479 research outputs found
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
Absolutely stable proton and lowering the gauge unification scale
A unified model is constructed, based on flipped SU(5) in which the proton is absolutely stable. The model requires the existence of new leptons with masses of order the weak scale. The possibility that the unification scale could be extremely low is discussed
Notes on Operator Equations of Supercurrent Multiplets and the Anomaly Puzzle in Supersymmetric Field Theories
Recently, Komargodski and Seiberg have proposed a new type of supercurrent
multiplet which contains the energy-momentum tensor and the supersymmetry
current consistently. In this paper we study quantum properties of the
supercurrent in renormalizable field theories. We point out that the new
supercurrent gives a quite simple resolution to the classic problem, called the
anomaly puzzle, that the Adler-Bardeen theorem applied to an R-symmetry current
is inconsistent with all order corrections to functions. We propose an
operator equation for the supercurrent in all orders of perturbation theory,
and then perform several consistency checks of the equation. The operator
equation we propose is consisitent with the one proposed by Shifman and
Vainshtein, if we take some care in interpreting the meaning of non-conserved
currents.Comment: 28 pages; v2:clarifications and references added, some minor change
Effective Theory Approach to the Spontaneous Breakdown of Lorentz Invariance
We generalize the coset construction of Callan, Coleman, Wess and Zumino to
theories in which the Lorentz group is spontaneously broken down to one of its
subgroups. This allows us to write down the most general low-energy effective
Lagrangian in which Lorentz invariance is non-linearly realized, and to explore
the consequences of broken Lorentz symmetry without having to make any
assumptions about the mechanism that triggers the breaking. We carry out the
construction both in flat space, in which the Lorentz group is a global
spacetime symmetry, and in a generally covariant theory, in which the Lorentz
group can be treated as a local internal symmetry. As an illustration of this
formalism, we construct the most general effective field theory in which the
rotation group remains unbroken, and show that the latter is just the
Einstein-aether theory.Comment: 45 pages, no figures
Lorentz Violation in Extra Dimensions
In theories with extra dimensions it is well known that the Lorentz
invariance of the -dimensional spacetime is lost due to the compactified
nature of the dimensions leaving invariance only in 4d. In such theories
other sources of Lorentz violation may exist associated with the physics that
initiated the compactification process at high scales. Here we consider the
possibility of capturing some of this physics by analyzing the higher
dimensional analog of the model of Colladay and Kostelecky. In that scenario a
complete set of Lorentz violating operators arising from spontaneous Lorentz
violation, that are not obviously Planck-scale suppressed, are added to the
Standard Model action. Here we consider the influence of the analogous set of
operators which break Lorentz invariance in 5d within the Universal Extra
Dimensions picture. We show that such operators can greatly alter the
anticipated Kaluza-Klein(KK) spectra, induce electroweak symmetry breaking at a
scale related to the inverse compactification radius, yield sources of parity
violation in, e.g., 4d QED/QCD and result in significant violations of
KK-parity conservation produced by fermion Yukawa couplings, thus destabilizing
the lightest KK particle. LV in 6d is briefly discussed.Comment: 26 pages, 2 figures; additional references and discussio
Light Sneutrino Dark Matter at the LHC
In supersymmetric (SUSY) models with Dirac neutrino masses, a weak-scale
trilinear A-term that is not proportional to the small neutrino Yukawa
couplings can induce a sizable mixing between left and right-handed sneutrinos.
The lighter sneutrino mass eigenstate can hence become the lightest SUSY
particle (LSP) and a viable dark matter candidate. In particular, it can be an
excellent candidate for light dark matter with mass below ~10 GeV. Such a light
mixed sneutrino LSP has a dramatic effect on SUSY signatures at the LHC, as
charginos decay dominantly into the light sneutrino plus a charged lepton, and
neutralinos decay invisibly to a neutrino plus a sneutrino. We perform a
detailed study of the LHC potential to resolve the light sneutrino dark matter
scenario by means of three representative benchmark points with different
gluino and squark mass hierarchies. We study in particular the determination of
the LSP (sneutrino) mass from cascade decays involving charginos, using the mT2
variable. Moreover, we address measurements of additional invisible sparticles,
in our case the lightest neutralino, and the question of discrimination against
the MSSM.Comment: 25 pages, 16 figure
A four-dimensional {\Lambda}CDM-type cosmological model induced from higher dimensions using a kinematical constraint
A class of cosmological solutions of higher dimensional Einstein field
equations with the energy-momentum tensor of a homogeneous, isotropic fluid as
the source are considered with an anisotropic metric that includes the direct
sum of a 3-dimensional (physical, flat) external space metric and an
n-dimensional (compact, flat) internal space metric. A simple kinematical
constraint is postulated that correlates the expansion rates of the external
and internal spaces in terms of a real parameter {\lambda}. A specific solution
for which both the external and internal spaces expand at different rates is
given analytically for n=3. Assuming that the internal dimensions were at
Planck length scales when the external space starts with a Big Bang (t=0), they
expand only 1.49 times and stay at Planck length scales even in the present age
of the universe (13.7 Gyr). The effective four dimensional universe would
exhibit a behavior consistent with our current understanding of the observed
universe. It would start in a stiff fluid dominated phase and evolve through
radiation dominated and pressureless matter dominated phases, eventually going
into a de Sitter phase at late times.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figures; matches the version published in General
Relativity and Gravitatio
Bigger, Better, Faster, More at the LHC
Multijet plus missing energy searches provide universal coverage for theories
that have new colored particles that decay into a dark matter candidate and
jets. These signals appear at the LHC further out on the missing energy tail
than two-to-two scattering indicates. The simplicity of the searches at the LHC
contrasts sharply with the Tevatron where more elaborate searches are necessary
to separate signal from background. The searches presented in this article
effectively distinguish signal from background for any theory where the LSP is
a daughter or granddaughter of the pair-produced colored parent particle
without ever having to consider missing energies less than 400 GeV.Comment: 26 pages, 8 Figures. Minor textual changes, typos fixed and
references adde
E{7(7)} Symmetry and Finiteness of N=8 Supergravity
We study N=8 supergravity deformed by the presence of the candidate
counterterms. We show that even though they are invariant under undeformed
E{7(7)}, all of the candidate counterterms violate the deformed E{7(7)} current
conservation. The same conclusion follows from the uniqueness of the Lorentz
and SU(8) covariant, E{7(7)} invariant unitarity constraint expressing the
56-dimensional E{7(7)} doublet via 28 independent vectors. Therefore E{7(7)}
duality predicts the all-loop UV finiteness of perturbative N=8 supergravity.Comment: 18 page
Lorentz Violation in Warped Extra Dimensions
Higher dimensional theories which address some of the problematic issues of
the Standard Model(SM) naturally involve some form of -dimensional
Lorentz invariance violation (LIV). In such models the fundamental physics
which leads to, e.g., field localization, orbifolding, the existence of brane
terms and the compactification process all can introduce LIV in the higher
dimensional theory while still preserving 4-d Lorentz invariance. In this
paper, attempting to capture some of this physics, we extend our previous
analysis of LIV in 5-d UED-type models to those with 5-d warped extra
dimensions. To be specific, we employ the 5-d analog of the SM Extension of
Kostelecky et. al. ~which incorporates a complete set of operators arising from
spontaneous LIV. We show that while the response of the bulk scalar, fermion
and gauge fields to the addition of LIV operators in warped models is
qualitatively similar to what happens in the flat 5-d UED case, the gravity
sector of these models reacts very differently than in flat space.
Specifically, we show that LIV in this warped case leads to a non-zero bulk
mass for the 5-d graviton and so the would-be zero mode, which we identify as
the usual 4-d graviton, must necessarily become massive. The origin of this
mass term is the simultaneous existence of the constant non-zero
curvature and the loss of general co-ordinate invariance via LIV in the 5-d
theory. Thus warped 5-d models with LIV in the gravity sector are not
phenomenologically viable.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figs; discussion added, algebra repaire
- âŠ