401 research outputs found
Observations on the distinctive cream-coloured leaves of Combretum nelsonii Dümmer
The ultrastructure of the cream-coloured leaves subtending the flowers and of the leaves of Combretum nelsonii, is described. The cream leaves, which are shed as the fruits mature, lack functional plastids within the irregularly-shaped palisade, although the spongy mesophyll cells are photosynthetically active. Abundant air-spaces below the papillate upper epidermis and between the palisade cells cause light to be refracted within the cream leaves, contributing to their pale colour. Cream leaves do not regreen but become obscured by younger green leaves
A Detailed Analysis of One-loop Neutrino Masses from the Generic Supersymmetric Standard Model
In the generic supersymmetric standard model which had no global symmetry
enforced by hand, lepton number violation is a natural consequence.
Supersymmetry, hence, can be considered the source of experimentally demanded
beyond standard model properties for the neutrinos. With an efficient
formulation of the model, we perform a comprehensive detailed analysis of all
one-loop contributions to neutrino masses.Comment: 27 pages Revtex, no figur
Neutrino masses in R-parity violating supersymmetric models
We study neutrino masses and mixing in R-parity violating supersymmetric
models with generic soft supersymmetry breaking terms. Neutrinos acquire masses
from various sources: Tree level neutrino--neutralino mixing and loop effects
proportional to bilinear and/or trilinear R-parity violating parameters. Each
of these contributions is controlled by different parameters and have different
suppression or enhancement factors which we identified. Within an Abelian
horizontal symmetry framework these factors are related and specific
predictions can be made. We found that the main contributions to the neutrino
masses are from the tree level and the bilinear loops and that the observed
neutrino data can be accommodated once mild fine-tuning is allowed.Comment: 18 pages; minor typos corrected. To be published in Physical Review
One-loop Neutron Electric Dipole Moment from Supersymmetry without R-parity
We present a detailed analysis together with exact numerical calculations on
one-loop contributions to neutron electric dipole moment from supersymmetry
without R-parity, focusing on the gluino, chargino, and neutralino
contributions. Apart from the neglected family mixing among quarks, complete
formulae are given for the various contributions, through the quark dipole
operators, to which the present study is restricted. We discuss the structure
and main features of the R-parity violating contributions and the interplay
between the R-parity conserving and violating parameters. In particular, the
parameter combination , under the optimal
parametrization adopted, is shown to be solely responsible for the R-parity
violating contributions in the supersymmetric loop diagrams. While
could bear a complex phase, the latter is not
necessary to have a R-parity violating contribution.Comment: 43 pages Revtex with 15 eps- and 4 ps- figure files incoporated;
proofread version to be published in Phys. Rev.
Standard Model baryogenesis through four-fermion operators in braneworlds
We study a new baryogenesis scenario in a class of braneworld models with low
fundamental scale, which typically have difficulty with baryogenesis. The
scenario is characterized by its minimal nature: the field content is that of
the Standard Model and all interactions consistent with the gauge symmetry are
admitted. Baryon number is violated via a dimension-6 proton decay operator,
suppressed today by the mechanism of quark-lepton separation in extra
dimensions; we assume that this operator was unsuppressed in the early Universe
due to a time-dependent quark-lepton separation. The source of CP violation is
the CKM matrix, in combination with the dimension-6 operators. We find that
almost independently of cosmology, sufficient baryogenesis is nearly impossible
in such a scenario if the fundamental scale is above 100 TeV, as required by an
unsuppressed neutron-antineutron oscillation operator. The only exception
producing sufficient baryon asymmetry is a scenario involving
out-of-equilibrium c quarks interacting with equilibrium b quarks.Comment: 39 pages, 5 figures v2: typos, presentational changes, references and
acknowledgments adde
Across-arc geochemical variations in the Southern Volcanic Zone, Chile (34.5- 38.0°S): Constraints on Mantle Wedge and Input Compositions
Crustal assimilation (e.g. Hildreth and Moorbath, 1988) and/or subduction erosion (e.g. Stern, 1991; Kay et al., 2005) are believed to control the geochemical variations along the northern portion of the Chilean Southern Volcanic Zone. In order to evaluate these hypotheses, we present a comprehensive geochemical data set (major and trace elements and O-Sr-Nd-Hf-Pb isotopes) from Holocene primarily olivine-bearing volcanic rocks across the arc between 34.5-38.0°S, including volcanic front centers from Tinguiririca to Callaqui, the rear arc centers of Infernillo Volcanic Field, Laguna del Maule and Copahue, and extending 300 km into the backarc. We also present an equivalent data set for Chile Trench sediments outboard of this profile. The volcanic arc (including volcanic front and rear arc) samples primarily range from basalt to andesite/trachyandesite, whereas the backarc rocks are low-silica alkali basalts and trachybasalts. All samples show some characteristic subduction zone trace element enrichments and depletions, but the backarc samples show the least. Backarc basalts have higher Ce/Pb, Nb/U, Nb/Zr, and Ta/Hf, and lower Ba/Nb and Ba/La, consistent with less of a slab-derived component in the backarc and, consequently, lower degrees of mantle melting. The mantle-like δ18O in olivine and plagioclase phenocrysts (volcanic arc = 4.9-5.6 and backarc = 5.0-5.4 per mil) and lack of correlation between δ18O and indices of differentiation and other isotope ratios, argue against significant crustal assimilation. Volcanic arc and backarc samples almost completely overlap in Sr and Nd isotopic composition. High precision (double-spike) Pb isotope ratios are tightly correlated, precluding significant assimilation of older sialic crust but indicating mixing between a South Atlantic Mid Ocean-Ridge Basalt (MORB) source and a slab component derived from subducted sediments and altered oceanic crust. Hf-Nd isotope ratios define separate linear arrays for the volcanic arc and backarc, neither of which trend toward subducting sediment, possibly reflecting a primarily asthenospheric mantle array for the volcanic arc and involvement of enriched Proterozoic lithospheric mantle in the backarc. We propose a quantitative mixing model between a mixed-source, slab-derived melt and a heterogeneous mantle beneath the volcanic arc. The model is consistent with local geodynamic parameters, assuming water-saturated conditions within the slab
Hierarchical Neutrino Mass Matrices, CP violation and Leptogenesis
In this work we study examples of hierarchical neutrino mass matrices
inspired by family symmetries, compatible with experiments on neutrino
oscillations, and for which there is a connection among the low energy CP
violation phase associated to neutrino oscillations, the phases appearing in
the amplitude of neutrinoless double beta decay, and the phases relevant for
leptogenesis. In particular, we determine the predictions from a texture based
on an underlying SU(3) family symmetry together with a GUT symmetry, and a
strong hierarchy for the masses of the heavy right handed Majorana masses. We
also give some examples of inverted hierarchies of neutrino masses, which may
be motivated in the context of U(1) family symmetries.Comment: 34 pages. Replaced with published version -typos, corrections and
references adde
Gauge and Scheme Dependence of Mixing Matrix Renormalization
We revisit the issue of mixing matrix renormalization in theories that
include Dirac or Majorana fermions. We show how a gauge-variant on-shell
renormalized mixing matrix can be related to a manifestly gauge-independent one
within a generalized scheme of renormalization. This
scheme-dependent relation is a consequence of the fact that in any scheme of
renormalization, the gauge-dependent part of the mixing-matrix counterterm is
ultra-violet safe and has a pure dispersive form. Employing the unitarity
properties of the theory, we can successfully utilize the afore-mentioned
scheme-dependent relation to preserve basic global or local symmetries of the
bare Lagrangian through the entire process of renormalization. As an immediate
application of our study, we derive the gauge-independent renormalization-group
equations of mixing matrices in a minimal extension of the Standard Model with
isosinglet neutrinos.Comment: 31 pages, LaTeX, uses axodraw.st
Baryogenesis in Models with a Low Quantum Gravity Scale
We make generic remarks about baryogenesis in models where the scale of
quantum gravity is much below the Planck scale. These correspond to M-theory
vacua with a large volume for the internal space. Baryogenesis is a challenge,
particularly for M_s \lappeq 10^5 GeV, because there is an upper bound on the
reheat temperature of the Universe, and because certain baryon number violating
operators must be suppressed. We discuss these constraints for different values
of , and illustrate with a toy model the possibility of using horizontal
family symmetries to circumvent them.Comment: 15 pages, latex, one figure. References adde
Search for displaced vertices arising from decays of new heavy particles in 7 TeV pp collisions at ATLAS
We present the results of a search for new, heavy particles that decay at a
significant distance from their production point into a final state containing
charged hadrons in association with a high-momentum muon. The search is
conducted in a pp-collision data sample with a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV
and an integrated luminosity of 33 pb^-1 collected in 2010 by the ATLAS
detector operating at the Large Hadron Collider. Production of such particles
is expected in various scenarios of physics beyond the standard model. We
observe no signal and place limits on the production cross-section of
supersymmetric particles in an R-parity-violating scenario as a function of the
neutralino lifetime. Limits are presented for different squark and neutralino
masses, enabling extension of the limits to a variety of other models.Comment: 8 pages plus author list (20 pages total), 8 figures, 1 table, final
version to appear in Physics Letters
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