Abstract: Recently we presented a successful strategy to extract the position of the two Lambda ( 1405) poles from experimental photoproduction data on the gamma p -> K+pi(0)Sigma(0) reaction at Jefferson Lab. Following a similar strategy, we extend the previous method to incorporate also the isospin 1 component which allows us to consider in addition the experimental data on gamma p -> K+pi(+/-)Sigma(-/+). The idea is based on considering a production mechanism as model independent as possible and implementing the final state interaction of the final meson-baryon pair based on small modifications of the unitary chiral perturbation theory amplitudes. Good fits to the data are obtained with this procedure, by means of which we can also predict the cross sections for the K- p -> (K) over barN, pi Sigma, and pi Lambda reactions for the different charge channels. Besides the two poles found for the Lambda(1405) resonance, we discuss the possible existence of an isospin 1 resonance in the vicinity of the (K) over barN threshold.

Abstract: We present a coupled channel unitary approach to obtain states dynamically generated from the meson-baryon interaction with hidden charm, using constraints of heavy quark spin symmetry. As a basis of states, we use (D) over barB, (D) over bar *B states, with B baryon charmed states belonging to the 20 representations of SU(4) with J(P) = 1/2(+), 3/2(+). In addition we also include the eta N-c and J/psi N states. The inclusion of these coupled channels is demanded by heavy quark spin symmetry, since in the large m(Q) limit the D and D* states are degenerate and are obtained from each other by means of a spin rotation, under which QCD is invariant. The novelty in the work is that we use dynamics from the extrapolation of the local hidden gauge model to SU(4), and we show that this dynamics fully respects the constraints of heavy quark spin symmetry. With the full space of states demanded by the heavy quark spin symmetry and the dynamics of the local hidden gauge, we look for states dynamically generated and find four basic states that are bound, corresponding to (D) over bar Sigma(c), (D) over bar Sigma(c)*, (D) over bar*Sigma(c) and (D) over bar*Sigma*(c) decaying mostly into eta N-c and J/psi N. All the states appear in isospin I = 1/2, and we find no bound states or resonances in I = 3/2. The (D) over bar Sigma(c) state appears in J = 1/2 and the (D) over bar Sigma*(c) in J = 3/2; the (D) over bar*Sigma(c) appears nearly degenerate in J = 1/2, 3/2 and the (D) over bar*Sigma*(c) appears nearly degenerate in J = 1/2, 3/2, 5/2, with the peculiarity that in J = 5/2 the state has zero width in the space of states chosen. All the states are bound with about 50 MeV with respect to the corresponding (D) over barB thresholds, and the width, except for the J = 5/2 state, is also of the same order of magnitude. Finally, we discuss the uncertainties stemming from the expected breaking of SU(4) and the heavy quark spin symmetry.

Abstract: We extend the adiabatic regularization method to spin-1/2 fields. The ansatz for the adiabatic expansion for fermionic modes differs significantly from the WKB-type template that works for scalar modes. We give explicit expressions for the first adiabatic orders and analyze particle creation in de Sitter spacetime. As for scalar fields, the adiabatic method can be distinguished by its capability to overcome the UV divergences of the particle number operator. We also test the consistency of the extended method by working out the conformal and axial anomalies for a Dirac field in a Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker spacetime, in exact agreement with those obtained from other renormalization prescriptions. We finally show its power by computing the renormalized stress-energy tensor for Dirac fermions in de Sitter space.

Abstract: We present here bounds on neutrino masses from the combination of recent Planck cosmic microwave background (CMB) measurements and galaxy clustering information from the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey, part of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey-III. We use the full shape of either the photometric angular clustering (Data Release 8) or the 3D spectroscopic clustering (Data Release 9) power spectrum in different cosmological scenarios. In the Lambda CDM scenario, spectroscopic galaxy clustering measurements improve significantly the existing neutrino mass bounds from Planck data. We find Sigma m(v) < 0.39 eV at 95% confidence level for the combination of the 3D power spectrum with Planck CMB data (wi lensing included) and Wilkinson Microwave Anisoptropy Probe 9-year polarization measurements. Therefore, robust neutrino mass constraints can be obtained without the addition of the prior on the Hubble constant from Hubble Space Telescope. In extended cosmological scenarios with a dark energy fluid or with nonflat geometries, galaxy clustering measurements are essential to pin down the neutrino mass bounds, providing in the majority of cases better results than those obtained from the associated measurement of the baryon acoustic oscillation scale only. In the presence of a freely varying (constant) dark energy equation of state, we find Sigma m(v) < 0.49 eV at 95% confidence level for the combination of the 3D power spectrum with Planck CMB data (with lensing included) and Wilkinson Microwave Anisoptropy Probe 9-year polarization measurements. This same data combination in nonflat geometries provides the neutrino mass bound Sigma m(v) < 0.35 eV at 95% confidence level.

Abstract: The deep ocean is the largest and least known ecosystem on Earth. It hosts numerous pelagic organisms, most of which are able to emit light. Here we present a unique data set consisting of a 2.5-year long record of light emission by deep-sea pelagic organisms, measured from December 2007 to June 2010 at the ANTARES underwater neutrino telescope in the deep NW Mediterranean Sea, jointly with synchronous hydrological records. This is the longest continuous time-series of deep-sea bioluminescence ever recorded. Our record reveals several weeks long, seasonal bioluminescence blooms with light intensity up to two orders of magnitude higher than background values, which correlate to changes in the properties of deep waters. Such changes are triggered by the winter cooling and evaporation experienced by the upper ocean layer in the Gulf of Lion that leads to the formation and subsequent sinking of dense water through a process known as “open-sea convection”. It episodically renews the deep water of the study area and conveys fresh organic matter that fuels the deep ecosystems. Luminous bacteria most likely are the main contributors to the observed deep-sea bioluminescence blooms. Our observations demonstrate a consistent and rapid connection between deep open-sea convection and bathypelagic biological activity, as expressed by bioluminescence. In a setting where dense water formation events are likely to decline under global warming scenarios enhancing ocean stratification, in situ observatories become essential as environmental sentinels for the monitoring and understanding of deep-sea ecosystem shifts.