Sigma terms from an SU(3) chiral extrapolation

We report a new analysis of lattice simulation results for octet baryon masses in 2+1-flavor QCD, with an emphasis on a precise determination of the strangeness nucleon sigma term. A controlled chiral extrapolation of a recent PACS-CS Collaboration data set yields baryon masses which exhibit remarkable agreement both with experimental values at the physical point and with the results of independent lattice QCD simulations at unphysical meson masses. Using the Feynman-Hellmann relation, we evaluate sigma commutators for all octet baryons. The small statistical uncertainty, and considerably smaller model-dependence, allows a signifcantly more precise determination of the pion-nucleon sigma commutator and the strangeness sigma term than hitherto possible, namely {\sigma}{\pi}N=45 \pm 6 MeV and {\sigma}s = 21 \pm 6 MeV at the physical point.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Progress in resolving charge symmetry violation in nucleon structure

Recent work unambiguously resolves the level of charge symmetry violation in moments of parton distributions using 2+1-flavor lattice QCD. We introduce the methods used for that analysis by applying them to determine the strong contribution to the proton-neutron mass difference. We also summarize related work which reveals that the fraction of baryon spin which is carried by the quarks is in fact structure-dependent rather than universal across the baryon octet.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures; presented at "The Seventh International Symposium on Chiral Symmetry in Hadrons and Nuclei", BeiHang Univ. Beijing, Chin

Updated Analysis of the Mass of the H Dibaryon from Lattice QCD

Recent lattice QCD calculations from the HAL and NPLQCD Collaborations have reported evidence for the existence of a bound state with strangeness -2 and baryon number 2 at quark masses somewhat higher than the physical values. A controlled chiral extrapolation of these lattice results to the physical point suggested that the state, identified with the famed H dibaryon, is most likely slightly unbound (by 13 $\pm$ 14 MeV) with respect to the $\Lambda--\Lambda$ threshold. We report the results of an updated analysis which finds the H unbound by 26 $\pm$ 11 MeV. Apart from the insight it would give us into how QCD is realized in Nature, the H is of great interest because of its potential implications for the equation of state of dense matter and studies of neutron stars. It may also explain the enhancement above the $\Lambda--\Lambda$ threshold already reported experimentally. It is clearly of great importance that the latter be pursued in experiments at the new J-PARC facility.Comment: Invited presentation at APPC12 (12th Asia Pacific Physics Conference), July 14-19, 2013, Chiba, Japa

Influence of season, drought and xylem ABA on stomatal responses to leaf-to-air vapour pressure difference of trees of the Australian wet-dry tropics

This paper reports the results of two experiments undertaken to investigate the influence of season and soil drying on stomatal responses to leaf-to-air vapour pressure differences. We examined the response of stomatal conductance to increasing leaf-to-air vapour pressure difference, in the wet and dry seasons, of five tropical tree species. We also examined leaves of these species for anatomical differences to determine whether this could explain differences in stomatal sensitivity to leaf-to-air vapour pressure differences. Finally, we conducted a split-root experiment with one of those species to look for interactions between xylem abscisic acid concentration, predawn water potential, leaf area to root mass ratio and stomatal responses to leaf-to-air vapour pressure differences. Stomatal conductance declined linearly with increasing leaf-to-air vapour pressure difference in all species. Leaves that expanded in the 'dry' season were more sensitive to leaf-to-air vapour pressure differences than those that had expanded in the 'wet' season. The value of leaf-to-air vapour pressure difference where 50% of extrapolated maximum stomatal conductance would occur was 5.5 kPa for wet season but only 3.4 kPa for dry season leaves. In the wet season, transpiration rate increased with increasing leaf-to-air vapour pressure difference in most example species. However, in the dry season, transpiration was constant as leaf-to-air vapour pressure differences increased in most cases. There were significant changes in the proportion of cell wall exposed to air space in leaves, between wet and dry seasons, in three of four species examined. In the split-root experiment, a very mild water stress increased stomatal sensitivity to leaf-to-air vapour pressure differences, and stomatal conductivity declined linearly with decreasing predawn water potential. However, levels of ABA in the xylem did not change, and stomatal sensitivity to exogenous ABA did not change. The ratio of leaf area to root mass declined during water stress and was correlated to changes in stomatal sensitivity to leaf-to-air vapour pressure differences

Strong contribution to octet baryon mass splittings

We calculate the $m_d-m_u$ contribution to the mass splittings in baryonic isospin multiplets using SU(3) chiral perturbation theory and lattice QCD. Fitting isospin-averaged perturbation theory functions to PACS-CS and QCDSF-UKQCD Collaboration lattice simulations of octet baryon masses, and using the physical light quark mass ratio $m_u/m_d$ as input, allows $M_n-M_p$, $M_{\Sigma^-}-M_{\Sigma^+}$ and $M_{\Xi^-}-M_{\Xi^0}$ to be evaluated from the full SU(3) theory. The resulting values for each mass splitting are consistent with the experimental values after allowing for electromagnetic corrections. In the case of the nucleon, we find $M_n-M_p= 2.9 \pm 0.4 \textrm{MeV}$, with the dominant uncertainty arising from the error in $m_u/m_d$

Study of the Perceptions of Oklahoma School Principals Regarding Their Use of Participative Management

Educational Administratio

Mass of the H-dibaryon

Recent lattice QCD calculations have reported evidence for the existence of a bound state with strangeness -2 and baryon number 2 at quark masses somewhat higher than the physical values. By developing a description of the dependence of this binding energy on the up, down and strange quark masses that allows a controlled chiral extrapolation, we explore the hypothesis that this state is to be identified with the $H$-dibaryon. Taking as input the recent results of the HAL and NPLQCD Collaborations, we show that the $H$-dibaryon is likely to be unbound by $13 \pm 14$ MeV at the physical point

Determination of the strange nucleon form factors

The strange contribution to the electric and magnetic form factors of the nucleon is determined at a range of discrete values of $Q^2$ up to $1.4$ GeV$^2$. This is done by combining recent lattice QCD results for the electromagnetic form factors of the octet baryons with experimental determinations of those quantities. The most precise result is a small negative value for the strange magnetic moment: $G_M^s(Q^2=0) = -0.07\pm0.03\,\mu_N$. At larger values of $Q^2$ both the electric and magnetic form factors are consistent with zero to within $2$-sigma

Charge Symmetry Violation in the Electromagnetic Form Factors of the Proton

Experimental tests of QCD through its predictions for the strange-quark content of the proton have been drastically restricted by our lack of knowledge of the violation of charge symmetry (CSV). We find unexpectedly tiny CSV in the proton's electromagnetic form factors by performing the first extraction of these quantities based on an analysis of lattice QCD data. The resulting values are an order of magnitude smaller than current bounds on proton strangeness from parity violating electron-proton scattering experiments. This result paves the way for a new generation of experimental measurements of the proton's strange form factors to challenge the predictions of QCD