MiniBooNE and a (CP)^2 = -1 sterile neutrino

It has been taken as granted that the observation of two independent mass-squared differences necessarily fixes the number of underlying mass eigenstates as three, and that the addition of a sterile neutrino provides an additional mass-squared difference. The purpose of this Letter is to argue that if one considers a sterile neutrino component that belongs to the (CP)^2 = - 1 sector, then both of the stated claims are false. We also outline how the results reported here, when combined with the forthcoming MiniBooNE data and other experiments, can help settle the issue of the CP properties of the sterile neutrino; if such a component does indeed exist.Comment: Mod. Phys. Lett. A (in press, 8 pages

Discrete quantum gravity: a mechanism for selecting the value of fundamental constants

Smolin has put forward the proposal that the universe fine tunes the values of its physical constants through a Darwinian selection process. Every time a black hole forms, a new universe is developed inside it that has different values for its physical constants from the ones in its progenitor. The most likely universe is the one which maximizes the number of black holes. Here we present a concrete quantum gravity calculation based on a recently proposed consistent discretization of the Einstein equations that shows that fundamental physical constants change in a random fashion when tunneling through a singularity.Comment: 5 pages, RevTex, 4 figures, honorable mention in the 2003 Gravity Research Foundation Essays, to appear in Int. J. Mod. Phys.