Boucenna, M. S., & Profumo, S. (2011). Direct and indirect singlet scalar dark matter detection in the lepton-specific two-Higgs-doublet model. Phys. Rev. D, 84(5), 055011–7pp.
Abstract: A recent study of gamma-ray data from the Galactic center motivates the investigation of light (similar to 7-10 GeV) particle dark matter models featuring tau-lepton pairs as dominant annihilation final state. The lepton-specific two-Higgs-doublet model provides a natural framework where light, singlet scalar dark matter can pair-annihilate dominantly into tau leptons. We calculate the nucleon-dark matter cross section for singlet scalar dark matter within the lepton-specific two-Higgs-doublet model framework, and compare with recent results from direct detection experiments. We study how direct dark matter searches can be used to constrain the dark matter interpretation of gamma-ray observations, for different dominant annihilation final states. We show that models exist with the correct thermal relic abundance that could fit the claimed gamma-ray excess from the Galactic center region and have direct detection cross sections of the order of what is needed to interpret recent anomalous events reported by direct detection experiments.
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Bernabeu, J., Espriu, D., & Puigdomenech, D. (2011). Gravitational waves in the presence of a cosmological constant. Phys. Rev. D, 84(6), 063523–13pp.
Abstract: We derive the effects of a nonzero cosmological constant Lambda on gravitational wave propagation in the linearized approximation of general relativity. In this approximation, we consider the situation where the metric can be written as g(mu nu) = eta(mu nu) + h(mu nu)(Lambda) + h(mu nu)(W), h(mu nu)(Lambda,W) << 1, where h(mu nu)(Lambda) is the background perturbation and h(mu nu)(W) is a modification interpretable as a gravitational wave. For Lambda not equal 0, this linearization of Einstein equations is self-consistent only in certain coordinate systems. The cosmological Friedmann-Robertson-Walker coordinates do not belong to this class and the derived linearized solutions have to be reinterpreted in a coordinate system that is homogeneous and isotropic to make contact with observations. Plane waves in the linear theory acquire modifications of order root Lambda, both in the amplitude and the phase, when considered in Friedmann-Robertson-Walker coordinates. In the linearization process for h(mu nu), we have also included terms of order O(Lambda h(mu nu)). For the background perturbation h(mu nu)(Lambda), the difference is very small, but when the term h(mu nu)(W)Lambda is retained the equations of motion can be interpreted as describing massive spin-2 particles. However, the extra degrees of freedom can be approximately gauged away, coupling to matter sources with a strength proportional to the cosmological constant itself. Finally, we discuss the viability of detecting the modifications caused by the cosmological constant on the amplitude and phase of gravitational waves. In some cases, the distortion with respect to gravitational waves propagating in Minkowski space-time is considerable. The effect of Lambda could have a detectable impact on pulsar timing arrays.
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Gunion, J. F., Lopez-Fogliani, D. E., Roszkowski, L., Ruiz de Austri, R., & Varley, T. A. (2011). Next-to-minimal supersymmetric model Higgs scenarios for partially universal GUT scale boundary conditions. Phys. Rev. D, 84(5), 055026–17pp.
Abstract: We examine the extent to which it is possible to realize the NMSSM “ideal Higgs” models espoused in several papers by Gunion et al. in the context of partially universal GUT scale boundary conditions. To this end we use the powerful methodology of nested sampling. We pay particular attention to whether ideal-Higgs-like points not only pass LEP constraints but are also acceptable in terms of the numerous constraints now available, including those from the Tevatron and B-factory data, (g – 2)(mu) and the relic density Omega h(2). In general for this particular methodology and range of parameters chosen, very few points corresponding to said previous studies were found, and those that were found were at best 2 sigma away from the preferred relic density value. Instead, there exist a class of points, which combine a mostly singlet-like Higgs with a mostly singlino-like neutralino coannihilating with the lightest stau, that are able to effectively pass all implemented constraints in the region 80 < m(h) < 100. It seems that the spin-independent direct detection cross section acts as a key discriminator between ideal Higgs points and the hard to detect singlino-like points.
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Hernandez, E., & Nieves, J. (2011). Study of the strong Sigma(b) -> Lambda(b)pi and Sigma*(b) -> Lambda(b)pi in a nonrelativistic quark model. Phys. Rev. D, 84(5), 057902–5pp.
Abstract: We present results for the strong widths corresponding to the Sigma(b) -> Lambda(b)pi and Sigma*(b) -> Lambda(b)pi decays. We apply our model from Phys. Rev. D 72, 094022 (2005), where we previously studied the corresponding transitions in the charmed sector. Our nonrelativistic constituent quark model uses wave functions that take advantage of the constraints imposed by heavy quark symmetry. The partial conservation of axial current hypothesis allows us to determine the strong vertices from an analysis of the axial current matrix elements.
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De Romeri, V., Hirsch, M., & Malinsky, M. (2011). Soft masses in supersymmetric SO(10) GUTs with low intermediate scales. Phys. Rev. D, 84(5), 053012–15pp.
Abstract: The specific shape of the squark, slepton and gaugino mass spectra, if measured with sufficient accuracy, can provide invaluable information not only about the dynamics underpinning their origin at some very high scale such as the unification scale M(G), but also about the intermediate scale physics encountered throughout their renormalization group equations evolution down to the energy scale accessible for the LHC. In this work, we study general features of the TeV scale soft supersymmetry breaking parameters stemming from a generic mSugra configuration within certain classes of supersymmetry SO(10) GUTs with different intermediate symmetries below M(G). We show that particular combinations of soft masses show characteristic deviations from the mSugra limit in different models and thus, potentially, allow to distinguish between these, even if the new intermediate scales are outside the energy range probed at accelerators. We also compare our results to those obtained for the three minimal seesaw models with mSugra boundary conditions and discuss the main differences between those and our SO(10) based models.
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