Spectral change of sigma and omega mesons in a dense nuclear medium

The spectra of the scalar ($\sigma$) and vector ($\omega$) mesons in nuclear matter are studied in detail using the quark-meson coupling (QMC) model. It is shown that above normal nuclear matter density the effects of $\sigma$-$\omega$ mixing and the decay of the $\sigma$ into $2\pi$ change the spectra of $\sigma$ and $\omega$ mesons considerably. As in Quantum Hadrodynamics we find a remarkable spectral change in the $\sigma$ meson and the longitudinal mode of the $\omega$ meson, namely a two-peak structure.Comment: 14 pages + 9 ps files for 4 figs. The paper was revised, and accepted for publication in Physics Letters

Taming the Pion Cloud of the Nucleon

We present a light-front determination of the pionic contribution to the nucleon self-energy, $\Sigma_\pi$, to second-order in pion-baryon coupling constants that allows the pion-nucleon vertex function to be treated in a model-independent manner constrained by experiment. The pion mass $\mu$ dependence of $\Sigma_\pi$ is consistent with chiral perturbation theory results for small values of $\mu$ and is also linearly dependent on $\mu$ for larger values, in accord with the results of lattice QCD calculations. The derivative of $\Sigma_\pi$ with respect to $\mu^2$ yields the dominant contribution to the pion content, which is consistent with the $\bar{d}-\bar{u}$ difference observed experimentally in the violation of the Gottfried sum rule.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figure

Meson-meson correlations in baryon-baryon and antibaryon-baryon interactions

Recent work of the J\"ulich group about the role of meson-meson correlations in baryon-baryon and antibaryon-baryon interactions is reviewed.Comment: Lecture given at the Erice School 1995, TEX, 10 pages, 15 figure

Effect of Nucleon Structure Variation in Super-allowed Fermi Beta-decay

There is a well known anomaly between the value of the Fermi decay constant extracted from super-allowed Fermi beta-decay of nuclear isotriplets and that required by unitarity of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix. This discrepancy remains at the level of a few tenths of a percent after the most rigorous investigation of conventional nuclear and radiative corrections. Within the framework of the quark-meson coupling model of nuclear matter, which has been previously applied successfully to phenomena such as nuclear saturation and nuclear charge symmetry violation, we show that it is possible to understand a significant fraction of the observed anomaly.Comment: 11 pages with 1 figure and 1 tabl

Progress in Understanding the Nuclear Equation of State at the Quark Level

At the present time there is a lively debate within the nuclear community concerning the relevance of quark degrees of freedom in understanding nuclear structure. We outline the key issues and review the impressive progress made recently within the framework of the quark-meson coupling model. In particular, we explain in quite general terms how the modification of the internal structure of hadrons in-medium leads naturally to three- and four-body forces, or equivalently, to density dependent effective interactions.Comment: Invited presentation at XXX Symposium on Nuclear Physics, Hacienda Cocoyoc, Jan. 3-6, 200

The Nolen-Schiffer anomaly and isospin symmetry breaking in nuclear matter

The quark-meson coupling model which we have developed previously is extended to incorporate the $\delta$ meson. It is then used to study the Nolen-Schiffer anomaly and isospin symmetry breaking in nuclear matter. We find that, in combination with the {\it u-d\/} mass difference, the difference between quark scalar densities in protons and neutrons generates an effective neutron-proton mass difference of the right magnitude. Finally we find that isospin symmetry breaking in the quark condensates can be directly related to the $\delta$ meson field.Comment: 13 page

Protein phosphatase 2A associates with and regulates atypical PKC and the epithelial tight junction complex

Tight junctions (TJs) play a crucial role in the establishment of cell polarity and regulation of paracellular permeability in epithelia. Here, we show that upon calcium-induced junction biogenesis in Madin-Darby canine kidney cells, ABαC, a major protein phosphatase (PP)2A holoenzyme, is recruited to the apical membrane where it interacts with the TJ complex. Enhanced PP2A activity induces dephosphorylation of the TJ proteins, ZO-1, occludin, and claudin-1, and is associated with increased paracellular permeability. Expression of PP2A catalytic subunit severely prevents TJ assembly. Conversely, inhibition of PP2A by okadaic acid promotes the phosphorylation and recruitment of ZO-1, occludin, and claudin-1 to the TJ during junctional biogenesis. PP2A negatively regulates TJ assembly without appreciably affecting the organization of F-actin and E-cadherin. Significantly, inhibition of atypical PKC (aPKC) blocks the calcium- and serum-independent membrane redistribution of TJ proteins induced by okadaic acid. Indeed, PP2A associates with and critically regulates the activity and distribution of aPKC during TJ formation. Thus, we provide the first evidence for calcium-dependent targeting of PP2A in epithelial cells, we identify PP2A as the first serine/threonine phosphatase associated with the multiprotein TJ complex, and we unveil a novel role for PP2A in the regulation of epithelial aPKC and TJ assembly and function

Quark-meson coupling model with the cloudy bag

Using the volume coupling version of the cloudy bag model, the quark-meson coupling model is extended to study the role of pion field and the properties of nuclear matter. The extended model includes the effect of gluon exchange as well as the pion-cloud effect, and provides a good description of the nuclear matter properties. The relationship between the extended model and the EFT approach to nuclear matter is also discussed.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figure