Varying the Universality of Supersymmetry-Breaking Contributions to MSSM Higgs Boson Masses

We consider the minimal supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model (MSSM) with varying amounts of non-universality in the soft supersymmetry-breaking contributions to the Higgs scalar masses. In addition to the constrained MSSM (CMSSM) in which these are universal with the soft supersymmetry-breaking contributions to the squark and slepton masses at the input GUT scale, we consider scenarios in which both the Higgs scalar masses are non-universal by the same amount (NUHM1), and scenarios in which they are independently non-universal (NUHM2). We show how the NUHM1 scenarios generalize the (m_{1/2}, m_0) planes of the CMSSM by allowing either mu or m_A to take different (fixed) values and we also show how the NUHM1 scenarios are embedded as special cases of the more general NUHM2 scenarios. Generalizing from the CMSSM, we find regions of the NUHM1 parameter space that are excluded because the LSP is a selectron. We also find new regions where the neutralino relic density falls within the range preferred by astrophysical and cosmological measurements, thanks to rapid annihilation through direct-channel Higgs poles, or coannihilation with selectrons, or because the LSP composition crosses over from being mainly bino to mainly Higgsino. Generalizing further to the NUHM2, we find regions of its parameter space where a sneutrino is the LSP, and others where neutralino coannihilation with sneutrinos is important for the relic density. In both the NUHM1 and the NUHM2, there are slivers of parameter space where the LHC has fewer prospects for discovering sparticles than in the CMSSM, because either m_{1/2} and/or m_0 may be considerably larger than in the CMSSM.Comment: 39 pages, 16 figure

Temporal and Spatial Coherence: chronological and affective narrative within holographic and lenticular space.

The thesis for this practice-based study maintains that the Z and X axes of lenticular and holographic space can be used to store images chronologically, providing an audience with a new experience with affective and authentic impact. My contribution to knowledge has been to create a new element to the lenticular, analogue and digitally animated holographic artform. My research presents my family’s archival material – photographs, film, text and objects – in a sequential order within the Z and X axes of holographic space, creating an animated four-dimensional (4-D) family album in which my ancestors recede into holographic space and members of the current generation float in front of the surface of the media. Audience experience of the artwork has been gathered and evaluated, providing evidence of the research study’s contribution to knowledge.University of Southampto

The Higgs Mass beyond the CMSSM

The apparent discovery of a Higgs boson with mass ~125 GeV has had a significant impact on the constrained minimal supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model in which the scalar masses, gaugino masses and tri-linear A-terms are assumed to be universal at the GUT scale (the CMSSM). Much of the low-mass parameter space in the CMSSM has been excluded by supersymmetric particle searches at the LHC as well as by the Higgs mass measurement and the emergent signal for B_s to mu^+ mu^-. Here, we consider the impact of these recent LHC results on several variants of the CMSSM with a primary focus on obtaining a Higgs mass of ~125 GeV. In particular, we consider the one- and two-parameter extensions of the CMSSM with one or both of the Higgs masses set independently of the common sfermion mass, m_0 (the NUHM1,2). We also consider the one-parameter extension of the CMSSM in which the input universality scale M_in is below the GUT scale (the sub-GUT CMSSM). We find that when M_in < M_GUT large regions of parameter space open up where the relic density of neutralinos can successfully account for dark matter with a Higgs boson mass ~125 GeV. In some of these regions essential roles are played by coannihilation processes that are usually less important in the CMSSM with M_in = M_GUT. Finally, we reconsider mSUGRA models with sub-GUT universality, which have the same number of parameters as the CMSSM. Here too, we find phenomenologically viable regions of parameter space, which are essentially non-existent in GUT-scale mSUGRA models. Interestingly, we find that the preferred range of the A-term straddles that predicted by the simplest Polonyi model.Comment: 28 pages, 12 figure

Down regulation of gene expression in Mucor mucedo and Mucor circinelloides by transformation with antisense morpholino oligonucleotides

Die Regulierung der Genexpression unter Verwendung von Antisense-Oligo-Morpholino-Nukleotiden (MO) ermöglicht viele neue Anwendungen. Diese Technik mit MO Nukleotiden wurde zum erstem Mal in Zygomyceten eingesetzt und es gelang die Genexpression von crgA aus Mucor mucedo und die ku70-Genexpressions aus Mucor circinelloides herunter zu regulieren. Stabile genetische Manipulationen in Zygomyceten sind sehr seltene Ereignisse. In der überwiegenden Mehrzahl der Fälle werden die transformierten Vektoren in den Transformanden autonom repliziert. Sowohl ektopische als auch homologe Integration von Vektoren sind äußerst selten zu finden und es ist die Charakterisierung von vielen 100 Transformanden notwendig, um diese Integranten zu finden. Um die Funktionaltät der Methode zeigen zu können, wurden zwei verschiedene MOs entwickelt: das crgA MO wurde abgeleitet von der Sequenz des neu isolierten Genfragments für crgA aus Mucor mucedo. Das ku70 MO wurde aus der Genomsequenz von Mucor circinelloides abgeleitet. Beide Nukleotide habe eine Länge von 25 bp. Die Expression der folgenden Gene soll durch die MOs gesteuert werden. 1. Das crgA Protein ist ein negativer Regulator der Carotinsynthese und ein Abfall der Genexpression sollte zu einer erhöhten Carotin-Synthese führen. Die Zu- oder Abnahme von Carotin kann nach Extraktion aus den Zellen einfach photometrisch bestimmt werden. Das crgA MO wurde mit Hilfe von Elektroporation in Protoplasten von M. mucedo eingeschleust. Es konnte die Zunahme von Carotin nach Behandlung mit crgA MO nachgewiesen werden. Dies ist das erste Transformations-Experiment in M. mucedo. Die Methode zur Protoplastierung von M. mucedo wurde ebenfalls etabliert. 2. Die ku70-Genexpression in Mucor circinelloides wurde ebenfalls durch ein ku70 MO moduliert. Dabei wurde Mucor circinelloides gleichzeitig mit dem ku70 MO und einer mutierten Version des pEUKA4 Vektors transformiert. Das Marker-Gen Leu 2 für die Leucin-Biosynthese enthält eine stille Mutation durch Austausch eines einzelnen Nukleotids, die zu einer neuen XbaI Restriktionserkennungsstelle führt. Dies ermöglicht ein einfacheres Screening von Transformanten, die das Gen homolog integriert haben und unterscheidet diese von möglichen Revertanten. Die Southern-Blot-Analyse der Transformanden zeigten stabile integrative Transformanten und nur wenige, die den Vektor autonom replizieren. Diese Ergebnisse zeigen, dass MOs die Genexpression blockieren können. In Zukunft könnte diese Technik nützlich sein für die Untersuchung von ausgewählten Genen und der Modulation der Genexpression in Zygomyceten

Genetic analysis of safflower domestication.

BackgroundSafflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) is an oilseed crop in the Compositae (a.k.a. Asteraceae) that is valued for its oils rich in unsaturated fatty acids. Here, we present an analysis of the genetic architecture of safflower domestication and compare our findings to those from sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.), an independently domesticated oilseed crop within the same family.We mapped quantitative trait loci (QTL) underlying 24 domestication-related traits in progeny from a cross between safflower and its wild progenitor, Carthamus palaestinus Eig. Also, we compared QTL positions in safflower against those that have been previously identified in cultivated x wild sunflower crosses to identify instances of colocalization.ResultsWe mapped 61 QTL, the vast majority of which (59) exhibited minor or moderate phenotypic effects. The two large-effect QTL corresponded to one each for flower color and leaf spininess. A total of 14 safflower QTL colocalized with previously reported sunflower QTL for the same traits. Of these, QTL for three traits (days to flower, achene length, and number of selfed seed) had cultivar alleles that conferred effects in the same direction in both species.ConclusionsAs has been observed in sunflower, and unlike many other crops, our results suggest that the genetics of safflower domestication is quite complex. Moreover, our comparative mapping results indicate that safflower and sunflower exhibit numerous instances of QTL colocalization, suggesting that parallel trait transitions during domestication may have been driven, at least in part, by parallel genotypic evolution at some of the same underlying genes

Beyond the CMSSM without an Accelerator: Proton Decay and Direct Dark Matter Detection

We consider two potential non-accelerator signatures of generalizations of the well-studied constrained minimal supersymmetric standard model (CMSSM). In one generalization, the universality constraints on soft supersymmetry-breaking parameters are applied at some input scale $M_{in}$ below the grand unification (GUT) scale $M_{GUT}$, a scenario referred to as `sub-GUT'. The other generalization we consider is to retain GUT-scale universality for the squark and slepton masses, but to relax universality for the soft supersymmetry-breaking contributions to the masses of the Higgs doublets. As with other CMSSM-like models, the measured Higgs mass requires supersymmetric particle masses near or beyond the TeV scale. Because of these rather heavy sparticle masses, the embedding of these CMSSM-like models in a minimal SU(5) model of grand unification can yield a proton lifetime consistent with current experimental limits, and may be accessible in existing and future proton decay experiments. Another possible signature of these CMSSM-like models is direct detection of supersymmetric dark matter. The direct dark matter scattering rate is typically below the reach of the LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) experiment if $M_{in}$ is close to $M_{GUT}$, but may lie within its reach if $M_{in} \lesssim 10^{11}$ GeV. Likewise, generalizing the CMSSM to allow non-universal supersymmetry-breaking contributions to the Higgs offers extensive possibilities for models within reach of the LZ experiment that have long proton lifetimes.Comment: 42 pages, 15 figure

Sparticle Discovery Potentials in the CMSSM and GUT-less Supersymmetry-Breaking Scenarios

We consider the potentials of the LHC and a linear e^+e^- collider (LC) for discovering supersymmetric particles in variants of the MSSM with soft supersymmetry-breaking mass parameters constrained to be universal at the GUT scale (CMSSM) or at some lower scale M_{in} (GUT-less models), as may occur in some scenarios with mirage unification. Whereas the LHC should be able to discover squarks and/or gluinos along all the CMSSM coannihilation strip where the relic neutralino LSP density lies within the range favoured for cold dark matter, many GUT-less models could escape LHC detection. In particular, if M_{in} < 10^{11} GeV, the LHC would not detect sparticles if the relic density lies within the favoured range. For any given discovery of supersymmetry at the LHC, in such GUT-less models the lightest neutralino mass and hence the threshold for sparticle pair production at a LC increases as M_{in} decreases, and the CMSSM offers the best prospects for measuring sparticles at a LC. For example, if the LHC discovers sparticles with 1 fb^{-1} of data, within the CMSSM a centre-of-mass energy of 600 GeV would suffice for a LC to to produce pairs of neutralinos, if they provide the cold dark matter, whereas over 1 TeV might be required in a general GUT-less model. These required energies increase to 800 GeV in the CMSSM and 1.4 TeV in GUT-less models if the LHC requires 10 fb^{-1} to discover supersymmetry.Comment: 20 pages, 6 figures; Update to Fig. 4, references adde

Data assimilation for the Martian atmosphere using MGS Thermal Emission Spectrometer observations

From the introduction: Given the quantity of data expected from current and forthcoming spacecraft missions to Mars, it is now possible to use data assimilation as a means of atmospheric analysis for the first time for a planet other than the Earth. Several groups have described plans to develop assimilation schemes for Mars [Banfield et al., 1995; Houben, 1999; Lewis and Read, 1995; Lewis et al., 1996, 1997; Zhang et al., 2001]. Data assimilation is a technique for the analysis of atmospheric observations which combines currently valid information with prior knowledge from previous observations and dynamical and physical constraints, via the use of a numerical model. Despite the number of new missions, observations of the atmosphere of Mars in the near future are still likely to be sparse when compared to those of the Earth, perhaps comprising one orbiter and a few surface stations at best at any one time. Data assimilation is useful as a means to extract the maximum information from such observations, both by a form of interpolation in space and time using model constraints and by the combination of information from different observations, e.g. temperature profiles and surface pressure measurements which may be irregularly distributed. The procedure can produce a dynamically consistent set of meteorological fields and can be used directly to test and to refine an atmospheric model against observations

Assimilation of TES data from the Mars Global Surveyor scientifc mapping phase

The Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES)aboard Mars Global Surveyor has produced data which cover almost two Martian years so far (during its scientific mapping phase). Thermal profiles for the atmosphere below 40 km and total dust opacities can be retrieved from TES nadir spectra and assimilated into a Mars general circulation model (MGCM), by using the assimilation techniques described in detail by Lewis et al. (2002). This paper describes some preliminary results from assimilations of temperature data from the period Ls=141°- 270° corresponding to late northern summer until winter solstice on Mars. Work in progress is devoted to assimilate both temperature and total dust opacity data for the full period for which they are already available

学会抄録

Genetic map file of consensus genotypes for each contig