Low-x evolution of parton densities

It is shown that a Bessel-like behaviour of the structure function F2 at small x, obtained for a flat initial condition in the DGLAP evolution equations, leads to good agreement with the deep inelastic scattering experimental data from HERA.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, in Proc. of the third International Workshop on Multiple Partonic Interactions at the LHC (21-25 November 2011, DESY, Hamburg

Ultrahigh-energy neutrino-nucleon deep-inelastic scattering and the Froissart bound

We present a simple formula for the total cross section sigma^{nu N} of neutral- and charged-current deep-inelastic scattering of ultrahigh-energy neutrinos on isoscalar nuclear targets, which is proportional to the structure function F_2^{nu N}(M_V^2/s, M_V^2), where M_V is the intermediate-boson mass and s is the square of the center-of-mass energy. The coefficient in the front of F_2^{nu N}(x, Q^2) depends on the asymptotic low-x behavior of F_2^{nu N}. It contains an additional ln(s) term if F_2^{nu N} scales with a power of ln(1/x). Hence, an asymptotic low-x behavior F_2^{nu N} propto ln^2(1/x), which is frequently assumed in the literature, already leads to a violation of the Froissart bound on sigma^{nu N}.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, to appear in Physical Review Letter

Recent progress on the accurate determination of the equation of state of neutron and nuclear matter

The problem of accurately determining the equation of state of nuclear and neutron matter at density near and beyond saturation is still an open challenge. In this paper we will review the most recent progress made by means of Quantum Monte Carlo calculations, which are at present the only ab-inito method capable to treat a sufficiently large number of particles to give meaningful estimates depending only on the choice of the nucleon-nucleon interaction. In particular, we will discuss the introduction of density-dependent interactions, the study of the temperature dependence of the equation of state, and the possibility of accurately studying the effect of the onset of hyperons by developing an accurate hyperon-nucleon and hyperon-nucleon-nucleon interaction.Comment: 3 figures, 1 table, to appear in the Proceedings of "XIII Convegno di Cortona su Problemi di Fisica Nucleare Teorica", Cortona (Italy), April 6-8, 201

S-pairing in neutron matter. I. Correlated Basis Function Theory

S-wave pairing in neutron matter is studied within an extension of correlated basis function (CBF) theory to include the strong, short range spatial correlations due to realistic nuclear forces and the pairing correlations of the Bardeen, Cooper and Schrieffer (BCS) approach. The correlation operator contains central as well as tensor components. The correlated BCS scheme of Ref. [Nucl. Phys. A363 (1981) 383], developed for simple scalar correlations, is generalized to this more realistic case. The energy of the correlated pair condensed phase of neutron matter is evaluated at the two--body order of the cluster expansion, but considering the one--body density and the corresponding energy vertex corrections at the first order of the Power Series expansion. Based on these approximations, we have derived a system of Euler equations for the correlation factors and for the BCS amplitudes, resulting in correlated non linear gap equations, formally close to the standard BCS ones. These equations have been solved for the momentum independent part of several realistic potentials (Reid, Argonne v_{14} and Argonne v_{8'}) to stress the role of the tensor correlations and of the many--body effects. Simple Jastrow correlations and/or the lack of the density corrections enhance the gap with respect to uncorrelated BCS, whereas it is reduced according to the strength of the tensor interaction and following the inclusion of many--body contributions.Comment: 20 pages, 8 figures, 1 tabl

Small-x behavior of the structure function F_2 and its slope partial ln(F_2)/partial ln(1/x) for "frozen" and analytic strong-coupling constants

Using the leading-twist approximation of the Wilson operator product expansion with "frozen" and analytic versions of the strong-coupling constant, we show that the Bessel-inspired behavior of the structure function F_2 and its slope\break partial ln(F_2)/partial ln(1/x) at small values of x, obtained for a flat initial condition in the DGLAP evolution equations, leads to good agreement with experimental data of deep-inelastic scattering at DESY HERA.Comment: new curves added to Figs. 1 and 2, minor changes to the text, accepted for publication in Phys. Lett.

Heavy-quark contributions to the ratio F_L/F_2 at low x

We study the heavy-quark contribution to the proton structure functions F_2^i(x,Q^2) and F_L^i(x,Q^2), with i=c,b, for small values of Bjorken's x variable at next-to-lading order and provide compact formulas for their ratios R_i=F_L^i/F_2^i that are useful to extract F_2^i(x,Q^2) from measurements of the doubly differential cross section of inclusive deep-inelastic scattering at DESY HERA. Our approach naturally explains why R_i is approximately independent of x and the details of the parton distributions in the small-x regime.Comment: 11 pages, 1 figur