377 research outputs found
Beyond MFV in family symmetry theories of fermion masses
Minimal Flavour Violation (MFV) postulates that the only source of flavour
changing neutral currents and CP violation, as in the Standard Model, is the
CKM matrix. However it does not address the origin of fermion masses and mixing
and models that do usually have a structure that goes well beyond the MFV
framework. In this paper we compare the MFV predictions with those obtained in
models based on spontaneously broken (horizontal) family symmetries, both
Abelian and non-Abelian. The generic suppression of flavour changing processes
in these models turns out to be weaker than in the MFV hypothesis. Despite
this, in the supersymmetric case, the suppression may still be consistent with
a solution to the hierarchy problem, with masses of superpartners below 1 TeV.
A comparison of FCNC and CP violation in processes involving a variety of
different family quantum numbers should be able to distinguish between various
family symmetry models and models satisfying the MFV hypothesis.Comment: 34 pages, no figure
Bridging flavour violation and leptogenesis in SU(3) family models
We reconsider basic, in the sense of minimal field content, Pati-Salam x
SU(3) family models which make use of the Type I see-saw mechanism to reproduce
the observed mixing and mass spectrum in the neutrino sector. The goal of this
is to achieve the observed baryon asymmetry through the thermal decay of the
lightest right-handed neutrino and at the same time to be consistent with the
expected experimental lepton flavour violation sensitivity. This kind of models
have been previously considered but it was not possible to achieve a
compatibility among all of the ingredients mentioned above. We describe then
how different SU(3) messengers, the heavy fields that decouple and produce the
right form of the Yukawa couplings together with the scalars breaking the SU(3)
symmetry, can lead to different Yukawa couplings. This in turn implies
different consequences for flavour violation couplings and conditions for
realizing the right amount of baryon asymmetry through the decay of the
lightest right-handed neutrino. Also a highlight of the present work is a new
fit of the Yukawa textures traditionally embedded in SU(3) family models.Comment: 26 pages, 5 figures, Some typos correcte
The Interplay Between GUT and Flavour Symmetries in a Pati-Salam x S4 Model
Both Grand Unified symmetries and discrete flavour symmetries are appealing
ways to describe apparent structures in the gauge and flavour sectors of the
Standard Model. Both symmetries put constraints on the high energy behaviour of
the theory. This can give rise to unexpected interplay when building models
that possess both symmetries. We investigate on the possibility to combine a
Pati-Salam model with the discrete flavour symmetry that gives rise to
quark-lepton complementarity. Under appropriate assumptions at the GUT scale,
the model reproduces fermion masses and mixings both in the quark and in the
lepton sectors. We show that in particular the Higgs sector and the running
Yukawa couplings are strongly affected by the combined constraints of the Grand
Unified and family symmetries. This in turn reduces the phenomenologically
viable parameter space, with high energy mass scales confined to a small region
and some parameters in the neutrino sector slightly unnatural. In the allowed
regions, we can reproduce the quark masses and the CKM matrix. In the lepton
sector, we reproduce the charged lepton masses, including bottom-tau
unification and the Georgi-Jarlskog relation as well as the two known angles of
the PMNS matrix. The neutrino mass spectrum can present a normal or an inverse
hierarchy, and only allowing the neutrino parameters to spread into a range of
values between and , with .
Finally, our model suggests that the reactor mixing angle is close to its
current experimental bound.Comment: 62 pages, 4 figures; references added, version accepted for
publication in JHE
Interpretation of uniocular and binocular trials of glaucoma medications: an observational case series
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>To predict the effectiveness of topical glaucoma medications based on initial uniocular and binocular treatment. To test a traditional hypothesis that effectiveness following a uniocular trial is associated with the change in IOP in the initially treated eye minus the change in the initially untreated eye. To determine whether uniocular or binocular treatment trials are superior.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Based on a review of medical records, we identified 168 instances in 154 patients with bilateral primary open angle glaucoma of initial uniocular use of a topical glaucoma medication with well-documented intraocular pressure (IOP) readings at baseline (IOP<sub>A</sub>), during the trial (IOP<sub>B</sub>), and at follow-up (IOP<sub>C</sub>). Abstracted data included demographic data, IOP, and medication use. Predictors of the IOP following the trial (IOP<sub>C</sub>) in each eye were identified by multivariable linear regression. In 70 cases, the predictive ability of initial uniocular and binocular treatment could be directly compared.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In a multivariable analysis, the follow-up pressure in the initially treated eye (IOP<sub>1C</sub>) was directly correlated with treated eye IOP during initial uniocular use (IOP<sub>1B</sub>, p < 0.001). In a multivariable analysis, the follow-up pressure in the initially untreated eye (IOP<sub>2C</sub>) was directly correlated with its baseline IOP<sub>2A </sub>(p < 0.001), and also tended to be associated with treated IOP<sub>1B </sub>(p = 0.07). The multivariable regression coefficient (b) for the IOP change in the initially untreated eye was generally not close to the value of -1 expected by the classic teaching (for eye 1, b = 0.04, p = 0.35; for eye 2, b = 0.07, p = 0.50). In 70 cases, the uniocular and binocular trials predicted a similar fraction of the variance in follow-up IOP<sub>1C </sub>(r<sup>2 </sup>= 0.56 and 0.57, respectively) and IOP<sub>2C </sub>(r<sup>2 </sup>= 0.39 and 0.38, respectively).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>1) For uniocular trials, the IOP change in the untreated eye should not be subtracted from that in the treated eye. 2) Uniocular and binocular trials have similar predictive value when interpreted correctly. Either may be selected based on clinical circumstances.</p
Strong coupling, discrete symmetry and flavour
We show how two principles - strong coupling and discrete symmetry - can work
together to generate the flavour structure of the Standard Model. We propose
that in the UV the full theory has a discrete flavour symmetry, typically only
associated with tribimaximal mixing in the neutrino sector. Hierarchies in the
particle masses and mixing matrices then emerge from multiple strongly coupled
sectors that break this symmetry. This allows for a realistic flavour
structure, even in models built around an underlying grand unified theory. We
use two different techniques to understand the strongly coupled physics:
confinement in N=1 supersymmetry and the AdS/CFT correspondence. Both
approaches yield equivalent results and can be represented in a clear,
graphical way where the flavour symmetry is realised geometrically.Comment: 31 pages, 5 figures, updated references and figure
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