arXiv subjects

W. de Paula

Publications and source records attributed to W. de Paula.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Light-front mass operator with dressed quarks

We construct an effective light-front mass-squared operator for quark-antiquark systems that incorporates quark dressing effects through a running quark mass. Starting from a Minkowski-space quark propagator constrained by lattice-QCD-inspired parametrization, we derive the disconnected light-front resolvent for a light quark-antiquark system using a generalized spectral representation of an individual quark propagator separating out the instantaneous contributions. By projecting the resolvent onto a constituent-quark helicity basis, we obtain an effective dressed mass-squared operator suitable for light-front Hamiltonian approaches. We introduce an effective light-front quark self-energy and analyze its momentum dependence. As an application, we study pion structure using representative light-front wave-function models and compute unpolarized transverse-momentum-dependent distributions, unpolarized parton distribution functions and distribution amplitudes. Our results show that quark dressing induces sizable infrared modifications while preserving controlled ultraviolet behavior, providing a framework to incorporate nonperturbative QCD dynamics into light-front descriptions of hadrons.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2025

Spectroscopy of charmonium-like mesons, heavy-light mesons with charm, AdS/QCD, and configurational entropy

Heavy-light-flavor meson resonances with charm, in the $D^0$ and $D^*$ families, and charmonium-like states, in the $η_c$ and $χ_{c1}$ families, are explored and discussed in the AdS/QCD model with four quark flavors. The differential configurational entropy is computed and analyzed for these four charmed meson families, also combining 4-flavor AdS/QCD to experimental data for the $D^0$, $D^*$, $η_c$, and $χ_{c1}$ meson families. It makes it possible to predict the mass spectrum of unexplored heavier charmed meson resonances and to identify further charmed meson states reported in PDG.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2025

The glue that binds us all -- Latin America and the Electron-Ion Collider

The Electron-Ion Collider, a next generation electron-hadron and electron-nuclei scattering facility, will be built at Brookhaven National Laboratory. The wealth of new data will shape research in hadron physics, from nonperturbative QCD techniques to perturbative QCD improvements and global QCD analyses, for the decades to come. With the present proposal, Latin America based physicists, whose expertise lies on the theory and phenomenology side, make the case for the past and future efforts of a growing community, working hand-in-hand towards developing theoretical tools and predictions to analyze, interpret and optimize the results that will be obtained at the EIC, unveiling the role of the glue that binds us all. This effort is along the lines of various initiatives taken in the U.S., and supported by colleagues worldwide, such as the ones by the EIC User Group which were highlighted during the Snowmass Process and the Particle Physics Project Prioritization Panel (P5).

nucl-ex↗

arXiv2025

Holographic hybrid stars with slow phase transitions

The $D_3$-$D_7$ holographic model is used to describe the core of the hybrid star, composed by quark matter, while its crust is modeled from a hadronic relativistic mean field (RMF) model capable of reproducing low-energy nuclear physics data as well as some astrophysical observations. The $D_3$-$D_7$ brane configuration and the RMF model lead to an equation of state that is used to solve the Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkoff equations. For different model parameters, the mass-radius diagram is presented. The conditions for the dynamic stability of stellar configurations are discussed, considering the radial oscillation criterion for hybrid stars with slow phase transitions. Strikingly, it is shown that the models generate stable star configurations with a core of quarks. We compare our results with NICER observational data for the pulsars PSR J0030+0451 and PSR J0740+6620 and show that the compact stars generated from this method fall within the corresponding observational regions.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2025

On the momentum space structure of the quark propagator

The structure of the quark propagator in momentum space is explored taking into account non-perturbative QCD dynamics constraints for the quark spectral densities derived previously. We assume that the scalar and vector component of the quark propagator share a simple pole but not its residuum, together with other structures. Furthermore, a connection between the poles of the quark propagator and the zeros of the quark wave function $Z(p^2)$ is established. Asymptotic scaling laws for the representation of the quark propagator, after removing the shared pole, are also derived. The confrontation of our results with lattice data for the full QCD quark propagator data are in good agreement. Exploring the link with the lattice data and looking at the Bethe-Salpeter vertex and amplitude, in the chiral limit, we are able to provide estimations for these quantities, for $f_π$ and for the shared pole mass. The pole mass reproduces the constituent quark mass used in the quark models.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2024

Kaon Structure in the Nuclear Medium within the Light Front Approach

We study the properties of the charged kaon in symmetric nuclear matter using a Bethe-Salpeter amplitude to model the quark-anti-quark bound state, which is well constrained by previous studies of its vacuum properties. The electromagnetic form factor, charge radius, decay constant and the light-front valence component probability are investigated in symmetric nuclear matter. In order to describe the constituent up and anti-strange quarks in nuclear matter, we adopt the ``quark-meson coupling (QMC) model", which has been widely applied to various hadronic and nuclear phenomena in the nuclear medium.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2024

Quark stars in $D_3$-$D_7$ holographic model

This work investigates static and dynamical quark star properties within a $D_3-D_7$ holographic model. We solve the Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkoff equations for the quark matter equation of state obtained from the brane configuration. We determine the mass-radius diagram for a range of model parameters and compare with recent NICER observational data for the pulsars PSR J$0030+0451$ and PSR J$0740+6620$. Motivated by the GW170817 event detected by the LIGO-Virgo collaboration, we also calculate the tidal deformability parameter obtained for each component of the binary star system. We show that quark stars composed of flavor-independent quark matter derived from the $D_3-D_7$ holographic model are not able to satisfy simultaneously the LIGO-Virgo and NICER astrophysical bounds.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2023

Configurational information measure of mesonic states in 4-flavor AdS/QCD

Strange axial-vector kaons, $K_1$, and $f_1$ meson resonances are investigated in the 4-flavor AdS/QCD model. Their underlying differential configurational entropy is computed and the mass spectra of higher-excited resonances, in both these mesonic families, are achieved and discussed. This technique merges the 4-flavor AdS/QCD and experimental data regarding the mass spectrum of $K_1$ and $f_1$ meson resonances that have been already detected and reported in the Particle Data Group, also bringing forth a route to explore physical features of the next generation of resonances in the $K_1$ and $f_1$ meson families.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2023

Exploring the $0^-$ bound state with dressed quarks in Minkowski space

The Bethe-Salpeter equation for a pseudoscalar bound-system, with i) a ladder kernel with massive gluons, ii) dynamically-dressed quark mass function and iii) an extended quark-gluon vertex, is solved in Minkowski space by using the Nakanishi integral representation of the Bethe-Salpeter amplitude. The quark dressing is implemented through a phenomenological ansatz, which was tuned by lattice QCD calculations of the quark running mass. The latter were also used for assigning the range of the gluon mass and the parameter featuring the extended color density. This framework allows to investigate the gluon dynamics that manifest itself in the quark dressing, quark-gluon vertex and the binding, directly in the physical space. We present the first results for low-density pseudoscalar systems in order to elucidate the onset of the interplay between the above mentioned gluonic phenomena, and we discuss both static and dynamical quantities, like valence longitudinal and transverse distributions.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2023

The chiral limit of a fermion-scalar $(1/2)^+$ system in covariant gauges

The homogeneous Bethe-Salpeter equation (BSE) of a (1/2)$^+$ bound system, that has both fermionic and bosonic degrees of freedom, that we call a {\em mock nucleon}, is studied in Minkowski space, in order to analyse the chiral limit in covariant gauges. After adopting an interaction kernel built with a one-particle exchange, the $χ$-BSE is numerically solved by means of the Nakanishi integral representation and light-front projection. Noteworthy, the chiral limit induces a scale-invariance of the model and consequently generates a wealth of striking features: i) it reduces the number of non trivial Nakanishi weight functions to only one; ii) the form of the surviving weight function has a factorized dependence on the two relevant variables, compact and non-compact one; iii) the coupling constant becomes an explicit function of the real exponent governing the power-law fall-off of the non trivial Nakanishi weight function. The thorough investigation at large transverse-momentum of light-front Bethe-Salpeter amplitudes, obtained with massive constituents, provides a confirmation of the expected universal power-law fall-off, with exponents predicted by our non-perturbative framework. Finally, one can shed light on the exponents that govern the approach to the upper extremum of the longitudinal-momentum fraction distribution function of the {\em mock nucleon}, when the coupling constant varies.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2023

Unpolarized transverse-momentum dependent distribution functions of a quark in a pion with Minkowskian dynamics

The unpolarized twist-2 (leading) and twist-3 (subleading), T-even, transverse-momentum dependent quark distributions in the pion are evaluated for the first time by using the actual solution of a dynamical equation in Minkowski space. The adopted theoretical framework is based on the homogeneous Bethe-Salpeter integral equation with an interaction kernel given by a one-gluon exchange, featuring an extended quark-gluon vertex. The masses of quark and gluon as well as the interaction-vertex scale have been chosen in a range suggested by lattice-QCD calculations, and calibrated to reproduce both pion mass and decay constant. The sum rules to be fulfilled by the transverse-momentum dependent distributions are carefully investigated, particularly the leading-twist one, that has to match the collinear parton distribution function, and hence can be scrutinized in terms of existing data as well as theoretical predictions. Noteworthy, the joint use of the Fock expansion of the pion state facilitates a more in-depth analysis of the content of the pion Bethe-Salpeter amplitude, allowing for the first time to determine the gluon contribution to the quark average longitudinal fraction, that results to be $\sim 6\%$. The current analysis highlights the role of the gluon exchanges through quantitative analysis of collinear and transverse-momentum distributions, showing, e.g. for both leading and subleading-twists, an early departure from the widely adopted exponential fall-off, for $|k_\perp|^2 > m^2$, with the quark mass $\sim Λ_{QCD}$.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2022

Pion inspired by QCD: Nakanishi and Light-Front Integral Representations

The pion structure in Minkowski space is explored using the Nakanishi integral representation. A general framework is developed for the pion Bethe-Salpeter amplitude based on the Kallen-Lehmann representation of the dressed quarks with an ansatz for the pseudo-scalar $π-q\bar q$ vertex fulfilling the axial Ward-Takahashi identity. The Nakanishi weight functions are derived for the scalar amplitudes associated with the decomposition of the pion Bethe-Salpeter amplitude in different operator bases in the Dirac spinor space in terms of the involved spectral densities. The approach is applied to an analytical model of the pion Bethe-Salpeter amplitude, which is combined with Landau gauge lattice QCD results for the quark running mass at space-like momentum. From the Nakanishi integral representation several pion observables were calculated, such as the decay constant, the spin decomposition of the valence probabilities, longitudinal and transverse momentum distributions from the valence component of the light-front wave function.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2022

The parton distribution function in a pion with Minkowskian dynamics

The parton distribution of the pion is obtained for the first time from the solution of a dynamical equation in Minkowski space. The adopted equation is the homogeneous Bethe-Salpeter one with a ladder kernel, described in terms of i) constituent quarks and gluons degrees of freedom, and ii) an extended quark-gluon vertex. The masses of quark and gluon as well as the interaction-vertex scale have been chosen in a range suggested by lattice QCD calculations, and calibrated to reproduce both pion mass and decay constant. Beside the full parton distribution, we have also calculated the contribution from the light-front valence wave function, corresponding to the lowest Fock component in the expansion of the pion state. After applying an evolution with an effective charge and a LO splitting function, a detailed and inspiring comparison with both the extracted experimental data ( with and without resummation effects) and other recent calculations obtained in different frameworks is presented. Interestingly, in a wide region of longitudinal-momentum fraction, the parton distribution function receives sizable contributions from the higher Fock-components of the pion state at the initial scale, while approaching the tail the light-front valence component dominates, as expected. Moreover, an exponent $\sim$ 3 is found suitable for describing the tail at the scale 5.2 GeV.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2022

Pion model with the Nakanishi Integral Representations

In the present work, we describe a model for the pion based on an analytic expression for the Bethe-Salpeter (BSA) amplitude, combined with some ingredients from Lattice QCD calculations. The running quark mass function $M (p^2)$, used here, reproduces well the results of Lattice QCD calculations. The analytical form of the running quark mass function contains a single time-like pole, which implies in time-like poles of the dressed quark propagator. Such a form allows to build the weight functions, $G_i(γ,z)$, for the Nakanishi integral representation of each scalar function, $χ_{i}(k,p)$, appearing in the decomposition of the Bethe-Salpeter amplitude in terms of Dirac operators, Such scalar amplitudes can also be used to obtain the pion valence light-front wave function.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2021

Neutron star crustal properties from relativistic mean-field models and bulk parameters effects

We calculate crustal properties of neutron stars, namely, mass ($M_{\rm crust}$), radius ($R_{\rm crust}$) and fraction of moment of inertia ($ΔI/I$) from parametrizations of hadronic relativistic mean-field (RMF) model consistent with symmetric and asymmetric nuclear matter constraints, as well as some stellar boundaries. We verify which one are also in agreement with restrictions of $ΔI/I \geqslant 1.4\%$ and $ΔI/I \geqslant 7\%$ related to the glitching mechanism observed in pulsars, such as the Vela one. The latter constraint explains the glitches phenomenon when entrainment effects are taken into account. Our findings indicate that these parametrizations pass in the glitching limit for a neutron star mass range of $M\leqslant 1.82M_\odot$ ($ΔI/I \geqslant 1.4\%$), and $M\leqslant 1.16M_\odot$ ($ΔI/I \geqslant 7\%$). We also investigate the influence of nuclear matter bulk parameters on crustal properties and find that symmetry energy is the quantity that produces the higher variations on $M_{\rm crust}$, $R_{\rm crust}$, and~$ΔI/I$. Based on the results, we construct a particular RMF parametrization able to satisfy $ΔI/I \geqslant 7\%$ even at $M=1.4M_\odot$, the mass value used to fit data from the softer component of the Vela pulsar X-ray spectrum. The model also presents compatibility with observational data from PSR J1614-2230, PSR J0348+0432, and MSP J0740+6620 pulsars, as well as, with data from the Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) mission.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2020

Observing the Minkowskian dynamics of the pion on the null-plane

A dynamical model is applied to the study of the pion valence light-front wave function, obtained from the actual solution of the Bethe-Salpeter equation in Minkowski space, resorting to the Nakanishi integral representation. The kernel is simplified to a ladder approximation containing constituent quarks, an effective massive gluon exchange, and the scale of the extended quark-gluon interaction vertex. These three input parameters carry the infrared scale ΛQCD and are fine-tuned to reproduce the pion weak decay constant, within a range suggested by lattice calculations. Besides fπ, we present and discuss other interesting quantities on the null-plane, like: (i) the valence probability, (ii) the dynamical functions depending upon the longitudinal or the transverse components of the light-front (LF) momentum, represented by LF-momentum distributions and distribution amplitudes, and (iii) the probability densities both in the LF-momentum space and the 3D space given by the Cartesian product of the covariant Ioffe-time and transverse coordinates, in order to perform an analysis of the dynamical features in a complementary way. The proposed analysis of the Minkowskian dynamics inside the pion, though carried out at the initial stage, qualifies the Nakanishi integral representation as an appealing effective tool, with still unexplored potentialities to be exploited for addressing correlations between dynamics and observable properties.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2020

Neutron stars in $f(\mathcal{R,T})$ gravity using realistic equations of state in the light of massive pulsars and GW170817

In this work we investigate neutron stars (NS) in $f(\mathcal{R,T})$ gravity for the case $R+2λ\mathcal{T}$, $\mathcal{R}$ is the Ricci scalar and $\mathcal{T}$ the trace of the energy-momentum tensor. The hydrostatic equilibrium equations are solved considering realistic equations of state (EsoS). The NS masses and radii obtained are subject to a joint constrain from massive pulsars and the event GW170817. The parameter $λ$ needs to be negative as in previous NS studies, however we found a minimum value for it. The value should be $|λ|\lesssim0.02$ and the reason for so small value in comparison with previous ones obtained with simpler EsoS is due to the existence of the NS crust. The pressure in theory of gravity depends on the inverse of the sound velocity $v_s$. Since, $v_s$ is low in the crust, $|λ|$ need to be very small. We found that the increment in the star mass is less than $1\%$, much smaller than previous ones obtained not considering the realistic stellar structure, and the star radius cannot become larger, its changes compared to GR is less than $3.6\%$ in all cases. The finding that using several relativistic and non-relativistic models the variation on the NS mass and radius are almost the same for all the EsoS, manifests that our results are insensitive to the high density part of the EsoS. It confirms that stellar mass and radii changes depend only on crust, where the EoS is essentially the same for all the models. The NS crust effect implying very small values of $|λ|$ does not depend on the theory's function chosen, since for any other one the hydrostatic equilibrium equation would always have the dependence $1/v_s$. Finally, we highlight that our results indicate that conclusions obtained from NS studies done in modified theories of gravity without using realistic EsoS that describe correctly the NS interior can be unreliable.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2020

Modeling Dark Matter Halos with Nonlinear Field Theories

In the present work, we adopt a nonlinear scalar field theory coupled to the gravity sector to model galactic dark matter. We found analytical solutions for the scalar field coupled to gravity in the Newtonian limit, assuming an isotropic spacetime and a field potential, with a position dependent form of the superpotential, which entails the nonlinear dynamics of the model with self-interactions. The model introduces a position dependent enhancement of the self-interaction of the scalar fields towards the galaxy center, and while going towards the galaxy border the interaction tends to vanish building a non self-interacting DM scenario. The developed approach is able to provide a reasonable analytical description of the rotation curves in both dwarf and low surface brightness late-type galaxies, with parameters associated with the dynamics of the scalar field.

gr-qc↗