Regularizing the quark-level σ\sigma model

We show that the finite difference, $-i\pi^2 m^2$, between quadratic and logarithmic divergent integrals $\int d^4p[m^2(p^2-m^2)^{-2}-(p^2-m^2)^{-1}]$, as encountered in the linear $\sigma$ model, is in fact regularization independent.Comment: 9 pages, 2 figures, Latex, to appear in Mod. Phys. Lett.

Dalitz plot slope parameters for K→πππK \to \pi\pi\pi decays and two particle interference

We study the possible distortion of phase-space in the decays $K \to \pi \pi \pi$, which may result from final state interference among the decay products. Such distortion may influence the values of slope parameters extracted from the Dalitz plot distribution of these decays. We comment on the consequences on the magnitude of violation of the $\mid \Delta I \mid = 1/2$ rule in these decays.Comment: 17 pages, LaTex2e, 6 figures, v2 authors' affiliation modified, to appear in Mod. Phys. Lett.

Factorization of the charge correlation function in B0Bˉ0B^0\bar B^0 oscillations

Extraction of the mass difference $\Delta m$ from $B^0\bar B^0$ oscillations involves tagging of bottom flavour at production and at decay. We show that the asymmetry between the unmixed and mixed events factorizes into two parts, one depending on the production-tag and the other on the decay-tag.Comment: 6 pages, Latex, no figure

Hyperon Nonleptonic Weak Decays Revisited

We first review the current algebra - PCAC approach to nonleptonic octet baryon 14 weak decay B (\to) (B^{\prime})(\pi) amplitudes. The needed four parameters are independently determined by (\Omega \to \Xi \pi),(\Lambda K) and (\Xi ^{-}\to \Sigma ^{-}\gamma) weak decays in dispersion theory tree order. We also summarize the recent chiral perturbation theory (ChPT) version of the eight independent B (\to) (B^{\prime}\pi) weak (\Delta I) = 1/2 amplitudes containing considerably more than eight low-energy weak constants in one-loop order.Comment: 10 pages, RevTe

Jets associated with Z^0 boson production in heavy-ion collisions at the LHC

The heavy ion program at the LHC will present unprecedented opportunities to probe hot QCD matter, that is, the quark gluon plasma (QGP). Among these exciting new probes are high energy partons associated with the production of a Z^0 boson, or Z^0 tagged jets. Once produced, Z^0 bosons are essentially unaffected by the strongly interacting medium produced in heavy-ion collisions, and therefore provide a powerful signal of the initial partonic energy and subsequent medium induced partonic energy loss. When compared with theory, experimental measurements of Z^0 tagged jets will help quantify the jet quenching properties of the QGP and discriminate between different partonic energy loss formalisms. In what follows, I discuss the advantages of tagged jets over leading particles, and present preliminary results of the production and suppression of Z^0 tagged jets in relativistic heavy-ion collisions at LHC energies using the Guylassy-Levai-Vitev (GLV) partonic energy loss formalism.Comment: To appear in the proceedings of the 2010 Winter Workshop on Nuclear Dynamics, which was held in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, mon

Free Quarks and Antiquarks versus Hadronic Matter

Meson-meson reactions A(q_1 \bar{q}_1) + B(q_2 \bar{q}_2) to q_1 + \bar{q}_1 + q_2 + \bar{q}_2 in high-temperature hadronic matter are found to produce an appreciable amount of quarks and antiquarks freely moving in hadronic matter and to establish a new mechanism for deconfinement of quarks and antiquarks in hadronic matter.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figure

Experimental Status of Exotic Mesons and the GlueX Experiment

One of the unanswered and most fundamental questions in physics regards the nature of the confinement mechanism of quarks and gluons in QCD. Exotic hybrid mesons manifest gluonic degrees of freedom and their spectroscopy will provide the data necessary to test assumptions in lattice QCD and the specific phenomenology leading to confinement. Within the past two decades a number of experiments have put forth tantalizing evidence for the existence of exotic hybrid mesons in the mass range below 2 GeV. This talk represents an overview of the available data and what has been learned. In looking toward the future, the GlueX experiment at Jefferson Laboratory represents a new initiative that will perform detailed spectroscopy of the light-quark meson spectrum. This experiment and its capabilities will be reviewed.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures, 2nd Meeting of the APS Topical Group on Hadron Physics GHP06, Nashville, TN (10/22-10/24/06

Estimating the sample mean and standard deviation from commonly reported quantiles in meta-analysis

Researchers increasingly use meta-analysis to synthesize the results of several studies in order to estimate a common effect. When the outcome variable is continuous, standard meta-analytic approaches assume that the primary studies report the sample mean and standard deviation of the outcome. However, when the outcome is skewed, authors sometimes summarize the data by reporting the sample median and one or both of (i) the minimum and maximum values and (ii) the first and third quartiles, but do not report the mean or standard deviation. To include these studies in meta-analysis, several methods have been developed to estimate the sample mean and standard deviation from the reported summary data. A major limitation of these widely used methods is that they assume that the outcome distribution is normal, which is unlikely to be tenable for studies reporting medians. We propose two novel approaches to estimate the sample mean and standard deviation when data are suspected to be non-normal. Our simulation results and empirical assessments show that the proposed methods often perform better than the existing methods when applied to non-normal data

The Three-body Force and the Tetraquark Interpretation of Light Scalar Mesons

We study the possible tetraquark interpretation of light scalar meson states $a_0(980)$, $f_0(980)$, $\kappa$, $\sigma$ within the framework of the non-relativistic potential model. The wave functions of tetraquark states are obtained in a space spanned by multiple Gaussian functions. We find that the mass spectra of the light scalar mesons can be well accommodated in the tetraquark picture if we introduce a three-body quark interaction in the quark model. Using the obtained multiple Gaussian wave functions, the decay constants of tetraquarks are also calculated within the ``fall apart'' mechanism