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C. P. Burgess

Publications and source records attributed to C. P. Burgess.

At least 235 records · Page 13Linked to original sources

A Renormalization-Group Approach to Finite-Temperature Mass Corrections

We illustrate how the reorganization of perturbation theory at finite temperature can be economically cast in terms of the Wilson-Polchinski renormalization methods. We take as an example the old saw of the induced thermal mass of a hot scalar field with a quartic coupling, which we compute to second order in the coupling constant. We show that the form of the result can be largely determined by renormalization-group arguments without the explicit evaluation of Feynman graphs.

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Heavy Sterile Neutrinos and Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay

We investigate the possibility of producing neutrinoless double beta decay without having an electron neutrino with a mass in the vicinity of 1 eV. We do so by having a much lighter electron neutrino mix with a much heavier (m > 1 GeV) sterile neutrino. We study the constraints on the masses and mixings of such heavy sterile neutrinos from existing laboratory, astrophysical and cosmological information, and discuss the properties it would require in order to produce a detectable signal in current searches for neutrinoless double beta decay.

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Bosonization in Higher Dimensions

Using the recently discovered connection between bosonization and duality transformations (hep-th/9401105 and hep-th/9403173), we give an explicit path-integral representation for the bosonization of a massive fermion coupled to a U(1) gauge potential (such as electromagnetism) in d space (D=d+1 spacetime) dimensions. The bosonic theory is described by a rank d-1 antisymmetric Kalb-Ramond-type gauge potential. We construct the bosonized lagrangian explicitly in the limit of large fermion mass. We find that the resulting action is local for d=2 (and given by a Chern-Simons action), but nonlocal for d larger than 3. By coupling to a statistical Chern-Simons field for d=2, we obtain a bosonized formulation of anyons. The bosonic theory may be further dualized to a theory involving purely scalars, for any d, and we show this to be governed by a higher-derivative lagrangian for which the scalar decouples from the U(1) gauge potential.

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Negative s and Light New Physics

Motivated by the difference between SLD's recent measurement of ALR and the corresponding LEP results, we explore which kinds of new particles can (1) contribute dominantly to new physics through oblique corrections, (2) produce negative values for S and T, and (3) not be in conflict with any other experiments, on or off the Z resonance. We are typically led to models which involve new particles which are not much heavier than MZ/2, and so which may also have implications for other experiments in the near future. For such light particles, we show how the oblique-parameter analysis of purely Z-pole data requires the interpretation of the data in terms of modified parameters, S' and T', whose difference from S and T improves the available parameter space of the models.

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Anomalous Vector-Boson Couplings in Majorana Neutrino Models

We examine the contributions of Majorana neutrinos to CP-violating WWZ and ZZZ self-couplings, using a model in which sterile neutrinos couple to the W and Z by mixing with a fourth-generation heavy lepton. We find that the induced form factors can be as large as 0.5%. The model satisfies all phenomenological bounds in a natural way, including those due to the strong limits on the neutron and electron electric dipole moments. Anomalous CP-odd couplings of this size are unlikely to be observed at LEP200, but might be detectable at NLC.

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Naturally Degenerate Neutrinos

The solar neutrino problem, atmospheric neutrino problem, and the existence of hot dark matter can all be economically accounted for using only the three known neutrinos if these neutrinos all have nearly degenerate masses of a few eV. We show how to generate this pattern of neutrino masses in a natural way within a `see-saw' framework.

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Nonabelian Bosonization as Duality

Applying the techniques of nonabelian duality to a system of Majorana fermions in 1+1 dimensions we obtain the level-one Wess-Zumino-Witten model as the dual theory. This makes nonabelian bosonization a particular case of a nonabelian duality transformation, generalizing our previous result (hep-th/9401105) for the abelian case.

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What New Physics Can Double Beta Decay Experiments Hope to See?

Double-beta decay experiments have been traditionally interpreted in terms of the Gelmini-Roncadelli triplet majoron model, which has been ruled out by LEP. We briefly survey here the kinds of physics to which these experiments might be sensitive in the light of the LEP constraints. We identify six broad categories of models, including some new categories which have not been previously considered.

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Bosonization as Duality

We show that bosonization in two dimensions can be derived as a special case of the duality transformations that have recently been used to good effect in string theory. This allows the construction of the bosonic counterpart of any fermionic theory simply by `following your nose' using the standard duality transformation rules. We work through the bosonization of the Dirac fermion, the massive and massless Thirring models, and a fermion on a cylindrical spacetime as illustrative examples.

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Model-Independent Global Constraints on New Physics

Using effective-lagrangian techniques we perform a systematic survey of the lowest-dimension effective interactions through which heavy physics might manifest itself in present experiments. We do not restrict ourselves to special classes of effective interactions (such as `oblique' corrections). We compute the effects of these operators on all currently well-measured electroweak observables, both at low energies and at the $Z$ resonance, and perform a global fit to their coefficients. Despite the fact that a great many operators arise in our survey, we find that most are quite strongly bounded by the current data. We use our survey to systematically identify those effective interactions which are {\it not} well-bounded by the data -- these could very well include large new-physics contributions. Our results may also be used to efficiently confront specific models for new physics with the data, as we illustrate with an example.

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How Big Can Anomalous W Couplings Be?

Conventional wisdom has it that anomalous gauge-boson self-couplings can be at most a percent or so in size. We test this wisdom by computing these couplings at one loop in a generic renormalizable model of new physics. (For technical reasons we consider the CP-violating couplings here, but our results apply more generally.) By surveying the parameter space we find that the largest couplings (several percent) are obtained when the new particles are at the weak scale. For heavy new physics we compare our findings with expectations based on an effective-lagrangian analysis. We find general patterns of induced couplings which robustly reflect the nature of the underlying physics. We build representative models for which the new physics could be first detected in the anomalous gauge couplings.

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A Global Fit to Extended Oblique Parameters

The STU formalism of Peskin and Takeuchi is an elegant method for encoding the measurable effects of new physics which couples to light fermions dominantly through its effects on electroweak boson propagation. However, this formalism cannot handle the case where the scale of new physics is not much larger than the weak scale. In this case three new parameters (V, W and X) are required. We perform a global fit to precision electroweak data for these six parameters. Our results differ from what is found for just STU. In particular we find that the preference for S < 0 is not maintained.

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A New Class of Majoron-Emitting Double-Beta Decays

Motivated by the excess events that have recently been found near the endpoints of the double beta decay spectra of several elements, we re-examine models in which double beta decay can proceed through the neutrinoless emission of massless Nambu-Goldstone bosons (majorons). Noting that models proposed to date for this process must fine-tune either a scalar mass or a VEV to be less than 10 keV, we introduce a new kind of majoron which avoids this difficulty by carrying lepton number $L=-2$. We analyze in detail the requirements that models of both the conventional and our new type must satisfy if they are to account for the observed excess events. We find: (1) the electron sum-energy spectrum can be used to distinguish the two classes of models from one another; (2) the decay rate for the new models depends on different nuclear matrix elements than for ordinary majorons; and (3) all models require a (pseudo) Dirac neutrino, having a mass of a several hundred MeV, which mixes with $ν_e$.

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Bounding Anomalous Gauge-Boson Couplings

In this version we have corrected some minor errors in the tables, corrected typos, and added a reference. We have also updated our comparison with earlier workers. Figures are now included as uuencoded compressed tar files.

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Uses and Abuses of Effective Lagrangians

Motivated by past and recent analyses we critically re-examine the use of effective lagrangians in the literature to constrain new physics and to determine the `physics reach' of future experiments. We demonstrate that many calculations, such as those involving anomalous trilinear gauge-boson couplings, either considerably overestimate loop-induced effects, or give ambiguous answers. The source of these problems is the use of cutoffs to evaluate the size of such operators in loop diagrams. In contrast to other critics of these loop estimates, we prove that the inclusion of nonlinearly-realized gauge invariance into the low-energy lagrangian is irrelevant to this conclusion. We use an explicit example using known multi-Higgs physics above the weak scale to underline these points. We show how to draw conclusions regarding the nature of the unknown high-energy physics without making reference to low-energy cutoffs.

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Majorons Without Majorana Masses and Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay

We explain excess events near the endpoints of the double beta decay spectra of several elements, using the neutrinoless emission of massless Goldstone bosons. Models with scalars carrying lepton number $-2$ are proposed for this purpose so that ordinary neutrinoless double beta decay is forbidden, and we can raise the scale of global symmetry breaking above the 10 keV scale needed for observable emission of conventional Majorons in double beta decay. The electron spectrum has a different shape, and the rate depends on different nuclear matrix elements, than for the emission of ordinary Majorons.

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