Decays of the f0(1370) scalar glueball candidate in pp Central Exclusive Production (CEP) and in antiproton annihilations at rest

Decays into two charged pions of the f0(1370) are the main source of an isolated structure localized between 1.2 and 1.5 GeV in the two charged pions mass spectrum measured in pp Central Exclusive Production (CEP) at 200 GeV at very low four momentum transfer ltl by the STAR experiment. These data confirm in the two charged pions decay channel the existence of the f0(1370) as an isolated well identified structure previously observed in K+K-, KsKs, 4 charged pions, two charged and two neutral pions and 4 neutral pions decays measured in antiproton annihilations at rest. The ensemble of these data point at a high gluon content of the f0(1370). CEP interactions at higher energies favour production of 0++ and 2++ mesons. Selection of events with lower ltl at both proton vertices suppresses 2++ structures. LHC runs dedicated to pp CEP measurements at low ltl could then provide a unique source of all the low energy scalars. This would make it clear if and where scalar gluonium is resident and the nature (composition in terms of quarks, antiquarks and gluons) of f0(500), f0(980), f0(1370), f0(1500) and f0(1710).Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, presented at QCD@Work-International Workshop on QCD Theory and Experiment, 25-28 June 2018, Matera, Italy (to be published in Proceedings). arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1809.0449

Decays into {\pi}+{\pi}- of the f0(1370) scalar glueball candidate in pp central exclusive production experiments

The existence and properties of the f0(1370) scalar meson are rather well established from data of antiproton annihilations at rest. However conflicting results from Central Exclusive Production (CEP) experiments of the last millennium and ignorance of data from antiproton annihilations at rest in H2 and D2 bubble chambers have generated doubts on the very existence of the f0(1370). Properties of {\pi}+{\pi}- pairs produced in central exclusive production (CEP) reactions observed in old data together with data collected in the current decade at high energy colliders permit to show that {\pi}+{\pi}- decays of the f0(1370) meson are directly observable as an isolated peak between 1.1 and 1.6 GeV. Consequences of this observation and prospects for the identification of the scalar glueball ground-state are discussed.Comment: 20 pages, 11 figure

Lorentz laser-assisted stripping (Lolas) for H−/H0H^{-}/H^{0} injection into proton drivers

We discuss the main components of schemes for Lorentz laser-assisted stripping (abbreviated Lolas henceforth) proposed for injection into proton driver accumulators: H- - H0 + e- Lorentz stripping, H0 - H0(n) laser excitation, H0(n) - p+ + e- Lorentz stripping. We mention results obtained in practice of H- beam transport and storage and of experiments addressing physics of the H- ion, of the H0 atom and of vacuum, which prove the feasibility of each Lolas component. For high enough injection energies, it is feasible to split without losses the H0 beam sent towards the accumulator into a fraction stripped to p+s and stored inside the accumulator and a complementary fraction of H0s delivered to high duty-cycle users. The fraction of stored beam can exceed 50% with one single Fabry-Perot cavity used to enhance the laser power density. Aspects of Lolas integration and optimization are pointed out

Standardized Biomechanical Investigation of Posture and Gait in Pisa Syndrome Disease

Pisa syndrome is one of the possible postural deformities associated with Parkinson's disease and it is clinically defined as a sustained lateral bending of the trunk. Some previous studies proposed clinical and biomechanical investigation to understand the pathophysiological mechanisms that occur, mainly focusing on EMG patterns and clinics. The current research deals with the assessment of a standardized biomechanical analysis to investigate the Pisa syndrome postural effects. Eight patients participated in the experimental test. Both static posture and gait trials were performed. An optoelectronic system and two force plates were used for data acquisition, while a custom multi-segments kinematic model of the human spine was used to evaluate the 3D angles. All subjects showed an important flexion of the trunk superior segment with respect to the inferior one, with a strong variability among patients (range values between 4.3 degrees and 41.0 degrees). Kinematics, ground reaction forces and spatio-temporal parameters are influenced by the asymmetrical trunk posture. Moreover, different proprioception, compensation and abilities of correction were depicted among subjects. Considering the forces exchanged by the feet with the floor during standing, results highlighted a significant asymmetry (p-value = 0.02) between the omo and contralateral side in a normal static posture, with greater load distribution on the same side of lateral deviation. When asked to self-correct the posture, all patients demonstrated a reduction of asymmetry, but without stressing any statistical significance. All these aspects might be crucial for the definition of a PS patients' classification and for the assessment of the efficacy of treatments and rehabilitation

Experimental perspectives in (low-energy) photon-photon scattering

The possibility of photon-photon scattering is a striking difference between classical and quantum electrodynamics. This genuinely quantum feature is made possible by the fluctuations of charged fields, and it makes quantum vacuum a nonlinear optical medium. Photon-photon scattering is thus a delicate probe into the structure of quantum electrodynamics and any departure from the expected behavior would be a powerful signal of "new physics". To date this process has never been observed – except as a radiative correction to other processes – and several experiments are trying to detect it at very low energy, in the scattering of real photons in powerful light beams off the virtual photons of intense magnetic fields. Here we briefly review the experimental state-of-the-art, with special emphasis on the PVLAS experiment, and we describe a new proposal to observe photon-photon scattering in the range 1 – 2 MeV