Supersymmetric type-III seesaw: lepton flavour violating decays and dark matter

We study a supersymmetric version of the seesaw mechanism type-III. The model consists of the MSSM particle content plus three copies of 24 superfields. The fermionic part of the SU(2) triplet contained in the 24 is responsible for the type-III seesaw, which is used to explain the observed neutrino masses and mixings. Complete copies of 24 are introduced to maintain gauge coupling unification. These additional states change the beta functions of the gauge couplings above the seesaw scale. Using mSUGRA boundary conditions we calculate the resulting supersymmetric mass spectra at the electro-weak scale using full 2-loop renormalization group equations. We show that the resulting spectrum can be quite different compared to the usual mSUGRA spectrum. We discuss how this might be used to obtain information on the seesaw scale from mass measurements. Constraints on the model space due to limits on lepton flavour violating decays are discussed. The main constraints come from the bounds on the decay mu to e and gamma but there are also regions where the decay tau to mu and gamma gives stronger constraints. We also calculate the regions allowed by the dark matter constraint. For the sake of completeness, we compare our results with those for the supersymmetric seesaw type-II and, to some extent, with type-I.Comment: 32 pages, 16 eps figures. One ref. added; small changes in tex

Role of magnetic and orbital ordering at the metal-insulator transition in NdNiO3

Soft x-ray resonant scattering at the Ni L2,3 edges is used to test models of magnetic and orbital-ordering below the metal-insulator transition in NdNiO3. The large branching ratio of the L3 to L2 intensities of the (1/2,0,1/2) reflection and the observed azimuthal angle and polarization dependence originates from a non collinear magnetic structure. The absence of an orbital signal and the non collinear magnetic structure show that the nickelates are materials for which orbital ordering is absent at the metal-insulator transition.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, Physical Review B rapid communication, to be publishe

Resurrecting light stops after the 125 GeV Higgs in the baryon number violating CMSSM

In order to accommodate the observed Higgs boson mass in the CMSSM, the stops must either be very heavy or the mixing in the stop sector must be very large. Lower stop masses, possibly more accessible at the LHC, still give the correct Higgs mass only if the trilinear stop mixing parameter $|A_t|$ is in the multi-TeV range. Recently it has been shown that such large stop mixing leads to an unstable electroweak vacuum which spontaneously breaks charge or colour. In this work we therefore go beyond the CMSSM and investigate the effects of including baryon number violating operators $\lambda'' \bar{\bf U} \bar{\bf D}\bar{\bf D}$ on the stop and Higgs sectors. We find that for $\lambda'' \simeq {\mathcal{O}}(0.3)$ light stop masses as low as 220 GeV are consistent with the observed Higgs mass as well as flavour constraints while allowing for a stable vacuum. The light stop in this scenario is often the lightest supersymmetric particle. We furthermore discuss the importance of the one-loop corrections involving R-parity violating couplings for a valid prediction of the light stop masses.Comment: 26 pages, 9 figures; v2: slightly extended discussion about bounds from flavour observables; matches published versio

Functional assessment of sodium chloride cotransporter NCC mutants in polarized mammalian epithelial cells.

The thiazide-sensitive sodium chloride cotransporter NCC is important for maintaining serum sodium (Na(+)) and, indirectly, serum potassium (K(+)) levels. Functional studies on NCC have used cell lines with native NCC expression, transiently transfected nonpolarized cell lines, or Xenopus laevis oocytes. Here, we developed the use of polarized Madin-Darby canine kidney type I (MDCKI) mammalian epithelial cell lines with tetracycline-inducible human NCC expression to study NCC activity and membrane abundance in the same system. In radiotracer assays, induced cells grown on filters had robust thiazide-sensitive and chloride dependent sodium-22 ((22)Na) uptake from the apical side. To minimize cost and maximize throughput, assays were modified to use cells grown on plastic. On plastic, cells had similar thiazide-sensitive (22)Na uptakes that increased following preincubation of cells in chloride-free solutions. NCC was detected in the plasma membrane, and both membrane abundance and phosphorylation of NCC were increased by incubation in chloride-free solutions. Furthermore, in cells exposed for 15 min to low or high extracellular K(+), the levels of phosphorylated NCC increased and decreased, respectively. To demonstrate that the system allows rapid and systematic assessment of mutated NCC, three phosphorylation sites in NCC were mutated, and NCC activity was examined. (22)Na fluxes in phosphorylation-deficient mutants were reduced to baseline levels, whereas phosphorylation-mimicking mutants were constitutively active, even without chloride-free stimulation. In conclusion, this system allows the activity, cellular localization, and abundance of wild-type or mutant NCC to be examined in the same polarized mammalian expression system in a rapid, easy, and low-cost fashion

The generalised NMSSM at one loop: fine tuning and phenomenology

We determine the degree of fine tuning needed in a generalised version of the NMSSM that follows from an underlying Z4 or Z8 R symmetry. We find that it is significantly less than is found in the MSSM or NMSSM and extends the range of Higgs mass that have acceptable fine tuning up to Higgs masses of mh ~ 130 GeV. For universal boundary conditions analogous to the CMSSM the phenomenology is rather MSSM like with the singlet states typically rather heavy. For more general boundary conditions the singlet states can be light, leading to interesting signatures at the LHC and direct detection experiments.Comment: 20 pages, 9 figures, matches published versio

A precision study of the fine tuning in the DiracNMSSM

Recently the DiracNMSSM has been proposed as a possible solution to reduce the fine tuning in supersymmetry. We determine the degree of fine tuning needed in the DiracNMSSM with and without non-universal gaugino masses and compare it with the fine tuning in the GNMSSM. To apply reasonable cuts on the allowed parameter regions we perform a precise calculation of the Higgs mass. In addition, we include the limits from direct SUSY searches and dark matter abundance. We find that both models are comparable in terms of fine tuning, with the minimal fine tuning in the GNMSSM slightly smaller.Comment: 20 pages + appendices, 10 figure

Dark matter and LHC phenomenology in a left-right supersymmetric model

Left-right symmetric extensions of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model can explain neutrino data and have potentially interesting phenomenology beyond that found in minimal SUSY seesaw models. Here we study a SUSY model in which the left-right symmetry is broken by triplets at a high scale, but significantly below the GUT scale. Sparticle spectra in this model differ from the usual constrained MSSM expectations and these changes affect the relic abundance of the lightest neutralino. We discuss changes for the standard stau (and stop) co-annihilation, the Higgs funnel and the focus point regions. The model has potentially large lepton flavour violation in both, left and right, scalar leptons and thus allows, in principle, also for flavoured co-annihilation. We also discuss lepton flavour signals due to violating decays of the second lightest neutralino at the LHC, which can be as large as 20 fb(-1) at root s = 14 TeV

Dynamical charge inhomogeneity and crystal-field fluctuations for 4f ions in high-Tc cuprates

The main relaxation mechanism of crystal-field excitations in rare-earth ions in cuprates is believed to be provided by the fluctuations of crystalline electric field induced by a dynamic charge inhomogeneity generic for the doped cuprates. We address the generalized granular model as one of the model scenario for such an ingomogeneity where the cuprate charge subsystem remind that of Wigner crystal with the melting transition and phonon-like positional excitation modes. Formal description of R-ion relaxation coincides with that of recently suggested magnetoelastic mechanism.Comment: 4 page