arXiv subjects
A. Pich
Publications and source records attributed to A. Pich.
Aspects of Quantum Chromodynamics
These lectures provide an overview of Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD), the SU(3) gauge theory of the strong interactions. The running of the strong coupling and the associated property of Asymptotic Freedom are analyzed. Some selected experimental tests and the present knowledge of $α_s$ and the quark masses are briefly summarized. A short description of the QCD flavour symmetries and the dynamical breaking of chiral symmetry is also given.
Tau Physics
The pure leptonic or semileptonic character of tau decays makes them a good laboratory to test the structure of the weak currents and the universality of their couplings to the gauge bosons. The hadronic $τ$ decay modes constitute an ideal tool for studying low--energy effects of the strong interactions in very clean conditions. New physics phenomena, such as a non-zero $m_{ν_τ}$ or violations of conservation laws can also be searched for with tau decays. The present experimental and theoretical status of tau physics is summarized.
pi^0-eta Mixing and CP Violation
We discuss $π^0$ -$η$ mixing and its implication for $ε'/ ε$ to next-to-leading order in the low-energy expansion. The big effect due to $η$-$η'$ mixing is shown to be largely cancelled by other contributions occurring at the same order in the chiral expansion.
Electromagnetic Decays of Heavy Baryons
The electromagnetic decays of the ground state baryon multiplets with one heavy quark are calculated using Heavy Hadron Chiral Perturbation Theory. The M1 and E2 amplitudes for S^{*}--> S gamma, S^{*} --> T gamma and S --> T gamma are separately computed. All M1 transitions are calculated up to O(1/Lambda_chi^2). The E2 amplitudes contribute at the same order for S^{*}--> S gamma, while for S^{*} --> T gamma they first appear at O(1/(m_Q Λ_χ^2)) and for S --> T gamma are completely negligible. The renormalization of the chiral loops is discussed and relations among different decay amplitudes are derived. We find that chiral loops involving electromagnetic interactions of the light pseudoscalar mesons provide a sizable enhancement of these decay widths. Furthermore, we obtain an absolute prediction for the widths of Xi^{0'(*)}_c--> Xi^{0}_c gamma and Xi^{-'(*)}_b--> Xi^{-}_b gamma. Our results are compared to other estimates existing in the literature.
Magnetic Moments of Heavy Baryons
First non-trivial chiral corrections to the magnetic moments of triplet (T) and sextet (S^(*)) heavy baryons are calculated using Heavy Hadron Chiral Perturbation Theory. Since magnetic moments of the T-hadrons vanish in the limit of infinite heavy quark mass (m_Q->infinity), these corrections occur at order O(1/(m_Q Λ_χ^2)) for T-baryons while for S^(*)-baryons they are of order O(1/Λ_χ^2). The renormalization of the chiral loops is discussed and relations among the magnetic moments of different hadrons are provided. Previous results for T-baryons are revised.
Electroweak Precision Tests
Precision measurements of electroweak observables provide stringent tests of the Standard Model structure and an accurate determination of its parameters. An overview of the present experimental status is presented.
Tau Decay Determination of the Strange Quark Mass
The recent ALEPH measurements of the inclusive Cabibbo--suppressed decay width of the $τ$ and several moments of its invariant mass distribution are used to determine the value of the strange quark mass. We obtain, in the $\bar{\rm MS}$ scheme, $m_s(M_τ^2) = (119\pm 24)$ MeV, which corresponds to $ m_s(1 {\rm GeV}^2) = (164 \pm 33) {\rm MeV}, m_s(4 {\rm GeV}^2) = (114\pm 23) {\rm MeV} $.
Short- and long-distance contributions to the rare decay K_L-->mu+ mu-
The interplay between short- and long-distance contributions to the K_L-->mu+ mu- decay amplitude is analyzed. The long-distance piece is estimated using chiral perturbation theory techniques and large-N_C considerations, leading to a consistent description of the pi^0-->e+ e-, eta-->mu+ mu- and K_L-->mu+ mu- branching ratios.
Bottom quark mass from QCD sum rules for the Upsilon system
The talk presents an update of the bottom quark mass determination from QCD moment sum rules for the Upsilon system by the authors. Employing the MS_bar scheme, we find m_b(m_b) = 4.19 +- 0.06 GeV. The differences to our previous analysis will be discussed and we comment on the determination of the pole mass for the bottom quark.
Effective Field Theory
These lectures provide an introduction to the basic ideas and methods of Effective Field Theory, and a description of a few interesting phenomenological applications in particle physics. The main conceptual foundations are discussed in sections 2 and 3, which cover the momentum expansion and the most important issues associated with the renormalization process. Section 4 presents an overview of Chiral Perturbation Theory, the low-energy realization of Quantum Chromodynamics in the light quark sector. The Chiral Perturbation Theory framework is applied to weak transitions in section 5, where the physics of non-leptonic kaon decays is analyzed. The so-called Heavy Quark Effective Theory is briefly discussed in section 6. The electroweak chiral Effective Field Theory is described in section 7, which contains a brief overview of the effective Lagrangian associated with the spontaneous electroweak symmetry breaking. Some summarizing comments are finally given in section 8.
Long-distance contributions to the K_L --> mu+ mu- decay width
The dispersive two-photon contribution to the K_L --> mu+ mu- decay amplitude is analyzed, using chiral perturbation theory techniques and large-N_C considerations. A consistent description of the decays Pi^0 --> e+ e-, Eta --> mu+ mu- and K_L --> mu+ mu- is obtained. As a byproduct, one predicts Br(Eta --> e+ e-) = (5.8+-0.2) x 10^-9 and Br(K_L --> e+ e-) = (9.0+-0.4) x 10^-12.
Electroweak Precision Physics
Precision measurements of electroweak observables provide stringent tests of the Standard Model structure and an accurate determination of its parameters. A brief overview of the present experimental status is presented. A more extensive discussion can be found in Ref. hep-ph/9711279
Precision Tests of the Standard Model
Precision measurements of electroweak observables provide stringent tests of the Standard Model structure and an accurate determination of its parameters. An overview of the present experimental status is presented.
Determination of $M_b$ and $α_s$ from the Upsilon System
The mass of the bottom quark (both the pole mass $M_b$ and the $\MSb$ mass $m_b$) and the strong coupling constant $α_s$ have been determined from QCD moment sum rules for the $Υ$ system. In the pole-mass scheme large perturbative corrections resulting from coulombic contributions have been resummed. The results of this analysis are: $M_b=4.60 \pm 0.02 \gev$, $m_b(m_b)=4.13 \pm 0.06 \gev$ and $α_s(M_Z)=0.119 \pm 0.008$.
Weak Decays, Quark Mixing and CP Violation: Theory Overview
A brief overview of flavour-changing phenomena is presented. The main topics discussed are the universality and Lorentz structure of the leptonic charged-current couplings, our present knowledge of the quark-mixing matrix and the future prospects for CP--violation studies.
Effective Field Theory Description of the Pion Form Factor
Using our present knowledge on effective hadronic theories, short-distance QCD information, the $1/N_C$ expansion, analyticity and unitarity, we derive an expression for the pion form factor, in terms of $m_π, m_K, M_ρ$ and $f_π$. This parameter-free prediction provides a surprisingly good description of the experimental data up to energies of the order of 1 GeV.
Tau Physics
The pure leptonic or semileptonic character of tau decays makes them a good laboratory to test the structure of the weak currents and the universality of their couplings to the gauge bosons. The hadronic tau decay modes constitute an ideal tool for studying low-energy effects of the strong interactions in very clean conditions; a well-known example is the precise determination of the QCD coupling from tau-decay data. New physics phenomena, such as a non-zero tau-neutrino mass or violations of (flavour / CP) conservation laws can also be searched for with tau decays.