Abstract: The dynamics of the QCD gauge sector give rise to non-perturbative phenomena that are crucial for the internal consistency of the theory; most notably, they account for the generation of a gluon mass through the action of the Schwinger mechanism, the taming of the Landau pole, the ensuing stabilization of the gauge coupling, and the infrared suppression of the three-gluon vertex. In the present work, we review some key advances in the ongoing investigation of this sector within the framework of the continuum Schwinger function methods, supplemented by results obtained from lattice simulations.

Abstract: The production cross-sections of Υ mesons, namely Υ(1S), Υ(2S) and Υ(3S), in pp collisions at root s = 5TeV are measured with a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 9.13 +/- 0.18 pb(-1) collected by the LHCb detector. The Υ mesons are reconstructed in the decay mode Υ -> mu(+)mu(-). Double differential cross-sections times branching fractions, as functions of the transverse momentum p(T) and the rapidity y of the Υ mesons, are measured in the range pT < 20 GeV/ c and 2.0 < y < 4.5. The results integrated over these pT and y ranges are sigma((sic)(1S)) x B((sic)(1S) -> mu(+) mu(-)) = 2101 +/- 33 +/- 83 pb, sigma((sic)(2S)) x B((sic)(2S) -> mu(+) mu(-)) = 526 +/- 20 +/- 21 pb, sigma((sic)(3S)) x B((sic)(3S) -> mu(+) mu(-)) = 242 +/- 16 +/- 10 pb, where the first uncertainties are statistical and the second are systematic. The ratios of cross-sections between measurements of two different (sic) states and between measurements at different centre-of-mass energies are determined. The nuclear modification factor of (sic)(1S) at root s = 5TeV is updated as well using the directly measured cross-section results from this analysis.

Abstract: We have a look at the P-cs states generated from the interaction of (D) over bar(*)Xi(c)('*) coupled channels. We consider the blocks of pseudoscalar-baryon (1/2(+) , 3/2(+)) and vector-baryon (1/2(+), 3/2(+)), and find 10 resonant states coupling mostly to (D) over bar Xi(c), <(D)*over bar>*Xi(c), (D) over bar Xi(c)' <(DA novel aspect of the work is the realization that the <(Dover bar>Xi(c), (Dover bar>(s) Lambda(c) or (Dover bar>*Xi(c), D-s*Lambda(c) channels, with a strong transition potential, collaborate to produce a larger attraction than the corresponding states <(Dover bar>Xi(c), <(Dover bar>Lambda(c) or (D) over bar*Xi(c), (D) over bar*Lambda(c) appearing in the generation of the strangenessless P-c states, since in the latter case the transition potential between those channels is zero. The extra attraction obtained in the (D) over bar Xi(c), (D) over bar* Xi(c) pairs preclude the association of the P-cs(4338) state coupling mostly to (D) over bar*Xi(c) while the P-cs(4459) is associated to the state found that couples mostly to (D) over bar Xi(c)'. Four more states appear, like in other molecular pictures, and some of the states are degenerate in spin. Counting different spin states we find 10states, which we hope can be observed in the near future.

Abstract: Interactions of cosmic ray protons, atomic nuclei, and electrons in the interstellar medium in the inner part of the Milky Way produce gamma-ray flux from the Galactic Ridge. If the gamma-ray emission is dominated by proton and nuclei interactions, a neutrino flux comparable to the gamma-ray flux is expected from the same sky region. Data collected by the ANTARES neutrino telescope are used to constrain the neutrino flux from the Galactic Ridge in the 1-100 TeV energy range. Neutrino events reconstructed both as tracks and showers are considered in the analysis and the selection is optimized for the search of an excess in the region |l| < 30 degrees, |b| < 2 degrees. The expected background in the search region is estimated using an off-zone region with similar sky coverage. Neutrino signal originating from a power-law spectrum with spectral index ranging from Gamma nu = 1to 4is simulated in both channels. The observed energy distributions are fitted to constrain the neutrino emission from the Ridge. The energy distributions in the signal region are inconsistent with the background expectation at similar to 96% confidence level. The mild excess over the background is consistent with a neutrino flux with a power law with a spectral index 2.45(-0.34)(+0.22) and a flux normalization dN nu/dE nu= 4.0(-2.0)(+2.7) x 10(-16) GeV-1 cm(-2) s(-1) sr(-1) at 40 TeV reference energy. Such flux is consistent with the expected neutrino signal if the bulk of the observed gamma-ray flux from the Galactic Ridge originates from interactions of cosmic ray protons and nuclei with a power-law spectrum extending well into the PeV energy range.

Abstract: Quantum Chromodynamics, the theory of quarks and gluons, whose interactions can be described by a local SU(3) gauge symmetry with charges called “color quantum numbers”, is reviewed; the goal of this review is to provide advanced Ph.D. students a comprehensive handbook, helpful for their research. When QCD was “discovered” 50 years ago, the idea that quarks could exist, but not be observed, left most physicists unconvinced. Then, with the discovery of charmonium in 1974 and the explanation of its excited states using the Cornell potential, consisting of the sum of a Coulomb-like attraction and a long range linear confining potential, the theory was suddenly widely accepted. This paradigm shift is now referred to as the November revolution. It had been anticipated by the observation of scaling in deep inelastic scattering, and was followed by the discovery of gluons in three-jet events. The parameters of QCD include the running coupling constant, as (Q(2)), that varies with the energy scale Q(2) characterising the interaction, and six quark masses. QCD cannot be solved analytically, at least not yet, and the large value of alpha(s) at low momentum transfers limits perturbative calculations to the high-energy region where Q(2) >>Lambda(QCD) (2) similar or equal to (250 MeV)(2). Lattice QCD (LQCD), numerical calculations on a discretized space-time lattice, is discussed in detail, the dynamics of the QCD vacuum is visualized, and the expected spectra of mesons and baryons are displayed. Progress in lattice calculations of the structure of nucleons and of quantities related to the phase diagram of dense and hot (or cold) hadronic matter are reviewed. Methods and examples of how to calculate hadronic corrections to weak matrix elements on a lattice are outlined. The wide variety of analytical approximations currently in use, and the accuracy of these approximations, are reviewed. Thesemethods range from the Bethe-Salpeter, Dyson-Schwinger coupled relativistic equations, which are formulated in bothMinkowski or Euclidean spaces, to expansions of multi-quark states in a set of basis functions using light-front coordinates, to the AdS/QCD method that imbeds 4-dimensionalQCDin a 5-dimensional deSitter space, allowing confinement and spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking to be described in a novel way. Models that assume the number of colors is very large, i.e. make use of the large Nclimit, give unique insights. Many other techniques that are tailored to specific problems, such as perturbative expansions for high energy scattering or approximate calculations using the operator product expansion are discussed. The very powerful effective field theory techniques that are successful for low energy nuclear systems (chiral effective theory), or for non-relativistic systems involving heavy quarks, or the treatment of gluon exchanges between energetic, collinear partons encountered in jets, are discussed. The spectroscopy of mesons and baryons has played an important historical role in the development of QCD. The famous X,Y,Z states – and the discovery of pentaquarks – have revolutionized hadron spectroscopy; their status and interpretation are reviewed as well as recent progress in the identification of glueballs and hybrids in light-meson spectroscopy. These exotic states add to the spectrum of expected q ($) over barq mesons and qqq baryons. The progress in understanding excitations of light and heavy baryons is discussed. The nucleon as the lightest baryon is discussed extensively, its form factors, its partonic structure and the status of the attempt to determine a three-dimensional picture of the parton distribution. An experimental program to study the phase diagram of QCD at high temperature and density started with fixed target experiments in various laboratories in the second half of the 1980s, and then, in this century, with colliders. QCD thermodynamics at high temperature became accessible to LQCD, and numerical results on chiral and deconfinement transitions and properties of the deconfined and chirally restored form of strongly interacting matter, called the Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP), have become very precise by now. These results can now be confronted with experimental data that are sensitive to the nature of the phase transition. There is clear evidence that the QGP phase is created. This phase of QCD matter can already be characterized by some properties that indicate, within a temperature range of a few times the pseudocritical temperature, the medium behaves like a near ideal liquid. Experimental observables are presented that demonstrate deconfinement. High and ultrahigh density QCD matter at moderate and low temperatures shows interesting features and new phases that are of astrophysical relevance. They are reviewed here and some of the astrophysical implications are discussed. Perturbative QCD and methods to describe the different aspects of scattering processes are discussed. The primary partonparton scattering in a collision is calculated in perturbative QCD with increasing complexity. The radiation of soft gluons can spoil the perturbative convergence, this can be cured by resummation techniques, which are also described here. Realistic descriptions of QCD scattering events need to model the cascade of quark and gluon splittings until hadron formation sets in, which is done by parton showers. The full event simulation can be performed with Monte Carlo event