Abstract: Using an interaction extracted from the local hidden-gauge Lagrangians, which brings together vector and pseudoscalar mesons, and the coupled channels rho N (s wave), pi N (d wave), pi Delta (s wave), and pi Delta (d wave), we look in the region ofv root s = 1400-1850 MeV and find two resonances dynamically generated by the interaction of these channels, which are naturally associated to N*(1520)(3/2(-)) and N*(1700)(3/2(-)). N*(1700)(3/2(-)) appears neatly as a pole in the complex plane. The free parameters of the theory are chosen to fit the pi N (d-wave) data. Both the real and imaginary parts of the pi N amplitude vanish in our approach in the vicinity of this resonance, which is similar to what happens in experimental determinations and which makes this signal very weak in this channel. This feature could explain why this resonance does not show up in some experimental analyses, but the situation is analogous to that of the f(0)(980) resonance, the second scalar meson after sigma[f(0)(500)] in the pi pi(d-wave) amplitude. The unitary coupled channel approach followed here, in connectionwith the experimental data, leads automatically to a pole in the 1700-MeV region and makes this second 3/2-resonance unavoidable.

Abstract: The imaging scanning technique for the characterisation of large volume, highly segmented, HPGe detectors is demonstrated by comparing the measured spatial response of a symmetric AGATA crystal versus the theoretical calculations obtained with the Multi-Geometry Simulation (MGS) code. The signal rise-times measured as a function of the gamma-ray interaction positions, in both coaxial and planar regions of the detection volume, are presented and confronted with the expected behaviour obtained via MGS. The transition in charge carrier transport behaviour as a function of the depth is studied for the region of the complex electric field. In general, a fairly good agreement between theory and experiment is obtained. Only systematic deviations between simulation and measurement are observed in the critical front part of the AGATA detector. They may be ascribed to a non-linear impurity concentration profile of the germanium crystal.

Abstract: We study single kaon production off the nucleon induced by electrons (positrons) i.e., e(-) (e(+)) + N -> v(e) ((v) over bar (e)) + (K) over bar (K) + N' at low energies. The possibility of observing these processes with the high luminosity beams available at TJNAF and Mainz is discussed, taking into account that the strangeness conserving electromagnetic reactions have a higher energy threshold for (K) over bar (K) production. The calculations are done using a microscopic model that starts from the SU(3) chiral Lagrangians and includes background terms and the resonant mechanisms associated to the lowest lying resonance Sigma*(1385)

Abstract: Background: Neutron-rich nuclei with protons in the fp shell show an onset of collectivity around N=40. Spectroscopic information is required to understand the underlying mechanism and to determine the relevant terms of the nucleon-nucleon interaction that are responsible for the evolution of the shell structure in this mass region. Methods: We report on the lifetime measurement of the first 2+ and 4+ states in 70,72,74Zn and the first 6+ state in 72Zn using the recoil distance Doppler shift method. The experiment was carried out at the INFN Laboratory of Legnaro with the AGATA demonstrator, first phase of the Advanced Gamma Tracking Array of highly segmented, high-purity germanium detectors coupled to the PRISMA magnetic spectrometer. The excited states of the nuclei of interest were populated in the deep inelastic scattering of a 76Ge beam impinging on a 238U target. Results: The maximum of collectivity along the chain of Zn isotopes is observed for 72Zn at N=42. An unexpectedly long lifetime of 20−5.2+1.8 ps was measured for the 4+ state in 74Zn. Conclusions: Our results lead to small values of the B(E2;41+→21+)/B(E2;21+→01+) ratio for 72,74Zn, suggesting a significant noncollective contribution to these excitations. These experimental results are not reproduced by state-of-the-art microscopic models and call for lifetime measurements beyond the first 2+ state in heavy zinc and nickel isotopes.

Abstract: We use recent data that show a narrow peak around root s = 2.37 GeV in the pn -> d pi(+)pi(-) cross section, with about double strength at the peak than in the analogous pn -> d pi(0)pi(0) reaction, and, assuming that it is due to the excitation of a dibaryon resonance, we evaluate the cross section for the pn -> pn pi(+)pi(-) reaction, with the final pn unbound but with the same quantum numbers as the deuteron. We use accurate techniques to determine the final state interaction in the case of the pn forming a deuteron or a positive energy state, which allow us to get the pn -> pn pi(+)pi(-) cross section with pn in I = 0 and S = 1, that turns out to be quite close or saturates the experimental pn -> pn pi(+)pi(-) total cross section around root s = 2.37 GeV, depending on the angular momentum assumed. This poses problems to the assumption of the dibaryon hypothesis, which could be rendered more restrictive with future precise data on the pn -> pn pi(+)pi(-) reaction.