Invisible Z decay width bounds on active-sterile neutrino mixing in the (3+1) and (3+2) models

In this work we consider the standard model extended with singlet sterile neutrinos with mass in the eV range and mixed with the active neutrinos. The active-sterile neutrino mixing renders new contributions to the invisible Z decay width which, in the case of light sterile neutrinos, depends on the active-sterile mixing matrix elements only. We then use the current experimental value of the invisible Z decay width to obtain bounds on these mixing matrix elements for both (3+1) and (3+2) models.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figure

Explaining ATLAS and CMS Results Within the Reduced Minimal 3-3-1 model

Recently the ATLAS and CMS collaborations announced the discovery of a higgs particle with a mass of $\sim 125$ GeV. The results are mildly consistent with the Standard Model Higgs boson. However, the combined data from these collaborations seem to point to an excess in the $h \rightarrow \gamma \gamma$ channel. In this work we analyze under which conditions this excess may be plausibly explained within the reduced minimal 3-3-1 model, while being consistent with bb, WW, ZZ and $\tau^+\tau^-$ channels. Moreover, we derive the properties of the heavy neutral and the doubly charged scalars predicted by the model. We then conclude that at a scale of a few TeV, this model provides a good fit to the ATLAS and CMS signal strength measurements, and therefore stands as an appealing alternative to the standard model.Comment: 23 pages, 9 figures. References adde

Combining type I and type II seesaw mechanisms in the minimal 3-3-1 model

The minimal 3-3-1 model is perturbative until energies around 4-5TeV, posing a challenge to generate neutrino masses at eV scale, mainly if one aims to take advantage of the seesaw mechanism. As a means to circumvent this problem we propose a modification of the model such that it accommodates the type I and type II seesaw mechanisms altogether. We show that the conjunction of both mechanisms yield a neutrino mass expression suppressed by a high power of the cutoff scale, $M^5$, in its denominator. With such a suppression term we naturally obtain neutrino masses at eV scale when $M$ is around few TeV. We also investigate the size of lepton flavor violation through the process $\mu \rightarrow e\gamma$.Comment: about 15 pages, no figure

Lookback time bounds from energy conditions

In general relativity, the energy conditions are invoked to restrict general energy-momentum tensors on physical grounds. We show that in the standard Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) approach to cosmological modeling, where the energy and matter components of the cosmic fluid are unknown, the energy conditions provide model-independent bounds on the behavior of the lookback time of cosmic sources as a function of the redshift for any value of the spatial curvature. We also confront such bounds with a lookback time sample which is built from the age estimates of 32 galaxies lying in the interval $0.11 \lesssim z \lesssim 1.84$ and by assuming the total expanding age of the Universe to be $13.7 \pm 0.2$ Gyr, as obtained from current cosmic microwave background experiments. In agreement with previous results, we show that all energy conditions seem to have been violated at some point of the recent past of cosmic evolution.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures. v2: Minor changes, published in Phys.Rev.D in the present for

Energy Conditions and Cosmic Acceleration

In general relativity, the energy conditions are invoked to restrict general energy-momentum tensors $T_{\mu\nu}$ in different frameworks, and to derive general results that hold in a variety of general contexts on physical grounds. We show that in the standard Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) approach, where the equation of state of the cosmological fluid is unknown, the energy conditions provide model-independent bounds on the behavior of the distance modulus of cosmic sources as a function of the redshift for any spatial curvature. We use the most recent type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) observations, which include the new Hubble Space Telescope SNe Ia events, to carry out a model-independent analysis of the energy conditions violation in the context of the standard cosmology. We show that both the null (NEC), weak (WEC) and dominant (DEC) conditions, which are associated with the existence of the so-called phantom fields, seem to have been violated only recently ($z \lesssim 0.2$), whereas the condition for attractive gravity, i.e., the strong energy condition (SEC) was firstly violated billions of years ago, at $z \gtrsim 1$.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures. v2: References added, misprints corrected, published in Phys.Rev.D in the present for