Minimal mass-size of a stable 3He cluster

The minimal number of 3He atoms required to form a bound cluster has been estimated by means of a Diffusion Monte Carlo procedure within the fixed-node approximation. Several importance sampling wave functions have been employed in order to consider different shell-model configurations. The resulting upper bound for the minimal number is 32 atoms.Comment: 2 pages, no figure

A new approach to the solar oxygen abundance problem

In this work we present new data that sets strong constraints on the solar oxygen abundance. Our approach, based on the analysis of spectro-polarimetric observations, is almost model-independent and therefore extremely robust. The asymmetry of the Stokes V profile of the 6300 A [OI] and NiI blend is used as an indicator of the relative abundances of these two elements. The peculiar shape of the profile requires a value of EO = 730+/-100 ppm (parts per million), or logEO = 8.86+/-0.07 in the logarithmic scale commonly used in Astrophysics. The uncertainty range includes the model dependence as well as uncertainties in the oscillator strengths of the lines. We emphasize that the very low degree of model dependence in our analysis makes it very reliable compared to traditional determinations.Comment: Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. 12 pages, 3 figures, referee format. This is the replacement of a previous version of the paper. Our revised analysis takes into consideration the formation of molecules, resulting in a substantially larger value for the derived Oxygen abundanc

Consistency in NLO analyses of inclusive and semi-inclusive polarized DIS data

We perform a detailed study of the consistency between different sets of polarized deep inelastic scattering data and theory, from the standpoint of a next to leading order QCD global analysis, and following the criteria proposed by Collins and Pumplin. In face of recent suggestions that challenge the usual assumption about parent parton spin independence of unpolarized fragmentation functions, we specially focus on polarized semi-inclusive data.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figure

Constraints on gluon polarization in the nucleon at NLO accuracy

We compare constraints on the gluon polarization in the nucleon obtained in next to leading order global QCD fits to polarized deep inelastic scattering data with those coming from observables more directly linked to the gluon polarization, such as the double spin asymmetry measured by Phenix at RHIC, and high-pT hadron production studied by COMPASSComment: 4 pages, 3 figures, 1 tabl