Proton spin structure and the axial U(1) problem

We emphasise the relation between the spin structure of the proton and the axial U(1) problem. New experiments motivated by the proton spin problem which could shed light on the nature of U(1) symmetry breaking in QCD are discussed.Comment: Invited talk at the Workshop on the Spin Structure of the Proton and Polarized Collider Physics, Trento (July 23-28, 2001), 6 pages, 1 figur

Gluons and the eta' nucleon coupling constant

We derive the effective chiral Lagrangian for low energy eta--nucleon and eta'--nucleon interactions and show that gluonic degrees of freedom, via the axial anomaly, induce a contact term in the pp -> pp eta and pp -> pp eta' reactions. We then discuss the consequences for the extraction of g_{eta'NN} from experimental data.Comment: 10 pages, LaTe

Description of the Ds∗(2320)D^*_s(2320) resonance as the DπD\pi atom

We discuss the possibility that the recently reported resonance in the $D_s \pi^0$ spectrum can be described in terms of residual $D\pi$ interactions.Comment: 3 pages, 1 figur

Eta bound states in nuclei: a probe of flavour-singlet dynamics

We argue that eta bound states in nuclei are sensitive to the singlet component in the eta. The bigger the singlet component, the more attraction and the greater the binding. Thus, measurements of eta bound states will yield new information about axial U(1) dynamics and glue in mesons. Eta - etaprime mixing plays an important role in understanding the value of the eta-nucleon scattering length.Comment: 8 pages, version to appear in PL

Pseudoscalar Meson Decay Constants and Couplings, the Witten-Veneziano Formula beyond large N_c, and the Topological Susceptibility

The QCD formulae for the radiative decays \eta,\eta'\to\c\c, and the corresponding Dashen--Gell-Mann--Oakes--Renner relations, differ from conventional PCAC results due to the gluonic $U(1)_A$ axial anomaly. This introduces a critical dependence on the gluon topological susceptibility. In this paper, we revisit our earlier theoretical analysis of radiative pseudoscalar decays and the DGMOR relations and extract explicit experimental values for the decay constants. This is our main result. The flavour singlet DGMOR relation is the generalisation of the Witten-Veneziano formula beyond large $N_c$, so we are able to give a quantitative assessment of the realisation of the $1/N_c$ expansion in the $U(1)_A$ sector of QCD. Applications to other aspects of $\eta'$ physics, including the relation with the first moment sum rule for the polarised photon structure function g_1^\c, are highlighted. The $U(1)_A$ Goldberger-Treiman relation is extended to accommodate SU(3) flavour breaking and the implications of a more precise measurement of the $\eta$ and $\eta'$-nucleon couplings are discussed. A comparison with the existing literature on pseudoscalar meson decay constants using large-$N_c$ chiral Lagrangians is also made.Comment: 27 pages, 4 figure

Axial U(1) dynamics in eta and eta' photoproduction

We discuss the sensitivity of eta and eta' photoproduction near threshold to the gluonic OZI breaking parameters in the U_A(1)-extended effective chiral Lagrangian for low-energy QCD. Our coupled-channels analysis hints at a strong correlation between the gluon-induced contributions to the eta' mass and the low-energy pp -> pp eta' reaction and the near-threshold behaviour of the gamma p -> eta p cross-section.Comment: 19 pages, 9 figure

Target Independence of the Emc-SMC Effect

An approach to deep inelastic scattering is described in which the matrix elements arising from the operator product expansion are factorised into composite operator propagators and proper vertex functions. In the case of polarised \m p scattering, the composite operator propagator is identified with the square root of the QCD topological susceptibility $\sqrt{\chi^{\prime}(0)}$, while the corresponding proper vertex is a renormalisation group invariant. We estimate $\chi^{\prime}(0)$ using QCD spectral sum rules and find that it is significantly suppressed relative to the OZI expectation. Assuming OZI is a good approximation for the proper vertex, our predictions, \int_{0}^{1}dx g_1^p (x;Q^2=10\GV^2)= 0.143 \pm 0.005 and $G^{(0)}_A \equiv \Delta \Sigma = 0.353 \pm 0.052$, are in excellent agreement with the new SMC data. This result, together with one confirming the validity of the OZI rule in the \hp radiative decay, supports our earlier conjecture that the suppression in the flavour singlet component of the first moment of $g_1^p$ observed by the EMC-SMC collaboration is a target-independent feature of QCD related to the $U(1)$ anomaly and is not a property of the proton structure. As a corollary, we extract the magnitude of higher twist effects from the neutron and Bjorken sum rules.Comment: 22 pages, 8 figures available on request

Medium modifications of the nucleon-nucleon elastic cross section in neutron-rich intermediate energy HICs

Several observables of unbound nucleons which are to some extent sensitive to the medium modifications of nucleon-nucleon elastic cross sections in neutron-rich intermediate energy heavy ion collisions are investigated. The splitting effect of neutron and proton effective masses on cross sections is discussed. It is found that the transverse flow as a function of rapidity, the $Q_{zz}$ as a function of momentum, and the ratio of halfwidths of the transverse to that of longitudinal rapidity distribution $R_{t/l}$ are very sensitive to the medium modifications of the cross sections. The transverse momentum distribution of correlation functions of two-nucleons does not yield information on the in-medium cross section.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figure

Jet quenching by (pre--)hadronic final state interactions at RHIC

Within a hadron-string dynamical transport approach (HSD) we investigate the attenuation of high transverse momentum (\pT) hadrons as well as the suppression of 'near-side' and 'far-side' jets in $Au+Au$ collisions at invariant energies $\sqrt{s}$ = 200 GeV and $\sqrt{s}$ = 62.4 GeV in comparison to the data available from the Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider (RHIC). From our transport studies we find that a significant part of the high \pT hadron attenuation seen experimentally can be attributed to inelastic interactions of 'leading' pre-hadrons with the dense hadronic environment. In addition, we also show results of 'near-side' and 'far-side' angular correlations of high \pT particles from Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 200 GeV and $\sqrt{s}$ = 62.4 GeV within this (pre-)hadronic attenuation scenario. It turns out that the 'near-side' correlations are unaltered -- in accordance with experiment -- whereas the 'far-side' correlations are suppressed by up to $\sim$ 60% in central collisions. Since a much larger suppression is observed experimentally for these reactions in central reactions we conclude that there should be strong additional (and earlier) partonic interactions in the dense and possibly colored medium created in Au+Au collisions at RHIC.Comment: 23 pages, 7 figures, final version as accepted for publication in NP

Fragment Formation in Central Heavy Ion Collisions at Relativistic Energies

We perform a systematic study of the fragmentation path of excited nuclear matter in central heavy ion collisions at the intermediate energy of $0.4 AGeV$. The theoretical calculations are based on a Relativistic Boltzmann-Uehling-Uhlenbeck ($RBUU$) transport equation including stochastic effects. A Relativistic Mean Field ($RMF$) approach is used, based on a non-linear Lagrangian, with coupling constants tuned to reproduce the high density results of calculations with correlations. At variance with the case at Fermi energies, a new fast clusterization mechanism is revealed in the early compression stage of the reaction dynamics. Fragments appear directly produced from phase-space fluctuations due to two-body correlations. In-medium effects of the elastic nucleon-nucleon cross sections on the fragmentation dynamics are particularly discussed. The subsequent evolution of the primordial clusters is treated using a simple phenomenological phase space coalescence algorithm. The reliability of the approach, formation and recognition, is investigated in detail by comparing fragment momentum space distributions {\it and simultaneously} their yields with recent experimental data of the $FOPI$ collaboration by varying the system size of the colliding system, i.e. its compressional energy (pressure, radial flow). We find an excellent agreement between theory and experiment in almost all the cases and, on the other hand, some limitations of the simple coalescence model. Furthermore, the temporal evolution of the fragment structure is explored with a clear evidence of an earlier formation of the heavier clusters, that will appear as interesting $relics$ of the high density phase of the nuclear Equation of State ($EoS$).Comment: 21 pages, 8 figures, Latex Elsart Style, minor corrections in p.7, two refs. added, Nucl.Phys.A, accepte