Turning Point at the UNESCO Headquarters. Crossed Influences between Pier Luigi Nervi and Marcel Lajos Breuer

[EN] The history of architecture is closely linked to the evolution and the use of materials. Concrete was the most important material of the 20th century, becoming the medium for a new architecture. Many different architects not only relied on the use of concrete as their main mode of expression but also got involved in the quest for a new architectural language for the so-called new material. Pier Luigi Nervi and Marcel Breuer are not only among the great architects of the last century, but above all, they are masters of concrete, both developing extensive bodies of work based on the use of the material. Nervi and Breuer worked together in a virtuosic piece of architecture, the building for the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris. Built mainly in concrete and inaugurated in 1958, it occupies a relevant place in the history of architecture. This paper wants to highlight how during that process, both architects underwent a radical change in their careers and in relation to the use of concrete, turning this project in a milestone for the history of architecture as a whole.Martín Fuentes, J. (2018). Turning Point at the UNESCO Headquarters. Crossed Influences between Pier Luigi Nervi and Marcel Lajos Breuer. En CIAB 8. VIII Congreso Internacional de arquitectura blanca. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 210-219. https://doi.org/10.4995/CIAB8.2018.7424OCS21021

New Physics adventures in the LHC age

La física de partículas está viviendo actualmente una era de exploración que comenzó con la observación en el LHC del bosón de Higgs, proporcionando así al Modelo Estándar de la Física de Partículas la elusiva pieza final que lo completa. Si bien esta teoría es extremadamente exitosa, se acepta comúnmente que no es la teoría final ya que no puede responder a todas las preguntas teóricas ni a ciertas observaciones experimentales. Por lo tanto, se espera que Nueva Física que extienda al Modelo Estándar aparezca pronto, aunque esto bien podría ser sólo una esperanza. Esta tesis recoge algunas de las aventuras en la búsqueda de Nueva Física. Se organiza en tres partes: la Parte I introduce, en inglés, los principales temas de la tesis y establece la notación y marcos teóricos que se utilizan más tarde. Esta parte contiene temas que son de conocimiento general en la literatura y pretende ser una introducción amplia. Por el contrario, la Parte II, también en inglés, se dedica específicamente a compilar la investigación científica que se hizo durante el doctorado y, por tanto, es de naturaleza más técnica que la parte anterior. La Parte III contiene un resumen de la tesis en Español. La Parte I está organizada de la siguiente forma. En el Capítulo 1 se introduce el Modelo Estándar, sus principales características, y varias cuestiones teóricas y experimentales que este marco teórico no puede explicar. El resto de esta parte se dedica al análisis de varias extensiones del Modelo Estándar. En particular, en el Capítulo 2 se presenta el modelo de dos dobletes de Higgs, una extensión mínima del Modelo Estándar donde se añade un doblete de Higgs adicional al sector escalar de la teoría. En este capítulo se hace especial hincapié en el problema del sabor del modelo de dos dobletes de Higgs y se estudian sus soluciones. El Capítulo 3 presenta el problema de violación de CP en el sector fuerte en cierto detalle, junto con una discusión sobre la solución de Peccei-Quinn y su fenomenología asociada. En el Capítulo 4 introducimos el concepto de Teorías Efectivas y mostramos cómo construirlas a partir de un modelo ultravioleta dado usando técnicas funcionales. También mostramos ejemplos de Teorías Efectivas dentro del marco teórico del Modelo Estándar que introducen un enfoque complementario en la búsqueda de Nueva Física. Finalmente, en el Capítulo 5 presentamos las recientes anomalías experimentales en desintegraciones del mesón B y discutimos sus principales implicaciones. Mientras que la Parte I sigue una discusión más lineal, con cada capítulo basado en los anteriores, la Parte II está estructurada en tres capítulos esencialmente independientes. El Capítulo 6 extiende los métodos funcionales para la construcción de Teorías Efectivas introducidos en el Capítulo 4. En el Capítulo 7 presentamos tres modelos construidos para proporcionar una explicación a las anomalías en la física del mesón B. Estos se basan en varias extensiones del sector gauge del Modelo Estándar, cada una de las cuales da lugar a predicciones experimentales características diferentes. En el Capítulo 8 se introducen dos modelos de axión invisible que incluyen propiedades adicionales no presentes en las implementaciones originales. La Parte III contiene un único capítulo que resume en Español los principales objetivos, la metodología y las conclusiones de la presente tesis.Particle Physics is currently living an age of exploration that started with the observation at the LHC of the Higgs boson, providing the Standard Model of strong and electroweak interactions the final eluding piece that completes it. While this theory is extremely successful, it is commonly accepted that it is not the final one since it cannot answer all the theoretical questions and experimental observations. It is thus expected that New Physics that extends the Standard Model will appear soon, though this might well be only a hope. This thesis compiles some of the adventures in the Quest for New Physics. It is organized in three parts: Part I introduces the main subjects of the thesis and sets the notation and frameworks that are used later. This part contains topics that are of common knowledge in the literature and it is intended as a broad introduction. On the contrary, Part II is specifically devoted to compile the scientific research that was done during the Ph.D. and therefore it is more technical than the previous part. Part III contains a comprehensive summary of the thesis in Spanish. Part I is organized as follows. In Chapter 1 we introduce the Standard Model, its main features, and several theoretical and experimental issues that this framework cannot explain. The rest of this part is dedicated to the analysis of various extensions of the Standard Model. In particular, in Chapter 2 we introduce the two-Higgs-doublet model, a minimal extension where an additional Higgs doublet is added to the scalar sector of the theory. In this chapter, special emphasis is placed in the two-Higgs-doublet model flavor problem and its solutions. Chapter 3 presents the Strong CP problem in some detail, together with a discussion on the Peccei--Quinn solution and its associated phenomenology. In Chapter 4 we introduce the concept of Effective Field Theories and show how to construct them from a given ultraviolet model using functional techniques. We also introduce examples of Effective Field Theories within the Standard Model framework that stand for a complementary approach in the search for New Physics. Finally, in Chapter 5 we present the recent experimental anomalies in B-physics data and discuss their main implications. While Part I follows a more linear discussion, with each chapter based on the previous ones, Part II is structured in three, essentially unrelated, chapters. Chapter 6 extends to the one-loop order the functional methods for the construction of Effective Field Theories introduced in Chapter 4. In Chapter 7 we present three models aimed to provide an explanation to the B-physics anomalies. These are based in various extensions of the Standard Model gauge sector, each predicting different characteristic experimental signatures. Chapter 8 introduces two invisible axion models that include additional features which are not present in the original implementations. Part III contains a single chapter that summarizes in Spanish the major goals, procedures and results of the present thesis

Functional matching and renormalization group equations at two-loop order

We present a systematic method for determining the two-loop effective Lagrangian resulting from integrating out a set of heavy particles in an ultraviolet scalar theory. We prove that the matching coefficients are entirely determined from the (double-)hard region of the loop integrals and present a master formula for matching, applicable to both diagrammatic and functional approaches. We further employ functional methods to determine compact expressions for the effective Lagrangian that do not rely on any previous knowledge of its structure or symmetries. The same methods are also applicable to the computation of renormalization group equations. We demonstrate the application of the functional approach by computing the two-loop matching coefficients and renormalization group equations in a scalar toy model.Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (MCIN) and the European Union NextGenerationEU/PRTR under grant IJC2020-043549-IMCIN and State Research Agency (SRA) projects PID2019-106087GB-C22 and PID2022-139466NB-C21 (ERDF)Junta de Andalucía projects P21_00199 and FQM101Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) through the Eccellenza Professorial Fellowship “Flavor Physics at the High Energy Frontier” project number 186866Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) through the Ambizione grant “Matching and Running: Improved Precision in the Hunt for New Physics,” project number 20904

Nanoporous silicon-based surface patterns fabricated by UV laser interference techniques for biological applications

The fabrication of selectively functionalized micropatterns based on nanostructured porous silicon (nanoPS) by phase mask ultraviolet laser interference is presented here. This single-step process constitutes a flexible method for the fabrication of surface patterns with tailored properties. These surface patterns consist of alternate regions of almost untransformed nanoPS and areas where nanoPS is transformed into Si nanoparticles (Si NPs) as a result of the laser irradiation process. The size of the transformed areas as well as the diameter of the Si NPs can be straightforwardly tailored by controlling the main fabrications parameters including the porosity of the nanoPS layers, the laser interference period areas, and laser fluence. The surface patterns have been found to be appropriate candidates for the development of selectively-functionalized surfaces for biological applications mainly due to the biocompatibility of the untransformed nanoPS regions.Postprint (author's final draft

Flavor non-universal Pati-Salam unification and neutrino masses

We analyze the neutrino mass spectrum and discuss the extra-dimensional interpretation of a three-site Pati-Salam model which i) unifies all families of quark and leptons, ii) provides a natural description of the Standard Model Yukawa couplings, iii) could account for the recent B-physics anomalies. The key feature of the model is a breaking of the Pati-Salam and electroweak gauge symmetries localized on opposite sites, communicated to the other sites in an attenuated manner via nearest-neighbor interactions. We show that in this context gauge-singlet fermions localized on each site, receiving hierarchical Majorana masses, can allow the implementation of an inverse seesaw mechanism leading to light anarchic neutrino masses consistent with data. The continuum limit of this three-site setup has a natural interpretation in terms of a warped extra dimension with three defects, where the required exponential hierarchies can be achieved from differences in the bulk field masses

Flavor hierarchies, flavor anomalies, and Higgs mass from a warped extra dimension

This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement 833280 (FLAY), and by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF) under con-tract 200020_204428. The work of JF has been supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (MCIN) and the Euro-pean Union NextGenerationEU/PRTR under grant IJC2020-043549-I, by the MCIN grant PID2019-106087GB-C22, and by the Junta de Andalucía grants P18-FR-4314 (FEDER) and FQM101.The recent B-meson anomalies are coherently explained at the TeV scale by 4321 gauge models with hierarchical couplings reminiscent of the Standard Model Yukawas. We show that such models arise as the low-energy limit of a complete theory of flavor, based on a warped fifth dimension where each Standard Model family is quasi-localized on a different brane. The Higgs is identified as a pseudo-Nambu-Goldstone boson emerging from the same dynamics responsible for 4321 symmetry breaking. This novel construction unifies quarks and leptons in a flavor non-universal manner, provides a natural description of flavor hierarchies, and addresses the electroweak hierarchy problem.European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement 833280 (FLAY)Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF) under con-tract 200020_204428Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (MCIN) and the European Union NextGeneration EU/PRTR under grant IJC2020-043549-IMCIN grant PID2019-106087GB-C22Junta de Andalucía grants P18-FR-4314 (FEDER) and FQM10

Flavor hierarchies, flavor anomalies, and Higgs mass from a warped extra dimension

The recent B-meson anomalies are coherently explained at the TeV scale by 4321 gauge models with hierarchical couplings reminiscent of the Standard Model Yukawas. We show that such models arise as the low-energy limit of a complete theory of flavor, based on a warped fifth dimension where each Standard Model family is quasi-localized on a different brane. The Higgs is identified as a pseudo-Nambu-Goldstone boson emerging from the same dynamics responsible for 4321 symmetry breaking. This novel construction unifies quarks and leptons in a flavor non-universal manner, provides a natural description of flavor hierarchies, and addresses the electroweak hierarchy problem

A global analysis of axion-like particle interactions using SMEFT fits

In the presence of an axion or axion-like particle (ALPs) that couples to the Standard Model via dimension-five interactions, dimension-six SMEFT interactions are generated via renormalization-group evolution. As many of these SMEFT contributions are experimentally tightly constrained, this "ALP-SMEFT interference" can be used to derive indirect bounds on the ALP couplings to the Standard Model particles. We present a global analysis of the Wilson coefficients of the ALP effective Lagrangian based on Higgs, top, and low-energy data. The obtained bounds are model independent and are competitive or even stronger than direct bounds in the GeV to TeV ALP-mass range.Comment: 18 pages, 5 figure

SuperTracer: a calculator of functional supertraces for one-loop EFT matching

We present SuperTracer, a Mathematica package aimed at facilitating the functional matching procedure for generic UV models. This package automates the most tedious parts of one-loop functional matching computations. Namely, the determination and evaluation of all relevant supertraces, including loop integration and Dirac algebra manipulations. The current version of SuperTracer also contains a limited set of output simplifications. However, a further reduction of the output to a minimal basis using Fierz identities, integration by parts, simplification of Dirac structures, and/or light field redefinitions might still be necessary. The code and example notebooks are publicly available at https://gitlab.com/supertracer/supertracer

A Proof of Concept for Matchete: An Automated Tool for Matching Effective Theories

Studying the impact of new-physics models on low-energy observables necessitates matching to effective field theories at the relevant mass thresholds. We introduce the first public version of Matchete, a computer tool for matching weakly-coupled models at one-loop order. It uses functional methods to directly compute all matching contributions in a manifestly gauge-covariant manner, while simplification methods eliminate redundant operators from the output. We sketch the workings of the program and provide examples of how to match simple Standard Model extensions. The package, documentation, and example notebooks are publicly available at https://gitlab.com/matchete/matchete.Comment: 27 pages, 2 figures, The code and example notebooks are publicly available at https://gitlab.com/matchete/matchet