QCD Corrections to Radiative B Decays in the MSSM with Minimal Flavor Violation

We compute the complete supersymmetric QCD corrections to the Wilson coefficients of the magnetic and chromomagnetic operators, relevant in the calculation of b -> s gamma decays, in the MSSM with Minimal Flavor Violation. We investigate the numerical impact of the new results for different choices of the MSSM parameters and of the scale where the quark and squark mass matrices are assumed to be aligned. We find that the corrections can be important when the superpartners are relatively light, and that they depend sizeably on the scale of alignment. Finally, we discuss how our calculation can be employed when the scale of alignment is far from the weak scale.Comment: 16 pages, 5 figures; v2: version to appear in Phys. Lett.

On the NLO QCD corrections to Higgs production and decay in the MSSM

We present explicit analytic results for the two-loop top/stop/gluino contributions to the cross section for the production of CP-even Higgs bosons via gluon fusion in the MSSM, under the approximation of neglecting the Higgs boson mass with respect to the masses of the particles circulating in the loops. The results are obtained employing the low-energy theorem for Higgs interactions adapted to the case of particle mixing. We discuss the validity of the approximation used by computing the first-order correction in an expansion in powers of the Higgs boson mass. We find that, for the lightest CP-even Higgs boson, the gluino contribution is very well approximated by the result obtained in the limit of vanishing Higgs mass. As a byproduct of our calculation, we provide results for the two-loop QCD contributions to the photonic Higgs decay.Comment: 24 pages, 4 figures; v2 to appear in Nucl.Phys.B; v3 minor corrections, note added in section 3.

QCD Corrections in two-Higgs-doublet extensions of the Standard Model with Minimal Flavor Violation

We present the QCD corrections to R_b and to the Delta B=1 effective Hamiltonian in models with a second Higgs field that couples to the quarks respecting the criterion of Minimal Flavor Violation, thus belonging either to the (1,2)_1/2 or to the (8,2)_1/2 representation of SU(3)xSU(2)xU(1). After the inclusion of the QCD corrections, the prediction for R_b becomes practically insensitive to the choice of renormalization scheme for the top mass, which for the type-I and type-II models translates in a more robust lower bound on tan(beta). The QCD-corrected determinations of Rb and BR(B->Xs gamma) are used to discuss the constraints on the couplings of a (colored) charged Higgs boson to top and bottom quarks.Comment: 19 pages, 7 figures. v2: version published in Phys. Rev. D, with additional reference and not

Two-loop QCD corrections to the MSSM Higgs masses beyond the effective-potential approximation

We compute the two-loop QCD corrections to the neutral Higgs-boson masses in the MSSM, including the effect of non-vanishing external momenta in the self-energies. We obtain corrections of O(alpha_t*alpha_s) and O(alpha*alpha_s), i.e., all two-loop corrections that involve the strong gauge coupling when the only non-vanishing Yukawa coupling is the top one. We adopt either the DRbar renormalization scheme or a mixed OS-DRbar scheme where the top/stop parameters are renormalized on-shell. We compare our results with those of earlier calculations, pointing out an inconsistency in a recent result obtained in the mixed OS-DRbar scheme. The numerical impact of the new corrections on the prediction for the lightest-scalar mass is moderate, but already comparable to the accuracy of the Higgs-mass measurement at the LHC.Comment: 22 pages, 5 pdf figures; v2: version to appear in EPJ

Towards high-precision predictions for the MSSM Higgs sector

The status of the evaluation of the MSSM Higgs sector is reviewed. The phenomenological impact of recently obtained corrections is discussed. In particular it is shown that the upper bound on mh within the MSSM is shifted upwards. Consequently, lower limits on tanb obtained by confronting the upper bound as function of tanb with the lower bound on mh from Higgs searches are significantly weakened. Furthermore, th e region in the MA-tanb-plane where the coupling of the lightest Higgs boson to down-type fermions is suppressed is modified. The presently not calculated higher-order corrections to the Higgs-boson mass matrix are estimated to shift the mass of the lightest Higgs boson by up to 3 GeV

Out of Mind, Out of Sight: Unexpected Scene Elements Frequently Go Unnoticed Until Primed

Abstract The human visual system employs a sophisticated set of strategies for scanning the environment and directing attention to stimuli that can be expected given the context and a person's past experience. Although these strategies enable us to navigate a very complex physical and social environment, they can also cause highly salient, but unexpected stimuli to go completely unnoticed. To examine the generality of this phenomenon, we conducted eight studies that included 15 different experimental conditions and 1,577 participants in all. These studies revealed that a large majority of participants do not report having seen a woman in the center of an urban scene who was photographed in midair as she was committing suicide. Despite seeing the scene repeatedly, 46 % of all participants failed to report seeing a central figure and only 4.8 % reported seeing a falling person. Frequency of noticing the suicidal woman was highest for participants who read a narrative priming story that increased the extent to which she was schematically congruent with the scene. In contrast to this robust effect of inattentional blindness, a majority of participants reported seeing other peripheral objects in the visual scene that were equally difficult to detect, yet more consistent with the scene. Follow-up qualitative analyses revealed that participants reported seeing many elements that were not actually present, but which could have been expected given the overall context of the scene. Together, these findings demonstrate the robustness of inattentional blindness and highlight the specificity with which different visual primes may increase noticing behavior

Baryogenesis with Superheavy Squarks

We consider a setup where R-parity is violated in the framework of split supersymmetry. The out-of-equilibrium decays of heavy squarks successfully lead to the generation of a baryon asymmetry. We restrict the R-parity violating couplings to the baryon number violating subset to keep the neutralino sufficiently stable to provide the dark matter. The observed baryon asymmetry can be generated for squark masses larger than 10^11 GeV, while neutralino dark matter induces a stronger bound of 10^13 GeV. Some mass splitting between left- and right-handed squarks may be needed to satisfy also constraints from gluino cosmology.Comment: 18 pages, LaTeX, 4 figure

On the two-loop sbottom corrections to the neutral Higgs boson masses in the MSSM

We compute the O(ab*as) two-loop corrections to the neutral Higgs boson masses in the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model, using the effective potential approach. Such corrections can be important in the region of parameter space corresponding to tan(beta)>>1 and sizeable mu. In spite of the formal analogy with the O(at*as) corrections, there are important differences, since the dominant effects are controlled by the sbottom-Higgs scalar couplings. We propose a convenient renormalization scheme that avoids unphysically large threshold effects associated with the bottom mass, and absorbs the bulk of the O(ab*as + ab*at) corrections into the one-loop expression. We give general explicit formulae for the O(ab*as) corrections to the neutral Higgs boson mass matrix. We also discuss the importance of the O(ab^2) corrections and derive a formula for their contribution to mh in a simple limiting case.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures. Version to appear in Nucl. Phys.

Stress Measurement in Primary Care: Conceptual Issues, Barriers, Resources, and Recommendations for Study

Objective: Exposure to stressors in daily life and dysregulated stress responses are associated with increased risk for a variety of chronic mental and physical health problems, including anxiety disorders, depression, asthma, heart disease, certain cancers, and autoimmune and neurodegenerative disorders. Despite this fact, stress exposure and responses are rarely assessed in the primary care setting and infrequently targeted for disease prevention or treatment. Method: In this narrative review, we describe the primary reasons for this striking disjoint between the centrality of stress for promoting disease and how rarely it is assessed by summarizing the main conceptual, measurement, practical, and reimbursement issues that have made stress difficult to routinely measure in primary care. The following issues will be reviewed: (1) assessment of stress in primary care; (2) biobehavioral pathways linking stress and illness; (3) the value of stress measurements for improving outcomes in primary care; (4) barriers to measuring and managing stress; and (5) key research questions relevant to stress assessment and intervention in primary care. Results: Based on our synthesis, we suggest several approaches that can be pursued to advance this work, including feasibility and acceptability studies, cost-benefit studies, and clinical improvement studies. Conclusions: Although stress is recognized as a key contributor to chronic disease risk and mortality, additional research is needed to determine how and when instruments for assessing life stress might be useful in the primary care setting, and how stress-related data could be integrated into disease prevention and treatment strategies to reduce chronic disease burden and improve human health and wellbeing