Isgur-Wise form factors of heavy baryons within a light-front constituent quark model

The space-like elastic form factors of baryons containing a heavy quark are investigated within a light-front constituent quark model in the limit of infinite heavy-quark mass, adopting a gaussian-like ansatz for the three-quark wave function. The results obtained for the Isgur-Wise form factors corresponding both to a spin-0 and a spin-1 light spectator pair are presented. It is found that the Isgur-Wise functions depend strongly on the baryon structure, being sharply different in case of diquark-like or collinear-type configurations in the three-quark system. It is also shown that the relativistic effects lead to a saturation property of the form factors as a function of the baryon size. Our results are compared with those of different models as well as with recent predictions from QCD sum rules and lattice QCD simulations; the latter ones seem to suggest the dominance of collinear-type configurations, in which the heavy-quark is sitting close to the center-of-mass of the light quark pair.Comment: latex, 15 pp., 6 figures with epsfig.st

Leading and higher twists in proton, neutron and deuteron unpolarized structure functions

We summarize the results of a recent global analysis of proton and deuteron F2 structure function world data performed over a large range of kinematics, including recent measurements done at JLab with the CLAS detector. From these data the lowest moments (n <= 10) of the unpolarized structure functions are determined with good statistics and systematics. The Q**2 evolution of the extracted moments is analyzed in terms of an OPE based twist expansion, taking into account soft-gluon effects at large x. A clean separation among the Leading and Higher-Twist terms is achieved. By combining proton and deuteron measurements the lowest moments of the neutron F2 structure function are determined and its leading twist term is extracted. Particular attention is paid to nuclear effects in the deuteron, which become increasingly important for the higher moments. Our results for the non-singlet, isovector (p - n) combination of the leading twist moments are used to test recent lattice simulations. We also determine the lowest few moments of the higher twist contributions, and find these to be approximately isospin independent, suggesting the possible dominance of ud correlations over uu and dd in the nucleon.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures; to appear in the Proceedings of the IVth International Conference on Quark and Nuclear Physics (QNP06), Madrid (Spain), June 5-10, 200

Extraction of ∣Vcd∣|V_{cd}| and ∣Vcs∣|V_{cs}| from experimental decay rates using lattice QCD D→π(K)ℓνD \to \pi(K) \ell \nu form factors

We present a determination of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix elements $|V_{cd}|$ and $|V_{cs}|$ obtained by combining the momentum dependence of the semileptonic vector form factors $f_+^{D \to \pi}(q^2)$ and $f_+^{D \to K}(q^2)$, recently determined from lattice QCD simulations, with the differential rates measured for the semileptonic $D \to \pi \ell \nu$ and $D \to K \ell \nu$ decays. Our analysis is based on the results for the semileptonic form factors produced by the European Twisted Mass Collaboration with $N_f = 2 + 1 + 1$ flavors of dynamical quarks in the whole range of values of the squared 4-momentum transfer accessible in the experiments. The statistical and systematic correlations between the lattice data as well as those present in the experimental data are properly taken into account. With respect to the standard procedure based on the use of only the vector form factor at zero 4-momentum transfer, we obtain more precise and consistent results: $|V_{cd} |= 0.2341 ~ (74)$ and $|V_{cs} |= 0.970 ~ (33)$. The second-row CKM unitarity is fulfilled within the current uncertainties: $|V_{cd}|^2 + |V_{cs}|^2 + |V_{cb}|^2 = 0.996 ~ (64)$. Moreover, using for the first time hadronic inputs determined from first principles, we have calculated the ratio of the semileptonic $D \to \pi(K)$ decay rates into muons and electrons, which represent a test of lepton universality within the SM, obtaining in the isospin-symmetric limit of QCD: ${\cal{R}}_{LU}^{D\pi} = 0.985~(2)$ and ${\cal{R}}_{LU}^{DK} = 0.975~(1)$.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, 8 tables. Version to appear in EPJ