Flavor and CP conserving moduli mediated SUSY breaking in flux compactification

In certain class of flux compactification, moduli mediated supersymmetry (SUSY) breaking preserves flavor and CP at leading order in the perturbative expansion controlled by the vacuum expectation value of the messenger modulus. Nevertheless there still might be dangerous flavor or CP violation induced by higher order K\"ahler potential. We examine the constraints on such SUSY breaking scheme imposed by low energy flavor and/or CP violating observables. It is found that all phenomenological constraints can be satisfied even for generic form of higher order K\"ahler potential and sparticle spectra in the sub-TeV range, under plausible assumptions on the size of higher order correction and flavor mixing angles. This implies for instance that mirage mediation scheme of SUSY breaking, which involves such modulus mediation together with an anomaly mediation of comparable size, and also the modulus-dominated mediation realized in flux compactification can be free from the SUSY flavor and CP problems, while giving gaugino and sfermion masses in the sub-TeV range.Comment: 27 pages; corrected typos, added reference

Diluting the inflationary axion fluctuation by a stronger QCD in the early Universe

We propose a new mechanism to suppress the axion isocurvature perturbation, while producing the right amount of axion dark matter, within the framework of supersymmetric axion models with the axion scale induced by supersymmetry breaking. The mechanism involves an intermediate phase transition to generate the Higgs \mu-parameter, before which the weak scale is comparable to the axion scale and the resulting stronger QCD yields an axion mass heavier than the Hubble scale over a certain period. Combined with that the Hubble-induced axion scale during the primordial inflation is well above the intermediate axion scale at present, the stronger QCD in the early Universe suppresses the axion fluctuation to be small enough even when the inflationary Hubble scale saturates the current upper bound, while generating an axion misalignment angle of order unity.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure; v2: discussion extended, references added, typos correcte

Higgs phenomenology in the Peccei-Quinn invariant NMSSM

We study the Higgs phenomenology in the Peccei-Quinn invariant NMSSM (PQ-NMSSM) where the low energy mass parameters of the singlet superfield are induced by a spontaneous breakdown of the Peccei-Quinn symmetry. In the generic NMSSM, scalar mixing among CP-even Higgs bosons is constrained by the observed properties of the SM-like Higgs boson, as well as by the LEP bound on the chargino mass and the perturbativity bound on the singlet Yukawa coupling. In the minimal PQ-NMSSM, scalar mixing is further constrained due to the presence of a light singlino-like neutralino. It is noticed that the $2\sigma$ excess of the LEP $Zb\bar b$ events at $m_{b\bar b}\simeq$ 98 GeV can be explained by a singlet-like 98 GeV Higgs boson in the minimal PQ-NMSSM with low $\tan\beta$, stops around or below 1 TeV, and light doublet-higgsinos around the weak scale.Comment: 31 pages, 4 figures; v2: references added, light stop effects discussed, bound on the Higgs invisible decay rate correcte

First report of Vexillum zelotypum Reeve 1845 (Costellariidae: Neogastropoda) in Korea

AbstractThe costellariid gastropod Vexillum zelotypum Reeve 1845a is reported for the first time on Jeju Island. Four Costellariidae species are now part of the island's mollusk fauna. Comparisons are made with the original description and descriptions in the literature; some taxonomic comments are also made. The addition of new record to the island's fauna may be the result of previous insufficient sampling, global warming, and possible changes in the warm currents flowing northward to Japan and Korea

String theoretic QCD axions in the light of PLANCK and BICEP2

The QCD axion solving the strong CP problem may originate from antisymmetric tensor gauge fields in compactified string theory, with a decay constant around the GUT scale. Such possibility appears to be ruled out now by the detection of tensor modes by BICEP2 and the PLANCK constraints on isocurvature density perturbations. A more interesting and still viable possibility is that the string theoretic QCD axion is charged under an anomalous U(1)A gauge symmetry. In such case, the axion decay constant can be much lower than the GUT scale if moduli are stabilized near the point of vanishing Fayet-Illiopoulos term, and U(1)A-charged matter fields get a vacuum value v ∼ (mSUSYMnPl)1/(n+1) (n ≥ 0) induced by a tachyonic SUSY breaking mass mSUSY. We examine the symmetry breaking pattern of such models during the inflationary epoch with HI ≃ 1014 GeV, and identify the range of the QCD axion decay constant, as well as the corresponding relic axion abundance, consistent with known cosmological constraints. In addition to the case that the PQ symmetry is restored during inflation, i.e. v(tI ) = 0, there are other viable scenarios, including that the PQ symmetry is broken during inflation with v(tI ) ∼ (4HIMnPl)1/(n+1) ∼ 1016–1017 GeV due to the Hubble-induced D-term DA ∼ 82H2 I , while v(t0) ∼ (mSUSYMnPl)1/(n+1) ∼ 109–5×1013 GeV in the present universe, where v(t0) above 1012 GeV requires a fine-tuning of the axion misalignment angle. We also discuss the implications of our results for the size of SUSY breaking soft masses.131211Nsciescopu

TeV Scale Mirage Mediation and Natural Little SUSY Hierarchy

TeV scale mirage mediation has been proposed as a supersymmetry breaking scheme reducing the fine tuning for electroweak symmetry breaking in the minimal supersymmetric extension of the standard model. We discuss a moduli stabilization set-up for TeV scale mirage mediation which allows an extra-dimensional interpretation for the origin of supersymmetry breaking and naturally gives an weak-scale size of the Higgs B-parameter. The set-up utilizes the holomorphic gauge kinetic functions depending on both the heavy dilaton and the light volume modulus whose axion partners are assumed to be periodic fields. We also examine the low energy phenomenology of TeV scale mirage mediation, particularly the constraints from electroweak symmetry breaking and FCNC processes.Comment: 44 pages, 14 figures; added references, extended discussions in section

The promoter -1031(T/C) polymorphism in tumor necrosis factor-alpha associated with polycystic ovary syndrome

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>A <it>tumor necrosis factor-alpha </it>is a multifunctional pro-inflammation cytokine, which has been considered as one of pathogenic factors for various diseases. The promoter -1031(T/C) polymorphism in the <it>tumor necrosis factor-alpha </it>gene was reported that it plays a part in reproduction-related diseases. Among these, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is known to be a common gynecological disease of women in reproductive age women. Here, we performed a comparative study of -1031(T/C) polymorphism of <it>TNF-alpha </it>gene with PCOS in a Korean population.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The -1031(T/C) polymorphism of <it>TNF-alpha </it>gene was analyzed by polymerase chain reaction restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) in a total of 217 PCOS patients and 144 matched female controls of healthy women. And statistical analysis was performed using HapAnalyzer. <it>X</it>²test and logistic regression were utilized analyze the association between two groups. A <it>p</it>-value under 0.05 was considered statistically significant.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The genotype and allelic frequencies were in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE). There was strong association between the -1031(T/C) polymorphism in the promoter region of <it>TNF-alpha </it>gene and PCOS (<it>p</it>-value = 0.0003, odd ratio (OR) = 2.53). In addition, the frequency of C allele was significantly higher in PCOS patients compared with controls. Sequence analyses also showed the -1031(T/C) polymorphism of <it>TNF-alpha </it>gene.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This is the first study on the -1031(T/C) polymorphism of <it>TNF-alpha </it>gene in PCOS. We concluded that the -1031(T/C) polymorphism of <it>TNF-alpha </it>gene is associated with PCOS in a Korean population. Therefore, it is possible that it may be considered as a clinical biomarker to diagnose for PCOS, and is helpful in understanding the etiology for the pathogenesis of PCOS.</p