Testable and Untestable Aspects of Dark Energy

It has been suggested that dark energy will lead to a frequency cut-off in an experiment involving a Josephson junction. Here we show that were such a cut-off detected, it would have dramatic consequences including the possible demise of the string landscape.Comment: 5 page

Entropy of Contracting Universe in Cyclic Cosmology

Following up a recent proposal \cite{BF} for a cyclic model based on phantom dark energy, we examine the content of the contracting universe (cu) and its entropy $S_{cu}$. We find that beyond dark energy the universe contains on average zero or at most a single photon which if present immediately after turnaround has infinitesimally energy which subsequently blue shifts to produce $e^+e^-$ pairs. These statements are independent of the equation of state $\omega = p/\rho$ of dark energy provided $\omega < -1$. Thus $S_{cu} = 0$ and if observations confirm $\omega < -1$ the entropy problem is solved. We discuss the absence of a theoretical lower bound on $\phi = |\omega + 1|$, then describe an anthropic fine tuning argument that renders unlikely extremely small $\phi$. The present bound $\phi \lesssim 0.1$ already implies a time until turnaround of $(t_T - t_0) \gtrsim 100$ Gy.Comment: 5 pages late

Cyclic Universe and Infinite Past

We address two questions about the past for infinitely cyclic cosmology. The first is whether it can contain an infinite length null geodesic into the past in view of the Borde-Guth-Vilenkin (BGV) "no-go" theorem, The second is whether, given that a small fraction of spawned universes fail to cycle, there is an adequate probability for a successful universe after an infinite time. We give positive answers to both questions then show that in infinite cyclicity the total number of universes has been infinite for an arbitrarily long time.Comment: 7 pages. Clarification in discussion of infinite pas

Mersenne Primes, Polygonal Anomalies and String Theory Classification

It is pointed out that the Mersenne primes $M_p=(2^p-1)$ and associated perfect numbers ${\cal M}_p=2^{p-1}M_p$ play a significant role in string theory; this observation may suggest a classification of consistent string theories.Comment: 10 pages LaTe

Setting the Mood: An Examination of the Roles of Romance-Related Mood, Situational Similarity, and Character Attribute Similarity in Selective Exposure to Romantic Comedies

Two studies were conducted in order to explore how romance-related mood, situational similarity, and character attribute similarity affect selective exposure to romantic comedies. Eight hypotheses were proposed based on traditional mood management theory (MMT). MMT predicts that people make media selection choices based on a desire to alter a negative mood state and achieve a positive mood state (Zillmann, 1988; Zillmann & Bryant, 1985). For this study in particular, MMT predicts that people in a negative romance-related mood would choose to avoid media content that reminds them of their negative romance-related mood. Content could remind participants of their negative romance-related mood through either situational similarity (Study 1) or character attribute similarity (Study 2). Situational similarity was operationalized through subgenre (female-led comedies vs. traditional romantic comedies), and character attribute similarity was operationalized through age. Experimental research was conducted with college-aged female participants in order to test the hypotheses. Results from a series of ANOVAs and hierarchical regressions revealed that, in general, the hypotheses proposed in this study were not supported. In fact, this study found results contrary to predictions made based on traditional MMT predicted outcomes. This suggests the need for future studies of MMT and its extensions, particularly in regard to motivations for counter-hedonic media selection choices

Quark mass hierarchy in 3-3-1 models

We study the mass spectrum of the quark sector in an special type I-like model with gauge symmetry $SU(3)_c \otimes SU(3)_L \otimes U(1)_X$. By considering couplings with scalar triplets at large ($\sim TeV$) and small ($\sim GeV$) scales, we obtain specific zero-texture mass matrices for the quarks which predict three massless quarks ($u,d,s$) and three massive quarks ($c,b,t$) at the electroweak scale ($\sim$ GeV). Taking into account mixing couplings with three heavy quarks at large scales predicted by the model, the three massless quarks obtain masses at small order that depends on the inverse of the large scale. Thus, masses of the form $m_u \lesssim m_d < m_s \sim MeV$ and $m_{c,b,t} \sim GeV$ can be obtained naturally from the gauge structure of the model

Constraints on Deflation from the Equation of State of Dark Energy

In cyclic cosmology based on phantom dark energy the requirement that our universe satisfy a CBE-condition ({\it Comes Back Empty}) imposes a lower bound on the number $N_{\rm cp}$ of causal patches which separate just prior to turnaround. This bound depends on the dark energy equation of state $w = p/\rho = -1 - \phi$ with $\phi > 0$. More accurate measurement of $\phi$ will constrain $N_{\rm cp}$. The critical density $\rho_c$ in the model has a lower bound $\rho_c \ge (10^9 {\rm GeV})^4$ or $\rho_c \ge (10^{18} {\rm GeV})^4$ when the smallest bound state has size $10^{-15}$m, or $10^{-35}$m, respectively.Comment: 23 pages, 3 figures, typos fixe

Search for Heavy Leptons at Hadron Colliders

Four models are considered which contain heavy leptons beyond the three families of the standard model. Two are fourth-generation extensions of the standard model in which the right-handed heavy leptons are either isosinglets or in an isodoublet; the other two are motivated by the aspon model of CP violation. In all these models, the heavy neutrino can either be heavier than, or comparable in mass to, the charged lepton leading to the possibility that the charged lepton is very long-lived. Production cross section and signatures for the heavy leptons are computed for the SSC and LHC.Comment: 17 pages(8 figures are not included),TRI-PP-92-9

Axigluon Couplings in the Presence of Extra Color-Octet Spin-One Fields

In this paper, we study how the interaction of the axigluon with quarks is modified when we introduce new color-octet spin-one fields in a chiral color model. We show that in this case the strength of this interaction is not completely determined by the gauge symmetry any more and can be significantly weaker than the one predicted in the original chiral color model. In this way, we reinterpret the non-observability of the axigluon at the Tevatron, not as a limit on the axigluon mass, but as a limit on the strength of the axigluon coupling to quarks