Virtual Compton Scattering off the Pseudoscalar Meson Octet

We present a calculation of the virtual Compton scattering amplitude for the pseudoscalar meson octet in the framework of chiral perturbation theory at ${\cal O}(p^4)$. We calculate the electromagnetic generalized polarizabilities and compare the results in the real Compton scattering limit to available experimental values. Finally, we give predictions for the differential cross section of electron-meson bremsstrahlung.Comment: 9 pages, Latex, uses cjp3.sty (included), 4 eps figures, to be published in the proceedings of the 13th Indian-Summer School "Understanding the Structure of Hadrons," August 28 - September 1, 2000, Prague, Czech Republi

Charmed Strange Pentaquarks in the Large NcN_c Limit

The properties of pentaquarks containing a heavy anti-quark and strange quarks are studied in the bound state picture. In the flavor SU(3) limit, there are many pentaquark states with the same binding energy. When the SU(3) symmetry breaking effects are included, however, three states become particularly stable due to a ``Gell-Mann--Okubo mechanism''. They are the $\bar Qsuud$ and $\bar Qsudd$ states discussed by Lipkin, and a a previously unstudied $\bar Qssud$ state. These states will have $J^P={1\over2}^+$ and their masses are estimated. These states, if exist, may be seen in experiments in the near future.Comment: 12 pages in REVTeX, no figure

Low-energy photon-photon collisions to two loops revisited

In view of ongoing experimental activities to determine the pion polarizabilities, we have started to recalculate the available two-loop expressions in the framework of chiral perturbation theory, because they have never been checked before. We make use of the chiral Lagrangian at order p^6 now available, and of improved techniques to evaluate the two-loop diagrams. Here, we present the result for the neutral pions. The cross section for the reaction gamma+gamma->pi0+pi0 agrees with the earlier calculation within a fraction of a percent. We present analytic results for the dipole and quadrupole polarizabilities, and compare the latter with a recent evaluation from data on gamma+gamma->pi0+pi0.Comment: 28 pages, 7-eps figures, 1 tabl

Dynamically generated resonances from the vector octet-baryon decuplet interaction

We study the interaction of the octet of vector mesons with the decuplet of baryons using Lagrangians of the hidden gauge theory for vector interactions. The unitary amplitudes in coupled channels develop poles that can be associated with some known baryonic resonances, while there are predictions for new ones at the energy frontier of the experimental research. The work offers guidelines on how to search for these resonances

Measurement of the Ds lifetime

We report precise measurement of the Ds meson lifetime. The data were taken by the SELEX experiment (E781) spectrometer using 600 GeV/c Sigma-, pi- and p beams. The measurement has been done using 918 reconstructed Ds. The lifetime of the Ds is measured to be 472.5 +- 17.2 +- 6.6 fs, using K*(892)0K+- and phi pi+- decay modes. The lifetime ratio of Ds to D0 is 1.145+-0.049.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures submitted to Phys. Lett.

Confirmation of the Double Charm Baryon Xi_cc+ via its Decay to p D+ K-

We observes a signal for the double charm baryon Xi_cc+ in the charged decay mode Xi_cc+ -> p D+ K- to complement the previously reported decay Xi_cc+ -> Lambda_c K- pi+ in data from SELEX, the charm hadro-production experiment (E781) at Fermilab. In this new decay mode we observe an excess of 5.62 events over an expected background estimated by event mixing to be 1.38+/-0.13 events. The Poisson probability that a background fluctuation can produce the apparent signal is less than 6.4E-4. The observed mass of this state is (3518+/-3)MeV/c^2, consistent with the published result. Averaging the two results gives a mass of (3518.7+/-1.7)MeV/c^2. The observation of this new weak decay mode confirms the previous SELEX suggestion that this state is a double charm baryon. The relative branching ratio Gamma(Xi_cc+ -> pD+K-)/Gamma(Xi_cc+ -> Lambda_c K- pi+) = 0.36+/-0.21.Comment: 11 pages, 6 included eps figures. v2 includes improved statistical method to determine significance of observation. Submitted to PL

Spin asymmetry A_1^d and the spin-dependent structure function g_1^d of the deuteron at low values of x and Q^2

We present a precise measurement of the deuteron longitudinal spin asymmetry A_1^d and of the deuteron spin-dependent structure function g_1^d at Q^2 < 1 GeV^2 and 4*10^-5 < x < 2.5*10^-2 based on the data collected by the COMPASS experiment at CERN during the years 2002 and 2003. The statistical precision is tenfold better than that of the previous measurement in this region. The measured A_1^d and g_1^d are found to be consistent with zero in the whole range of x.Comment: 17 pages, 10 figure

Gluon polarization in the nucleon from quasi-real photoproduction of high-pT hadron pairs

We present a determination of the gluon polarization Delta G/G in the nucleon, based on the helicity asymmetry of quasi-real photoproduction events, Q^2<1(GeV/c)^2, with a pair of large transverse-momentum hadrons in the final state. The data were obtained by the COMPASS experiment at CERN using a 160 GeV polarized muon beam scattered on a polarized 6-LiD target. The helicity asymmetry for the selected events is = 0.002 +- 0.019(stat.) +- 0.003(syst.). From this value, we obtain in a leading-order QCD analysis Delta G/G=0.024 +- 0.089(stat.) +- 0.057(syst.) at x_g = 0.095 and mu^2 =~ 3 (GeV}/c)^2.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figure

Transverse spin effects in hadron-pair production from semi-inclusive deep inelastic scattering

First measurements of azimuthal asymmetries in hadron-pair production in deep-inelastic scattering of muons on transversely polarised ^6LiD (deuteron) and NH_3 (proton) targets are presented. The data were taken in the years 2002-2004 and 2007 with the COMPASS spectrometer using a muon beam of 160 GeV/c at the CERN SPS. The asymmetries provide access to the transversity distribution functions, without involving the Collins effect as in single hadron production. The sizeable asymmetries measured on the NH_ target indicate non-vanishing u-quark transversity and two-hadron interference fragmentation functions. The small asymmetries measured on the ^6LiD target can be interpreted as indication for a cancellation of u- and d-quark transversities.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures, updated to the published versio