63 research outputs found
Completing NLO QCD Corrections for Tree Level Non-Leptonic Delta F = 1 Decays Beyond the Standard Model
In various extensions of the Standard Model (SM) tree level non-leptonic
decays of hadrons receive contributions from new heavy gauge bosons and
scalars. Prominent examples are the right-handed W' bosons in left-right
symmetric models and charged Higgs (H^\pm) particles in models with extended
scalar sector like two Higgs doublet models and supersymmetric models. Even in
the case of decays with four different quark flavours involved, to which
penguin operators cannot contribute, twenty linearly independent operators,
instead of two in the SM, have to be considered. Anticipating the important
role of such decays at the LHCb, KEKB and Super-B in Rome and having in mind
future improved lattice computations, we complete the existing NLO QCD formulae
for these processes by calculating O(alpha_s) corrections to matching
conditions for the Wilson coefficients of all contributing operators in the
NDR-\bar{MS} scheme. This allows to reduce certain unphysical scale and
renormalization scheme dependences in the existing NLO calculations. Our
results can also be applied to models with tree-level heavy neutral gauge boson
and scalar exchanges in Delta F = 1 transitions and constitute an important
part of NLO analyses of those non-leptonic decays to which also penguin
operators contribute.Comment: 24 pages, 6 figure
Near-infrared Spectroscopy Monitoring of the Collateral Network Prior to, During, and After Thoracoabdominal Aortic Repair: A Pilot Study
ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of non-invasive monitoring of the paraspinous collateral network (CN) oxygenation prior to, during, and after thoracoabdominal aortic repair in a clinical series.MethodsNear-infrared spectroscopy optodes were positioned bilaterally—over the thoracic and lumbar paraspinous vasculature—to transcutaneously monitor muscle oxygenation of the CN in 20 patients (age: 66 ± 10 years; men = 11) between September 2010 and April 2012; 15 had open thoracoabdominal aortic repair (Crawford II and III), three had thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR; Crawford I), and two had a hybrid repair (Crawford II). CN oxygenation was continuously recorded until 48 hours postoperatively.ResultsHospital mortality was 5% (n = 1), 15% suffered ischemic spinal cord injury (SCI). Mean thoracic CN oxygenation saturation was 75.5 ± 8% prior to anesthesia (=baseline) without significant variations throughout the procedure (during non-pulsatile cooling on cardiopulmonary bypass and with aortic cross-clamping; range = 70.6–79.5%). Lumbar CN oxygenation (LbS) dropped significantly after proximal aortic cross-clamping to a minimum after 11.7 ± 4 minutes (74 ± 13% of baseline), but fully recovered after restoration of pulsatile flow to 98.5% of baseline. During TEVAR, stent-graft deployment did not significantly affect LbS. Three patients developed relevant SCI (paraplegia n = 1/paraparesis n = 2). In these patients LbS reduction after aortic cross-clamping was significantly lower compared with patients who did not experience SCI (p = .041).ConclusionsNon-invasive monitoring of CN oxygenation prior to, during, and after thoracoabdominal aortic repair is feasible. Lumbar CN oxygenation levels directly respond to compromise of aortic blood circulation
Fair scans of the seesaw. Consequences for predictions on LFV processes
Usual analyses based on scans of the seesaw parameter-space can be biassed
since they do not cover in a fair way the complete parameter-space. More
precisely, we show that in the common "R-parametrization", many acceptable
R-matrices, compatible with the perturbativity of Yukawa couplings, are
normally disregarded from the beginning, which produces biasses in the results.
We give a straightforward procedure to scan the space of complex R-matrices in
a complete way, giving a very simple rule to incorporate the perturbativity
requirement as a condition for the entries of the R-matrix, something not
considered before. As a relevant application of this, we show that the extended
believe that BR(mu --> e, gamma) in supersymmetric seesaw models depends
strongly on the value of theta_13 is an "optical effect" produced by such
biassed scans, and does not hold after a careful analytical and numerical
study. When the complete scan is done, BR(mu --> e, gamma) gets very
insensitive to theta_13. Moreover, the values of the branching ratio are
typically larger than those quoted in the literature, due to the large number
of acceptable points in the parameter-space which were not considered before.
Including (unflavoured) leptogenesis does not introduce any further dependence
on theta_13, although decreases the typical value of BR(mu --> e, gamma).Comment: 22 pages, 5 figure
On the Standard Model prediction for BR(B{s,d} to mu+ mu-)
The decay Bs to mu+ mu- is one of the milestones of the flavor program at the
LHC. We reappraise its Standard Model prediction. First, by analyzing the
theoretical rate in the light of its main parametric dependence, we highlight
the importance of a complete evaluation of higher-order electroweak
corrections, at present known only in the large-mt limit, and leaving sizable
dependence on the definition of electroweak parameters. Using insights from a
complete calculation of such corrections for K to pi bar{nu} nu decays, we find
a scheme in which NLO electroweak corrections are likely to be negligible.
Second, we address the issue of the correspondence between the initial and the
final state detected by the experiments, and those used in the theoretical
prediction. Particular attention is devoted to the effect of the soft
radiation, that has not been discussed for this mode in the previous
literature, and that can lead to O(10%) corrections to the decay rate. The
"non-radiative" branching ratio (that is equivalent to the branching ratio
fully inclusive of bremsstrahlung radiation) is estimated to be (3.23 +/- 0.27)
x 10^{-9} for the flavor eigenstate, with the main uncertainty resulting from
the value of f_{Bs}, followed by the uncertainty due to higher order
electroweak corrections. Applying the same strategy to Bd to mu+ mu-, we find
for its non-radiative branching ratio (1.07 +/- 0.10) x 10^{-10}.Comment: 15 pages. v3: very minor changes to match the journal version (EPJC
Flavor Physics in an SO(10) Grand Unified Model
In supersymmetric grand-unified models, the lepton mixing matrix can possibly
affect flavor-changing transitions in the quark sector. We present a detailed
analysis of a model proposed by Chang, Masiero and Murayama, in which the
near-maximal atmospheric neutrino mixing angle governs large new b -> s
transitions. Relating the supersymmetric low-energy parameters to seven new
parameters of this SO(10) GUT model, we perform a correlated study of several
flavor-changing neutral current (FCNC) processes. We find the current bound on
B(tau -> mu gamma) more constraining than B(B -> X_s gamma). The LEP limit on
the lightest Higgs boson mass implies an important lower bound on tan beta,
which in turn limits the size of the new FCNC transitions. Remarkably, the
combined analysis does not rule out large effects in B_s-B_s-bar mixing and we
can easily accomodate the large CP phase in the B_s-B_s-bar system which has
recently been inferred from a global analysis of CDF and DO data. The model
predicts a particle spectrum which is different from the popular Constrained
Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (CMSSM). B(tau -> mu gamma) enforces
heavy masses, typically above 1 TeV, for the sfermions of the degenerate first
two generations. However, the ratio of the third-generation and
first-generation sfermion masses is smaller than in the CMSSM and a (dominantly
right-handed) stop with mass below 500 GeV is possible.Comment: 44 pages, 5 figures. Footnote and references added, minor changes,
Fig. 2 corrected; journal versio
Proceedings of the 2nd Workshop on Flavor Symmetries and Consequences in Accelerators and Cosmology (FLASY12)
These are the proceedings of the 2nd Workshop on Flavor Symmetries and
Consequences in Accelerators and Cosmology, held 30 June 2012 - 4 July 2012,
Dortmund, Germany.Comment: Order 400 pages, several figures including the group picture v2:
corrected author list and contributio
On the Correlations between Flavour Observables in Minimal U(2)^3 Models
The stringent correlations between flavour observables in models with CMFV
are consistent with the present data except for the correlation Delta
M_{s,d}-epsilon_K. Motivated by the recent work of Barbieri et al, we compare
the CMFV correlations with the ones present in a special class of models with
an approximate global U(2)^3 flavour symmetry, constrained by a minimal set of
spurions governing the breakdown of this symmetry and the assumption that only
SM operators are relevant in flavour physics. This analog of CMFV to be called
MU(2)^3 allows to avoid the Delta M_{s,d}-epsilon_K tension in question because
of reduced flavour symmetry and implied non-MFV contributions to Delta M_{s,d}.
While the patterns of flavour violation in K meson system is the same as in
CMFV models, the CP-violation in B_{s,d} meson systems can deviate from the one
in the SM and CMFV models. We point out a stringent triple S_{psi K_S}-S_{psi
phi}-|V_ub| correlation in this class of models that could in the future
provide a transparent distinction between different MU(2)^3 models and in the
context of these models determine |V_ub| by means of precise measurements of
S_{psi K_S} and S_{psi phi} with only small hadronic uncertainties. For fixed
S_{psi K_S} the correlation between B(B^+ -> tau^+nu_tau) and S_{psi phi}
follows. We also find that MU(2)^3 models could in principle accommodate a
negative value of S_{psi phi}, provided |V_ub| is found to be in the ballpark
of exclusive determinations and the particular MU(2)^3 model provides a 25%
enhancement of epsilon_K. A supersymmetric U(2)^3 model worked out in the
Barbieri-School appears to satisfy these requirements. However if B(B^+ ->
tau^+nu_tau)>1.0 10^{-4} will be confirmed by future experiments only positive
S_{psi phi} is allowed in this framework. We summarize briefly the pattern of
flavour violation in rare K and B_{s,d} decays in MU(2)^3 models.Comment: 28 pages, 6 figures; v2: Few references and discussion on CP
violation in B_s-> mu^+ mu^- added; v3: Several clarifying comments added,
conclusions unchanged, version accepted for publication in JHE
Lepton flavour violation in the MSSM
We derive new constraints on the quantities delta_{XY}^{ij}, X,Y=L,R, which
parametrise the flavour-off-diagonal terms of the charged slepton mass matrix
in the MSSM. Considering mass and anomalous magnetic moment of the electron we
obtain the bound |delta^{13}_{LL} delta^{13}_{RR}|<0.1 for tan beta=50, which
involves the poorly constrained element delta^{13}_{RR}. We improve the
predictions for the decays tau -> mu gamma, tau -> e gamma and mu -> e gamma by
including two-loop corrections which are enhanced if tan beta is large. The
finite renormalisation of the PMNS matrix from soft SUSY-breaking terms is
derived and applied to the charged-Higgs-lepton vertex. We find that the
experimental bound on BR(tau -> e gamma) severely limits the size of the MSSM
loop correction to the PMNS element U_{e3}, which is important for the proper
interpretation of a future U_{e3} measurement. Subsequently we confront our new
values for delta^{ij}_{LL} with a GUT analysis. Further, we include the effects
of dimension-5 Yukawa terms, which are needed to fix the Yukawa unification of
the first two generations. If universal supersymmetry breaking occurs above the
GUT scale, we find the flavour structure of the dimension-5 Yukawa couplings
tightly constrained by mu -> e gamma.Comment: 37 pages, 15 figures; typo in Equation (35) and (49) correcte
SUSY_FLAVOR v2.5: a computational tool for FCNC and CP-violating processes in the MSSM
We present SUSY_FLAVOR version 2.5 - a Fortran 77 program that calculates
low-energy flavor observables in the general -parity conserving MSSM. For a
set of MSSM parameters as input, the code gives predictions for: 1. Electric
dipole moments of the leptons and the neutron. 2. Anomalous magnetic moments
(i.e. ) of the leptons. 3. Radiative lepton decays ( and
). 4. Rare Kaon decays (
and ). 5. Leptonic decays (,
, and ). 6. Radiative
decays (). 7. Rare decays of top quark to Higgs boson
(). 8. processes (, , and mixing). SUSY_FLAVOR performs the resummation of
all chirally enhanced corrections, i.e. takes into account the effects enhanced
by and/or large trilinear soft mixing terms to all orders in
perturbation theory. All calculations are done using exact diagonalization of
the sfermion mass matrices. Comparing to previous versions, in SUSY_FLAVOR v2.5
parameter initialization in SLHA2 format has been significantly generalized and
simplified, so that program accepts without modifications most of the output
files produced by other codes calculating MSSM spectra and processes. In
addition, the routine calculating branching ratios for rare decays of top quark
to Higgs boson has been included. The program can be obtained from
www.fuw.edu.pl/susy_flavor.Comment: Updated from arXiv:1003.4260 [hep-ph] (SUSY_FLAVOR v1 manual), 61
pages; updated sections on modified user interface and on newly added
processes. SUSY_FLAVOR code available at http://www.fuw.edu.pl/susy_flavo
Testing new physics with the electron g-2
We argue that the anomalous magnetic moment of the electron (a_e) can be used
to probe new physics. We show that the present bound on new-physics
contributions to a_e is 8*10^-13, but the sensitivity can be improved by about
an order of magnitude with new measurements of a_e and more refined
determinations of alpha in atomic-physics experiments. Tests on new-physics
effects in a_e can play a crucial role in the interpretation of the observed
discrepancy in the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon (a_mu). In a large
class of models, new contributions to magnetic moments scale with the square of
lepton masses and thus the anomaly in a_mu suggests a new-physics effect in a_e
of (0.7 +- 0.2)*10^-13. We also present examples of new-physics theories in
which this scaling is violated and larger effects in a_e are expected. In such
models the value of a_e is correlated with specific predictions for processes
with violation of lepton number or lepton universality, and with the electric
dipole moment of the electron.Comment: 34 pages, 7 figures. Minor changes and references adde
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