240 research outputs found
Membrane-cytoskeletal crosstalk mediated by myosin-I regulates adhesion turnover during phagocytosis
Phagocytosis of invading pathogens or cellular debris requires a dramatic change in cell shape driven by actin polymerization. For antibody-covered targets, phagocytosis is thought to proceed through the sequential engagement of Fc-receptors on the phagocyte with antibodies on the target surface, leading to the extension and closure of the phagocytic cup around the target. We find that two actin-dependent molecular motors, class 1 myosins myosin le and myosin if, are specifically localized to Fc-receptor adhesions and required for efficient phagocytosis of antibody-opsonized targets. Using primary macrophages lacking both myosin le and myosin if, we find that without the actin-membrane linkage mediated by these myosins, the organization of individual adhesions is compromised, leading to excessive actin polymerization, slower adhesion turnover, and deficient phagocytic internalization. This work identifies a role for class 1 myosins in coordinated adhesion turnover during phagocytosis and supports a mechanism involving membrane-cytoskeletal crosstalk for phagocytic cup closure
New Physics Signals in Longitudinal Gauge Boson Scattering at the LHC
We introduce a novel technique designed to look for signatures of new physics
in vector boson fusion processes at the TeV scale. This functions by measuring
the polarization of the vector bosons to determine the relative longitudinal to
transverse production. In studying this ratio we can directly probe the high
energy E^2-growth of longitudinal vector boson scattering amplitudes
characteristic of models with non-Standard Model (SM) interactions. We will
focus on studying models parameterized by an effective Lagrangian that include
a light Higgs with non-SM couplings arising from TeV scale new physics
associated with the electroweak symmetry breaking, although our technique can
be used in more general scenarios. We will show that this technique is stable
against the large uncertainties that can result from variations in the
factorization scale, improving upon previous studies that measure cross section
alone
Beautiful Mirrors at the LHC
We explore the "Beautiful Mirrors" model, which aims to explain the measured
value of , discrepant at the level. This scenario
introduces vector-like quarks which mix with the bottom, subtly affecting its
coupling to the . The spectrum of the new particles consists of two
bottom-like quarks and a charge -4/3 quark, all of which have electroweak
interactions with the third generation. We explore the phenomenology and
discovery reach for these new particles at the LHC, exploring single mirror
quark production modes whose rates are proportional to the same mixing
parameters which resolve the anomaly. We find that for mirror quark
masses is required to
reasonably establish the scenario and extract the relevant mixing parameters.Comment: version to be published in JHE
Vanishing Minors in the Neutrino Mass Matrix from Abelian Gauge Symmetries
Augmenting the Standard Model by three right-handed neutrinos allows for an
anomaly-free gauge group extension G_max = U(1)_(B-L) x U(1)_(L_e-L_mu) x
U(1)_(L_mu-L_tau). While simple U(1) subgroups of G_max have already been
discussed in the context of approximate flavor symmetries, we show how two-zero
textures in the right-handed neutrino Majorana mass matrix can be enforced by
the flavor symmetry, which is spontaneously broken very economically by singlet
scalars. These zeros lead to two vanishing minors in the low-energy neutrino
mass matrix after the seesaw mechanism. This study may provide a new testing
ground for a zero-texture approach: the different classes of two-zero textures
with almost identical neutrino oscillation phenomenology can in principle be
distinguished by their different Z' interactions at colliders.Comment: 12 pages; Extended and clarified discussion; comments on finetuning
in the textures; matches published versio
Distinguishing Various Models of the 125 GeV Boson in Vector Boson Fusion
The hint of a new particle around 125 GeV at the LHC through the decay modes
of diphoton and a number of others may point to quite a number of
possibilities. While at the LHC the dominant production mechanism for the Higgs
boson of the standard model and some other extensions is via the gluon fusion
process, the alternative vector boson fusion is more sensitive to electroweak
symmetry breaking through the gauge-Higgs couplings and therefore can be used
to probe for models beyond the standard model. In this work, using the well
known dijet-tagging technique to single out the vector boson fusion mechanism,
we investigate its capability to discriminate a number of models that have been
suggested to give an enhanced inclusive diphoton production rate, including the
standard model Higgs boson, fermiophobic Higgs boson, Randall-Sundrum radion,
inert-Higgs-doublet model, two-Higgs-doublet model, and the MSSM. The rates in
vector-boson fusion can give more information of the underlying models to help
distinguishing among the models.Comment: 31 pages, 3 figures; in this version some wordings are change
A Geometric Approach to CP Violation: Applications to the MCPMFV SUSY Model
We analyze the constraints imposed by experimental upper limits on electric
dipole moments (EDMs) within the Maximally CP- and Minimally Flavour-Violating
(MCPMFV) version of the MSSM. Since the MCPMFV scenario has 6 non-standard
CP-violating phases, in addition to the CP-odd QCD vacuum phase \theta_QCD,
cancellations may occur among the CP-violating contributions to the three
measured EDMs, those of the Thallium, neutron and Mercury, leaving open the
possibility of relatively large values of the other CP-violating observables.
We develop a novel geometric method that uses the small-phase approximation as
a starting point, takes the existing EDM constraints into account, and enables
us to find maximal values of other CP-violating observables, such as the EDMs
of the Deuteron and muon, the CP-violating asymmetry in b --> s \gamma decay,
and the B_s mixing phase. We apply this geometric method to provide upper
limits on these observables within specific benchmark supersymmetric scenarios,
including extensions that allow for a non-zero \theta_QCD.Comment: 34 pages, 16 eps figures, to appear in JHE
A Comprehensive Analysis of Electric Dipole Moment Constraints on CP-violating Phases in the MSSM
We analyze the constraints placed on individual, flavor diagonal CP-violating
phases in the minimal supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model (MSSM) by
current experimental bounds on the electric dipole moments (EDMs) of the
neutron, Thallium, and Mercury atoms. We identify the four CP-violating phases
that are individually highly constrained by current EDM bounds, and we explore
how these phases and correlations among them are constrained by current EDM
limits. We also analyze the prospective implications of the next generation of
EDM experiments. We point out that all other CP-violating phases in the MSSM
are not nearly as tightly constrained by limits on the size of EDMs. We
emphasize that a rich set of phenomenological consequences is potentially
associated with these generically large EDM-allowed phases, ranging from B
physics, electroweak baryogenesis, and signals of CP-violation at the CERN
Large Hadron Collider and at future linear colliders. Our numerical study takes
into account the complete set of contributions from one- and two-loop EDMs of
the electron and quarks, one- and two-loop Chromo-EDMs of quarks, the Weinberg
3-gluon operator, and dominant 4-fermion CP-odd operator contributions,
including contributions which are both included and not included yet in the
CPsuperH2.0 package. We also introduce an open-source numerical package, 2LEDM,
which provides the complete set of two-loop electroweak diagrams contributing
to the electric dipole moments of leptons and quarks.Comment: 23 pages, 11 figures; v2: references added, minor change
An improved observable for the forward-backward asymmetry in B -> K* l+ l- and Bs -> phi l+ l-
We study the decay B -> K* l+ l- in the QCD factorization approach and
propose a new integrated observable whose dependence on the form factors is
almost negligible, consequently the non--perturbative error is significantly
reduced and indeed its overall theoretical error is dominated by perturbative
scale uncertainties. The new observable we propose is the ratio between the
integrated forward--backward asymmetry in the [4,6] GeV^2 and [1,4] GeV^2
dilepton invariant mass bins. This new observable is particularly interesting
because, when compared to the location of the zero of the FBA spectrum, it is
experimentally easier to measure and its theoretical uncertainties are almost
as small; moreover it displays a very strong dependence on the phase of the
Wilson coefficient C_10 that is otherwise only accessible through complicated
CP violating asymmetries. We illustrate the new physics sensitivity of this
observable within the context of few extensions of the Standard Model, namely
the SM with four generations, an MSSM with non--vanishing source of flavor
changing neutral currents in the down squark sector and a Z' model with tree
level flavor changing couplings.Comment: 19 pages, 7 figure
Wilson Lines and a Canonical Basis of SU(4) Heterotic Standard Models
The spontaneous breaking of SU(4) heterotic standard models by Z_3 x Z_3
Wilson lines to the MSSM with three right-handed neutrino supermultiplets and
gauge group SU(3)_C x SU(2)_L x U(1) x U(1) is explored. The two-dimensional
subspace of the Spin(10) Lie algebra that commutes with su(3)_C + su(2)_L is
analyzed. It is shown that there is a unique basis for which the initial soft
supersymmetry breaking parameters are uncorrelated and for which the U(1) x
U(1) field strengths have no kinetic mixing at any scale. If the Wilson lines
"turn on" at different scales, there is an intermediate regime with either a
left-right or a Pati-Salam type model. We compute their spectra directly from
string theory, and adjust the associated mass parameter so that all gauge
parameters exactly unify. A detailed analysis of the running gauge couplings
and soft gaugino masses is presented.Comment: 59 pages, 9 figure
5D UED: Flat and Flavorless
5D UED is not automatically minimally flavor violating. This is due to flavor
asymmetric counter-terms required on the branes. Additionally, there are likely
to be higher dimensional operators which directly contribute to flavor
observables. We document a mostly unsuccessful attempt at utilizing
localization in a flat extra dimension to resolve these flavor constraints
while maintaining KK-parity as a good quantum number. It is unsuccessful
insofar as we seem to be forced to add brane operators in such a way as to
precisely mimic the effects of a double throat warped extra dimension. In the
course of our efforts, we encounter and present solutions to a problem common
to many extra dimensional models in which fields are "doubly localized:"
ultra-light modes. Under scrutiny, this issue seems tied to an intrinsic
tension between maintaining Kaluza-Klein parity and resolving mass hierarchies
via localization.Comment: 27 pages, 6 figure
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