8,320 research outputs found
Carcinogenicity of hexavalent chromium
Hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)), a commonly used industrial metal, is a well known human lung carcinogen. Epidemiology and animal studies suggest that the particulate Cr(VI) compounds, specifically the water insoluble compounds, are the more potent carcinogens, however, the carcinogenic mechanism remains unknown. Here we summarize recent Cr(VI)-induced human tumour, in vivo, cell culture and in vitro studies and put the data into context with three major paradigms of carcinogenesis: multistage carcinogenesis, genomic instability, and epigenetic modifications. Based on these studies, we propose a mechanism for chromate carcinogenesis that is primarily driven by the genomic instability paradigm
Higgs Properties and Fourth Generation Leptons
It is possible that there are additional vector-like generations where the
quarks have mass terms that do not originate from weak symmetry breaking, but
the leptons only get mass through weak symmetry breaking. We discuss the impact
that the new leptons have on Higgs boson decay branching ratios and on the
range of allowed Higgs masses in such a model (with a single new vector-like
generation). We find that if the fourth generation leptons are too heavy to be
produced in Higgs decay, then the new leptons reduce the branching ratio for h
-> gamma gamma to about 30% of its standard-model value. The dependence of this
branching ratio on the new charged lepton masses is weak. Furthermore the
expected Higgs production rate at the LHC is very near its standard-model value
if the new quarks are much heavier than the weak scale. If the new quarks have
masses near the cutoff for the theory then for cutoffs greater than 10^15 GeV,
the new lepton masses cannot be much heavier than about 100 GeV and the Higgs
mass must have a value around 175 GeV.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figures, published versio
Gravity from a fermionic condensate of a gauge theory
The most prominent realization of gravity as a gauge theory similar to the
gauge theories of the standard model comes from enlarging the gauge group from
the Lorentz group to the de Sitter group. To regain ordinary Einstein-Cartan
gravity the symmetry must be broken, which can be accomplished by known
quasi-dynamic mechanisms. Motivated by symmetry breaking models in particle
physics and condensed matter systems, we propose that the symmetry can
naturally be broken by a homogenous and isotropic fermionic condensate of
ordinary spinors. We demonstrate that the condensate is compatible with the
Einstein-Cartan equations and can be imposed in a fully de Sitter invariant
manner. This lends support, and provides a physically realistic mechanism for
understanding gravity as a gauge theory with a spontaneously broken local de
Sitter symmetry.Comment: 16 page
Towards a High Energy Theory for the Higgs Phase of Gravity
Spontaneous Lorentz violation due to a time-dependent expectation value for a
massless scalar has been suggested as a method for dynamically generating dark
energy. A natural candidate for the scalar is a Goldstone boson arising from
the spontaneous breaking of a U(1) symmetry. We investigate the low-energy
effective action for such a Goldstone boson in a general class of models
involving only scalars, proving that if the scalars have standard kinetic terms
then at the {\em classical} level the effective action does not have the
required features for spontaneous Lorentz violation to occur asymptotically in an expanding FRW universe. Then we study the large limit of
a renormalizable field theory with a complex scalar coupled to massive
fermions. In this model an effective action for the Goldstone boson with the
properties required for spontaneous Lorentz violation can be generated.
Although the model has shortcomings, we feel it represents progress towards
finding a high energy completion for the Higgs phase of gravity.Comment: 20 pages, 5 figures;fixed typos and added reference
Criteria for the experimental observation of multi-dimensional optical solitons in saturable media
Criteria for experimental observation of multi-dimensional optical solitons
in media with saturable refractive nonlinearities are developed. The criteria
are applied to actual material parameters (characterizing the cubic
self-focusing and quintic self-defocusing nonlinearities, two-photon loss, and
optical-damage threshold) for various glasses. This way, we identify operation
windows for soliton formation in these glasses. It is found that two-photon
absorption sets stringent limits on the windows. We conclude that, while a
well-defined window of parameters exists for two-dimensional solitons (spatial
or spatiotemporal), for their three-dimensional spatiotemporal counterparts
such a window \emph{does not} exist, due to the nonlinear loss in glasses.Comment: 8 pages, to appear in Phys. Rev.
Compensation of B-L charge of matter with relic sneutrinos
We consider massless gauge boson connected to B-L charge with and without
compensation to complete the investigation of the gauging of B and L charges.
Relic sneutrinos predicted by SUSY and composite models may compensate B-L
charge of matter. As a consequence of the possible compensation mechanism we
have shown that the available experimental data admit the range of the B-L
interaction constant, 10^{-29} < {\alpha}_{B-L} < 10^{-12}, in addition to
{\alpha}_{B-L} < 10^{-49} obtained without compensation.Comment: 6 page
The low-temperature energy calibration system for the CUORE bolometer array
The CUORE experiment will search for neutrinoless double beta decay (0nDBD)
of 130Te using an array of 988 TeO_2 bolometers operated at 10 mK in the
Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (Italy). The detector is housed in a large
cryogen-free cryostat cooled by pulse tubes and a high-power dilution
refrigerator. The TeO_2 bolometers measure the event energies, and a precise
and reliable energy calibration is critical for the successful identification
of candidate 0nDBD and background events. The detector calibration system under
development is based on the insertion of 12 gamma-sources that are able to move
under their own weight through a set of guide tubes that route them from
deployment boxes on the 300K flange down into position in the detector region
inside the cryostat. The CUORE experiment poses stringent requirements on the
maximum heat load on the cryostat, material radiopurity, contamination risk and
the ability to fully retract the sources during normal data taking. Together
with the integration into a unique cryostat, this requires careful design and
unconventional solutions. We present the design, challenges, and expected
performance of this low-temperature energy calibration system.Comment: To be published in the proceedings of the 13th International Workshop
on Low Temperature Detectors (LTD), Stanford, CA, July 20-24, 200
Modulus Stabilization with Bulk Fields
We propose a mechanism for stabilizing the size of the extra dimension in the
Randall-Sundrum scenario. The potential for the modulus field that sets the
size of the fifth dimension is generated by a bulk scalar with quartic
interactions localized on the two 3-branes. The minimum of this potential
yields a compactification scale that solves the hierarchy problem without fine
tuning of parameters.Comment: 8 pages, LaTeX; minor typo correcte
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