Abstract: We present results for the moments of observed spectra in inclusive semileptonic B-meson decays to charm hadrons (B) over bar -> X(c)l(-)(nu) over bar. Moments of the hadronic-mass and the combined mass-and-energy spectra for different minimum electron or muon momenta between 0.8 and 1: 9 GeV/c are obtained from a sample of 232 X 10(6) Gamma(4S) -> B (B) over bar events, collected with the BABAR detector at the PEP-II asymmetric-energy B-meson factory at SLAC. We also present a reevaluation of the moments of electron-energy spectra and partial decay fractions B((B) over bar -> X(c)e(-)(nu) over bar) for minimum electron momenta between 0.6 and 1: 5 GeV/c based on a sample of 51 X 10(6) Gamma(4S) -> B (B) over bar events. The measurements are used for the extraction of the total decay fraction, the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa (CKM) matrix element vertical bar V-cb vertical bar, the quark masses m(b) and m(c), and four heavy-quark QCD parameters in the framework of a Heavy-Quark Expansion (HQE). We find B((B) over bar -> X(c)l(-)(nu) over bar = (10.64 +/- 0.17 +/- 0.06)% and vertical bar V-cb vertical bar = (42.05 +/- 0.45 +/- 0.70) X 10(-3).

Abstract: In this article, we derive the integral equation that controls the momentum dependence of the effective gluon mass in the Landau gauge. This is accomplished by means of a well-defined separation of the corresponding “one-loop dressed” Schwinger-Dyson equation into two distinct contributions, one associated with the mass and one with the standard kinetic part of the gluon. The entire construction relies on the existence of a longitudinally coupled vertex of nonperturbative origin, which enforces gauge invariance in the presence of a dynamical mass. The specific structure of the resulting mass equation, supplemented by the additional requirement of a positive-definite gluon mass, imposes a rather stringent constraint on the derivative of the gluonic dressing function, which is comfortably satisfied by the large-volume lattice data for the gluon propagator, both for SU(2) and SU(3). The numerical treatment of the mass equation, under some simplifying assumptions, is presented for the aforementioned gauge groups, giving rise to a gluon mass that is a nonmonotonic function of the momentum. Various theoretical improvements and possible future directions are briefly discussed.

Abstract: Dynamical gluon mass generation has been traditionally plagued with seagull divergences, and all regularization procedures proposed over the years yield finite but scheme-dependent gluon masses. In this work we show how such divergences can be eliminated completely by virtue of a characteristic identity, valid in dimensional regularization. The ability to trigger the aforementioned identity hinges crucially on the particular Ansatz employed for the three-gluon vertex entering into the Schwinger-Dyson equation governing the gluon propagator. The use of the appropriate three-gluon vertex brings about an additional advantage: one obtains two separate (but coupled) integral equations, one for the effective charge and one for the gluon mass. This system of integral equations has a unique solution, which unambiguously determines these two quantities. Most notably, the effective charge freezes in the infrared, and the gluon mass displays power-law running in the ultraviolet, in agreement with earlier considerations.

Abstract: We propose an effective Lagrangian for the coupling of the neutral pion with gluons whose strength is determined by a low-energy theorem. We calculate the contribution of the gluonic components arising from this interaction to the pion transition form factor gamma*gamma* -> pi(0) using the instanton liquid model to describe the quantum chromodynamics vacuum. We find that this contribution is large and might explain the anomalous behavior of the form factor at large virtuality of one of the photons, a feature which was recently discovered by the BABAR Collaboration.

Abstract: Using a custom 3-Cerenkov ring fitter, we report cross sections for nu(mu)-induced charged-current single pi(0) production on mineral oil (CH2) from a sample of 5810 candidate events with 57% signal purity over an energy range of 0.5-2.0 GeV. This includes measurements of the absolute total cross section as a function of neutrino energy, and flux-averaged differential cross sections measured in terms of Q(2), mu(-) kinematics, and pi(0) kinematics. The sample yields a flux-averaged total cross section of (9.2 +/- 0.3(stat) +/- 1.5(syst)) X 10(-39) cm(2)/CH2 at mean neutrino energy of 0.965 GeV.