Infrared Consistency of NSVZ and DRED Supersymmetric Gluodynamics

Pade approximant methods are applied to known terms of the DRED beta- function for N = 1 supersymmetric SU(3) Yang-Mills theory. Each of the [N|M] approximants with N + M less than or equal to 4 (M not equal to zero) constructed from this series exhibits a positive pole which precedes any zeros of the approximant, consistent with the same infrared-attractor pole behaviour known to characterise the exact NSVZ beta-function. A similar Pade-approximant analysis of truncations of the NSVZ series is shown consistently to reproduce the geometric-series pole of the exact NSVZ beta function.Comment: LaTeX, 15 page

Startling Equivalences in the Higgs-Goldstone Sector between Radiative and Lowest-Order Conventional Electroweak Symmetry Breaking

For the Higgs boson mass of $\sim 220$ GeV expected to arise from radiative electroweak symmetry breaking, we find the same lowest-order expressions as would be obtained from conventional electroweak symmetry breaking, given the same Higgs boson mass, for Higgs-Goldstone sector scattering processes identified with $W_L^ + W_L^- \to W_L^+ W_L^-$, $W_L^+ W_L^- \to Z_L Z_L$, as well as for Higgs boson decay widths $H \to W_L^+ W_L^-$, $H \to Z_L Z_L$. The radiatively broken case, however, leads to an order of magnitude enhancement over lowest-order conventional symmetry breaking for scattering processes $W_L^+ W_L^+ \to H H$, $Z_L Z_L \to H H$, as well as a factor of $\sim 30$ enhancement for $H H \to H H$.Comment: 6 pages, uses ws-ijmpa.cls written in Latex2E. Major revision in text and conclusions--different enhanced scattering processes found than the earlier version. To appear in the IJMPA proceedings issue for MRST 2005, Utica, N

Ageing of Natural Rubber under Stress

We report a dynamical-mechanical study of stress relaxation at small deformation in a natural (polyisoprene) rubber well above its glass transition temperature Tg. We find that an almost complete relaxation of stress takes place over very long periods of time, even though the elastic network integrity is fully retained. The relaxation rate and the long-time equilibrium modulus are sensitive functions of temperature which do not follow time-temperature superposition. Many characteristic features of non-ergodic ageing response are apparent at both short and very long times. We interpret the observed behaviour in terms of the properties of rubber crosslinks, capable of isomerisation under stress, and relate the results to recent models of soft glassy rheology.Comment: Latex 2e (EPJ style), 5 EPS figure

The Suprafroth (Superconducting Froth)

The structure and dynamics of froths have been subjects of intense interest due to the desire to understand the behaviour of complex systems where topological intricacy prohibits exact evaluation of the ground state. The dynamics of a traditional froth involves drainage and drying in the cell boundaries, thus it is irreversible. We report a new member to the froths family: suprafroth, in which the cell boundaries are superconducting and the cell interior is normal phase. Despite very different microscopic origin, topological analysis of the structure of the suprafroth shows that statistical von Neumann and Lewis laws apply. Furthermore, for the first time in the analysis of froths there is a global measurable property, the magnetic moment, which can be directly related to the suprafroth structure. We propose that this suprafroth is a new, model system for the analysis of the complex physics of two-dimensional froths

Higgs Inflation as a Mirage

We discuss a simple unitarization of Higgs inflation that is genuinely weakly coupled up to Planckian energies. A large non-minimal coupling between the Higgs and the Ricci curvature is induced dynamically at intermediate energies, as a simple ratio of mass scales. Despite not being dominated by the Higgs field, inflationary dynamics simulates the `Higgs inflation' one would get by blind extrapolation of the low-energy effective Lagrangian, at least qualitatively. Hence, Higgs inflation arises as an approximate `mirage' picture of the true dynamics. We further speculate on the generality of this phenomenon and show that, if Higgs-inflation arises as an effective description, the details of the UV completion are necessary to extract robust quantitative predictions.Comment: 21 pages, 2 figure