Diffractive charged meson pair production

We investigate the possibility to measure the nonforward gluon distribution function by means of diffractively produced \pi^+\pi^- and K^+K^- pairs in polarized lepton nucleon scattering. The resulting cross sections are small and are dominated by the gluonic contribution. We find relatively large spin asymmetries, both for \pi^+\pi^- and for K^+K^- pairs.Comment: 15 pages, version with changed kinematical cuts, to be pubished in Phys.Lett.

πη\pi\eta pair hard electroproduction and exotic hybrid mesons

We show that hard electroproduction is a promising way to study exotic hybrid mesons, in particular through the hybrid decay channel $H \to \pi\eta$. We discuss the $\pi\eta$ generalized distribution amplitude, calculate the production amplitude and propose a forward-backward asymmetry as a signal for the hybrid meson production.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure, presented by I.V. Anikin at Xth International Conference "BARYONS'04", Palaiseau, Franc

Neutrino induced hard exclusive D_s production

Motivated by the possibility to use high intensity neutrino beams for neutrino-nucleon scattering experiments we analyze charged current induced exclusive meson production within the framework of generalized parton distributions. The cross section for hard exclusive D_s production is estimated in this formalism to leading order in QCD. The integrated cross section proves to be sizable. It is shown that the considered process is well suited to provide novel information on the gluon structure of nucleons, which is contained in the generalized gluon parton distribution.Comment: 7 pages; modified plots in Fig. 3; accepted for publication in Phys. Lett.

Hunting the QCD-Odderon in hard diffractive electroproduction of two pions

Charge asymmetries in diffractive electroproduction of two mesons are proportional to the interference of Pomeron and Odderon exchange amplitudes. We calculate in the framework of QCD and in the Born approximation a forward-backward charge asymmetry which turns out to be sizable in a kinematical domain accessible to HERA experiments. We predict a distinctive dependence of this asymmetry on the invariant mass of the two pions. Testing this prediction is a crucial step in the discovery of the QCD-Odderon.Comment: 13 pages LATEX, 6 .eps figures, numerical error corrected, new figures,main conclusions not change

Probing generalized parton distributions in pi N -> l+ l- N

We study the exclusive reactions pi- p -> l+ l- n and pi+ n -> l+ l- p$ in view of possible future experiments with high-intensity pion beams. For large invariant mass of the lepton pair l+ l- and small squared momentum transfer to the nucleon these are hard-scattering processes providing access to generalized parton distributions. We estimate the cross section for these reactions, explore their connection with the pion form factor, and discuss the role they can play in improving our understanding of the relevant reaction mechanisms.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figure

Physics at the front-end of a neutrino factory: a quantitative appraisal

We present a quantitative appraisal of the physics potential for neutrino experiments at the front-end of a muon storage ring. We estimate the forseeable accuracy in the determination of several interesting observables, and explore the consequences of these measurements. We discuss the extraction of individual quark and antiquark densities from polarized and unpolarized deep-inelastic scattering. In particular we study the implications for the undertanding of the nucleon spin structure. We assess the determination of alpha_s from scaling violation of structure functions, and from sum rules, and the determination of sin^2(theta_W) from elastic nu-e and deep-inelastic nu-p scattering. We then consider the production of charmed hadrons, and the measurement of their absolute branching ratios. We study the polarization of Lambda baryons produced in the current and target fragmentation regions. Finally, we discuss the sensitivity to physics beyond the Standard Model.Comment: 73+1 pages, 33 figs. Report of the nuDIS Working Group for the ECFA-CERN Neutrino-Factory study, M.L. Mangano (convener

Partonic structure of pi and rho mesons from data on hard (semi)exclusive production of two pions off nucleon

We fitted the pi-pi mass distribution in the range 0.5 < mpipi < 1.1 GeV measured in hard exclusive positron-proton reactions at HERA by the form dictated by QCD at leading twist level. Extracted parameters are related to valence quark distribution in the pion, and to the pion and rho meson distribution amplitudes. We obtain, for the first time, a measurement of the second Gegenbauer coefficient of the rho meson distribution amplitude: $a_2^{(\rho)}= -0.10\pm 0.20$ for a photon virtuality of =21.2 GeV^2.Comment: 12 pages, two figures. References and discussion are adde

Current in the light-front Bethe-Salpeter formalism II: Applications

We pursue applications of the light-front reduction of current matrix elements in the Bethe-Salpeter formalism. The normalization of the reduced wave function is derived from the covariant framework and related to non-valence probabilities using familiar Fock space projection operators. Using a simple model, we obtain expressions for generalized parton distributions that are continuous. The non-vanishing of these distributions at the crossover between kinematic regimes (where the plus component of the struck quark's momentum is equal to the plus component of the momentum transfer) is tied to higher Fock components. Moreover continuity holds due to relations between Fock components at vanishing plus momentum. Lastly we apply the light-front reduction to time-like form factors and derive expressions for the generalized distribution amplitudes in this model.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures, RevTex