Abstract: The production rate and kinematics of photons produced in association with Z bosons are studied using 2 fb(-1) of p (p) over bar collision data collected at the Collider Detector at Fermilab. The cross section for p (p) over bar -> l(+)l(-)gamma + X ( where the leptons l are either muons or electrons with dilepton mass M-ll > 40 GeV/c(2), and where the photon has transverse energy E-T(gamma) > 7 GeV and is well separated from the leptons) is 4.6 +/- 0.2(stat) +/- 0.3 (syst) +/- 0.3 (lum) pb, which is consistent with standard model expectations. We use the photon E-T distribution from Z gamma events where the Z has decayed to mu(+) mu(-) ,e(+) e(-), or nu(+) nu(-) to set limits on anomalous (non standard model) trilinear couplings between photons and Z bosons.

Abstract: The total and differential cross sections for associated strangeness production in the pp -> pK(+) K(-)p and pp -> pK(+)pi(0)Sigma(0) reactions have been studied in a unified approach using an effective Lagrangian model. It is assumed that both the K(-)p and pi(0)Sigma(0) final states originate from the decay of the Lambda(1405) that was formed in the production chain pp -> p(N*(1535). K+ Lambda(1405)). The available experimental data are well reproduced, especially the ratio of the two total cross sections, which is much less sensitive to the particular model of the entrance channel. The significant coupling of the N*(1535) to Lambda(1405)K is further evidence for large ss components in the quark wave function of the N*(1535).

Abstract: We use recent lattice data on the gluon and ghost propagators, as well as the Kugo-Ojima function, in order to extract the non-perturbative behavior of two particular definitions of the QCD effective charge, one based on the pinch technique construction, and one obtained from the standard ghost-gluon vertex. The construction relies crucially on the definition of two dimensionful quantities, which are invariant under the renormalization group, and are built out of very particular combinations of the aforementioned Green's functions. The main non-perturbative feature of both effective charges, encoded in the infrared finiteness of the gluon propagator and ghost dressing function used in their definition, is the freezing at a common finite (non-vanishing) value, in agreement with a plethora of theoretical and phenomenological expectations. We discuss the sizable discrepancy between the freezing values obtained from the present lattice analysis and the corresponding estimates derived from several phenomenological studies, and attribute its origin to the difference in the gauges employed. A particular toy calculation suggests that the modifications induced to the non-perturbative gluon propagator by the gauge choice may indeed account for the observed deviation of the freezing values.