Reduced branching ratio for H -> AA -> 4 tau from A - eta_b mixing

Models with an extended Higgs sector, as the NMSSM, allow for scenarios where the Standard Model-like CP-even Higgs boson H decays dominantly as H -> AA -> 4 tau where A is a light CP-odd Higgs boson. Tight constraints on this scenario in the form of lower bounds on M_H have recently been published by the ALEPH group. We show that, due to A - eta_b mixing, the branching ratio H -> AA -> 4 tau is strongly reduced for M_A in the range 9 - 10.5 GeV. This is the range of M_A in which the tension between the observed eta_b(1S) mass and its prediction based on QCD can be resolved due to mixing, and which is thus still consistent with a light CP-even Higgs boson H satisfying LEP constraints with a mass well below 114 GeV. This result is practically independent from the coupling of A to b quarks.Comment: 11 pages, 2 Figures, reference adde

On theories of enhanced CP violation in B_s,d meson mixing

The DO collaboration has measured a deviation from the standard model (SM) prediction in the like sign dimuon asymmetry in semileptonic b decay with a significance of 3.2 sigma. We discuss how minimal flavour violating (MFV) models with multiple scalar representations can lead to this deviation through tree level exchanges of new MFV scalars. We review how the two scalar doublet model can accommodate this result and discuss some of its phenomenology. Limits on electric dipole moments suggest that in this model the coupling of the charged scalar to the right handed u-type quarks is suppressed while its coupling to the d-type right handed quarks must be enhanced. We construct an extension of the MFV two scalar doublet model where this occurs naturally.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures, v3 final JHEP versio

Measuring V_ub and probing SUSY with double ratios of purely leptonic decays of B and D mesons

The experimental prospects for precise measurements of the leptonic decays B_u -> tau nu / mu nu, B_s -> mu+ mu-, D -> mu nu and D_s -> mu nu / tau nu are very promising. Double ratios involving four of these decays can be defined in which the dependence on the values of the decay constants is essentially eliminated, thus enabling complementary measurements of the CKM matrix element V_ub with a small theoretical error. We quantify the experimental error in a possible future measurement of |V_ub| using this approach, and show that it is competitive with the anticipated precision from the conventional approaches. Moreover, it is shown that such double ratios can be more effective than the individual leptonic decays as a probe of the parameter space of supersymmetric models. We emphasize that the double ratios have the advantage of using |V_ub| as an input parameter (for which there is experimental information), while the individual decays have an uncertainty from the decay constants (e.g. f_B_s), and hence a reliance on theoretical techniques such as lattice QCD.Comment: 21 pages, 4 figure

New Physics Models of Direct CP Violation in Charm Decays

In view of the recent LHCb measurement of Delta A_CP, the difference between the time-integrated CP asymmetries in D --> K+K- and D --> pi+pi- decays, we perform a comparative study of the possible impact of New Physics degrees of freedom on the direct CP asymmetries in singly Cabibbo suppressed D meson decays. We systematically discuss scenarios with a minimal set of new degrees of freedom that have renormalizable couplings to the SM particles and that are heavy enough such that their effects on the D meson decays can be described by local operators. We take into account both constraints from low energy flavor observables, in particular D0-D0bar mixing, and from direct searches. While models that explain the large measured value for Delta A_CP with chirally enhanced chromomagnetic penguins are least constrained, we identify a few viable models that contribute to the D meson decays at tree level or through loop induced QCD penguins. We emphasize that such models motivate direct searches at the LHC.Comment: 24 pages, 13 figures. v2: typos corrected, reference added, published versio

Overview of the CKM Matrix

The current status of the determination of the elements of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa quark-mixing matrix is reviewed. Tensions in the global fits are highlighted. Particular attention is paid to progress in, and prospects for, measurements of CP violation effects.Comment: Proceedings of the Lepton Photon 2011 Conference, to appear in "Pramana - journal of physics", 17 pages, 13 figure

The Cosmology of Composite Inelastic Dark Matter

Composite dark matter is a natural setting for implementing inelastic dark matter - the O(100 keV) mass splitting arises from spin-spin interactions of constituent fermions. In models where the constituents are charged under an axial U(1) gauge symmetry that also couples to the Standard Model quarks, dark matter scatters inelastically off Standard Model nuclei and can explain the DAMA/LIBRA annual modulation signal. This article describes the early Universe cosmology of a minimal implementation of a composite inelastic dark matter model where the dark matter is a meson composed of a light and a heavy quark. The synthesis of the constituent quarks into dark mesons and baryons results in several qualitatively different configurations of the resulting dark matter hadrons depending on the relative mass scales in the system.Comment: 31 pages, 4 figures; references added, typos correcte

Charged-Higgs phenomenology in the Aligned two-Higgs-doublet model

The alignment in flavour space of the Yukawa matrices of a general two-Higgs-doublet model results in the absence of tree-level flavour-changing neutral currents. In addition to the usual fermion masses and mixings, the aligned Yukawa structure only contains three complex parameters, which are potential new sources of CP violation. For particular values of these three parameters all known specific implementations of the model based on discrete Z_2 symmetries are recovered. One of the most distinctive features of the two-Higgs-doublet model is the presence of a charged scalar. In this work, we discuss its main phenomenological consequences in flavour-changing processes at low energies and derive the corresponding constraints on the parameters of the aligned two-Higgs-doublet model.Comment: 46 pages, 19 figures. Version accepted for publication in JHEP. References added. Discussion slightly extended. Conclusions unchange

Light-Cone Quantization and Hadron Structure

In this talk, I review the use of the light-cone Fock expansion as a tractable and consistent description of relativistic many-body systems and bound states in quantum field theory and as a frame-independent representation of the physics of the QCD parton model. Nonperturbative methods for computing the spectrum and LC wavefunctions are briefly discussed. The light-cone Fock state representation of hadrons also describes quantum fluctuations containing intrinsic gluons, strangeness, and charm, and, in the case of nuclei, "hidden color". Fock state components of hadrons with small transverse size, such as those which dominate hard exclusive reactions, have small color dipole moments and thus diminished hadronic interactions; i.e., "color transparency". The use of light-cone Fock methods to compute loop amplitudes is illustrated by the example of the electron anomalous moment in QED. In other applications, such as the computation of the axial, magnetic, and quadrupole moments of light nuclei, the QCD relativistic Fock state description provides new insights which go well beyond the usual assumptions of traditional hadronic and nuclear physics.Comment: LaTex 36 pages, 3 figures. To obtain a copy, send e-mail to [email protected]

Performance benchmarks for a next generation numerical dynamo model

Numerical simulations of the geodynamo have successfully represented many observable characteristics of the geomagnetic field, yielding insight into the fundamental processes that generate magnetic fields in the Earth's core. Because of limited spatial resolution, however, the diffusivities in numerical dynamo models are much larger than those in the Earth's core, and consequently, questions remain about how realistic these models are. The typical strategy used to address this issue has been to continue to increase the resolution of these quasi-laminar models with increasing computational resources, thus pushing them toward more realistic parameter regimes. We assess which methods are most promising for the next generation of supercomputers, which will offer access to O(106) processor cores for large problems. Here we report performance and accuracy benchmarks from 15 dynamo codes that employ a range of numerical and parallelization methods. Computational performance is assessed on the basis of weak and strong scaling behavior up to 16,384 processor cores. Extrapolations of our weak-scaling results indicate that dynamo codes that employ two-dimensional or three-dimensional domain decompositions can perform efficiently on up to ∼106 processor cores, paving the way for more realistic simulations in the next model generation

Factors affecting innovation and imitation of ICT in the agrifood sector

Diffusion of innovations has gained a lot of attention and concerns different scientific fields. Many studies, which examine the determining factors of technological innovations in the agricultural and agrifood sector, have been conducted using the widely used Technology Accepted Model, for a random sample of farmers or firms engaged in agricultural sector. In the present study, a holistic examination of the determining factors that affect the propensity of firms to innovate or imitate, is conducted. The diffusion of ICT tools of firms which are engaged in the NACE 02/03 as well as in the NACE 10/11 classifications for 49 heterogeneous national markets is examined, using the Bass model. The innovation parameter is positively associated with rural income, female employment, export activity and education of farmers, while the imitation parameter is increased in countries whose societies are characterized by uncertainty avoidance