Abstract: Analyses of the pion valence-quark distribution function (DF), u(pi) (x; sigma), which explicitly incorporate the behaviour of the pion wave function prescribed by quantum chromodynamics (QCD), predict u(pi) (x similar or equal to 1; sigma) similar to (1 – x)(beta(sigma)), beta(sigma greater than or similar to m(p)) > 2, where mp is the proton mass. Nevertheless, more than forty years after the first experiment to collect data suitable for extracting the x similar or equal to 1 behaviour of up, the empirical status remains uncertain because some methods used to fit existing data return a result for up that violates this constraint. Such disagreement entails one of the following conclusions: the analysis concerned is incomplete; not all data being considered are a true expression of qualities intrinsic to the pion; or QCD, as it is currently understood, is not the theory of strong interactions. New, precise data are necessary before a final conclusion is possible. In developing these positions, we exploit a single proposition, viz. there is an effective charge which defines an evolution scheme for parton DFs that is all-orders exact. This proposition has numerous corollaries, which can be used to test the character of any DF, whether fitted or calculated.

Abstract: Baryon-to-meson Transition Distribution Amplitudes (TDAs) encoding valuable new information on hadron structure appear as building blocks in the collinear factorized description for several types of hard exclusive reactions. In this paper, we address the possibility of accessing nucleon-to-pion (pi N) TDAs from (p) over barp -> e(+)e(-)pi(0) reaction with the future PANDA detector at the FAIR facility. At high center-of-mass energy and high invariant mass squared of the lepton pair q(2), the amplitude of the signal channel (p) over barp -> e(+)e(-)pi(0) admits a QCD factorized description in terms of pi N TDAs and nucleon Distribution Amplitudes (DAs) in the forward aid backward kinematic regimes. Assuming the validity of this factorized description, we perform feasibility studies for measuring (p) over barp -> e(+)e(-)pi(0) with the PANDA detector. Detailed simulations on signal reconstruction efficiency as well as on rejection of the most severe background channel, i.e. (p) over barp -> pi(+)pi(-)pi(0) were performed for the center-of-mass energy squared s = 5 GeV2 and s = 10 GeV2, in the kinematic regions 3.0 < q(2) < 4.3 GeV2 and 5 < q(2) < 9 GeV2, respectively, with a neutral pion scattered in the forward or backward cone vertical bar cos theta(pi 0)vertical bar > 0.5 in the proton-antiproton center-of-mass frame. Results of the simulation show that the particle identification capabilities of the PANDA detector will allow to achieve a background rejection factor of 5 . 10(7) (1 . 10(7)) at low (high) q(2) for s = 5 GeV2, and of 1 . 10(8) (6 . 10(6)) at low (high) q(2) for s = 10 GeV2, while keeping the signal reconstruction efficiency at around 40%. At both energies, a clean lepton signal can be reconstructed with the expected statistics corresponding to 2 of integrated luminosity. The cross sections obtained from the simulations are used to show that a test of QCD collinear factorization can be done at the lowest order by measuring scaling laws and angular distributions. The future measurement of the signal channel cross section with PANDA will provide a new test of the perturbative QCD description of a novel class of hard exclusive reactions and will open the possibility of experimentally accessing pi N TDAs.

Abstract: Calculations in unquenched QCD for the scalar glueball spectrum have confirmed previous results of Gluodynamics finding a glueball at similar to 1750 MeV. I analyze the implications of this discovery from the point of view of glueball-meson mixing in light of the experimental scalar sprectrum.

Abstract: fBased on the picture that the f(0)(1370), f(0)(1710), f(2)(1270), f(2)'(1525), (K) over bar (2)*(0) (1430) resonances are dynamically generated from the vector-vector interaction, we study the decays J/psi -> phi(omega) f(0)(1370)[f(0)(1710)], J/psi ->phi(omega) f(2)(1270)[f(2)'(1525)], and J/psi -> K*(0)(K) over bar (2)*(0) (1430) and make predictions for seven independent ratios that can be done among them. The starting mechanism is that the J/psi decays into three vectors, followed by the final state interaction of a pair of them. The weights of the different three vector primary channels are obtained from the basic assumption that the J/psi (c (c) over bar) is an SU(3) singlet. By means of only one free parameter we predict four ratios in fair agreement with experiment, make two extra predictions for rates yet unmeasured, and disagree on one data for which only upper bounds are reported. Further measurements are most welcome to complete the information required for these ratios which test the nature of these resonances as dynamically generated.

Abstract: In a recent paper the authors make a study on the determination of the S-matrix elements for scattering of particles in the infinite volume from the energy levels in a finite box for the case of multiple channels. The study is done with a toy model in 1+1 dimension and the authors find that there is some ambiguity in the sign of nondiagonal matrix elements, casting doubts on whether the needed observables in the infinite volume can be obtained from the energy levels of the box. In this paper I present an easy derivation, confirming the ambiguity of the sign and argue that this, however, does not put restrictions in the determination of observables.