Large-N_c operator analysis of 2-body meson-baryon counterterms in the chiral Lagrangian

The chiral SU(3) Lagrangian with the baryon octet and decuplet fields is considered. The Q^2 counterterms involving the decuplet fields are constructed. We derive the correlation of the chiral parameters implied by the 1/N_c expansion at leading order in QCD.Comment: 20 pages, 3 figure

Strangeness in the baryon ground states

We compute the strangeness content of the baryon octet and decuplet states based on an analysis of recent lattice simulations of the BMW, PACS, LHPC and HSC groups for the pion-mass dependence of the baryon masses. Our results rely on the relativistic chiral Lagrangian and large-$N_c$ sum rule estimates of the counter terms relevant for the baryon masses at N$^3$LO. A partial summation is implied by the use of physical baryon and meson masses in the one-loop contributions to the baryon self energies. A simultaneous description of the lattice results of the BMW, LHPC, PACS and HSC groups is achieved. From a global fit we determine the axial coupling constants $F\simeq 0.45$ and $D \simeq 0.80$ in agreement with their values extracted from semi-leptonic decays of the baryons. Moreover, various flavor symmetric limits of baron octet and decuplet masses as obtained by the QCDSF-UKQCD group are recovered. We predict the pion- and strangeness sigma terms and the pion-mass dependence of the octet and decuplet ground states at different strange quark masses.Comment: 15 pages, 5 tables, 3 figures. There are two significant extensions in the revised manuscript. First, a precise determination of the axial coupling constants F and D from the lattice data on the baryon masses is provided. Second, it is shown that the lattice data of the QCDSF-UKQCD group on the baryon masses in the flavor symmetric limit are recovered. The 3rd version is the published versio

On the consistency of recent QCD lattice data of the baryon ground-state masses

In our recent analysis of lattice data of the BMW, LHPC and PACS-CS groups we determined a parameter set of the chiral Lagrangian that allows a simultaneous description of the baryon octet and decuplet masses as measured by those lattice groups. The results on the baryon spectrum of the HSC group were recovered accurately without their inclusion into our 6 parameter fit. We show that the same parameter set provides an accurate reproduction of the recent results of the QCDSF-UKQCD group probing the baryon masses at quite different quark masses. This shows a remarkable consistency amongst the different lattice simulations. With even more accurate lattice data in the near future it will become feasible to determine all low-energy parameters relevant at N$^3$LO.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figure

A unitary and causal effective field theory

We report on a novel scheme based on the chiral Lagrangian. It is used to analyze pion-nucleon scattering, pion photoproduction, and nucleon Compton scattering. Subthreshold partial-wave amplitudes are calculated in chiral perturbation theory and analytically extrapolated with constraints imposed by electromagnetic-gauge invariance, causality and unitarity. Experimental quantities are reproduced up to energies $\sqrt{s}\simeq 1300$ MeV in terms of the parameters relevant at order $Q^3$.Comment: 4 pages, contribution to the proceedings of the MENU 2010 conference, May 31-June 4, 2010, Williamsburg VA, US

Unitary and causal dynamics based on the chiral Lagrangian

Pion-nucleon scattering, pion photoproduction, and nucleon Compton scattering are analyzed within a scheme based on the chiral Lagrangian. Partial-wave amplitudes are obtained by an analytic extrapolation of subthreshold reaction amplitudes computed in chiral perturbation theory, where the constraints set by electromagnetic-gauge invariance, causality and unitarity are used to stabilize the extrapolation. Experimental data are reproduced up to energies $\sqrt{s}\simeq 1300$ MeV in terms of the parameters relevant at order $Q^3$. A striking puzzle caused by an old photon asymmetry measurement close to the pion production threshold is discussed.Comment: Invited plenary talk at Chiral 10 Workshop, Valencia (Spain), June 21-24, 201

Ecological training set of freshwater ostracods in Canadian and Siberian periglacial regions

Quantified palaeoenvironmental reconstructions are essential to estimate the impact of future climate changes on ecosystems. Based on faunistic data from regional multireference sites and limnological surveys, ecological training sets can be used to build transfer functions to infer major environmental variables (e.g., temperature, conductivity, DOC, and pH value) in a greater study area. The remote Polar regions are affected by bigger amplitude of climate change than elsewhere on this planet and make ecological training sets in this region so important.Freshwater ostracods from Arctic nvironments have the potential to hindcast glacial/interglacial and stadial/interstadial alaeoclimate variations. Various methods can be applied to fossil assemblages such as indicator species approach, modern analoguetechniques and transfer functions based on ecological training sets.The present training set combines data from the Canadian (Southampton Island at 63-65°N; Bylot Island at 72-73°N) and the Siberian (Central Yakutia at 61°N; Northeast Yakutia at 66°N; Lena Delta at 72°N) high latitudes with reference areas in Central Canada (Whapmagoostui-Kuujjuarapik at 50-55°N; Churchill at 58°N). A total of 75 localities were sampled during field work in 2005-2007. In general, life conditions for aquatic organisms such as freshwater ostracods in the high latitude regions are extremeand limited by short open water periods during the summer and strong variations of water temperatures in the shallow waters. The host waters in periglacial regions are affected by permafrost and thermokarst processes and mostly represented as polygonal ponds or thermokarst lakes in different stages of their development. Generally, the waters in our study area have a mean pH-value of 7.6, ranging from pH 6.0 to pH 9.2. They are characterised by low ionic contents (Condmean = 231μS*cm−1), but the training set includes sites between 4.4 μS*cm−1 (e.g., on Bylot Island) and 1433 μS*cm−1 (e.g., in Central Yakutia). A principal component analysis reveals that 88.5 % of the variability of the environmental data is explained by the first ordination axis corresponding to pH, conductivity and major cations (i.e., Ca, Na). The studied ostracod assemblages are characterised by dominance of single species indifferent regions, e.g., Cyclocypris ovum on Bylot Island, Fabaeformiscandona pedata in the Lena Delta. In general, the species diversity in northern latitudes is relatively low due to the harsh environmental conditions affecting ostracods ontogeny. In total, 16 species were used in the presented data set.Further implementation of the ecological training set into transfer functions for one or more variables are prosperous

Two-nucleon scattering: merging chiral effective field theory with dispersion relations

We consider two-nucleon scattering close to threshold. Partial-wave amplitudes are obtained by an analytic extrapolation of subthreshold reaction amplitudes calculated in a relativistic formulation of chiral perturbation theory. The constraints set by unitarity are used in order to stabilize the extrapolation. Neutron-proton phase shifts are analyzed up to laboratory energies $T_{{\rm lab}}\simeq250$ MeV based on the next-to-next-to-next-to-leading order expression for the subthreshold amplitudes. We find a reasonably accurate description of the empirical S- and P-waves and a good convergence of our approach. These results support the assumption that the subthreshold nucleon-nucleon scattering amplitude may be computed perturbatively by means of the chiral expansion. The intricate soft scales that govern the low-energy nucleon-nucleon scattering are generated dynamically via a controlled analytic continuation.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, version accepted for publication, a more detailed discussion of the results is adde

Two-nucleon scattering: merging chiral effective field theory with dispersion relations

We consider two-nucleon scattering close to threshold. Partial-wave amplitudes are obtained by an analytic extrapolation of subthreshold reaction amplitudes calculated in a relativistic formulation of chiral perturbation theory. The constraints set by unitarity are used in order to stabilize the extrapolation. Neutron-proton phase shifts are analyzed up to laboratory energies $T_{{\rm lab}}\simeq250$ MeV based on the next-to-next-to-next-to-leading order expression for the subthreshold amplitudes. We find a reasonably accurate description of the empirical S- and P-waves and a good convergence of our approach. These results support the assumption that the subthreshold nucleon-nucleon scattering amplitude may be computed perturbatively by means of the chiral expansion. The intricate soft scales that govern the low-energy nucleon-nucleon scattering are generated dynamically via a controlled analytic continuation.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, version accepted for publication, a more detailed discussion of the results is adde