856 research outputs found
Superpotential de-sequestering in string models
Non-perturbative superpotential cross-couplings between visible sector matter
and K\"ahler moduli can lead to significant flavour-changing neutral currents
in compactifications of type IIB string theory. Here, we compute corrections to
Yukawa couplings in orbifold models with chiral matter localised on D3-branes
and non-perturbative effects on distant D7-branes. By evaluating a threshold
correction to the D7-brane gauge coupling, we determine conditions under which
the non-perturbative corrections to the Yukawa couplings appear. The flavour
structure of the induced Yukawa coupling generically fails to be aligned with
the tree-flavour structure. We check our results by also evaluating a
correlation function of two D7-brane gauginos and a D3-brane Yukawa coupling.
Finally, by calculating a string amplitude between n hidden scalars and visible
matter we show how non-vanishing vacuum expectation values of distant D7-brane
scalars, if present, may correct visible Yukawa couplings with a flavour
structure that differs from the tree-level flavour structure.Comment: 37 pages + appendices, 8 figure
FCNC Processes from D-brane Instantons
Low string scale models might be tested at the LHC directly by their Regge
resonances. For such models it is important to investigate the constraints of
Standard Model precision measurements on the string scale. It is shown that
highly suppressed FCNC processes like K0- bar K^0 oscillations or leptonic
decays of the D0-meson provide non-negligible lower bounds on both the
perturbatively and surprisingly also non-perturbatively induced string theory
couplings. We present both the D-brane instanton formalism to compute such
amplitudes and discuss various possible scenarios and their constraints on the
string scale for (softly broken) supersymmetric intersecting D-brane models.Comment: 28 pages, 13 figures, reference added, 1 typo corrected, style file
adde
Synchrotron imaging assessment of bone quality
Bone is a complex hierarchical structure and its principal function is to resist mechanical forces and fracture. Bone strength depends not only on the quantity of bone tissue but also on the shape and hierarchical structure. The hierarchical levels are interrelated, especially the micro-architecture, collagen and mineral components; hence analysis of their specific roles in bone strength and stiffness is difficult. Synchrotron imaging technologies including micro-CT and small/wide angle X-Ray scattering/diffraction are becoming increasingly popular for studying bone because the images can resolve deformations in the micro-architecture and collagen-mineral matrix under in situ mechanical loading. Synchrotron cannot be directly applied in-vivo due to the high radiation dose but will allow researchers to carry out systematic multifaceted studies of bone ex-vivo. Identifying characteristics of aging and disease will underpin future efforts to generate novel devices and interventional therapies for assessing and promoting healthy aging. With our own research work as examples, this paper introduces how synchrotron imaging technology can be used with in-situ testing in bone research
Holomorphic variables in magnetized brane models with continuous Wilson lines
We analyze the action of the target-space modular group in toroidal type IIB
orientifold compactifications with magnetized D-branes and continuous Wilson
lines. The transformation of matter fields agree with that of twisted fields in
heterotic compactifications, constituting a check of type I/heterotic duality.
We identify the holomorphic N = 1 variables for these compactifications. Matter
fields and closed string moduli are both redefined by open string moduli. The
redefinition of matter fields can be read directly from the perturbative Yukawa
couplings, whereas closed string moduli redefinitions are obtained from D-brane
instanton superpotential couplings. The resulting expressions reproduce and
generalize, in the presence of internal magnetic fields, previous results in
the literature.Comment: 9 pages, no figures; v2: conventions for Wilson lines changed, major
simplifications in expressions, discussions extended, typos corrected, some
references adde
Flux and Instanton Effects in Local F-theory Models and Hierarchical Fermion Masses
We study the deformation induced by fluxes and instanton effects on Yukawa
couplings involving 7-brane intersections in local F-theory constructions. In
the absence of non-perturbative effects, holomorphic Yukawa couplings do not
depend on open string fluxes. On the other hand instanton effects (or gaugino
condensation on distant 7-branes) do induce corrections to the Yukawas. The
leading order effect may also be captured by the presence of closed string
(1,2) IASD fluxes, which give rise to a non-commutative structure. We check
that even in the presence of these non-perturbative effects the holomorphic
Yukawas remain independent of magnetic fluxes. Although fermion mass
hierarchies may be obtained from these non-perturbative effects, they would
give identical Yukawa couplings for D-quark and Lepton masses in SU(5) F-theory
GUT's, in contradiction with experiment. We point out that this problem may be
solved by appropriately normalizing the wavefunctions. We show in a simple toy
model how the presence of hypercharge flux may then be responsible for the
difference between D-quarks and Lepton masses in local SU(5) GUT's.Comment: 84 pages, 1 figure. v2: minor corrections and references adde
General Gauge Mediation at the Weak Scale
We completely characterize General Gauge Mediation (GGM) at the weak scale by
solving all IR constraints over the full parameter space. This is made possible
through a combination of numerical and analytical methods, based on a set of
algebraic relations among the IR soft masses derived from the GGM boundary
conditions in the UV. We show how tensions between just a few constraints
determine the boundaries of the parameter space: electroweak symmetry breaking
(EWSB), the Higgs mass, slepton tachyons, and left-handed stop/sbottom
tachyons. While these constraints allow the left-handed squarks to be
arbitrarily light, they place strong lower bounds on all of the right-handed
squarks. Meanwhile, light EW superpartners are generic throughout much of the
parameter space. This is especially the case at lower messenger scales, where a
positive threshold correction to coming from light Higgsinos and winos is
essential in order to satisfy the Higgs mass constraint.Comment: 43 pages, 20 figures, mathematica package included in the sourc
Radiative Fermion Masses in Local D-Brane Models
In the context of D-brane model building, we present a realistic framework
for generating fermion masses that are forbidden by global symmetries. We show
that the string theoretical Large volume scenario circumvents the standard lore
that fermion masses generated by loop effects are too small in generic gravity
mediated scenarios. We argue that the fact that in toric singularity models,
the up quark masses have always a zero eigenvalue, corresponding to the
lightest generation, is due to the presence of approximate global symmetries
that we explicitly identify in del Pezzo singularities. These symmetries are
broken by global effects and therefore proportional to inverse powers of the
volume. We estimate the generic size of radiative corrections to fermion masses
in different phenomenological manifestations of the Large volume scenario.
Concrete realizations in terms of flavor violating soft-terms are estimated and
contrasted with current bounds on flavour changing neutral currents.
Contributions from generic extra Higgs-like fields set bounds on their masses
close to the GUT scale to produce realistic fermion masses.Comment: 21 pages. v2: minor rewording and reference adde
Factors associated with educational aspirations among adolescents: cues to counteract socioeconomic differences?
Background: Our study aims to follow this effort and to explore the association between health, socioeconomic background, school-related factors, social support and adolescents' sense of coherence and educational aspirations among adolescents from different educational tracks and to contribute to the existing body of knowledge on the role of educational aspirations in the social reproduction of health inequalities. We expect that socioeconomic background will contribute to the development of educational aspirations, but this association will be modified by available social and individual resources, which may be particularly favourable for the group of adolescents who are on lower educational tracks, since for them such resources may lead to gaining a higher educational level. Methods: We collected data on the socioeconomic background (mother's and father's education and employment status, doubts about affordability of future study), school-related factors (school atmosphere, school conditions, attitudes towards school), perceived social support, sense of coherence (manageability, comprehensibility, meaningfulness) and the self-rated health of a national sample of Slovak adolescents (n = 1992, 53.5% females, mean age 16.9 years). We assessed the association of these factors with educational aspirations, overall and by educational tracks (grammar schools, specialised secondary schools, vocational schools). Results: We found statistically significant associations with educational aspirations for the factors parental educational level, father's unemployment, doubts about the affordability of future study, school atmosphere, attitude towards school, social support from the father and a sense of coherence. Social support from the mother and friends was not associated with educational aspiration, nor was self-rated health. Besides affinity towards school, the determinants of educational aspirations differed among adolescents on different educational tracks. Educational aspirations of grammar school students were associated with father's education, while the aspirations of their peers on lower educational tracks had a stronger association with mother's education and perceived social support from father and friends. Moreover, a sense of coherence contributes to the reporting of educational aspiration by students on different educational tracks. Conclusions: Characteristics of the school environment, the family and the individual adolescent are all associated with the level of educational aspiration, but in a different way for different educational tracks. Interventions aimed at reducing socioeconomic inequalities in health via the educational system should, therefore, take this variation and the rather pivotal role of the father into account
Articles by Latin American Authors in Prestigious Journals Have Fewer Citations
Background: the journal Impact factor (IF) is generally accepted to be a good measurement of the relevance/quality of articles that a journal publishes. in spite of an, apparently, homogenous peer-review process for a given journal, we hypothesize that the country affiliation of authors from developing Latin American (LA) countries affects the IF of a journal detrimentally.Methodology/Principal Findings: Seven prestigious international journals, one multidisciplinary journal and six serving specific branches of science, were examined in terms of their IF in the Web of Science. Two subsets of each journal were then selected to evaluate the influence of author's affiliation on the IF. They comprised contributions (i) with authorship from four Latin American (LA) countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Mexico) and (ii) with authorship from five developed countries (England, France, Germany, Japan and USA). Both subsets were further subdivided into two groups: articles with authorship from one country only and collaborative articles with authorship from other countries. Articles from the five developed countries had IF close to the overall IF of the journals and the influence of collaboration on this value was minor. in the case of LA articles the effect of collaboration (virtually all with developed countries) was significant. the IFs for non-collaborative articles averaged 66% of the overall IF of the journals whereas the articles in collaboration raised the IFs to values close to the overall IF.Conclusion/Significance: the study shows a significantly lower IF in the group of the subsets of non-collaborative LA articles and thus that country affiliation of authors from non-developed LA countries does affect the IF of a journal detrimentally. There are no data to indicate whether the lower IFs of LA articles were due to their inherent inferior quality/relevance or psycho-social trend towards under-citation of articles from these countries. However, further study is required since there are foreseeable consequences of this trend as it may stimulate strategies by editors to turn down articles that tend to be under-cited.Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Latin Amer & Caribbean Ctr Hlth Sci Informat, BIREME PAHO WHO, São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, DIS Dept Informat Med, São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, DIS Dept Informat Med, São Paulo, BrazilFAPESP: 05/57665-8CNPq: 2006-0919Web of Scienc
Massive Abelian Gauge Symmetries and Fluxes in F-theory
F-theory compactified on a Calabi-Yau fourfold naturally describes
non-Abelian gauge symmetries through the singularity structure of the elliptic
fibration. In contrast Abelian symmetries are more difficult to study because
of their inherently global nature. We argue that in general F-theory
compactifications there are massive Abelian symmetries, such as the uplift of
the Abelian part of the U(N) gauge group on D7-branes, that arise from
non-Kahler resolutions of the dual M-theory setup. The four-dimensional
F-theory vacuum with vanishing expectation values for the gauge fields
corresponds to the Calabi-Yau limit. We propose that fluxes that are turned on
along these U(1)s are uplifted to non-harmonic four-form fluxes. We derive the
effective four-dimensional gauged supergravity resulting from F-theory
compactifications in the presence of the Abelian gauge factors including the
effects of possible fluxes on the gauging, tadpoles and matter spectrum.Comment: 49 page
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