Abstract: Using a nonrelativistic constituent quark model in which the degrees of freedom are quarkantiquark and meson- meson components, we have recently shown that the Dd((*))K thresholds play an important role in lowering the mass of the c (S) over bar states associated with the physical D-s0(*)(2317) and D-s1(2460) mesons. This observation is also supported by other theoretical approaches such as latticeregularized QCD or chiral unitary theory in coupled channels. Herein, we extend our computation to the lowest P- wave Bs mesons, taking into account the corresponding J(P) = 0(+), 1(-) and 2(+) bottomstrange states predicted by the naive quark model and the BK and B* K thresholds. We assume that mixing with B-s((*))eta and isospin-violating decays to B-s((*))pi are negligible. This computation is important because there is no experimental data in the b (S) over bar sector for the equivalent j(q)(p) = 1/2(+) (D-s0(*)(2317), D-s1 (2460)) heavy-quark multiplet and, as it has been seen in the c (s) over bar sector, the naive theoretical result can be wrong by more than 100 MeV. Our calculation allows us to introduce the coupling with the D-wave B*K channel and to compute the probabilities associated with the different Fock components of the physical state.

Abstract: The low-lying energy levels of proton-rich Cu-56 have been extracted using in-beam gamma-ray spectroscopy with the state-of-the-art gamma-ray tracking array GRETINA in conjunction with the S800 spectrograph at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory at Michigan State University. Excited states in Cu-56 serve as resonances in the Ni-55(p,gamma)Cu-56 reaction, which is a part of the rp process in type-I x-ray bursts. To resolve existing ambiguities in the reaction Q value, a more localized isobaric multiplet mass equation (IMME) fit is used, resulting in Q = 639 +/- 82 keV. We derive the first experimentally constrained thermonuclear reaction rate for Ni-55(p,.) Cu-56. We find that, with this newrate, the rp processmay bypass the (56)Niwaiting point via the Ni-55(p,gamma) reaction for typical x-ray burst conditions with a branching of up to similar to 40%. We also identify additional nuclear physics uncertainties that need to be addressed before drawing final conclusions about the rp-process reaction flow in the Ni-56 region.

Abstract: In a well-established many-body framework, successful in modeling a great variety of nuclear processes, we analyze the role of the spectral functions (SFs) accounting for the modifications of the dispersion relation of nucleons embedded in a nuclear medium. We concentrate in processes mostly governed by one-body mechanisms, and study possible approximations to evaluate the particle hole propagator using SFs. We also investigate how to include together SFs and long-range RPA-correlation corrections in the evaluation of nuclear response functions, discussing the existing interplay between both type of nuclear effects. At low energy transfers (<= 50 MeV), we compare our predictions for inclusive muon and radiative pion captures in nuclei, and charge-current (CC) neutrino-nucleus cross sections with experimental results. We also present an analysis of intermediate energy quasi-elastic neutrino scattering for various targets and both neutrino and antineutrino CC driven processes. In all cases, we pay special attention to estimate the uncertainties affecting the theoretical predictions. In particular, we show that errors on the a,,sigma(mu)/sigma(e) ratio are much smaller than 5%, and also much smaller than the size of the SF+RPA nuclear corrections, which produce significant effects, not only in the individual cross sections, but also in their ratio for neutrino energies below 400 MeV. These latter nuclear corrections, beyond Pauli blocking, turn out to be thus essential to achieve a correct theoretical understanding of this ratio of cross sections of interest for appearance neutrino oscillation experiments. We also briefly compare our SF and RPA results to predictions obtained within other representative approaches.

Abstract: The previously introduced class of two-parametric phenomenological inflationary models in general relativity in which the slow-roll assumption is replaced by the more general, constant-roll condition is generalized to the case of f (R) gravity. A simple constant-roll condition is defined in the original Jordan frame, and exact expressions for a scalaron potential in the Einstein frame, for a function f (R) (in the parametric form) and for inflationary dynamics are obtained. The region of the model parameters permitted by the latest observational constraints on the scalar spectral index and the tensor-to-scalar ratio of primordial metric perturbations generated during inflation is determined.

Abstract: We provide a compact and unified treatment of power spectrum observables for the effective field theory (EFT) of inflation with the complete set of operators that lead to second-order equations of motion in metric perturbations in both space and time derivatives, including Horndeski and Gleyzes-Langlois-Piazza-Vernizzi theories. We relate the EFT operators in ADM form to the four additional free functions of time in the scalar and tensor equations. Using the generalized slow-roll formalism, we show that each power spectrum can be described by an integral over a single source that is a function of its respective sound horizon. With this correspondence, existing model independent constraints on the source function can be simply reinterpreted in the more general inflationary context. By expanding these sources around an optimized freeze-out epoch, we also provide characterizations of these spectra in terms of five slow-roll hierarchies whose leading-order forms are compact and accurate as long as EFT coefficients vary only on time scales greater than an e-fold. We also clarify the relationship between the unitary gauge observables employed in the EFT and the comoving gauge observables of the postinflationary universe.