Abstract: We present the results of the most complete scan of the parameter space for cosmic ray (CR) injection and propagation. We perform a Bayesian search of the main GALPROP parameters, using the MultiNest nested sampling algorithm, augmented by the BAMBI neural network machine-learning package. This is the first study to separate out low-mass isotopes (p, (p) over bar and He) from the usual light elements (Be, B, C, N, and O). We find that the propagation parameters that best-fit p, (p) over bar, and He data are significantly different from those that fit light elements, including the B/C and Be-10/Be-9 secondary-to-primary ratios normally used to calibrate propagation parameters. This suggests that each set of species is probing a very different interstellar medium, and that the standard approach of calibrating propagation parameters using B/C can lead to incorrect results. We present posterior distributions and best-fit parameters for propagation of both sets of nuclei, as well as for the injection abundances of elements from H to Si. The input GALDEF files with these new parameters will be included in an upcoming public GALPROP update.

Abstract: Nuclear reactions where an exotic nucleus captures a neutron are critical for a wide variety of applications, from energy production and national security, to astrophysical processes, and nucleosynthesis. Neutron capture rates are well constrained near stable isotopes where experimental data are available; however, moving far from the valley of stability, uncertainties grow by orders of magnitude. This is due to the complete lack of experimental constraints, as the direct measurement of a neutron-capture reaction on a short-lived nucleus is extremely challenging. Here, we report on the first experimental extraction of a neutron capture reaction rate on Ni-69, a nucleus that is five neutrons away from the last stable isotope of Ni. The implications of this measurement on nucleosynthesis around mass 70 are discussed, and the impact of similar future measurements on the understanding of the origin of the heavy elements in the cosmos is presented.

Abstract: We nonperturbatively determine the renormalization factor of the axial vector current in lattice QCD with N-f = 3 flavors of Wilson-clover fermions and the tree-level Symanzik-improved gauge action. The (by now standard) renormalization condition is derived from the massive axial Ward identity, and it is imposed among Schrodinger functional states with large overlap on the lowest lying hadronic state in the pseudoscalar channel, in order to reduce kinematically enhanced cutoff effects. We explore a range of couplings relevant for simulations at lattice spacings of approximate to 0.09 fm and below. An interpolation formula for Z(A)(g(0)(2)) , smoothly connecting the nonperturbative values to the 1-loop expression, is provided together with our final results.

Abstract: Recent studies have shown that the well-established Lambda(c) (2595) resonance contains a large meson-baryon component, which can vary depending on the specific formalism. In this work, we examine such a picture by utilizing the compositeness condition and the large number of colors (N-c) expansion. We examine three different models fulfilling two body unitarily in coupled-channels, and adopting renormalization schemes where the mass of the Lambda(c)(2595) resonance is well described, but not necessarily its width, since we do not consider three body channels and work at the isospin symmetric limit. Both approximations might have an effect larger on the width than on the mass. In this context, our studies show that the compositeness of the Lambda(c)(2595) depends on the number of considered coupled channels, and on the particular regularization scheme adopted in the unitary approaches and, therefore, is model dependent. In addition, we perform an exploratory study of the Lambda(c)(2595) in the large N-c expansion, within a scheme involving only the pi Sigma(c) and K Xi(c)', channels, whose dynamics is mostly fixed by chiral symmetry. In this context and formulating the leading-order interaction as a function of N-c, we show that for moderate N-c > 3 values, the mass and width of the Lambda(c)(2595) deviate from those of a genuine qqq baryon, implying the relevance of meson-baryon components in its wave function. Furthermore, we study the properties of the Lambda(c)(2595), in the strict N-c -> infinity limit, using an extension of the chiral Weinberg-Tomozawa interaction to an arbitrary number of flavors and colors. This latter study hints at the possible existence of a (perhaps) subdominant qqq component in the Lambda(c)(2595) resonance wave function, which would become dominant when the number of colors gets sufficiently large.

Abstract: A binned Dalitz plot analysis of the decays B (0) -> DK*(0), with D -> K (S) (0) pi(+)pi(-) and D -> K (S) (0) K+K-, is performed to measure the observables x(+/-) and y(+/-), which are related to the CKM angle gamma and the hadronic parameters of the decays. The D decay strong phase variation over the Dalitz plot is taken from measurements performed at the CLEO-c experiment, making the analysis independent of the D decay model. With a sample of proton-proton collision data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3.0 fb(-1), collected by the LHCb experiment, the values of the CP violation parameters are found to be x(+) = 0.05 +/- 0.35 +/- 0.02, x(-) = -0.31 +/- 0.20 +/- 0.04, y(+) = -0.81 +/- 0.28 +/- 0.06 and y(-) = 0.31 +/- 0.21 +/- 0.05, where the first uncertainties are statistical and the second systematic. These observables correspond to values gamma = (71 +/- 20)degrees, gamma(B0) = 0.56 +/- 0.17 and delta(B0) = (204(-20)(+21))degrees. The parameters gamma(B0) and delta(B0) are the magnitude ratio and strong phase difference between the suppressed and favoured B-0 decay amplitudes, and have been measured in a region of +/- 50 MeV/c(2) around the K*(892)(0) mass and with the magnitude of the cosine of the K*(892)(0) helicity angle larger than 0.4.