Vacuum Alignment in Technicolor Theories-I. The Technifermion Sector

We have carried out numerical studies of vacuum alignment in technicolor models of electroweak and flavor symmetry breaking. The goal is to understand alignment's implications for strong and weak CP nonconservation in quark interactions. In this first part, we restrict our attention to the technifermion sector of simple models. We find several interesting phenomena, including (1) the possibility that all observable phases in the technifermions' unitary vacuum-alignment matrix are integer multiples of \pi/N' where N' \le N, the number of technifermion doublets, and (2) the possibility of exceptionally light pseudoGoldstone technipions.Comment: 19 pages, Latex with one postscript figur

Compressive optical interferometry

Compressive sensing (CS) combines data acquisition with compression coding to reduce the number of measurements required to reconstruct a sparse signal. In optics, this usually takes the form of projecting the field onto sequences of random spatial patterns that are selected from an appropriate random ensemble. We show here that CS can be exploited in `native' optics hardware without introducing added components. Specifically, we show that random sub-Nyquist sampling of an interferogram helps reconstruct the field modal structure. The distribution of reduced sensing matrices corresponding to random measurements is provably incoherent and isotropic, which helps us carry out CS successfully

The Collider Phenomenology of Technihadrons in the Technicolor Straw Man Model

We discuss the phenomenology of the lightest SU(3)_C singlet and non-singlet technihadrons in the Straw Man Model of low-scale technicolor (TCSM). The technihadrons are assumed to be those arising in topcolor--assisted technicolor models in which topcolor is broken by technifermion condensates. We improve upon the description of the color--singlet sector presented in our earlier paper introducing the TCSM (hep-ph/9903369). These improvements are most important for subprocess energies well below the masses of the technirho and techniomega, and, therefore, apply especially to e+e- colliders such as LEP and a low--energy linear collider. In the color--octet sector, we consider mixing of the gluon, the coloron V_8 from topcolor breaking, and four isosinglet color--octet technirho mesons. We assume, as expected in walking technicolor, that these technirhos decay into qbar-q, gg, and g-technipion final states, but not into technipion pairs. All the TCSM production and decay processes discussed here are included in the event generator Pythia. We present several simulations appropriate for the Tevatron Collider, and suggest benchmark model lines for further experimental investigation.Comment: 42 pages, 7 figure

Development of school energy policy and energy education plans: A comparative case study in three Wisconsin school communities

Cataloged from PDF version of article.Through a qualitative comparative case study, this investigation examined the process by which three school districts in Wisconsin, U.S.A., developed a school energy policy and complementary energy education plan. To guide the process, the researchers created an outline of recommended steps for the districts to follow. Although there were variations in the sequence and perceived ease of the steps, the Energy Task Force members involved in the process found the outline to be a supportive guide. Further analysis of the cases involved interviewing members of the Energy Task Forces to identify facilitating and obstructing factors. The study concluded that factors such as level of environmental literacy, along with aspects of the school culture and leadership, interacted to influence the successful drafting of school energy policies and education plans. In addition to introducing an outline of recommended steps that can be used by other school policy development teams interested in promoting energy efficiency, this study adds insights into the analysis of energy policy work within the context of a school setting. & 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Discovering predictive variables when evolving cognitive models

A non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm is used to evolve models of learning from different theories for multiple tasks. Correlation analysis is performed to identify parameters which affect performance on specific tasks; these are the predictive variables. Mutation is biased so that changes to parameter values tend to preserve values within the population's current range. Experimental results show that optimal models are evolved, and also that uncovering predictive variables is beneficial in improving the rate of convergence

Composite Scalars at LEP: Constraining Technicolor Theories

LEPI and LEPII data can be used to constrain technicolor models with light, neutral pseudo-Nambu-Goldstone bosons, Pa. We use published limits on branching ratios and cross sections for final states with photons, large missing energy, jet pairs, and b bbar pairs to constrain the anomalous Pa Z0 Z0, Pa Z0 photon, and Pa photon photon couplings. From these results, we derive bounds on the size of the technicolor gauge group and the number of technifermion doublets in models such as Low-scale Technicolor.Comment: 27 pages (including title page), 15 figures, 6 tables. version 2: In addressing PRD referee comments, we have significantly expanded our manuscript, to include detailed discussion of limits from LEP II data, as well as expanding the number or specific models to which we apply our results. As a result, we have changed the title from "Z0 decays to composite scalars: constraining technicolor theories

Resonant and Non-Resonant Effects in Photon-Technipion Production at Lepton Colliders

Lepton collider experiments can search for light technipions in final states made striking by the presence of an energetic photon: e+e- \to \photon\technipion. To date, searches have focused on either production through anomalous coupling of the technipions to electroweak gauge bosons or on production through a technivector meson (\technirho, \techniomega) resonance. This paper creates a combined framework in which both contributions are included. This will allow stronger and more accurate limits on technipion production to be set using existing data from LEP or future data from a higher-energy linear collider. We provide explicit formulas and sample calculations (analytic and Pythia) in the framework of the Technicolor Straw Man Model, a model that includes light technihadrons.Comment: 11 pages, including title page, 3 figures; version 2: references adde

Scalars from Top-condensation Models at Hadron Colliders

We study the production and decay of neutral scalars and pseudo-scalars at hadron colliders, in theories where the top-quark mass is the result of a $t\bar t$ condensate. We show that the dominant decay channel for masses below the $t\bar t$ threshold is the flavor changing mode $tc$. This is a consequence of the non-universal nature of the underlying interactions in all top-condensation models and provides a model-independent signature of these scenarios. We show that an upgraded Tevatron is sensitive to a sizeable region of the interesting parameter space and that the LHC will highly constrain these models through this flavor violating channel.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures. Minor changes in figures for readibility. final version to appear in PR

Charmonium levels near threshold and the narrow state X(3872) \to \pi^{+}\pi^{-}\jpsi

We explore the influence of open-charm channels on charmonium properties, and profile the 1:3D2, 1:3D3 and 2:1P1 charmonium candidates for X(3872). The favored candidates, the 1:3D2 and 1:3D3 levels, both have prominent radiative decays. The 1:3D2 might be visible in the $D^{0}\bar{D}^{*0}$ channel, while the dominant decay of the 1:3D3 state should be into $D\bar{D}$. We propose that additional discrete charmonium levels can be discovered as narrow resonances of charmed and anticharmed mesons.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, uses RevTeX and boxedeps; few transcription errors corrected in Tables IV and VI, three entries added in Table V, updated references. Version to appear in Phys. Rev.

A pilot randomized controlled trial of pioglitazone for the treatment of poorly controlled asthma in obesity

Background: Obese asthmatics tend to have poorly controlled asthma, and resistance to standard asthma controller medications. The purpose of this study was to determine the efficacy of pioglitazone, an anti-diabetic medication which can alter circulating adipokines and have direct effects on asthmatic inflammation, in the treatment of asthma in obesity. Methods: A two-center, 12-week, randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blinded trial. Treatments were randomly assigned with concealment of allocation. The primary outcome was difference in change in airway reactivity between participants assigned to pioglitazone versus placebo at 12weeks. Results: Twenty-three participants were randomized to treatment, 19 completed the study. Median airway reactivity, measured by PC20 to methacholine was 1.99 (IQR 3.08) and 1.60 (5.91) mg/ml in placebo and pioglitazone group at baseline, and 2.37 (15.22) and 5.08 (7.42) mg/ml after 12weeks, p=0.38. There was no difference in exhaled nitric oxide, asthma control or lung function between treatment groups over the 12week trial. Participants assigned to pioglitazone gained a significant amount more weight than those assigned to placebo (pioglitazone group mean weight 113.6, CI 94.5-132.7kg at randomization and 115.9, CI 96.9-135.1 at 12weeks; placebo mean weight 127.5, CI 108.4 - 146.6kg at randomization and 124.5, CI 105.4 - 143.6kg at 12weeks; p=0.04). Conclusions: This pilot study suggests limited efficacy for pioglitazone in the treatment of poorly controlled asthma in obesity, and also the potential for harm, given the weight gain in those assigned to active treatment, and the association between increased weight and worse outcomes in asthma. Trial Registration: Clinicaltrials.gov (NCT00634036