Sustained Acceleration of Over-dense Plasmas by Colliding Laser Pulses

We review recent PIC simulation results which show that double-sided irradiaton of a thin overdense plasma slab by ultra-intense laser pulses from both sides can lead to sustained comoving acceleration of surface electrons to energies much higher than the conventional ponderomotive limit. The acceleration stops only when the electrons drift transversely out of the laser beam. We show results of parameter studies based on this concept and discuss future laser experiments that can be used to test these computer results.Comment: 9 pages 6 figures. AIP Conference Proceedings for 2005 Varenna Conf. on Superstrong Fields in Plasmas (AIP, NY 2006

Emission model of gamma-ray bursts

The emission mechanisms of cosmic gamma-ray bursts are reviewed. In particular, the thermal synchrotron model is discussed as the most viable mechanism for the majority of the continuum emission. Within this framework various information about the source region can be extracted. The picture that emerges is that of a hot (kT = .2 - 1.0 sq mc), thin sheet of dense pair-dominated plasma emitting via cyclo-synchrotron radiation in a strong magnetic field (B approximately one-hundred billion to one trillion gauss). Speculations on the origin and structure of this sheet are attempted. The problem of high-energy photons above pair production threshold escaping from the source is also considered

Pseudoscalar or vector meson production in non-leptonic decays of heavy hadrons

We have addressed the study of non-leptonic weak decays of heavy hadrons ($\Lambda_b, \Lambda_c, B$ and $D$), with external and internal emission to give two final hadrons, taking into account the spin-angular momentum structure of the mesons and baryons produced. A detailed angular momentum formulation is developed which leads to easy final formulas. By means of them we have made predictions for a large amount of reactions, up to a global factor, common to many of them, that we take from some particular data. Comparing the theoretical predictions with the experimental data, the agreement found is quite good in general and the discrepancies should give valuable information on intrinsic form factors, independent of the spin structure studied here. The formulas obtained are also useful in order to evaluate meson-meson or meson-baryon loops, for instance of $B$ decays, in which one has PP, PV, VP or VV intermediate states, with P for pseudoscalar mesons and V for vector meson and lay the grounds for studies of decays into three final particles.Comment: 54 pages, 7 figures, 13 tables; v2: 60 pages, 9 figures, 14 tables, discussion added, references added, version to appear in Eur.Phys.J.

Theoretical description of the J/ψ→η(η′)h1(1380)\boldsymbol{J/\psi \to \eta (\eta') h_1(1380)}, J/ψ→η(η′)h1(1170)\boldsymbol{J/\psi \to \eta (\eta') h_1(1170)} and J/ψ→π0b1(1235)0\boldsymbol{J/\psi \to \pi^0 b_1(1235)^0} reactions

We have made a study of the $J/\psi \to \eta' h_1, \eta h_1$ (with $h_1$ being $h_1(1170)$ and $h_1(1380)$) and $J/\psi \to \pi^0 b_1(1235)^0$ assuming the axial vector mesons to be dynamically generated from the pseudoscalar-vector meson interaction. We have taken the needed input from previous studies of the $J/\psi \to \phi \pi \pi, \omega \pi \pi$ reactions. We obtain fair agreement with experimental data and provide an explanation on why the recent experiment on $J/\psi \to \eta' h_1(1380), h_1(1380) \to K^{*+} K^- +c.c.$ observed in the $K^+ K^- \pi^0$ mode observes the peak of the $h_1(1380)$ at a higher energy than its nominal mass.Comment: 21 pages, 6 figure

Baryon states with hidden charm in the extended local hidden gauge approach

The s-wave interaction of $\bar{D} \Lambda_c, \bar{D} \Sigma_c, \bar{D} \Lambda_c, \bar{D}{}^* \Sigma_c$ and $\bar{D}\Sigma^*_c, \bar{D}{}^*\Sigma^*_c$, is studied within a unitary coupled channels scheme with the extended local hidden gauge approach. In addition to the Weinberg-Tomozawa term, several additional diagrams via the pion-exchange are also taken into account as box potentials. Furthermore, in order to implement the full coupled channels calculation, some of the box potentials which mix the vector-baryon and pseudoscalar-baryon sectors are extended to construct the effective transition potentials. As a result, we have observed six possible states in several angular momenta. Four of them correspond to two pairs of admixture states, two of $\bar{D}\Sigma_c$ - $\bar{D}{}^*\Sigma_c$ with $J^P = 1/2^-$, and two of $\bar{D}\Sigma^*_c$ - $\bar{D}{}^*\Sigma^*_c$ with $J^P = 3/2^-$. Moreover, we find a $\bar{D}{}^* \Sigma_c$ resonance which couples to the $\bar{D}\Lambda_c$ channel and one spin degenerated bound state of $\bar{D}{}^*\Sigma^*_c$ with $J^P = 1/2^-, 5/2^-$.Comment: 24 pages, 6 figure

Confronting Synchrotron Shock and Inverse Comptonization Models with GRB Spectral Evolution

The time-resolved spectra of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) remain in conflict with many proposed models for these events. After proving that most of the bursts in our sample show evidence for spectral "shape-shifting", we discuss what restrictions that BATSE time-resolved burst spectra place on current models. We find that the synchrotron shock model does not allow for the steep low-energy spectral slope observed in many bursts, including GRB 970111. We also determine that saturated Comptonization with only Thomson thinning fails to explain the observed rise and fall of the low-energy spectral slope seen in GRB 970111 and other bursts. This implies that saturated Comptonization models must include some mechanism which can cause the Thomson depth to increase intially in pulses.Comment: (5 pages, 3 figures, to appear in Proceedings of the Fourth Huntsville Symposium on Gamma-Ray Bursts