Can Gluons Trace Baryon Number?

QCD as a gauge non-Abelian theory imposes severe constraints on the structure of the baryon wave function. We point out that, contrary to a widely accepted belief, the traces of baryon number in a high-energy process can reside in a non-perturbative configuration of gluon fields, rather than in the valence quarks. We argue that this conjecture can be tested experimentally, since it can lead to substantial baryon asymmetry in the central rapidity region of ultra-relativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions.Comment: 12 pages, LaTeX, figures available upon reques

Encoding the scaling of the cosmological variables with the Euler Beta function

We study the scaling exponents for the expanding isotropic flat cosmological models. The dimension of space, the equation of state of the cosmic fluid and the scaling exponent for a physical variable are related by the Euler Beta function that controls the singular behavior of the global integrals. We encounter dual cosmological scenarios using the properties of the Beta function. For the entropy density integral we reproduce the Fischler-Susskind holographic bound.Comment: Latex2e, 11 pages, 1 figure; reference added; minor changes commenting the nature of the holographic principle and the particle/event horizo

Leukocyte telomere shortening in Huntington's disease

Huntington's disease (HD) is an autosomal dominant neurodegenerative disease caused by an expanded CAG repeat. Though symptom onset commonly occurs at midlife and inversely correlates with the CAG repeat expansion, age at clinical onset and progression rate are variable. In the present study we investigated the relationship between leukocyte telomere length (LTL) and HD development. LTL was measured by real-time PCR in manifest HD patients (HD, n = 62), pre-manifest HD patients (pre-HD, n = 38), and age-matched controls (n = 76). Significant LTL differences were observed between the three groups (p < .0001), with LTL values in the order: HD < pre-HD < controls. The relationship between LTL and age was different in the three groups. An inverse relationship between mean LTL and CAG repeat number was found in the pre-HD (p = .03). The overall data seem to indicate that after age 30 years, LT begins to shorten markedly in pre-HD patients according to CAG number and increasing age, up to the values observed in HD. This very suggestive picture allowed us to hypothesize that in pre-manifest HD, LTL could be a measure of time to clinical HD onset. The possible use of LTL as a reliable biomarker to track HD development and progression was evaluated and discussed

Black holes from high-energy beam--beam collisions

Using a recent technique, proposed by Eardley and Giddings, we extend their results to the high-energy collision of two beams of massless particles, i.e. of two finite-front shock waves. Closed (marginally) trapped surfaces can be determined analytically in several cases even for collisions at non-vanishing impact parameter in D\ge 4 space-time dimensions. We are able to confirm and extend earlier conjectures by Yurtsever, and to deal with arbitrary axisymmetric profiles, including an amusing case of ``fractal'' beams. We finally discuss some implications of our results in high-energy experiments and in cosmology.Comment: 17 pages Revtex, 1 figure, references adde

Electromagnetic Origin of the CMB Anisotropy in String Cosmology

In the inflationary scenarios suggested by string theory, the vacuum fluctuations of the electromagnetic field can be amplified by the time-evolution of the dilaton background, and can grow large enough to explain both the origin of the cosmic magnetic fields and of the observed CMB anisotropy. The normalization of the perturbation spectrum is fixed, and implies a relation between the perturbation amplitude at the COBE scale and the spectral index $n$. Working within a generic two-parameter family of backgrounds, a large scale anisotropy $\Delta T/T\simeq 10^{-5}$ is found to correspond to a spectral index in the range $n\simeq 1.11 - 1.17$.Comment: 11 pages, LATE

Target fragmentation at polarized HERA: a test of universal topological charge screening in QCD

Topological charge screening has been proposed as the mechanism responsible for the anomalous suppression in the first moment of the polarized proton structure function -- the `proton spin' effect. An immediate consequence is that this suppression should be target-independent, since the screening is a fundamental property of the QCD vacuum. Here, we study the possibility of testing the target-independent suppression in semi-inclusive target fragmentation processes at polarized HERA

A Model for the Big Bounce

I motivate a proposal for modeling, at weak string coupling, the ``Big Bounce" transition from a growing-curvature phase to standard (FRW) cosmology in terms of a pressure-less dense gas of "string-holes" (SH), string states lying on the correspondence curve between strings and black holes. During this phase SH evolve in such a way that temperature and (string-frame) curvature remain $O(M_s)$ and (a cosmological version of) the holographic entropy bound remains saturated. This reasoning also appears to imply a new interpretation of the Hagedorn phase transition in string theory.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figure

Proton spin structure and the axial U(1) problem

We emphasise the relation between the spin structure of the proton and the axial U(1) problem. New experiments motivated by the proton spin problem which could shed light on the nature of U(1) symmetry breaking in QCD are discussed.Comment: Invited talk at the Workshop on the Spin Structure of the Proton and Polarized Collider Physics, Trento (July 23-28, 2001), 6 pages, 1 figur

A Causal Entropy Bound

The identification of a causal-connection scale motivates us to propose a new covariant bound on entropy within a generic space-like region. This "causal entropy bound", scaling as the square root of EV, and thus lying around the geometric mean of Bekenstein's S/ER and holographic S/A bounds, is checked in various "critical" situations. In the case of limited gravity, Bekenstein's bound is the strongest while naive holography is the weakest. In the case of strong gravity, our bound and Bousso's holographic bound are stronger than Bekenstein's, while naive holography is too tight, and hence typically wrong.Comment: 12 pages, no figures, a reference added and minor typos correcte

Axial U(1) dynamics in eta and eta' photoproduction

We discuss the sensitivity of eta and eta' photoproduction near threshold to the gluonic OZI breaking parameters in the U_A(1)-extended effective chiral Lagrangian for low-energy QCD. Our coupled-channels analysis hints at a strong correlation between the gluon-induced contributions to the eta' mass and the low-energy pp -> pp eta' reaction and the near-threshold behaviour of the gamma p -> eta p cross-section.Comment: 19 pages, 9 figure