Abstract: The branching ratios of K- absorption in nuclear matter are theoretically investigated in order to understand the mechanism of K- absorption into nuclei. For this purpose mesonic and nonmesonic absorption potentials are evaluated as functions of nuclear density, the kaon momentum, and energy from one- and two-body K- self-energy, respectively. By using a chiral unitary approach for the s-wave (K) over bar N amplitude we find that both the mesonic and nonmesonic absorption potentials are dominated by the Lambda(1405) contributions. The fraction of the mesonic and nonmesonic absorptions are evaluated to be respectively about 70% and 30% at the saturation density almost independently of the kaon momentum. We also observe different behavior of the branching ratios to pi(+)Sigma(-) and pi(-)Sigma(+) channels in mesonic absorption due to the interference between Lambda(1405) and the I = 1 nonresonant background, which is consistent with experimental results. The nonmesonic absorption ratios [Lambda p]/[Sigma(0)p] and [Lambda n]/[Sigma(0)n] are about unity while [Sigma(+)n]/[Sigma(0)p] and [Sigma(-) p]/[Sigma(0)n] are about 2 due to the Lambda(1405) dominance in absorption. Taking into account the kaon momenta and energies, the absorption potentials become weaker due to the downward shift of the initial K- N two-body energy, but this does not drastirally change the nonmesonic fraction. The Sigma(1385) contribution in the p-wave (K) over bar N amplitude is examined and found to be very small compared to the Lambda(1405) contribution in slow K- absorption.

Abstract: Background: The Gamow-Teller response of Ar-40 is important for the use of liquid argon as a medium for neutrino detection. An ambiguity about the Gamow-Teller strength for the excitation of 1(+) states at 2290 and 2730 keV in K-40 results in a significant uncertainty for neutrino capture rates. This ambiguity is caused by the large discrepancy observed between strengths extracted from Ar-40(p, n) charge-exchange data and the transition strengths for the analog transitions studied in the beta decay of Ti-40. Purpose: This study was aimed at resolving the ambiguity between the results from the Ar-40(p, n) charge-exchange and Ti-40 beta-decay data. Method: Shell-model calculations in the sd-pf shell with a new interaction (WBMB-C) were used to study differences between the structure of the transitions from Ar-40 and Ti-40. Distorted-wave Born approximation reaction calculations were used to investigate uncertainties in the extraction of Gamow-Teller strength from the Ar-40(p, n) data. New high-resolution data for the Ar-40(He-3,t) reaction were used to gain further insight into the charge-exchange reaction mechanism and to provide more information to test the validity of the shell-model calculations. Results: The shell-model calculations showed that interference between amplitudes associated with pf and sd components to the low-lying Gamow-Teller transitions, in combination with a difference in Coulomb energy shifts for Ar-40 and Ti-40, can produce the differences on the scale of those observed between the Ar-40 charge-exchange and Ti-40 beta-decay data. In combination with the difference in nuclear penetrability of the (p, n) and (He-3,t) probes, the different contributions from amplitudes associated with transitions in the pf and sd shells are likely also responsible for the observed discrepancy between the ratio of the cross sections for the low-lying 1(+) states in the Ar-40(p, n) and Ar-40(He-3,t) data. Conclusions: On the basis of this study, it is recommended to use Gamow-Teller strengths extracted from the Ar-40(p, n) data, not the Ti-40 beta-decay data, for the calculation of neutrino capture rates. Further theoretical studies are required to achieve a consistent quantitative description for the energy differences between low-lying 1(+) states in K-40 and Sc-40 and the experimentally observed Gamow-Teller strengths.

Abstract: We discuss the contributions to the equation of state for the NlLO Skyrme pseudopotential (l = 2,3). We show that by adding fourth- and sixth-order gradient terms, it is possible to fairly reproduce the spin/isospin decomposition of an equation of state obtained from ab initio methods. Moreover, by inspecting the partial-wave decomposition of the equation of state, we show for the first time a possible way to add explicit constraints on the sign of the tensor terms of the Skyrme interaction.

Abstract: In an experiment with the RIKEN projectile fragment separator called BigRIPS at the RIKEN Nishina Center, the fragmentation of a Kr-78 beam allowed the observation of new neutron-deficient isotopes at the proton drip line. Clean identification spectra could be produced and Se-63, Kr-67, and Kr-68 were identified for the first time. In addition, Ge-59 was also observed. Three of these isotopes, Ge-59, Se-63, and Kr-67, are potential candidates for ground-state two-proton radioactivity. In addition, the isotopes Ge-58, Se-62, and Kr-66 were also sought but without success. The present experiment also allowed the determination of production cross sections for some of the most exotic isotopes. These measurements confirm the trend already observed that the empirical parametrization of fragmentation cross sections, EPAX, significantly overestimates experimental cross sections in this mass region.

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.