676 research outputs found
Production and decays of supersymmetric Higgs bosons in spontaneously broken R-parity
We study the mass spectra, production and decay properties of the lightest
supersymmetric CP-even and CP-odd Higgs bosons in models with spontaneously
broken R-parity (SBRP). We compare the resulting mass spectra with expectations
of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM), stressing that the model
obeys the upper bound on the lightest CP-even Higgs boson mass. We discuss how
the presence of the additional scalar singlet states affects the Higgs
production cross sections, both for the Bjorken process and the "associated
production". The main phenomenological novelty with respect to the MSSM comes
from the fact that the spontaneous breaking of lepton number leads to the
existence of the majoron, denoted J, which opens new decay channels for
supersymmetric Higgs bosons. We find that the invisible decays of CP-even
Higgses can be dominant, while those of the CP-odd bosons may also be sizeable.Comment: 21 pages, 8 figures; minor changes, final version for publicatio
The peculiar Na-O anticorrelation of the bulge globular cluster NGC 6440
Context. Galactic Globular Clusters (GCs) are essential tools to understand
the earliest epoch of the Milky Way, since they are among the oldest objects in
the Universe and can be used to trace its formation and evolution. Current
studies using high resolution spectroscopy for many stars in each of a large
sample of GCs allow us to develop a detailed observational picture about their
formation and their relation with the Galaxy. However, it is necessary to
complete this picture by including GCs that belong to all major Galactic
components, including the Bulge. Aims. Our aim is to perform a detailed
chemical analyses of the bulge GC NGC 6440 in order to determine if this object
has Multiple Populations (MPs) and investigate its relation with the Bulge of
the Milky Way and with the other Galactic GCs, especially those associated with
the Bulge, which are largely poorly studied. Methods. We determined the stellar
parameters and the chemical abundances of light elements (Na, Al), iron-peak
elements (Fe, Sc, Mn, Co, Ni), -elements (O, Mg, Si, Ca, Ti) and heavy
elements (Ba, Eu) in seven red giant members of NGC 6440 using high resolution
spectroscopy from FLAMES@UVES. Results. We found a mean iron content of
[Fe/H]=-0.500.03 dex in agreement with other studies. We found no internal
iron spread. On the other hand, Na and Al show a significant intrinsic spread,
but the cluster has no significant O-Na anticorrelation nor exhibits a Mg-Al
anticorrelation. The -elements show good agreement with the Bulge field
star trend, although they are at the high alpha end and are also higher than
those of other GCs of comparable metallicity. The heavy elements are dominated
by the r-process, indicating a strong contribution by SNeII. The chemical
analysis suggests an origin similar to that of the Bulge field stars.Comment: 12 pages, 13 figures, Accepted for publication in A&
Degenerate neutrinos from a supersymmetric A_4 model
We investigate the supersymmetric A_4 model recently proposed by Babu, Ma and
Valle. The model naturally gives quasi-degenerate neutrinos that are bi-largely
mixed, in agreement with observations. Furthermore, the mixings in the quark
sector are constrained to be small, making it a complete model of the flavor
structure. Moreover, it has the interesting property that CP-violation in the
leptonic sector is maximal (unless vanishing). The model exhibit a close
relation between the slepton and lepton sectors and we derive the slepton
spectra that are compatible with neutrino data and the present bounds on
flavor-violating charged lepton decays. The prediction for the branching ratio
of the decay tau -> mu gamma has a lower limit of 10^{-9}. In addition, the
overall neutrino mass scale is constrained to be larger than 0.3 eV. Thus, the
model will be tested in the very near future.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures. Talk given at the International Workshop on
Astroparticle and High Energy Physics (AHEP), Valencia, Spain, 14-18 Oct.
200
Minimal supergravity radiative effects on the tri-bimaximal neutrino mixing pattern
We study the stability of the Harrison-Perkins-Scott (HPS) mixing pattern,
assumed to hold at some high energy scale, against supersymmetric radiative
corrections. We work in the framework of a reference minimal supergravity model
(mSUGRA) where supersymmetry breaking is universal and flavor-blind at
unification. The radiative corrections considered include both RGE running as
well as threshold effects. We find that in this case the solar mixing angle can
only increase with respect to the HPS reference value, while the atmospheric
and reactor mixing angles remain essentially stable. Deviations from the solar
angle HPS prediction towards lower values would signal novel contributions from
physics beyond the simplest mSUGRA model.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures; added reference; final version for publicatio
Predicting Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay
We give predictions for the neutrinoless double beta decay rate in a simple
variant of the A_4 family symmetry model. We show that there is a lower bound
for the neutrinoless double beta decay amplitude even in the case of normal
hierarchical neutrino masses, corresponding to an effective mass parameter
|m_{ee}| >= 0.17 \sqrt{\Delta m^2_{ATM}}. This result holds both for the CP
conserving and CP violating cases. In the latter case we show explicitly that
the lower bound on |m_{ee}| is sensitive to the value of the Majorana phase. We
conclude therefore that in our scheme, neutrinoless double beta decay may be
accessible to the next generation of high sensitivity experiments.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, 1 tabl
A double stellar generation in the Globular Cluster NGC6656 (M 22). Two stellar groups with different iron and s-process element abundance
AIMS. In this paper we present the chemical abundance analysis from high
resolution UVES spectra of seventeen bright giant stars of the Globular Cluster
M~22. RESULTS. We obtained an average iron abundance of [Fe/H]=-1.76\pm0.02
(internal errors only) and an \alpha enhancement of 0.36\pm0.04 (internal
errors only). Na and O, and Al and O follow the well known anti-correlation
found in many other GCs. We identified two groups of stars with significantly
different abundances of the s-process elements Y, Zr and Ba. The relative
numbers of the two group members are very similar to the ratio of the stars in
the two SGBs of M22 recently found by Piotto (2009). Y and Ba abundances do not
correlate with Na, O and Al. The s-element rich stars are also richer in iron
and have higher Ca abundances. The results from high resolution spectra have
been further confirmed by lower resolution GIRAFFE spectra of fourteen
additional M22 stars. GIRAFFE spectra show also that the Eu -- a pure r-process
element -- abundance is not related to the iron content. We discuss the
chemical abundance pattern of M22 stars in the context of the multiple stellar
populations in GC scenario.Comment: 17 Pages, 21 figures, Accepted for publication in A&
Plant Responses to Vegetation Proximity: A Whole Life Avoiding Shade
In high density of vegetation, plants detect neighbors by perceiving changes in light quality through phytochrome photoreceptors. Close vegetation proximity might result in competition for resources, such as light. To face this challenge, plants have evolved two alternative strategies: to either tolerate or avoid shade. Shade-avoiding species generally adapt their development by inducing hypocotyl, stem, and petiole elongation, apical dominance and flowering, and decreasing leaf expansion and yield, a set of responses collectively known as the shade avoidance syndrome (SAS). The SAS responses have been mostly studied at the seedling stage, centered on the increase of hypocotyl elongation. After compiling the main findings about SAS responses in seedlings, this review is focused on the response to shade at adult stages of development, such as petioles of adult leaves, and the little information available on the SAS responses in reproductive tissues. We discuss these responses based on the knowledge about the molecular mechanisms and components with a role in regulating the SAS response of the hypocotyls of Arabidopsis thaliana. The transcriptional networks involved in this process, as well as the communication among the tissues that perceive the shade and the ones that respond to this stimulus will also be briefly commented.IR-V holds a Beatriu de PinĂłs contract from the Agència de GestiĂł D’Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca (AGAUR, Generalitat de Catalunya). Our research is supported by grants from the Spanish Ministerio de EconomĂa y Competitividad (BIO2014-59895-P) and AGAUR (2014-SGR447 and Xarba) to JFM-G.Peer reviewedPeer Reviewe
The C+N+O abundance of Omega Centauri giant stars: implications on the chemical enrichment scenario and the relative ages of different stellar populations
We present a chemical-composition analysis of 77 red-giant stars in Omega
Centauri. We have measured abundances for carbon and nitrogen, and combined our
results with abundances of O, Na, La, and Fe that we determined in our previous
work. Our aim is to better understand the peculiar chemical-enrichment history
of this cluster, by studying how the total C+N+O content varies among the
different-metallicity stellar groups, and among stars at different places along
the Na-O anticorrelation. We find the (anti)correlations among the light
elements that would be expected on theoretical ground for matter that has been
nuclearly processed via high-temperature proton captures. The overall
[(C+N+O)/Fe] increases by 0.5 dex from [Fe/H] -2.0 to [Fe/H] -0.9. Our results
provide insight into the chemical-enrichment history of the cluster, and the
measured CNO variations provide important corrections for estimating the
relative ages of the different stellar populations.Comment: 26 pages, 9 figure - Accepted for publication in Ap
New HST WFC3/UVIS observations augment the stellar-population complexity of omega Centauri
We used archival multi-band Hubble Space Telescope observations obtained with
the Wide-Field Camera 3 in the UV-optical channel to present new important
observational findings on the color-magnitude diagram (CMD) of the Galactic
globular cluster omega Centauri. The ultraviolet WFC3 data have been coupled
with available WFC/ACS optical-band data. The new CMDs, obtained from the
combination of colors coming from eight different bands, disclose an even more
complex stellar population than previously identified. This paper discusses the
detailed morphology of the CMDs.Comment: 17 pages, 14 figures (11 in low res), 3 tables. Accepted for
publication in AJ on June 19, 201
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