Ferromagnetic Quantum Critical Point in CePd2_2P2_2 with Pd →\rightarrow Ni Substitution

An investigation of the structural, thermodynamic, and electronic transport properties of the isoelectronic chemical substitution series Ce(Pd$_{1-x}$Ni$_x$)$_2$P$_2$ is reported, where a possible ferromagnetic quantum critical point is uncovered in the temperature - concentration ($T-x$) phase diagram. This behavior results from the simultaneous contraction of the unit cell volume, which tunes the relative strengths of the Kondo and RKKY interactions, and the introduction of disorder through alloying. Near the critical region at $x_{\rm{cr}}$ $\approx$ 0.7, the rate of contraction of the unit cell volume strengthens, indicating that the cerium $f$-valence crosses over from trivalent to a non-integer value. Consistent with this picture, x-ray absorption spectroscopy measurements reveal that while CePd$_2$P$_2$ has a purely trivalent cerium $f$-state, CeNi$_2$P$_2$ has a small ($<$ 10 \%) tetravalent contribution. In a broad region around $x_{\rm{cr}}$, there is a breakdown of Fermi liquid temperature dependences, signaling the influence of quantum critical fluctuations and disorder effects. Measurements of clean CePd$_2$P$_2$ furthermore show that applied pressure has a similar initial effect to alloying on the ferromagnetic order. From these results, CePd$_2$P$_2$ emerges as a keystone system to test theories such as the Belitz-Kirkpatrick-Vojta model for ferromagnetic quantum criticality, where distinct behaviors are expected in the dirty and clean limits.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figure

Is Our Universe Natural?

It goes without saying that we are stuck with the universe we have. Nevertheless, we would like to go beyond simply describing our observed universe, and try to understand why it is that way rather than some other way. Physicists and cosmologists have been exploring increasingly ambitious ideas that attempt to explain why certain features of our universe aren't as surprising as they might first appear.Comment: Invited review for Nature, 11 page

Yukawa-unified natural supersymmetry

Previous work on t-b-\tau Yukawa-unified supersymmetry, as expected from SUSY GUT theories based on the gauge group SO(10), tended to have exceedingly large electroweak fine-tuning (EWFT). Here, we examine supersymmetric models where we simultaneously require low EWFT ("natural SUSY") and a high degree of Yukawa coupling unification, along with a light Higgs scalar with m_h\sim125 GeV. As Yukawa unification requires large tan\beta\sim50, while EWFT requires rather light third generation squarks and low \mu\sim100-250 GeV, B-physics constraints from BR(B\to X_s\gamma) and BR(B_s\to \mu+\mu-) can be severe. We are able to find models with EWFT \Delta\lesssim 50-100 (better than 1-2% EWFT) and with Yukawa unification as low as R_yuk\sim1.3 (30% unification) if B-physics constraints are imposed. This may be improved to R_yuk\sim1.2 if additional small flavor violating terms conspire to improve accord with B-constraints. We present several Yukawa-unified natural SUSY (YUNS) benchmark points. LHC searches will be able to access gluinos in the lower 1-2 TeV portion of their predicted mass range although much of YUNS parameter space may lie beyond LHC14 reach. If heavy Higgs bosons can be accessed at a high rate, then the rare H, A\to \mu+\mu- decay might allow a determination of tan\beta\sim50 as predicted by YUNS models. Finally, the predicted light higgsinos should be accessible to a linear e+e- collider with \sqrt{s}\sim0.5 TeV.Comment: 18 pages, 7 figures, pdflatex; 3 references adde

Alterations of Blood Brain Barrier Function in Hyperammonemia: An Overview

Ammonia is a neurotoxin involved in the pathogenesis of neurological conditions associated with hyperammonemia, including hepatic encephalopathy, a condition associated with acute—(ALF) or chronic liver failure. This article reviews evidence that apart from directly affecting the metabolism and function of the central nervous system cells, ammonia influences the passage of different molecules across the blood brain barrier (BBB). A brief description is provided of the tight junctions, which couple adjacent cerebral capillary endothelial cells to each other to form the barrier. Ammonia modulates the transcellular passage of low-to medium-size molecules, by affecting their carriers located at the BBB. Ammonia induces interrelated aberrations of the transport of the large neutral amino acids and aromatic amino acids (AAA), whose influx is augmented by exchange with glutamine produced in the course of ammonia detoxification, and maybe also modulated by the extracellularly acting gamma-glutamyl moiety transferring enzyme, gamma-glutamyl-transpeptidase. Impaired AAA transport affects neurotransmission by altering intracerebral synthesis of catecholamines (serotonin and dopamine), and producing “false neurotransmitters” (octopamine and phenylethylamine). Ammonia also modulates BBB transport of the cationic amino acids: the nitric oxide precursor, arginine, and ornithine, which is an ammonia trap, and affects the transport of energy metabolites glucose and creatine. Moreover, ammonia acting either directly or in synergy with liver injury-derived inflammatory cytokines also evokes subtle increases of the transcellular passage of molecules of different size (BBB “leakage”), which appears to be responsible for the vasogenic component of cerebral edema associated with ALF

Absence of system xc⁻ on immune cells invading the central nervous system alleviates experimental autoimmune encephalitis

Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune demyelinating disease that affects the central nervous system (CNS), leading to neurodegeneration and chronic disability. Accumulating evidence points to a key role for neuroinflammation, oxidative stress, and excitotoxicity in this degenerative process. System x(c)- or the cystine/glutamate antiporter could tie these pathological mechanisms together: its activity is enhanced by reactive oxygen species and inflammatory stimuli, and its enhancement might lead to the release of toxic amounts of glutamate, thereby triggering excitotoxicity and neurodegeneration. Methods: Semi-quantitative Western blotting served to study protein expression of xCT, the specific subunit of system x(c)-, as well as of regulators of xCT transcription, in the normal appearing white matter (NAWM) of MS patients and in the CNS and spleen of mice exposed to experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), an accepted mouse model of MS. We next compared the clinical course of the EAE disease, the extent of demyelination, the infiltration of immune cells and microglial activation in xCT-knockout (xCT(-/-)) mice and irradiated mice reconstituted in xCT(-/-) bone marrow (BM), to their proper wild type (xCT(+/+)) controls. Results: xCT protein expression levels were upregulated in the NAWM of MS patients and in the brain, spinal cord, and spleen of EAE mice. The pathways involved in this upregulation in NAWM of MS patients remain unresolved. Compared to xCT(+/+) mice, xCT(-/-) mice were equally susceptible to EAE, whereas mice transplanted with xCT(-/-) BM, and as such only exhibiting loss of xCT in their immune cells, were less susceptible to EAE. In none of the above-described conditions, demyelination, microglial activation, or infiltration of immune cells were affected. Conclusions: Our findings demonstrate enhancement of xCT protein expression in MS pathology and suggest that system x(c)- on immune cells invading the CNS participates to EAE. Since a total loss of system x(c)- had no net beneficial effects, these results have important implications for targeting system x(c)- for treatment of MS

Hemorrhage rate after coblation tonsillectomy: a meta-analysis of published trials

After the surgical procedure of tonsillectomy, hemorrhage ranks among its serious postoperative complications. In this systematic review, we analyze hemorrhage following tonsillectomies performed using the coblation technique. 24 prospective, randomized, and controlled studies were included in the meta-analysis. Data of 796 patients who had undergone coblation tonsillectomy were analyzed. Hemorrhages occurred in 33 patients: 2 classified as primary and 26 as secondary hemorrhages. 5 could not be classified into either group. Overall, the total hemorrhage rate for the coblation procedure was 4.1% with a 95% confidence interval from 2.8 to 5.5%. The overall hemorrhage rate of 4.1% found in this meta-analysis shows that coblation is a safe and effective technique for tonsillectomies with a secondary bleeding rate similar to what is reported for comparable techniques such as bipolar diathermia

The Interplay Between GUT and Flavour Symmetries in a Pati-Salam x S4 Model

Both Grand Unified symmetries and discrete flavour symmetries are appealing ways to describe apparent structures in the gauge and flavour sectors of the Standard Model. Both symmetries put constraints on the high energy behaviour of the theory. This can give rise to unexpected interplay when building models that possess both symmetries. We investigate on the possibility to combine a Pati-Salam model with the discrete flavour symmetry $S_4$ that gives rise to quark-lepton complementarity. Under appropriate assumptions at the GUT scale, the model reproduces fermion masses and mixings both in the quark and in the lepton sectors. We show that in particular the Higgs sector and the running Yukawa couplings are strongly affected by the combined constraints of the Grand Unified and family symmetries. This in turn reduces the phenomenologically viable parameter space, with high energy mass scales confined to a small region and some parameters in the neutrino sector slightly unnatural. In the allowed regions, we can reproduce the quark masses and the CKM matrix. In the lepton sector, we reproduce the charged lepton masses, including bottom-tau unification and the Georgi-Jarlskog relation as well as the two known angles of the PMNS matrix. The neutrino mass spectrum can present a normal or an inverse hierarchy, and only allowing the neutrino parameters to spread into a range of values between $\lambda^{-2}$ and $\lambda^2$, with $\lambda\simeq0.2$. Finally, our model suggests that the reactor mixing angle is close to its current experimental bound.Comment: 62 pages, 4 figures; references added, version accepted for publication in JHE

Brane-World Gravity

The observable universe could be a 1+3-surface (the "brane") embedded in a 1+3+\textit{d}-dimensional spacetime (the "bulk"), with Standard Model particles and fields trapped on the brane while gravity is free to access the bulk. At least one of the \textit{d} extra spatial dimensions could be very large relative to the Planck scale, which lowers the fundamental gravity scale, possibly even down to the electroweak ($\sim$ TeV) level. This revolutionary picture arises in the framework of recent developments in M theory. The 1+10-dimensional M theory encompasses the known 1+9-dimensional superstring theories, and is widely considered to be a promising potential route to quantum gravity. At low energies, gravity is localized at the brane and general relativity is recovered, but at high energies gravity "leaks" into the bulk, behaving in a truly higher-dimensional way. This introduces significant changes to gravitational dynamics and perturbations, with interesting and potentially testable implications for high-energy astrophysics, black holes, and cosmology. Brane-world models offer a phenomenological way to test some of the novel predictions and corrections to general relativity that are implied by M theory. This review analyzes the geometry, dynamics and perturbations of simple brane-world models for cosmology and astrophysics, mainly focusing on warped 5-dimensional brane-worlds based on the Randall--Sundrum models. We also cover the simplest brane-world models in which 4-dimensional gravity on the brane is modified at \emph{low} energies -- the 5-dimensional Dvali--Gabadadze--Porrati models. Then we discuss co-dimension two branes in 6-dimensional models.Comment: A major update of Living Reviews in Relativity 7:7 (2004) "Brane-World Gravity", 119 pages, 28 figures, the update contains new material on RS perturbations, including full numerical solutions of gravitational waves and scalar perturbations, on DGP models, and also on 6D models. A published version in Living Reviews in Relativit