Abstract: We derive a sum rule which shows that the Froissart-Martin bound for the asymptotic behaviour of the pi pi total cross sections at high energies, if modulated by the Lukaszuk-Martin coefficient of the leading log(2)s behaviour, cannot be an optimal bound in QCD. We next compute the total cross sections for pi(+)pi(-), pi(+/-)pi(0) and pi(0)pi(0) scattering within the framework of the constituent chiral quark model (C chi QM) in the limit of a large number of colours N-c and discuss their asymptotic behaviours. The same pi pi cross sections are also discussed within the general framework of Large-N-c QCD and we show that it is possible to make an Ansatz for the isospin I = 1 and I = 0 spectrum which satisfy the Froissart-Martin bound with coefficients which, contrary to the Lukaszuk-Martin coefficient, are not singular in the chiral limit and have the correct Large-N-c counting. We finally propose a simple phenomenological model which matches the low energy behaviours of the sigma(total)(pi +/-pi 0)(s) cross section predicted by the CxQM with the high energy behaviour predicted by the Large-N-c Ansatz. The magnitude of these cross sections at very high energies is of the order of those observed for the pp and pp scattering total cross sections.

Abstract: Charged lepton flavor violation is reappraised in the context of a supersymmetric seesaw mechanism. It is pointed out that a nontrivial flavor structure of right-handed neutrinos, whose effect has been thus far less studied, can give rise to significant slepton flavor transitions. Under the premise that the neutrino Yukawa couplings are of O(1), the right-handed neutrino mixing contribution could form a basis of the μ-> e gamma amplitude, which by itself might lead to an experimentally accessible rate, given a typical low-energy sparticle spectrum. Emphasis is placed on the crucial role of the recently measured lepton mixing angle theta(13) as well as the leptonic CP-violating phases.

Abstract: In the present work, we discuss certain characteristic features encoded in some of the fundamental QCD Green's functions, for which the origin can be traced back to the nonperturbative masslessness of the ghost field, in the Landau gauge. Specifically, the ghost loops that contribute to these Green's functions display infrared divergences, akin to those encountered in the perturbative treatment, in contradistinction to the gluonic loops, for which perturbative divergences are tamed by the dynamical generation of an effective gluon mass. In d = 4, the aforementioned divergences are logarithmic, thus causing a relatively mild impact, whereas in d = 3 they are linear, giving rise to enhanced effects. In the case of the gluon propagator, these effects do not interfere with its finiteness, but make its first derivative diverge at the origin, and introduce a maximum in the region of infrared momenta. The three-gluon vertex is also affected, and the induced divergent behavior is clearly exposed in certain special kinematic configurations, usually considered in lattice simulations; the sign of the corresponding divergence is unambiguously determined. The main underlying concepts are developed in the context of a simple toy model, which demonstrates clearly the interconnected nature of the various effects. The picture that emerges is subsequently corroborated by a detailed nonperturbative analysis, combining lattice results with the dynamical integral equations governing the relevant ingredients, such as the nonperturbative ghost loop and the momentumdependent gluon mass.