Gauge Coupling Variation in Brane Models

We consider the space-time variation of gauge couplings in brane-world models induced by the coupling to a bulk scalar field. A variation is generated by the running of the gauge couplings with energy and a conformal anomaly while going from the Jordan to the Einstein frame. We indicate that the one-loop corrections cancel implying that one obtains a variation of the fine structure constant by either directly coupling the gauge fields to the bulk scalar field or having bulk scalar field dependent Yukawa couplings. Taking into account the cosmological dynamics of the bulk scalar field, we constrain the strength of the gauge coupling dependence on the bulk scalar field and relate it to modifications of gravity at low energy.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figur

The effect of dietary intervention on the metabolic and behavioural impairments generated by short term high fat feeding in the rat

AbstractPrevious studies have shown that rats fed a high calorie diet rich in saturated fat for 12weeks exhibit peripheral insulin resistance and impairments of behavioural flexibility when switched from an operant delayed matching to place (DMTP) schedule to a delayed non-matching to place (DNMTP) schedule. However, the metabolic changes evoked by feeding a high fat (HF) diet can be observed within two weeks of commencing the diet. The current study has confirmed that 4weeks exposure to an HF diet resulted in increased body weight, peripheral insulin resistance and plasma leptin. Studies performed during weeks 3 and 4 on the HF diet revealed suppressed lever pressing rates and impaired behavioural flexibility in the operant DMTP/DNMTP task. When animals fed the HF diet were then returned to a standard chow (SC) diet for 5weeks their weight and blood biochemistry no longer differed from those measured in animals that had never been exposed to the HF diet. The animals restored to the SC diet exhibited a clear ability to acquire the DNMTP schedule of reinforcement although these animals continued to lever press at a lower rate when compared with animals that received the SC diet throughout. The data suggest that exposure to an HF diet diminishes the motivation to respond for a reward and, thus, the capacity to adapt behavioural performance. This deficit was ameliorated, but not totally reversed, by the dietary intervention. If also true for humans, the results suggest that deficits in behavioural flexibility develop after only a short period on a high calorie diet but may be largely reversible through simple dietary intervention, at least in the early stages of deficit development. However, the putative effects of short-term exposure to an HF diet on behavioural motivation may persist for some time after switching to a healthier low fat diet and remain a problem for those seeking to adopt a healthier diet

Robust signatures of solar neutrino oscillation solutions

With the goal of identifying signatures that select specific neutrino oscillation parameters, we test the robustness of global oscillation solutions that fit all the available solar and reactor experimental data. We use three global analysis strategies previously applied by different authors and also determine the sensitivity of the oscillation solutions to the critical nuclear fusion cross section, S_{17}(0), for the production of 8B. The favored solutions are LMA, LOW, and VAC in order of g.o.f. The neutral current to charged current ratio for SNO is predicted to be 3.5 +- 0.6 (1 sigma), which is separated from the no-oscillation value of 1.0 by much more than the expected experimental error. The predicted range of the day-night difference in charged current rates is (8.2 +- 5.2)% and is strongly correlated with the day-night effect for neutrino-electron scattering. A measurement by SNO of either a NC to CC ratio > 3.3 or a day-night difference > 10%, would favor a small region of the currently allowed LMA neutrino parameter space. The global oscillation solutions predict a 7Be neutrino-electron scattering rate in BOREXINO and KamLAND in the range 0.66 +- 0.04 of the BP00 standard solar model rate, a prediction which can be used to test both the solar model and the neutrino oscillation theory. Only the LOW solution predicts a large day-night effect(< 42%) in BOREXINO and KamLAND. For the KamLAND reactor experiment, the LMA solution predicts 0.44 of the standard model rate; we evaluate 1 sigma and 3 sigma uncertainties and the first and second moments of the energy spectrum.Comment: Included predictions for KamLAND reactor experiment and updated to include 1496 days of Super-Kamiokande observation

Interacting fermions in self-similar potentials

We consider interacting spinless fermions in one dimension embedded in self-similar quasiperiodic potentials. We examine generalizations of the Fibonacci potential known as precious mean potentials. Using a bosonization technique and a renormalization group analysis, we study the low-energy physics of the system. We show that it undergoes a metal-insulator transition for any filling factor, with a critical interaction that strongly depends on the position of the Fermi level in the Fourier spectrum of the potential. For some positions of the Fermi level the metal-insulator transition occurs at the non interacting point. The repulsive side is an insulator with a gapped spectrum whereas in the attractive side the spectrum is gapless and the properties of the system are described by a Luttinger liquid. We compute the transport properties and give the characteristic exponents associated to the frequency and temperature dependence of the conductivity.Comment: 18 pages, 10 EPS figure

Natural Orbitals and BEC in traps, a diffusion Monte Carlo analysis

We investigate the properties of hard core Bosons in harmonic traps over a wide range of densities. Bose-Einstein condensation is formulated using the one-body Density Matrix (OBDM) which is equally valid at low and high densities. The OBDM is calculated using diffusion Monte Carlo methods and it is diagonalized to obtain the "natural" single particle orbitals and their occupation, including the condensate fraction. At low Boson density, $na^3 < 10^{-5}$, where $n = N/V$ and $a$ is the hard core diameter, the condensate is localized at the center of the trap. As $na^3$ increases, the condensate moves to the edges of the trap. At high density it is localized at the edges of the trap. At $na^3 \leq 10^{-4}$ the Gross-Pitaevskii theory of the condensate describes the whole system within 1%. At $na^3 \approx 10^{-3}$ corrections are 3% to the GP energy but 30% to the Bogoliubov prediction of the condensate depletion. At $na^3 \gtrsim 10^{-2}$, mean field theory fails. At $na^3 \gtrsim 0.1$, the Bosons behave more like a liquid $^4$He droplet than a trapped Boson gas.Comment: 13 pages, 14 figures, submitted Phys. Rev.

From weak-scale observables to leptogenesis

Thermal leptogenesis is an attractive mechanism for generating the baryon asymmetry of the Universe. However, in supersymmetric models, the parameter space is severely restricted by the gravitino bound on the reheat temperature $T_{RH}$. For hierarchical light neutrino masses, it is shown that thermal leptogenesis {\it can} work when $T_{RH} \sim 10^{9}$ GeV. The low-energy observable consequences of this scenario are $BR(\tau \to \ell \gamma) \sim 10^{-8} - 10^{-9}$. For higher $T_{RH}$, thermal leptogenesis works in a larger area of parameter space, whose observable consequences are more ambiguous. A parametrisation of the seesaw in terms of weak-scale inputs is used, so the results are independent of the texture chosen for the GUT-scale Yukawa matrices.Comment: a few references adde

Neutrino Masses with "Zero Sum" Condition: mν1+mν2+mν3=0m_{\nu_1} + m_{\nu_2} + m_{\nu_3} = 0

It is well known that the neutrino mass matrix contains more parameters than experimentalists can hope to measure in the foreseeable future even if we impose CP invariance. Thus, various authors have proposed ansatzes to restrict the form of the neutrino mass matrix further. Here we propose that $m_{\nu_1} + m_{\nu_2} + m_{\nu_3} = 0$; this ``zero sum'' condition can occur in certain class of models, such as models whose neutrino mass matrix can be expressed as commutator of two matrices. With this condition, the absolute neutrino mass can be obtained in terms of the mass-squared differences. When combined with the accumulated experimental data this condition predicts two types of mass hierarchies, with one of them characterized by $m_{\nu_3} \approx -2m_{\nu_1} \approx -2 m_{\nu_2} \approx 0.063$ eV, and the other by $m_{\nu_1} \approx -m_{\nu_2} \approx 0.054$ eV and $m_{\nu_3} \approx 0.0064$ eV. The mass ranges predicted is just below the cosmological upper bound of 0.23 eV from recent WMAP data and can be probed in the near future. We also point out some implications for direct laboratory measurement of neutrino masses, and the neutrino mass matrix.Comment: Latex 12 pages. No figures. New references adde

Recent Advances in Understanding Particle Acceleration Processes in Solar Flares

We review basic theoretical concepts in particle acceleration, with particular emphasis on processes likely to occur in regions of magnetic reconnection. Several new developments are discussed, including detailed studies of reconnection in three-dimensional magnetic field configurations (e.g., current sheets, collapsing traps, separatrix regions) and stochastic acceleration in a turbulent environment. Fluid, test-particle, and particle-in-cell approaches are used and results compared. While these studies show considerable promise in accounting for the various observational manifestations of solar flares, they are limited by a number of factors, mostly relating to available computational power. Not the least of these issues is the need to explicitly incorporate the electrodynamic feedback of the accelerated particles themselves on the environment in which they are accelerated. A brief prognosis for future advancement is offered.Comment: This is a chapter in a monograph on the physics of solar flares, inspired by RHESSI observations. The individual articles are to appear in Space Science Reviews (2011