Meloni, D., Morisi, S., & Peinado, E. (2011). Stability of dark matter from the D(4) x Z(2)(f) flavor group. Phys. Lett. B, 703(3), 281–287.
Abstract: We study a model based on the dihedral group D(4) in which the dark matter is stabilized by the interplay between a remnant Z(2) symmetry, of the same spontaneously broken non-abelian group, and an auxiliary Z(2)(f) introduced to eliminate unwanted couplings in the scalar potential. In the lepton sector the model is compatible with normal hierarchy only and predicts a vanishing reactor mixing angle, theta(13) = 0. Since m(nu 1) = 0, we also have a simple prediction for the effective mass in terms of the solar angle: vertical bar m(beta beta)vertical bar = vertical bar m(nu 2)vertical bar sin(2)theta circle dot similar to 10(-3) eV. There also exists a large portion of the model parameter space where the upper bounds on lepton flavor violating processes are not violated. We incorporate quarks in the same scheme finding that a description of the CKM mixing matrix is possible and that semileptonic K and D decays mediated by flavor changing neutral currents are under control.
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Aguilar, A. C., Binosi, D., & Papavassiliou, J. (2010). Nonperturbative gluon and ghost propagators for d=3 Yang-Mills theory. Phys. Rev. D, 81(12), 125025–13pp.
Abstract: We study a manifestly gauge-invariant set of Schwinger-Dyson equations to determine the non-perturbative dynamics of the gluon and ghost propagators in d = 3 Yang-Mills theory. The use of the well-known Schwinger mechanism, in the Landau gauge leads to the dynamical generation of a mass for the gauge boson (gluon in d = 3), which, in turn, gives rise to an infrared finite gluon propagator and ghost dressing function. The propagators obtained from the numerical solution of these nonperturbative equations are in very good agreement with the results of SU(2) lattice simulations.
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Arbelaez, C., Hirsch, M., & Restrepo, D. (2017). Fermionic triplet dark matter in an SO(10)-inspired left-right model. Phys. Rev. D, 95(9), 095034–9pp.
Abstract: We study a left right (LR) extension of the Standard Model (SM) where the Dark Matter(DM) candidate is composed of a set of fermionic Majorana triplets. The DM is stabilized by a remnant Z(2) symmetry from the breaking of the LR group to the SM. Two simple scenarios where the DM particles plus a certain set of extra fields lead to gauge coupling unification with a low LR scale are explored. The constraints from relic density and predictions for direct detection are discussed for both scenarios. The first scenario with a SUd(2)(R) vectorlike fermion triplet contains a DM candidate which is almost unconstrained by current direct detection experiments. The second scenario, with an additional SU(2)R triplet, opens up a scalar portal leading to direct detection constraints which are similar to collider limits for right gauge bosons. The DM parameter space consistent with phenomenological requirements can also lead to successful gauge coupling unification in a SO(10) setup.
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Alfonso, V. I., Bejarano, C., Beltran Jimenez, J., Olmo, G. J., & Orazi, E. (2017). The trivial role of torsion in projective invariant theories of gravity with non-minimally coupled matter fields. Class. Quantum Gravity, 34(23), 235003–20pp.
Abstract: We study a large family of metric-affine theories with a projective symmetry, including non-minimally coupled matter fields which respect this invariance. The symmetry is straightforwardly realised by imposing that the connection only enters through the symmetric part of the Ricci tensor, even in the matter sector. We leave the connection completely free (including torsion), and obtain its general solution as the Levi-Civita connection of an auxiliary metric, showing that the torsion only appears as a projective mode. This result justifies the widely used condition of setting vanishing torsion in these theories as a simple gauge choice. We apply our results to some particular cases considered in the literature, including the so-called Eddington-inspired-Born-Infeld theories among others. We finally discuss the possibility of imposing a gauge fixing where the connection is metric compatible, and comment on the genuine character of the non-metricity in theories where the two metrics are not conformally related.
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Beltran Jimenez, J., Heisenberg, L., & Olmo, G. J. (2015). Tensor perturbations in a general class of Palatini theories. J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys., 06(6), 026–16pp.
Abstract: We study a general class of gravitational theories formulated in the Palatini approach and derive the equations governing the evolution of tensor perturbations. In the absence of torsion, the connection can be solved as the Christoffel symbols of an auxiliary metric which is non-trivially related to the space-time metric. We then consider background solutions corresponding to a perfect fluid and show that the tensor perturbations equations (including anisotropic stresses) for the auxiliary metric around such a background take an Einstein-like form. This facilitates the study in a homogeneous and isotropic cosmological scenario where we explicitly establish the relation between the auxiliary metric and the spacetime metric tensor perturbations. As a general result, we show that both tensor perturbations coincide in the absence of anisotropic stresses.
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Lopez Honorez, L., Mena, O., & Panotopoulos, G. (2010). Higher-order coupled quintessence. Phys. Rev. D, 82(12), 123525–7pp.
Abstract: We study a coupled quintessence model in which the interaction with the dark-matter sector is a function of the quintessence potential. Such a coupling can arise from a field dependent mass term for the dark-matter field. The dynamical analysis of a standard quintessence potential coupled with the interaction explored here shows that the system possesses a late-time accelerated attractor. In light of these results, we perform a fit to the most recent Supernovae Ia, Cosmic Microwave Background, and Baryon Acoustic Oscillation data sets. Constraints arising from weak equivalence principle violation arguments are also discussed.
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Blankenburg, G., & Morisi, S. (2012). Fermion masses and mixing with tri-bimaximal in SO(10) with type-I seesaw. J. High Energy Phys., 01(1), 016–18pp.
Abstract: We study a class of models for tri-bimaximal neutrino mixing in SO(10) grand unified SUSY framework. Neutrino masses arise from both type-I and type-II seesaw mechanisms. We use dimension five operators in order to not spoil tri-bimaximal mixing by means of type-I contribution in the neutrino sector. We show that it is possible to fit all fermion masses and mixings including also the recent T2K result as deviation from the tri-bimaximal.
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Afonso, V. I., Bejarano, C., Ferraro, R., & Olmo, G. J. (2022). Determinantal Born-Infeld coupling of gravity and electromagnetism. Phys. Rev. D, 105(8), 084067–11pp.
Abstract: We study a Born-Infeld inspired model of gravity and electromagnetism in which both types of fields are treated on an equal footing via a determinantal approach in a metric-aft me formulation. Though this formulation is a priori in conflict with the postulates of metric theories of gravity, we find that the resulting equations can also be obtained from an action combining the Einstein-Hilbert action with a minimally coupled nonlinear electrodynamics. As an example, the dynamics is solved for the charged static black hole.
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Hernandez, E., Nieves, J., & Vicente Vacas, M. J. (2013). Single pion production in neutrino-nucleus scattering. Phys. Rev. D, 87(11), 113009–11pp.
Abstract: We study 1 pi production in both charged and neutral current neutrino-nucleus scattering for neutrino energies below 2 GeV. We use a theoretical model for one pion production at the nucleon level that we correct for medium effects. The results are incorporated into a cascade program that apart from production also includes the pion final state interaction inside the nucleus. Besides, in some specific channels coherent pi production is also possible and we evaluate its contribution as well. Our results for total and differential cross sections are compared with recent data from the MiniBooNE Collaboration. The model provides an overall acceptable description of the data, better for neutral-current than for charged-current channels, although the theory is systematically below the data. Differential cross sections, folded with the full neutrino flux, show that most of the missing pions lie in the forward direction and at high energies.
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Wimmer, K. et al, Algora, A., & Rubio, B. (2021). Shape Changes in the Mirror Nuclei Kr-70 and Se-70. Phys. Rev. Lett., 126(7), 072501–6pp.
Abstract: We studied the proton-rich T-z = -1 nucleus Kr-70 through inelastic scattering at intermediate energies in order to extract the reduced transition probability, B(E2; 0+ -> 2+). Comparison with the other members of the A = 70 isospin triplet, Br-70 and Se-70, studied in the same experiment, shows a 3 sigma deviation from the expected linearity of the electromagnetic matrix elements as a function of T-z. At present, no established nuclear structure theory can describe this observed deviation quantitatively. This is the first violation of isospin symmetry at this level observed in the transition matrix elements. A heuristic approach may explain the anomaly by a shape change between the mirror nuclei Kr-70 and Se-70 contrary to the model predictions.
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