Weak Quasi-elastic Production of Hyperons

The quasielastic weak production of $\Lambda$ and $\Sigma$ hyperons from nucleons and nuclei induced by antineutrinos is studied in the energy region of some ongoing neutrino oscillation experiments in the intermediate energy region. The hyperon nucleon transition form factors determined from neutrino nucleon scattering and an analysis of high precision data on semileptonic decays of neutron and hyperons using SU(3) symmetry have been used. The nuclear effects due to Fermi motion and final state interaction effects due to hyperon nucleon scattering have also been studied. The numerical results for differential and total cross sections have been presented.Comment: 26 pages, 10 figure

Nonleptonic Ω−\Omega^{-} decays and the Skyrme model

Nonleptonic $\Omega^{-}$ decay branching ratios are estimated by means of the QCD enhanced effective weak Hamiltonian supplemented by the SU(3) Skyrme model used to estimate the nonperturbative matrix elements. The model has only one free parameter, namely the Skyrme charge $e$, which is fixed through the experimental values of the octet-decuplet mass splitting $\Delta$ and the axial coupling constant $g_{A}$. The whole scheme is equivalent to that which works well for the nonleptonic hyperon decays. The ratios of calculated amplitudes are in agreement with experiment. However, the absolute values are about twice too large if short-distance corrections and only ground intermediate states are included.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure, 1 table, version to appear in Phys.Rev.

Observation of Parity Violation in the Omega-minus -> Lambda + K-minus Decay

The alpha decay parameter in the process Omega-minus -> Lambda + K-minus has been measured from a sample of 4.50 million unpolarized Omega-minus decays recorded by the HyperCP (E871) experiment at Fermilab and found to be [1.78 +/- 0.19(stat) +/- 0.16(syst)]{\times}10^{-2}. This is the first unambiguous evidence for a nonzero alpha decay parameter, and hence parity violation, in the Omega-minus -> Lambda + K-minus decay.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figure

Galaxy Clusters Associated with Short GRBs. II. Predictions for the Rate of Short GRBs in Field and Cluster Early-Type Galaxies

We determine the relative rates of short GRBs in cluster and field early-type galaxies as a function of the age probability distribution of their progenitors, P(\tau) \propto \tau^n. This analysis takes advantage of the difference in the growth of stellar mass in clusters and in the field, which arises from the combined effects of the galaxy stellar mass function, the early-type fraction, and the dependence of star formation history on mass and environment. This approach complements the use of the early- to late-type host galaxy ratio, with the added benefit that the star formation histories of early-type galaxies are simpler than those of late-type galaxies, and any systematic differences between progenitors in early- and late-type galaxies are removed. We find that the ratio varies from R(cluster)/R(field) ~ 0.5 for n = -2 to ~ 3 for n = 2. Current observations indicate a ratio of about 2, corresponding to n ~ 0 - 1. This is similar to the value inferred from the ratio of short GRBs in early- and late-type hosts, but it differs from the value of n ~ -1 for NS binaries in the Milky Way. We stress that this general approach can be easily modified with improved knowledge of the effects of environment and mass on the build-up of stellar mass, as well as the effect of globular clusters on the short GRB rate. It can also be used to assess the age distribution of Type Ia supernova progenitors.Comment: ApJ accepted versio

OMEGA−^{-} non-leptonic decays

Non-leptonic decay rates for Omega /sup -/ are calculated in a model where strong interactions introduce new Delta I=/sup 1///sub 2/ operators in the effective Hamiltonian. Both Omega /sup -/ to Xi /sup 0,-/ pi /sup -,0/ and Omega /sup -/ to Lambda /sup 0/K/sup -/ are predicted to be nearly parity conserving. Delta I=/sup 1///sub 2/ contributions are found to dominate the sum of the pionic rates, while Delta I=/sup 3///sub 2/ contributions are non-negligible in each of them. Rough agreement in magnitude with experimental data is obtained. (14 refs)

Remarks on the enhancement of F/sup +/ to pi /sup +/e/sup +/e/sup -/

It is argued that an enhancement mostly due to the electromagnetic form factor of the pion may add more practical importance to the reaction and its observation would enhance the knowledge of the applicability of generalised PCAC. (16 refs)

A light Higgs boson: the decay Z/sup 0/ to H/sup 0/l/sup +/l/sup -/

Aspects of the decay Z/sup 0/ to H/sup 0/l/sup +/l/sup -/ are studied. A large rate and clear signatures are predicted in the case of the Higgs mass close to 10 GeV in the Weinberg-Salam model. A search for it at the LEP machine would be a test of grand unified model ideas. (11 refs)