons are compared with the results of different relativistic approaches, showing that the measurements of the pion and kaon form factors planned at $CEBAF$ could provide information for discriminating among various models of the meson structure., Comment: 8 pages, latex, 4 figures available as separate .uu file

Nucleon and pion electromagnetic form factors are evaluated in the spacelike region within a light-front constituent quark model, where eigenfunctions of a mass operator, reproducing a large set of hadron energy levels, are adopted and quark form factors are considered in the one-body current. The hadron form factors are sharply affected by the high momentum tail generated in the wave function by the one-gluon-exchange interaction. Useful information on the electromagnetic structure of light constituent quarks can be obtained from the comparison with nucleon and pion experimental data., Comment: 9 pages, latex, 4 figures available as separate .uu file

The electromagnetic form factors of the $\rho$ meson are evaluated adopting a relativistic constituent quark model based on the light-front formalism, and using a meson wave function with the high-momentum tail generated by the one-gluon-exchange interaction. The breakdown of the rotational covariance for the one-body component of the current operator is investigated and the sensitivity of the ratio of the $\rho$-meson form factors to the pion (charge) form factor to the spin-dependent component of the effective $q \bar{q}$ interaction is illustrated., Comment: 8 pages, latex file, 4 figures available as a separate .uu file

The high momentum components generated in the wave function of pseudoscalar mes* by the one-gluon-exchange interaction are investigated within a relativistic constituent quark model. Adopting the light-cone formalism, the sensitivity of the weak decay constant and the charge form factor to hard constituent quarks is illustrated., Comment: 11 pages and 5 figs. (to be requested), LaTeX, INFN-ISS 94/3. To appear in Physics Lett.B