Lepton Flavour Violation in Unified Models with U(1)-Family Symmetries

Lepton flavour non-conserving processes are examined in the context of unified models with U(1)-family symmetries which reproduce successfully the low-energy hierarchy of the fermion mass spectrum and the Kobayashi - Maskawa mixing. These models usually imply mixing effects in the supersymmetric scalar sector. We construct the fermion and scalar mass matrices in two viable models, and calculate the mixing effects on the $\mu \to e\gamma$, $\mu \to 3 e$ and $\tau \to \mu\gamma$ rare decays. The relevant constraints on the sparticle mass spectrum as well as the role of various MSSM parameters are discussed.Comment: 14 pages, 1 figure included in the ps file, uses epsfig.st

A mass hierarchy from recoiling D branes

Using conformal field theory methods we construct a metric that describes the distortion of space-time surrounding a D(irichlet)-brane (solitonic) defect after being struck by another D-brane. By viewing our four-dimensional universe as such a struck brane, embedded in a five-dimensional space-time, we argue on the appearance of a band of massive Kaluza-Klein excitations for the bulk graviton which is localized in a region of the fifth dimension determined by the inverse size of the band. The band incorporates the massless mode (ordinary graviton) and its thickness is determined essentially by the width of the Gaussian distribution describing the (target-space) quantum fluctuations of the intersecting-brane configuration

Low Scale Unification, Newton's Law and Extra Dimensions

Motivated by recent work on low energy unification, in this short note we derive corrections on Newton's inverse square law due to the existence of extra decompactified dimensions. In the four-dimensional macroscopic limit we find that the corrections are of Yukawa type. Inside the compactified space of n-extra dimensions the sub-leading term is proportional to the (n+1)- power of the distance over the compactification radius ratio. Some physical implications of these modifications are briefly discussed.Comment: 12pages, 2 figure

On the GUT scale of F-Theory SU(5)

In F-theory GUTs, threshold corrections from Kaluza-Klein massive modes arising from gauge and matter multiplets play an important role in the determination of the weak mixing angle and the strong gauge coupling of the effective low energy model. In this letter we further explore the induced modifications on the gauge couplings running and the GUT scale. In particular, we focus on the KK-contributions from matter curves and analyse the conditions on the chiral and Higgs matter spectrum which imply a GUT scale consistent with the minimal unification scenario. As an application, we present an explicit computation of these thresholds for matter fields residing on specific non-trivial Riemann surfaces.Comment: 21 page

Higgs Mass Textures in Flipped SU(5)

We analyze the Higgs doublet-triplet mass splitting problem in the version of flipped SU(5) derived from string theory. Analyzing non-renormalizable terms up to tenth order in the superpotential, we identify a pattern of field vev's that keeps one pair of electroweak Higgs doublets light, while all other Higgs doublets and all Higgs triplets are kept heavy, with the aid of the economical missing-doublet mechanism found in the field-theoretical version of flipped SU(5). The solution predicts that second-generation charge -1/3 quarks and charged leptons are much lighter than those in the third generation.Comment: 15 pages LaTe

A Note on the Supersymmetries of the Self-Dual Supermembrane

In this letter we discuss the supersymmetry issue of the self dual supermembranes in (8+1) and (4+1)-dimensions. We find that all genuine solutions of the (8+1)-dimensional supermembrane, based on the exceptional group G_2, preserve one of the sixteen supersymmetries while all solutions in (4+1)-dimensions preserve eight of them.Comment: Latex file, 12pages, no figure

Implications of a Heavy Top in Supersymmetric Theories

In the context of the radiative electroweak symmetry breaking scenario, we investigate the implications of a heavy top quark mass, close to its infrared fixed point, on the low energy parameters of the minimal supersymmetric standard model. We use analytic expressions to calculate the Higgs masses as well as the supersymmetric masses of the third generation. We further assume bottom-tau unification at the GUT scale and examine the constraints put by this condition on the parameter space ($\tan\beta$,$\alpha_3$), using the renormalization group procedure at the two-loop level. We find only a small fraction of the parameter space where the above conditions can be satisfied, namely $1\le \tan\beta \le 2$, while $0.111\le\alpha_3(M_Z) \le 0.118$. We further analyse the case where all three Yukawa couplings reach the perturbative limit just after the unification scale. In this latter case, the situation turns out to be very strict demanding $\tan\beta\sim 63$.Comment: 13 pages plus 3 Figures (hard copy) on request, IOA.303/94 and NTUA 44/9

Predictive Ansatz for Fermion Masses in SUSY GUTS

We reexamine a succesful fermion mass Ansatz proposed by Giudice for a wide range of the ratio $tan\beta =\frac {}{}$ (where ${\bar h},h$ are the two standard higgs fields), in the context of supersymmetric grand unified theories. We find that the 7 predictions of the ansatz, $V_{us}, V_{cb}, V_{ub}, m_u, m_d, m_s$ and $m_b$ are in good agreement with the experiment when either {\it i) } $tan\beta \simeq 1$ or {\it ii)} $tan\beta \geq 30$. A correct prediction for the bottom mass gives a lower limit on $m_t\geq 125$ for case {\it (i)}, in agreement with the previous analysis, while in case {\it (ii)} $m_t\geq 145$.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures NOT included, available on request, LaTex, IOA 281/92, NTUA 37/92 preprint

Neutrino Masses in Flipped SU(5)

We analyse the fermion masses and mixings in the flipped SU(5) model. The fermion mass matrices are evolved from the GUT scale down to $m_W$ by solving the renormalization group equations for the Yukawa couplings. The constraints imposed by the charged fermion data are then utilised to make predictions about the neutrino properties . It is found that the {\it generalized } see-saw mechanism which occurs naturally in this model can provide {\it i})a solution to the solar neutrino problem via the MSW mechanism and {\it ii})a sufficiently large $\nu _{\tau }$ mass to contribute as a hot dark matter component as indicated by the recent COBE data.Comment: (14 Pages,No figures,TEX,IOA-290/92 preprint