A Consistent Meson-Field-Theoretical Description of PP-Bremsstrahlung

A parameter-free and relativistic extension of the RuhrPot meson-baryon model is used to define the dominant isoscalar meson-exchange currents. We compute pp-bremsstrahlung observables below the $\pi-$production threshold using a relativistic hadronic current density that includes impulse, wave function re-orthonormalization, meson-recoil, $\bar{{\rm N}}$N creation and annihilation, $\rho\pi\gamma$ + $\omega\pi\gamma$ + $\rho\eta\gamma$ + $\omega\eta\gamma$ vector-meson decay and N$\Delta\gamma(\pi,\rho)$ exchange currents. We obtain a good description of the available data. The N$\Delta\gamma(\pi)$ current is shown to dominate the large two-body contributions and closed-form expressions for various non-relativistic approximations are analyzed. An experimental sensitivity to the admixture of pseudo-scalar and pseudo-vector admixture of the NN$\pi$ interaction is demonstrated. We examine the Lorentz invariance of the NN$\rightleftharpoons$NN $t$-matrices and show a dominantly pseudo-vector NN$\pi$ coupling renders impulse approximation calculations without boost operators to be essentially exact. Conversely, a similar analysis of the $\Delta{\rm N}\rightleftharpoons$NN transitions shows that boost operators and the two-body $N\Delta\gamma$ wave function re-orthonormalization meson-recoil currents are required in NN, $\Delta$N and $\Delta\Delta$ coupled channel $t$-matrix applications. The need for additional data is stressed.Comment: 34 pages of uuencoded REVTeX using multicol.sty with 21 figures inlined using epsf.sty. This revision adds section IV.

Direct SUSY dark matter detection-Theoretical rates due to the spin

The recent WMAP data have confirmed that exotic dark matter together with the vacuum energy (cosmological constant) dominate in the flat Universe. Thus the direct dark matter detection, consisting of detecting the recoiling nucleus, is central to particle physics and cosmology. Supersymmetry provides a natural dark matter candidate, the lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP). The relevant cross sections arise out of two mechanisms: i) The coherent mode, due to the scalar interaction and ii) The spin contribution arising from the axial current. In this paper we will focus on the spin contribution, which is expected to dominate for light targets. For both modes it is possible to obtain detectable rates, but in most models the expected rates are much lower than the present experimental goals. So one should exploit two characteristic signatures of the reaction, namely the modulation effect and, in directional experiments, the correlation of the event rates with the sun's motion. In standard non directional experiments the modulation is small, less than two per cent. In the case of the directional event rates we like to suggest that the experiments exploit two features, of the process, which are essentially independent of the SUSY model employed, namely: 1) The forward-backward asymmetry, with respect to the sun's direction of motion, is very large and 2) The modulation is much larger, especially if the observation is made in a plane perpendicular to the sun's velocity. In this case the difference between maximum and minimum can be larger than 40 per cent and the phase of the Earth at the maximum is direction dependent.Comment: 16 Latex pages, 15 figures, 3 table

Investigation of the Neutron Form Factors by Inclusive Quasi-Elastic Scattering of Polarized Electrons off Polarized 3^{3}He: A Theoretical Overview

The theory of quasi-elastic inclusive scattering of polarized leptons off polarized $^3$He is critically reviewed and the origin of different expressions for the polarized nuclear response function appearing in the literature is explained. The sensitivity of the longitudinal asymmetry upon the neutron form factors is thoroughly investigated and the role played by the polarization angle for minimizing the proton contribution is illustrated.Comment: Phys. Rev C in press; 9 figs. (available upon request

Meson-exchange contributions to the nuclear charge operator

The role of the meson-exchange current correction to the nuclear charge operator is studied in electron scattering processes involving the excitation of medium and heavy nuclei to energies up to the quasi-elastic peak. The effect of these contributions in the quasi-free electron scattering process is a reduction of at most a 3% in the longitudinal response at the energy of the peak, a value which is below the experimental error and must not be taken into account in calculations in this energy region. On the other hand, the excitation of low-lying nuclear levels of neutronic character shows, with respect to the protonic ones, a considerable effect due to the inclusion of the two-body term in the charge operator. More realistic calculations, such as those performed in the random-phase approximation framework, give rise to a mixing of one particle-one hole configurations of both kinds which reduce these effects. However, it has been found that the excitation of some of these levels is sizeably affected by the meson-exchange contribution. More precise experimental data concerning some of these states, such as e.g. the high-spin states in 208Pb, could throw some light in the problem of a more feasible determination of these effects and, as a consequence, could provide an alternative procedure to obtain the charge neutron form factor.Comment: 26 pages, 10 figures, LateX file and Postscript figure

Explicit pionic degrees of freedom in deuteron photodisintegration in the Delta-resonance region

Photodisintegration of the deuteron above pi-threshold is studied in a coupled channel approach including N-Delta- and pi-d-channels with pion retardation in potentials and exchange currents.Comment: 5 pages latex including 6 postscript figures, talk at the 15th Int. Conf. on Few-Body Problems in Physics, Groningen, Netherlands, 22-26 July 1997. To be published in Nucl. Phys.

Absorption mechanisms in photon induced two-body knockout

Calculations have been performed for the $^{16}$O($\gamma$,pn) and the $^{16}$O($\gamma$,pp) reaction in the photon-energy range $E_{\gamma}$ = 60-300 MeV. Besides the contribution from the more common photoabsorption on the pionic degrees of freedom, we have investigated the influence of heavier meson exchange ($\rho, \sigma, \omega$) and intermediate $\Delta$ creation with $\pi$ and $\rho$ exchange. Whereas the $\pi$ meson is found to set the main trends, the $\rho$ meson is found not to be discardable in a theoretical description of the ($\gamma$,pn) reaction. The incorporation of an energy dependence and a decay width in the $\Delta$ propagator is observed to be essential in order to arrive at a more realistic description of ($\gamma$,NN) reactions at higher photon energies.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures in seperate postscript file, Submitted to Phys. Lett. B. - INW9306I