Third-order relativistic many-body calculations of energies and lifetimes of levels along the silver isoelectronic sequence

Energies of 5l_j (l= s, p, d, f, g) and 4f_j states in neutral Ag and Ag-like ions with nuclear charges Z = 48 - 100 are calculated using relativistic many-body perturbation theory. Reduced matrix elements, oscillator strengths, transition rates and lifetimes are calculated for the 17 possible 5l_j-5l'_{j'} and 4f_j-5l_{j'} electric-dipole transitions. Third-order corrections to energies and dipole matrix elements are included for neutral Ag and for ions with Z60. Comparisons are made with available experimental data for transition energies and lifetimes. Correlation energies and transition rates are shown graphically as functions of nuclear charge Z for selected cases. These calculations provide a theoretical benchmark for comparison with experiment and theory.Comment: 8 page

Zero temperature string breaking in lattice quantum chromodynamics

The separation of a heavy quark and antiquark pair leads to the formation of a tube of flux, or "string", which should break in the presence of light quark-antiquark pairs. This expected zero-temperature phenomenon has proven elusive in simulations of lattice QCD. We study mixing between the string state and the two-meson decay channel in QCD with two flavors of dynamical sea quarks. We confirm that mixing is weak and find that it decreases at level crossing. While our study does not show direct effects of internal quark loops, our results, combined with unitarity, give clear confirmation of string breaking.Comment: 20 pages, 7 figures. With small clarifications and two additions to references. Submitted to Phys. Rev.