Triplicity of Quarks and Leptons

Quarks come in three colors and have electric charges in multiples of one-third. There are also three families of quarks and leptons. Whereas the first two properties can be understood in terms of unification symmetries such as SU(5), SO(10), or E_6, why there should only be three families remains a mystery. I propose how all three properties involving the number three are connected in a fivefold application of the gauge symmetry SU(3).Comment: 10 pages, including 2 figure

Nearly Mass-Degenerate Majorana Neutrinos: Double Beta Decay and Neutrino Oscillations

Assuming equal tree-level Majorana masses for the standard-model neutrinos, either from the canonical seesaw mechanism or from a heavy scalar triplet, I discuss how their radiative splitting may be relevant to neutrinoless double beta decay and neutrino oscillations.Comment: 12 pages, including 4 figures, talk at NANP9

Singlet fermion dark matter and electroweak baryogenesis with radiative neutrino mass

The model of radiative neutrino mass with dark matter proposed by one of us is extended to include a real singlet scalar field. There are then two important new consequences. One is the realistic possibility of having the lightest neutral singlet fermion (instead of the lightest neutral component of the dark scalar doublet) as the dark matter of the Universe. The other is a modification of the effective Higgs potential of the Standard Model, consistent with electroweak baryogenesis.Comment: 9 pages, no figure

Universal Evolution of CKM Matrix Elements

We derive the two-loop evolution equations for the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix. We show that to leading order in the mass and CKM hierarchies the scaling of the mixings $|V_{ub}|^2$, $|V_{cb}|^2$, $|V_{td}|^2$, $|V_{ts}|^2$ and of the rephase-invariant CP-violating parameter $J$ is universal to all orders in perturbation theory. In leading order the other CKM elements do not scale. Imposing the constraint $\lambda _b=\lambda _{\tau}$ at the GUT scale determines the CKM scaling factor to be $\simeq 0.58$ in the MSSM.Comment: 17 pages + 2 figures not included (available upon request), revised version fixes discrepancy between S and S^{1/2}, no other changes, MAD/PH/72

Flow effects on multifragmentation in the canonical model

A prescription to incorporate the effects of nuclear flow on the process of multifragmentation of hot nuclei is proposed in an analytically solvable canonical model. Flow is simulated by the action of an effective negative external pressure. It favors sharpening the signatures of liquid-gas phase transition in finite nuclei with increased multiplicity and a lowered phase transition temperature.Comment: 13 pages, 5 Post Script figures (accepted for publication in PRC

Heavy top quark from Fritzsch mass matrices

It is shown, contrary to common belief, that the Fritzsch ansatz for the quark mass matrices admits a heavy top quark. With the ansatz prescribed at the supersymmetric grand unified (GUT) scale, one finds that the top quark may be as heavy as 145 GeV, provided that tan$\beta$ (the ratio of the vacuum expectation values of the two higgs doublets) $\gg 1$. Within a non-supersymmetric GUT framework with two (one) light higgs doublets, the corresponding approximate upper bound on the top mass is $120~ (90)$ GeV. Our results are based on a general one--loop renormalization group analysis of the quark masses and mixing angles and are readily applied to alternative mass matrix ans\"{a}tze.Comment: LaTeX, 14 figures (not included, available on request

New Lepton Family Symmetry and Neutrino Tribimaximal Mixing

The newly proposed finite symmetry Sigma(81) is applied to the problem of neutrino tribimaximal mixing. The result is more satisfactory than those of previous models based on A_4 in that the use of auxiliary symmetries (or mechanisms) may be avoided. Deviations from the tribimaximal pattern are expected, but because of its basic structure, only tan^2 (theta_12) may differ significantly from 0.5 (say 0.45) with sin^2 (2 theta_23) remaining very close to one, and theta_13 very nearly zero.Comment: 8 pages, no figur

Non-Abelian Discrete Symmetries and Neutrino Masses: Two Examples

Two recent examples of non-Abelian discrete symmetries (S_3 and A_4) in understanding neutrino masses and mixing are discussed.Comment: 16 pages, no figure, invited contribution to NJP focus issue on neutrino

Interpretations of the NuTeV sin⁡2θW\sin^2 \theta_W

We summarize theoretical explanations of the three $\sigma$ discrepancy between $\sin^2 \theta_W$ measured by NuTeV and predicted by the Standard Model global fit. Possible new physics explanations ({\it e.g.} an unmized $Z'$) are not compelling. The discrepancy would be reduced by a positive momentum asymmetry $s^-$ in the strange sea; present experimental estimates of $s^-$ are unreliable or incomplete. Upgrading the NuTeV analysis to NLO would alleviate concerns that the discrepancy is a QCD effect.Comment: (proceedings for the NuFact'02 Workshop); reference and footnote added, following the NuTeV proceeding

A simple interpretation of quantum mirages

In an interesting new experiment the electronic structure of a magnetic atom adsorbed on the surface of Cu(111), observed by STM, was projected into a remote location on the same surface. The purpose of the present paper is to interpret this experiment with a model Hamiltonian, using ellipses of the size of the experimental ones, containing about 2300 atoms. The charge distribution for the different wavefunctions is analyzed, in particular, for those with energy close to the Fermi energy of copper Ef. Some of them show two symmetric maxima located on the principal axis of the ellipse but not necessarily at the foci. If a Co atom is adsorbed at the site where the wavefunction with energy $E_F$ has a maximum and the interaction is small, the main effect of the adsorbed atom will be to split this particular wavefunction in two. The total charge density will remain the same but the local density of states will present a dip at Ef at any site where the charge density is large enough. We relate the presence of this dip to the observation of quantum mirages. Our interpretation suggests that other sites, apart from the foci of the ellipses, can be used for projecting atomic images and also indicates the conditions for other non magnetic adsorbates to produce mirages.Comment: 3 pages, 3 Fig