12191340
Charge breaking bounds in the Zee model
We study the possibility that charge breaking (CB) minima occur in the Zee model. We reach very different conclusions from those attained in simpler, two Higgs doublet models, and the reason for this is traced back to the existence of cubic terms in the potential. A scan of the Zee model's parameter space shows that CB is restricted to a narrow region of values of the parameters.
118483060
Can we build a sensible theory with broken charge and colour symmetries
Charge and colour symmetries are broken using the vevs of scalar fields, but it is shown the theory possesses a photon-like massless particle and electroweak interactions almost identical to those of the Standard Model. We consider experimental signatures of this theory.
119180593
Metastability bounds on the two Higgs doublet model
A bstractIn the two Higgs doublet model, there is the possibility that the vacuum where the universe resides in is metastable. We present the tree-level bounds on the scalar potential parameters which have to be obeyed to prevent that situation. Analytical expressions for those bounds are shown for the most used potential, that with a softly broken Z2 symmetry. The impact of those bounds on the model’s phenomenology is discussed in detail, as well as the importance of the current LHC results in determining whether the vacuum we live in is or is not stable. We demonstrate how the vacuum stability bounds can be obtained for the most generic CP-conserving potential, and provide a simple method to implement them.
18964730
Probing wrong-sign Yukawa couplings at the LHC and a future linear collider
We consider the two-Higgs-doublet model as a framework in which to evaluate the viability of scenarios in which the sign of the coupling of the observed Higgs boson to down-type fermions (in particular, b-quark pairs) is opposite to that of the Standard Model (SM), while at the same time all other tree-level couplings are close to the SM values. We show that, whereas such a scenario is consistent with current LHC observations, both future running at the LHC and a future e +e − linear collider could determine the sign of the Higgs coupling to b-quark pairs. Discrimination is possible for two reasons. First, the interference between the b-quark and the t-quark loop contributions to the ggh coupling changes sign. Second, the charged-Higgs loop contribution to the γγh coupling is large and fairly constant up to the largest charged-Higgs mass allowed by tree-level unitarity bounds when the b-quark Yukawa coupling has the opposite sign from that of the SM (the change in sign of the interference terms between the b-quark loop and the W and t loops having negligible impact).
118589050
Avoiding Death by Vacuum
The two-Higgs doublet model (2HDM) can have two electroweak breaking, CP-conserving, minima. The possibility arises that the minimum which corresponds to the known elementary particle spectrum is metastable, a possibility we call the panic vacuum. We present analytical bounds on the parameters of the softly broken Peccei-Quinn 2HDM which are necessary and sufficient conditions to avoid this possibility. We also show that, for this particular model, the current LHC data already tell us that we are necessarily in the global minimum of the theory, regardless of any cosmological considerations about the lifetime of the false vacua.
119493491
One-loop stau masses in the effective potential approach
We calculate the one-loop contributions to the tau slepton masses in the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model in the effective potential approach. For the majority of parameter space under study, those corrections are shown to elevate the value of the lightest stau mass.
18618688
An estimate of \Omega_m without priors
Using mean relative peculiar velocity measurements for pairs of galaxies, we estimate the cosmological density parameter $\Omega_m$ and the amplitude of density fluctuations $\sigma_8$. Our results suggest that our statistic is a robust and reproducible measure of the mean pairwise velocity and thereby the $\Omega_m$ parameter. We get $\Omega_m = 0.30^{+0.17}_{-0.07}$ and $\sigma_8 = 1.13^{+0.22}_{-0.23}$. These estimates do not depend on prior assumptions on the adiabaticity of the initial density fluctuations, the ionization history, or the values of other cosmological parameters.
118316369
The Parameterized Post-Friedmann Framework for Theories of Modified Gravity: Concepts, Formalism and Examples.
A unified framework for theories of modified gravity will be an essential tool for interpreting the forthcoming deluge of cosmological data. We present such a formalism, the Parameterized Post-Friedmann framework (PPF), which parameterizes the cosmological perturbation theory of a wide variety of modified gravity models. PPF is able to handle spin-0 degrees of freedom from new scalar, vector and tensor fields, meaning that it is not restricted to simple models based solely on cosmological scalar fields. A direct correspondence is maintained between the parameterization and the underlying space of theories, which allows us to build up a `dictionary' of modified gravity theories and their PPF correspondences. In this paper we describe the construction of the parameterization and demonstrate its use through a number of worked examples relevant to the current literature. We indicate how the formalism will be implemented numerically, so that the dictionary of modified gravity can be pitted against forthcoming observations.
119362729
Cosmology of a universe with spontaneously broken Lorentz symmetry
A self-consistent effective field theory of modified gravity has recently been proposed with spontaneous breaking of local Lorentz invariance. The symmetry is broken by a vector field with the wrong-sign mass term and it has been shown to have additional graviton modes and modified dispersion relations. In this paper we study the evolution of a homogeneous and isotropic universe in the presence of such a vector field with a minimum lying along the timelike direction. A plethora of different regimes is identified, such as accelerated expansion, loitering, collapse, and tracking.
55217153
An Improved Treatment of Optics in the Lindquist-Wheeler Models
We consider the optical properties of Lindquist-Wheeler (LW) models of the Universe. These models consist of lattices constructed from regularly arranged discrete masses. They are akin to the Wigner-Seitz construction of solid state physics, and result in a dynamical description of the large-scale Universe in which the global expansion is given by a Friedmann-like equation. We show that if these models are constructed in a particular way then the redshifts of distant objects, as well as the dynamics of the global space-time, can be made to be in good agreement with the homogeneous and isotropic Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) solutions of Einstein's equations, at the level of <3% out to z~2. Angular diameter and luminosity distances, on the other hand, differ from those found in the corresponding FLRW models, while being consistent with the 'empty beam' approximation, together with the shearing effects due to the nearest masses. This can be compared with the large deviations found from the corresponding FLRW values obtained in a previous study that considered LW models constructed in a different way. We therefore advocate the improved LW models we consider here as useful constructions that appear to faithfully reproduce both the dynamical and observational properties of space-times containing discrete masses.
121750353
Do I look flat in this
The interplay between dark energy and the shape of the universe leaves the fate of the cosmos hanging in the balance, warns physicist Pedro Ferreira