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In the large quark mass limit, an argument which identifies the mass of the heavy-light pseudoscalar or scalar bound state with the renormalized mass of the heavy quark is given. The following equation is discussed: m(sub Q) = m(sub B), where m(sub Q) and m(sub B) are respectively the mass of the heavy quark and the mass of the pseudoscalar bound state.
The cosmological consequences are studied for the minimal supersymmetric extension of the standard model in the case that the neutralino is heavier than W. The cross section was calculated for annihilation of heavy neutralinos into final states containing gauge and Higgs bosons (XX yields WW, ZZ, HH, HW, HZ), where X is the lightest, nth neutralino and the results are compared with the results with those previously obtained for annihilation into fermions to find the relic cosmological abundance for the most general neutralino. The new channels are particularly important for the Higgsino-like and mixed-state neutralinos, but are sub-dominant (to the fermion-antifermion annihilation channels) in the case that the neutralino is mostly a gaugino. The effect of the top quark mass is also considered. Using these cross sections and the cosmological constraint omega(sub X)h squared is less than or approximately 1, the entire range of cosmologically acceptable supersymmetric parameter space is mapped and a very general bound on the neutralino mass is discovered. For a top quark mass of less than 180 GeV, neutralinos heavier than 3200 GeV are cosmologically inconsistent, and if the top quark mass is less than 120 GeV, the bound is lowered to 2600 GeV. Neutralino states that are mostly gaugino are constrained to be lighter than 550 GeV. It is found that a heavy neutralino that contributes omega(sub X) is approximately 1 arises for a very wide range of model parameters and makes, therefore, a very natural and attractive dark matter candidate.
We examine the dynamics of the electroweak phase transition in the early Universe. For Higgs masses in the range 46 less than or = M sub H less than or = 150 GeV and top quark masses less than 200 GeV, regions of symmetric and asymmetric vacuum coexist to below the critical temperature, with thermal equilibrium between the two phases maintained by fluctuations of both phases. We propose that the transition to the asymmetric vacuum is completed by percolation of these subcritical fluctuations. Our results are relevant to scenarios of baryogenesis that invoke a weakly first-order phase transition at the electroweak scale.
We examine the dynamics of the electroweak phase transition in the early Universe. For Higgs masses in the range 46 less than or = M sub H less than or = 150 GeV and top quark masses less than 200 GeV, regions of symmetric and asymmetric vacuum coexist to below the critical temperature, with thermal equilibrium between the two phases maintained by fluctuations of both phases. We propose that the transition to the asymmetric vacuum is completed by percolation of these subcritical fluctuations. Our results are relevant to scenarios of baryogenesis that invoke a weakly first-order phase transition at the electroweak scale.
The measured value of the QCD coupling alpha(sub s) at the energy M(sub Zo), the variation of alpha(sub s) as a function of energy in QCD, and classical relativistic dynamics are used to investigate virtual pairs of quarks and antiquarks in vacuum fluctuations. For virtual pairs of bottom quarks and antiquarks, the pair lifetime in the classical model agrees with the lifetime from quantum mechanics to good approximation, and the action integral in the classical model agrees as well with the action that follows from the Uncertainty Principle. This suggests that the particles might have small de Broglie wavelengths and behave with well-localized pointlike dynamics. It also permits alpha(sub s) at the mass energy twice the bottom quark mass to be expressed as a simple fraction: 3/16. This is accurate to approximately 10%. The model in this paper predicts the measured value of alpha(sub s)(M(sub Zo)) to be 0.121, which is in agreement with recent measurements within statistical uncertainties.
The nonrelativistic quark model is applied to heavy (nonrelativistic) meson (two-body) systems to obtain sufficiently accurate predictions of the spin-averaged mass levels of the charmonium and bottomonium spectra as an example of the three-dimensional harmonic oscillator. The present calculations do not include any spin dependence, but rather, mass values are averaged for different spins. Results for a charmed quark mass value of 1500 MeV/c-squared show that the simple harmonic oscillator model provides good agreement with experimental values for 3P states, and adequate agreement for the 3S1 states.
Observational tests of the hypothesis that the universe is flat and dominated by dark matter in the form of massive photinos include the production of significant fluxes of cosmic rays and gamma rays in our galactic halo. Specification of the cosmological photino density and the masses of scalar quarks and leptons determines the present annihilation rate. The predicted number of low-energy cosmic-ray antiprotons is comparable to the observed flux.
The present view about the structure of mesons is that they are a quark-antiquark system. The mass spectrum corresponding to this system should, in principle, be given by chromodynamics, but this turns out to be a complex affair. Thus it is of some interest to consider relativistic systems of particle-antiparticle, with a simple type of interaction, which could give some insight on the spectra we can expect for mesons. This analysis is carried out when the interaction is of the Dirac oscillator type. It is shown that the Dirac equation of the antiparticle can be obtained from that of the particle by just changing the frequency omega into -omega. Following a procedure suggested by Barut, the equation for the particle-antiparticle system is derived and it is solved by a perturbation procedure. Thus, explicit expressions for the square of the mass spectra are obtained and its implications in the meson case is discussed.
Possibilities of observing abundances of phi mesons and narrow hadronic pairs, as results of QGP and Chiral transitions, are considered for nucleus-nucleus interactions. Kinematical requirements in forming close pairs are satisfied in K+K decays of S(975) and delta (980) mesons with small phi, and phi (91020) mesons with large PT, and in pi-pi decays of familiar resonance mesons only in a partially restored chiral symmetry. Gluon-gluon dominance in QGP can enhance phi meson production. High hadronization rates of primordial resonance mesons which form narrow hadronic pairs are not implausible. Past cosmic ray evidences of anomalous phi production and narrow pair abundances are considered.
Two decades ago, Witten suggested that the ground state of matter might be material of nuclear density made from up, down and strange quarks. Since then, much effort has gone into exploring astrophysical and other implications of this possibility. For example, neutron stars would almost certainly be strange quark stars; dark matter might be strange quark matter. Searches for stable strange quark matter have been made in various mass ranges, with negative, but not conclusive results. Recently, we [D. Anderson, E. Herrin, V. Teplitz, and I. Tibuleac, Bull. Seis. Soc. of Am. 93, 2363 (2003)] reported a positive result for passage through the Earth of a multi-ton "nugget" of nuclear density in a search of about a million seismic reports, to the U.S. Geological Survey for the years 1990-93, not associated with known Earthquakes. I will present the evidence (timing of first signals to the 9 stations involved, first signal directions, and unique waveform characteristics) for our conclusion and discuss potential improvements that could be obtained from exploiting the seismologically quieter environments of the moon and Mars.
The existence of quark states with more than three quarks is allowed in QCD. The stability of such quark matter states has been studied with lattice QCD and phenomenological bag models, but is not well constrained by theory. The addition of strange quarks to the system allows the quarks to be in lower energy states despite the additional mass penalty. There is additional stability from reduced Coulomb repulsion. SQM is expected to have a low Z/A. Stable or metastable massive multiquark states contain u, d, and s quarks.
Linear and harmonic potential models are used in the nonrelativistic Schroedinger equation to obtain article mass spectra for mesons as bound states of quarks. The main emphasis is on the linear potential where exact solutions of the S-state eigenvalues and eigenfunctions and the asymptotic solution for the higher order partial wave are obtained. A study of the accuracy of two analytical energy level formulas as applied to heavy mesons is also included. Cornwall's formula is found to be particularly accurate and useful as a predictor of heavy quarkonium states. Exact solution for all partial waves of eigenvalues and eigenfunctions for a harmonic potential is also obtained and compared with the calculated discrete spectra of the linear potential. Detailed derivations of the eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of the linear and harmonic potentials are presented in appendixes.
The distribution in angle and flux of gamma-ray bursts indicates that the majority of gamma-ray bursters are at cosmological distances, i.e., at z of about 1. The rate is then about 10 exp -8/yr in a galaxy like the Milky Way, i.e., orders of magnitude lower than the estimated rate for collisions between neutron stars in close binary systems. The energy per burst is about 10 exp 51 ergs, assuming isotropic emission. The events appear to be less energetic and more frequent if their emission is strongly beamed. Some tests for the distance scale are discussed: a correlation between the burst's strength and its spectrum; the absorption by the Galactic gas below about 2 keV; the X-ray tails caused by forward scattering by the Galactic dust; about 1 month recurrence of some bursts caused by gravitational lensing by foreground galaxies; and a search for gamma-ray bursts in M31. The bursts appear to be a manifestation of something exotic, but conventional compact objects can provide an explanation. The best possibility is offered by a decay of a bindary composed of a spinning-stellar-mass black-hole primary and a neutron or a strange-quark star secondary. In the final phase the secondary is tidally disrupted, forms an accretion disk, and up to 10 exp 54 ergs are released. A very small fraction of this energy powers the gamma-ray burst.
Strange matter, a form of quark matter that is postulated to be absolute stable, may be the true ground stage of the hadrons. If this hypothesis is correct, neutron stars may convert to 'strange stars'. The mass-radius relation for strange stars is very different from that of neutron stars; there is no minimum mass, and for mass of 1 solar mass or less, mass is proportional to the cube of the radius. For masses between 1 solar mass and 2 solar masses, the radii of strange stars are about 10 km, as for neutron stars. Strange stars may have an exposed quark surface, which is capable of radiating at rates greatly exceeding the Eddington limit, but has a low emissivity for X-ray photons. The stars may have a thin crust with the same composition as the preneutron drip outer layer of a conventional neutron star crust. Strange stars cool efficiently via neutrino emission.
The current state of neutron star structure calculations is reviewed. Uncertainties in the equation of state for matter at and above nuclear density remain. The role of the delta resonance, pion condensates, and quark matter is reviewed. It is found that recent models yield stable neutron star masses which are consistent with observational estimates.
The fundamental physical implications of the possible detection of massive neutrinos are discussed, with an emphasis on the Grand Unified Theories (GUTs) of matter. The Newtonian and general-relativistic pictures of the fundamental forces are compared, and the reduction of electromagnetic and weak forces to one force in the GUTs is explained. The cosmological consequences of the curved-spacetime gravitation concept are considered. Quarks, leptons, and neutrinos are characterized in a general treatment of elementary quantum mechanics. The universe is described in terms of quantized fields, the noninteractive 'particle' fields and the force fields, and cosmology becomes the study of the interaction of gravitation with the other fields, of the 'freezing out' of successive fields with the expansion and cooling of the universe. While the visible universe is the result of the clustering of the quark and electron fields, the distribution of the large number of quanta in neutrino field, like the mass of the neutrino, are unknown. Cosmological models which attribute anomalies in the observed motions of galaxies and stars to clusters or shells of massive neutrinos are shown to be consistent with a small but nonzero neutrino mass and a universe near the open/closed transition point, but direct detection of the presence of massive neutrinos by the UV emission of their decay is required to verify these hypotheses.
It has been recently proposed that dark matter in the Universe might consist of nuggets of quarks which populate the nuclear desert between nucleons and neutron star matter. It is further suggested that the Centauro events which could be the signature of particles with atomic mass A approx. 100 and energy E approx. 10 to 15th power eV might also be related to debris produced in the encounter of two neutron stars. A further consequence of the former proposal is examined, and it is shown that the production of relativistic quark nuggets is accompanied by a substantial flux of potentially observable high energy neutrinos.
The volume begins with a non-mathematical discussion of the motivation behind, and basic ideas of, elementary-particle physics theory and experiment. The progress over the past two decades with the quark model and unification of the electromagnetic and weak interactions is reviewed. Existing theoretical problems in the field, such as the origin of mass and the unification of the fundamental forces, are detailed, along with experimental programs to test the new theories. Accelerators, instrumentation, and detectors are described for both current and future facilities. Interactions with other areas of both theoretical and applied physics are presented. The sociology of the field is examined regarding the education of graduate students, the organization necessary in large-scale experiments, and the decision-making process involved in high-cost experiments. Finally, conclusions and recommendations for maintaining US excellence in theory and experiment are given. Appendices list both current and planned accelerators, and present statistical data on the US elementary-particle physics program. A glossary is included.