RESULTS FOR THE B-MESON DECAY CONSTANT FROM THE APE COLLABORATION

The decay constant for the B-meson in the static limit is calculated using the Wilson and clover actions at various lattice spacings. We show that both the contamination of our results by excited states and the effects finite lattice spacing are at most the order of the statistical uncertainties. A comparison is made of our results and those obtained in other studies. Values for $f^{stat}_{B_S}/f^{stat}_B$ and $M_{B_S} - M_B$ are also given.Comment: Contribution to Lattice'94, 3 pages PostScript, uuencoded compresse

Computation of the Heavy-Light Decay Constant using Non-relativistic Lattice QCD

We report results on a lattice calculation of the heavy-light meson decay constant employing the non-relativistic QCD approach for heavy quark and Wilson action for light quark. Simulations are carried out at $\beta=6.0$ on a $16^3\times 48$ lattice. Signal to noise ratio for the ground state is significantly improved compared to simulations in the static approximation, enabling us to extract the decay constant reliably. We compute the heavy-light decay constant for several values of heavy quark mass and estimate the magnitude of the deviation from the heavy mass scaling law $f_{P} \sqrt{m_{P}} = const$. For the $B$ meson we find $f_{B} = 171\pm 22^{+19}_{-45}$ MeV, while an extrapolation to the static limit yields $f_{B}^{static}$ = $297\pm 36^{+15}_{-30}$ MeV.Comment: 34 pages in LaTeX including 10 figures using epsf.sty, uuencoded-gziped-shar format, HUPD-940

The continuum limit of fBf_B from the lattice in the static approximation

We present an analysis of the continuum extrapolation of $f_B$ in the static approximation from lattice data. The method described here aims to uncover the systematic effects which enter in this extrapolation and has not been described before. Our conclusions are that we see statistical evidence for scaling of $f_B^{stat}$ for inverse lattice spacings \gtap 2 GeV but not for \ltap 2 GeV. We observe a lack of {\em asymptotic} scaling for a variety of quantities, including $f_B^{stat}$, at all energy scales considered. This can be associated with finite lattice spacing systematics. Once these effects are taken into account, we obtain a value of 230(35) MeV for $f_B^{stat}$ in the continuum where the error represents uncertainties due to both the statistics and the continuum extrapolation. In this method there is no error due to uncertainties in the renormalization constant connecting the lattice and continuum effective theories.Comment: 33 pages, latex text file and postscript figures all uuencoded into a single file, ROME preprint 94/104

Enzymatic production of β-glucose 1,6-bisphosphate through manipulation of catalytic magnesium coordination

Manipulation of enzyme behaviour represents a sustainable technology that can be harnessed to enhance the production of valuable metabolites and chemical precursors. β-Glucose 1,6-bisphosphate (βG16BP) is a native reaction intermediate in the catalytic cycle of β-phosphoglucomutase (βPGM) that has been proposed as a treatment for human congenital disorder of glycosylation involving phosphomannomutase 2. Strategies to date for the synthesis of βG16BP suffer from low yields or use chemicals and procedures with significant environmental impacts. Herein, we report the efficient enzymatic synthesis of anomer-specific βG16BP using the D170N variant of βPGM (βPGMD170N), where the aspartate to asparagine substitution at residue 170 perturbs the coordination of a catalytic magnesium ion. Through combined use of NMR spectroscopy and kinetic assays, it is shown that the weakened affinity and reactivity of βPGMD170N towards βG16BP contributes to the pronounced retardation of the second step in the two-step catalytic cycle, which causes a marked accumulation of βG16BP, especially at elevated MgCl2 concentrations. Purification, employing a simple environmentally considerate precipitation procedure requiring only a standard biochemical toolset, results in a βG16BP product with high purity and yield. Overall, this synthesis strategy illustrates how manipulation of the catalytic magnesium coordination of an enzyme can be utilised to generate large quantities of a valuable metabolite

Granular discharge and clogging for tilted hoppers

We measure the flux of spherical glass beads through a hole as a systematic function of both tilt angle and hole diameter, for two different size beads. The discharge increases with hole diameter in accord with the Beverloo relation for both horizontal and vertical holes, but in the latter case with a larger small-hole cutoff. For large holes the flux decreases linearly in cosine of the tilt angle, vanishing smoothly somewhat below the angle of repose. For small holes it vanishes abruptly at a smaller angle. The conditions for zero flux are discussed in the context of a {\it clogging phase diagram} of flow state vs tilt angle and ratio of hole to grain size

Adsorption of Reactive Particles on a Random Catalytic Chain: An Exact Solution

We study equilibrium properties of a catalytically-activated annihilation $A + A \to 0$ reaction taking place on a one-dimensional chain of length $N$ ($N \to \infty$) in which some segments (placed at random, with mean concentration $p$) possess special, catalytic properties. Annihilation reaction takes place, as soon as any two $A$ particles land onto two vacant sites at the extremities of the catalytic segment, or when any $A$ particle lands onto a vacant site on a catalytic segment while the site at the other extremity of this segment is already occupied by another $A$ particle. Non-catalytic segments are inert with respect to reaction and here two adsorbed $A$ particles harmlessly coexist. For both "annealed" and "quenched" disorder in placement of the catalytic segments, we calculate exactly the disorder-average pressure per site. Explicit asymptotic formulae for the particle mean density and the compressibility are also presented.Comment: AMSTeX, 27 pages + 4 figure

Self-dual noncommutative \phi^4-theory in four dimensions is a non-perturbatively solvable and non-trivial quantum field theory

We study quartic matrix models with partition function Z[E,J]=\int dM \exp(trace(JM-EM^2-(\lambda/4)M^4)). The integral is over the space of Hermitean NxN-matrices, the external matrix E encodes the dynamics, \lambda>0 is a scalar coupling constant and the matrix J is used to generate correlation functions. For E not a multiple of the identity matrix, we prove a universal algebraic recursion formula which gives all higher correlation functions in terms of the 2-point function and the distinct eigenvalues of E. The 2-point function itself satisfies a closed non-linear equation which must be solved case by case for given E. These results imply that if the 2-point function of a quartic matrix model is renormalisable by mass and wavefunction renormalisation, then the entire model is renormalisable and has vanishing \beta-function. As main application we prove that Euclidean \phi^4-quantum field theory on four-dimensional Moyal space with harmonic propagation, taken at its self-duality point and in the infinite volume limit, is exactly solvable and non-trivial. This model is a quartic matrix model, where E has for N->\infty the same spectrum as the Laplace operator in 4 dimensions. Using the theory of singular integral equations of Carleman type we compute (for N->\infty and after renormalisation of E,\lambda) the free energy density (1/volume)\log(Z[E,J]/Z[E,0]) exactly in terms of the solution of a non-linear integral equation. Existence of a solution is proved via the Schauder fixed point theorem. The derivation of the non-linear integral equation relies on an assumption which we verified numerically for coupling constants 0<\lambda\leq (1/\pi).Comment: LaTeX, 64 pages, xypic figures. v4: We prove that recursion formulae and vanishing of \beta-function hold for general quartic matrix models. v3: We add the existence proof for a solution of the non-linear integral equation. A rescaling of matrix indices was necessary. v2: We provide Schwinger-Dyson equations for all correlation functions and prove an algebraic recursion formula for their solutio

Leptonic and Semileptonic Decays of Charm and Bottom Hadrons

We review the experimental measurements and theoretical descriptions of leptonic and semileptonic decays of particles containing a single heavy quark, either charm or bottom. Measurements of bottom semileptonic decays are used to determine the magnitudes of two fundamental parameters of the standard model, the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix elements $V_{cb}$ and $V_{ub}$. These parameters are connected with the physics of quark flavor and mass, and they have important implications for the breakdown of CP symmetry. To extract precise values of $|V_{cb}|$ and $|V_{ub}|$ from measurements, however, requires a good understanding of the decay dynamics. Measurements of both charm and bottom decay distributions provide information on the interactions governing these processes. The underlying weak transition in each case is relatively simple, but the strong interactions that bind the quarks into hadrons introduce complications. We also discuss new theoretical approaches, especially heavy-quark effective theory and lattice QCD, which are providing insights and predictions now being tested by experiment. An international effort at many laboratories will rapidly advance knowledge of this physics during the next decade.Comment: This review article will be published in Reviews of Modern Physics in the fall, 1995. This file contains only the abstract and the table of contents. The full 168-page document including 47 figures is available at http://charm.physics.ucsb.edu/papers/slrevtex.p

Quark Masses from Lattice QCD at the Next-to-Leading Order

Using the results of several quenched lattice simulations, we predict the value of the strange and charm quark masses in the continuum at the next-to-leading order, $m^{\overline{MS}}_s(\mu=2\,\, \rm{GeV})= (127 \pm 18)\,\, \rm{MeV}$ and $m^{\overline{MS}}_{ch}(\mu=2 \,\,\rm{GeV})=(1.47 \pm 0.28)\,\, \rm{GeV}$. The errors quoted above have been estimated by taking into account the original statistical error of the lattice results and the uncertainties coming from the matching of the lattice to the continuum theory. A detailed presentation of the relevant formulae at the next-to-leading order and a discussion of the main sources of errors is also presented.Comment: 26 pages (2 postscript file included), LaTeX, CERN-TH.7256/94, ROME prep. 94/101