885 research outputs found
Fermion masses in noncommutative geometry
Recent indications of neutrino oscillations raise the question of the
possibility of incorporating massive neutrinos in the formulation of the
Standard Model (SM) within noncommutative geometry (NCG). We find that the NCG
requirement of Poincare duality constrains the numbers of massless quarks and
neutrinos to be unequal unless new fermions are introduced. Possible scenarios
in which this constraint is satisfied are discussed.Comment: 4 pages, REVTeX; typos are corrected in (19), "Possible Solutions"
and "Conclusion" are modified; additional calculational details are included;
references are update
Clinical efficacy of long-acting neuraminidase inhibitor, laninamivir octanoate hydrate, in postmarketing surveillance
Tissue engineering a surrogate niche for metastatic cancer cells
In breast and prostate cancer patients, the bone marrow is a preferred site of metastasis. We hypothesized that we could use tissue-engineering strategies to lure metastasizing cancer cells to tissue-engineered bone marrow. First, we generated highly porous 3D silk scaffolds that were biocompatible and amenable to bone morphogenetic protein 2 functionalization. Control and functionalized silk scaffolds were subcutaneously implanted in mice and bone marrow development was followed. Only functionalized scaffolds developed cancellous bone and red bone marrow, which appeared as early as two weeks post-implantation and further developed over the 16-week study period. This tissue-engineered bone marrow microenvironment could be readily manipulated in situ to understand the biology of bone metastasis. To test the ability of functionalized scaffolds to serve as a surrogate niche for metastasis, human breast cancer cells were injected into the mammary fat pads of mice. The treatment of animals with scaffolds had no significant effect on primary tumor growth. However, extensive metastasis was observed in functionalized scaffolds, and the highest levels for scaffolds that were in situ manipulated with receptor activator of nuclear factor kappa-B ligand (RANKL). We also applied this tissue-engineered bone marrow model in a prostate cancer and experimental metastasis setting. In summary, we were able to use tissue-engineered bone marrow to serve as a target or "trap" for metastasizing cancer cells
Minimal Trinification
We study the trinified model, SU(3)_C x SU(3)_L x SU(3)_R x Z_3, with the
minimal Higgs sector required for symmetry breaking. There are five Higgs
doublets, and gauge-coupling unification results if all five are at the weak
scale, without supersymmetry. The radiative see-saw mechanism yields sub-eV
neutrino masses, without the need for intermediate scales, additional Higgs
fields, or higher-dimensional operators. The proton lifetime is above the
experimental limits, with the decay modes p -> \bar\nu K^+ and p -> \mu^+ K^0
potentially observable. We also consider supersymmetric versions of the model,
with one or two Higgs doublets at the weak scale. The radiative see-saw
mechanism fails with weak-scale supersymmetry due to the nonrenormalization of
the superpotential, but operates in the split-SUSY scenario.Comment: 23 pages, uses axodra
Signatures of Nucleon Disappearance in Large Underground Detectors
For neutrons bound inside nuclei, baryon instability can manifest itself as a
decay into undetectable particles (e.g., ), i.e.,
as a disappearance of a neutron from its nuclear state. If electric charge is
conserved, a similar disappearance is impossible for a proton. The existing
experimental lifetime limit for neutron disappearance is 4-7 orders of
magnitude lower than the lifetime limits with detectable nucleon decay products
in the final state [PDG2000]. In this paper we calculated the spectrum of
nuclear de-excitations that would result from the disappearance of a neutron or
two neutrons from C. We found that some de-excitation modes have
signatures that are advantageous for detection in the modern high-mass,
low-background, and low-threshold underground detectors, where neutron
disappearance would result in a characteristic sequence of time- and
space-correlated events. Thus, in the KamLAND detector [Kamland], a
time-correlated triple coincidence of a prompt signal, a captured neutron, and
a decay of the residual nucleus, all originating from the same
point in the detector, will be a unique signal of neutron disappearance
allowing searches for baryon instability with sensitivity 3-4 orders of
magnitude beyond the present experimental limits.Comment: 13 pages including 6 figures, revised version, to be published in
Phys.Rev.
New contribution to dimension five operators on proton decay in anomaly mediation scenario
In supergravity, effective superpotential relevant to dimension five
operators on proton decay processes also leads to supersymmetry breaking terms
among sfermions, dimension four operators. These dimension four operators
induce the dimension five operators through 1-loop diagrams dressed by
gauginos. We find that, in a class of models with the anomaly mediation, the
1-loop contributions can be comparable to those at the tree level. Therefore,
such operators have a great impact on proton decay rate. Depending on a
universal phase of gaugino masses and soft mass spectrum, the proton decay rate
can be enhanced or suppressed.Comment: 8 pages, no figure. A few minor changes have been mad
Gauge Unification in Higher Dimensions
A complete 5-dimensional SU(5) unified theory is constructed which, on
compactification on the orbifold with two different Z_2's (Z_2 and Z_2'),
yields the minimal supersymmetric standard model. The orbifold accomplishes
SU(5) gauge symmetry breaking, doublet-triplet splitting, and a vanishing of
proton decay from operators of dimension 5. Until 4d supersymmetry is broken,
all proton decay from dimension 4 and dimension 5 operators is forced to vanish
by an exact U(1)_R symmetry. Quarks and leptons and their Yukawa interactions
are located at the Z_2 orbifold fixed points, where SU(5) is unbroken. A new
mechanism for introducing SU(5) breaking into the quark and lepton masses is
introduced, which originates from the SU(5) violation in the zero-mode
structure of bulk multiplets. Even though SU(5) is absent at the Z_2' orbifold
fixed point, the brane threshold corrections to gauge coupling unification are
argued to be negligibly small, while the logarithmic corrections are small and
in a direction which improves the agreement with the experimental measurements
of the gauge couplings. Furthermore, the X gauge boson mass is lowered, so that
proton decay to e^+ \pi^0 is expected with a rate within about one order of
magnitude of the current limit. Supersymmetry breaking occurs on the Z_2'
orbifold fixed point, and is felt directly by the gauge and Higgs sectors,
while squarks and sleptons acquire mass via gaugino mediation, solving the
supersymmetric flavor problem.Comment: 21 pages, Latex, references added, final versio
Probing the neutrino mass hierarchy and the 13-mixing with supernovae
We consider in details the effects of the 13-mixing (sin^2 theta_{13}) and of
the type of mass hierarchy/ordering (sign[ Delta m^2_{13}]) on neutrino signals
from the gravitational collapses of stars. The observables (characteristics of
the energy spectra of nu_e and antinu_e events) sensitive to sin^2 theta_{13}
and sign[Delta m^2_{13}] have been calculated. They include the ratio of
average energies of the spectra, r_E = /, the ratio of widths of
the energy distributions, r_Gamma, the ratios of total numbers of nu_e and
antinu_e events at low energies, S, and in the high energy tails, R_{tail}. We
construct and analyze scatter plots which show the predictions for the
observables for different intervals of sin^2 theta_{13} and signs of Delta
m^2_{13}, taking into account uncertainties in the original neutrino spectra,
the star density profile, etc.. Regions in the space of observables r_E,
r_Gamma, S, R_{tail} exist in which certain mass hierarchy and intervals of
sin^2 theta_{13} can be identified or discriminated. We elaborate on the method
of the high energy tails in the spectra of events. The conditions are
formulated for which sin^2 theta_{13} can be (i) measured, (ii) restricted from
below, (iii) restricted from above. We comment on the possibility to determine
sin^2 theta_{13} using the time dependence of the signals due to the
propagation of the shock wave through the resonance layers of the star. We show
that the appearance of the delayed Earth matter effect in one of the channels
(nu_e or antinu_e) in combination with the undelayed effect in the other
channel will allow to identify the shock wave appeareance and determine the
mass hierarchy.Comment: LaTeX, 56 pages, 12 figures; a few clarifications added; typos
corrected. Version to appear in JCA
Cornering Solar Radiative-Zone Fluctuations with KamLAND and SNO Salt
We update the best constraints on fluctuations in the solar medium deep
within the solar Radiative Zone to include the new SNO-salt solar neutrino
measurements. We find that these new measurements are now sufficiently precise
that neutrino oscillation parameters can be inferred independently of any
assumptions about fluctuation properties. Constraints on fluctuations are also
improved, with amplitudes of 5% now excluded at the 99% confidence level for
correlation lengths in the range of several hundred km. Because they are
sensitive to correlation lengths which are so short, these solar neutrino
results are complementary to constraints coming from helioseismology.Comment: 4 pages, LaTeX file using RevTEX4, 6 figures include
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