Thanks to 2D and maybe even beyond: 115 GeV and 140 GeV almost Standard Model Higgs without problems

I address: (1) dynamical, likely local Higgs mass generation as resolution to the 4D hierarchy and vacuum energy problems, (2) possibility that top condensation may be explained by an interplay among the gluon and scalar sectors, (3) the Higgs Mass Zero Crossing (HMZC) scale, most likely equal to {\Lambda}_EWSB, in accord with standard cosmology or classic inflation, and (4) two preferred Higgs regions centered at 116.5 GeV and 140.5 GeV with related high energy models. I show that SM in 2D could simultaneously satisfy (a) complete radiative generation of the Higgs mass via top loop and (b) cancelation of the remaining leading order corrections to the scalar propagator. The Higgs mass, m_H, parameterized with k=1 (2), in the leading order is 113.0{\pm}1.0 GeV (143.4{\pm}1.3 GeV). I show that the SM top condensation is consistent with the gluon and Higgs mediated top-anti top interactions at tree level. I predict the QCD fine structure constant with the mean value only 0.25% away from the world average value at {\sqrt}s=M_Z. The SM driven theory at energies larger than the HMZC scale necessary includes effective tachyonic Higgs (Popovic 2001). Here, I map the SM physical Higgs mass to the low energy HMZC scale (0.8-1.8 TeV). I show that the very "long lived" SM necessitates Higgs lighter than 146.5{\pm}2 GeV such that there is a single HMZC scale at energies smaller than the Planck mass. I present candidate m_H=138.1{\pm}1.8 GeV for the SM valid up to an energy scale, nearly equal Planck mass, obtained from a conjecture which minimizes the parameters of the Higgs potential. I introduce a class of models potentially exactly removing tachyons. I analyze Composite Particles Models (CPM) (Popovic 2002) where top quark is composite, composed of 3 fundamental fermions, and Higgs scalar is composite, composed of 2 fundamental fermions, with m_H=2/3 m_t=115.4{\pm}0.9 GeV.Comment: 52 Pages, 11 Figures, 1 Table, 155 References, document created on July 24, 2010, document submitted to the Physical Review D on July 25, 201

Lebanon: A permanent home for Syrian Civil War refugees

Relations between Syria and Lebanon in the past 40 years have been tense due to events such as the Lebanese Civil War, the subsequent Syrian occupation of Lebanon, and the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri in 2005, which remains unsolved. Though the occupation of Lebanon has officially ended, tensions have surfaced again due to the influx of refugees from the Syrian Civil War that began as a result of the recent Arab Spring. Millions of Syrians have been forced out of their homes and have fled to neighboring countries, including Lebanon, where currently over a million refugees are estimated to have relocated. By all accounts, the situation of these refugees grows ever more precarious, and the stability of Lebanon itself is now threatened. Through an analysis of various sources, including local newspaper reports, official UN records, and personal interviews with refugees and those in contact with them, this paper looks to document the recent history of Syrian refugees in Lebanon. It will chart their diverse makeup, describe their varied conditions, and analyze how they, and their Lebanese “hosts”, perceive their situation. An over-arching aim will be to break down the monolithic category of “Syrian refugee in Lebanon” by trying to expose the complex reality of actual experience on the ground. In the course of this study, connections will be made to the history of Syrian-Lebanese relations and the current geopolitics of the region. Finally, a comment on prospects for the future of these refugees, and for Lebanon, will be offered

The AGN dusty torus as a clumpy two-phase medium: radiative transfer modeling with SKIRT

We modeled the AGN dusty torus as a clumpy two-phase medium, with high-density clumps embedded in a low-density interclump dust. To obtain spectral energy distributions and images of the torus at different wavelengths, we employed the 3D Monte Carlo radiative transfer code SKIRT. Apart from the grid of two-phase models, we calculated the corresponding sets of clumps-only models and models with a smooth dust distribution for comparison. We found that the most striking feature of the two-phase model is that it might offer a natural solution to the common issue reported in a number of papers -- the observed excess of the near-infrared emission.Comment: Proceedings of the Torus Workshop 2012 held at the University of Texas at San Antonio, 5-7 December 2012. C. Packham, R. Mason, and A. Alonso-Herrero (eds.). 8 pages, 5 figures. A grid of model SEDs available at https://sites.google.com/site/skirtorus