Dynamics of the Tippe Top via Routhian Reduction

We consider a tippe top modeled as an eccentric sphere, spinning on a horizontal table and subject to a sliding friction. Ignoring translational effects, we show that the system is reducible using a Routhian reduction technique. The reduced system is a two dimensional system of second order differential equations, that allows an elegant and compact way to retrieve the classification of tippe tops in six groups as proposed in [1] according to the existence and stability type of the steady states.Comment: 16 pages, 7 figures, added reference. Typos corrected and a forgotten term in de linearized system is adde

Spin Dependent Fragmentation Functions for Heavy Flavor Baryons and Single Heavy Hyperon Polarization

Spin dependent fragmentation functions for heavy flavor quarks to fragment into heavy baryons are calculated in a quark-diquark model. The production of intermediate spin 1/2 and 3/2 excited states is explicity included. $\Lambda_b$ , $\Lambda_c$ and $\Xi_c$ production rate and polarization at LEP energies are calculated and, where possible, compared with experiment. A different approach, also relying on a heavy quark-diquark model, is proposed for the small momentum transfer inclusive production of polarized heavy flavor hyperons. The predicted $\Lambda_c$ polarization is roughly in agreement with experiment.Comment: LaTeX2e 11 pages with 4 PostScript figures. To be published in Proceedings of the International Workshop ``Symmetries and spin'', Praha-SPIN-200

Photon and Z induced heavy charged lepton pair production at a hadron supercollider

We investigate the pair production of charged heavy leptons via photon-induced processes at the proposed CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Using effective photon and Z approximations, rates are given for $L^+L^-$ production due to $\gamma \gamma$ fusion and $Z \gamma$ fusion for the cases of inelastic, elastic and semi-elastic $pp$ collisions. These are compared with the corresponding rates for production via the gluon fusion and Drell-Yan mechanisms. Various $\gamma \gamma$ and $Z \gamma$ differential luminosities for $pp$ collisions are also presented.Comment: 22 pages, RevTex 3.0, 6 uuencoded and compressed postscript figures included. Reference to one paper changed from the original preprint number to the published version. Everything else unchange

Top Quark Decays into Heavy Quark Mesons

For top quark decays into heavy quark mesons $\Upsilon$ and $\bar{B}_c^*$ , a complete calculation to the leading order both in QCD coupling constant $\alpha_s$ and in $v$, the typical velocity of the heavy quarks inside the mesons, is performed. Relatons between the top quark mass and the decay branching ratios are studied. Comparion with the results which are obtained by using the quark frangmentation functions is also discussed. The branching ratios are consistent (within a factor of $2\sim 3$) with that obtained using fragmentation functions at $m_t\sim 150$ GeV.Comment: 15 pages in LaTex form, 4 figures include

Particle Physics Approach to Dark Matter

We review the main proposals of particle physics for the composition of the cold dark matter in the universe. Strong axion contribution to cold dark matter is not favored if the Peccei-Quinn field emerges with non-zero value at the end of inflation and the inflationary scale is superheavy since, under these circumstances, it leads to unacceptably large isocurvature perturbations. The lightest neutralino is the most popular candidate constituent of cold dark matter. Its relic abundance in the constrained minimal supersymmetric standard model can be reduced to acceptable values by pole annihilation of neutralinos or neutralino-stau coannihilation. Axinos can also contribute to cold dark matter provided that the reheat temperature is adequately low. Gravitinos can constitute the cold dark matter only in limited regions of the parameter space. We present a supersymmetric grand unified model leading to violation of Yukawa unification and, thus, allowing an acceptable b-quark mass within the constrained minimal supersymmetric standard model with mu>0. The model possesses a wide range of parameters consistent with the data on the cold dark matter abundance as well as other phenomenological constraints. Also, it leads to a new version of shifted hybrid inflation.Comment: 32 pages including 6 figures, uses svmult.cls, some clarifications added, lectures given at the Third Aegean Summer School "The Invisible Universe: Dark Matter and Dark Energy", 26 September-1 October 2005, Karfas, Island of Chios, Greece (to appear in the proceedings

Higgs Scalars in the Minimal Non-minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model

We consider the simplest and most economic version among the proposed non-minimal supersymmetric models, in which the $\mu$-parameter is promoted to a singlet superfield, whose all self-couplings are absent from the renormalizable superpotential. Such a particularly simple form of the renormalizable superpotential may be enforced by discrete $R$-symmetries which are extended to the gravity-induced non-renormalizable operators as well. We show explicitly that within the supergravity-mediated supersymmetry-breaking scenario, the potentially dangerous divergent tadpoles associated with the presence of the gauge singlet first appear at loop levels higher than 5 and therefore do not destabilize the gauge hierarchy. The model provides a natural explanation for the origin of the $\mu$-term, without suffering from the visible axion or the cosmological domain-wall problem. Focusing on the Higgs sector of this minimal non-minimal supersymmetric standard model, we calculate its effective Higgs potential by integrating out the dominant quantum effects due to stop squarks. We then discuss the phenomenological implications of the Higgs scalars predicted by the theory for the present and future high-energy colliders. In particular, we find that our new minimal non-minimal supersymmetric model can naturally accommodate a relatively light charged Higgs boson, with a mass close to the present experimental lower bound.Comment: 63 pages (12 figures), extended versio

Phenomenology of flavor-mediated supersymmetry breaking

The phenomenology of a new economical SUSY model that utilizes dynamical SUSY breaking and gauge-mediation (GM) for the generation of the sparticle spectrum and the hierarchy of fermion masses is discussed. Similarities between the communication of SUSY breaking through a messenger sector, and the generation of flavor using the Froggatt-Nielsen (FN) mechanism are exploited, leading to the identification of vector-like messenger fields with FN fields, and the messenger U(1) as a flavor symmetry. An immediate consequence is that the first and second generation scalars acquire flavor-dependent masses, but do not violate FCNC bounds since their mass scale, consistent with effective SUSY, is of order 10 TeV. We define and advocate a minimal flavor-mediated model (MFMM), recently introduced in the literature, that successfully accommodates the small flavor-breaking parameters of the standard model using order one couplings and ratios of flavon field vevs. The mediation of SUSY breaking occurs via two-loop log-enhanced GM contributions, as well as several one-loop and two-loop Yukawa-mediated contributions for which we provide analytical expressions. The MFMM is parameterized by a small set of masses and couplings, with values restricted by several model constraints and experimental data. The next-to-lightest sparticle (NLSP) always has a decay length that is larger than the scale of a detector, and is either the lightest stau or the lightest neutralino. Similar to ordinary GM models, the best collider search strategies are, respectively, inclusive production of at least one highly ionizing track, or events with many taus plus missing energy. In addition, D^0 - \bar{D}^0 mixing is also a generic low energy signal. Finally, the dynamical generation of the neutrino masses is briefly discussed.Comment: 54 pages, LaTeX, 8 figure

The TESS-Keck Survey. II. An Ultra-Short-Period Rocky Planet And Its Siblings Transiting The Galactic Thick-Disk Star TOI-561

We report the discovery of TOI-561, a multiplanet system in the galactic thick disk that contains a rocky, ultra-short-period planet. This bright (V = 10.2) star hosts three small transiting planets identified in photometry from the NASA TESS mission: TOI-561 b (TOI-561.02, P = 0.44 days, Rp = 1.45 ± 0.11 R⊕), c (TOI-561.01, P = 10.8 days, Rp = 2.90 ± 0.13 R⊕), and d (TOI-561.03, P = 16.3 days, Rp = 2.32 ± 0.16 R⊕). The star is chemically ([Fe/H] = −0.41 ± 0.05, [α/Fe] = +0.23 ± 0.05) and kinematically consistent with the galactic thick-disk population, making TOI-561 one of the oldest (10 ± 3 Gyr) and most metal-poor planetary systems discovered yet. We dynamically confirm planets b and c with radial velocities from the W. M. Keck Observatory High Resolution Echelle Spectrometer. Planet b has a mass and density of 3.2 ± 0.8 M⊕ and ${5.5}_{-1.6}^{+2.0}$g cm−3, consistent with a rocky composition. Its lower-than-average density is consistent with an iron-poor composition, although an Earth-like iron-to-silicates ratio is not ruled out. Planet c is 7.0 ± 2.3 M⊕ and 1.6 ± 0.6 g cm−3, consistent with an interior rocky core overlaid with a low-mass volatile envelope. Several attributes of the photometry for planet d (which we did not detect dynamically) complicate the analysis, but we vet the planet with high-contrast imaging, ground-based photometric follow-up, and radial velocities. TOI-561 b is the first rocky world around a galactic thick-disk star confirmed with radial velocities and one of the best rocky planets for thermal emission studies