Lepton masses and flavor violation in the Randall-Sundrum model

Lepton masses and mixing angles via localization of 5-dimensional fields in the bulk are revisited in the context of Randall-Sundrum models. The Higgs is assumed to be localized on the IR brane. Three cases for neutrino masses are considered: (a) The higher-dimensional neutrino mass operator (LH.LH), (b) Dirac masses, and (c) Type I seesaw with bulk Majorana mass terms. Neutrino masses and mixing as well as charged lepton masses are fit in the first two cases using chi(2) minimization for the bulk mass parameters, while varying the O(1) Yukawa couplings between 0.1 and 4. Lepton flavor violation is studied for all the three cases. It is shown that large negative bulk mass parameters are required for the right-handed fields to fit the data in the LH.LH case. This case is characterized by a very large Kaluza-Klein (KK) spectrum and relatively weak flavor-violating constraints at leading order. The zero modes for the charged singlets are composite in this case, and their corresponding effective 4-dimensional Yukawa couplings to the KK modes could be large. For the Dirac case, good fits can be obtained for the bulk mass parameters, c(i), lying between 0 and 1. However, most of the ``best-fit regions'' are ruled out from flavor-violating constraints. In the bulk Majorana terms case, we have solved the profile equations numerically. We give example points for inverted hierarchy and normal hierarchy of neutrino masses. Lepton flavor violating rates are large for these points. We then discuss various minimal flavor violation schemes for Dirac and bulk Majorana cases. In the Dirac case with minimal-flavor-violation hypothesis, it is possible to simultaneously fit leptonic masses and mixing angles and alleviate lepton flavor violating constraints for KK modes with masses of around 3 TeV. Similar examples are also provided in the Majorana case.

Bulk Majorana mass terms and Dirac neutrinos in the Randall-Sundrum model

We present a novel scheme where Dirac neutrinos are realized even if lepton number violating Majorana mass terms are present. The setup is the Randall-Sundrum framework with bulk right-handed neutrinos. Bulk mass terms of both Majorana and Dirac type are considered. It is shown that massless zero mode solutions exist when the bulk Dirac mass term is set to zero. In this limit, it is found that the effective 4D small neutrino mass is primarily of Dirac nature, with the Majorana-type contributions being negligible. Interestingly, this scenario is very similar to the one known with flat extra dimensions. Neutrino phenomenology is discussed by fitting both charged lepton masses and neutrino masses simultaneously. A single Higgs localized on the IR brane is highly constrained, as unnaturally large Yukawa couplings are required to fit charged lepton masses. A simple extension with two Higgs doublets is presented, which facilitates a proper fit for the lepton masses.

Bulk Randall-Sundrum models, electroweak precision tests, and the 125 GeV Higgs

We present up-to-date electroweak fits of various Randall-Sundrum (RS) models. We consider the bulk RS, deformed RS, and the custodial RS models. For the bulk RS case we find the lightest Kaluza-Klein (KK) mode of the gauge boson to be similar to 8 TeV, while for the custodial case it is similar to 3 TeV. The deformed model is the least fine-tuned of all which can give a good fit for KK masses < 2 TeV depending on the choice of the model parameters. We also comment on the fine-tuning in each case.

Leptonic minimal flavour violation in warped extra dimensions

Lepton mass hierarchies and lepton flavour violation are revisited in the framework of Randall-Sundrum models. Models with Dirac-type as well as Majorana-type neutrinos are considered. The five-dimensional c-parameters are fit to the charged lepton and neutrino masses and mixings using chi(2) minimization. Leptonic flavour violation is shown to be large in these cases. Schemes of minimal flavour violation are considered for the cases of an effective LLHH operator and Dirac neutrinos and are shown to significantly reduce the limits from lepton flavour violation.

Warped alternatives to Froggatt-Nielsen models

We consider the Randall-Sundrum (RS) setup to be a theory of flavor, as an alternative to Froggatt-Nielsen models instead of as a solution to the hierarchy problem. The RS framework is modified by taking the low-energy brane to be at the grand unified theory (GUT) scale. This also alleviates constraints from flavor physics. Fermion masses and mixing angles are fit at the GUT scale. The ranges of the bulk mass parameters are determined using a chi(2) fit taking into consideration the variation in O(1) parameters. In the hadronic sector, the heavy top quark requires large bulk mass parameters localizing the right-handed top quark close to the IR brane. Two cases of neutrino masses are considered: (a) Planck scale lepton number violation and (b) Dirac neutrino masses. Contrary to the case of weak scale RS models, both these cases give reasonable fits to the data, with the Planck scale lepton number violation fitting slightly better compared to the Dirac case. In the supersymmetric version, the fits are not significantly different except for the variation in tan beta. If the Higgs superfields and the supersymmetry breaking spurion are localized on the same brane, then the structure of the sfermion masses are determined by the profiles of the zero modes of the hypermultiplets in the bulk. Trilinear terms have the same structure as the Yukawa matrices. The resultant squark spectrum is around similar to 2-3 TeV required by the light Higgs mass to be around 125 GeV and to satisfy the flavor violating constraints.

Revisiting neutrino masses from Planck scale operators

Planck scale lepton number violation is an interesting and natural possibility to explain nonzero neutrino masses. We consider such operators in the context of Randall-Sundrum (RS1) scenarios. Implementation of this scenario with a single Higgs localized on the IR brane (standard RS1) is not phenomenologically viable as they lead to inconsistencies in the charged lepton mass fits. In this paper we propose a setup with two Higgs doublets. We present a detailed numerical analysis of the fits to fermion masses and mixing angles. This model solves the issues regarding the fermion mass fits but solutions with consistent electroweak symmetry breaking are highly fine-tuned. A simple resolution is to consider supersymmetry in the bulk and a detailed discussion of which is provided. Constraints from flavor are found to be strong and minimal flavor violation (MFV) is imposed to alleviate them.

Gravitational rescue of minimal gauge mediation

Gravity mediated supersymmetry breaking becomes comparable to gauge mediated supersymmetry breaking contributions when messenger masses are close to the GUT scale. By suitably arranging the gravity contributions, one can modify the soft supersymmetry breaking sector to generate a large stop mixing parameter and a light Higgs mass of 125 GeV. In this kind of hybrid models, however, the nice features of gauge mediation like flavor conservation, etc. are lost. To preserve the nice features, gravitational contributions should become important for lighter messenger masses and should be important only for certain fields. This is possible when the hidden sector contains multiple (at least two) spurions with hierarchical vacuum expectation values. In this case, the gravitational contributions can be organized to be ``just right.'' We present a complete model with two spurion hidden sector where the gravitational contribution is from a warped flavor model in a Randall-Sundrum setting. Along the way, we present simple expressions to handle renormalization group equations when supersymmetry is broken by two different sectors at two different scales.

Molecular phylogeny and biogeography of langurs and leaf monkeys of South Asia (Primates: Colobinae)

The two recently proposed taxonomies of the langurs and leaf monkeys (Subfamily Colobinae) provide different implications to our understanding of the evolution of Nilgiri and purple-faced langurs. Groves (2001) [Groves, C.P., 2001. Primate Taxonomy. Smithsonian Institute Press, Washington], placed Nilgiri and purple-faced langurs in the genus Trachypithecus, thereby suggesting disjunct distribution of the genus Trachypithecus. [Brandon-Jones, D., Eudey, A.A., Geissmann, T., Groves, C.P., Melnick, D.J., Morales, J.C., Shekelle, M., Stewart, C.-B., 2003. Asian primate classification. Int. J. Primatol. 25, 97–162] placed these langurs in the genus Semnopithecus, which suggests convergence of morphological characters in Nilgiri and purple-faced langurs with Trachypithecus. To test these scenarios, we sequenced and analyzed the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene and two nuclear DNA-encoded genes, lysozyme and protamine P1, from a variety of colobine species. All three markers support the clustering of Nilgiri and purple-faced langurs with Hanuman langur (Semnopithecus), while leaf monkeys of Southeast Asian (Trachypithecus) form a distinct clade. The phylogenetic position of capped and golden leaf monkeys is still unresolved. It is likely that this species group might have evolved due to past hybridization between Semnopithecus and Trachypithecus clades.

Parallel Tempering Simulations of Liquid-Phase Adsorption of n-Alkane Mixtures in Zeolite LTA-5A

Adsorption of n-alkane mixtures in the zeolite LTA-5A under liquid-phase conditions has been studied using grand canonical Monte Carlo (GCMC) simulations combined with parallel tempering. Normal GCMC techniques fail for some of these systems due to the preference of linear molecules to coil within a single cage in the zeolite. The narrow zeolite windows severerly restrict interactions of the molecules, making it difficult to simulate cooperative rearrangements necessary to explore configuration space. Because of these reasons, normal GCMC simulations results show poor reproducibility in some cases. These problems were overcome with parallel tempering techniques. Even with parallel tempering, these are very challenging systems for molecular simulation. Similar problems may arise for other zeolites such as CHA, AFX, ERI, KFI, and RHO having cages connected by narrow windows. The simulations capture the complex selectivity behavior observed in experiments such as selectivity inversion and azeotrope formation.