Study of the lepton flavor-violating Z′→τμZ'\to\tau\mu decay

The lepton flavor violating $Z^{\prime}\to\tau\mu$ decay is studied in the context of several extended models that predict the existence of the new gauge boson named $Z^\prime$. A calculation of the strength of the lepton flavor violating $Z^\prime\mu\tau$ coupling is presented by using the most general renormalizable Lagrangian that includes lepton flavor violation. We used the experimental value of the muon magnetic dipole moment to bound this coupling, from which the $\mathrm{Re}(\Omega_{L\mu\tau}\Omega^\ast_{R\mu\tau})$ parameter is constrained and it is found that $\mathrm{Re}(\Omega_{L\mu\tau}\Omega^\ast_{R\mu\tau})\sim 10^{-2}$ for a $Z^\prime$ boson mass of 2 TeV. Alongside, we employed the experimental restrictions over the $\tau\to\mu\gamma$ and $\tau\to\mu\mu^+\mu^-$ processes in the context of several models that predict the existence of the $Z^\prime$ gauge boson to bound the mentioned coupling. The most restrictive bounds come from the calculation of the three-body decay. For this case, it was found that the most restrictive result is provided by a vector-like coupling, denoted as $|\Omega_{\mu\tau}|^2$, for the $Z_\chi$ case, finding around $10^{-2}$ for a $Z^\prime$ boson mass of 2 TeV. We used this information to estimate the branching ratio for the $Z^\prime\to\tau\mu$ decay. According to the analyzed models the least optimistic result is provided by the Sequential $Z$ model, which is of the order of $10^{-2}$ for a $Z^\prime$ boson mass around 2 TeV.Comment: Revised versio

STRATEGy Seismic neTwoRk/Array in norThwEstern arGentina: Study of the 2015 El Galpón earthquake and its aftershock sequence

After a damaging, medium-sized earthquake (Mw 5.8; October 17, 2015) in El Galpón area in the Salta Province, we installed a local seismological network around the estimated epicenter covering also remarkable tectonic and geological orographic structures. The 2015 earthquake took place in the Andean foreland at about 17km depth. The so called Santa Bárbara System is the easternmost morphostructural region of the central Andes. As a part of the broken foreland it is bounded to the north by the Subandean Belt and the Sierras Pampeanas lying in the south; to the east joins the Chaco-Paraná basin.Eje: Estudio del Interior Terrestre.Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísica

Orthogonal U(1)'s, Proton Stability and Extra Dimensions

In models with a low quantum gravity scale, one might expect that all operators consistent with gauge symmetries are present in the low-energy effective theory. If this is the case, some mechanism must be present to adequately suppress operators that violate baryon number. Here we explore the possibility that the desired suppression is a consequence of an additional, spontaneously-broken, non-anomalous U(1) symmetry that is orthogonal to hypercharge. We show that successful models can be constructed in which the additional particle content necessary to cancel anomalies is minimal, and compatible with the constraints from precision electroweak measurements and gauge unification. If unification is sacrificed, and only the new U(1) and its associated Higgs fields live in the bulk, it is possible that the gauge field zero mode and first few Kaluza-Klein excitations lie within the kinematic reach of the Tevatron. For gauge couplings not much smaller than that of hypercharge, we show that these highly leptophobic states could evade detection at Run I, but be discovered at Run II. Our scenario presents an alternative to the `cartographic' solution to baryon number violation in which leptons and quarks are separated in an extra dimension.Comment: 16 pages LaTeX, 4 figure

Elongation and fluctuations of semi-flexible polymers in a nematic solvent

We directly visualize single polymers with persistence lengths ranging from $\ell_p=0.05$ to 16 $\mu$m, dissolved in the nematic phase of rod-like {\it fd} virus. Polymers with sufficiently large persistence length undergo a coil-rod transition at the isotropic-nematic transition of the background solvent. We quantitatively analyze the transverse fluctuations of semi-flexible polymers and show that at long wavelengths they are driven by the fluctuating nematic background. We extract both the Odijk deflection length and the elastic constant of the background nematic phase from the data.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, submitted to PR

Weak Mixing Angle and Higgs Mass in Gauge-Higgs Unification Models with Brane Kinetic Terms

We show that the idea of Gauge-Higgs unification(GHU) can be rescued from the constraint of weak mixing angle by introducing localized brane kinetic terms in higher dimensional GHU models with bulk and simple gauge groups. We find that those terms lead to a ratio between Higgs and W boson masses, which is a little bit deviated from the one derived in the standard model. From numerical analysis, we find that the current lower bound on the Higgs mass tends to prefer to exceptional groups E(6), E(7), E(8) rather than other groups like SU(3l), SO(2n+1), G(2), and F(4) in 6-dimensional(D) GHU models irrespective of the compactification scales. For the compactification scale below 1 TeV, the Higgs masses in 6D GHU models with SU(3l), SO(2n+1), G(2), and F(4) groups are predicted to be less than the current lower bound unless a model parameter responsible for re-scaling SU(2) gauge coupling is taken to be unnaturally large enough. To see how the situation is changed in more higher dimensional GHU model, we take 7D S^{3}/ Z_{2} and 8D T^{4}/ Z_{2} models. It turns out from our numerical analysis that these higher dimensional GHU models with gauge groups except for E(6) can lead to the Higgs boson whose masses are predicted to be above the current lower bound only for the compatification scale above 1 TeV without taking unnaturally large value of the model parameter, whereas the Higgs masses in the GHU models with E(6) are compatible with the current lower bound even for the compatification scale below 1 TeV.Comment: 22 pages, 4 figure

The role of affect-driven impulsivity in gambling cognitions: A convenience-sample study with a Spanish version of the Gambling-Related Cognitions Scale

Abnormal cognitions are among the most salient domain-specific features of gambling disorder. The aims of this study were: (a) to examine and validate a Spanish version of the Gambling-Related Cognitions Scale (GRCS; Raylu & Oei, 2004) and (b) to examine associations between cognitive distortion levels, impulsivity, and gambling behavior. Methods This study first recruited a convenience sample of 500 adults who had gambled during the previous year. Participants were assessed using the Spanish version of GRCS (GRCS-S) questionnaire, the UPPS-P impulsivity questionnaire, measures of gambling behavior, and potentially relevant confounders. Robust confirmatory factor analysis methods on half the sample were used to select the best models from a hypothesis-driven set. The best solutions were validated on the other half, and the resulting factors were later correlated with impulsivity dimensions (in the whole n = 500 factor analysis sample) and clinically relevant gambling indices (in a separate convenience sample of 137 disordered and non-disordered gamblers; validity sample). Results This study supports the original five-factor model, suggests an alternative four-factor solution, and confirms the psychometric soundness of the GRCS-S. Importantly, cognitive distortions consistently correlated with affect- or motivation-driven aspects of impulsivity (urgency and sensation seeking), but not with cognitive impulsivity (lack of premeditation and lack of perseverance). Discussion and conclusions Our findings suggest that the GRCS-S is a valid and reliable instrument to identify gambling cognitions in Spanish samples. Our results expand upon previous research signaling specific associations between gambling-related distortions and affect-driven impulsivity in line with models of motivated reasoning

STRATEGy Seismic neTwoRk/Array in norThwEstern arGentina: Study of the 2015 El Galpón earthquake and its aftershock sequence

After a damaging, medium-sized earthquake (Mw 5.8; October 17, 2015) in El Galpón area in the Salta Province, we installed a local seismological network around the estimated epicenter covering also remarkable tectonic and geological orographic structures. The 2015 earthquake took place in the Andean foreland at about 17km depth. The so called Santa Bárbara System is the easternmost morphostructural region of the central Andes. As a part of the broken foreland it is bounded to the north by the Subandean Belt and the Sierras Pampeanas lying in the south; to the east joins the Chaco-Paraná basin.Eje: Estudio del Interior Terrestre.Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísica