Suppression of Higgsino mediated proton decay by cancellations in GUTs and strings

A mechanism for the enhancement for proton lifetime in supersymmetric/supergravity (SUSY/SUGRA) grand unified theories (GUTs) and in string theory models is discussed where Higgsino mediated proton decay arising from color triplets (anti-triplets) with charges $Q=-1/3(1/3)$ and $Q=-4/3(4/3)$ is suppressed by an internal cancellation due to contributions from different sources. We exhibit the mechanism for an SU(5) model with $45_H+\bar{45}_H$ Higgs multiplets in addition to the usual Higgs structure of the minimal model. This model contains both $Q=-1/3(1/3)$ and $Q=-4/3(4/3)$ Higgs color triplets (anti-triplets) and simple constraints allow for a complete suppression of Higgsino mediated proton decay. Suppression of proton decay in an SU(5) model with Planck scale contributions is also considered. The suppression mechanism is then exhibited for an SO(10) model with a unified Higgs structure involving $144_H+\bar{144}_H$ representations.The SU(5) decomposition of $144_H+\bar{144}_H$ contains $5_H+\bar 5_H$ and $45_H+\bar{45}_H$ and the cancellation mechanism arises among these contributions which mirrror the SU(5) case. The cancellation mechanism appears to be more generally valid for a larger class of unification models. Specifically the cancellation mechanism may play a role in string model constructions to suppress proton decay from dimension five operators. The mechanism allows for the suppression of proton decay consistent with current data allowing for the possibility that proton decay may be visible in the next round of nucleon stability experiment.Comment: 26 pages, no figures. Revtex 4. To appear in Physical Review

State-space Correlations and Stabilities

The state-space pair correlation functions and notion of stability of extremal and non-extremal black holes in string theory and M-theory are considered from the viewpoints of thermodynamic Ruppeiner geometry. From the perspective of intrinsic Riemannian geometry, the stability properties of these black branes are divulged from the positivity of principle minors of the space-state metric tensor. We have explicitly analyzed the state-space configurations for (i) the two and three charge extremal black holes, (ii) the four and six charge non-extremal black branes, which both arise from the string theory solutions. An extension is considered for the $D_6$-$D_4$-$D_2$-$D_0$ multi-centered black branes, fractional small black branes and two charge rotating fuzzy rings in the setup of Mathur's fuzzball configurations. The state-space pair correlations and nature of stabilities have been investigated for three charged bubbling black brane foams, and thereby the M-theory solutions are brought into the present consideration. In the case of extremal black brane configurations, we have pointed out that the ratio of diagonal space-state correlations varies as inverse square of the chosen parameters, while the off diagonal components vary as inverse of the chosen parameters. We discuss the significance of this observation for the non-extremal black brane configurations, and find similar conclusion that the state-space correlations extenuate as the chosen parameters are increased.Comment: 35 pages, Keywords: Black Hole Physics, Higher-dimensional Black Branes, State-space Correlations and Statistical Configurations. PACS numbers: 04.70.-s Physics of black holes; 04.70.Bw Classical black holes; 04.70.Dy Quantum aspects of black holes, evaporation, thermodynamics; 04.50.Gh Higher-dimensional black holes, black strings, and related object

Electronic structure of spin 1/2 Heisenberg antiferromagnetic systems: Ba_2Cu(PO_4)_2 and Sr_2Cu(PO_4)_2

We have employed first principles calculations to study the electronic structure and magnetic properties of the low-dimensional phosphates, Ba2Cu(PO4)2 and Sr2Cu(PO4)2. Using the self-consistent tight-binding lin- earized muffin-tin orbital method and the Nth order muffin-tin orbital method, we have calculated the various intrachain as well as the interchain hopping parameters between the magnetic ions Cu2+ for both the com- pounds. We find that the nearest-neighbor intrachain hopping t is the dominant interaction suggesting the compounds to be indeed one dimensional. Our analysis of the band dispersion, orbital projected band struc- tures, and the hopping parameters confirms that the Cu2+-Cu2+ super-super exchange interaction takes place along the crystallographic b direction mediated by O-P-O. We have also analyzed in detail the origin of short-range exchange interaction for these systems. Our ab initio estimate of the ratio of the exchange inter- action of Sr2Cu(PO4)2 to that of Ba2Cu(PO4)2 compares excellently with available experimental results.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure

Natural emergence of antigen-reactive T cells in lepromatous leprosy patients during Erythema nodosum leprosum.

Fifteen lepromatous leprosy (LL) patients undergoing erythema nodosum leprosum (ENL) reactions were compared with 13 stable, uncomplicated, anergic individuals of the same leprosy background. ENL patients showed significant antigen-induced leukocyte migration inhibition (migration index = 0.058 ± 0.01), paralleling the values obtained with a responder tuberculoid leprosy population (migration index = 0.04 ± 0.004). Both phytohemagglutinin-induced general T-cell proliferation and, more significantly, antigen-induced lymphoproliferation were enhanced during the acute phase of the reaction. Suppressor cell activity, monitored by a costimulant assay, showed enhanced antigen-stimulated suppression of mitogen responses. Interestingly, the improvement in in vitro T-cell responses was not reflected in dermal reactivity, since 48-h delayed-type hypersensitivity responses after intradermal injection of soluble Mycobacterium leprae antigens continued to be poor. After subsidence of reactional lesions, leukocyte migration inhibition, lymphoproliferation, and suppressor cell activity were reduced to the unresponsive state seen in stable LL patients. Significantly, perturbations of T-cell reactivity are detectable in ENL reactions, indicating the natural but transient emergence of antigen-induced T cells in LL

Hindered magnetic order from mixed dimensionalities in CuP2_2O6_6

We present a combined experimental and theoretical study of the spin-1/2 compound CuP$_2$O$_6$ that features a network of two-dimensional (2D) antiferromagnetic (AFM) square planes, interconnected via one-dimensional (1D) AFM spin chains. Magnetic susceptibility, high-field magnetization, and electron spin resonance (ESR) data, as well as microscopic density-functional band-structure calculations and subsequent quantum Monte-Carlo simulations, show that the coupling $J_{2D}\sim$ 40 K in the layers is an order of magnitude larger than $J_{1D}\sim$ 4 K in the chains. Below $T_N\sim$ 8 K, CuP$_2$O$_6$ develops long-range order (LRO), as evidenced by a weak net moment on the 2D planes induced by anisotropic magnetic interactions of Dzyaloshinsky-Moriya type. A striking feature of this 3D ordering transition is that the 1D moments grow significantly slower than the ones on the 2D layers, which is evidenced by the persistent paramagnetic ESR signal below $T_N$. Compared to typical quasi-2D magnets, the ordering temperature of CuP$_2$O$_6$ $T_N/J_{2D}\sim$ 0.2 is unusually low, showing that weakly coupled spins sandwiched between 2D magnetic units effectively decouple these units and impede the long-range ordering.Comment: 11 pages, 12 figures, 1 table; published version with few additional citations added and misprints fixe

Testing Supergravity Grand Unification at Future Accelerator and Underground Experiments

The full parameter space of supergravity grand unified theory with $SU(5)$ type $p \rightarrow \bar{\nu} K$ proton decay is analysed using renormalization group induced electroweak symmetry breaking under the restrictions that the universal scalar mass $m_o$ and gluino mass are $\leq 1$ TeV (no extreme fine tuning) and the Higgs triplet mass obeys $M_{H_3}/M_G < 10$. Future proton decay experiments at SuperKamiokande or ICARUS can reach a sensitivity for the $\bar{\nu} K$ mode of $(2-5) \times 10^{33}$ yr allowing a number of predictions concerning the SUSY mass spectrum. Thus either the $p \rightarrow\bar{\nu} K$ decay mode will be seen at these experiments or a chargino of mass $m_{\tilde{W}} < 100$ GeV will exist and hence be observable at LEP2. Further, if $(p \rightarrow \bar{\nu} K) > 1.5 \times 10^{33}$ yr, then either the light Higgs has mass $m_h \leq 95$ GeV or $m_{\tilde{W}} \leq 100$ GeV i.e. either the light Higgs or the light chargino (or both) would be observable at LEP2. Thus, the combination of future accelerator and future underground experiments allow for strong experimental tests of this theory.Comment: 7 figures available upon request, CTP-TAMU-32/93, NUB-TH-3066/93 and SSCL-Preprint-44

Genetic diversity analysis of mustard (Brassica spp.) germplasm using molecular marker for selection of short duration genotypes

Molecular characterization of 16 mustard (Brassica spp.) genotypes by using 12 RAPD markers revealed that three primers GLA-11, OPB-04 and OPD-02 showed good technical resolution and sufficient variations among different genotypes. A total of 40 RAPD bands were scored of which 38 (94.87%) polymorphic amplification products were obtained. Besides, the primer OPD-02 amplified maximum number of polymorphic bands (100.00%) while the primer GLA-11 and OPB-04 generated the least (92.31%) polymorphic bands, which were minimal in number. The present study produced 13.33 scorable bands per primer and 12.67 polymorphic bands per primer. Frequencies of maximum number of polymorphic loci were found to be high with the exception of GLA-11(0.750), OPB-04 (0.875) and OPD-02 (0.750). The estimate of Nei's genetic diversity for the entire genotypes of mustard was 0.3596 and Shannon's information index was 0.535. There was a high level of genetic variation among the mustard genotypes studied from the proportion of polymorphic loci point of view. The values of pair-wise comparison of Nei’s genetic distance between genotypes were computed from combined data for the three primers; ranged from 0.1054 to 0.9862. BINA Sarisha-3 and BINA Sarisha-4 showed the lowest genetic distance of 0.1054 where Tori-7 and NAP-0758-2 showed highest genetic distance of 0.9862. The 16 mustard genotypes were differentiated into three main clusters: BARI Sarisha-14, BARI Sarisha-9, BARI Sarisha-15, BINA Sarisha-4, BINA Sarisha-3, BARI Sarisha-8, Sampad and Tori-7 in cluster A, NAP-0763, NAP-0721-1, BARI Sarisha-4, BARI Sarisha-6, NAP-0762-2 and NAP-0848-2 in cluster B and NAP-0838 and NAP-0758-2 were grouped into cluster C by making dendrogram based on Nei’s genetic distance using unweighted pair group method of arithmetic means (UPGMA).Keywords: Mustard, diversity analysis, RAPD marker, genetic distance, cluster analysis.Abbreviation: UPGMA, Unweighted pair group method of arithmetic means; RFLP, restriction fragment length polymorphism; RAPDs, random amplified polymorphic DNAs; AFLP, amplified fragment length polymorphism; SSRs, simple sequence repeats; CTAB, cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide.

Synthesis, Structure and Properties of Tetragonal Sr2M3As2O2 (M3 = Mn3, Mn2Cu and MnZn2) Compounds Containing Alternating CuO2-Type and FeAs-Type Layers

Polycrystalline samples of Sr2Mn2CuAs2O2, Sr2Mn3As2O2, and Sr2Zn2MnAs2O2 were synthesized. Their temperature- and applied magnetic field-dependent structural, transport, thermal, and magnetic properties were characterized by means of x-ray and neutron diffraction, electrical resistivity rho, heat capacity, magnetization and magnetic susceptibility measurements. These compounds have a body-centered-tetragonal crystal structure (space group I4/mmm) that consists of MO2 (M = Zn and/or Mn) oxide layers similar to the CuO2 layers in high superconducting transition temperature Tc cuprate superconductors, and intermetallic MAs (M = Cu and/or Mn) layers similar to the FeAs layers in high-Tc pnictides. These two types of layers alternate along the crystallographic c-axis and are separated by Sr atoms. The site occupancies of Mn, Cu and Zn were studied using Rietveld refinements of x-ray and neutron powder diffraction data. The temperature dependences of rho suggest metallic character for Sr2Mn2CuAs2O2 and semiconducting character for Sr2Mn3As2O2 and Sr2Zn2MnAs2O2. Sr2Mn2CuAs2O2 is inferred to be a ferrimagnet with a Curie temperature TC = 95(1) K. Remarkably, we find that the magnetic ground state structure changes from a G-type antiferromagnetic structure in Sr2Mn3As2O2 to an A-type ferrimagnetic structure in Sr2Mn2CuAs2O2 in which the Mn ions in each layer are ferromagnetically aligned, but are antiferromagnetically aligned between layers.Comment: 18 pages, 16 figures, 6 tables; submitted to Phys. Rev.

A Study of Insulin Resistance and its Clinico.Metabolic Associations Among Apparently Healthy Individuals Attending a Tertiary Care Hospital

Background: Insulin resistance (IR), as a result of unhealthy life.styles and westernization, most likely contributes to the increased incidence of metabolic abnormalities and consequently, the development of metabolic syndrome (MS). Aim: The present study was undertaken to determine the magnitude of IR and associated clinico.metabolic risk factors among the out-patients of a tertiary care hospital in Bihar, India. Subjects and Methods: Anthropometric profile, lipid profile, fasting blood glucose, C-reactive protein (CRP) and C-peptide of 112 individuals were measured using the standard procedures. IR was assessed using the homeostasis model (Homeostatic model assessment [HOMA]-IR).Results: The mean IR was 1.5 (1.0). Individuals with MS, higher body mass index and CRP ≥6 mg/l had higher IR. Linear regression showed, among the components of MS, waist circumference had the highest contribution toward IR. The optimal cut-off value to detect IR by HOMA2-IR was 1.35.Conclusion: IR was found to have a strong association with various clinico-metabolic risk factors. Keywords: C-reactive protein, Homeostatic model assessment insulin resistance, Insulin resistance, Metabolic syndrom