Gap Equations and Electroweak Symmetry Breaking

Recently a new dynamical symmetry breaking model of electroweak interactions was proposed based on interacting fermions. Two fermions of different SU(2) representations form a symmetry breaking condensate and generate the lepton and quark masses. The weak gauge bosons get their usual standard model masses from a gauge invariant Lagrangian of a composite doublet scalar field. The new fermion fields become massive by condensation. In this note the gap equations are given in the linearized (mean field) approximation and the conditions for symmetry breaking and mass generation are presented. Perturbative unitarity constrains the self-couplings and the masses of the new fermions, a raw spectrum is given.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figure

Sub-micrometre holotomographic characterisation of the effects of solution heat treatment on an AlMg7.3Si3.5 alloy

A strip cast AlMg7.3Si3.5 alloy is investigated by sub-micrometre holotomographic analysis achieving a voxel size of (60 nm)(3) by cone beam magnification of the focused synchrotron beam using Kirkpatrick-Baez mirrors. The three-dimensional microstructure of the same specimen volume in the as-cast state is compared with that after exposure to 540 degrees C for 30 min resolving microstructural features down to 180 nm. The three-dimensional analysis of the architecture of the eutectic Mg2Si and the Fe-aluminides reveals how the as-cast microstructure changes during the solution treatment. The alloy in the as-cast condition contains a highly interconnected seaweed-like Mg2Si eutectic. The level of three-dimensional interconnectivity of the Mg2Si eutectic phase decreases by only partial disintegration during the heat treatment correcting the two-dimensional metallographic impression of isolated round particles. Statistical analyses of the particle distribution, sphericity, mean curvatures and Gaussian curvatures describe quantitatively the architectural changes of the Mg2Si phase. This explains the decrease of the high temperature strength of the alloy by the solution treatment tested in hot compression. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Effect of solution heat treatment on the internal architecture and compressive strength of an AlMg4.7Si8 alloy

The evolution of the microstructure of an AlMg4.7Si8 alloy is investigated by scanning electron microscopy and ex situ synchrotron tomography in as-cast condition and subsequent solution treatments for 1 h and 25 h at 540 °C, respectively. The eutectic Mg2Si phase, which presents a highly interconnected structure in the as-cast condition, undergoes significant morphological changes during the solution heat treatment. Statistical analyses of the particle distribution, the sphericity, the mean curvatures and Gaussian curvatures describe the disintegration of the interconnected seaweed-like structure followed by the rounding of the disintegrated fractions of the eutectic branches quantitatively. The ternary eutectic Si resulting from the Si-surplus to the stoichiometric Mg2Si ratio of the alloy undergoes similar changes. The morphological evolution during solution heat treatment is correlated with results of elevated temperature compression tests at 300 °C. The elevated temperature compressive strength is more sensitive to the degree of interconnectivity of the three dimensional Mg2Si network than to the shape of the individual particles. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

In vivo imaging of pyrrole-imidazole polyamides with positron emission tomography

The biodistribution profiles in mice of two pyrrole-imidazole polyamides were determined by PET. Pyrrole-imidazole polyamides are a class of small molecules that can be programmed to bind a broad repertoire of DNA sequences, disrupt transcription factor-DNA interfaces, and modulate gene expression pathways in cell culture experiments. The 18F-radiolabeled polyamides were prepared by oxime ligation between 4-[18F]-fluorobenzaldehyde and a hydroxylamine moiety at the polyamide C terminus. Small animal PET imaging of radiolabeled polyamides administered to mice revealed distinct differences in the biodistribution of a 5-ring β-linked polyamide versus an 8-ring hairpin, which exhibited better overall bioavailability. In vivo imaging of pyrrole-imidazole polyamides by PET is a minimum first step toward the translation of polyamide-based gene regulation from cell culture to small animal studies

Fundamentals of interface phenomena in advanced bulk nanoscale materials

The review is devoted to a study of interface phenomena influencing advanced properties of nanoscale materials processed by means of severe plastic deformation, high-energy ball milling and their combinations. Interface phenomena include processes of interface defect structure relaxation from a highly nonequilibrium state to an equilibrium condition, grain boundary phase transformations and enhanced grain boundary and triple junction diffusivity. On the basis of an experimental investigation, a theoretical description of the key interfacial phenomena controlling the functional properties of advanced bulk nanoscale materials has been conducted. An interface defect structure investigation has been performed by TEM, high-resolution x-ray diffraction, atomic simulation and modeling. The problem of a transition from highly non-equilibrium state to an equilibrium one, which seems to be responsible for low thermostability of nanoscale materials, was studied. Also enhanced grain boundary diffusivity is addressed. Structure recovery and dislocation emission from grain boundaries in nanocrystalline materials have been investigated by analytical methods and modeling

Effects of Extra Dimensions on Unitarity and Higgs Boson Mass

We study the unitarity constraint on the two body Higgs boson elastic scattering in the presence of extra dimensions. The contributions from exchange of spin-2 and spin-0 Kaluza-Klein states can have large effect on the partial wave amplitude. Unitarity condition restrict the maximal allowed value for the ratio $r$ of the center of mass energy to the gravity scale to be less than one. Although the constraint on the standard Higgs boson mass for $r$ of order one is considerably relaxed, for small $r$ the constraint is similar to that in the Standard Model. The resulting bound on the Higgs boson mass is not dramatically altered if perturbative calculations are required to be valid up to the maximal allowed value for $r$.Comment: References added, RevTex, 9 pages with two figure

The Al-Rich Part of the Fe-Al Phase Diagram

The Al-rich part of the Fe-Al phase diagram between 50 and 80 at.% Al including the complex intermetallic phases Fe$_{5}$Al$_{8}$ (ε), FeAl$_{2}$, Fe$_{2}$Al$_{5}$, and Fe4Al$_{13}$ was re-investigated in detail. A series of 19 alloys was produced and heat-treated at temperatures in the range from 600 to 1100 °C for up to 5000 h. The obtained data were further complemented by results from a number of diffusion couples, which helped to determine the homogeneity ranges of the phases FeAl$_{2}$, Fe$_{2}$Al$_{5}$, and Fe$_{4}$Al$_{13}$. All microstructures were inspected by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and chemical compositions of the equilibrium phases as well as of the alloys were obtained by electron probe microanalysis (EPMA). Crystal structures and the variation of the lattice parameters were studied by x-ray diffraction (XRD) and differential thermal analysis (DTA) was applied to measure all types of transition temperatures. From these results, a revised version of the Al-rich part of the phase diagram was constructed