On baryon resonances and chiral symmetry

We study J^P=(3/2)^- baryon resonances as generated by chiral coupled-channel dynamics. Parameter free results are obtained in terms of the Weinberg-Tomozawa term predicting the leading s-wave interaction strength of Goldstone bosons with baryon-decuplet states. In the 'heavy' SU(3) limit with m_\pi = m_K \sim 500 MeV the resonances turn into bound states forming a decuplet and octet representation of the SU(3) group. Using physical masses the mass splitting are remarkably close to the empirical pattern.Comment: revised version: includes two additional references, gives improved discussions and eliminted some misprint

Chiral restoration from pionic atoms?

We evaluate widths and shifts of pionic atoms using a theoretical microscopical potential in which the pion decay constant $f_\pi$ is changed by an in--medium density dependent one ($f_\pi(\rho)$), predicted by different partial Chiral restoration calculations. We show that the results obtained for shifts and widths are worse than if this modification were not implemented. On the other hand, we argue that in microscopic many body approaches for the pion selfenergy, based on effective Lagrangians, the mechanisms responsible for the change of $f_\pi$ in the medium should be automatically incorporated. Therefore, the replacement of $f_\pi$ by $f_\pi(\rho)$ in the many body derivation of the microscopic potential would be inappropriate.Comment: 10 pages, new comments and references adde

Testing Chiral Dynamics in Pionic Atoms

The energy dependence of chirally expanded pi N isoscalar and isovector amplitudes b_0(E) and b_1(E) respectively, for zero-momentum off shell pions near threshold, is used to impose the minimal substitution requirement E -> E - V_c on the properly constructed pion optical potential within a large-scale fit to 100 pionic-atom data across the periodic table which also include the recently established `deeply bound' pionic atoms of Pb and Sn. This fit cannot be reconciled with the well known free-space values of the pi N threshold amplitudes. In contrast, introducing the empirically known energy dependence for on-shell pions leads to a better fit and to satisfactory values for the pi N threshold amplitudes. The difference between these two approaches is briefly discussed.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures, submitted to PLB. Discussion section rewritten, omitting an erroneous equation. Results and conclusions unchanged Accepted by PL

Quark mass dependence of s-wave baryon resonances

We study the quark mass dependence of J(P) = 1/2(-) s-wave baryon resonances. Parameter free results are obtained in terms of the leading order chiral Lagrangian. In the 'heavy' SU(3) limit with m(pi) = M-K similar or equal to 500 MeV the resonances turn into bound states forming two octets plus a singlet representations of the SU(3) group. A contrasted result is obtained in the 'light' SU(3) limit with m(pi) = m(K) similar or equal to 140 MeV for which no resonances exist. Using physical quark masses our analysis suggests to assign to the S = -2 resonances Xi(1690) and Xi(1620) the quantum numbers J(P) = 1/2(-)

On meson resonances and chiral symmetry

We study meson resonances with quantum numbers J^P=1^+ in terms of the chiral SU(3) Lagrangian. At leading order a parameter-free prediction is obtained for the scattering of Goldstone bosons off vector mesons with J^P=1^- once we insist on approximate crossing symmetry of the unitarized scattering amplitude. A resonance spectrum arises that is remarkably close to the empirical pattern. In particular, we find that the strangeness-zero resonances h_1(1380), f_(1285) and b_1(1235) are formed due to strong K \bar K_\mu and \bar K K_\mu channels. This leads to large coupling constants of those resonances to the latter states.Comment: 29 pages, 6 figures, more detailed discussions are give

η\eta bound states in nuclei

The energies and widths of bound states of the $\eta$ meson in different nuclei are obtained using the results for its selfenergy in a nuclear medium, which is evaluated in a selfconsistent manner using techniques of unitarized chiral perturbation theory. We find bound states in all studied nuclei (from $^{12}{C}$ on) and the half widths obtained are larger than the separation of the levels, what makes the experimental observation of peaks unlikely. We have paid a special attention to the region of nuclei where only the $1s$ state appears and the binding energies are of the order of magnitude of the half width, which would magnify the chances that some broad peak could be observed. This is found in the region of $^{24}{Mg}$ with a binding energy around 12.6 MeV and half width of 16.7 MeV. In heavy nuclei like $^{208}{Pb}$ there are many bound states which would be difficult to disentangle and the deepest state has a binding energy about 21 MeV and half width around 16 MeV. Such an overlapping accumulation of states could be seen as an extension of the continuum of $\eta$ strength into the bound region in $\eta$ production experiments.Comment: 9 pages, Latex, 2 Figure

The Polyakov loop and the heat kernel expansion at finite temperature

The lower order terms of the heat kernel expansion at coincident points are computed in the context of finite temperature quantum field theory for flat space-time and in the presence of general gauge and scalar fields which may be non Abelian and non stationary. The computation is carried out in the imaginary time formalism and the result is fully consistent with invariance under topologically large and small gauge transformations. The Polyakov loop is shown to play a fundamental role.Comment: 4 pages, REVTEX, no figure

Open-charm meson resonances with negative strangeness

We study heavy-light meson resonances with quantum numbers J^P=0^+ and J^P=1^+ in terms of the non-linear chiral SU(3) Lagrangian. Adjusting the free parameters that arise at subleading order to reproduce the mass of the D(2420) resonance as well as the new states established recently by the BABAR, CLEO and BELLE collaborations we obtain refined masses for the anti-triplet and sextet states. Bound states of antikaons at the D(1867) and D(2008) mesons are predicted at 2352 MeV (J^P=0^+) and 2416 MeV (J^P=1^+). In addition we anticipate a narrow scalar state of mass 2389 MeV with (I,S)=(1/2,0)Comment: 12 pages, 3 figure

Multipole response of doped 3^3He drops

The multipole response of $^3$He$_N$ drops doped with very attractive impurities, such as a Xe atom or an SF$_6$ molecule, has been investigated in the framework of the Finite Range Density Functional Theory and the Random Phase Approximation. We show that volume ($L$ = 0) and surface ($L$ = 1, 2) modes become more fragmented, as compared with the results obtained for pure $^3$He$_N$ drops. In addition, the dipole mean energy goes smoothly to zero when $N$ increases, indicating that for large $N$ values these impurities are delocalized in the bulk of the drop.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures, to appear in J. Chem. Phy

Antikaon production in A+A collisions at SIS energies within an off-shell G-matrix approach

The production and propagation of antikaons -- described by dynamical spectral functions $A_h(X,\vec{P},M^2)$ as evaluated from a coupled channel $G$-matrix approach -- is studied for nucleus-nucleus collisions at SIS energies in comparison to the conventional quasi-particle limit and the available experimental data using off-shell transport theory. We find that the $K^-$ spectra for $^{12}C + ^{12}C$ and $^{58}Ni + ^{58}Ni$ at 1.8 A$\cdot$GeV remain underestimated in the $G$-matrix approach as in the on-shell quasi-particle approximation whereas the preliminary spectra for $Au + Au$ at 1.5 A$\cdot$GeV are well described in both limits. This also holds approximately for the $K^-$ rapidity distributions in semi-central collisions of $Ni+Ni$ at 1.93 A$\cdot$GeV. However, in all limits considered there is no convincing description of all spectra simultaneously. Our off-shell transport calculations, furthermore, demonstrate that the strongest in-medium effects should be found for low antikaon momenta in the center-of-mass frame, since the deceleration of the antikaons in the attractive Coulomb and nuclear potentials and the propagation to the on-shell mass induces a net shift and squeezing of the $K^-$ spectra to the low momentum regime.Comment: 44 pages, including 18 eps figures, to be published in Nucl. Phys.