The Hydrogen Bond of QCD

Using the Born-Oppenheimer approximation, we show that exotic resonances, X and Z, may emerge as QCD molecular objects made of colored two-quark lumps, states with heavy-light diquarks spatially separated from antidiquarks. With the same method we confirm that doubly heavy tetraquarks are stable against strong decays. Tetraquarks described here provide a new picture of exotic hadrons, as formed by the QCD analog of the hydrogen bond of molecular physics.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, comments and references added. Table 1 extende

The e+ e- -> P1 P2 gamma processes close to the Phi peak: toward a model-independent analysis

We discuss the general decomposition and possible general parameterizations of the processes $e^+ e^- \to \gamma^* \to P_1 P_2 \gamma$, where $P_1 P_2=\pi^0 \pi^0$, $\pi^0\eta$, or $\pi^+\pi^-$, for $\sqrt{s}\approx M_\Phi$. Particular attention is devoted to the amplitude where the two pseudoscalar mesons are in a $J^{CP}= 0^{++}$ state, where we propose a general parameterization which should help to shed light on the nature of light scalar mesons.Comment: 12 pages, Late

The Z(4430) and a New Paradigm for Spin Interactions in Tetraquarks

Following the recent confirmation of the Z+(4430) resonance with J^{PG}=1^{++}, we have re-examined the model of S- and P-wave tetraquarks. We propose a `type-II' diquark-antidiquark model which shows to be very effective at producing a simple and comprehensive picture of the J^{PG}=1^{++} and 1^{--} sectors of the recently discovered charged tetraquarks and of the observed Y resonances. The model is still faced with the unresolved difficulty of explaining why some states seem to have incomplete isospin multiplets.Comment: 17 pages, 1 figure, comments added, typos corrected, to appear in Phys Rev

Four-Quark Mesons

The features of a model interpreting the light scalar mesons as diquark-antidiquark bound states and the consequences of its natural extension to include heavy quarks are briefly reviewed.Comment: Talk given at the 6th Conference on Quark Confinement and the Hadron Spectrum, Villasimius, Sardinia, Italy, 21-25 Sep 200

Update on Counting Valence Quarks at RHIC

We update our former analysis of the Nuclear Modification Factors (NMF) for different hadron species at RHIC and LHC. This update is motivated by the new experimental data from STAR which presents differences with the preliminary data used to fix some of the parameters in our model. The main change is the use of AKK fragmentation functions for the hard part of the spectrum and minor adjustments of the coalescence (soft) contribution. We confirm that observation of the NMF for the f_0 meson can shed light on its quark composition.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Indications of a Four-Quark Structure for the X(3872) and X(3876) Particles from Recent Belle and BABAR Data

Recent results by BELLE and BaBar point to the existence of a second X particle decaying in D^0 D^0bar pi^0, a few MeV above the X(3872). We identify the two X states with the neutral particles predicted by the 4-quark model and show that production and decays are consistent with this assignement. We consider the yet-to-be-observed charged partners and give new hints on how to look for them.Comment: 5 pages, some revision of the text, results unchanged. To appear in Phys. Rev. Let

Neutron Production Rates by Inverse-Beta Decay in Fully Ionized Plasmas

Recently we showed that the nuclear transmutation rates are largely overestimated in the Widom-Larsen theory of the so called `Low Energy Nuclear Reactions'. Here we show that unbound plasma electrons are even less likely to initiate nuclear transmutations.Comment: 9 pages, 1 Figure, minor revisions and clarifications, results unchanged. To appear in EPJ

Another tetraquark structure in the π+χc1\pi^+ \chi_{c1} invariant mass distribution

In this article, we assume that there exists a scalar hidden charm tetraquark state in the $\pi^+ \chi_{c1}$ invariant mass distribution, and study its mass using the QCD sum rules. The numerical result $M_{Z}=(4.36\pm0.18) \rm{GeV}$ is consistent with the mass of the Z(4250). The Z(4250) may be a tetraquark state, other possibilities, such as a hadro-charmonium resonance and a $D_1^+\bar{D}^0+ D^+\bar{D}_1^0$ molecular state are not excluded.Comment: 14 pages, 14 figure, correct some type error

The observation of light nuclei at ALICE and the X(3872) conundrum

The new data reported by ALICE on the production of light nuclei with pT < 10 GeV in Pb-Pb collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 2.76 TeV are used to compute an order-of-magnitude estimate of the expected production cross sections of light nuclei in proton-proton collisions at high transverse momenta. We compare the hypertriton, helium-3 and deuteron production cross sections to that of X(3872), measured in prompt pp collisions by CMS. The results we find suggest a different production mechanism for the X(3872), making questionable any loosely bound molecule interpretation.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures. Version accepted on PR