Coulomb energy and gluon distribution in the presence of static sources

We compute the energy of the ground state and a low lying excitation of the gluonic field in the presence of static quark -anti-quark (\qq) sources. We show that for separation between the sources less then a few fm the gluonic ground state of the static \qq system can be well described in terms of a mean field wave functional with the excited states corresponding to a single quasi-particle excitation of the gluon field. We also discuss the role of many particle excitations relevant for large separation between sources.Comment: 14 pages, 11 figure

Diffractive photoproduction of opposite-charge pseudoscalar meson pairs at high energies

We calculate the cross section for diffractive photoproduction of opposite-charge pseudoscalar meson pairs $M^+M^- = \pi^+ \pi^-$, $K^+ K^-$, $D^+ D^-$ and $B^+ B^-$ in a broad range of center-of-mass energies relevant for GlueX/Hall D, FOCUS, COMPASS and HERA experiments. In the case of $\pi^+\pi^-$ production we find that the interference of the $\rho^0$ resonance and the two-pion continuum leads to a considerable deformation of the shape of $\rho^0$ in agreement with the data from the ZEUS collaboration. We also discuss the spectral shape of the $\rho^0$ as a function of the momentum transfer and the contribution of higher partial waves to the $\pi^+\pi^-$ mass spectrum. We predict a sizeable energy-dependent forward-backward asymmetry in the Gottfried-Jackson frame. For the heavy meson production we find that the cross section for diffractive production increases much slower than the one for open charm or bottom production. We discuss lower and upper limits for the cross sections for diffractive production of $D^+ D^-$ and $B^+ B^-$ pairs, which we find can be as large as 10% of the open flavor production.Comment: 14 pages, 19 figure

A Coulomb Gauge Model of Mesons

A model of mesons which is based on the QCD Hamiltonian in Coulomb gauge is presented. The model relies on a novel quasiparticle basis to improve the reliability of the Fock space expansion. It is also relativistic, yields chiral pions, and is tightly constrained by QCD (quark masses are the only parameters). Applications to hidden flavor mesons yield results which are comparable to phenomenological constituent quark models while revealing the limitations of such models.Comment: 13 pages, 1 eps figure, 5 table

Decay properties of new D-mesons

We consider radiative and pionic decays of the new D_s-mesons in the framework of a phenomenologically motivated approach. Present data on ratios of the two kinds of decays can be described without explicit using a 4-quark component. Most probably, the isospin violation in decays of different D_s-mesons is not universal, and the binding potential should be different from Coulombic. New precise measurements may provide further clarification for the nature of the D_s excited states.Comment: 12 pages, Late

Renormalized Effective QCD Hamiltonian: Gluonic Sector

Extending previous QCD Hamiltonian studies, we present a new renormalization procedure which generates an effective Hamiltonian for the gluon sector. The formulation is in the Coulomb gauge where the QCD Hamiltonian is renormalizable and the Gribov problem can be resolved. We utilize elements of the Glazek and Wilson regularization method but now introduce a continuous cut-off procedure which eliminates non-local counterterms. The effective Hamiltonian is then derived to second order in the strong coupling constant. The resulting renormalized Hamiltonian provides a realistic starting point for approximate many-body calculations of hadronic properties for systems with explicit gluon degrees of freedom.Comment: 25 pages, no figures, revte

Explicit Model Realizing Parton-Hadron Duality

We present a model that realizes both resonance-Regge (Veneziano) and parton-hadron (Bloom-Gilman) duality. We first review the features of the Veneziano model and we discuss how parton-hadron duality appears in the Bloom-Gilman model. Then we review limitations of the Veneziano model, namely that the zero-width resonances in the Veneziano model violate unitarity and Mandelstam analyticity. We discuss how such problems are alleviated in models that construct dual amplitudes with Mandelstam analyticity (so-called DAMA models). We then introduce a modified DAMA model, and we discuss its properties. We present a pedagogical model for dual amplitudes and we construct the nucleon structure function F2(x,Q2). We explicitly show that the resulting structure function realizes both Veneziano and Bloom-Gilman duality.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figure

The CRISPR/Cas9 system sheds new lights on the biology of protozoan parasites

The CRISPR/Cas9 system, a natural defence system of bacterial organisms, has recently been used to modify genomes of the most important protozoa parasites. Successful genome manipulations with the CRISPR/Cas9 system are changing the present view of genetics in parasitology. The application of this system offers a major chance to overcome the current restriction in culturing, maintaining and analysing protozoan parasites, and allows dynamic analysis of parasite genes functions, leading to a better understanding of pathogenesis. CRISPR/Cas9 system will have a significant influence on the process of developing novel drugs and treatment strategies against protozoa parasites

Chiral Extrapolation, Renormalization, and the Viability of the Quark Model

The relationship of the quark model to the known chiral properties of QCD is a longstanding problem in the interpretation of low energy QCD. In particular, how can the pion be viewed as both a collective Goldstone boson quasiparticle and as a valence quark antiquark bound state where universal hyperfine interactions govern spin splittings in the same way as in the heavy quark systems. We address this issue in a simplified model which; however, reproduces all features of QCD relevant to this problem. A comparison of the many-body solution to our model and the constituent quark model demonstrates that the quark model is sufficiently flexible to describe meson hyperfine splitting provided proper renormalization conditions and correct degrees of freedom are employed consistently.Comment: 6 pages, 2 eps figures, uses revtex. Version to appear in Phys. Rev. Let

On the infrared behaviour of Gluons and Ghosts in Ghost-Antighost symmetric gauges

To investigate the possibility of a ghost-antighost condensate the coupled Dyson--Schwinger equations for the gluon and ghost propagators in Yang--Mills theories are derived in general covariant gauges, including ghost-antighost symmetric gauges. The infrared behaviour of these two-point functions is studied in a bare-vertex truncation scheme which has proven to be successful in Landau gauge. In all linear covariant gauges the same infrared behaviour as in Landau gauge is found: The gluon propagator is infrared suppressed whereas the ghost propagator is infrared enhanced. This infrared singular behaviour provides indication against a ghost-antighost condensate. In the ghost-antighost symmetric gauges we find that the infrared behaviour of the gluon and ghost propagators cannot be determined when replacing all dressed vertices by bare ones. The question of a BRST invariant dimension two condensate remains to be further studied.Comment: 34 pages, 6 figures, Version to be published in Phys. Rev.

Selection rules for J^PC Exotic Hybrid Meson Decay in Large-N_c

The coupling of a neutral hybrid {1,3,5...}^-+ exotic particle (or current) to two neutral (hybrid) meson particles with the same J^PC and J=0 is proved to be sub-leading to the usual large-N_c QCD counting. The coupling of the same exotic particle to certain two - (hybrid) meson currents with the same J^PC and J=0 is also sub-leading. The decay of a {1,3,5...}^-+ hybrid to eta pi^0, eta' pi^0, eta' eta, eta(1295) pi^0, pi(1300)^0 pi0, eta(1440) pi^0, a_0(980)^0 sigma or f_0(980) sigma is sub-leading, assuming that these final state particles are (hybrid) mesons in the limit of large N_c.Comment: 16 pages, LaTeX. Main paper shortened/rewritten and appendices expanded. Implications for phenomenology of exotic hybrid mesons clarifie