15 research outputs found
Stringent Phenomenological Investigation into Heterotic String Optical Unification
For the weakly coupled heterotic string (WCHS) there is a well-known factor
of twenty conflict between the minimum string coupling unification scale,
Lambda_H ~5x10^(17) GeV, and the projected MSSM unification scale, Lambda_U ~
2.5x10^(16) GeV, assuming an intermediate scale desert (ISD). Renormalization
effects of intermediate scale MSSM-charged exotics (ISME) (endemic to
quasi-realistic string models) can resolve this issue, pushing the MSSM scale
up to the string scale. However, for a generic string model, this implies that
the projected Lambda_U unification under ISD is accidental. If the true
unification scale is 5.0x10^(17) GeV, is it possible that illusionary
unification at 2.5x10^(17) GeV in the ISD scenario is not accidental? If it is
not, then under what conditions would the assumption of ISME in a WCHS model
imply apparent unification at Lambda_U when ISD is falsely assumed? Geidt's
"optical unification" suggests that Lambda_U is not accidental, by offering a
mechanism whereby a generic MSSM scale Lambda_U < Lambda_H is guaranteed. A
WCHS model was constructed that offers the possibility of optical unification,
depending on the availability of anomaly-cancelling flat directions meeting
certain requirements. This paper reports on the systematic investigation of the
optical unification properties of the set of stringent flat directions of this
model. Stringent flat directions can be guaranteed to be F-flat to all finite
order (or to at least a given finite order consistent with electroweak scale
supersymmetry breaking) and can be viewed as the likely roots of more general
flat directions. Analysis of the phenomenology of stringent flat directions
gives an indication of the remaining optical unification phenomenology that
must be garnered by flat directions developed from them.Comment: standard latex, 18 pages of tex
Radius Destabilization in Five Dimensional Orbifolds Due to an Enhanced Casimir Effect
One of the challenges in connecting higher dimensional theories to cosmology
is stabilization of the moduli fields. We investigate the role of a Lorentz
violating vector field in the context of stabilization. Specifically, we
compute the one loop Casimir energy in Randall-Sundrum 5-dimensional
(non-supersymmetric) S^1/ Z_2 orbifolds resulting from the interaction of a
real scalar field with periodic boundary conditions with a Lorentz violating
vector field. We find that the result is an enhanced attractive Casimir force.
Hence, for stability, positive contributions to the Casimir force from branes
and additional fields would be required to counter the destabilizing,
attractive effect of Lorentz violating fields
Project Icarus: progress report on technical developments and design considerations
Icarus is a theoretical design study of an interstellar spacecraft that is the successor to the 1970s Project Daedalus. This paper summarises some of the technical progress that has occurred since its launch in September 2009 and discusses each of the twenty research modules that define the project, encompassing all the major spacecraft systems. A number of options are currently available for the design configuration and mission profile and these are discussed prior to entering Phase IV of the design study which begins the process of down selecting design options. This paper represents a progress report on Project Icarus and is a submission of the Project Icarus Study Group