Beyond CP violation: hadronic physics at BaBar

I report on recent studies of hadronic physics performed by the BaBar Collaboration. Emphasis is given to the measurement of the properties of newly discovered charmed hadrons and to the searches for light and heavy pentaquarks.Comment: 14 pages, 20 postscript figues, contributed to the Proceedings of the First APS Topical Group Meeting on Hadron Physics, Fermilab, Batavia, IL (October 24-26, 2004

Nonleptonic charmless two-body B→ATB \to AT decays

In this work we have studied hadronic charmless two-body B decays involving p-wave mesons in final state. We have calculated branching ratios of $B\to AT$ decays (where $A$ and $T$ denotes a $^3P_1$ axial-vector and a tensor meson, respectively), using $B \to T$ form factors obtained in the covariant light-front (CLF) approach, and the full effective Hamiltonian. We have obtained that $\mathcal{B}(B^{0} \to a_{1}^{+}a_{2}^{-}) =42.47 \times10^{-6}$, $\mathcal{B}(B^{+} \to a_{1}^{+}a_{2}^{0}) = 22.71 \times10^{-6}$, $\mathcal{B}(B \to f_{1}K_{2}^{*}) = (2.8-4) \times 10^{-6}$ (with $f_{1}=, f_{1}(1285),f_{1}(1420)$) for $\theta_{^{3}P_{1}} = 53.2^{\circ}$, $\mathcal{B}(B \to f_{1}(1420)K_{2}^{*}) = (5.91-6.42) \times 10^{-6}$ with $\theta_{^{3}P_{1}} = 27.9^{\circ}$, $\mathcal{B}(B \to K_{1}a_{2})= (1.7 - 5.7) [1-9.3] \times10^{-6}$ for $\theta_{K_{1}} = -37^{\circ} [-58^{\circ}]$ where $K_1 = K_1(1270), K_1(1400)$. It seems that these decays can be measured in experiments at $B$ factories. Additionally, we have found that $\mathcal{B}(B \to K_{1}(1270)a_{2})/\mathcal{B}(B \to K_{1}(1400)a_{2})$ and $\mathcal{B}(B \to f_1(1420)K_{2}^{*})/\mathcal{B}(B \to f_1(1285)K_{2}^{*})$ ratios could be useful to determine numerical values of mixing angles $\theta_{K_{1}}$ and $\theta_{^{3}P_{1}}$, respectively.Comment: 12 page

Initial-State Radiation Measurement of the e+e−−>π+π−π+π− Cross Section

We study the process e+e-→π+π-π+π-γ, with a photon emitted from the initial-state electron or positron, using 454.3  fb-1 of data collected with the BABAR detector at SLAC, corresponding to approximately 260 000 signal events. We use these data to extract the nonradiative σ(e+e-→π+π-π+π-) cross section in the energy range from 0.6 to 4.5 GeV. The total uncertainty of the cross section measurement in the peak region is less than 3%, higher in precision than the corresponding results obtained from energy scan data

Search for the Z1(4050)+ and Z2(4250)+ states in Bˉ0→χc1K−π+ and B+→χc1K0Sπ+

We search for the Z1(4050)+ and Z2(4250)+ states, reported by the Belle Collaboration, decaying to χc1π+ in the decays B̅ 0→χc1K-π+ and B+→χc1KS0π+ where χc1→J/ψγ. The data were collected with the BABAR detector at the SLAC PEP-II asymmetric-energy e+e- collider operating at center-of-mass energy 10.58 GeV, and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 429  fb-1. In this analysis, we model the background-subtracted, efficiency-corrected χc1π+ mass distribution using the Kπ mass distribution and the corresponding normalized Kπ Legendre-polynomial moments, and then test the need for the inclusion of resonant structures in the description of the χc1π+ mass distribution. No evidence is found for the Z1(4050)+ and Z2(4250)+ resonances, and 90% confidence level upper limits on the branching fractions are reported for the corresponding B-meson decay modes

Induced Transcriptional Profiling of Phenylpropanoid Pathway Genes Increased Flavonoid and Lignin Content in Arabidopsis Leaves in Response to Microbial Products

BACKGROUND: The production and use of biologically derived soil additives is one of the fastest growing sectors of the fertilizer industry. These products have been shown to improve crop yields while at the same time reducing fertilizer inputs to and nutrient loss from cropland. The mechanisms driving the changes in primary productivity and soil processes are poorly understood and little is known about changes in secondary productivity associated with the use of microbial products. Here we investigate secondary metabolic responses to a biologically derived soil additive by monitoring changes in the phenlypropanoid (PP) pathway in Arabidopsis thaliana. RESULTS: This study was designed to test the influence of one of these products (Soil Builder™-AF, SB) on secondary metabolism after being applied at different times. One time (TI) application of SB to Arabidopsis increased the accumulation of flavonoids compared to multiple (TII) applications of the same products. Fourteen phenolic compounds including flavonols and anothocyanins were identified by mass spectrometry. Kaempferol-3,7-O-bis-α-L-rhamnoside and quercetin 3,7-dirhamnoside, the major compounds, increased 3-fold and 4-fold, respectively compared to control in the TI treatment. The most abundant anthocyanin was cyanidin 3-rhamnoglucoside, which increased 3-fold and 2-fold in TI compared to the control and TII, respectively. Simultaneously, the expression of genes coding for key enzymes in the PP pathway (phenylalanine ammonia lyase, cinnamate 4-hydroxylase, chalcone synthase, flavonoid-3\u27-O-hydroxylase, flavonol synthase1 and dihydroflavonol-4-reductase) and regulatory genes (production of anthocyanin pigment2, MYB12, MYB113, MYB114, EGL3, and TT8) were up-regulated in both treatments (TI and TII). Furthermore, application of TI and TII induced expression of the lignin pathway genes (hydroxyl cinamyl transferase, caffeyl-CoA O-methyl transferase, cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase, cinnamyl-CoA reductase, secondary wall-associated NAC domain protein1, MYB58 and MYB63 resulting in higher accumulation of lignin content compared to the control. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that the additions of microbially based soil additives have a perceptible influence on phenylpropanoid pathway gene regulation and its production of secondary metabolites. These findings open an avenue of research to investigate the mode of action of microbially-based soil additives which may assist in the sustainable production of food, feed, fuel and fiber

Physics at the B Factories

We review recent progress at the two $e^+ e^-$ B factories. The first measurement of CP violation and the prospects for measuring all the angles of the unitarity triangle are discussed.Comment: To appear in the Proceedings of From the Smallest to the Largest Distances, a conference in honor of Tranh Thanh Van in Moscow, Russi