Cosmological evolution in compactified Horava-Witten theory induced by matter on the branes

The combined Einstein equations and scalar equation of motion in the Horava-Witten scenario of the strongly coupled heterotic string compactified on a Calabi-Yau manifold are solved in the presence of additional matter densities on the branes. We take into account the universal Calabi-Yau modulus phi with potentials in the 5-d bulk and on the 3-branes, and allow for an arbitrary coupling of the additional matter to phi and an arbitrary equation of state. No ad hoc stabilization of the five dimensional radius is assumed. The matter densities are assumed to be small compared to the potential for phi on the branes; in this approximation we find solutions in the bulk which are exact in y and t. Depending on the coupling of the matter to phi and its equation of state, various solutions for the metric on the branes and in the 5-d bulk are obtained: Solutions corresponding to a ``rolling radius'', and solutions with a static 5-d radius, which reproduce the standard cosmological evolution.Comment: 20 pages (LaTeX2e), no figs. References added and comments rectifie

The Cosmological Constant

Various contributions to the cosmological constant are discussed and confronted with its recent measurement. We briefly review different scenarious -- and their difficulties -- for a solution of the cosmological constant problem.Comment: Lecture given at the XIV Workshop "Beyond the Standard Model", Bad Honnef, 11-14 March 200

Neutralino Cascades in the (M+1)SSM

In the (M+1)SSM an additional gauge singlet Weyl spinor appears in the neutralino sector. For a large part of the parameter space this approximative eigenstate is the true LSP. Then most sparticle decays proceed via an additional cascade involving the NLSP -> LSP transition, where the NLSP is the non-singlet next-to-lightest neutralino. We present a comprehensive list of all processes, which contribute to the NLSP -> LSP transition, the partial widths and the total NLSP decay rate. We perform a scan of the parameters of the model compatible with universal soft terms, and find that the NLSP life time can be quite large, leading to macroscopically displaced vertices. Our results imply that the signatures for sparticle production in the (M+1)SSM can be very different from the MSSM, and are important for calculations of the abundance of dark matter in this model.Comment: 25 pages (LaTeX2e), 8 figs., explanations adde

Masses and Couplings of the Lightest Higgs Bosons in the (M+1)SSM

We study the upper limits on the mass of the lightest and second lightest CP even Higgs bosons in the (M+1)SSM, the MSSM extended by a gauge singlet. The dominant two loop contributions to the effective potential are included, which reduce the Higgs masses by 10 GeV. Since the coupling R of the lightest Higgs scalar to gauge bosons can be small, we study in detail the relations between the masses and couplings of both lightest scalars. We present upper bounds on the mass of a 'strongly' coupled Higgs (R > 1/2) as a function of lower experimental limits on the mass of a 'weakly' coupled Higgs (R < 1/2). With the help of these results, the whole parameter space of the model can be covered by Higgs boson searches.Comment: Changed notation and added explanations; to appear in European Journal of Physics

Confinement with Kalb - Ramond Fields

We consider models with N U(1) gauge fields A_{\mu}^n, N Kalb-Ramond fields B_{\mu \nu}^n, an arbitrary bare action and a fixed UV cutoff \Lambda. Under mild assumptions these can be obtained as effective low energy theories of SU(N+1) Yang Mills theories in the maximal abelian gauge. For a large class of bare actions they can be solved in the large N limit and exhibit confinement. The confining phase is characterized by an approximate ``low energy'' vector gauge symmetry under which the Kalb-Ramond fields B_{\mu\nu}^n transform. The same symmetry allows for a duality transformation showing that magnetic monopoles have condensed. The models allow for various mechanisms of confinement, depending on which sources for A_{\mu}^n or B_{\mu \nu}^n are switched on, but the area law for the Wilson loop is obtained in any case.Comment: corrected misprints and reference

Confinement and Mass Gap in Abelian Gauge

First, we present a simple confining abelian pure gauge theory. Classically, its kinetic term is not positive definite, and it contains a simple UV regularized F^4 interaction. This provoques the formation of a condensate ~ F^2 such that, at the saddle point of the effective potential, the wave function normalization constant of the abelian gauge fields vanishes exactly. Then we study SU(2) pure Yang-Mills theory in an abelian gauge and introduce an additional auxiliary field for a BRST invariant condensate of dimension 2, which renders the charged sector massive. Under simple assumptions its effective low energy theory reduces to the confining abelian model discussed before, and the vev of rho is seen to scale correctly with the renormalization point. Under these assumptions, the confinement condition Z_eff = 0 also holds for the massive charged sector, which suppresses the couplings of the charged fields to the abelian gauge bosons in the infrared regime.Comment: Explanations added, to appear in Eur. Phys. J.

Renormalization group flows for gauge theories in axial gauges

Gauge theories in axial gauges are studied using Exact Renormalisation Group flows. We introduce a background field in the infrared regulator, but not in the gauge fixing, in contrast to the usual background field gauge. It is shown how heat-kernel methods can be used to obtain approximate solutions to the flow and the corresponding Ward identities. Expansion schemes are discussed, which are not applicable in covariant gauges. As an application, we derive the one-loop effective action for covariantly constant field strength, and the one-loop beta-function for arbitrary regulator