Impact of FCNC top quark interactions on BR(t -> b W)

We study the effect that FCNC interactions of the top quark will have on the branching ratio of charged decays of the top quark. We have performed an integrated analysis using Tevatron and B-factories data and with just the further assumption that the CKM matrix is unitary we can obtain very restrictive bounds on the strong and electroweak FCNC branching ratios Br(t -> q X) < 4.0 10^{-4}, where X is any vector boson and a sum in q = u,c is implied.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figure

Music, sounds, the Stradivarius and the computer: A dialogue between the music-maker and the music-listener

In what might be described as an 'ecological' spirit, here I recycle an ancient form, the dialogue. I find the dialogue form particularly appealing for its potential to encapsulate ideas both as content and form. This dialogue, between the music-maker and music-listener, is intended as an allegory that uses accessible language in a contemporary, conversational style. From an epistemological perspective, the split maker-listener may be viewed as a fabrication that subsumes numerous conflicts at personal, group and societal levels. The text is about creativity, freedom and ownership, about concept, percept and practice within multidisciplinary and multicultural contexts. It can be reconstructed in different ways when the music-maker and the music-listener are personified under a multitude of guises within multiple contexts. I have added a bibliographic list following the dialogue that includes some examples of the background reading that has helped to shape the thinking underlying the text. In particular, I have been deeply influenced by Gregory Bateson's writings, especially his 'metalogues', a collection of humorous, deceptively light dialogues that do not specify theatrical elements. I feel this lack of obvious affective content in the text allows readers to construe their own views of how the negotiation of discourses may take place, regardless of what I may have imagined or thought to have implied – or not – using a few italicised words

Contributions from dimension six strong flavor changing operators to top anti-top, top plus gauge boson, and top plus Higgs boson production at the LHC

We study the effects of a set of dimension six flavor changing effective operators on several processes of production of top quarks at the LHC. Namely, top anti-top production and associated production of a top and a gauge or Higgs boson. Analytical expressions for the cross sections of these processes are derived and presented.Comment: 14 pages, 10 figures, refs. adde

On the finite space blow up of the solutions of the Swift-Hohenberg equation

The aim of this paper is to study the finite space blow up of the solutions for a class of fourth order differential equations. Our results answer a conjecture in [F. Gazzola and R. Pavani. Wide oscillation finite time blow up for solutions to nonlinear fourth order differential equations. Arch. Ration. Mech. Anal., 207(2):717--752, 2013] and they have implications on the nonexistence of beam oscillation given by traveling wave profile at low speed propagation.Comment: 24 pages, 2 figure

On the future of controllable fluid film bearings

This work gives an overview of the theoretical and experimental achievements of mechatronics applied to fluid film bearings. Compressible and uncompressible fluids are addressed. Rigid and elastic (deformable) bearing profiles are investigated. Hydraulic, pneumatic, magnetic and piezoelectric actuators are used. The ideas of combining control techniques, informatics with hydrodynamic, thermo-hydrodynamic, elasto-hydrodynamic and thermo-elasto-hydrodynamic lubrication techniques are carefully explored in this paper, considering theoretical as well as experimental aspects. The main goal of using controllable fluid film bearings is to improve the overall machine performance by: controlling the lateral vibration of rigid and flexible rotating shafts; modifying bearing dynamic characteristics, such as stiffness and damping properties; increasing the rotational speed ranges by enhancing damping and eliminating instability problems, for example, by compensating cross-coupling destabilizing effects; reducing start-up torque and energy dissipation in bearings; compensating thermal effects. It is shown that such controllable fluid film bearings can act as “smart” machine components and be applied to rotating and reciprocating machines with the goal of avoiding unexpected stops of plants, performing rotor dynamic tests and identifying model parameters “on site”. Emphasis is given to the controllable lubrication (hybrid and active) applied to different types of oil film bearings under different lubrication regimes, i.e., as tilting-pad journal bearings, multi-recess journal bearings and plain journal bearings. After a comprehensive overview of the theoretical and experimental technological advancements achieved in university laboratories, the feasibility of industrial applications is highlighted, trying to foresee the future trends of such mechatronic devices

Charge and CP symmetry breaking in two Higgs doublet models

We show that, for the most generic model with two Higgs doublets possessing a minimum that preserves the $U(1)_{em}$ symmetry, charge breaking (CB) cannot occur. If CB does not occur, the potential could have two different minima, and there is in principle no general argument to show which one is the deepest. The depth of the potential at a stationary point that breaks CB or CP, relative to the $U(1)_{em}$ preserving minimum, is proportional to the squared mass of the charged or pseudoscalar Higgs, respectively