Antiproton-nucleus electromagnetic annihilation as a way to access the proton timelike form factors

Contrary to the reaction pbar + p --> e+ e- with a high momentum incident antiproton on a free target proton at rest, in which the invariant mass M of the (e+ e-) pair is necessarily much larger than the (pbar p) mass, in the reaction pbar + d --> n e+ e- the value of M can take values near or below the (pbar p) mass. In the antiproton-deuteron electromagnetic annihilation, this allows to access the proton electromagnetic form factors in the time-like region of q^2 near the (pbar p) threshold. We estimate the cross section dsigma(pbar +d --> e+ e- n)/dM for an antiproton beam momentum of 1.5 GeV/c. We find that near the (pbar p) threshold this cross section is about 1 pb/MeV. The case of heavy nuclei target is also discussed. Elements of experimental feasibility are presented for the process pbar + d --> n e+ e- in the context of the Panda project.Comment: 14 pages, 11 figures. submitted to EPJ

Antiproton-Hydrogen annihilation at sub-kelvin temperatures

The main properties of the interaction of ultra low-energy antiprotons ($E\le10^{-6}$ a.u.) with atomic hydrogen are established. They include the elastic and inelastic cross sections and Protonium (Pn) formation spectrum. The inverse Auger process ($Pn+e \to H+\bar{p}$) is taken into account in the framework of an unitary coupled-channels model. The annihilation cross-section is found to be several times smaller than the predictions made by the black sphere absorption models. A family of $\bar{p}H$ nearthreshold metastable states is predicited. The dependence of Protonium formation probability on the position of such nearthreshold S-matrix singularities is analysed. An estimation for the $H\bar{H}$ annihilation cross section is obtained.Comment: latex.tar.gz file, 22 pages, 9 figure

Long-term variation in the Sun's activity caused by magnetic Rossby waves in the tachocline

Long-term records of sunspot number and concentrations of cosmogenic radionuclides (10Be and 14C) on the Earth reveal the variation of the Sun's magnetic activity over hundreds and thousands of years. We identify several clear periods in sunspot, 10Be, and 14C data as 1000, 500, 350, 200 and 100 years. We found that the periods of the first five spherical harmonics of the slow magnetic Rossby mode in the presence of a steady toroidal magnetic field of 1200-1300 G in the lower tachocline are in perfect agreement with the time scales of observed variations. The steady toroidal magnetic field can be generated in the lower tachocline either due to the steady dynamo magnetic field for low magnetic diffusivity or due to the action of the latitudinal differential rotation on the weak poloidal primordial magnetic field, which penetrates from the radiative interior. The slow magnetic Rossby waves lead to variations of the steady toroidal magnetic field in the lower tachocline, which modulate the dynamo magnetic field and consequently the solar cycle strength. This result constitutes a key point for long-term prediction of the cycle strength. According to our model, the next deep minimum in solar activity is expected during the first half of this century.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, accepted in ApJ

Limits on the low energy antinucleon-nucleus annihilations from the Heisenberg principle

We show that the quantum uncertainty principle puts some limits on the effectiveness of the antinucleon-nucleus annihilation at very low energies. This is caused by the fact that the realization a very effective short-distance reaction process implies information on the relative distance of the reacting particles. Some quantitative predictions are possible on this ground, including the approximate A-independence of antinucleon-nucleus annihilation rates.Comment: 10 pages, no figure

The importance of few-nucleon physics at low energy

This manuscript originated from the discussion at the workshop on the "Future of Few-body Low Energy Experimental Physics" (FFLEEP), which was held at the University of Trento on December 4-7, 2002 and has been written in its present form on March 19, 2003. It illustrates a selection of theoretical advancements in the nuclear few-body problem, including two- and many-nucleon interactions, the three-nucleon bound and scattering system, the four-body problem, the A-body (A$>$4) problem, and fields of related interest, such as reactions of astrophysical interest and few-neutron systems. Particular attention is called to the contradictory situation one experiences in this field: while theory is currently advancing and has the potential to inspire new experiments, the experimental activity is nevertheless rapidly phasing out. If such a trend will continue, advancements in this area will become critically difficult.Comment: 29 pages, 21 figures. Manuscript originated from the discussion at the workshop on the "Future of Few-body Low Energy Experimental Physics" (FFLEEP), University of Trento, December 4-7, 2002, written in its present form on March 19, 2003, circulated mainly among the participants to the FFLEEP workshop. Since the authors have been repeatedly solicited to make the manuscript accessible to a larger audience potentially interested in its scientific content, they have decided to post it on this archiv

Iminodiacetic acid (IDA) cation-exchange nonwoven membranes for efficient capture of antibodies and antibody fragments

There is strong need to reduce the manufacturing costs and increase the downstream purification efficiency of high-value therapeutic monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). This paper explores the performance of a weak cation-exchange membrane based on the coupling of IDA to poly(butylene terephthalate) (PBT) nonwoven fabrics. Uniform and conformal layers of poly(glycidyl methacrylate) (GMA) were first grafted to the surface of the nonwovens. Then IDA was coupled to the polyGMA layers under optimized conditions, resulting in membranes with very high permeability and binding capacity. This resulted in IgG dynamic binding capacities at very short residence times (0.1–2.0 min) that are much higher than those achieved by the best cation-exchange resins. Similar results were obtained in the purification of a single-chain (scFv) antibody fragment. As is customary with membrane systems, the dynamic binding capacities did not change significantly over a wide range of residence times. Finally, the excellent separation efficiency and potential reusability of the membrane were confirmed by five consecutive cycles of mAb capture from its cell culture harvest. The present work provides significant evidence that this weak cation-exchange nonwoven fabric platform might be a suitable alternative to packed resin chromatography for low-cost, higher productivity manufacturing of therapeutic mAbs and antibody fragments

Some comments on nˉp\bar n p-annihilation branching ratios into ππ\pi \pi-, KˉK\bar K K- and πη\pi \eta-channels

We give some remarks on the $\bar n p$-partial branching ratios in flight at low momenta of antineutron, measured by OBELIX collaboration. The comparison is made to the known branching ratios from the $p \bar p$-atomic states. The branching ratio for the reaction $\bar n p \to \pi^+\pi^0$ is found to be suppressed in comparison to what follows from the $p \bar p$-data. It is also shown, that there is no so called dynamic I=0-amplitude suppression for the process $N\bar N \to K\bar K$.Comment: 8 pages, LaTeX, no figure

Four-nucleon scattering: Ab initio calculations in momentum space

The four-body equations of Alt, Grassberger and Sandhas are solved for \nH scattering at energies below three-body breakup threshold using various realistic interactions including one derived from chiral perturbation theory. After partial wave decomposition the equations are three-variable integral equations that are solved numerically without any approximations beyond the usual discretization of continuum variables on a finite momentum mesh. Large number of two-, three- and four-nucleon partial waves are considered until the convergence of the observables is obtained. The total \nH cross section data in the resonance region is not described by the calculations which confirms previous findings by other groups. Nevertheless the numbers we get are slightly higher and closer to the data than previously found and depend on the choice of the two-nucleon potential. Correlations between the $A_y$ deficiency in \nd elastic scattering and the total \nH cross section are studied.Comment: Corrected Eq. (10