Beyond Rainbow-Ladder in a covariant three-body Bethe-Salpeter approach: Baryons

We report on recent results of a calculation of the nucleon and delta masses in a covariant bound-state approach, where to the simple rainbow-ladder gluon-exchange interaction kernel we add a pion-exchange contribution to account for pion cloud effects. We observe good agreement with lattice data at large pion masses. At the physical point our masses are too large by about five percent, signaling the need for more structure in the gluon part of the interaction.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, Proceedings of The 13th International Conference on Meson-Nucleon Physics and the Structure of the Nucleon (MENU 2013), Rom

Bouncing Cosmologies in Palatini f(R)f(R) Gravity

We consider the early time cosmology of f(R) theories in Palatini formalism and study the conditions that guarantee the existence of homogeneous and isotropic models that avoid the Big Bang singularity. We show that for such models the Big Bang singularity can be replaced by a cosmic bounce without violating any energy condition. In fact, the bounce is possible even for pressureless dust. We give a characterization of such models and discuss their dynamics in the region near the bounce. We also find that power-law lagrangians with a finite number of terms may lead to non-singular universes, which contrasts with the infinite-series Palatini f(R) lagrangian that one needs to fully capture the effective dynamics of Loop Quantum Cosmology. We argue that these models could also avoid the formation of singularities during stellar gravitational collapse.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures; added references and a short comment in sec.I

Semiclassical zero-temperature corrections to Schwarzschild spacetime and holography

Motivated by the quest for black holes in AdS braneworlds, and in particular by the holographic conjecture relating 5D classical bulk solutions with 4D quantum corrected ones, we numerically solve the semiclassical Einstein equations (backreaction equations) with matter fields in the (zero temperature) Boulware vacuum state. In the absence of an exact analytical expression for in four dimensions we work within the s-wave approximation. Our results show that the quantum corrected solution is very similar to Schwarzschild till very close to the horizon, but then a bouncing surface for the radial function appears which prevents the formation of an event horizon. We also analyze the behavior of the geometry beyond the bounce, where a curvature singularity arises. In the dual theory, this indicates that the corresponding 5D static classical braneworld solution is not a black hole but rather a naked singularity.Comment: 26 pages, 4 figures; revised version (title changed, conclusions shortened), published as Phys. Rev. D73, 104023 (2006

Static quantum corrections to the Schwarzschild spacetime

We study static quantum corrections of the Schwarzschild metric in the Boulware vacuum state. Due to the absence of a complete analytic expression for the full semiclassical Einstein equations we approach the problem by considering the s-wave approximation and solve numerically the associated backreaction equations. The solution, including quantum effects due to pure vacuum polarization, is similar to the classical Schwarzschild solution up to the vicinity of the classical horizon. However, the radial function has a minimum at a time-like surface close to the location of the classical event horizon. There the g_{00} component of the metric reaches a very small but non-zero value. The analysis unravels how a curvature singularity emerges beyond this bouncing point. We briefly discuss the physical consequences of these results by extrapolating them to a dynamical collapsing scenario.Comment: 10 pages; Talk given at QG05, Cala Gonone (Italy), September 200

Nucleon axial and pseudoscalar form factors from the covariant Faddeev equation

We compute the axial and pseudoscalar form factors of the nucleon in the Dyson-Schwinger approach. To this end, we solve a covariant three-body Faddeev equation for the nucleon wave function and determine the matrix elements of the axialvector and pseudoscalar isotriplet currents. Our only input is a well-established and phenomenologically successful ansatz for the nonperturbative quark-gluon interaction. As a consequence of the axial Ward-Takahashi identity that is respected at the quark level, the Goldberger-Treiman relation is reproduced for all current-quark masses. We discuss the timelike pole structure of the quark-antiquark vertices that enters the nucleon matrix elements and determines the momentum dependence of the form factors. Our result for the axial charge underestimates the experimental value by 20-25% which might be a signal of missing pion-cloud contributions. The axial and pseudoscalar form factors agree with phenomenological and lattice data in the momentum range above Q^2 ~ 1...2 GeV^2.Comment: 17 pages, 7 figures, 1 tabl