365 research outputs found
Relativistic Treatment of Hypernuclear Decay
We compute for the first time the decay width of lambda-hypernuclei in a
relativistic mean-field approximation to the Walecka model. Due to the small
mass difference between the lambda-hyperon and its decay products---a nucleon
and a pion---the mesonic component of the decay is strongly Pauli blocked in
the nuclear medium. Thus, the in-medium decay becomes dominated by the
non-mesonic, or two-body, component of the decay. For this mode, the
lambda-hyperon decays into a nucleon and a spacelike nuclear excitation. In
this work we concentrate exclusively on the pion-like modes. By relying on the
analytic structure of the nucleon and pion propagators, we express the
non-mesonic component of the decay in terms of the spin-longitudinal response
function. This response has been constrained from precise quasielastic (p,n)
measurements done at LAMPF. We compute the spin-longitudinal response in a
relativistic random-phase-approximation model that reproduces accurately the
quasielastic data. By doing so, we obtain hypernuclear decay widths that are
considerably smaller---by factors of two or three---relative to existing
nonrelativistic calculations.Comment: Revtex: 18 pages and 4 postscript figure
The nonmesonic weak decay of the hypertriton
The nonmesonic decay of the hypertriton is calculated based on a hypertriton
wavefunction and 3N scattering states, which are rigorous solutions of 3-body
Faddeev equations using realistic NN and hyperon-nucleon interactions. The
pion-exchange together with heavier meson exchanges for the transition is considered. The total nonmesonic decay rate is found to be 0.5%
of the free decay rate. Integrated as well as differential decay
rates are given. The p- and n- induced decays are discussed thoroughly and it
is shown that the corresponding total rates cannot be measured individually.Comment: 27 pages, 20 figures, revtex, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Factorization Contributions and the Breaking of the Rule in Weak and Couplings
We compute the modified factorization contributions to the
and couplings and
demonstrate that these contributions naturally include terms
which are comparable ( to times) in magnitude to the
corresponding terms. As a consequence, we conclude that models
which treat vector meson exchange contributions to the weak conversion process
assuming such weak couplings to satisfy the rule are unlikely to be reliable.Comment: 13 pages, uses REVTEX Entire manuscript available as a ps file at
http://www.physics.adelaide.edu.au/theory/home.html . Also available via
anonymous ftp at ftp://adelphi.adelaide.edu.au/pub/theory/ADP-95-5.T172.ps To
appear in Physical Review
Optical Drug Monitoring: Photoacoustic Imaging of Nanosensors to Monitor Therapeutic Lithium in Vivo
Personalized medicine could revolutionize how primary care physicians treat chronic disease and how researchers study fundamental biological questions. To realize this goal, we need to develop more robust, modular tools and imaging approaches for in vivo monitoring of analytes. In this report, we demonstrate that synthetic nanosensors can measure physiologic parameters with photoacoustic contrast, and we apply that platform to continuously track lithium levels in vivo. Photoacoustic imaging achieves imaging depths that are unattainable with fluorescence or multiphoton microscopy. We validated the photoacoustic results that illustrate the superior imaging depth and quality of photoacoustic imaging with optical measurements. This powerful combination of techniques will unlock the ability to measure analyte changes in deep tissue and will open up photoacoustic imaging as a diagnostic tool for continuous physiological tracking of a wide range of analytes
Neutron and proton spectra from the decay of hypernuclei
We have determined the spectra of neutrons and protons following the decay of
hypernuclei through the one- and two-nucleon induced mechanisms. The
momentum distributions of the primary nucleons are calculated and a Monte Carlo
simulation is used to account for final state interactions. From the spectra we
calculate the number of neutrons () and protons () per
decay and show how the measurement of these quantities, particularly , can
lead to a determination of , the ratio of neutron to
proton induced decay. We also show that the consideration of the
two-nucleon induced channel has a repercussion in the results, widening the
band of allowed values of with respect to what is
obtained neglecting this channel.Comment: 30 pages, 12 Postscript figures, uuencoded file, ReVTeX, epsf.st
Many-Body Currents and the Strange-Quark Content of 4he
Meson-exchange current (MEC) contributions to the parity-violating (PV)
asymmetry for elastic scattering of polarized electrons from He are
calculated over a range of momentum transfer using Monte Carlo methods and a
variational He ground state wavefunction. The results indicate that MEC's
generate a negligible contribution to the asymmetry at low-|\qv|, where a
determination of the nucleon's mean square strangeness radius could be carried
out at CEBAF. At larger values of momentum transfer -- beyond the first
diffraction minimum -- two-body corrections from the - \lq\lq
strangeness charge" operator enter the asymmetry at a potentially observable
level, even in the limit of vanishing strange-quark matrix elements of the
nucleon. For purposes of constraining the nucleon's strangeness electric form
factor, theoretical uncertainties associated with these MEC contributions do
not appear to impose serious limitations.Comment: 32 TEX pages and 7 figures (not included, available from authors upon
request), CEBAF Preprint #TH-94-1
Novel Weak Decays in Doubly Strange Systems
The strangeness-changing () weak baryon-baryon interaction is
studied through the nonmesonic weak decay of double- hypernuclei.
Besides the usual nucleon-induced decay we discuss novel
hyperon-induced decay modes and . These reactions provide unique access to the exotic
K and K vertices which place new constraints
on Chiral Pertubation Theory (PT) in the weak SU(3) sector. Within a
meson-exchange framework, we use the pseudoscalar octet for the
long-range part while parametrizing the short-range part through the vector
mesons . Realistic baryon-baryon forces for the and
-2 sectors account for the strong interaction in the initial and final states.
For He the new hyperon-induced decay modes account for up
to 4% of the total nonmesonic decay rate. Predictions are made for all possible
nonmesonic decay modes.Comment: 19 pages, 2 ps figures, 9 table
The Axial-Vector Current in Nuclear Many-Body Physics
Weak-interaction currents are studied in a recently proposed effective field
theory of the nuclear many-body problem. The Lorentz-invariant effective field
theory contains nucleons, pions, isoscalar scalar () and vector
() fields, and isovector vector () fields. The theory exhibits a
nonlinear realization of chiral symmetry and has three
desirable features: it uses the same degrees of freedom to describe the
axial-vector current and the strong-interaction dynamics, it satisfies the
symmetries of the underlying theory of quantum chromodynamics, and its
parameters can be calibrated using strong-interaction phenomena, like hadron
scattering or the empirical properties of finite nuclei. Moreover, it has
recently been verified that for normal nuclear systems, it is possible to
systematically expand the effective lagrangian in powers of the meson fields
(and their derivatives) and to reliably truncate the expansion after the first
few orders. Here it is shown that the expressions for the axial-vector current,
evaluated through the first few orders in the field expansion, satisfy both
PCAC and the Goldberger--Treiman relation, and it is verified that the
corresponding vector and axial-vector charges satisfy the familiar chiral
charge algebra. Explicit results are derived for the Lorentz-covariant,
axial-vector, two-nucleon amplitudes, from which axial-vector meson-exchange
currents can be deduced.Comment: 32 pages, REVTeX 4.0 with 12pt.rtx, aps.rtx, revsymb.sty,
revtex4.cls, plus 14 figures; two sentences added in Summary; two references
adde
The nucleon-nucleon interaction
We review the major progress of the past decade concerning our understanding
of the nucleon-nucleon interaction. The focus is on the low-energy region
(below pion production threshold), but a brief outlook towards higher energies
is also given. The items discussed include charge-dependence, the precise value
of the coupling constant, phase shift analysis and high-precision NN
data and potentials. We also address the issue of a proper theory of nuclear
forces. Finally, we summarize the essential open questions that future research
should be devoted to.Comment: 42 pages, 12 figures, iopart.cls style; Topical Review prepared for
J. Phys. G: Nucl. Part. Phy
Strangeness production in proton-proton and proton-nucleus collisions
In these lectures we discuss the investigation of the strange meson
production in proton-proton () and in proton-nucleus () reactions
within an effective Lagrangian model. The kaon production proceeds mainly via
the excitations of (1650), (1710), and (1720) resonant
intermediate nucleonic states, in the collision of two initial state nucleons.
Therefore, the strangeness production is expected to provide information about
the resonances lying at higher excitation energies. For beam energies very
close to the kaon production threshold the hyperon-proton final state
interaction effects are quite important. Thus, these studies provide a check on
the models of hyperon-nucleon interactions. The in-medium production of kaons
show strong sensitivity to the self energies of the intermediate mesons.Comment: 16 pages, 9 figures, Talk presented in the workshop on Hadron
Physics, Puri, India, March 7-17,200
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