3,681 research outputs found
High precision fundamental constants at the TeV scale
This report summarizes the proceedings of the 2014 Mainz Institute for
Theoretical Physics (MITP) scientific program on "High precision fundamental
constants at the TeV scale". The two outstanding parameters in the Standard
Model dealt with during the MITP scientific program are the strong coupling
constant and the top-quark mass . Lacking knowledge on the
value of those fundamental constants is often the limiting factor in the
accuracy of theoretical predictions. The current status on and
has been reviewed and directions for future research have been identified.Comment: 57 pages, 24 figures, pdflate
Standard Model Higgs boson mass from inflation: two loop analysis
We extend the analysis of \cite{Bezrukov:2008ej} of the Standard Model Higgs
inflation accounting for two-loop radiative corrections to the effective
potential. As was expected, higher loop effects result in some modification of
the interval for allowed Higgs masses m_min<m_H<m_max, which somewhat exceeds
the region in which the Standard Model can be considered as a viable effective
field theory all the way up to the Planck scale. The dependence of the index
n_s of scalar perturbations on the Higgs mass is computed in two different
renormalization procedures, associated with the Einstein (I) and Jordan (II)
frames. In the procedure I the predictions of the spectral index of scalar
fluctuations and of the tensor-to-scalar ratio practically do not depend on the
Higgs mass within the admitted region and are equal to n_s=0.97 and r=0.0034
respectively. In the procedure II the index n_s acquires the visible dependence
on the Higgs mass and and goes out of the admitted interval at m_H below m_min.
We compare our findings with the results of \cite{DeSimone:2008ei}.Comment: 24 paged, 9 figures. Journal version (typos fixed, expanded
discussions
Metallothioneins of the urochordate Oikopleura dioica have Cys-rich tandem repeats, large size and cadmium-binding preference
The increasing levels of heavy metals derived from human activity are poisoning marine environments, threating zooplankton and ocean food webs. To protect themselves from the harmful effects of heavy metals, living beings have different physiological mechanisms, one of which is based on metallothioneins (MTs), a group of small cysteine-rich proteins that can bind heavy metals counteracting their toxicity. The MT system of urochordate appendicularians, an ecologically relevant component of the zooplankton,remained, however, unknown. In this work, we have characterized the MTs of the appendicularian species Oikopleura dioica, revealing that O. dioica has two MT genes, named OdMT1 and OdMT2, which encode for Cys-rich proteins, the former with 72 amino acids comparable with the small size MTs of other organisms, but the second with 399 amino acids representing the longest MT reported to date for any living being. Sequence analysis revealed that OdMT2 gene arose from a duplication of an ancestral OdMT1 gene followed by up to six tandem duplications of an ancestral repeat unit (RU) in the current OdMT2 gene. Interestingly, each RU contained, in turn, an internal repeat of a 7-Cys subunit (X3CX3CX2CX2CX3-6CX2CXCX), which is repeated up to 12 times in OdMT2. Finally, ICP-AES analyses of heterologously expressed OdMT proteins showed that both MTs were capable to form metalcomplexes, with preference for cadmium ions. Collectively, our results provide the first characterization of the MT system in an appendicularian species as an initial step to understand the zooplankton response to metal toxicity and other environmental stress situations
Ultraviolet-Optical observations of the Seyfert 2 Galaxies NGC 7130, NGC 5135 and IC 3639: Implications for the Starburst-AGN Connection
We present and discuss HST (WFPC2 and FOC) images and UV GHRS spectra plus
ground-based near UV through to near IR spectra of three Seyfert 2 nuclei (NGC
7130, NGC 5135 and IC 3639). These galaxies, together to Mrk 477, were selected
from a bigger sample that comprises the 20 brightest Seyfert 2 nuclei, with the
goal to study the origin of the UV-optical-near IR featureless continuum in
Seyfert 2 nuclei. These four galaxies have bolometric luminosities, as computed
with the four IRAS bands, of 10^11 Lsol. They are close enough to be resolved
with HST the nuclear zone. This makes these Seyfert 2 galaxies benchmarks to
study the Starburst-AGN connection in more distant galaxies.
The data provide direct evidence of the existence of a central nuclear
starburst that dominates the UV light, and that seem to be responsible for the
origin of the so called featureless continuum. These starbursts are dusty and
compact. They have sizes (from less than 100 pc to a few hundred pc) much
smaller and closer to the nucleus than that seen in the prototype Seyfert 2
galaxy NGC 1068. The bolometric luminosity of these starbursts is similar to
the estimated bolometric luminosities of their obscured Seyfert 1 nuclei, and
thus they contribute in the same amount to the overall energetics of these
galaxies.Comment: to be published in ApJ 505, September issue. The figures are in a tar
files at: http://www.iaa.es/~rosa/Seyfert
Fermionic decays of sfermions: a complete discussion at one-loop order
We present a definition of an on-shell renormalization scheme for the
sfermion and chargino-neutralino sector of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard
Model (MSSM). Then, apply this renormalization framework to the interaction
between charginos/neutralinos and sfermions. A kind of universal corrections is
identified, which allow to define effective chargino/neutralino coupling
matrices. In turn, these interactions generate (universal) non-decoupling terms
that grow as the logarithm of the heavy mass. Therefore the full MSSM spectrum
must be taken into account in the computation of radiative corrections to
observables involving these interactions. As an application we analyze the full
one-loop electroweak radiative corrections to the partial decay widths
\Gamma(\tilde{f} -> f\neut) and \Gamma(\tilde{f} -> f'\cplus) for all sfermion
flavours and generations. These are combined with the QCD corrections to
compute the corrected branching ratios of sfermions. It turns out that the
electroweak corrections can have an important impact on the partial decay
widths, as well as the branching ratios, in wide regions of the parameter
space. The precise value of the corrections is strongly dependent on the
correlation between the different particle masses.Comment: LaTeX 53 pages, 22 figures, 3 tables. Typos correcte
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