Last CPT-Invariant Hope for LSND Neutrino Oscillations

It is shown that the 99% confidence limits from the analyses of the data of cosmological and neutrino experiments imply a small marginally allowed region in the space of the neutrino oscillation parameters of 3+1 four-neutrino mixing schemes. This region can be confirmed or falsified by experiments in the near future.Comment: 6 pages, added predictions for neutrinoless double beta decay and tritium experiment

Heavy pseudoscalar-meson decay constants with strangeness from the extended nonlocal chiral-quark model

We study the weak-decay constants for the heavy pseudoscalar mesons, D, Ds, B, and Bs. For this purpose, we employ the extended nonlocal chiral-quark model (ExNLChQM), motivated by the heavy-quark effective field theory as well as the instanton-vacuum configuration. In addition to the heavy-quark symmetry and the nonlocal interactions between quarks and pseudoscalar mesons in ExNLChQM, a correction for the strange-quark content inside Ds and Bs is also taken into account and found to be crucial to reproduce the empirical values. From those numerical results, we obtain f_{D,Ds,B,Bs}=(207.53, 262.56, 208.13, 262.39) MeV, which are in good agreement with experimental data and other theoretical estimations. Using those numerical results, we compute the CKM matrix elements and the Cabibbo angle, using various mesonic and leptonic heavy-meson decay channels, resulting in (|V_{cd}|,|V_{cs}|,|V_{ub}|,|V_{td}|/|V_{ts}|)=(0.224,0.968,<5.395*10^{-3},0.215) and theta_C=12.36^o which are well compatible with available data.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in Mod. Phys. Lett.

Diagnostic Potential of Cosmic-Neutrino Absorption Spectroscopy

Annihilation of extremely energetic cosmic neutrinos on the relic-neutrino background can give rise to absorption lines at energies corresponding to formation of the electroweak gauge boson $Z^{0}$. The positions of the absorption dips are set by the masses of the relic neutrinos. Suitably intense sources of extremely energetic ($10^{21}$ -- $10^{25}$-eV) cosmic neutrinos might therefore enable the determination of the absolute neutrino masses and the flavor composition of the mass eigenstates. Several factors--other than neutrino mass and composition--distort the absorption lines, however. We analyze the influence of the time-evolution of the relic-neutrino density and the consequences of neutrino decay. We consider the sensitivity of the lineshape to the age and character of extremely energetic neutrino sources, and to the thermal history of the Universe, reflected in the expansion rate. We take into account Fermi motion arising from the thermal distribution of the relic-neutrino gas. We also note the implications of Dirac vs. Majorana relics, and briefly consider unconventional neutrino histories. We ask what kinds of external information would enhance the potential of cosmic-neutrino absorption spectroscopy, and estimate the sensitivity required to make the technique a reality.Comment: 25 pages, 26 figures (in 46 files), uses RevTe

Coherent pion production by neutrinos on nuclei

The main part of coherent pion production by neutrinos on nuclei is essentially determined by PCAC, provided that the leptonic momentum transferred square Q^2 remains sufficiently small. We give the formulas for the charged and neutral current cross sections, including also the small non-PCAC transverse current contributions and taking into account the effect of the \mu^- mass. Our results are compared with the experimental ones and other theoretical treatments.Comment: 18 pages, 4 figure

Neutrino Induced Coherent Pion Production off Nuclei and PCAC

We review the Rein--Sehgal model and criticize its use for low energy neutrino induced coherent pion production. We have studied the validity of the main approximations implicit in that model, trying to compare with physical observables when that is possible and with microscopical calculations. Next, we have tried to elaborate a new improved model by removing the more problematic approximations, while keeping the model still reasonably simple. Last, we have discussed the limitations intrinsic to any approach based on the partial conservation of the axial current hypothesis. In particular, we have shown the inability of such models to determine the angular distribution of the outgoing pion with respect to the direction of the incoming neutrino, except for the $q^2= 0$ kinematical point.Comment: 19 latex pages, 7 figures, 1 table. Version accepted for publication in Physical Review

Heavy Baryons in a Quark Model

A quark model is applied to the spectrum of baryons containing heavy quarks. The model gives masses for the known heavy baryons that are in agreement with experiment, but for the doubly-charmed baryon Cascade_{cc}, the model prediction is too heavy. Mixing between the Cascade_Q and Cascade_Q^\prime states is examined and is found to be small for the lowest lying states. In contrast with this, mixing between the Cascade_{bc} and Cascade_{bc}^\prime states is found to be large, and the implication of this mixing for properties of these states is briefly discussed. We also examine heavy-quark spin-symmetry multiplets, and find that many states in the model can be placed in such multiplets. We compare our predictions with those of a number of other authors.Comment: Version published in International Journal of Modern Physics

Breakdown of PCAC in diffractive neutrino interactions

We test the hypothesis of partially conserved axial current (PCAC) in high energy diffractive neutrino production of pions. Since the pion pole contribution to the Adler relation (AR) is forbidden by conservation of the lepton current, the heavier states, like the a_1 pole, \rho-\pi-cut, etc., control the lifetime of the hadronic fluctuations of the neutrino. We evaluate the deviation from the AR in diffractive neutrino-production of pions on proton and nuclear targets. At high energies, when all the relevant time scales considerably exceed the size of the target, the AR explicitly breaks down on an absorptive target, such as a heavy nucleus. In this regime, close to the black disc limit, the off-diagonal diffractive amplitudes vanish, while the diagonal one, \pi->\pi, which enters the AR, maximizes and saturates the unitarity bound. At lower energies, in the regime of short lifetime of heavy hadronic fluctuations the AR is restored, i.e. it is not altered by the nuclear effects.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figure

Pertussis infection in fully vaccinated children in day-care centers, Israel.

We tested 46 fully vaccinated children in two day-care centers in Israel who were exposed to a fatal case of pertussis infection. Only two of five children who tested positive for Bordetella pertussis met the World Health Organization's case definition for pertussis. Vaccinated children may be asymptomatic reservoirs for infection

Bc spectroscopy in a quantum-chromodynamic potential model

We have investigated $B_c$ spectroscopy with the use of a quantum-chromodynamic potential model which was recently used by us for the light-heavy quarkonia. We give our predictions for the energy levels and the $E$1 transition widths. We also find, rather surprisingly, that although $B_c$ is not a light-heavy system, the heavy quark effective theory with the inclusion of the $m_b^{-1}$ and $m_b^{-1}\ln m_b$ corrections is as successful for $B_c$ as it is for $B$ and $B_s$.Comment: 10 page ReVTeX pape

Theoretical study of neutrino-induced coherent pion production off nuclei at T2K and MiniBooNE energies

We have developed a model for neutrino-induced coherent pion production off nuclei in the energy regime of interest for present and forthcoming neutrino oscillation experiments. It is based on a microscopic model for pion production off the nucleon that, besides the dominant Delta pole contribution, takes into account the effect of background terms required by chiral symmetry. Moreover, the model uses a reduced nucleon-to-Delta resonance axial coupling, which leads to coherent pion production cross sections around a factor two smaller than most of the previous theoretical estimates. In the coherent production, the main nuclear effects, namely medium corrections on the Delta propagator and the final pion distortion, are included. We have improved on previous similar models by taking into account the nucleon motion and employing a more sophisticated optical potential. As found in previous calculations the modification of the Delta self-energy inside the nuclear medium strongly reduces the cross section, while the final pion distortion mainly shifts the peak position to lower pion energies. The angular distribution profiles are not much affected by nuclear effects. Nucleon motion increases the cross section by 15% at neutrino energies of 650 MeV, while Coulomb effects on charged pions are estimated to be small. Finally, we discuss at length the deficiencies of the Rein-Sehgal pion coherent production model for neutrino energies below 2 GeV, and in particular for the MiniBooNE and T2K experiments. We also predict flux averaged cross sections for these two latter experiments and K2K.Comment: 19 latex pages, 10 figures, 2 tables. Minor changes. Version accepted for publication in Physical Review