Comment on piNN Coupling from High Precision np Charge Exchange at 162 MeV

In this updated and expanded version of our delayed Comment we show that the np backward cross section, as presented by the Uppsala group, is seriously flawed (more than 25 sd.). The main reason is the incorrect normalization of the data. We show also that their extrapolation method, used to determine the charged piNN coupling constant, is a factor of about 10 less accurate than claimed by Ericson et al. The large extrapolation error makes the determination of the coupling constant by the Uppsala group totally uninteresting.Comment: 5 pages, latex2e with a4wide.sty. This is an updated and extended version of the Comment published in Phys. Rev. Letters 81, 5253 (1998

Extraction of the πNN\pi NN coupling constant from NN scattering data

We reexamine Chew's method for extracting the $\pi NN$ coupling constant from np differential cross section measurements. Values for this coupling are extracted below 350 MeV, in the potential model region, and up to 1 GeV. The analyses to 1~GeV have utilized 55 data sets. We compare these results to those obtained via $\chi^2$ mapping techniques. We find that these two methods give consistent results which are in agreement with previous Nijmegen determinations.Comment: 12 pages of text plus 2 figures. Revtex file and postscript figures available via anonymous FTP at ftp://clsaid.phys.vt.edu/pub/n

Extraction of the D13(1520) photon-decay couplings from pion- and eta-photoproduction data

We compare results for the D13(1520) photon-decay amplitudes determined in analyses of eta- and pion-photoproduction data. The ratio of helicity amplitudes (A_3/2 / A_1/2), determined from eta-photoproduction data, is quite different from that determined in previous analyses of pion-photoproduction data. We consider how strongly the existing pion-photoproduction data constrain both this ratio and the individual photon-decay amplitudes.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figure

An updated analysis of NN elastic scattering data to 1.6 GeV

An energy-dependent and set of single-energy partial-wave analyses of $NN$ elastic scattering data have been completed. The fit to 1.6~GeV has been supplemented with a low-energy analysis to 400 MeV. Using the low-energy fit, we study the sensitivity of our analysis to the choice of $\pi NN$ coupling constant. We also comment on the possibility of fitting $np$ data alone. These results are compared with those found in the recent Nijmegen analyses. (Figures may be obtained from the authors upon request.)Comment: 17 pages of text, VPI-CAPS-7/

Updated resonance photo-decay amplitudes to 2 GeV

We present the results of an energy-dependent and set of single-energy partial-wave analyses of single-pion photoproduction data. These analyses extend from threshold to 2 GeV in the laboratory photon energy, and update our previous analyses to 1.8 GeV. Photo-decay amplitudes are extracted for the baryon resonances within this energy range. We consider two photoproduction sum rules and the contributions of two additional resonance candidates found in our most recent analysis of $\pi N$ elastic scattering data. Comparisons are made with previous analyses.Comment: Revtex, 26 pages, 3 figures. Postscript figures available from ftp://clsaid.phys.vt.edu/pub/pr or indirectly from http://clsaid.phys.vt.edu/~CAPS

Lessons to be learned from the coherent photoproduction of pseudoscalar mesons

We study the coherent photoproduction of pseudoscalar mesons---particularly of neutral pions---placing special emphasis on the various sources that put into question earlier nonrelativistic-impulse-approximation calculations. These include: final-state interactions, relativistic effects, off-shell ambiguities, and violations to the impulse approximation. We establish that, while distortions play an essential role in the modification of the coherent cross section, the uncertainty in our results due to the various choices of optical-potential models is relatively small (of at most 30%). By far the largest uncertainty emerges from the ambiguity in extending the many on-shell-equivalent representations of the elementary amplitude off the mass shell. Indeed, relativistic impulse-approximation calculations that include the same pionic distortions, the same nuclear-structure model, and two sets of elementary amplitudes that are identical on-shell, lead to variations in the magnitude of the coherent cross section by up to factors of five. Finally, we address qualitatively the assumption of locality implicit in most impulse-approximation treatments, and suggest that the coherent reaction probes---in addition to the nuclear density---the polarization structure of the nucleus.Comment: Manuscript is 27 pages long and includes 11 eps figure

Nonequilibrium stationary states and equilibrium models with long range interactions

It was recently suggested by Blythe and Evans that a properly defined steady state normalisation factor can be seen as a partition function of a fictitious statistical ensemble in which the transition rates of the stochastic process play the role of fugacities. In analogy with the Lee-Yang description of phase transition of equilibrium systems, they studied the zeroes in the complex plane of the normalisation factor in order to find phase transitions in nonequilibrium steady states. We show that like for equilibrium systems, the ``densities'' associated to the rates are non-decreasing functions of the rates and therefore one can obtain the location and nature of phase transitions directly from the analytical properties of the ``densities''. We illustrate this phenomenon for the asymmetric exclusion process. We actually show that its normalisation factor coincides with an equilibrium partition function of a walk model in which the ``densities'' have a simple physical interpretation.Comment: LaTeX, 23 pages, 3 EPS figure