Light charged Higgs boson production at the Large Hadron electron Collider

We study the production of a light charged Higgs boson at the future Large Hadron electron Collider (LHeC), through the process $e^- p \to \nu_e H^- q$ considering both decay channels $H^- \to b \bar c$ and $H^- \to \tau \bar \nu_\tau$ in the final state. We analyse these processes in the context of the 2-Higgs Doublet Model Type III (2HDM-III) and assess the LHeC sensitivity to such $H^-$ signals against a variety of both reducible and irreducible backgrounds. We confirm that prospects for $H^-$ detection in the 2HDM-III are excellent assuming standard collider energy and luminosity conditions.Comment: 12 pages, 12 figures. Accepted in Physical Review

Earnings Mobility in Argentina, Mexico, and Venezuela: Testing the Divergence of Earnings and the Symmetry of Mobility Hypotheses

This paper examines changes in individual earnings during positive and negative growth periods in three Latin American economies: Argentina, Mexico, and Venezuela. We ask whether those individuals who start in the best economic position are those who experience the largest earnings gains or the smallest earnings losses; this is the “divergent mobility” hypothesis. We also compare periods of positive economic growth with those of negative economic growth, asking whether those groups of individuals that experience large positive earnings gains when the economy is growing are the same as those that experience large earnings losses when the economy is contracting; this is the “symmetry of mobility” hypothesis. We find very occasional support for the divergent mobility hypothesis in scattered years in the cases of Mexico and Venezuela, and no support at all in the case of Argentina. Rather, earnings mobility is most frequently convergent or neutral in all three countries. As for the symmetry of mobility hypothesis, we find that it is rejected in most cases; rather, those groups that gain the most when the economy is growing are also the ones that gain the most when the economy is contracting. Furthermore, we explain how the absence of divergence is compatible with rising inequality in the countries under study

Income Mobility in Latin America

[Excerpt] In the last decades Latin American countries have experienced substantial macroeconomic instability. While the region as a whole experienced economic growth during most of the 1990’s and 2000’s, there were also years of stagnation as well as economic decline

Analysis of the quark sector in the 2HDM-III with a four-zero Yukawa texture using the most recent data on the CKM matrix

In this letter we analyse, in the context of the general 2-Higgs Doublet Model, the structure of the Yukawa matrices, $\widetilde{ \bf Y}_{ _{1,2} }^{q}$, by assuming a four-zero texture ansatz for their definition. In this framework, we obtain compact expressions for $\widetilde{ \bf Y}_{ _{1,2} }^{q}$, which are reduced to the Cheng and Sher ansatz with the difference that they are obtained naturally as a direct consequence of the invariants of the fermion mass matrices. Furthermore, in order to avoid large flavour violating effects coming from charged Higgs exchange, we consider the main flavour constraints on the off-diagonal terms of Yukawa texture {{$\left( \widetilde{\chi}_{j}^q \right)_{kl}$}} ($k\neq l$). We perform a $\chi^2$-fit based on current experimental data on the quark masses and the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa mixing matrix ${ \bf V}_{\rm CKM }$. Hence, we obtain the allowed ranges for the parameters $\widetilde{ \bf Y}_{ _{1,2} }^{q}$ at 1$\sigma$ for several values of $\tan \beta$. The results are in complete agreement with the bounds obtained taking into account constraints on Flavour Changing Neutral Currents reported in the literature.Comment: 12 pages, 1 figure. Version accepted in Phys. Lett.

Chemical abundances of stars with brown-dwarf companions

It is well-known that stars with giant planets are on average more metal-rich than stars without giant planets, whereas stars with detected low-mass planets do not need to be metal-rich. With the aim of studying the weak boundary that separates giant planets and brown dwarfs (BDs) and their formation mechanism, we analyze the spectra of a sample of stars with already confirmed BD companions both by radial velocity and astrometry. We employ standard and automatic tools to perform an EW-based analysis and to derive chemical abundances from CORALIE spectra of stars with BD companions. We compare these abundances with those of stars without detected planets and with low-mass and giant-mass planets. We find that stars with BDs do not have metallicities and chemical abundances similar to those of giant-planet hosts but they resemble the composition of stars with low-mass planets. The distribution of mean abundances of $\alpha$-elements and iron peak elements of stars with BDs exhibit a peak at about solar abundance whereas for stars with low-mass and high-mass planets the [X$_\alpha$/H] and [X$_{\rm Fe}$/H] peak abundances remain at $\sim -0.1$~dex and $\sim +0.15$~dex, respectively. We display these element abundances for stars with low-mass and high-mass planets, and BDs versus the minimum mass, $m_C \sin i$, of the most-massive substellar companion in each system, and we find a maximum in $\alpha$-element as well as Fe-peak abundances at $m_C \sin i \sim 1.35\pm 0.20$ jupiter masses. We discuss the implication of these results in the context of the formation scenario of BDs in comparison with that of giant planets.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysic

Optimization techniques in respiratory control system models

One of the most complex physiological systems whose modeling is still an open study is the respiratory control system where different models have been proposed based on the criterion of minimizing the work of breathing (WOB). The aim of this study is twofold: to compare two known models of the respiratory control system which set the breathing pattern based on quantifying the respiratory work; and to assess the influence of using direct-search or evolutionary optimization algorithms on adjustment of model parameters. This study was carried out using experimental data from a group of healthy volunteers under CO2 incremental inhalation, which were used to adjust the model parameters and to evaluate how much the equations of WOB follow a real breathing pattern. This breathing pattern was characterized by the following variables: tidal volume, inspiratory and expiratory time duration and total minute ventilation. Different optimization algorithms were considered to determine the most appropriate model from physiological viewpoint. Algorithms were used for a double optimization: firstly, to minimize the WOB and secondly to adjust model parameters. The performance of optimization algorithms was also evaluated in terms of convergence rate, solution accuracy and precision. Results showed strong differences in the performance of optimization algorithms according to constraints and topological features of the function to be optimized. In breathing pattern optimization, the sequential quadratic programming technique (SQP) showed the best performance and convergence speed when respiratory work was low. In addition, SQP allowed to implement multiple non-linear constraints through mathematical expressions in the easiest way. Regarding parameter adjustment of the model to experimental data, the evolutionary strategy with covariance matrix and adaptation (CMA-ES) provided the best quality solutions with fast convergence and the best accuracy and precision in both models. CMAES reached the best adjustment because of its good performance on noise and multi-peaked fitness functions. Although one of the studied models has been much more commonly used to simulate respiratory response to CO2 inhalation, results showed that an alternative model has a more appropriate cost function to minimize WOB from a physiological viewpoint according to experimental data.Postprint (author's final draft

Prediction of IBD based on population history for fine gene mapping

A novel multiple regression method (RM) is developed to predict identity-by-descent probabilities at a locus L (IBDL), among individuals without pedigree, given information on surrounding markers and population history. These IBDL probabilities are a function of the increase in linkage disequilibrium (LD) generated by drift in a homogeneous population over generations. Three parameters are sufficient to describe population history: effective population size (Ne), number of generations since foundation (T), and marker allele frequencies among founders (p). IBDL are used in a simulation study to map a quantitative trait locus (QTL) via variance component estimation. RM is compared to a coalescent method (CM) in terms of power and robustness of QTL detection. Differences between RM and CM are small but significant. For example, RM is more powerful than CM in dioecious populations, but not in monoecious populations. Moreover, RM is more robust than CM when marker phases are unknown or when there is complete LD among founders or Ne is wrong, and less robust when p is wrong. CM utilises all marker haplotype information, whereas RM utilises information contained in each individual marker and all possible marker pairs but not in higher order interactions. RM consists of a family of models encompassing four different population structures, and two ways of using marker information, which contrasts with the single model that must cater for all possible evolutionary scenarios in CM