We present a perturbative QCD factorization formalism for inclusive production of heavy quarkonia of large transverse momentum, $p_T$ at collider energies, including both leading power (LP) and next-to-leading power (NLP) behavior in $p_T$. We demonstrate that both LP and NLP contributions can be factorized in terms of perturbatively calculable short-distance partonic coefficient functions and universal nonperturbative fragmentation functions, and derive the evolution equations that are implied by the factorization. We identify projection operators for all channels of the factorized LP and NLP infrared safe short-distance partonic hard parts, and corresponding operator definitions of fragmentation functions. For the NLP, we focus on the contributions involving the production of a heavy quark pair, a necessary condition for producing a heavy quarkonium. We evaluate the first nontrivial order of evolution kernels for all relevant fragmentation functions, and discuss the role of NLP contributions.

Until recently precision electroweak computations were fundamentally uncertain due to lack of knowledge about the existence of the Standard Model Higgs boson and its mass. For this reason substantial calculational machinery had to be carried along for each calculation that changed the Higgs boson mass and other parameters of the Standard Model. Now that the Higgs boson is discovered and its mass is known to within a percent, we are able to compute reliable semianalytic expansions of electroweak observables. We present results of those computations in the form of expansion formulas. In addition to the convenience of having these expressions, we show how the approach makes investigating new physics contributions to precision electroweak observables much easier.

The injections of energetic hadrons could have occurred in the early Universe by decays of hypothetical long-lived exotic particles. The injections induce the showers of nonthermal hadrons via nuclear scattering. Neutrons generated at these events can react with ${}^7\mathrm{Be}$ nuclei and reduce ${}^7\mathrm{Be}$ abundance solving a problem of the primordial ${}^7\mathrm{Li}$ abundance. We suggest that thermal neutron injection is a way to derive a model independent conservative limit on the relation between abundances of D and ${}^7\mathrm{Li}$ in hadronic energy injection models. We emphasize that an uncertainty in cross sections of inelastic $n+p$ scattering affects the total number of induced neutrons, which determines final abundances of D and ${}^7\mathrm{Li}$. In addition, the annihilations of antinucleons with ${}^4\mathrm{He}$ result in higher D abundance and trigger nonthermal ${}^6\mathrm{Li}$ production. It is concluded that a reduction of ${}^7\mathrm{Li}$ abundance from a value in the standard big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) model down to an observational 2 $\sigma$ upper limit is necessarily accompanied by an undesirable increase of D abundance up to at least an observational $12\sigma$ upper limit from observations of quasistellar object absorption line systems. The effects of antinucleons and secondary particles produced in the hadronic showers always lead to a severer constraint. The BBN models involving any injections of extra neutrons are thus unlikely to reproduce a small ${}^7\mathrm{Li}$ abundance consistent with observations.

Renormalizable SO(10) grand unified theories (GUTs), extended by $O(N_g{)}_F$ family gauge symmetry, generate minimal supersymmetric Standard Model flavor structure dynamically via vacuum expectation values of “Yukawon” Higgs multiplets. For concrete illustration and calculability, we work with the fully realistic minimal supersymmetric GUTs based on the $\mathbf{210}\oplus \overline{\mathbf{126}}\oplus \mathbf{126}$ GUT Higgs system—which were already parameter counting minimal relative to other realistic models. $SO(10)$ fermion Higgs channels $\overline{\mathbf{126}},\mathbf{10}(\mathbf{120})$ extend to symmetric (antisymmetric) representations of $O(N_g{)}_F$, while $\mathbf{210},\mathbf{126}$ are symmetric. $N_g=3$ dynamical Yukawa generation reduces the matter fermion Yukawas from 15 to 3 (21 to 5) without (with) the $\mathbf{120}$ Higgs. Yukawon GUTs are thus ultraminimal in parameter counting terms. Consistent symmetry breaking is ensured by a hidden sector Bajc–Melfo superpotential with a pair of symmetric $O(N_g)$ multiplets $\varphi ,S$, of which the latter’s singlet part $S_s$ breaks supersymmetry and the traceless part $\widehat{S}$ furnishes flat directions to cancel the $O(N_g)$ D-term contributions of the visible sector. Novel dark matter candidates linked to flavor symmetry arise from both the Bajc–Melfo sector and GUT sector minimal supersymmetric Standard Model singlet pseudo-Goldstones. These relics may be viable light ($<50\mathrm{GeV}$) cold dark matter as reported by DAMA/LIBRA. In contrast to the new minimal supersymmetric SO(10) grand unified theory (NMSGUT) even sterile neutrinos can appear in certain branches of the flavor symmetry breaking without the tuning of couplings.

We find the static spherically symmetric solutions (with vanishing shift function) of the complete nonprojectable Hořava theory explicitly, writing the space-time metrics as explicit tensors in local coordinate systems. This completes previous work of other authors who have studied the same configurations. The solutions depend on the coupling constant $\alpha$ of the $({\partial }_i\ln N{)}^2$ term. The $\lambda =1/3$ case of the theory does not possess any extra mode; hence, the range of $\alpha$ is in principle not limited by the linear stability of any extra mode. We study the full range of $\alpha$, both in the positive and negative sectors. We find the same wormhole solutions and naked singularities that were found for the Einstein-aether theory in a sector of the space of $\alpha$. There also arise wormholes in other sectors of $\alpha$. Our coordinate systems are valid at the throats of the wormholes. We also find the perturbative solutions for small $\alpha$. We give this version of the solutions directly on the original radial coordinate $r$, which is particularly suitable for representing the exterior region of solutions with localized sources.

We explore conformal-anomaly driven inflation in $F(R)$ gravity without invoking the scalar-tensor representation. We derive the stress-energy tensor of the quantum anomaly in the flat homogeneous and isotropic universe. We investigate a suitable toy model of exponential gravity plus the quantum contribution due to the conformal anomaly, which leads to the de Sitter solution. It is shown that in the $F(R)$ gravity model the curvature perturbations with enough amplitude are consistent with the observations that are generated during inflation. We also evaluate the number of $e$-folds at the inflationary stage and the spectral index $n_{\mathrm{s}}$ of scalar modes of the curvature perturbations by analogy with scalar tensor theories and compare them with the observational data. As a result, it is found that the Ricci scalar decreases during inflation and the standard evolution history of the universe is recovered at the small curvature regime. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that in our model, the tensor-to-scalar ratio of the curvature perturbations can be a finite value within the 68% C.L. error of the very recent result found by the BICEP2 experiment.

We discuss a new scenario for early cosmology, with the inflationary de Sitter phase dynamically emergent. This genuine quantum effect occurs as a result of the dynamics of topologically nontrivial sectors in a (conjectured) strongly coupled QCD-like gauge theory with the scale ${\mathrm{\Lambda }}_{\overline{\mathrm{QCD}}}\sim {10}^{17}\mathrm{GeV}$ in an expanding Universe. The inflaton in this $\overline{\mathrm{QCD}}$-inflation framework is given by an auxiliary nonpropagating field, similar to an effective field known to emerge in topologically ordered condensed matter systems. The number of $e$-folds in the $\overline{\mathrm{QCD}}$-inflation framework is determined by the gauge coupling constant at the moment of inflation and estimated as $N_{\text{inf}}\sim {\alpha }^{-2}(H_0)\sim {10}^2$. We analyze the equation of state in this framework at the end of inflation in terms of the gauge dynamics and confront our estimates with observations. We make predictions for the tensor tilt $n_t\simeq -0.02$, the running of the tensor tilt ${\alpha }_t=\partial n_t/\partial \ln k\sim {\alpha }^4(H_0)\sim {10}^{-4}$, and the running for the spectral index ${\alpha }_s=\partial n_s/\partial \ln k\sim {\alpha }^4(H_0)\sim {10}^{-4}$ in terms of the same gauge coupling constant, $\alpha (H_0)$, which is fixed in our framework by recent BICEP2 measurements of the tensor fraction $r\simeq 0.2$.

We provide the last missing piece of the complete nonperturbative description of the low energy effective action emerging from Calabi-Yau compactifications of type II string theory—NS5-brane instanton corrections to the hypermultiplet moduli space ${\mathcal{M}}_H$. We find them using S-duality symmetry of the type IIB formulation. The result is encoded in a set of holomorphic functions on the twistor space of ${\mathcal{M}}_H$ and includes all orders of the instanton expansion.

The Petrov type I condition for the solutions of vacuum Einstein equations in both of the nonrelativistic and relativistic hydrodynamic expansions is checked. We show that it holds up to the third order of the nonrelativistic hydrodynamic expansion parameter, but it is violated at the fourth order even if we choose a general frame. On the other hand, it is found that the condition holds at least up to the second order of the derivative expansion parameter. Turn the logic around, through imposing the Petrov type I condition and Hamiltonian constraint on a finite cutoff surface, we show that the stress tensor of the relativistic fluid can be recovered with correct first order and second order transport coefficients dual to the solutions of vacuum Einstein equations.

We show that the Li problems can be solved in the next-to-minimal supersymmetric standard model where the slepton as the next-to-lightest supersymmetric (SUSY) particle is very long lived. Such a long-lived slepton induces exotic nuclear reactions in big-bang nucleosynthesis, and destroys and produces the ${}^7\mathrm{Li}$ and ${}^6\mathrm{Li}$ nuclei via bound state formation. We study cases where the lightest SUSY particle is singlino-like neutralino and bino-like neutralino to present allowed regions in the parameter space, which is consistent with the observations on the dark matter and the Higgs mass.

It is now widely recognized that a key to unraveling the nonperturbative chiral dynamics of QCD hidden in the deep-inelastic-scattering observables is the flavor structure of sea-quark distributions in the nucleon. We analyze the flavor structure of the nucleon sea in both the unpolarized and longitudinally polarized parton distribution functions within the flavor SU(3) chiral quark-soliton model, which contains only one adjustable parameter, $\mathrm{\Delta }{m}_s$, the effective mass difference between the strange and nonstrange quarks. Particular attention is paid to a nontrivial correlation between the flavor asymmetry of the unpolarized and longitudinally polarized sea-quark distributions and also to a possible particle-antiparticle asymmetry of the strange-quark distributions in the nucleon. We also investigate the charge-symmetry-violation effects in the parton distribution functions exactly within the same theoretical framework, which is expected to provide us with valuable information on the relative importance of the asymmetry of the strange and antistrange distributions and the charge-symmetry-violation effects in the valence-quark distributions inside the nucleon in the resolution scenario of the so-called NuTeV anomaly in the extraction of the Weinberg angle.

We study the photoproduction of the heavy quarkonium at the future International Linear Collider (ILC) within the nonrelativistic QCD theory. We focus on the production channel via the subprocess $\gamma \gamma \to |[Q{\overline{Q}}^{\prime }{]}_{\mathbf{1}}(n)⟩+Q^{\prime }+\overline{Q}$, where $Q$ and $Q^{\prime }$ stand for the heavy $c$ or $b$ quark, respectively. $|[Q{\overline{Q}}^{\prime }{]}_{\mathbf{1}}(n)⟩$ stands for the color-singlet $S$-wave quarkonium, i.e., ${\eta }_c(|[c\overline{c}{]}_{\mathbf{1}}({{}^{1}S}_0)⟩)$, $J/\psi (|[c\overline{c}{]}_{\mathbf{1}}({{}^{3}S}_1)⟩)$, $B_c(|[c\overline{b}{]}_{\mathbf{1}}({{}^{1}S}_0)⟩)$, $B_c^{*}(|[c\overline{b}{]}_{\mathbf{1}}({{}^{3}S}_1)⟩)$, ${\eta }_b(|[b\overline{b}{]}_{\mathbf{1}}{(}^1{S}_0)⟩)$, and $\mathrm{{\rm Y}}(|[b\overline{b}{]}_{\mathbf{1}}({{}^{3}S}_1)⟩)$, respectively. To improve the calculation efficiency, we adopt the improved helicity amplitude approach to deal with the difficulty of calculating the expressions for the yields when the quark masses cannot be neglected. Total and differential photoproduction cross sections, together with their uncertainties, have been presented. It is noted that a sizable number of $|c\overline{c}⟩$-charmonium and $|c\overline{b}⟩$-quarkonium events can be generated at the ILC. More specifically, we predict $(2.4_{-0.6}^{+0.8})\times 10^6$ ${\eta }_c$, $(4.7_{-1.1}^{+1.6})\times 10^6\mathit{J}/\psi$, $(8.6_{-1.9}^{+2.3})\times 10^3{B}_c$, $(4.6_{-0.9}^{+1.3})\times 10^4{B}_c^{*}$, $(6.6\pm 1.2)\times 10^3{\eta }_b$, and $(1.2\pm 0.2)\times 10^3\mathrm{\Upsilon }$ events to be generated in one operation year at the ILC under the condition of $\sqrt{S}=500\mathrm{GeV}$ and $\mathcal{L}\simeq 10^{36}{\mathrm{cm}}^{-2}{\mathrm{s}}^{-1}$.

The hypothesis that the Majorana mass of ordinary neutrinos dominates the rate of neutrinoless double beta decay is investigated. Predictions from neutrino oscillations are updated. Nuclear uncertainties are discussed, evaluating the impact of the quenching of the axial vector coupling constant in the nuclear medium, recently pointed out by Iachello et al. [Phys. Rev. C 87, 014315 (2013)]. Also, the sensitivity of present and future experiments is assessed, and possible implications of the knowledge on neutrino masses from cosmology are studied. The predictions from neutrino oscillations are compared with the results from cosmology and from neutrinoless double beta decay searches, emphasizing the important role of the measurement errors. The obstacles to an experimental determination of the Majorana phases are pointed out.

It has been recently discovered that removing the axial symmetry in the “multiangle effects” associated with the neutrino-neutrino interactions for supernova (SN) neutrinos, a new multi-azimuthal-angle (MAA) instability will trigger flavor conversions in addition to the ones caused by the bimodal and multi-zenith-angle (MZA) instabilities. We investigate the dependence of the MAA instability on the original SN neutrino fluxes, performing a stability analysis of the linearized neutrino equations of motion. We compare these results with the numerical evolution of the SN neutrino nonlinear equations, looking at a local solution along a specific line of sight, under the assumption that the transverse variations of the global solution are small. We also assume that self-induced conversions are not suppressed by large matter effects. We show that the pattern of the spectral crossings (energies where $F_{{\nu }_e}=F_{{\nu }_x}$ and $F_{{\overline{\nu }}_e}=F_{{\overline{\nu }}_x}$) is crucial in determining the impact of MAA effects on the flavor evolution. For neutrino spectra with a strong excess of ${\nu }_e$ over ${\overline{\nu }}_e$, presenting only a single crossing, MAA instabilities will trigger new flavor conversions in normal mass hierarchy. In our simplified flavor evolution scheme, these will lead to spectral swaps and splits analogous to what is produced in inverted hierarchy by the bimodal instability. Conversely, in the presence of spectra with a moderate flavor hierarchy, having multiple crossing energies, MZA effects will produce a sizable delay in the onset of the flavor conversions, inhibiting the growth of the MAA instability. In this case, the splitting features for the oscillated spectra in both the mass hierarchies are the ones induced by the only bimodal and MZA effects.

Recent studies have suggested a strong connection between the static solutions of the 3D Skyrme model and those corresponding to its low-dimensional analog (baby-Skyrme model) on a two-sphere. We have found almost identical solutions considering an alternative two-dimensional model in which a vector meson field is introduced and coupled to the system, instead of the usual Skyrme term. It has been known that including this vector meson field in three dimensions stabilizes the nonlinear sigma model without the need for a term that is quartic on derivatives of the pion fields (Skyrme term). The resulting model has proven to share many of the features that the usual Skyrme theory has, but with a better mathematical formulation in terms of the well posedness of its evolution equations. In the present work, we have numerically searched for static multisolitonic solutions of this alternative stabilization, for the case in which the base space is a two-sphere. Moreover, we analyze the stability of these solutions under small perturbations in a fully dynamical setting. We have also considered the inclusion of a particular potential term in the Lagrangian and explored the low- and high-density phases of solitons for different ranges of the parameter space, achieving solitons localized enough, which allows for a comparison with planar (two-dimensional) studies.

We present a derivation of the Ponzano-Regge model from a one-dimensional spinor action. The construction starts from the first-order Palatini formalism in three dimensions. We introduce a simplicial decomposition of the three-dimensional manifold and study the discretized action in the spinorial representation of loop gravity. A one-dimensional refinement limit along the edges of the discretization brings us back to a continuum formulation. The three-dimensional action turns into a line integral over the one-skeleton of the simplicial manifold. All fields are continuous but have support only along the one-dimensional edges. We define the path integral and remove the redundant integrals over the local gauge orbits through the usual Faddeev-Popov procedure. The resulting state sum model reproduces the Ponzano-Regge amplitudes.

Inflationary and hence quantum origin of primordial perturbations is on a firmer ground than ever post the BICEP2 observations of primordial gravitational waves. One crucial ingredient of the success of this paradigm rests on explaining the observed classicality of cosmological inhomogeneities despite their quantum origin. Although decoherence provides a partial understanding of this issue, the question of single outcome motivates the analysis of quantum collapse models in cosmological context which generically modify the dynamics of primordial perturbations and hence can leave their imprints on observables. We revisit one such recently proposed working model of classicalization by spontaneous collapse [S. Das et al., Phys. Rev. D 88, 085020 (2013)] in the light of BICEP2 observations to look for possible modifications to tensor power spectra and their implications. We show that it can potentially change the consistency relation of single-field models, and a precise measurement of $n_T$ and its running could serve as a test of such dynamics in the early universe.

Massive white dwarfs endowed with ultrastrong magnetic fields have been recently proposed as the progenitors of overluminous type Ia supernovae. In our previous work, we have shown that such stars would become unstable against electron captures if the magnetic field is too strong. Using a more realistic model of dense matter taking into account electron-ion interactions and allowing for ionic mixtures, we estimate the strength of the magnetic field for the onset of electron captures in the core of the most massive white dwarfs. We have considered various compositions and lattice structures. The possibility of pycnonuclear fusion reactions and their impact on the stellar magnetic fields are also discussed. The strongest magnetic fields we find are considerably lower than those previously assumed in putative super-Chandrasekhar white dwarfs.

We compute the one-loop thermomagnetic corrections to the self-coupling in a model where charged scalars interact also with a constant magnetic field. The calculation is motivated by the possibility that the critical temperature for the chiral phase transition in a magnetic background can be influenced by the dependence of the coupling constant on the magnetic field. We show that the coupling decreases as a function of the field strength. This functional dependence introduces in turn a correction to the boson masses which causes the critical temperature to decrease as a function of the field strength.

We study the production of doubly charged excited leptons at the LHC. These exotic states are predicted in extended weak-isospin composite models. A recent analysis of such exotic states was based on a pure gauge model with magnetic type interactions. We include here the mechanism of contact interactions and show that this turns out to dominate the single production of the doubly charged leptons. We perform a feasibility analysis of the observation of the tri-lepton signature associated with the production of the exotic doubly charged lepton simulating the response of a generic detector. We give exclusion plots in the parameter space, within statistical uncertainties, at different luminosities.