Constraints on discrete symmetries from anomaly cancellation in compactified superstring theories

Compactified string theories give rise to discrete symmetries which are essential if they are to provide a realistic low energy theory. We find that in a class of four dimensional string theories these symmetries are constrained by similar conditions to those discrete anomaly cancellation conditions found in the case the discrete symmetry is a residue of a spontaneously broken gauge symmetry. Such conditions strongly constrain the allowed form of the low energy effective theory.Comment: 8 pages, OUTP-93-14

String GUTs

Standard SUSY-GUTs such as those based on $SU(5)$ or $SO(10)$ lead to predictions for the values of $\alpha _s$ and $sin^2\theta _W$ in amazing agreement with experiment. In this article we investigate how these models may be obtained from string theory, thus bringing them into the only known consistent framework for quantum gravity. String models with matter in standard GUT representations require the realization of affine Lie algebras at higher levels. We start by describing some methods to build level $k=2$ orbifold string models with gauge groups $SU(5)$ or $SO(10)$. We present several examples and identify generic features of the type of models constructed. Chiral fields appropriate to break the symmetry down to the standard model generically appear in the massless spectrum. However, unlike in standard SUSY-GUTs, they often behave as string moduli, i.e., they do not have self-couplings. We also discuss briefly the doublet-triplet Higgs splitting. We find that, in some models, built-in sliding-singlet type of couplings exist.Comment: 40 pages, Latex. Two references modified, few other unimportant change

Building GUTs from strings

We study in detail the structure of Grand Unified Theories derived as the low-energy limit of orbifold four-dimensional strings. To this aim, new techniques for building level-two symmetric orbifold theories are presented. New classes of GUTs in the context of symmetric orbifolds are then constructed. The method of permutation modding is further explored and SO(10) GUTs with both $45$ or $54$-plets are obtained. SU(5) models are also found through this method. It is shown that, in the context of symmetric orbifold $SO(10)$ GUTs, only a single GUT-Higgs, either a $54$ or a $45$, can be present and it always resides in an order-two untwisted sector. Very restrictive results also hold in the case of $SU(5)$. General properties and selection rules for string GUTs are described. Some of these selection rules forbid the presence of some particular GUT-Higgs couplings which are sometimes used in SUSY-GUT model building. Some semi-realistic string GUT examples are presented and their properties briefly discussed.Comment: 40 pages, no figures, Late

Advanced solid elements for sheet metal forming simulation

The solid-shells are an attractive kind of element for the simulation of forming processes, due to the fact that any kind of generic 3D constitutive law can be employed without any additional hypothesis. The present work consists in the improvement of a triangular prism solid-shell originally developed by Flores [2, 3]. The solid-shell can be used in the analysis of thin/thick shell, undergoing large deformations. The element is formulated in total Lagrangian formulation, and employs the neighbour (adjacent) elements to perform a local patch to enrich the displacement field. In the original formulation a modified right Cauchy-Green deformation tensor (C¯) is obtained; in the present work a modified deformation gradient (F¯) is obtained, which allows to generalise the methodology and allows to employ the Pull-Back and Push-Forwards operations. The element is based in three modifications: (a) a classical assumed strain approach for transverse shear strains (b) an assumed strain approach for the in-plane components using information from neighbour elements and (c) an averaging of the volumetric strain over the element. The objective is to use this type of elements for the simulation of shells avoiding transverse shear locking, improving the membrane behaviour of the in-plane triangle and to handle quasi-incompressible materials or materials with isochoric plastic flow.Postprint (published version

Gauging Away the Strong CP Problem

We propose a new solution to the strong-CP problem. It involves the existence of an unbroken gauged $U(1)_X$ symmetry whose gauge boson gets a Stuckelberg mass term by combining with a pseudoscalar field $\eta (x)$. The latter has axion-like couplings to $F_{QCD}\wedge F_{QCD}$ so that the theta parameter may be gauged away by a $U(1)_X$ gauge transformation. This system leads to mixed gauge anomalies and we argue that they are cancelled by the addition of an appropriate Wess-Zumino term, so that no SM fermions need to be charged under $U(1)_X$. We discuss scenarios in which the above set of fields and couplings appear. The mechanism is quite generic, but a natural possibility is that the the $U(1)_X$ symmetry arises from bulk gauge bosons in theories with extra dimensions or string models. We show that in certain D-brane Type-II string models (with antisymmetric tensor field strength fluxes) higher dimensional Chern-Simons couplings give rise to the required D=4 Wess-Zumino terms upon compactification. In one of the possible string realizations of the mechanism the $U(1)_X$ gauge boson comes from the Kaluza-Klein reduction of the eleven-dimensional metric in M-theory.Comment: 21 pages, latex, one eps figure; v2 improved discussio

Fermion masses and mixing angles from gauge symmetries

The structure of the quark and lepton masses and mixing angles provides one of the few windows we have on the underlying physics generating the \sm. In an attempt to identify the underlying symmetry group we look for the simplest gauge extension of the SUSY standard model capable of generating the observed structure. We show that the texture structure and hierarchical form found in the (symmetric) quark and lepton mass matrices follows if one extends the gauge group of the standard model to include an horizontal $U(1)$ gauge factor, constrained by the need for anomaly cancellation. This $U(1)$ symmetry is spontaneously broken slightly below the unification/string scale leaving as its only remnant the observed structure of masses and mixings. Anomaly cancellation is possible only in the context of superstring theories via the Green Schwarz mechanism with $sin^2(\theta_W)=3/8$.Comment: 19 pages, preprint numbers OUTP-9403 and FTUAM-94/7, LaTe

The silicon stable isotope distribution along the GEOVIDE section (GEOTRACES GA-01) of the North Atlantic Ocean

The stable isotope composition of dissolved silicon in seawater (δ30SiDSi) was examined at 10 stations along the GEOVIDE section (GEOTRACES GA-01), spanning the North Atlantic Ocean (40–60∘ N) and Labrador Sea. Variations in δ30SiDSi below 500 m were closely tied to the distribution of water masses. Higher δ30SiDSi values are associated with intermediate and deep water masses of northern Atlantic or Arctic Ocean origin, whilst lower δ30SiDSi values are associated with DSi-rich waters sourced ultimately from the Southern Ocean. Correspondingly, the lowest δ30SiDSi values were observed in the deep and abyssal eastern North Atlantic, where dense southern-sourced waters dominate. The extent to which the spreading of water masses influences the δ30SiDSi distribution is marked clearly by Labrador Sea Water (LSW), whose high δ30SiDSi signature is visible not only within its region of formation within the Labrador and Irminger seas, but also throughout the mid-depth western and eastern North Atlantic Ocean. Both δ30SiDSi and hydrographic parameters document the circulation of LSW into the eastern North Atlantic, where it overlies southern-sourced Lower Deep Water. The GEOVIDE δ30SiDSi distribution thus provides a clear view of the direct interaction between subpolar/polar water masses of northern and southern origin, and allow examination of the extent to which these far-field signals influence the local δ30SiDSi distribution