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B. H. J. McKellar

Publications and source records attributed to B. H. J. McKellar.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
arXiv2016

Persistent superfluid flow arising from the He-McKellar-Wilkens effect in molecular dipolar condensates

We show that the He-McKellar-Wilkens effect can induce a persistent flow in a Bose-Einstein condensate of polar molecules confined in a toroidal trap, with the dipolar interaction mediated via an electric dipole moment. For Bose-Einstein condensates of atoms with a magnetic dipole moment, we show that although it is theoretically possible to induce persistent flow via the Aharonov-Casher effect, the strength of electric field required is prohibitive. We also outline an experimental geometry tailored specifically for observing the He-McKellar-Wilkens effect in toroidally-trapped condensates.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗
arXiv2009

Epoch Dependent Dark Energy

We present a model in which the equation of state parameter w approaches -1 near a particular value of z, and has significant negative values in a restricted range of z. For example, one can have w ~ -1 near z = 1, and w > -0.2 from z = 0 to z = 0.3, and for z > 9. The ingredients of the model are neutral fermions (which may be neutrinos, neutralinos, etc) which are very weakly coupled to a light scalar field. This model emphasises the importance of the proposed studies of the properties of dark energy into the region z > 1.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2009

A Possible Connection Between Massive Fermions and Dark Energy

In a dense cloud of massive fermions interacting by exchange of a light scalar field, the effective mass of the fermion can become negligibly small. As the cloud expands, the effective mass and the total energy density eventually increase with decreasing density. In this regime, the pressure-density relation can approximate that required for dark energy. We apply this phenomenon to the expansion of the Universe with a very light scalar field and infer relations between the parameters available and cosmological observations. Majorana neutrinos at a mass that may have been recently determined, and fermions such as the Lightest Supersymmetric Particle (LSP) may both be consistent with current observations of dark energy.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2007

The Type-II Singular See-Saw Mechanism

The singular see-saw mechanism is a variation of the see-saw mechanism whereby the right-chiral neutrino Majorana mass matrix is singular. Previous works employing the singular see-saw mechanism have assumed a vanishing left-chiral Majorana mass matrix. We study the neutrino spectrum obtained under a singular see-saw mechanism when the left-chiral neutrinos possess a non-zero Majorana mass matrix. We refer to this as the type-II singular see-saw mechanism. The resulting neutrino spectrum is found to be sensitive to the hierarchy of the Dirac and Majorana mass scales used and we explore the phenomenological consequences of the candidate hierarchies. The compatibility of the resulting spectra with the body of neutrino oscillation data is discussed. It is found that neutrino mass matrices with this structure result in 3+1 or 2+2 neutrino spectra, making it unlikely that this mass matrix structure is realized in nature. If the left-chiral Majorana mass matrix is also singular we show that a type-II singular see-saw mechanism can realize a spectrum of one active-sterile pseudo-Dirac neutrino in conjunction with two active Majorana neutrinos effectively decoupled from the sterile sector. This realizes a scheme discussed in the literature in relation to astrophysical neutrino fluxes.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2007

Multichannel oscillations and relations between LSND, KARMEN and MiniBooNE, with and without CP violation

We show by examples that multichannel mixing can affect both the parameters extracted from neutrino oscillation experiments, and that more general conclusions derived by fitting the experimental data under the assumption that only two channels are involved in the mixing. Implications for MiniBooNE are noted and an example based on maximal CP violation displays profound implications for the two data sets (muon-neutrino and muon-antineutrino) of that experiment.

nucl-th↗
arXiv2007

(3+2) Neutrino Scheme From A Singular Double See-Saw Mechanism

We obtain a 3+2 neutrino spectrum within a left-right symmetric framework by invoking a singular double see-saw mechanism. Higgs doublets are employed to break $SU_{R}(2)$ and three additional fermions, singlets under the left-right symmetric gauge group, are included. The introduction of a singularity into the singlet fermion Majorana mass matrix results in a light neutrino sector of three neutrinos containing predominantly $ν_{αL}$, $α=e,μ,τ$, separated from two neutrinos containing a small $ν_{αL}$ component. The resulting active-sterile mixing in the $5\times 5$ mixing matrix is specified once the mass eigenvalues and the $3\times3$ submatrix corresponding to the MNS mixing matrix are known.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2007

Quark-Lepton Symmetry In Five Dimensions

We construct a complete five dimensional Quark-Lepton symmetric model, with all fields propagating in the bulk. The extra dimension forms an $S^1/Z_2\times Z_2'$ orbifold with the zero mode fermions corresponding to standard model quarks localised at one fixed point. Zero modes corresponding to left(right)-chiral leptons are localised at (near) the other fixed point. This localisation pattern is motivated by the symmetries of the model. Shifting the right-handed neutrinos and charged leptons slightly from the fixed point provides a new mechanism for understanding the absence of relations of the type $m_e=m_u$ or $m_e=m_d$ in Quark-Lepton symmetric models. Flavour changing neutral currents resulting from Kaluza Klein gluon exchange, which typically arise in the quark sector of split fermion models, are suppressed due to the localisation of quarks at one point. The separation of quarks and leptons in the compact extra dimension also acts to suppress the proton decay rate. This permits the extra dimension to be much larger than that obtained in a previous construct, with the bound $1/R\gtrsim30$ TeV obtained.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2007

Suppressing Proton Decay By Separating Quarks And Leptons

Arkani-Hamed and Schmaltz (AS) have shown that proton stability need not originate from symmetries in a high energy theory. Instead the proton decay rate is suppressed if quarks and leptons are spatially separated in a compact extra dimension. This separation may be achieved by coupling five dimensional fermions to a bulk scalar field with a non-trivial vacuum profile and requires relationships between the associated quark and lepton Yukawa couplings. We hypothesise that these relationships are the manifestation of an underlying symmetry. We further show that the AS proposal may suggest that proton stability \emph{is} the result of an underlying symmetry, though not necessarily the traditional baryon number symmetry.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2006

Developments In 5D Quark-Lepton Symmetric Models

We outline some recent developments in higher dimensional Quark-Lepton (QL) symmetric models. The QL symmetric model in five dimensions is discussed, with particular emphasis on the use of split fermions. An interesting fermionic geography which utilises the QL symmetry to suppress the proton decay rate and to motivate the flavor differences in the quark and leptonic sectors is considered. The 5D quartification model is outlined and contrasted with 4D constructs.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2006

Orbifold Reduction Of The Quark-Lepton Symmetric Model

We investigate the quark-lepton symmetric gauge group in five dimensions, with the gauge symmetry broken by a combination of orbifold compactification of the extra dimension and the Higgs mechanism. The gauge sector of the model is investigated and contrasted with the four dimensional case. We obtain lower bounds on the mass of the exotic gauge bosons, the inverse compactification scale and the exotic leptons. Light neutrinos are obtained without requiring any scale larger than a TeV. However an ultra-violet cut-off of order $10^{11}$ GeV is required to suppress proton decay inducing non-renormalizable operators.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2006

Analysis of the $B \to K^*_{2} (\to K π) l^+ l^-$ decay

In this paper we study the angular distribution of the rare B decay $B \to K^*_2 (\to K π) l^+ l^-$, which is expected to be observed soon. We use the standard effective Hamiltonian approach, and use the form factors that have already been estimated for the corresponding radiative decay $B \to K^*_2 γ$. The additional form factors that come into play for the dileptonic channel are estimated using the large energy effective theory (LEET), which enables one to relate the additional form factors to the form factors for the radiative mode. Our results provide, just like in the case of the $K^*(892)$ resonance, an opportunity for a straightforward comparison of the basic theory with experimental results which may be expected in the near future for this channel.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2006

Systematic Study Of Leptonic Mixing In A Class Of SU_H(2) Models

We perform a systematic analysis of the PMNS matrices which arise when one assigns the three generations of leptons to the $2\oplus 1$ representation of a horizontal $SU_H(2)$ symmetry. This idea has been previously explored by Kuchimanchi and Mohapatra. However, we assume $(i)$ the neutrino mass matrix results from leptonic couplings to $SU_L(2)$ triplet scalar fields and $(ii)$ hierarchies exist amongst lepton mass matrix elements which result from couplings to scalar fields with different $SU_H(2)$ charges. Of the sixteen candidate PMNS matrices which result it is found that only one is both predictive and possesses a leading order structure compatible with experimental data. The relevant neutrino mass matrix displays the symmetry $L_e-L_μ-L_τ$ to leading order and we explore the perturbations required to produce a realistic lepton spectrum. The effective mass in neutrinoless double beta decay is required to lie in the range $ /(10^{-2}\mathrm{eV})\in[0.7,2.5]$, which is just below current experimental bounds. $U_{e3}$ is non-zero but not uniquely determined.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2005

On the continuous spectral component of the Floquet operator for a periodically kicked quantum system

By a straightforward generalisation, we extend the work of Combescure from rank-1 to rank-N perturbations. The requirement for the Floquet operator to be pure point is established and compared to that in Combescure. The result matches that in McCaw. The method here is an alternative to that work. We show that if the condition for the Floquet operator to be pure point is relaxed, then in the case of the delta-kicked Harmonic oscillator, a singularly continuous component of the Floquet operator spectrum exists. We also provide an in depth discussion of the conjecture presented in Combescure of the case where the unperturbed Hamiltonian is more general. We link the physics conjecture directly to a number-theoretic conjecture of Vinogradov and show that a solution of Vinogradov's conjecture solves the physics conjecture. The result is extended to the rank-N case. The relationship between our work and the work of Bourget on the physics conjecture is discussed.

math-ph↗
arXiv2005

Possible new interactions of neutrino and the KATRIN experiment

We analyse the possible role of new interactions of neutrino in the forthcoming tritium beta decay experiment KATRIN aimed at detecting the neutrino mass with the sensitivity of 0.3 - 0.2 eV. It is shown that under certain circumstances the standard procedure of data analysis would have to be modified by the introduction of an extra parameter describing the strength of the new interactions. Our model simulations show that the modified procedure may improve the quality of the fit compared with the standard case. Ignoring the possibility of new interactions may lead to a systematic error in the neutrino mass determination.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2005

Pure point spectrum for the time evolution of a periodically rank-N kicked Hamiltonian

We find the conditions under which the spectrum of the unitary time evolution operator for a periodically rank-N kicked system remains pure point. This stability result allows one to analyse the onset of, or lack of chaos in this class of quantum mechanical systems, extending the results for rank-1 systems produced by Combescure and others. This work includes a number of unitary theorems equivalent to those well known and used in the self-adjoint theory.

math-ph↗
arXiv2005

$K_L \to π^0 ν\barν$ in Little Higgs model

Little Higgs models provides us a new solution of the {\it hierarchy problem} of the SM. The problem is associated with the large difference in scales of SM and plank scale. One of the main features of these models is the existence of a vector like top quark. The CP violating $K_L \to π^0 ν\barν$ process n the SM model is dominated by top quark penguin & box graphs. We examine this process in the Little Higgs model where the top quark sector has significant differences from the Standard Model.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2004

Large Mixing from Small: Pseudo-Dirac Neutrinos and the Singular Seesaw

If the sterile neutrino mass matrix in an otherwise conventional seesaw model has a rank less than the number of flavors, it is possible to produce pseudo-Dirac neutrinos. In a two-flavor, sterile rank 1 case, we demonstrate analytic conditions for large active mixing induced by the existence of (and coupling to) the sterile neutrino components. For the three-flavor, rank 1 case, ``3+2'' scenarios with large mixing also devolve naturally as we show by numerical examples. We observe that, in this approach, small mass differences can develop naturally without any requirement that masses themselves are small. Additionally, we show that significant three channel mixing and limited experimental resolution can combine to produce extracted two channel mixing parameters at variance with the actual values.

hep-ph↗