Abstract: We study the collisional aspects of jet quenching in a high-energy nuclear collision, especially in the final state pion gas. The jet has a large energy, and acquires momentum transverse to its axis more effectively by multiple soft collisions than by few hard scatterings (as known from analogous systems such as J/psi production at Hera). Such regime of large E and small momentum transfer corresponds to Regge kinematics and is characteristically dominated by the pomeron. From this insight we estimate the jet quenching parameter in the hadron medium (largely a pion gas) at the end of the collision, which is naturally small and increases with temperature in line with the gas density and compare it to the jet quenching parameter obtained within the quark-gluon plasma (QGP) phase in widely known perturbative approximations. The physics in the quark-gluon plasma/liquid phase is less obvious, and here we revisit a couple of simple estimates that suggest indeed that the pomeron-mediated interactions are very relevant and should be included in analysis of the jet quenching parameter. Finally, since the occasional hard collisions produce features characteristic of a Levy flight in the q(perpendicular to)(2) plane perpendicular to the jet axis, we suggest one- and two-particle q perpendicular to correlations as interesting experimental probes sensitive to the nature (softness versus hardness) of the interactions of a jet inside the QGP.

Abstract: We explore the consequences of heavy flavor, heavy quark spin, and heavy antiquark-diquark symmetries for hadronic molecules within an effective field theory framework. Owing to heavy antiquark-diquark symmetry, the doubly heavy baryons have approximately the same light-quark structure as the heavy antimesons. As a consequence, the existence of a heavy meson-antimeson molecule implies the possibility of a partner composed of a heavy meson and a doubly heavy baryon. In this regard, the D (D) over bar* molecular nature of the X(3872) will hint at the existence of several baryonic partners with isospin I = 0 and J(P) = 5(-)/2 or 3(-)/2. Moreover, if the Z(b)(10650) turns out to be a B*(B) over bar* bound state, we can be confident of the existence of Xi(bb)*(B) over bar* hadronic molecules with quantum numbers I(J(P)) = 1(1(-)/2) and I(J(P)) = 1(3/2(-)). These states are of special interest since they can be considered to be triply heavy pentaquarks.

Abstract: We study the dependence on the quark mass of the compositeness of the lowest-lying odd parity hyperon states. Thus, we pay attention to Lambda-like states in the strange, charm, and beauty sectors which are dynamically generated using a unitarized meson-baryon model. In the strange sector we use a SU(6) extension of the Weinberg-Tomozawa meson-baryon interaction, and we further implement the heavy-quark spin symmetry to construct the meson-baryon interaction when charmed or beauty hadrons are involved. In the three examined flavor sectors, we obtain two J(P) = 1/2- and one J(P) = 3/2(-) Lambda states. We find that the. states which are bound states (the three Lambda(b)) or narrow resonances [one Lambda(1405) and one Lambda(c)(2595)] are well described as molecular states composed of s-wave meson-baryon pairs. The 1/2(-) wide Lambda(1405) and Lambda(c)(2595) as well as the 3/2(-) Lambda(1520) and Lambda(c)(2625) states display smaller compositeness so they would require new mechanisms, such as d-wave interactions.