A kinematical basis is proposed for form factors of the power type associated with multiple derivative couplings, on the basis of a Lorentz contraction effect on the external momenta involved in the transition matrix elements for mesons and baryons as appropriate quark composites. The argument (due to Licht and Pagnamenta) which applies separately to the Breit and c.m. frames for a decay matrix element provides a formal theoretical justification for thead hoc power form factors used by the Delhi group in a series of applications to hadronic processes over the past few years. The radius of interaction finds a natural place in this description simply from dimensional considerations, and its rather small magnitude, less than 0.5F, estimated fromfits to the data indicates a relatively small role played by structure effects. The Breit frame form factors, which work somewhat better than the c.m. frame ones (effectively used in the earlier studies), give a rather impressive sets of fits to the baryon decays in the (L + 1) wave (consistently for both vertical and horizontal) and the (L − 1) wave (mainly horizontal). The mesonic decays, the data for which are available mostly for the (L + 1) wave, are also fitted with an equal degree of consistency without any extra assumptions.

The Bethe-Salpeter (bs) dynamics of harmonic confinement developed byanm and collaborators over the last three years and already applied with considerable experimental success to various hadron spectra and coupling structures has been significantly improved through (i) a more exact treatment of a certain momentum-dependent operator$$\hat Q_q $$ appearing in thebs equation, using the techniques of SO (2, 1) Lie algebra, and (ii) a sharpened definition of theqcd Coulomb term, so as to yield unambiguous values for different flavour sectors. The resulting mass spectra of light$$(q\bar q)$$ meson towers and semi-heavy$$(Q\bar q)$$ quarkonia which are most sensitive to the improved treatment of$$\hat Q_q $$, reveal excellent agreement with experiment, one in which only slight changes in the reduced spring constant$$(\tilde \omega )$$ and quark masses (m_q) over the earlier parametrizations are involved. These changes are however found to have a negligible effect on the (already good) numerical values of the other predictions (electroweak and pionic couplings) depending on the$$q\bar q$$ andqqq wave functions. A critical assessment of the strong and weak points of this method is madevis-a-vis other related approaches.

Recent experimental data on single hadron production by two-photon beams inpetra andpep have provided a unique opportunity for testing specific models of confinement through a study of one of their cleanest predictionsviz the γγ →H amplitudes. Motivated by this new facility, aqcd-oriented Bethe-Salpeter model of harmonic confinement, which has already been found to describe rather well several classes of hadronic data (from mass spectra to electromagnetic and pionic couplings), is now employed for a detailed comparison of its predictions onP → γγ andT → γγ couplings with the data. The agreement is quite good for all cases except one (η → γγ).

An extended meaning of duality is suggested in the context of development of major themes in physical sciences since Newton. In such a generalization,five distinct aspects of duality are sought to be identified and illustrated through concrete examples drawn from various physical concepts, old and new. These are (i) reciprocity, (ii) parallelism, (iii) alternative formulation, (iv) unification and (v) measurement incompatibility. Bohr’s view of duality and the Copenhagen Interpretation are discussed briefly in this context. Finally, duality aspects beyond physics are briefly touched upon, the philosophical link being provided by Bohr’s Complementarity Principle on the one hand, and recent attempts (notably by Capra) to draw suggestive parallels between modern science and Eastern mysticism on the other.

The Harari-Shupe model of quarks and leptons is viewed, not as a gauge theory, but as a quantum-mechanical three-body problem of the extreme relativistic type involving massless preons. Considerations based onS₃-symmetry in the available degrees of freedom (spin, isospin, space and hypercolour) are employed in conjunction with a spin-dependence ansatz on the three-preon forces (Σ^a=σ_μv⁽¹⁾σ_λμ⁽³⁾) for an understanding of the three basic issues of (i) spin-1/2, (ii) generation structure and (iii) steeply rising mass patterns of quark-lepton families. The Σ^a-dynamics is compatible with the interpretation of colour as a manifestation ofS₃-symmetry, as envisaged in the original Harari-Shupe proposal, while the interpretation of the generation structure devolves on the role of a certain quantum numberN which takes on three different classes of values (3n, 3n ± 1;n = 0, 1, 2, ...) according to theS₃-symmetry of thespatial wavefunction.