272 research outputs found
Compact F-theory GUTs with U(1)_PQ
We construct semi-local and global realizations of SU(5) GUTs in F-theory
that utilize a U(1)_PQ symmetry to protect against dimension four proton decay.
Symmetries of this type, which assign charges to H_u and H_d that forbid a tree
level \mu term, play an important role in scenarios for neutrino physics and
gauge mediation that have been proposed in local F-theory model building. As
demonstrated in arXiv:0906.4672, the presence of such a symmetry implies the
existence of non-GUT exotics in the spectrum, when hypercharge flux is used to
break the GUT group and to give rise to doublet-triplet splitting. These
exotics are of precisely the right type to solve the unification problem in
such F-theory models and might also comprise a non-standard messenger sector
for gauge mediation. We present a detailed description of models with U(1)_PQ
in the semi-local regime, which does not depend on details of any specific
Calabi-Yau four-fold, and then specialize to the geometry of arXiv:0904.3932 to
construct three-generation examples with the minimal allowed number of non-GUT
exotics. Among these, we find a handful of models in which the D3-tadpole
constraint can be satisfied without requiring the introduction of
anti-D3-branes. Finally, because SU(5) singlets that carry U(1)_PQ charge may
serve as candidate right-handed neutrinos or can be used to lift the exotics,
we study their origin in compact models and motivate a conjecture for how to
count their zero modes in a semi-local setting.Comment: 73 pages, 5 figures, v2: minor corrections to 4.3 and 6.3.1,
reference adde
G-flux and Spectral Divisors
We propose a construction of G-flux in singular elliptic Calabi-Yau fourfold
compactifications of F-theory, which in the local limit allow a spectral cover
description. The main tool of construction is the so-called spectral divisor in
the resolved Calabi-Yau geometry, which in the local limit reduces to the Higgs
bundle spectral cover. We exemplify the workings of this in the case of an E_6
singularity by constructing the resolved geometry, the spectral divisor and in
the local limit, the spectral cover. The G-flux constructed with the spectral
divisor is shown to be equivalent to the direct construction from suitably
quantized linear combinations of holomorphic surfaces in the resolved geometry,
and in the local limit reduces to the spectral cover flux.Comment: 30 page
Constitutive Heterochromatin in Eukaryotic Genomes: A Mine of Transposable Elements
Transposable elements (TEs) are abundant components of constitutive heterochromatin of the most diverse evolutionarily distant organisms. TEs enrichment in constitutive heterochromatin was originally described in the model organism Drosophila melanogaster, but it is now considered as a general feature of this peculiar portion of the genomes. The phenomenon of TE enrichment in constitutive heterochromatin has been proposed to be the consequence of a progressive accumulation of transposable elements caused by both reduced recombination and lack of functional genes in constitutive heterochromatin. However, this view does not take into account classical genetics studies and most recent evidence derived by genomic analyses of heterochromatin in Drosophila and other species. In particular, the lack of functional genes does not seem to be any more a general feature of heterochromatin. Sequencing and annotation of Drosophila melanogaster constitutive heterochromatin have shown that this peculiar genomic compartment contains hundreds of transcriptionally active genes, generally larger in size than that of euchromatic ones. Together, these genes occupy a significant fraction of the genomic territory of heterochromatin. Moreover, transposable elements have been suggested to drive the formation of heterochromatin by recruiting HP1 and repressive chromatin marks. In addition, there are several pieces of evidence that transposable elements accumulation in the heterochromatin might be important for centromere and telomere structure. Thus, there may be more complexity to the relationship between transposable elements and constitutive heterochromatin, in that different forces could drive the dynamic of this phenomenon. Among those forces, preferential transposition may be an important factor. In this article, we present an overview of experimental findings showing cases of transposon enrichment into the heterochromatin and their positive evolutionary interactions with an impact to host genomes
What Have We Learned in 30 Years of Investigations on Bari Transposons?
Transposable elements (TEs) have been historically depicted as detrimental genetic entities that selfishly aim at perpetuating themselves, invading genomes, and destroying genes. Scientists often co-opt “special” TEs to develop new and powerful genetic tools, that will hopefully aid in changing the future of the human being. However, many TEs are gentle, rarely unleash themselves to harm the genome, and bashfully contribute to generating diversity and novelty in the genomes they have colonized, yet they offer the opportunity to develop new molecular tools. In this review we summarize 30 years of research focused on the Bari transposons. Bari is a “normal” transposon family that has colonized the genomes of several Drosophila species and introduced genomic novelties in the melanogaster species. We discuss how these results have contributed to advance the field of TE research and what future studies can still add to the current knowledge
GUT theories from Calabi-Yau 4-folds with SO(10) Singularities
We consider an SO(10) GUT model from F-theory compactified on an elliptically
fibered Calabi-Yau with a D5 singularity. To obtain the matter curves and the
Yukawa couplings, we use a global description to resolve the singularity. We
identify the vector and spinor matter representations and their Yukawa
couplings and we explicitly build the G-fluxes in the global model and check
the agreement with the semi-local results. As our bundle is of type SU(2k),
some extra conditions need to be applied to match the fluxes.Comment: 27 page
Toric Construction of Global F-Theory GUTs
We systematically construct a large number of compact Calabi-Yau fourfolds
which are suitable for F-theory model building. These elliptically fibered
Calabi-Yaus are complete intersections of two hypersurfaces in a six
dimensional ambient space. We first construct three-dimensional base manifolds
that are hypersurfaces in a toric ambient space. We search for divisors which
can support an F-theory GUT. The fourfolds are obtained as elliptic fibrations
over these base manifolds. We find that elementary conditions which are
motivated by F-theory GUTs lead to strong constraints on the geometry, which
significantly reduce the number of suitable models. The complete database of
models is available at http://hep.itp.tuwien.ac.at/f-theory/. We work out
several examples in more detail.Comment: 35 pages, references adde
Rational F-Theory GUTs without exotics
We construct F-theory GUT models without exotic matter, leading to the MSSM
matter spectrum with potential singlet extensions. The interplay of engineering
explicit geometric setups, absence of four-dimensional anomalies, and realistic
phenomenology of the couplings places severe constraints on the allowed local
models in a given geometry. In constructions based on the spectral cover we
find no model satisfying all these requirements. We then provide a survey of
models with additional U(1) symmetries arising from rational sections of the
elliptic fibration in toric constructions and obtain phenomenologically
appealing models based on SU(5) tops. Furthermore we perform a bottom-up
exploration beyond the toric section constructions discussed in the literature
so far and identify benchmark models passing all our criteria, which can serve
as a guideline for future geometric engineering.Comment: 27 Pages, 1 Figur
A Global SU(5) F-theory model with Wilson line breaking
We engineer compact SU(5) Grand Unified Theories in F-theory in which
GUT-breaking is achieved by a discrete Wilson line. Because the internal gauge
field is flat, these models avoid the high scale threshold corrections
associated with hypercharge flux. Along the way, we exemplify the
`local-to-global' approach in F-theory model building and demonstrate how the
Tate divisor formalism can be used to address several challenges of extending
local models to global ones. These include in particular the construction of
G-fluxes that extend non-inherited bundles and the engineering of U(1)
symmetries. We go beyond chirality computations and determine the precise
(charged) massless spectrum, finding exactly three families of quarks and
leptons but excessive doublet and/or triplet pairs in the Higgs sector
(depending on the example) and vector-like exotics descending from the adjoint
of SU(5)_{GUT}. Understanding why vector-like pairs persist in the Higgs sector
without an obvious symmetry to protect them may shed light on new solutions to
the mu problem in F-theory GUTs.Comment: 95 pages (71 pages + 1 Appendix); v2 references added, minor
correction
Building SO(10) models from F-theory
We revisit local F-theory SO(10) and SU(5) GUTs and analyze their properties
within the framework of the maximal underlying E_8 symmetry in the elliptic
fibration. We consider the symmetry enhancements along the intersections of
seven-branes with the GUT surface and study in detail the embedding of the
abelian factors undergoing monodromies in the covering gauge groups. We combine
flux data from the successive breaking of SO(10) to SU(5) gauge symmetry and
subsequently to the Standard Model one, and further constrain the parameters
determining the models' particle spectra. In order to eliminate dangerous
baryon number violating operators we propose ways to construct matter parity
like symmetries from intrinsic geometric origin. We study implementations of
the resulting constrained scenario in specific examples obtained for a variety
of monodromies.Comment: 53 page
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