1,067 research outputs found
On the Possibility of Optical Unification in Heterotic Strings
Recently J. Giedt discussed a mechanism, entitled optical unification,
whereby string scale unification is facilitated via exotic matter with
intermediate scale mass. This mechanism guarantees that a virtual MSSM
unification below the string scale is extrapolated from the running of gauge
couplings upward from M_Z^o when an intermediate scale desert is assumed. In
this letter we explore the possibility of optical unification within the
context of weakly coupled heterotic strings. In particular, we investigate this
for models of free fermionic construction containing the NAHE set of basis
vectors. This class is of particular interest for optical unification, because
it provides a standard hypercharge embedding within SO(10), giving the standard
k_Y = 5/3 hypercharge level, which was shown necessary for optical unification.
We present a NAHE model for which the set of exotic SU(3)_C
triplet/anti-triplet pairs, SU(2)_L doublets, and non-Abelian singlets with
hypercharge offers the possibility of optical unification. Whether this model
can realize optical unification is conditional upon these exotics not receiving
Fayet-Iliopoulos (FI) scale masses when a flat direction of scalar vacuum
expectation values is non-perturbatively chosen to cancel the FI D-term, xi,
generated by the anomalous U(1)-breaking Green-Schwarz-Dine-Seiberg-Wittten
mechanism. A study of perturbative flat directions and their phenomenological
implications for this model is underway.
This paper is a product of the NFS Research Experiences for Undergraduates
and the NSF High School Summer Science Research programs at Baylor University.Comment: 16 pages. Standard Late
Universal upper limit on inflation energy scale from cosmic magnetic field
Recently observational lower bounds on the strength of cosmic magnetic fields
were reported, based on gamma-ray flux from distant blazars. If inflation is
responsible for the generation of such magnetic fields then the inflation
energy scale is bounded from above as rho_{inf}^{1/4} < 2.5 times 10^{-7}M_{Pl}
times (B_{obs}/10^{-15}G)^{-2} in a wide class of inflationary magnetogenesis
models, where B_{obs} is the observed strength of cosmic magnetic fields. The
tensor-to-scalar ratio is correspondingly constrained as r< 10^{-19} times
(B_{obs}/10^{-15}G)^{-8}. Therefore, if the reported strength B_{obs} \geq
10^{-15}G is confirmed and if any signatures of gravitational waves from
inflation are detected in the near future, then our result indicates some
tensions between inflationary magnetogenesis and observations.Comment: 12pages, v2: several discussions and references added, version
accepted for publication by JCA
A "Littlest Higgs" Model with Custodial SU(2) Symmetry
In this note, a ``littlest higgs'' model is presented which has an
approximate custodial SU(2) symmetry. The model is based on the coset space
. The light pseudo-goldstone bosons of the theory
include a {\it single} higgs doublet below a TeV and a set of three
triplets and an electroweak singlet in the TeV range. All of these scalars
obtain approximately custodial SU(2) preserving vacuum expectation values. This
model addresses a defect in the earlier moose
model, with the only extra complication being an extended top sector. Some of
the precision electroweak observables are computed and do not deviate
appreciably from Standard Model predictions. In an S-T oblique analysis, the
dominant non-Standard Model contributions are the extended top sector and higgs
doublet contributions. In conclusion, a wide range of higgs masses is allowed
in a large region of parameter space consistent with naturalness, where large
higgs masses requires some mild custodial SU(2) violation from the extended top
sector.Comment: 22 pages + 8 figures; JHEP style, added references and extra
discussion on size of T contributions, as well as some other minor
clarifications. Version to appear in JHE
Conserved miRNAs are candidate post-transcriptional regulators of developmental arrest in free-living and parasitic nematodes
Animal development is complex yet surprisingly robust. Animals may develop alternative phenotypes conditional on environmental changes. Under unfavorableconditions C. elegans larvae enter the dauer stage, a developmentally arrested, long-lived, and stress-resistant state. Dauer larvae of free-living nematodes and infective larvae of parasitic nematodes share many traits including a conserved endocrine signaling module (DAF/DAF-12), which is essential for the formation of dauer and infective larvae. We speculated that conserved post-transcriptional regulatory mechanism might also be involved in executing the dauer and infective larvae fate. We used an unbiased sequencing strategy to characterize the miRNA gene complement in C. elegans, P.pacificus, and S. ratti. Our study raised the number of described miRNA genes to 257 for C. elegans, tripled the known gene set for P. pacificus to 362 miRNAs and is the first to describe miRNAs in a Strongyloides parasite. Moreover, we found a limited core set of 24 conserved miRNA families in all three species. Interestingly, our estimated expression fold changes between dauer vs. non-dauer stages and infective larvae vs. free-living stages reveal that despite the speed of miRNA gene set evolution in nematodes, homologous gene families with conserved 'dauer-infective' expression signatures are present. These findings suggest that common post-transcriptional regulatory mechanisms are at work and that the same miRNA families play important roles in developmental arrest as well as long-term survival in free-living and parasitic nematodes
Gene expression and methylation signatures of MAN2C1 are associated with PTSD
As potential regulators of DNA accessibility and activity, epigenetic modifications offer a mechanism by which the environment can moderate the effects of genes. To date, however, there have been relatively few studies assessing epigenetic modifications associated with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Here we investigate PTSD-associated methylation differences in 33 genes previously shown to differ in whole blood-derived gene expression levels between those with vs. without the disorder. Drawing on DNA samples similarly obtained from whole blood in 100 individuals, 23 with and 77 without lifetime PTSD, we used methylation microarray data to assess whether these 33 candidate genes showed epigenetic signatures indicative of increased risk for, or resilience to, PTSD. Logistic regression analyses were performed to assess the main and interacting effects of candidate genes' methylation values and number of potentially traumatic events (PTEs), adjusting for age and other covariates. Results revealed that only one candidate gene-MAN2C1}-showed a significant methylation x PTE interaction, such that those with both higher MAN2C1 methylation and greater exposure to PTEs showed a marked increase in risk of lifetime PTSD (OR 4.35, 95% CI: 1.07, 17.77, p=0.04). These results indicate that MAN2C1 methylation levels modify cumulative traumatic burden on risk of PTSD, and suggest that both gene expression and epigenetic changes at specific loci are associated with this disorder
Precision Electroweak Observables in the Minimal Moose Little Higgs Model
Little Higgs theories, in which the Higgs particle is realized as the
pseudo-Goldstone boson of an approximate global chiral symmetry have generated
much interest as possible alternatives to weak scale supersymmetry. In this
paper we analyze precision electroweak observables in the Minimal Moose model
and find that in order to be consistent with current experimental bounds, the
gauge structure of this theory needs to be modified. We then look for viable
regions of parameter space in the modified theory by calculating the various
contributions to the S and T parameters.Comment: v2: 17 pages, 9 figures. Typeset in JHEP style. Added a references
and two figures showing parameter space for each of two reference points.
Corrected typo
CP Violation in Supersymmetric U(1)' Models
The supersymmetric CP problem is studied within superstring-motivated
extensions of the MSSM with an additional U(1)' gauge symmetry broken at the
TeV scale. This class of models offers an attractive solution to the mu problem
of the MSSM, in which U(1)' gauge invariance forbids the bare mu term, but an
effective mu parameter is generated by the vacuum expectation value of a
Standard Model singlet S which has superpotential coupling of the form SH_uH_d
to the electroweak Higgs doublets. The effective mu parameter is thus
dynamically determined as a function of the soft supersymmetry breaking
parameters, and can be complex if the soft parameters have nontrivial
CP-violating phases. We examine the phenomenological constraints on the
reparameterization invariant phase combinations within this framework, and find
that the supersymmetric CP problem can be greatly alleviated in models in which
the phase of the SU(2) gaugino mass parameter is aligned with the soft
trilinear scalar mass parameter associated with the SH_uH_d coupling. We also
study how the phases filter into the Higgs sector, and find that while the
Higgs sector conserves CP at the renormalizable level to all orders of
perturbation theory, CP violation can enter at the nonrenormalizable level at
one-loop order. In the majority of the parameter space, the lightest Higgs
boson remains essentially CP even but the heavier Higgs bosons can exhibit
large CP-violating mixings, similar to the CP-violating MSSM with large mu
parameter.Comment: 29 pp, 3 figs, 2 table
A Composite Little Higgs Model
We describe a natural UV complete theory with a composite little Higgs. Below
a TeV we have the minimal Standard Model with a light Higgs, and an extra
neutral scalar. At the TeV scale there are additional scalars, gauge bosons,
and vector-like charge 2/3 quarks, whose couplings to the Higgs greatly reduce
the UV sensitivity of the Higgs potential. Stabilization of the Higgs mass
squared parameter, without finetuning, occurs due to a softly broken shift
symmetry--the Higgs is a pseudo Nambu-Goldstone boson. Above the 10 TeV scale
the theory has new strongly coupled interactions. A perturbatively
renormalizable UV completion, with softly broken supersymmetry at 10 TeV is
explicitly worked out. Our theory contains new particles which are odd under an
exact "dark matter parity", (-1)^{(2S+3B+L)}. We argue that such a parity is
likely to be a feature of many theories of new TeV scale physics. The lightest
parity odd particle, or "LPOP", is most likely a neutral fermion, and may make
a good dark matter candidate, with similar experimental signatures to the
neutralino of the MSSM. We give a general effective field theory analysis of
the calculation of corrections to precision electroweak observables.Comment: 28 page
Skyrmion Excitation in Two-Dimensional Spinor Bose-Einstein Condensate
We study the properties of coreless vortices(skyrmion) in spinor
Bose-Einstein condensate. We find that this excitation is always energetically
unstable, it always decays to an uniform spin texture. We obtain the skyrmion
energy as a function of its size and position, a key quantity in understanding
the decay process. We also point out that the decay rate of a skyrmion with
high winding number will be slower. The interaction between skyrmions and other
excitation modes are also discussed.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, final version published in Phys. Rev.
Dynamic transition in driven vortices across the peak effect in superconductors
We study the zero-temperature dynamic transition from the disordered flow to
an ordered flow state in driven vortices in type-II superconductors. The
transition current is marked by a sharp kink in the
characteristic with a concomitant large increase in the defect concentration.
On increasing magnetic field , the follows the behaviour of the
critical current . Specifically, in the peak effect regime
increases rapidly along with . We also discuss the effect of varying
disorder strength on .Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
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