14925298
QCD sum rules and applications to nuclear physics
Abstract Applications of QCD sum-rule methods to the physics of nuclei are reviewed, with an emphasis on calculations of baryon self-energies in infinite nuclear matter. The sum-rule approach relates spectral properties of hadrons propagating in the finite-density medium, such as optical potentials for quasinucleons, to matrix elements of QCD composite operators (condensates). The vacuum formalism for QCD sum rules is generalized to finite density, and the strategy and implementation of the approach is discussed. Predictions for baryon self-energies are compared to those suggested by relativistic nuclear physics phenomenology. Sum rules for vector mesons in dense nuclear matter are also considered.
37449512
Is there a "most perfect fluid" consistent with quantum field theory?
It was recently conjectured that the ratio of the shear viscosity to entropy density eta/s for any fluid always exceeds [formula: see text]. A theoretical counterexample to this bound can be constructed from a nonrelativistic gas by increasing the number of species in the fluid while keeping the dynamics essentially independent of the species type. The question of whether the underlying structure of relativistic quantum field theory generically inhibits the realization of such a system and thereby preserves the possibility of a universal bound is considered here. Using rather conservative assumptions, it is shown here that a metastable gas of heavy mesons in a particular controlled regime of QCD provides a realization of the counterexample and is consistent with a well-defined underlying relativistic quantum field theory. Thus, quantum field theory appears to impose no lower bound on eta/s, at least for metastable fluids.
36009299
Doubly heavy hadrons and the domain of validity of doubly heavy diquark-antiquark symmetry
In the limit of heavy quark masses going to infinity, a symmetry is known to emerge in QCD relating properties of hadrons with two heavy quarks to analogous states with one heavy antiquark. A key question is whether the charm mass is heavy enough so that this symmetry is manifest in at least an approximate manner. The issue is crucial in attempting to understand the recent reports by the SELEX Collaboration of doubly charmed baryons. We argue on very general grounds that the charm quark mass is substantially too light for the symmetry to emerge automatically via color coulombic interactions. However, the symmetry could emerge approximately depending on the dynamical details of the nonperturbative physics. To treat the problem systematically, a new expansion that simultaneously incorporates NRQCD and HQET is needed.
126291695
Nuclear and Hadronic Physics at Large N c
This talk briefly surveys some of the advances in large Nc QCD in nuclear and hadronic physics during the past decade or so. It highlights recent results including an analytic result for the total nucleon-nucleon cross section in nucleon-nucleon scattering in the extreme large Nc limit (logNc 1)); it is given by s total = 2p log 2 (Nc) m 2 for p s much larger than the QCD scale. The talk also stresses a demonstration that given certain technical assumptions, it can be shown that QCD must have a Hagedorn spectrum (i.e., a spectrum where the number of hadrons grows exponentially with hadron mass) . Another theme in the talk is the phenomenology of a variant of the large Nc limit based on quarks in the two-index antisymmetric representation. This variant of large Nc QCD is qualitatively different from the conventional one in which quarks are in the fundamental representation and corresponds to a distinct large Nc limit with a distinct 1=Nc expansion. The description of nuclear forces and nuclear matter in both variants of the largeNc limit are discussed.
9144282
QCD inequalities for the nucleon mass and the free energy of baryonic matter.
The positivity of the integrand of certain Euclidean space functional integrals for two flavor QCD with degenerate quark masses implies that the free energy per unit volume for QCD with a baryon chemical potential mu(B) (and zero isospin chemical potential) is greater than the free energy with an isospin chemical potential mu(I)=(2 mu(B)/N(c)) (and zero baryon chemical potential). The same result applies to QCD with any number of heavy flavors in addition to the two light flavors so long as the chemical potential is understood as applying to the light quark contributions to the baryon number. This relation implies a bound on the nucleon mass: there exists a particle X in QCD (presumably the pion) such that M(N)> or =(N(c) m(X)/2 I(X)) where m(X) is the mass of the particle and I(X) is its isospin.
118729457
A sticky business: the status of the conjectured viscosity/entropy density bound
There have been a number of forms of a conjecture that there is a universal lower bound on the ratio, η/s, of the shear viscosity, η, to entropy density, s, with several different domains of validity. We examine the various forms of the conjecture. We argue that a number of variants of the conjecture are not viable due to the existence of theoretically consistent counterexamples. We also note that much of the evidence in favor of a bound does not apply to the variants which have not yet been ruled out.
119280549
On-shell constructibility of tree amplitudes in general field theories
We study “on-shell constructibility” of tree amplitudes from recursion relations in general 4-dimensional local field theories with any type of particles, both massless and massive. Our analysis applies to renormalizable as well as non-renormalizable interactions, with or without supersymmetry. We focus on recursion relations that arise from complex deformations of all external momenta. Under certain conditions, these “all-line shift recursion relations” imply the MHV vertex expansion. We derive a simple sufficient criterion for the validity of the all-line shift recursion relations. It depends only on the mass dimensions of the coupling constants and on the sum of helicities of the external particles. Our proof is strikingly simple since it just relies on dimensional analysis and little-group transformation properties. In particular, the results demonstrate that all tree amplitudes with n > 4 external states are constructible in any power-counting renormalizable theory. Aspects of all-line shift constructibility are illustrated in numerous examples, ranging from pure scalar theory and the massless Wess-Zumino model to theories with higher-derivative interactions, gluon-Higgs fusion, and Z-boson scattering. We propose a sharp physical interpretation of our constructibility criterion: the all-line shift fails precisely for those classes of n-point amplitudes that can receive local contributions from independent gauge-invariant n-field operators.
53390439
Boosting stop searches with a 100 TeV proton collider
A bstractA proton-proton collider with center of mass energy around 100 TeV is the energy frontier machine that is likely to succeed the LHC. One of the primary physics goals will be the continued exploration of weak scale naturalness. Here we focus on the pair-production of stops that decay to a top and a neutralino. Most of the heavy stop parameter space results in highly boosted tops, populating kinematic regimes inaccessible at the LHC. New strategies for boosted top-tagging are needed and a simple, detector-independent tagger can be constructed by requiring a muon inside a jet. Assuming 20% systematic uncertainties, this future collider can discover (exclude) stops with masses up to 5.5 (8) TeV with 3000 fb−1 of integrated luminosity. Studying how the exclusion limits scale with luminosity motivates going beyond this benchmark in order to saturate the discovery potential of the machine.
119159310
Asymmetric Dark Matter from a GeV Hidden Sector
Asymmetric dark matter (ADM) models relate the dark matter (DM) density to the baryon asymmetry, so that a natural mass scale for ADM is around a few GeV. In existing models of ADM, this mass scale is unexplained; here we generate this GeV scale for DM) from the weak scale via gauge kinetic mixing with a new Abelian dark force. In addition, this dark sector provides an efficient mechanism for suppressing the symmetric abundance of DM through annihilations to the dark photon. We augment this sector with a higher dimensional operator responsible for communicating the baryon asymmetry to the dark sector. Our framework also provides a DM candidate for gauge mediation models. It results in a direct detection cross section of interest for current experiments: {sigma}{sub p} < or approx. 10{sup -41} cm{sup 2} for DM masses in the range 1-15 GeV.
118834481
Here be dragons: the unexplored continents of the CMSSM
A bstractThe Higgs boson mass and the abundance of dark matter constrain the CMSSM/mSUGRA supersymmetry breaking inputs. A complete map of the CMSSM that is consistent with these two measured quantities is provided. Various “continents”, consisting of non-excluded models, can be organized by their dark matter dynamics. The following mechanisms manifest: well-tempering, resonant pseudo-scalar Higgs annihilation, neutralino/stau coannihilations and neutralino/stop coannihilations. Benchmark models are chosen in order to characterize the viable regions. The expected visible signals of each are described, demonstrating a wide range of predictions for the 13 TeV LHC and a high degree of complementarity between dark matter and collider experiments. The parameter space spans a finite volume, which can be probed in its entirety with experiments currently under consideration.
119221672
Jet substructure by accident
A bstractWe propose a new search strategy for high-multiplicity hadronic final states. When new particles are produced at threshold, the distribution of their decay products is approximately isotropic. If there are many partons in the final state, it is likely that several will be clustered into the same large-radius jet. The resulting jet exhibits substructure, even though the parent states are not boosted. This “accidental” substructure is a powerful discriminant against background because it is more pronounced for high-multiplicity signals than for QCD multijets. We demonstrate how to take advantage of accidental substructure to reduce backgrounds without relying on the presence of missing energy. As an example, we present the expected limits for several R-parity violating gluino decay topologies. This approach allows for the determination of QCD backgrounds using data-driven methods, which is crucial for the feasibility of any search that targets signatures with many jets and suppressed missing energy.