Baryogenesis from the amplification of vacuum fluctuations during inflation

We propose that the baryon asymmetry of the Universe may originate from the amplification of quantum fluctuations of a light complex scalar field during inflation. CP-violation is sourced by complex mass terms, which are smaller than the Hubble rate, as well as non-standard kinetic terms. We find that, when assuming 60 e-folds of inflation, an asymmetry in accordance with observation can result for models where the energy scale of inflation is of the order of 10^16 GeV. Lower scales may be achieved when assuming substantially larger amounts of e-folds.Comment: 18 page

B-L Violating Nucleon Decay and GUT Scale Baryogenesis in SO(10)

We show that grand unified theories based on SO(10) generate naturally the next-to-leading baryon number violating operators of dimension seven. These operators, which violate B-L, lead to unconventional decays of the nucleon such as n -> e^-K^+, e^- \pi^+ and p -> \nu \pi^+. In two-step breaking schemes of non-supersymmetric SO(10), nucleon lifetime for decays into these modes is found to be within reach of experiments. We also identify supersymmetric scenarios where these decays may be accessible, consistent with gauge coupling unification. Further, we show that the (B-L)-asymmetry generated in the decays of GUT scale scalar bosons and/or gauge bosons can explain consistently the observed baryon asymmetry of the universe. The induced (B-L)-asymmetry is sphaleron-proof, and survives down to the weak scale without being erased by the electroweak interactions. This mechanism works efficiently in a large class of non-SUSY and SUSY SO(10) models, with either a 126 or a 16 Higgs field employed for rank reduction. In minimal models the induced baryon asymmetry is tightly connected to the masses of quarks, leptons and neutrinos and is found to be compatible with observations.Comment: 26 pages, 9 figure

Emergence of gravity from interacting simplices

We consider a statistical model of interacting 4-simplices fluctuating in an N-dimensional target space. We argue that a gravitational theory may arise as a low energy effective theory in a strongly interacting phase where the simplices form clusters with an emergent space and time with the Euclidean signature. In the large N limit, two possible phases are discussed, that is, `gravitational Coulomb phase' and `gravitational Higgs phase'.Comment: 18 pages, 6 figures, one-column format; major revisions in version 5 : reviews on emergent gauge theories added; microscopic simplex model for emergent gravity added; erroneous statements on diffeomorphism invariance remove

Synchrotron Radiation and Quantum Gravity

Photons may evade a synchrotron radiation constraint on quantum gravity by violating the equivalence principle.Comment: 4 pages. Comment on Jacobson et al astro-ph/0212190. Presentation revised for brief communication to Nature with extended bibliograph

Quantum-Gravity Analysis of Gamma-Ray Bursts using Wavelets

In some models of quantum gravity, space-time is thought to have a foamy structure with non-trivial optical properties. We probe the possibility that photons propagating in vacuum may exhibit a non-trivial refractive index, by analyzing the times of flight of radiation from gamma-ray bursters (GRBs) with known redshifts. We use a wavelet shrinkage procedure for noise removal and a wavelet `zoom' technique to define with high accuracy the timings of sharp transitions in GRB light curves, thereby optimizing the sensitivity of experimental probes of any energy dependence of the velocity of light. We apply these wavelet techniques to 64 ms and TTE data from BATSE, and also to OSSE data. A search for time lags between sharp transients in GRB light curves in different energy bands yields the lower limit $M \ge 6.9 \cdot 10^{15}$ GeV on the quantum-gravity scale in any model with a linear dependence of the velocity of light $~ E/M$. We also present a limit on any quadratic dependence.Comment: This version is accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics. The discussion and introduction are extended making clear why the wavelet analysis should be superior to straight cross-correlation analysis. More details on compiled data are elaborated. 18 pages, 9 figures, A&A forma

Leptonic CP violation studies at MiniBooNE in the (3+2) sterile neutrino oscillation hypothesis

We investigate the extent to which leptonic CP-violation in (3+2) sterile neutrino models leads to different oscillation probabilities for $\bar{\nu}_{\mu}\to\bar{\nu}_e$ and $\nu_{\mu}\to\nu_e$ oscillations at MiniBooNE. We are using a combined analysis of short-baseline (SBL) oscillation results, including the LSND and null SBL results, to which we impose additional constraints from atmospheric oscillation data. We obtain the favored regions in MiniBooNE oscillation probability space for both (3+2) CP-conserving and (3+2) CP-violating models. We further investigate the allowed CP-violation phase values and the MiniBooNE reach for such a CP violation measurement. The analysis shows that the oscillation probabilities in MiniBooNE neutrino and antineutrino running modes can differ significantly, with the latter possibly being as much as three times larger than the first. In addition, we also show that all possible values of the single CP-violation phase measurable at short baselines in (3+2) models are allowed within 99% CL by existing data.Comment: Fixed a typo following PRD Erratum. 8 pages, 5 figure

Experimental results on mass-thickness distribution in spacecraft equipment

A technique is described for evaluating the shielding properties of spacecraft equipment with respect to cosmic radiation. A gamma-ray source is used in conjunction with a scintillation detector to determine mass-thickness distribution both in plane geometry for equipment units, and in spherical geometry for given points within the spacecraft. Equations are presented for calculating mass-thickness distribution functions, and the results are compared with experimental measurements

First-order restoration of SU(Nf) x SU(Nf) chiral symmetry with large Nf and Electroweak phase transition

It has been argued by Pisarski and Wilczek that finite temperature restoration of the chiral symmetry SU(Nf) x SU(Nf) is first-order for Nf >=3. This type of chiral symmetry with a large Nf may appear in the Higgs sector if one considers models such as walking technicolor theories. We examine the first-order restoration of the chiral symmetry from the point of view of the electroweak phase transition. The strength of the transition is estimated in SU(2) x U(1) gauged linear sigma model by means of the finite temperature effective potential at one-loop with the ring improvement. Even if the mass of the neutral scalar boson corresponding to the Higgs boson is larger than 114 GeV, the first-order transition can be strong enough for the electroweak baryogenesis, as long as the extra massive scalar bosons (required for the linear realization) are kept heavier than the neutral scalar boson. Explicit symmetry breaking terms reduce the strength of the first-order transition, but the transition can remain strongly first-order even when the masses of pseudo Nambu-Goldstone bosons become as large as the current lower bound of direct search experiments.Comment: 18 pages, 18 figures, minor corrections, references adde

A gamma-ray testing technique for spacecraft

The simulated cosmic radiation effect on a spacecraft structure is evaluated by gamma ray testing in relation to structural thickness. A drawing of the test set-up is provided and measurement errors are discussed

The linear growth rate of structure in Parametrized Post Friedmannian Universes

A possible solution to the dark energy problem is that Einstein's theory of general relativity is modified. A suite of models have been proposed that, in general, are unable to predict the correct amount of large scale structure in the distribution of galaxies or anisotropies in the Cosmic Microwave Background. It has been argued, however, that it should be possible to constrain a general class of theories of modified gravity by focusing on properties such as the growing mode, gravitational slip and the effective, time varying Newton's constant. We show that assuming certain physical requirements such as stability, metricity and gauge invariance, it is possible to come up with consistency conditions between these various parameters. In this paper we focus on theories which have, at most, 2nd derivatives in the metric variables and find restrictions that shed light on current and future experimental constraints without having to resort to a (as yet unknown) complete theory of modified gravity. We claim that future measurements of the growth of structure on small scales (i.e. from 1-200 h^{-1} Mpc) may lead to tight constraints on both dark energy and modified theories of gravity.Comment: 15 Pages, 11 Figure