Relation between Tcc,bbT_{cc,bb} and Xc,bX_{c,b} from QCD

We have studied, using double ratio of QCD (spectral) sum rules, the ratio between the masses of $T_{cc}$ and X(3872) assuming that they are respectively described by the $D-{D}^*$ and $D-\bar{D}^*$ molecular currents. We found (within our approximation) that the masses of these two states are almost degenerate. Since the pion exchange interaction between these mesons is exactly the same, we conclude that if the observed X(3872) meson is a $D\bar{D}^*+c.c.$ molecule, then the $DD^*$ molecule should also exist with approximately the same mass. An extension of the analysis to the $b$-quark case leads to the same conclusion. We also study the SU(3) breakings for the $T^s_{QQ}/T_{QQ}$ mass ratios. Motivated by the recent Belle observation of two $Z_b$ states, we revise our determination of $X_b$ by combining results from exponential and FESR sum rules.Comment: revised version to appear on Phys. Lett.

Self-bound Interacting QCD Matter in Compact Stars

The quark gluon plasma (QGP) at zero temperature and high baryon number is a system that may be present inside compact stars. It is quite possible that this cold QGP shares some relevant features with the hot QGP observed in heavy ion collisions, being also a strongly interacting system. In a previous work we have derived from the QCD Lagrangian an equation of state (EOS) for the cold QGP, which can be considered an improved version of the MIT bag model EOS. Compared to the latter, our equation of state reaches higher values of the pressure at comparable baryon densities. This feature is due to perturbative corrections and also to non-perturbative effects. Here we apply this EOS to the study of neutron stars, discussing the absolute stability of quark matter and computing the mass-radius relation for self-bound (strange) stars. The maximum masses of the sequences exceed two solar masses, in agreement with the recently measured values of the mass of the pulsar PSR J1614-2230, and the corresponding radii around 10-11 km

Virtual Meson Cloud of the Nucleon and Intrinsic Strangeness and Charm

We have applied the Meson Cloud Model (MCM) to calculate the charm and strange antiquark distribution in the nucleon. The resulting distribution, in the case of charm, is very similar to the intrinsic charm momentum distribution in the nucleon. This seems to corroborate the hypothesis that the intrinsic charm is in the cloud and, at the same time, explains why other calculations with the MCM involving strange quark distributions fail in reproducing the low x region data. From the intrinsic strange distribution in the nucleon we have extracted the strangeness radius of the nucleon, which is in agreement with other meson cloud calculations.Comment: 9 pages RevTex, 4 figure

Heavy quarkonium production in a strong magnetic field

It is well known that in noncentral heavy-ion collisions a transient strong magnetic field is generated in the direction perpendicular to the reaction plane. The maximal strength of this field is estimated to be $eB \sim m^2_{\pi} \sim 0.02 \text{GeV}^2$ at the RHIC and $eB \sim 15 m^2_{\pi} \sim 0.3 \text{GeV}^2$ at the LHC. We investigate the effects of a strong magnetic field on $B$ and $D$ mesons, focusing on the changes of the energy levels and the masses of the bound states. Using the Color Evaporation Model we discuss the possible changes in the production of $J/\psi$ and $\Upsilon$.Comment: 18 pages, 7 figure

X, Y and Z States

Many new states in the charmonium mass region were recently discovered by BaBar, Belle, CLEO-c, CDF, D0, BESIII, LHCb and CMS Collaborations. We use the QCD Sum Rule approach to study the possible structure of some of these states.Comment: Contribution for the proceedings of the "XII Quark Confinement and the Hadron Spectrum - CONF12" conferenc