Reactor mixing angle from hybrid neutrino masses

In terms of its eigenvector decomposition, the neutrino mass matrix (in the basis where the charged lepton mass matrix is diagonal) can be understood as originating from a tribimaximal dominant structure with small deviations, as demanded by data. If neutrino masses originate from at least two different mechanisms, referred to as "hybrid neutrino masses", the experimentally observed structure naturally emerges provided one mechanism accounts for the dominant tribimaximal structure while the other is responsible for the deviations. We demonstrate the feasibility of this picture in a fairly model-independent way by using lepton-number-violating effective operators, whose structure we assume becomes dictated by an underlying $A_4$ flavor symmetry. We show that if a second mechanism is at work, the requirement of generating a reactor angle within its experimental range always fixes the solar and atmospheric angles in agreement with data, in contrast to the case where the deviations are induced by next-to-leading order effective operators. We prove this idea is viable by constructing an $A_4$-based ultraviolet completion, where the dominant tribimaximal structure arises from the type-I seesaw while the subleading contribution is determined by either type-II or type-III seesaw driven by a non-trivial $A_4$ singlet (minimal hybrid model). After finding general criteria, we identify all the $\mathbb{Z}_N$ symmetries capable of producing such $A_4$-based minimal hybrid models.Comment: 18 pages, 5 figures. v3: section including sum rules added, accepted by JHE

Clinical study of cervicogenic headache

The cervicogenic headache was studied to get a deeper insight into the pathogenetic mechanisms, and clinical presentation forms. Material and Methods. Eleven female patients, ranging from 34 to 81 years-old, with cervicogenic headaches, were studied and correlated with NMR images of the cervical spine. Results. Intense neck pain irradiated to parietal, occipital, temporal regions, and shoulders were correlated with NMR images of the degenerated cervical spine. Also, lumbar spine pathology, osteoporosis, gallstones, and cholecystitis were found. The following associated neurological, neurobehavioral, and metabolic diseases comorbidities were observed, such as blood hypertension, diabetes, obesity, hypothyroidism, partial epilepsy, tremor, familial stress, memory, sleep disorders, and dizziness. Also, we found mixed cervicogenic headaches and migraines in 50% of cases studied. Conclusion. The headache and the associated images of cervical pathology have been clinically interpreted as cardinal signs of cervicogenic headache. A mixed cervicogenic mixed type was observed

Supersymmetric Leptogenesis

We study leptogenesis in the supersymmetric standard model plus the seesaw. We identify important qualitative differences that characterize supersymmetric leptogenesis with respect to the non-supersymmetric case. The lepton number asymmetries in fermions and scalars do not equilibrate, and are related via a non-vanishing gaugino chemical potential. Due to the presence of new anomalous symmetries, electroweak sphalerons couple to winos and higgsinos, and QCD sphalerons couple to gluinos, thus modifying the corresponding chemical equilibrium conditions. A new constraint on particles chemical potentials corresponding to an exactly conserved $R$-charge, that also involves the number density asymmetry of the heavy sneutrinos, appears. These new ingredients determine the $3\times 4$ matrices that mix up the density asymmetries of the lepton flavours and of the heavy sneutrinos. We explain why in all temperature ranges the particle thermodynamic system is characterized by the same number of independent quantities. Numerical differences with respect to usual treatment remain at the ${\cal O}(1)$ level.Comment: 30 pages, 2 figures. Typos corrected, one reference added. Version published in JCA

Minimal lepton flavor violating realizations of minimal seesaw models

We study the implications of the global U(1)R symmetry present in minimal lepton flavor violating implementations of the seesaw mechanism for neutrino masses. In the context of minimal type I seesaw scenarios with a slightly broken U(1)R, we show that, depending on the R-charge assignments, two classes of generic models can be identified. Models where the right-handed neutrino masses and the lepton number breaking scale are decoupled, and models where the parameters that slightly break the U(1)R induce a suppression in the light neutrino mass matrix. We show that within the first class of models, contributions of right-handed neutrinos to charged lepton flavor violating processes are severely suppressed. Within the second class of models we study the charged lepton flavor violating phenomenology in detail, focusing on mu to e gamma, mu to 3e and mu to e conversion in nuclei. We show that sizable contributions to these processes are naturally obtained for right-handed neutrino masses at the TeV scale. We then discuss the interplay with the effects of the right-handed neutrino interactions on primordial B - L asymmetries, finding that sizable right-handed neutrino contributions to charged lepton flavor violating processes are incompatible with the requirement of generating (or even preserving preexisting) B - L asymmetries consistent with the observed baryon asymmetry of the Universe.Comment: 21 pages, 4 figures; version 2: Discussion on possible generic models extended, typos corrected, references added. Version matches publication in JHE

Lepton flavor violation and seesaw symmetries

peer reviewedWhen the standard model is extended with right-handed neutrinos the symmetries of the resulting Lagrangian are enlarged with a new global U(1)R Abelian factor. In the context of minimal seesaw models we analyze the implications of a slightly broken U(1)R symmetry on charged lepton flavor violating decays. We find, depending on the R-charge assignments, models where charged lepton flavor violating rates can be within measurable ranges. In particular, we show that in the resulting models due to the structure of the light neutrino mass matrix muon flavor violating decays are entirely determined by neutrino data (up to a normalization factor) and can be sizable in a wide right-handed neutrino mass range

Exploring genetic diversity for grain partitioning traits to enhance yield in a high biomass spring wheat panel

© 2020 Breeding to raise yield potential through enhancing photosynthesis will have limited impact unless harvest index (HI: proportion of above-ground biomass as grain yield) is maintained or ideally increased. Boosting grain dry matter (DM) partitioning will require increased allocation of assimilates to sink organs to enhance spike growth. A high biomass spring wheat panel of 150 genotypes encompassing elite, landrace-derived and synthetic-derived lines was grown under yield potential conditions in two seasons in NW Mexico. Results showed that the incorporation of landrace-derived and synthetic-derived backgrounds into elite lines resulted in higher expression of above-ground biomass (AGDM), leaf lamina and stem DM partitioning at anthesis. However, no grain yield advantage was observed over elite lines, due to lower grain number per unit area (GN) and decreased harvest index (HI). Positive linear associations were found among spike fertility-related traits - fruiting efficiency (grains per unit of spike DM at anthesis; FE), GN and HI - which were, in turn, related positively with grain yield (GY). Stem-internode 3 length and internode 3 DM partioning were negatively associated with spike partitioning index (SPI: ratio of spike DM to total above-ground DM at anthesis) and GN, suggesting an enhanced competition for assimilates between the spike and stem internode 3 during stem elongation. Within-spike DM partitioning analysis (glume, lemma, palea, rachis, awn) showed decreased partitioning to awns was associated with increased FE and thousand grain weight (TGW). While the use of exotic material can enhance biomass, special attention needs to be paid in the selection for novel DM partitioning traits that raise HI and GN coming from the elite genepool. The selection for grain partitioning traits in wheat breeding combined with sources expressing high biomass can potentially allow breeders to increase grain carbon assimilation that will deliver higher yields

Non-unitary Leptonic Mixing and Leptogenesis

We investigate the relation between non-unitarity of the leptonic mixing matrix and leptogenesis. We discuss how all parameters of the canonical type-I seesaw mechanism can, in principle, be reconstructed from the neutrino mass matrix and the deviation of the effective low-energy leptonic mixing matrix from unitary. When the mass M' of the lightest right-handed neutrino is much lighter than the masses of the others, we show that its decay asymmetries within flavour-dependent leptogenesis can be expressed in terms of two contributions, one depending on the unique dimension five (d=5) operator generating neutrino masses and one depending on the dimension six (d=6) operator associated with non-unitarity. In low-energy seesaw scenarios where small lepton number violation explains the smallness of neutrino masses, the lepton number conserving d=6 operator contribution generically dominates over the d=5 operator contribution which results in a strong enhancement of the flavour-dependent decay asymmetries without any resonance effects. To calculate the produced final baryon asymmetry, the flavour equilibration effects directly related to non-unitarity have to be taken into account. In a simple realization of this non-unitarity driven leptogenesis, the lower bound on M' is found to be about 10^8 GeV at the onset of the strong washout regime, more than one order of magnitude below the bound in "standard" thermal leptogenesis.Comment: 19 pages, REVTeX4, 2 eps and 2 axodraw figure