arXiv subjects

Pietro Faccioli

Publications and source records attributed to Pietro Faccioli.

48 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2010

A new approach to quarkonium polarization studies

Significant progress in understanding quarkonium production requires improved polarization measurements, fully considering the intrinsic multidimensionality of the problem. We propose a frame-invariant formalism which minimizes the dependence of the measured result on the experimental acceptance, facilitates the comparison with theoretical calculations, and provides a much needed control over systematic effects due to detector limitations and analysis biases. This formalism is a direct and generic consequence of the rotational invariance of the dilepton decay distribution and is independent of any assumptions specific to particular models of quarkonium production.

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arXiv2010

Rotation-invariant relations in vector meson decays into fermion pairs

The rotational properties of angular momentum eigenstates imply the existence of a frame-independent relation among the parameters of the decay distribution of vector mesons into fermions. This relation is a generalization of the Lam-Tung identity, a result specific to Drell-Yan production in perturbative QCD, here shown to be equivalent to the dynamical condition that the dilepton always originates from a transversely polarized photon.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2009

Dominant Folding Pathways of a Beta-Hairpin

We use the Dominant Reaction Pathway (DRP) approach to study the dynamics of the folding of a beta-hairpin, within a model which accounts for both native and non-native interactions. We compare the most probable folding pathways calculated with the DRP method with those obtained directly from molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. We find that the two approaches give completely consistent results. We investigate the effects of the non-native hydrophobic interactions on the folding dynamics found them to be small.

q-bio.BM↗

arXiv2009

J/psi polarization from fixed-target to collider energies

The determination of the magnitude and "sign" of the J/psi polarization crucially depends on the reference frame used in the analysis of the data and a full understanding of the polarization phenomenon requires measurements reported in two "orthogonal" frames, such as the Collins-Soper and helicity frames. Moreover, the azimuthal anisotropy can be, in certain frames, as significant as the polar one. The seemingly contradictory J/psi polarization results reported by E866, HERA-B and CDF can be consistently described assuming that the most suitable axis for the measurement is along the direction of the relative motion of the colliding partons, and that directly produced J/psi's are longitudinally polarized at low momentum and transversely polarized at high momentum. We make specific predictions that can be tested on existing CDF data and by LHC measurements, which should show a full transverse polarization for direct J/psi mesons of pT > 25 GeV/c.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2008

Kramers Theory for Conformational Transitions of Macromolecules

We consider the application of Kramers theory to the microscopic calculation of rates of conformational transitions of macromolecules. The main difficulty in such an approach is to locate the transition state in a huge configuration space. We present a method which identifies the transition state along the most probable reaction pathway. It is then possible to microscopically compute the activation energy, the damping coefficient, the eigenfrequencies at the transition state and obtain the rate, without any a-priori choice of a reaction coordinate. Our theoretical results are tested against the results of Molecular Dynamics simulations for transitions in a 2-dimensional double well and for the cis-trans isomerization of a linear molecule.

q-bio.BM↗

arXiv2008

Characterization of Protein Folding by Dominant Reaction Pathways

We assess the reliability of the recently developed approach denominated Dominant Reaction Pathways (DRP) by studying the folding of a 16-residue beta-hairpin, within a coarse-grained Go-type model. We show that the DRP predictions are in quantitative agreement with the results of Molecular Dynamics simulations, performed in the same model. On the other hand, in the DRP approach, the computational difficulties associated to the decoupling of time scales are rigorously bypassed. The analysis of the important transition pathways supports a picture of the beta-hairpin folding in which the reaction is initiated by the collapse of the hydrophobic cluster.

q-bio.BM↗

arXiv2005

Strong CP breaking and quark-antiquark repulsion in QCD, at finite theta

This work is devoted to the study of the CP-breaking dynamics in QCD, at finite theta-angle. By working in the semi-classical limit, in which the topology of the vacuum is clustered around instantons and anti-instantons, we show that quantum fluctuations of the theta-vacuum generate an effective flavor-dependent repulsion between matter and anti-matter, inside hadrons. As a consequence, during the tunneling between the degenerate vacua, quarks and anti-quarks in the neutron migrate in opposite directions, giving rise to an oscillating electric dipole moment. We discuss a possible phenomenological implication of this effect.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2004

Instanton-Induced Correlations in Hadrons

QCD instantons generate non-perturbative spin- and flavor- dependent forces between quarks. We review the results of a series of studies on instanton-induced correlations in hadrons. We first present some evidence for instanton-mediated interactions in QCD, based on lattice simulations. Then we show that the Instanton Liquid Model can reproduce the available data on proton and pion form factors at large momentum transfer and explain the delay of the onset of the perturbative regime in several hard reactions. We also show that instantons generate a deeply bound scalar color anti-triplet diquark, with a mass of about 450 MeV and size comparable with that of the proton. The strong attraction in the anti-triplet scalar diquark channel leads to a quantitative description of non-leptonic weak decays of hyperons and provides a microscopic dynamical explanation of the Delta I=1/2 rule.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2003

Evidence for Instanton-Induced Dynamics, from Lattice QCD

We perform a study of the non-perturbative dynamics of the light-quark sector of QCD, based on some recent results of lattice simulations with chiral fermions. We analyze some correlators that are designed to probe the Dirac structure of the quark-quark interaction at different scales. We show that, in the non-perturbative regime, such an interaction contains very large scalar and pseudo-scalar components. We observe quantitative agreement between lattice QCD results and the predictions of the Instanton Liquid Model (ILM). Moreover, we study how the the quark-quark interaction is modified, when quark loops are suppressed. We observe a dramatic effect related to the loss of unitarity, which is naturally explained in the instanton picture. Such an effect cannot be explained in a Dyson-Schwinger Equations (DSE) approach, if one assumes a simple vector quark-gluon coupling. Therefore, from the present study it emerges that DSE models with such an ansatz for the vertex function are not consistent with QCD.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2001

Parameter free calculation of hadronic masses from instantons

We propose a non-perturbative calculation scheme which is based on the semi-classical approximation of QCD and can be used to evaluate quantities of interest in hadronic physics. As a first application, we evaluate the mass of the pion and of the nucleon. Such masses are related to a particular combination of Green functions which, in some limit, is dominated by the contribution of \emph{very small-sized} instantons. The size distribution of these pseudo-particles is determined by the 't Hooft tunneling amplitude formula and therefore our calculation is free from any model parameters. We prove that instanton forces generate a light pion and a nucleon with realistic mass ($M_n \sim 970 MeV$). In connection with sum-rules approaches, we discuss the overlap of instantons with pion and nucleon resonances.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2000

CKM matrix: the `over-consistent' picture of the unitarity triangle

In presenting an up-to-date account of the experimental knowledge of the CKM matrix, special emphasis is placed on the exceptional degree of consistency shown by the current Standard Model determination of the unitarity triangle; some implications in the question of how the theoretical nature of the dominant uncertainties affects the Standard Model predictions are discussed. Recent experimental results include improved determinations of |V_{cb}| by OPAL and CLEO, the confirmation of rare (charmless hadronic and electromagnetic penguin) B decays and preliminary sin(2 beta) measurements by BaBar and Belle (new world average: sin(2 beta) = 0.48 +0.22 -0.24). The updated constraints lead to the Standard Model predictions sin(2 beta) = 0.68 +/- 0.03(exp) +/- 0.04(th), sin(2 alpha) = -0.43 +/- 0.15(exp) +/- 0.20(th), gamma = 56 +/- 5(exp)(+5 -6)(th) deg, Delta m_{Bs} = 16.2 (+2.7 -0.3)(exp)(+1.5 -1.0)(th) ps^{-1}.

hep-ph↗

arXiv1998

Nucleon Structure Functions and Light-Front Dynamics

We present a quark-parton model to describe polarized and unpolarized nucleon structure functions. The twist-two matrix elements for the QCD evolution analysis of lepton-hadron scattering are calculated within a light-front covariant quark model. The relativistic effects in the three-body wave function are discussed for both the polarized and unpolarized cases. Predictions are given for the polarized gluon distributions as will be seen in future experiments.

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