CPsuperH2.3: an Updated Tool for Phenomenology in the MSSM with Explicit CP Violation

We describe the Fortran code CPsuperH2.3, which incorporates the following updates compared with its predecessor CPsuperH2.0. It implements improved calculations of the Higgs-boson masses and mixing including stau contributions and finite threshold effects on the tau-lepton Yukawa coupling. It incorporates the LEP limits on the processes e^+ e^- to H_i Z, H_i H_j and the CMS limits on H_i to tau^+ tau^- obtained from 4.6/fb of data at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV. It also includes the decay mode H_i to Z gamma and the Schiff-moment contributions to the electric dipole moments of Mercury and Radium225, with several calculational options for the case of Mercury. These additions make CPsuperH2.3 a suitable tool for analyzing possible CP-violating effects in the MSSM in the era of the LHC and a new generation of EDM experimentsComment: 31 pages, 10 eps figures, 7 tables; H to Z gamma and SM BRs included; To appear in CPC; Typos in Eq.(A.2) corrected;The program may be obtained from http://www.hep.man.ac.uk/u/jslee/CPsuperH.html, or by contacting the first author at [email protected]; A comment added after Eq.(15) and a typo in Eq.(A.4) correcte

Addendum to ``Threshold corrections to mbm_b and the bˉb→Hi0\bar{b}b \to H^0_i production in CP-violating SUSY scenarios''

In hep-ph/0401024: ``Threshold corrections to $m_b$ and the $\bar{b}b\to H^0_i$ production in CP-violating SUSY scenarios'', we have pointed out that the production cross sections of the three neutral Higgs bosons through $\bar{b}b$ fusion can deviate substantially from those obtained in CP conserving scenarios, thanks to the nontrivial role played by the threshold corrections to $m_b$ combined with the CP-violating mixing in the neutral-Higgs-boson sector. The deviations are largest for values of the CP-violating phases that maximize the mixing among at least two of the three neutral Higgs bosons. We complement our previous work focussing explicitly on the values of masses and widths of the three neutral Higgs bosons in this region of parameter space. We then address the issue of whether the three different peaks in the invariant mass distribution of the Higgs-decay products can be experimentally disentangled at the LHC.Comment: 1+6 pages, 3 figure

Democratic Development and the Role of Citizenship Education in Sub-Saharan African with a Case Focus on Zambia

In addressing issues related to problems of democratisation in Africa, this paper attempts to relate the issue to the need for citizenship education and the role that can play in social development. Citizenship should be central to the formation of viable civil societies that claim a tangible stake in national public spaces in post-Cold War Africa. These and related topics are discussed relative to new possibilities that could lead to the full realisation of the concept as well as the practice of enfranchised citizenship and inclusive social development in aspiring democracies in the Sub Saharan African context. The complexity of the development ‘problematique’ that Sub-Saharan Africa is facing is unique in that it is multi-dimensional, but above all else, politically located. It is, therefore, central to our discussions here that to correct the continent’s current schemes of underdevelopment, pragmatic schemes of governance must be achieved. To do that, we are suggesting, new possibilities of citizenship education should be formulated for the general African scene in general, and for democratising but still both institutionally and economically weakened Zambia

Electric Dipole Moments in the MSSM Reloaded

We present a detailed study of the Thallium, neutron, Mercury and deuteron electric dipole moments (EDMs) in the CP-violating Minimal Supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model (MSSM). We take into account the complete set of one-loop graphs, the dominant Higgs-mediated two-loop diagrams, the complete CP-odd dimension-six Weinberg operator and the Higgs-mediated four-fermion operators. We improve upon earlier calculations by including the resummation effects due to CP-violating Higgs-boson mixing and to threshold corrections to the Yukawa couplings of all up- and down-type quarks and charged leptons. As an application of our study, we analyse the EDM constraints on the CPX, trimixing and Maximally CP- and Minimally Flavour-Violating (MCPMFV) scenarios. Cancellations may occur among the CP-violating contributions to the three measured EDMs arising from the 6 CP-violating phases in the MCPMFV scenario, leaving open the possibility of relatively large contributions to other CP-violating observables. The analytic expressions for the EDMs are implemented in an updated version of the code CPsuperH2.0.Comment: 61 pages, 28 figures, references added, to appear in JHEP, the overall sign of Eq.(3.17) corrected, some details of numerical results slightly changed, one more reference added, Eqs.(3.13) and (3.17) correcte

Note on a Differential-Geometrical Construction of Optimal Directions in Linearly-Constrained Systems

This note presents an analytic construction of the optimal unit-norm direction hat(x) = x/|x| that maximizes or minimizes the objective linear expression, B . hat(x), subject to a system of linear constraints of the form [A] . x = 0, where x is an unknown n-dimensional real vector to be determined up to an overall normalization constant, 0 is an m-dimensional null vector, and the n-dimensional real vector B and the m\times n-dimensional real matrix [A] (with 0 =< m < n) are given. The analytic solution to this problem can be expressed in terms of a combination of double wedge and Hodge-star products of differential forms.Comment: 7 pages, further clarifications adde

Well rounded Postdoctoral Researchers with initiative, who are not always “tied to the bench” are more successful academically

This article reports the development, application and results of a baseline investigation of contract research staff in 2007 in the Medical School at the University of Sheffield which was carried out in order to develop a specifically tailored training and career development programme and allow for future impact evaluation of the scheme. Postdoctoral researchers reported on their perceived skill levels, academic achievements, career motivations and the current research environment. Results indicated that transferable skills related to communication and awareness of the process of research (i.e. the process of acquisition of funding, commercialisation of research outputs) were lacking. Furthermore, these skills were associated with higher publication outputs, and improved with mobility between institutions at postdoctoral level. This paper also describes how the findings from the baseline evaluation were used to develop a programme to address the lower ranking skills and evaluate the impact of the programme

CPT and Quantum Mechanics Tests with Kaons: Theory

In this talk I review theoretical motivations for possible CPT Violation and deviations from ordinary quantum mechanical behavior of field theoretic systems in some quantum gravity models, and I describe the relevant precision tests using neutral and charged Kaons. I emphasize the possibly unique role of neutral-meson factories in providing specific tests of models in which the CPT operator is not well-defined, leading to modifications of Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) particle correlators.Comment: Invited talk at BEACH2006 Conference (Lancaster Univ., UK, July 2-8 2006), 4 pages LaTeX, 2 eps figures incorporate

Zebrafish as a High-Throughput In Vivo Model for Testing the Bioactivity of Cannabinoids

Zebrafish represent an established vertebrate model system that helps to bridge the research gap between cell line/invertebrate studies and mammalian systems. While the initial testing of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) using Zebrafish occurred in 1975, zebrafish are currently a burgeoning model for testing the bioactivity of cannabinoids. Zebrafish express both CB1 and CB2 receptors along with all of the other major endocannabinoid-related genes. Zebrafish endocannabinoid gene function has been associated with addiction, anxiety, development, energy homeostasis and food intake, immune system function, learning and memory. Both adult and larval zebrafish have been used to test the therapeutic potential of THC and cannabidiol (CBD) against various disease models such as models of nociception, epilepsy, stress/anxiety and addiction. This chapter will review recent studies that have used zebrafish as a model for testing the bioactivity of cannabinoids and provide insight on potential future work in this area

Inhomogeneous Cosmological Models Containing Homogeneous Inner Hypersurface Geometry. Changes of the Bianchi Type

There are investigated such cosmological models which instead of the usual spatial homogeneity property only fulfil the condition that in a certain synchronized system of reference all spacelike sections t = const. are homogeneous manifolds. This allows time-dependent changes of the BIANCHI type. Discussing differential geometrical theorems it is shown which of them are permitted. Besides the trivial case of changing into type I there exist some possible changes between other types. However, physical reasons like energy inequalities partially exclude them.Comment: 10 pages, LaTeX, 1 figur

Age effects in first language attrition: speech perception by Korean-English bilinguals

This article has been awarded Open Materials and Open Data badges. All materials and data are publicly accessible via the Open Science Framework at https://osf.io/B2478 and at https://osf.io/G4C7Z. Learn more about the Open Practices badges from the Center for Open Science: https://osf.io/tvyxz/wiki.This study investigated how bilinguals’ perception of their first language (L1) differs according to age of reduced contact with L1 after immersion in a second language (L2). Twenty-one L1 Korean-L2 English bilinguals in the United States, ranging in age of reduced contact from 3 to 15 years, and 17 control participants in Korea were tested perceptually on three L1 contrasts differing in similarity to L2 contrasts. Compared to control participants, bilinguals were less accurate on L1-specific contrasts, and their accuracy was significantly correlated with age of reduced contact, an effect most pronounced for the contrast most dissimilar to L2. These findings suggest that the earlier bilinguals are extensively exposed to L2, the less likely they are to perceive L1 sounds accurately. However, this relationship is modulated by crosslinguistic similarity, and a turning point in L2 acquisition and L1 attrition of phonology appears to occur at around age 12.This research was supported by funding from the Ph.D. Program in Second Language Acquisition at the University of Maryland. The funding source was not involved in the design of the study, in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data, in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to submit the manuscript for publication. We thank Dr. Youngkyu Kim at Ewha Womans University for his substantial support and Ms. Irene Jieun Ahn (formerly at Ewha Womans University and currently at Michigan State University) for her help during data collection in Korea. (Ph.D. Program in Second Language Acquisition at the University of Maryland