547 research outputs found
Domain Growth, Wetting and Scaling in Porous Media
The lattice Boltzmann (LB) method is used to study the kinetics of domain
growth of a binary fluid in a number of geometries modeling porous media.
Unlike the traditional methods which solve the Cahn-Hilliard equation, the LB
method correctly simulates fluid properties, phase segregation, interface
dynamics and wetting. Our results, based on lattice sizes of up to , do not show evidence to indicate the breakdown of late stage dynamical
scaling, and suggest that confinement of the fluid is the key to the slow
kinetics observed. Randomness of the pore structure appears unnecessary.Comment: 13 pages, latex, submitted to PR
Minimal SUSY SO(10) model and predictions for neutrino mixings and leptonic CP violation
We discuss a minimal Supersymmetric SO(10) model where B-L symmetry is broken
by a {\bf 126} dimensional Higgs multiplet which also contributes to fermion
masses in conjunction with a {\bf 10} dimensional superfield. This minimal
Higgs choice provides a partial unification of neutrino flavor structure with
that of quarks and has been shown to predict all three neutrino mixing angles
and the solar mass splitting in agreement with observations, provided one uses
the type II seesaw formula for neutrino masses. In this paper we generalize
this analysis to include arbitrary CP phases in couplings and vevs. We find
that (i) the predictions for neutrino mixings are similar with as before and other parameters in a somewhat bigger range and (ii) that
to first order in the quark mixing parameter (the Cabibbo angle), the
leptonic mixing matrix is CP conserving. We also find that in the absence of
any higher dimensional contributions to fermion masses, the CKM phase is
different from that of the standard model implying that there must be new
contributions to quark CP violation from the supersymmetry breaking sector.
Inclusion of higher dimensional terms however allows the standard model CKM
phase to be maintained.Comment: 22 pages, 6 figure
Deviation of Atmospheric Mixing from Maximal and Structure in the Leptonic Flavor Sector
I attempt to quantify how far from maximal one should expect the atmospheric
mixing angle to be given a neutrino mass-matrix that leads, at zeroth order, to
a nu_3 mass-eigenstate that is 0% nu_e, 50% nu_mu, and 50% nu_tau. This is done
by assuming that the solar mass-squared difference is induced by an
"anarchical" first order perturbation, an approach than can naturally lead to
experimentally allowed values for all oscillation parameters. In particular,
both |cos 2theta_atm| (the measure for the deviation of atmospheric mixing from
maximal) and |U_e3| are of order sqrt(Delta m^2_sol/Delta m^2_atm) in the case
of a normal neutrino mass-hierarchy, or of order Delta m^2_sol/Delta m^2_atm in
the case of an inverted one. Hence, if any of the textures analyzed here has
anything to do with reality, next-generation neutrino experiments can see a
nonzero cos 2theta_atm in the case of a normal mass-hierarchy, while in the
case of an inverted mass-hierarchy only neutrino factories should be able to
see a deviation of sin^2 2theta_atm from 1.Comment: 12 pages, no figures, references and acknowledgments adde
Constraints on Large Extra Dimensions with Bulk Neutrinos
We consider right-handed neutrinos propagating in (large) extra
dimensions, whose only coupling to Standard Model fields is the Yukawa coupling
to the left-handed neutrino and the Higgs boson. These theories are attractive
as they can explain the smallness of the neutrino mass, as has already been
shown. We show that if is bigger than two, there are strong
constraints on the radius of the extra dimensions, resulting from the
experimental limit on the probability of an active state to mix into the large
number of sterile Kaluza-Klein states of the bulk neutrino. We also calculate
the bounds on the radius resulting from requiring that perturbative unitarity
be valid in the theory, in an imagined Higgs-Higgs scattering channel.Comment: 24 pages, 4 figures, revtex4. v2: Minor typos corrected, references
adde
Effects of Pore Walls and Randomness on Phase Transitions in Porous Media
We study spin models within the mean field approximation to elucidate the
topology of the phase diagrams of systems modeling the liquid-vapor transition
and the separation of He--He mixtures in periodic porous media. These
topologies are found to be identical to those of the corresponding random field
and random anisotropy spin systems with a bimodal distribution of the
randomness. Our results suggest that the presence of walls (periodic or
otherwise) are a key factor determining the nature of the phase diagram in
porous media.Comment: REVTeX, 11 eps figures, to appear in Phys. Rev.
Lepton Flavour Violating Leptonic/Semileptonic Decays of Charged Leptons in the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model
We consider the leptonic and semileptonic (SL) lepton flavour violating (LFV)
decays of the charged leptons in the minimal supersymmetric standard model
(MSSM). The formalism for evaluation of branching fractions for the SL LFV
charged-lepton decays with one or two pseudoscalar mesons, or one vector meson
in the final state, is given. Previous amplitudes for the SL LFV charged-lepton
decays in MSSM are improved, for instance the -penguin amplitude is
corrected to assure the gauge invariance. The decays are studied not only in
the model-independent formulation of the theory in the frame of MSSM, but also
within the frame of the minimal supersymmetric SO(10) model within which the
parameters of the MSSM are determined. The latter model gives predictions for
the neutrino-Dirac Yukawa coupling matrix, once free parameters in the model
are appropriately fixed to accommodate the recent neutrino oscillation data.
Using this unambiguous neutrino-Dirac Yukawa couplings, we calculate the LFV
leptonic and SL decay processes assuming the minimal supergravity scenario. A
very detailed numerical analysis is done to constrain the MSSM parameters.
Numerical results for SL LFV processes are given, for instance for tau -> e
(mu) pi0, tau -> e (mu) eta, tau -> e (mu) eta', tau -> e (mu) rho0, tau -> e
(mu) phi, tau -> e (mu) omega, etc.Comment: 36 pages, 3 tables, 5 .eps figure
Characterization of the mechanism by which the RB/E2F pathway controls expression of the cancer genomic DNA deaminase APOBEC3B
APOBEC3B (A3B)-catalyzed DNA cytosine deamination contributes to the overall
mutational landscape in breast cancer. Molecular mechanisms responsible for A3B upregulation in
cancer are poorly understood. Here we show that a single E2F cis-element mediates repression in
normal cells and that expression is activated by its mutational disruption in a reporter construct or
the endogenous A3B gene. The same E2F site is required for A3B induction by polyomavirus T
antigen indicating a shared molecular mechanism. Proteomic and biochemical experiments
demonstrate the binding of wildtype but not mutant E2F promoters by repressive PRC1.6/E2F6
and DREAM/E2F4 complexes. Knockdown and overexpression studies confirm the involvement of
these repressive complexes in regulating A3B expression. Altogether, these studies demonstrate
that A3B expression is suppressed in normal cells by repressive E2F complexes and that viral or
mutational disruption of this regulatory network triggers overexpression in breast cancer and
provides fuel for tumor evolution
Cosmological Constraints on Decaying Dark Matter
We present a complete analysis of the cosmological constraints on decaying
dark matter. Previous analyses have used the cosmic microwave background and
Type Ia supernova. We have updated them with the latest data as well as
extended the analysis with the inclusion of Lyman- forest, large scale
structure and weak lensing observations. Astrophysical constraints are not
considered in the present paper. The bounds on the lifetime of decaying dark
matter are dominated by either the late-time integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect for
the scenario with weak reionization, or CMB polarization observations when
there is significant reionization. For the respective scenarios, the lifetimes
for decaying dark matter are Gyr and Gyr (at 95.4% confidence level), where the
phenomenological parameter is the fraction of the decay energy deposited in
baryonic gas. This allows us to constrain particle physics models with dark
matter candidates through investigation of dark matter decays into Standard
Model particles via effective operators. For decaying dark matter of
GeV mass, we found that the size of the coupling constant in the effective
dimension-4 operators responsible for dark matter decay has to generically be . We have also explored the implications of our analysis for
representative models in theories of gauge-mediated supersymmetry breaking,
minimal supergravity and little Higgs.Comment: 29 pages, 6 figures. Added references and corrected typos as well as
grammatical oversight
Jatropha curcasand Ricinus communisdisplay contrasting photosynthetic mechanisms in response to environmental conditions
Higher plants display different adaptive strategies in photosynthesis to cope with abiotic stress. In this study, photosynthetic mechanisms and water relationships displayed byJatropha curcasL. (physic nuts) andRicinus communisL. (castor bean), in response to variations in environmental conditions, were assessed.R. communis showed higher CO2 assimilation, stomatal and mesophyll conductance thanJ. curcas as light intensity and intercellular CO2 pressure increased. On the other hand,R. communis was less effective in stomatal control in response to adverse environmental factors such as high temperature, water deficit and vapor pressure deficit, indicating lower water use efficiency. Conversely,J. curcas exhibited higher photosynthetic efficiency (gas exchange and photochemistry) and water use efficiency under these adverse environmental conditions.R. communisdisplayed higher potential photosynthesis, but exhibited a lowerin vivo Rubisco carboxylation rate (Vcmax) and maximum electron transport rate (Jmax). During the course of a typical day, in a semiarid environment, with high irradiation, high temperature and high vapor pressure deficit, but exposed to well-watered conditions, the two studied species presented similar photosynthesis. Losing potential photosynthesis, but maintaining favorable water status and increasing non-photochemical quenching to avoid photoinhibition, are important acclimation mechanisms developed byJ. curcas to cope with dry and hot conditions. We suggest thatJ. curcas is more tolerant to hot and dry environments thanR. communis but the latter species displays higher photosynthetic efficiency under well-watered and non-stressful conditions
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