The Higgs mass in the MSSM infrared fixed point scenario

In the infrared fixed point (IFP) scenario of the minimal supersymmetric model (MSSM), the top-quark mass and other physical quantities of the low-energy theory are insensitive to the values of the parameters of the theory at some high energy scale. In this framework we evaluate the light CP-even Higgs mass, $m_h$, taking into account some important effects that had not been previously considered. In particular, the supersymmetric correction to the relation between the running and the physical top-quark masses lowers the value of $\tan\beta$, thereby implying a lower predicted value of $m_h$. Assuming a supersymmetric threshold of $M_S\leq 1$ TeV and $M_t=175$ GeV, we find an upper bound of $m_h\le 97\pm 2$ GeV; the most plausible value of $m_h$ lies somewhat below the upper bound. This places the Higgs boson in the IFP scenario well within the reach of the LEP-2 Higgs search.Comment: 18 pages, LaTeX, 5 ps figures, uses psfig.sty. Final version, some comments and a figure added, references correcte

BCS pairing in fully repulsive fermion mixtures

We consider a mixture of two neutral cold Fermi gases with repulsive interactions. We show that in some region of the parameter space of the system the effective attraction between fermions of the same type can appear due to the exchange of collective excitations. This leads to the formation of BCS pairing in the case where bare inter-atomic interactions are repulsive

Comprehensive study of Leon-Queretaro area

There are no author-identified significant results in this report

Debt maturity, risk, and asymmetric information

We test the implications of Flannery’s (1986) and Diamond’s (1991) models concerning the effects of risk and asymmetric information in determining debt maturity, and we examine the overall importance of informational asymmetries in debt maturity choices. We employ data from more than 6,000 commercial loans from 53 large U.S. banks. Our results for low-risk firms are consistent with the predictions of both theoretical models, but our findings for high-risk firms conflict with the predictions of Diamond’s model and with much of the empirical literature. Our findings also suggest a strong quantitative role for asymmetric information in explaining debt maturity.

Why do borrowers pledge collateral? new empirical evidence on the role of asymmetric information

An important theoretical literature motivates collateral as a mechanism that mitigates adverse selection, credit rationing, and other inefficiencies that arise when borrowers hold ex ante private information. There is no clear empirical evidence regarding the central implication of this literature—that a reduction in asymmetric information reduces the incidence of collateral. We exploit exogenous variation in lender information related to the adoption of an information technology that reduces ex ante private information, and compare collateral outcomes before and after adoption. Our results are consistent with this central implication of the private-information models and support the empirical importance of this theory.

PHOEBE 2.0 – Where no model has gone before

phoebe 2.0 is an open source framework bridging the gap between stellar observations and models. It allows to create and fit models simultaneously and consistently to a wide range of observational data such as photometry, spectroscopy, spectrapolarimetry, interferometry and astrometry. To reach the level of precision required by the newest generation of instruments such as Kepler, GAIA and the arrays of large telescopes, the code is set up to handle a wide range of phenomena such as multiplicity, rotation, pulsations and magnetic fields, and to model the involved physics to a new level

The Reach of CERN LEP2 and Fermilab Tevatron Upgrades for Higgs Bosons in Supersymmetric Models

Luminosity upgrades of the Fermilab Tevatron pbar-p collider have been shown to allow experimental detection of a Standard Model (SM) Higgs boson up to $m_{H_{SM}}\sim 120$ GeV via $WH_{SM} \to \ell\nu b\bar{b}$ events. This limit nearly saturates the parameter space for many models of weak scale supersymmetry (SUSY) with a minimal particle content. It is therefore interesting to examine the SUSY Higgs reach of future Tevatron experiments. Contours are presented of Higgs boson reach for CERN LEP2 and Tevatron luminosity upgrades for three models of weak scale SUSY: the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM), the minimal Supergravity model (mSUGRA) and a simple Gauge Mediated SUSY Breaking Model (GMSB). In each case we find a substantial gain in reach at the Tevatron with integrated luminosity increasing from 10 fb^{-1} to 25-30 fb^{-1}. With the larger integrated luminosity, a Higgs search at the Tevatron should be able to probe essentially the entire parameter space of these models. While a discovery would be very exciting, a negative result would severely constrain our ideas about how weak scale supersymmetry is realized.Comment: 12 pages + 7 figures. Uses REVTEX and epsf macros. Several references added, stated value of A-parameters corrected, note added reguarding sgn(mu) dependence in MSSM case. To appear in Physical Review