Radiative Non-Leptonic Kaon Decays

We investigate to what extent DA$\Phi$NE will be able to test the Standard Model in the confinement regime with radiative kaon decays. We concentrate on processes which can be detected at DA$\Phi$NE and we review briefly those decays where only upper limits can be expected. The Standard Model predictions for these decays are analyzed in the framework of chiral perturbation theory.Comment: 41 pages, latex file, 10 figures added in a separate uufil

Approximating chiral SU(3) amplitudes

We construct large-N_c motivated approximate chiral SU(3) amplitudes of next-to-next-to-leading order. The amplitudes are independent of the renormalization scale. Fitting lattice data with those amplitudes allows for the extraction of chiral coupling constants with the correct scale dependence. The differences between approximate and full amplitudes are required to be at most of the order of N^3LO contributions numerically. Applying the approximate expressions to recent lattice data for meson decay constants, we determine several chiral couplings with good precision. In particular, we obtain a value for F_0, the meson decay constant in the chiral SU(3) limit, that is more precise than all presently available determinations.Comment: 19 pages, 4 figures, improved presentation, results unchanged, version to appear in EPJ

Electromagnetism in nonleptonic weak interactions

We construct a low-energy effective field theory that permits the complete treatment of isospin-breaking effects in nonleptonic weak interactions to next-to-leading order. To this end, we enlarge the chiral Lagrangian describing strong and Delta S=1 weak interactions by including electromagnetic terms with the photon as additional dynamical degree of freedom. The complete and minimal list of local terms at next-to-leading order is given. We perform the one-loop renormalization at the level of the generating functional and specialize to K -> pi pi decays.Comment: 17 pages, 1 figure; 2 references added, final version for publication in Nucl. Phys.

Isospin violation in epsilon'

On the basis of a next-to-leading-order calculation in chiral perturbation theory, the first complete analysis of isospin breaking for direct CP violation in K^0 -> 2 pi decays is performed. We find a destructive interference between three different sources of isospin violation in the CP violation parameter epsilon'. Within the uncertainties of large-N_c estimates for the low-energy constants, the isospin violating correction for epsilon' is below 15 %.Comment: 4 page

The chemistry of fluorine-bearing molecules in diffuse and dense interstellar gas clouds

We present a theoretical investigation of the chemistry of fluorine-bearing molecules in diffuse and dense interstellar gas clouds. The chemistry of interstellar fluorine is qualitatively different from that of any other element, because - unlike the neutral atoms of any other element found in diffuse or dense molecular clouds - atomic fluorine undergoes an exothermic reaction with molecular hydrogen. Over a wide range of conditions attained within interstellar gas clouds, the product of that reaction - hydrogen fluoride - is predicted to be the dominant gas-phase reservoir of interstellar fluorine nuclei. Our model predicts HF column densities ~ 1.E+13 cm-2 in dark clouds and column densities as large as 1.E-11 cm-2 in diffuse interstellar gas clouds with total visual extinctions as small as 0.1 mag. Such diffuse clouds will be detectable by means of absorption line spectroscopy of the J = 1 - 0 transition at 243.2 micron using the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) and the Herschel Space Observatory (HSO). The CF+ ion is predicted to be the second most abundant fluorine-bearing molecule, with typical column densities a factor ~ 100 below those of HF; with its lowest two rotational transitions in the millimeter-wave spectral region, CF+ may be detectable from ground-based observatories. HF absorption in quasar spectra is a potential probe of molecular gas at high redshift, providing a possible bridge between the UV/optical observations capable of probing H2 in low column density systems and the radio/millimeter-wavelength observations that probe intervening molecular clouds of high extinction and large molecular fraction; at redshifts beyond ~ 0.3, HF is potentially detectable from ground-based submillimeter observatories in several atmospheric transmission windows.Comment: 34 pages, including 11 figures (10 color), accepted for publication in Ap

Discovery of Water Vapor in the High-redshift Quasar APM 08279+5255 at z = 3.91

We report a detection of the excited 2_(20)-2_(11) rotational transition of para-H_2O in APM 08279+5255 using the IRAM Plateau de Bure Interferometer. At z = 3.91, this is the highest-redshift detection of interstellar water to date. From large velocity gradient modeling, we conclude that this transition is predominantly radiatively pumped and on its own does not provide a good estimate of the water abundance. However, additional water transitions are predicted to be detectable in this source, which would lead to an improved excitation model. We also present a sensitive upper limit for the hydrogen fluoride (HF) J = 1-0 absorption toward APM 08279+5255. While the face-on geometry of this source is not favorable for absorption studies, the lack of HF absorption is still puzzling and may be indicative of a lower fluorine abundance at z = 3.91 compared with the Galactic interstellar medium