256 research outputs found
When Anomaly Mediation is UV Sensitive
Despite its successes---such as solving the supersymmetric flavor
problem---anomaly mediated supersymmetry breaking is untenable because of its
prediction of tachyonic sleptons. An appealing solution to this problem was
proposed by Pomarol and Rattazzi where a threshold controlled by a light field
deflects the anomaly mediated supersymmetry breaking trajectory, thus evading
tachyonic sleptons. In this paper we examine an alternate class of deflection
models where the non-supersymmetric threshold is accompanied by a heavy,
instead of light, singlet. The low energy form of this model is the so-called
extended anomaly mediation proposed by Nelson and Weiner, but with potential
for a much higher deflection threshold. The existence of this high deflection
threshold implies that the space of anomaly mediated supersymmetry breaking
deflecting models is larger than previously thought.Comment: 14 pages, 1 figure (version to appear in JHEP
Goldstone Bosons in Effective Theories with Spontaneously Broken Flavour Symmetry
The Flavour Symmetry of the Standard Model (SM) gauge sector is broken by the
fermion Yukawa couplings. Promoting the Yukawa matrices to scalar spurion
fields, one can break the flavour symmetry spontaneously by giving appropriate
vacuum expectation values (VEVs) to the spurion fields, and one encounters
Goldstone modes for every broken flavour symmetry generator. In this paper, we
point out various aspects related to the possible dynamical interpretation of
the Goldstone bosons: (i) In an effective-theory framework with local flavour
symmetry, the Goldstone fields represent the longitudinal modes for massive
gauge bosons. The spectrum of the latter follows the sequence of
flavour-symmetry breaking related to the hierarchies in Yukawa couplings and
flavour mixing angles. (ii) Gauge anomalies can be consistently treated by
adding higher-dimensional operators. (iii) Leaving the U(1) factors of the
flavour symmetry group as global symmetries, the respective Goldstone modes
behave as axions which can be used to resolve the strong CP problem by a
modified Peccei-Quinn mechanism. (iv) The dynamical picture of flavour symmetry
breaking implies new sources of flavour-changing neutral currents, which arise
from integrating out heavy scalar spurion fields and heavy gauge bosons. The
coefficients of the effective operators follow the minimal-flavour violation
principle.Comment: 27 pages, abstract and introduction extended, more detailed
discussion of heavy gauge boson spectrum and auxiliary heavy fermions,
outline restructured. Matches version to be published in JHE
A composite axion from a supersymmetric product group
A global symmetry is protected from gravitational effects in
the s-confining product group theory with
matter. If the family symmetry is gauged and an appropriate tree-level
superpotential is added, then the dynamically generated superpotential
spontaneously breaks and
produces a QCD axion. Small values of the -violating parameter are
then possible without any fine-tuning, as long as the product group is suitably
large. By introducing a second copy of the s-confining product group
also coupled to the gauged , we find that values as small as are
consistent with , even under the pessimistic assumption
that the dominant contribution to the axion quality is at tree level.Comment: 16 pages, 3 figures, 4 tables, 2 appendice
CP properties of symmetry-constrained two-Higgs-doublet models
The two-Higgs-doublet model can be constrained by imposing Higgs-family
symmetries and/or generalized CP symmetries. It is known that there are only
six independent classes of such symmetry-constrained models. We study the CP
properties of all cases in the bilinear formalism. An exact symmetry implies CP
conservation. We show that soft breaking of the symmetry can lead to
spontaneous CP violation (CPV) in three of the classes.Comment: 14 pages, 2 tables, revised version adapted to the journal
publicatio
Axion Protection from Flavor
The QCD axion fails to solve the strong CP problem unless all explicit PQ
violating, Planck-suppressed, dimension n<10 operators are forbidden or have
exponentially small coefficients. We show that all theories with a QCD axion
contain an irreducible source of explicit PQ violation which is proportional to
the determinant of the Yukawa interaction matrix of colored fermions.
Generically, this contribution is of low operator dimension and will
drastically destabilize the axion potential, so its suppression is a necessary
condition for solving the strong CP problem. We propose a mechanism whereby the
PQ symmetry is kept exact up to n=12 with the help of the very same flavor
symmetries which generate the hierarchical quark masses and mixings of the SM.
This "axion flavor protection" is straightforwardly realized in theories which
employ radiative fermion mass generation and grand unification. A universal
feature of this construction is that the heavy quark Yukawa couplings are
generated at the PQ breaking scale.Comment: 16 pages, 2 figure
The Rydberg-Atom-Cavity Axion Search
We report on the present progress in development of the dark matter axion
search experiment with Rydberg-atom-cavity detectors in Kyoto, CARRACK I and
CARRACK II. The axion search has been performed with CARRACK I in the 8 % mass
range around , and CARRACK II is now ready for the search in
the wide range . We have also developed
quantum theoretical calculations on the axion-photon-atom system in the
resonant cavity in order to estimate precisely the detection sensitivity for
the axion signal. Some essential features on the axion-photon-atom interaction
are clarified, which provide the optimum experimental setup for the axion
search.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, Invited talk presented at the Dark2000,
Heidelberg, Germany,10-15 July, 200
Thermal production of axino Dark Matter
We reconsider thermal production of axinos in the early universe, adding: a)
missed terms in the axino interaction; b) production via gluon decays
kinematically allowed by thermal masses; c) a precise modeling of reheating. We
find an axino abunance a few times larger than previous computations.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures. Final version, to appear on JHE
On The Potential of Minimal Flavour Violation
Assuming the Minimal Flavour Violation hypothesis, we derive the general
scalar potential for fields whose background values are the Yukawa couplings.
We analyze the minimum of the potential and discuss the fine-tuning required to
dynamically generate the mass hierarchies and the mixings between different
quark generations. Two main cases are considered, corresponding to Yukawa
interactions being effective operators of dimension five or six (or,
equivalently, resulting from bi-fundamental and fundamental scalar fields,
respectively). At the renormalizable and classical level, no mixing is
naturally induced from dimension five Yukawa operators. On the contrary, from
dimension six Yukawa operators one mixing angle and a strong mass hierarchy
among the generations result.Comment: 33 pages, 6 figures; Note added in proof on the stability of the
minima of the scalar potential; results unchanged; references adde
P-odd and CP-odd Four-Quark Contributions to Neutron EDM
In a class of beyond-standard-model theories, CP-odd observables, such as the
neutron electric dipole moment, receive significant contributions from
flavor-neutral P-odd and CP-odd four-quark operators. However, considerable
uncertainties exist in the hadronic matrix elements of these operators strongly
affecting the experimental constraints on CP-violating parameters in the
theories. Here we study their hadronic matrix elements in combined chiral
perturbation theory and nucleon models. We first classify the operators in
chiral representations and present the leading-order QCD evolutions. We then
match the four-quark operators to the corresponding ones in chiral hadronic
theory, finding symmetry relations among the matrix elements. Although this
makes lattice QCD calculations feasible, we choose to estimate the
non-perturbative matching coefficients in simple quark models. We finally
compare the results for the neutron electric dipole moment and P-odd and CP-odd
pion-nucleon couplings with the previous studies using naive factorization and
QCD sum rules. Our study shall provide valuable insights on the present
hadronic physics uncertainties in these observables.Comment: 40 pages, 7 figures. This is the final version. A discussion of the
uncertainty of the calculation is adde
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