119271491
Searching for string resonances in $e^+e^-$ and $\gamma \gamma$ collisions
If the fundamental mass scale of superstring theory is as low as few TeVs, the massive modes of vibrating strings, Regge excitations, will be copiously produced at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). We discuss the complementary signals of low mass superstrings at the proposed electron-positron facility (CLIC), in e^+e^- and \gamma \gamma collisions. We examine all relevant four-particle amplitudes evaluated at the center of mass energies near the mass of lightest Regge excitations and extract the corresponding pole terms. The Regge poles of all four-point amplitudes, in particular the spin content of the resonances, are completely model independent, universal properties of the entire landscape of string compactifications. We show that \gamma \gamma \to e^+ e^- scattering proceeds only through a spin-2 Regge state. We estimate that for this particular channel, string scales as high as 4 TeV can be discovered at the 11\sigma level with the first fb^{-1} of data collected at a center-of-mass energy \approx 5 TeV. We also show that for e^+e^- annihilation into fermion-antifermion pairs, string theory predicts the precise value, equal 1/3, of the relative weight of spin 2 and spin 1 contributions. This yields a dimuon angular distribution with a pronounced forward-backward asymmetry, which will help distinguishing between low mass strings and other beyond the standard model scenarios.
118565086
Stringy origin of Tevatron Wjj anomaly
Abstract The invariant mass distribution of dijets produced in association with W bosons, recently observed by the CDF Collaboration at Tevatron, reveals an excess in the dijet mass range 120 – 160 GeV / c 2 , 3σ beyond Standard Model expectations. We show that such an excess is a generic feature of low mass string theory, due to the production and decay of a leptophobic Z ′ , a singlet partner of SU ( 3 ) gluons coupled primarily to the U ( 1 ) baryon number. In this framework, U ( 1 ) and SU ( 3 ) appear as subgroups of U ( 3 ) associated with open strings ending on a stack of 3 D-branes. In addition, a minimal model contains two other stacks to accommodate the electro-weak SU ( 2 ) ⊂ U ( 2 ) and the hypercharge U ( 1 ) . Of the three U ( 1 ) gauge bosons, the two heavy Z ′ and Z ″ receive masses through the Green–Schwarz mechanism. For a given Z ′ mass, the model is quite constrained. Fine tuning three of its free parameters is just sufficient to simultaneously ensure: a small Z – Z ′ mixing in accord with the stringent LEP data on the Z mass; very small (less than 1%) branching ratio into leptons; and a large hierarchy between Z ″ and Z ′ masses. The heavier neutral gauge boson Z ″ is within the reach of LHC.
119576534
Graviton Propagator in a Covariant Massive Gravity Theory
We study the massive gravity theory proposed by Arkani-Hamed, Georgi and Schwartz. In this theory, the graviton becomes massive when general covariance is spontaneously broken through the introduction of a field that links two metrics, one of the which will eventually decouple. The excitation of this "link" field acts like a Goldstone boson in giving mass to the graviton. We work out the graviton and Goldstone boson propagators explicitly by means of gauge fixing terms similar to the renormalizability gauges used in gauge theories. With these propagators, we calculate the lowest order tree-level interaction between two external energy momentum tensors. The result is independent of the gauge parameter, but different from the prediction of massless gravity theory, i.e., general relativity. This difference remains even if the mass of the graviton goes to zero, in which case it gives the van Dam-Veltman-Zakharov (vDVZ) discontinuity between the propagators of a massive and massless linearized graviton. Moreover, we show that the Fierz-Pauli graviton mass term can be considered as the ``unitary gauge'' of a more general theory with an extra scalar field. We explicitly construct such a theory in which the vDVZ discontinuity arises with a graviton mass term that is different from the Fierz-Pauli mass term. This theory has a local Weyl symmetry under conformal transformations of the metric. In the case when the mass goes to zero, the Weyl summetry becomes a global symmetry. It is possible that the local Weyl symmetry will give a hint as to the form of the corresponding fully nonlinear theory having a nonzero graviton mass.
119298365
Anomaly Puzzle, Curved-Spacetime Spinor Hamiltonian, and String Phenomenology
In the first part of this dissertation, we study two different aspects of string phenomenology. First we discuss the complementary signals of low mass superstrings at the proposed electron-positron facilities (ILC and CLIC), in e+e- and {\gamma} {\gamma} collisions. We examine all relevant four-particle amplitudes evaluated at the center of mass energies near the mass of lightest Regge excitations and extract the corresponding pole terms. Secondly, we consider string realizations of the Randall-Sundrum effective theory and explore the search for the lowest massive Regge excitation of the gluon and of the extra (color singlet) gauge boson inherent of D-brane constructions. We also study the ratio of dijet mass spectra at small and large scattering angles. We show that with the first fb-1 such a ratio can probe lowest-lying Regge states for masses ~3.0 TeV. Finally, we propose that the 3.2$\sigma$ excess at about $140 {\rm GeV}$ in the dijet mass spectrum of $W$ + jets reproted by the CDF Collaboration originates in the decay of a leptophobic $Z'$ that can be related to the U(1) symmetries inherent of D-brane models. In the remaining parts of this dissertation, we discuss several points that may help to clarify some questions that remain about the anomaly puzzle in N=1 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory and we investigate the issue that the Dirac Hamiltonian of a spin-1/2 particle in a curved background appears to be non-hermitian.
119185690
Hermiticity of the Dirac Hamiltonian in curved spacetime
In previous work on the quantum mechanics of an atom freely falling in a general curved background spacetime, the metric was taken to be sufficiently slowly varying on time scales relevant to atomic transitions that time derivatives of the metric in the vicinity of the atom could be neglected. However, when the time dependence of the metric cannot be neglected, it was shown that the Hamiltonian used there was not Hermitian with respect to the conserved scalar product. This Hamiltonian was obtained directly from the Dirac equation in curved spacetime. This raises the paradox of how it is possible for this Hamiltonian to be non-Hermitian. Here, we show that this non-Hermiticity results from a time dependence of the position eigenstates that enter into the Schroedinger wave function, and we write the expression for the Hamiltonian that is Hermitian for a general metric when the time dependence of the metric is not neglected.
119182228
S-dual inflation: BICEP2 data without unlikeliness
Abstract We show that S -dual inflationary potentials solve the unlikeliness problem manifested in Planck data and explain the excess B -mode power observed by the BICEP2 experiment as arising from primordial tensor fluctuations.
118465675
Anisotropic hydrodynamics, bulk viscosities, and r -modes of strange quark stars with strong magnetic fields
In strong magnetic fields the transport coefficients of strange quark matter become anisotropic. We determine the general form of the complete set of transport coefficients in the presence of a strong magnetic field. By using a local linear response method, we calculate explicitly the bulk viscosities {zeta}{sub perpendicular} and {zeta}{sub ||} transverse and parallel to the B field, respectively, which arise due to the nonleptonic weak processes u+s{r_reversible}u+d. We find that for magnetic fields B 10{sup 18} G, the dependence of both {zeta}{sub perpendicular} and {zeta}{sub ||} on the field is strong, and they exhibit de Haas-van Alphen-type oscillations. With increasing magnetic field, the amplitude of these oscillations increases, which eventually leads to negative {zeta}{sub perpendicular} in some regions of parameter space. We show that the change of sign of {zeta}{sub perpendicular} signals a hydrodynamic instability. As an application, we discuss the effects of the new bulk viscosities on the r-mode instability in rotating strange quark stars. We find that the instability region in strange quark stars is affectedmore » when the magnetic fields exceed the value B=10{sup 17} G. For fields which are larger by an order of magnitude, the instability region is significantly enlarged, making magnetized strange stars more susceptible to r-mode instability than their unmagnetized counterparts.« less
116984109
Injected Beam Dynamics in SPEAR3
For the top-off operation it is important to understand the time evolution of charge injected into the storage ring. The large-amplitude horizontal oscillation quickly filaments and decoheres, and in some cases exhibits non-linear x-y coupling before damping to the stored orbit. Similarly, in the longitudinal dimension, any mismatch in beam arrival time, beam energy or phase-space results in damped, non-linear synchrotron oscillations. In this paper we report on measurements of injection beam dynamics in the transverse and longitudinal planes using turn-by-turn BPMs, a fast-gated, image-intensified CCD camera and a Hamamatsu C5680 streak camera.
119290233
Fermi LAT search for internal bremsstrahlung signatures from dark matter annihilation
A commonly encountered obstacle in indirect searches for galactic dark matter is how to disentangle possible signals from astrophysical backgrounds. Given that such signals are most likely subdominant, the search for pronounced spectral features plays a key role for indirect detection experiments; monochromatic gamma-ray lines or similar features related to internal bremsstrahlung, in particular, provide smoking gun signatures. We perform a dedicated search for the latter in the data taken by the Fermi gamma-ray space telescope during its first 43 months. To this end, we use a new adaptive procedure to select optimal target regions that takes into account both standard and contracted dark matter profiles. The behaviour of our statistical method is tested by a subsampling analysis of the full sky data and found to reproduce the theoretical expectations very well. The limits on the dark matter annihilation cross-section that we derive are stronger than what can be obtained from the observation of dwarf galaxies and, at least for the model considered here, collider searches. While these limits are still not quite strong enough to probe annihilation rates expected for thermally produced dark matter, future prospects to do so are very good. In fact, we already find a weak indication, with a significance of 3.1σ (4.3σ) when (not) taking into account the look-elsewhere effect, for an internal bremsstrahlung-like signal that would correspond to a dark matter mass of ~150 GeV; the same signal is also well fitted by a gamma-ray line at around 130 GeV. Although this would be a fascinating possibility, we caution that a much more dedicated analysis and additional data will be necessary to rule out or confirm this option.
35650226
Chiral phase structure at finite temperature and density in Einstein universe
Abstract The gravitational effect on the chiral phase structure at finite temperature and density is investigated in the framework of Nambu–Jona-Lasinio model in D -dimensional ultrastatic Einstein universe. In mean field approximation, the thermodynamic potential and the gap equation determining the curvature, temperature and density dependence of the chiral condensate are analytically derived. In the sense of chiral symmetry restoration and the order of the phase transition, the scalar curvature of the space–time plays similar role as the temperature.
73681368
Charge-dependent azimuthal correlations from AuAu to UU collisions
Abstract We study the charge-dependent azimuthal correlations in relativistic heavy ion collisions, as motivated by the search for the Chiral Magnetic Effect (CME) and the investigation of related background contributions. In particular we aim to understand how these correlations induced by various proposed effects evolve from collisions with AuAu system to that with UU system. To do that, we quantify the generation of magnetic field in UU collisions at RHIC energy and its azimuthal correlation with the matter geometry using event-by-event simulations. Taking the experimental data for charge-dependent azimuthal correlations from AuAu collisions and extrapolating to UU with reasonable assumptions, we examine the resulting correlations to be expected in UU collisions and compare them with recent STAR measurements. Based on such analysis we discuss the viability for explaining the data with a combination of the CME-like and flow-induced contributions.