Abstract: Gamow-Teller (GT) transitions are the most common weak interaction processes of spin-isospin (sigma tau) type in atomic nuclei. They are of interest not only in nuclear physics but also in astrophysics; they play an important role in supernovae explosions and nucleosynthesis. The direct study of weak decay processes, however, gives relatively limited information about GT transitions and the states excited via GT transitions (GT states); beta decay can only access states at excitation energies lower than the decay Q-value, and neutrino-induced reactions have very small cross-sections. However, one should note that beta decay has a direct access to the absolute GT transition strengths B(GT) from a study of half-lives, Q(beta)-values and branching ratios. They also provide information on GT transitions in nuclei far-from-stability. Studies of M1 gamma transitions provide similar information. In contrast, the complementary charge-exchange (CE) reactions, such as the (p, n) or ((3)He, t) reactions at intermediate beam energies and 0 degrees, can selectively excite GT states up to high excitation energies in the final nucleus. It has been found empirically that there is a close proportionality between the cross-sections at 0 degrees and the transition strengths B(GT) in these CE reactions. Therefore, CE reactions are useful tools to study the relative values of B(GT) strengths up to high excitation energies. In recent ((3)He, t) measurements, one order-of-magnitude improvement in the energy resolution has been achieved. This has made it possible to make one-to-one comparisons of GT transitions studied in CE reactions and beta decays. Thus GT strengths in ((3)He, t) reactions can be normalised by the beta-decay values. In addition, comparisons with closely related M1 transitions studied in gamma decay or electron inelastic scattering [(e, e')1, and furthermore with “spin” M I transitions that can be studied by proton inelastic scattering [(p, p')[ have now been made possible. In these comparisons, the isospin quantum number T and associated symmetry structure in the same mass A nuclei (isobars) play a key role. Isospin symmetry can extend our scope even to the structures of unstable nuclei that are far from reach at present unstable beam factories.

Abstract: We propose a generic recipe for deforming extremal black holes into nonextremal black holes and we use it to find and study the static non-extremal black-hole solutions of several N = 2, d = 4 supergravity models (SL(2, R)/U(1), (CP) over bar (n) and STU with four charges). In all the cases considered, the non-extremal family of solutions smoothly interpolates between all the different extremal limits, supersymmetric and not supersymmetric. This fact can be used to explicitly find extremal non-supersymmetric solutions also in the cases in which the attractor mechanism does not completely fix the values of the scalars on the event horizon and they still depend on the boundary conditions at spatial infinity. We compare (supersymmetry) Bogomol'nyi bounds with extremality bounds, we find the first-order flow equations for the non-extremal solutions and the corresponding superpotential, which gives in the different extremal limits different superpotentials for extremal black holes. We also compute the entropies (areas) of the inner (Cauchy) and outer (event) horizons, finding in all cases that their product gives the square of the moduli-independent entropy of the extremal solution with the same electric and magnetic charges.

Abstract: Based on a spin-flavor extension of chiral symmetry, a novel s-wave meson-meson interaction involving members of the rho nonet and of the pi octet is introduced, and its predictions are analyzed. The starting point is the SU(6) version of the SU(3)-flavor Weinberg-Tomozawa Lagrangian. SU(6) symmetry-breaking terms are then included to account for the physical meson masses and decay constants in a way that preserves (broken) chiral symmetry. Next, the T-matrix amplitudes are obtained by solving the Bethe-Salpeter equation in a coupled-channel scheme, and the poles are identified with their possible Particle Data Group counterparts. It is shown that most of the low-lying even-parity Particle Data Group meson resonances, especially in the J(P) = 0(+) and 1(+) sectors, can be classified according to multiplets of SU(6). The f(0)(1500), f(1)(1420), and some 0(+)(2(++)) resonances cannot be accommodated within this scheme, and thus they would be clear candidates to be glueballs or hybrids. Finally, we predict the existence of five exotic resonances (I >= 3/2 and/or vertical bar Y vertical bar = 2) with masses in the range of 1.4-1.6 GeV, which would complete the 27(1), 10(3), and 10(3)* multiplets of SU(3) circle times SU(2).

Abstract: We analyze the radiative pion decay pi(+) -> e(+) nu(e)gamma within nonlocal chiral quark models that include wave function renormalization. In this framework we calculate the vector and axial-vector form factors F-V and F-A at q(2) = 0 – where q(2) is the e(+) nu(e) squared invariant mass – and the slope a of F-V (q(2)) at q(2) -> 0. The calculations are carried out considering different nonlocal form factors, in particular those taken from lattice QCD evaluations, showing a reasonable agreement with the corresponding experimental data. The comparison of our results with those obtained in the (local) NJL model and the relation of F-V and a with the form factor in pi(0) -> gamma*gamma decays are discussed.

Abstract: The resolution of Dyson-Schwinger equations leads to the freezing of the QCD running coupling (effective charge) in the infrared, which is best understood as a dynamical generation of a gluon mass function, giving rise to a momentum dependence which is free from infrared divergences. We calculate the interquark static potential for heavy mesons by assuming that it is given by a massive One Gluon Exchange interaction and compare with phenomenologyical fits inspired by lattice QCD. We apply these potential forms to the description of quarkonia and conclude that, even though some aspects of the confinement mechanism are absent in the Dyson-Schwinger formalism, the spectrum can be reasonably reproduced. We discuss possible explanations for this outcome.