Lepton non-universality in BB decays and fermion mass structure

We consider the possibility that the neutral-current $B$ anomalies are due to radiative corrections generated by Yukawa interactions of quarks and leptons with new vector-like quark and lepton electroweak doublets and new Standard Model singlet scalars. We show that the restricted interactions needed can result from an underlying Abelian family symmetry and that the same symmetry can give rise to an acceptable pattern of quark and charged lepton masses and mixings, providing a bridge between the non-universality observed in the B-sector and that of the fermion mass matrices. We construct two simple models, one with a single singlet scalar in which the flavour changing comes from quark and lepton mixing and one with an additional scalar in which the flavour changing can come from both fermion and scalar mixing. We show that for the case the new quarks are much heavier than the new leptons and scalars the $B$ anomalies can be due to box diagrams with couplings in the perturbative regime consistent with the bounds coming from $B_s- \bar B_s$, $K- \bar K$ and $D- \bar D$ mixing as well as other lepton family number violating processes. The new states can be dark matter candidates and, in the two scalar model with a light scalar of O(60) GeV and vector-like lepton of O(100) GeV, there can be a simultaneous explanation of the B-anomalies, the muon anomalous magnetic moment and the dark matter abundance.Comment: Replacement contains few additional reference

Heavy Meson Physics: What have we learned in Twenty Years?

I give a personal account of the development of the field of heavy quarks. After reviewing the experimental discovery of charm and bottom quarks, I describe how the field's focus shifted towards determination of CKM elements and how this has matured into a precision science.Comment: This talk was presented during the ceremony awarding the Medalla 2003 of the Division of Particles and Fields of The Mexican Phsyical Society, at the IX Mexican Workshop on Particles and Fields; submitted for proceedings; 9 pages, 9 figures; replacement: fix multiple typo

Infinite randomness and quantum Griffiths effects in a classical system: the randomly layered Heisenberg magnet

We investigate the phase transition in a three-dimensional classical Heisenberg magnet with planar defects, i.e., disorder perfectly correlated in two dimensions. By applying a strong-disorder renormalization group, we show that the critical point has exotic infinite-randomness character. It is accompanied by strong power-law Griffiths singularities. We compute various thermodynamic observables paying particular attention to finite-size effects relevant for an experimental verification of our theory. We also study the critical dynamics within a Langevin equation approach and find it extremely slow. At the critical point, the autocorrelation function decays only logarithmically with time while it follows a nonuniversal power-law in the Griffiths phase.Comment: 10 pages, 2 eps figures included, final version as published

Quantum phase transitions of the diluted O(3) rotor model

We study the phase diagram and the quantum phase transitions of a site-diluted two-dimensional O(3) quantum rotor model by means of large-scale Monte-Carlo simulations. This system has two quantum phase transitions, a generic one for small dilutions, and a percolation transition across the lattice percolation threshold. We determine the critical behavior for both transitions and for the multicritical point that separates them. In contrast to the exotic scaling scenarios found in other random quantum systems, all these transitions are characterized by finite-disorder fixed points with power-law scaling. We relate our findings to a recent classification of phase transitions with quenched disorder according to the rare region dimensionality, and we discuss experiments in disordered quantum magnets.Comment: 11 pages, 14 eps figures, final version as publishe

The CP asymmetry in B^0(t) -> K_S \pi^0 \gamma in the Standard Model

The time-dependent CP asymmetry in exclusive B^0(t) -> K^{*0}\gamma decays has been proposed as a probe of new physics in B decays. Recently, this method was extended to radiative decays into multibody hadronic final states such as B^0(t)-> K_S\pi^0\gamma and B^0(t)-> \pi^+\pi^-\gamma. The CP asymmetry in these decays vanishes to the extent that the photon is completely polarized. In the Standard Model, the photon emitted in b-> s\gamma has high left-handed polarization, but right-handed contamination enters already at leading order in \Lambda/m_b even for vanishing light quark masses. We compute here the magnitude of this effect and the time dependent CP asymmetry parameter S_{K_S \pi^0\gamma}. We find that the Standard Model can easily accomodate values of S as large as 10%, but a precise value cannot be obtained at present because of strong interactions uncertainties.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures. Final version to appear in Physical Review

Comment on ``Self-organized criticality and absorbing states: Lessons from the Ising model"

According to Pruessner and Peters [Phys. Rev. E {\bf 73}, 025106(R) (2006)], the finite size scaling exponents of the order parameter in sandpile models depend on the tuning of driving and dissipation rates with system size. We point out that the same is not true for {\em avalanches} in the slow driving limit.Comment: 3 pages, 1 figure, to appear in Phys. Rev.

Systems with Multiplicative Noise: Critical Behavior from KPZ Equation and Numerics

We show that certain critical exponents of systems with multiplicative noise can be obtained from exponents of the KPZ equation. Numerical simulations in 1d confirm this prediction, and yield other exponents of the multiplicative noise problem. The numerics also verify an earlier prediction of the divergence of the susceptibility over an entire range of control parameter values, and show that the exponent governing the divergence in this range varies continuously with control parameter.Comment: Four pages (In Revtex format) with 4 figures (in Postcript

Unique Identification of Lee-Wick Gauge Bosons at Linear Colliders

Grinstein, O'Connell and Wise have recently presented an extension of the Standard Model (SM), based on the ideas of Lee and Wick (LW), which demonstrates an interesting way to remove the quadratically divergent contributions to the Higgs mass induced by radiative corrections. This model predicts the existence of negative-norm copies of the usual SM fields at the TeV scale with ghost-like propagators and negative decay widths, but with otherwise SM-like couplings. In earlier work, it was demonstrated that the LW states in the gauge boson sector of these models, though easy to observe, cannot be uniquely identified as such at the LHC. In this paper, we address the issue of whether or not this problem can be resolved at an $e^+e^-$ collider with a suitable center of mass energy range. We find that measurements of the cross section and the left-right polarization asymmetry associated with Bhabha scattering can lead to a unique identification of the neutral electroweak gauge bosons of the Lee-Wick type.Comment: 16 pages, 6 figures; discussion and references adde