Abstract: Neutral-current photon emission reactions with nucleons and nuclei are studied. These processes are important backgrounds for nu(mu) -> nu(e) ((nu) over bar (mu) -> (nu) over bar (e)) appearance oscillation experiments where electromagnetic showers instigated by electrons (positrons) and photons are not distinguishable. At intermediate energies, these reactions are dominated by the weak excitation of the Delta(1232) resonance and its subsequent decay into N gamma. There are also nonresonant contributions that, close to threshold, are fully determined by the effective chiral Lagrangian of strong interactions. In addition, we have also included mechanisms mediated by nucleon excitations (N*) from the second resonance region above the Delta(1232). From these states, the contribution of the D-13 N*(1520) turns out to be sizable for (anti) neutrino energies above 1.5 GeV. We have extended the model to nuclear targets taking into account Pauli blocking, Fermi motion, and the in-medium Delta resonance broadening. We present our predictions for both the incoherent and coherent channels, showing the relevance of the nuclear corrections. We also discuss the target mass dependence of the cross sections. This study is important to reduce systematic effects in neutrino oscillation experiments.

Abstract: We have applied a microscopic model for single photon emission in neutral current interactions on nucleons and nuclei to determine the number and distributions of such events at the Super-Kamiokande detector, for the flux and beam exposure of the T2K experiment in neutrino mode. These reactions represent an effectively irreducible background in electron-(anti) neutrino appearance measurements aimed at a precise measurement of mixing angle theta(13) and the CP violating phase. We have obtained a total number of photon events that is twice as large as the one from the NEUT event generator (version 5.1.4.2) used in the analysis of T2K data. Detailed comparisons of energy and angular distributions for the nu μand (nu) over bar μfluxes have also been performed.

Abstract: We study the Lambda(b) -> J/psi K-0 Lambda reaction considering both the K-0 Lambda interaction with its coupled channels and the J/psi Lambda interaction. The latter is described by taking into account the fact that there are predictions for a hidden-charm state with strangeness that couples to J/psi Lambda By using the coupling of the resonance to J/psi Lambda from these predictions, we show that a neat peak can be observed in the J/psi Lambda invariant mass distribution, rather stable under changes of unknown magnitudes. In some cases, one finds a dip structure associated to that state, but a signal of the state shows up in the J/psi Lambda spectrum.

Abstract: We review and extend the model derived in Garcia-Recio et al. [Phys. Rev. D 83, 016007 (2011)] to address the dynamics of the low-lying even-parity meson resonances. This model is based on a coupled-channels spin-flavor extension of the chiralWeinberg-Tomozawa Lagrangian. This interaction is then used to study the S-wave meson-meson scattering involving members not only of the pi octet, but also of the rho nonet. In this work, we study in detail the structure of the SU(6)-symmetry-breaking contact terms that respect (or softly break) chiral symmetry. We derive the most general local (without involving derivatives) terms consistent with the chiral-symmetry-breaking pattern of QCD. After introducing sensible simplifications to reduce the large number of possible operators, we carry out a phenomenological discussion of the effects of these terms. We show how the inclusion of these pieces leads to an improvement of the description of the J(P) = 2(+) sector, without spoiling the main features of the predictions obtained in the original model in the JP = 0(+) and J(P) = 1(+) sectors. In particular, we find a significantly better description of the I-G(J(PC)) =0(+)(2(++)), 1(-)(2(++)) and the I(JP)=1/2(2(+)) sectors, which correspond to the f(2)(1270), a(2)(1320), and K-2(*)(1430) quantum numbers, respectively.

Abstract: Assuming that the recently observed hidden-charm pentaquark state, P-c(4450), is of molecular nature as predicted in the unitary approach, we propose to study the decay of Xi(-)(b) -> J/psi K-Lambda to search for the strangeness counterpart of the P-c(4450). There are three ingredients in the decay mechanism: the weak decay mechanism, the hadronization mechanism, and the final state interactions in the meson-baryon system of strangeness S = -2 and isospin I = 1/2 and of the J/psi Lambda. All these have been tested extensively. As a result, we provide a genuine prediction of the invariant mass distributions where a strangeness hidden-charm pentaquark state, the counterpart of the P-c(4450), can be clearly seen. The decay rate is estimated to be of similarmagnitude as the Lambda(0)(b) -> J/psi K(-)p measured by the LHCb Collaboration.