Supersymmetric SO(10) Grand Unification at the LHC and Beyond

We study models of supersymmetric grand unification based on the SO(10) gauge group. We investigate scenarios of non-universal gaugino masses including models containing a mixture of two representations of hidden sector chiral superfields. We analyse the effect of excluding mu from the fine-tuning measure, and confront the results with low energy constraints, including the Higgs boson mass, dark matter relic density and supersymmetry bounds. We also determine high scale Yukawa coupling ratios and confront the results with theoretical predictions. Finally, we present two additional benchmarks that should be explored at the LHC and future colliders.Comment: Published versio

Neutrino masses from new generations

We reconsider the possibility that Majorana masses for the three known neutrinos are generated radiatively by the presence of a fourth generation and one right-handed neutrino with Yukawa couplings and a Majorana mass term. We find that the observed light neutrino mass hierarchy is not compatible with low energy universality bounds in this minimal scenario, but all present data can be accommodated with five generations and two right-handed neutrinos. Within this framework, we explore the parameter space regions which are currently allowed and could lead to observable effects in neutrinoless double beta decay, $\mu - e$ conversion in nuclei and $\mu \rightarrow e \gamma$ experiments. We also discuss the detection prospects at LHC.Comment: 28 pages, 4 figures. Version to be published. Some typos corrected. Improved figures 3 and

Solar internal rotation rate and the latitudinal variation of the tachocline

A new set of accurately measured frequencies of solar oscillations are used to infer the rotation rate inside the Sun, as a function of radial distance as well as latitude. We have adopted a regularized least squares technique with iterative refinement for both 1.5D inversion using the splitting coefficients and 2D inversion using individual m splittings. The inferred rotation rate agrees well with earlier estimates showing a shear layer just below the surface and another one around the base of the convection zone. The tachocline or the transition layer where the rotation rate changes from differential rotation in the convection zone to almost latitudinally independent rotation rate in the radiative interior is studied in detail. No compelling evidence for any latitudinal variation in position and width of tachocline is found though it appears that the tachocline probably shifts to slightly larger radial distance at higher latitudes and possibly becomes thicker also. However, these variations are within the estimated errors and more accurate data would be needed to make a definitive statement about latitudinal variations.Comment: 15 pages, MNRAS-TeX, 15 figure

Supersymmetric model of quasi-degenerate neutrinos

We present a supersymmetric model of fermion masses, based on a non-Abelian family symmetry and the Froggatt-Nielsen mechanism, that can account for the solar and atmospheric neutrino problems via quasi-degenerate neutrinos. The model predicts that the ratio of neutrino mass squared splittings \Delta m^2_{12} / \Delta m^2_{23} is of order m_s^2/m_b^2, and the angles \theta_{12} \sim m_d/m_s and \theta_{23} \sim 1, which are of the desired orders of magnitude. We discuss the implications of the flavor structure of the neutrino sector on superparticle masses and mixing angles.Comment: 14 pages LaTeX, two EPS figure

A4A_4 symmetry at colliders and in the universe

Two puzzling facts of our time are the observed patterns in the fermion masses and mixings and the existence of non-baryonic dark matter, which are both often associated with extensions of the Standard Model at higher energy scales. In this paper, we consider a solution to these two problems with the flavour symmetry ${\mathbb A}_4\times {\mathbb Z}_2\times {\mathbb Z}_2^\prime$, in a model which has been shown before to explain large leptonic mixings with a specific texture. The model contains 3 generations of $SU(2)_L$-doublet scalar fields, arranged as an ${\mathbb A}_4$-triplet, that spontaneously break the electroweak symmetry, and a "dark sector" of ${\mathbb Z}_2$-odd fields, containing one Majorana neutrino and an ${\mathbb A}_4$-triplet $SU(2)_L$-doublet scalar field, the lightest of which provides a candidate for dark matter. Concerning the ${\mathbb Z}_2$-even scalar fields, compared to the Standard Model, we predict additional fields with masses at the electroweak scale. We therefore investigate present phenomenological constraints from lepton flavour violation experiments, obtaining a lower bound on the extra scalar masses of 140 GeV. Furthermore we consider the oblique parameters, Higgs boson decay properties and possible flavour violating signals at the LHC. Concerning the "dark sector", we study bounds from dark matter search experiments and identify the parameter space of the dark matter candidate that is compatible with the observed relic density. We find two allowed mass ranges for the dark matter within which the experimental constraints can be accommodated: the low-mass range is from 47 GeV to 74 GeV and the high-mass range is from 600 GeV and 3.6 TeV.Comment: v2, to be published in JHE

LHC Searches for Non-Chiral Weakly Charged Multiplets

Because the TeV-scale to be probed at the Large Hadron Collider should shed light on the naturalness, hierarchy, and dark matter problems, most searches to date have focused on new physics signatures motivated by possible solutions to these puzzles. In this paper, we consider some candidates for new states that although not well-motivated from this standpoint are obvious possibilities that current search strategies would miss. In particular we consider vector representations of fermions in multiplets of $SU(2)_L$ with a lightest neutral state. Standard search strategies would fail to find such particles because of the expected small one-loop-level splitting between charged and neutral states.Comment: 16 pages, 9 figure

Fermion Masses and Mixing in Extended Technicolor Models

We study fermion masses and mixing angles, including the generation of a seesaw mechanism for the neutrinos, in extended technicolor (ETC) theories. We formulate an approach to these problems that relies on assigning right-handed $Q=-1/3$ quarks and charged leptons to ETC representations that are conjugates of those of the corresponding left-handed fermions. This leads to a natural suppression of these masses relative to the $Q=2/3$ quarks, as well as the generation of quark mixing angles, both long-standing challenges for ETC theories. Standard-model-singlet neutrinos are assigned to ETC representations that provide a similar suppression of neutrino Dirac masses, as well as the possibility of a realistic seesaw mechanism with no mass scale above the highest ETC scale of roughly $10^3$ TeV. A simple model based on the ETC group SU(5) is constructed and analyzed. This model leads to non-trivial, but not realistic mixing angles in the quark and lepton sectors. It can also produce sufficiently light neutrinos, although not simultaneously with a realistic quark spectrum. We discuss several aspects of the phenomenology of this class of models.Comment: 74 pages, revtex with embedded figure

Schwarz Iterative Methods: Infinite Space Splittings

We prove the convergence of greedy and randomized versions of Schwarz iterative methods for solving linear elliptic variational problems based on infinite space splittings of a Hilbert space. For the greedy case, we show a squared error decay rate of $O((m+1)^{-1})$ for elements of an approximation space $\mathcal{A}_1$ related to the underlying splitting. For the randomized case, we show an expected squared error decay rate of $O((m+1)^{-1})$ on a class $\mathcal{A}_{\infty}^{\pi}\subset \mathcal{A}_1$ depending on the probability distribution.Comment: Revised version, accepted in Constr. Appro

Electroweak Multiplet Dark Matter at Future Lepton Colliders

An electroweak multiplet stable due to a new global symmetry is a simple and well-motivated candidate for thermal dark matter. We study how direct searches at a future linear collider, such as the proposed CLIC, can constrain scalar and fermion triplets, quintets and septets, as well as a fermion doublet. The phenomenology is highly sensitive to charged state lifetimes and thus the mass splitting between the members of the multiplet. We include both radiative corrections and the effect of non-renormalisable operators on this splitting. In order to explore the full range of charged state lifetimes, we consider signals including long-lived charged particles, disappearing tracks, and monophotons. By combining the different searches we find discovery and exclusion contours in the mass-lifetime plane. In particular, when the mass splitting is generated purely through radiative corrections, we can exclude the pure-Higgsino doublet below 310 GeV, the pure-wino triplet below 775 GeV, and the minimal dark matter fermion quintet below 1025 GeV. The scenario where the thermal relic abundance of a Higgsino accounts for the whole dark matter of the Universe can be excluded if the mass splitting between the charged and neutral states is less than 230 MeV. Finally, we discuss possible improvements to these limits by using associated hard leptons to idenify the soft visible decay products of the charged members of the dark matter multiplet.Comment: 24 pages, 14 figures; version 2, additional reference