157 research outputs found
SU(3) Family Gauge Symmetry and the Axion
We analyze the structure of a recently proposed effective field theory (EFT)
for the generation of quark and lepton mass ratios and mixing angles, based on
the spontaneous breaking of an SU(3) family gauge symmetry at a high scale F.
We classify the Yukawa operators necessary to seed the masses, making use of
the continuous global symmetries that they preserve. One global U(1), in
addition to baryon number and electroweak hypercharge, remains unbroken after
the inclusion of all operators required by standard-model-fermion
phenomenology. An associated vacuum symmetry insures the vanishing of the
first-family quark and charged-lepton masses in the absence of the family gauge
interaction. If this U(1) symmetry is taken to be exact in the EFT, broken
explicitly by only the QCD-induced anomaly, and if the breaking scale F is
taken to lie in the range 10 to 9 - 10 to 12 GeV, then the associated
Nambu-Goldstone boson is a potential QCD axion.Comment: References added and clarifications in Vacuum Structure sectio
Neutrinos and SU(3) Family Gauge Symmetry
We include the standard-model (SM) leptons in a recently proposed framework
for the generation of quark mass ratios and Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa (CKM)
mixing angles from an SU(3) family gauge interaction. The set of SM-singlet
scalar fields describing the spontaneous breaking is the same as employed for
the quark sector. The imposition at tree-level of the experimentally correct
Pontecorvo-Maki-Nakagawa-Sakata (PMNS) mixing matrix, in the form of a tri-bi
maximal structure, fixes several of the otherwise free parameters and renders
the model predictive. The normal hierarchy among the neutrino masses emerges
from this scheme.Comment: 9 pages, 3 tables; a comment added to clarify the effects of
additional Yukawa operators; final version in PR
Listeners track talker-specific prosody to deal with talker-variability
One of the challenges in speech perception is that listeners must deal with considerable segmental and suprasegmental variability in the acoustic signal due to differences between talkers. Most previous studies have focused on how listeners deal with segmental variability. In this EEG experiment, we investigated whether listeners track talker-specific usage of suprasegmental cues to lexical stress to recognize spoken words correctly. In a three-day training phase, Dutch participants learned to map non-word minimal stress pairs onto different object referents (e.g., USklot meant “lamp”; usKLOT meant “train”). These non-words were produced by two male talkers. Critically, each talker used only one suprasegmental cue to signal stress (e.g., Talker A used only F0 and Talker B only intensity). We expected participants to learn which talker used which cue to signal stress. In the test phase, participants indicated whether spoken sentences including these non-words were correct (“The word for lamp is…”). We found that participants were slower to indicate that a stimulus was correct if the non-word was produced with the unexpected cue (e.g., Talker A using intensity). That is, if in training Talker A used F0 to signal stress, participants experienced a mismatch between predicted and perceived phonological word-forms if, at test, Talker A unexpectedly used intensity to cue stress. In contrast, the N200 amplitude, an event-related potential related to phonological prediction, was not modulated by the cue mismatch. Theoretical implications of these contrasting results are discussed. The behavioral findings illustrate talker-specific prediction of prosodic cues, picked up through perceptual learning during training
Breaking Discrete Symmetries in Broken Gauge Theories
We study the spontaneous breaking of discrete symmetries in theories with
broken gauge symmetry. The intended application is to CP breaking in theories
with gauged flavor symmetries, but the analysis described here is preliminary.
We dispense with matter fields and take the gauge theory to be weakly coupled
and broken spontaneously by unspecified, short-distance forces. We develop an
effective-field-theory description of the resultant low energy theory, and ask
whether this theory by itself can describe the subsequent breaking of discrete
symmetries. We conclude that this can happen depending on the parameters of the
effective theory, and that the intrinsic violation is naturally of order unity.Comment: 9 pages, 1 figure, corrected typos, added a referenc
The S-parameter in Holographic Technicolor Models
We study the S parameter, considering especially its sign, in models of
electroweak symmetry breaking (EWSB) in extra dimensions, with fermions
localized near the UV brane. Such models are conjectured to be dual to 4D
strong dynamics triggering EWSB. The motivation for such a study is that a
negative value of S can significantly ameliorate the constraints from
electroweak precision data on these models, allowing lower mass scales (TeV or
below) for the new particles and leading to easier discovery at the LHC. We
first extend an earlier proof of S>0 for EWSB by boundary conditions in
arbitrary metric to the case of general kinetic functions for the gauge fields
or arbitrary kinetic mixing. We then consider EWSB in the bulk by a Higgs VEV
showing that S is positive for arbitrary metric and Higgs profile, assuming
that the effects from higher-dimensional operators in the 5D theory are
sub-leading and can therefore be neglected. For the specific case of AdS_5 with
a power law Higgs profile, we also show that S ~ + O(1), including effects of
possible kinetic mixing from higher-dimensional operator (of NDA size) in the
theory. Therefore, our work strongly suggests that S is positive in
calculable models in extra dimensions.Comment: 21 pages, 2 figures. v2: references adde
Flavor-Changing Processes in Extended Technicolor
We analyze constraints on a class of extended technicolor (ETC) models from
neutral flavor-changing processes induced by (dimension-six) four-fermion
operators. The ETC gauge group is taken to commute with the standard-model
gauge group. The models in the class are distinguished by how the left- and
right-handed components of the quarks and charged leptons transform
under the ETC group. We consider and other pseudoscalar
meson mixings, and conclude that they are adequately suppressed if the and
components of the relevant quarks are assigned to the same (fundamental or
conjugate-fundamental) representation of the ETC group. Models in which the
and components of the down-type quarks are assigned to relatively conjugate
representations, while they can lead to realistic CKM mixing and intra-family
mass splittings, do not adequately suppress these mixing processes. We identify
an approximate global symmetry that elucidates these behavioral differences and
can be used to analyze other possible representation assignments.
Flavor-changing decays, involving quarks and/or leptons, are adequately
suppressed for any ETC-representation assignment of the and components
of the quarks, as well as the leptons. We draw lessons for future ETC model
building.Comment: 25 page
Phosphoethanolamine And Omega-3 In Patients With Asthma
The effect of omega-3 (n-3) in asthma has been inconclusive. One explanation for it may be the low incorporation of these fatty acids in clinical studies. Phosphoethanolamine (PEtn) can increase the synthesis of phosphatidylethanolamine, which can, in turn, increase the incorporation of n-3 in cell membranes. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of synthetic PEtn in patients with asthma who are receiving n-3. This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study was carried out over a two month period by using spirometry, the Asthma Control Test questionnaire (ACT) and medicine intake. Forty-one patients with asthma were studied. Twenty-one patients received n-3 daily (1.080 mg of EPA, 720 mg of DHA) and 800 mg of PEtn (PEtn group), and twenty patients received the same doses of n-3 and placebo (control group). All patients continued receiving their conventional treatment for asthma. The hospital ethics committee approved the study. Five patients of each group required systemic corticosteroids, being the total consumption, Smaller in the PEtn group (127.4 mg of prednisone/patient versus 416.0 mg of prednisone/patient in the control group, p-value = 0.0269). There were no significant differences in the changing of ATC and FEV1, as well as in the intake of formoterol or budesonide between the groups. In this study, patients who received phosphoethanolamine and omega-3 needed a Smaller dose of systemic corticosteroid for asthma control than patients who only received omega-3. However, as the trial was conducted on a Small scale, more studies are necessary.99185431854
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