Odd Parity Light Baryon Resonances

We use a consistent SU(6) extension of the meson-baryon chiral Lagrangian within a coupled channel unitary approach in order to calculate the T-matrix for meson-baryon scattering in s-wave. The building blocks of the scheme are the pion and nucleon octets, the rho nonet and the Delta decuplet. We identify poles in this unitary T-matrix and interpret them as resonances. We study here the non exotic sectors with strangeness S=0,-1,-2,-3 and spin J=1/2, 3/2 and 5/2. Many of the poles generated can be associated with known N, Delta, Sigma, Lambda and Xi resonances with negative parity. We show that most of the low-lying three and four star odd parity baryon resonances with spin 1/2 and 3/2 can be related to multiplets of the spin-flavor symmetry group SU(6). This study allows us to predict the spin-parity of the Xi(1620), Xi(1690), Xi(1950), Xi(2250), Omega(2250) and Omega(2380) resonances, which have not been determined experimentally yet.Comment: New appendix and references adde

Regional differences in the potential exposure of US minority populations to hazardous facilities

In the literature that examines the distribution of environmental disamenities of various types, there is considerable documentation that minority groups and lower income groups are more likely to be exposed. Such differential exposure has been attributed to ``environmental racism`` by some authors, but there has been no systematic investigation of the factors and dynamics underlying this exposure pattern. This study examines regional differences in the proximity of African-American, Hispanics, Asians, and non-Hispanic Whites to a broad range facility types and explores the degree to which this may be related to urban and income factors

Race, region and risk: An examination of minority proximity to noxious facilities

The past decade has given rise to terms like environmental racism, eco-racism, and environmental inequities to characterize a disproportional distribution of environmental disamenities among minority communities. Much of the literature supports the contention that racial and ethnic minorities and low-income groups bear a disproportionate burden of risk from hazardous activities and substances in the environment. This study expands the scope of prior studies by employing county-level data for the entire nation and including a broad range of facility types associated with environmental disamenities. In addition, it addresses the issue of the distribution of noxious facilities among white and non-white populations in an attempt to determine the relative exposure to risk among different racial and ethnic groups. In addition, the authors also explore the relative importance of nonurban versus urban residence

Low-lying even parity meson resonances and spin-flavor symmetry

A study is presented of the $s-$wave meson-meson interactions involving members of the $\rho-$nonet and of the $\pi-$octet. The starting point is an SU(6) spin-flavor extension of the SU(3) flavor Weinberg-Tomozawa Lagrangian. SU(6) symmetry breaking terms are then included to account for the physical meson masses and decay constants, while preserving partial conservation of the axial current in the light pseudoscalar sector. Next, the $T-$matrix amplitudes are obtained by solving the Bethe Salpeter equation in coupled-channel with the kernel built from the above interactions. The poles found on the first and second Riemann sheets of the amplitudes are identified with their possible Particle Data Group (PDG) counterparts. It is shown that most of the low-lying even parity PDG meson resonances, specially in the $J^P=0^+$ and $1^+$ sectors, can be classified according to multiplets of the spin-flavor symmetry group SU(6). The $f_0(1500)$, $f_1(1420)$ and some $0^+(2^{++})$ resonances cannot be accommodated within this SU(6) scheme and thus they would be clear candidates to be glueballs or hybrids. Finally, we predict the existence of five exotic resonances ($I \ge 3/2$ and/or $|Y|=2$) with masses in the range 1.4--1.6 GeV, which would complete the $27_1$, $10_3$, and $10_3^*$ multiplets of SU(3)$\otimes$SU(2).Comment: 43 pages, 2 figures, 61 tables. Improved discussion of Section II. To appear in Physical Review

Gravitational coupling of neutrinos in a medium

In a medium that contains electrons but not the other charged leptons, such as normal matter, the gravitational interactions of neutrinos are not the same for all the neutrino flavors. We calculate the leading order matter-induced corrections to the neutrino gravitational interactions in such a medium and consider some of their physical implications.Comment: 21 pages, Latex, uses axodraw.sty (typos corrected; two references added. To appear in Phys. Rev. D

Momentum-dependent contributions to the gravitational coupling of neutrinos in a medium

When neutrinos travel through a normal matter medium, the electron neutrinos couple differently to gravity compared to the other neutrinos, due to the presence of electrons in the medium and the absence of the other charged leptons. We calculate the momentum-dependent part of the matter-induced gravitational couplings of the neutrinos under such conditions, which arise at order $g^2/M^4_W$, and determine their contribution to the neutrino dispersion relation in the presence of a gravitational potential $\phi^{\mathrm{ext}}$. These new contributions vanish for the muon and tau neutrinos. For electron neutrinos with momentum $K$, they are of the order of the usual Wolfenstein term times the factor $(K^2/M^2_W)\phi^{\mathrm{ext}}$, for high energy neutrinos. In environments where the gravitational potential is substantial, such as those in the vicinity of Active Galactic Nuclei, they could be the dominant term in the neutrino dispersion relation. They must also be taken into account in the analysis of possible violations of the Equivalence Principle in the neutrino sector, in experimental settings involving high energy neutrinos traveling through a matter background.Comment: Minor corrections in the references; one reference adde

Charmed hadrons in nuclear medium

We study the properties of charmed hadrons in dense matter within a coupled-channel approach which accounts for Pauli blocking effects and meson self-energies in a self-consistent manner. We analyze the behaviour in this dense environment of dynamically-generated baryonic resonances as well as the open-charm meson spectral functions. We discuss the implications of the in-medium properties of open-charm mesons on the $D_{s0}(2317)$ and the predicted X(3700) scalar resonances.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, invited parallel talk in the 5th International Conference on Quarks and Nuclear Physics (QNP09), Beijing, September 21-26, 200