154 research outputs found
In-medium pi-pi Correlation Induced by Partial Restoration of Chiral Symmetry
We show that both the linear and the non-linear chiral models give an
enhancement of the pi-pi cross section near the 2pi threshold in the
scalar-iso-scalar (I=J=0) channel in nuclear matter. The reduction of the
chiral condensate, i.e., the partial chiral restoration in nuclear matter, is
responsible for the enhancement in both cases. We extract an effective
4pi-nucleon vertex which is responsible for the enhancement but has not been
considered in the non-liear models for in-medium pi-pi interaction. Relation of
this vertex and a next-to-leading order terms in the heavy-baryon chiral
lagrangian, L_piN^(2), is also discussed.Comment: 5 pages, 5 eps figure, REVTe
results in nuclei
The Crystal Ball () collaboration at has recently presented results
regarding a study of the reaction on and , using a nearly 4 detector. Similar results, but for the
reaction on , , ,
and , have been published earlier by the collaboration at
. In this Brief Report a comparison of the results of the two
measurements is made, which shows that the and data share relevant
common features. In particular, the increase in strength as a function of A
seen in the near-threshold invariant mass spectra reported by the
group, is also seen in the CB data, when the results from
the two groups are compared in a way which accounts for the different
acceptances of the two experiments.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure, accepted for publication in Phy. Rev. C - Brief
Repor
In-medium chiral perturbation theory beyond the mean-field approximation
An explicit expression of the generating functional of two-flavor low-energy
QCD with external sources in the presence of non-vanishing nucleon densities
has been derived recently [1]. Within this approach we derive power counting
rules for the calculation of in-medium pion properties. We develop the
so-called standard rules for residual nucleon energies of the order of the pion
mass and a modified scheme (non-standard counting) for vanishing residual
nucleon energies. We also establish the different scales for the range of
applicability of this perturbative expansion, which are \sqrt{6}\pi f_\pi\simeq
0.7 GeV for the standard and 6\pi^2 f_\pi^2/2m_N\simeq 0.27 GeV for
non-standard counting, respectively. We have performed a systematic analysis of
n-point in-medium Green functions up to and including next-to-leading order
when the standard rules apply. These include the in-medium contributions to
quark condensates, pion propagators, pion masses and couplings of the
axial-vector, vector and pseudoscalar currents to pions. In particular, we find
a mass shift for negatively charged pions in heavy nuclei that agrees with
recent determinations from deeply bound pionic Pb-207. We have also established
the absence of in-medium renormalization in the \pi^0 \to \gamma\gamma decay
amplitude up to the same order. The study of \pi\pi scattering requires the use
of the non-standard counting and the calculation is done at leading order. Even
at that order we establish new contributions not considered so far. We also
point towards further possible improvements of this scheme and touch upon its
relation to more conventional many-body approaches.Comment: 40 pages, 12 figures, version to appear in Ann. Phy
Spectral functions in the sigma-channel near the critical end point
Spectral functions in the -channel are investigated near the chiral
critical end point (CEP), that is, the point where the chiral phase transition
ceases to be first-ordered in the -plane of the QCD phase diagram. At
that point the meson becomes massless in spite of explicit breaking of
the chiral symmetry. It is expected that experimental signatures peculiar to
CEP can be observed through spectral changes in the presence of abnormally
light mesons. As a candidate, the invariant-mass spectrum for diphoton
emission is estimated with the chiral quark model incorporated. The results
show the characteristic shape with a peak in the low energy region, which may
serve as a signal for CEP. However, we find that the diphoton multiplicity is
highly suppressed by infrared behaviors of the meson. Experimentally,
in such a low energy region below the threshold of two pions, photons from
are major sources of the background for the signal.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figures, 1 figure replaced, minor modification
Enhancement of Threshold Cross Sections by In-Medium Final State Interactions
We address the problem of pion production in low energy -nucleus
collisions. For the production mechanism we assume a simple model consisting of
a coherent sum of single pion exchange and the excitation---followed by the
decay into two pions and a nucleon---of the resonance. The
production amplitude is modified by the final state interaction between the
pions calculated using the chirally improved J\"ulich meson exchange model
including the polarization of the nuclear medium by the pions. The model
reproduces well the experimentally observed cross
sections, especially the enhancement with increasing of the
mass distribution in the threshold region.Comment: 5 pages RevTeX, 3-eps figure
Mid-term results and factors affecting outcome of a metal-backed unicompartmental knee design: a case series
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Controversies exist regarding the indications for unicompartmental knee arthroplasty. The objective of this study is to report the mid-term results and examine predictors of failure in a metal-backed unicompartmental knee arthroplasty design.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>At a mean follow-up of 60 months, 80 medial unicompartmental knee arthroplasties (68 patients) were evaluated. Implant survivorship was analyzed using Kaplan-Meier method. The Knee Society objective and functional scores and radiographic characteristics were compared before surgery and at final follow-up. A Cox proportional hazard model was used to examine the association of patient's age, gender, obesity (body mass index > 30 kg/m<sup>2</sup>), diagnosis, Knee Society scores and patella arthrosis with failure.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>There were 9 failures during the follow up. The mean Knee Society objective and functional scores were respectively 49 and 48 points preoperatively and 95 and 92 points postoperatively. The survival rate was 92% at 5 years and 84% at 10 years. The mean age was younger in the failure group than the non-failure group (p < 0.01). However, none of the factors assessed was independently associated with failure based on the results from the Cox proportional hazard model.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Gender, pre-operative diagnosis, preoperative objective and functional scores and patellar osteophytes were not independent predictors of failure of unicompartmental knee implants, although high body mass index trended toward significance. The findings suggest that the standard criteria for UKA may be expanded without compromising the outcomes, although caution may be warranted in patients with very high body mass index pending additional data to confirm our results.</p> <p><b>Level of Evidence</b>: IV</p
Recent progress on the chiral unitary approach to meson meson and meson baryon interactions
We report on recent progress on the chiral unitary approach, analogous to the
effective range expansion in Quantum Mechanics, which is shown to have a much
larger convergence radius than ordinary chiral perturbation theory, allowing
one to reproduce data for meson meson interaction up to 1.2 GeV. Applications
to physical processes so far unsuited for a standard chiral perturbative
approach are presented. Results for the extension of these ideas to the meson
baryon sector are discussed, together with applications to kaons in a nuclear
medium and atoms.Comment: Contribution to the KEK Tanashi Symposium on Physics of Hadrons and
Nuclei, Tokyo, December 1998, 10 pages, 3 postscript figures. To be published
as a special issue of Nuclear Physics
Polarization Properties of Low Energy Amplitude for Reaction
The theoretical study of cross sections for polarized--target measurements of
reactions gives evidence that the interplay between the
strong contribution from OPE mechanism and the one from isobar exchanges, which
is equally strong within isobar half--widths energy region, must result in
nontrivial polarization phenomena. The Monte--Carlo simulations for asymmetries
in reaction at ~MeV/c with the use of theoretical amplitudes found as solutions for
unpolarized data at ~MeV/c provide confirmations for
significant effect. The effect is capable to discriminate between the OPE and
isobar exchanges and it is sensitive to the OPE parameters in question. This
leads to the conclusion that the decisive analysis,
aiming at determination of --scattering lengths, must combine both
unpolarized data and polarization information. The appropriate measurements are
shown to be feasible at the already existing CHAOS spectrometer.Comment: 24 pages, Latex, 6 Postscript figures, uses epsf.st
A Precursor of Chiral Symmetry Restoration in the Nuclear Medium
Spectral enhancement near the 2m_{\pi} threshold in the I=J=0 channel in
nuclei is shown to be a distinct signal of the partial restoration of chiral
symmetry. The relevance of this phenomenon with the possible detection of
2\pi^{0} and 2\gamma in hadron-nucleus and photo-nucleus reactions is
discussed.Comment: Revtex, 4 pages, 3 eps figures, title and introduction changed, to
appear in Phys. Rev. Let
Chiral Symmetry and light resonances in hot and dense matter
We present a study of the scattering amplitude in the and
channels at finite temperature and nuclear density within a chiral
unitary framework. Meson resonances are dynamically generated in our approach,
which allows us to analyze the behavior of their associated scattering poles
when the system is driven towards chiral symmetry restoration. Medium effects
are incorporated in three ways: (a) by thermal corrections of the unitarized
scattering amplitudes, (b) by finite nuclear density effects associated to a
renormalization of the pion decay constant, and complementarily (c) by
extending our calculation of the scalar-isoscalar channel to account for finite
nuclear density and temperature effects in a microscopic many-body
implementation of pion dynamics. Our results are discussed in connection with
several phenomenological aspects relevant for nuclear matter and Heavy-Ion
Collision experiments, such as mass scaling vs broadening from dilepton
spectra and chiral restoration signals in the channel. We also
elaborate on the molecular nature of resonances.Comment: 14 pages, 14 figures. Contribution to Hard Probes 2008, Illa de A
Toxa, Spain, June 8th-14th 200
- …