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: We evaluate the s-wave interaction of pseudoscalar and vector mesons with both charm and beauty to investigate the possible existence of molecular BD, B* D, BD*, B* D*, B (D) over bar, B* (D) over bar, B (D) over bar*, or B* (D) over bar* meson states. The scattering amplitude is obtained implementing unitarity starting from a tree level potential accounting for the dominant vector meson exchange. The diagrams are evaluated using suitable extensions to the heavy flavor sector of the hidden gauge symmetry Lagrangians involving vector and pseudoscalar mesons, respecting heavy quark spin symmetry. We obtain bound states at energies above 7 GeV for BD (J(P) = 0(+)), B* D (1(+)), BD* (1(+)), and B* D* (0(+), 1(+,) 2(+)), all in isospin 0. For B (D) over bar (0(+)), B* (D) over bar (1(+)), B (D) over bar* (1(+)), and B* (D) over bar* (0(+), 1(+), 2(+)) we also find similar bound states in I = 0, but much less bound, which would correspond to exotic meson states with _ (b) over bar and (c) over bar quarks, and for the I = 1 we find a repulsive interaction. We also evaluate the scattering lengths in all cases, which can be tested in current investigations of lattice QCD.

Abstract: We study the eta and eta(') distribution amplitudes (DAs) in the context of a nonlocal SU(3)(L) circle times SUd(3)(R) chiral quark model. The corresponding Lagrangian allows us to reproduce the phenomenological values of pseudoscalar meson masses and decay constants, as well as the momentum dependence of the quark propagator arising from lattice calculations. It is found that the obtained DAs have two symmetric maxima, which arise from new contributions generated by the nonlocal character of the interactions. These DAs are then applied to the calculation of the eta-gamma and eta(')-gamma transition form factors. Implications of our results regarding higher twist corrections and/or contributions to the transition form factors originated by gluon-gluon components in the eta and eta(') mesons are discussed.