Tauonic B decays in the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model

We study new physics effects on B decay processes including a final $\tau$ particle, namely $B \to D \tau \nu$ and $B \to \tau \nu$. An important feature of these processes is that a charged Higgs boson can contribute to the decay amplitude at the tree level in models such as Two Higgs Doublet Model and the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM). We derive a resummed effective Lagrangian for charged-Higgs mediated interactions in the MSSM with the Minimal Flavor Violation. Including supersymmetric (SUSY) loop corrections for down-type-quark and charged-lepton Yukawa couplings, we calculate the branching ratios of the $B \to D \tau \nu$ and $B \to \tau \nu$ processes. We find that SUSY correction due to gluino-sbottom diagrams can change the Higgs exchange contribution by $\pm50$%, whereas stau-neutralino diagrams can make corrections up to 20%. We also discuss relationship between SUSY corrections in the tauonic decays and flavor changing neutral current processes such as $B_s \to \mu^+\mu^-$ and $b \to s \gamma$.Comment: 29 pages, 22 figure

Emergent bubbling geometries in the plane wave matrix model

The gravity dual geometry of the plane wave matrix model is given by the bubbling geometry in the type IIA supergravity, which is described by an axially symmetric electrostatic system. We study a quarter BPS sector of the plane wave matrix model in terms of the localization method and show that this sector can be mapped to a one-dimensional interacting Fermi gas system. We find that the mean-field density of the Fermi gas can be identified with the charge density in the electrostatic system in the gravity side. We also find that the scaling limits in which the dual geometry reduces to the D2-brane or NS5-brane geometry are given as the free limit or the strongly coupled limit of the Fermi gas system, respectively. We reproduce the radii of $S^5$'s in these geometries by solving the Fermi gas model in the corresponding limits.Comment: 34 pages, 3 figures; typos correcte

Central Bank Independence and the Signaling Effect of Intervention : A Preliminary Exploration

Running title: Central Bank Independence and the Signaling Effect of Interventio

Large-N reduction for N=2 quiver Chern-Simons theories on S^3 and localization in matrix models

We study reduced matrix models obtained by the dimensional reduction of N=2 quiver Chern-Simons theories on S^3 to zero dimension and show that if a reduced model is expanded around a particular multiple fuzzy sphere background, it becomes equivalent to the original theory on S^3 in the large-N limit. This is regarded as a novel large-N reduction on a curved space S^3. We perform the localization method to the reduced model and compute the free energy and the vacuum expectation value of a BPS Wilson loop operator. In the large-N limit, we find an exact agreement between these results and those in the original theory on S^3.Comment: 46 pages, 11 figures; minor modification

Helianthus tuberosus (Jerusalem artichoke) tubers improve glucose tolerance and hepatic lipid profile in rats fed a high-fat diet

Objectives: To analyze the effects of feeding Helianthus tuberosus (HT) tubers on glucose tolerance and lipid profile in rats fed a high-fat diet (HFD). Methods: A normal HFD or HFD including 10 w/w% HT tubers (HFD + HT) was fed to F334/Jcl rats. After 10 weeks, organ weights, glucose tolerance, and lipid profile were analyzed. Results: The body weight, liver weight, and epidermal fat content in the HFD group were higher than those of the normal group, and similar to those of the HFD + HT group. The oral glucose tolerance test at 10 weeks revealed that the blood glucose level 30 min after beginning the test in the HFD + HT group was significantly lower than that in the HFD group. Liver triglyceride and total cholesterol levels in the HFD + HT group were significantly lower than those in the HFD group. Fecal triglyceride and total cholesterol levels in the HFD + HT group were higher than those in the HFD group. Histological analyses revealed that fat and glycogen accumulation increased in the HFD group, but decreased in the HFD + HT group. Conclusions: These results indicate that HT tubers have anti-fatty liver effects based on improvements in glucose tolerance and the hepatic lipid profile