arXiv subjects

Durmus A. Demir

Publications and source records attributed to Durmus A. Demir.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2014

Riemann-Eddington theory: Incorporating matter, degravitating the cosmological constant

Here we show that, Eddington's pure affine gravity, when extended with Riemann curvature, leads to gravitational field equations that incorporate matter. This Riemanned Eddington gravity outfits a setup in which matter gravitates normally with Newton's constant but vacuum gravitates differently with an independent gravitational constant. This novel setup enables degravitation of the vacuum to observed level not by any fine-tuning but by a large hierarchy between its gravitational constant and its energy density. Remarkably, degravitation of the cosmological constant is local, causal and natural yet only empirical because the requisite degravitation condition is not predicted by the theory.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2014

Effects of Curvature-Higgs Coupling on Electroweak Fine-Tuning

It is shown that, nonminimal coupling between the Standard Model (SM) Higgs field and spacetime curvature, present already at the renormalizable level, can be fine-tuned to stabilize the electroweak scale against power-law ultraviolet divergences. The nonminimal coupling acts as an extrinsic stabilizer with no effect on the loop structure of the SM, if gravity is classical. This novel fine-tuning scheme, which could also be interpreted within Sakharov's induced gravity approach, works neatly in extensions of the SM involving additional Higgs fields or singlet scalars.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2014

Dark Matter from Conformal Sectors

We show that a conformal-invariant dark sector, interacting conformally with the Standard Model (SM) fields through the Higgs portal, provides a viable framework where cold dark matter (CDM) and invisible Higgs decays can be addressed concurrently. Conformal symmetry naturally subsumes the Z_2 symmetry needed for stability of the CDM. It also guarantees that the weaker the couplings of the dark sector fields to the SM Higgs field, the smaller the masses they acquire through elektroweak breaking. The model comfortably satisfies the bounds from Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and Planck Space Telescope (Planck 2013).

hep-ph↗

arXiv2013

Scalars, Vectors and Tensors from Metric-Affine Gravity

The metric-affine gravity provides a useful framework for analyzing gravitational dynamics since it treats metric tensor and affine connection as fundamentally independent variables. In this work, we show that, a metric-affine gravity theory composed of the invariants formed from non-metricity, torsion and curvature tensors can be decomposed into a theory of scalar, vector and tensor fields. These fields are natural candidates for the ones needed by various cosmological and other phenomena. Indeed, we show that the model accommodates TeVeS gravity (relativistic modified gravity theory), vector inflation, and aether-like models. Detailed analyses of these and other phenomena can lead to a standard metric-affine gravity model encoding scalars, vectors and tensors.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2012

Conformal Transformations in Metric-Affine Gravity and Ghosts

Conformal transformations play a widespread role in gravity theories in regard to their cosmological and other implications. In the pure metric theory of gravity, conformal transformations change the frame to a new one wherein one obtains a conformal-invariant scalar-tensor theory such that the scalar field, deriving from the conformal factor, is a ghost. In this work, conformal transformations and ghosts will be analyzed in the framework of the metric-affine theory of gravity. Within this framework, metric and connection are independent variables, and hence, transform independently under conformal transformations. It will be shown that, if affine connection is invariant under conformal transformations then the scalar field under concern is a non-ghost, non-dynamical field. It is an auxiliary field at the classical level, and might develop a kinetic term at the quantum level. Alternatively, if connection transforms additively with a structure similar to yet more general than that of the Levi-Civita connection, the resulting action describes the gravitational dynamics correctly, and more importantly, the scalar field becomes a dynamical non-ghost field. The equations of motion, for generic geometrical and matter-sector variables, do not reduce connection to the Levi-Civita connection, and hence, independence of connection from metric is maintained. Therefore, metric-affine gravity provides an arena in which ghosts arising from conformal factor are avoided thanks to the independence of connection from the metric.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2011

Gravity wraps Higgs boson

It is shown that, under a conformal transformation with reference to the Higgs field, the Higgs boson can be completely decoupled from electroweak interactions with no apparent change in known properties of leptons, quarks and vector bosons. Higgs boson becomes part of a scalar-tensor gravity which can be relevant for Dark Energy. It interacts with matter sector via higher-dimensional terms (e.g. neutrino Majorana mass), and via the fields (of new physics) whose masses are not generated by the Higgs mechanism. Dark Matter and two-Higgs-doublet model are the simplest examples.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2011

Stress-Energy Connection and Cosmological Constant Problem

We study gravitational properties of vacuum energy by erecting a geometry on the stress-energy tensor of vacuum, matter and radiation. Postulating that the gravitational effects of matter and radiation can be formulated by an appropriate modification of the spacetime connection, we obtain varied geometro-dynamical equations which properly comprise the usual gravitational field equations with, however, Planck-suppressed, non-local, higher-dimensional additional terms. The prime novelty brought about by the formalism is that, the vacuum energy does act not as the cosmological constant but as the source of the gravitational constant. The formalism thus deafens the cosmological constant problem by channeling vacuum energy to gravitational constant. Nevertheless, quantum gravitational effects, if any, restore the problem via the graviton and graviton-matter loops, and the mechanism proposed here falls short of taming such contributions to cosmological constant.

hep-th↗

arXiv2011

Higgs-Palatini Inflation and Unitarity

In the Higgs inflation scenario the Higgs field is strongly coupled to the Ricci scalar in order to drive primordial inflation. However, in its original form in pure metric formulation of gravity, the ultraviolet (UV) cutoff of the Higgs interactions and the Hubble rate are of the same magnitude, and this makes the whole inflationary evolution dependent of the unknown UV completion of the Higgs sector. This problem, the unitarity violation, plagues the Higgs inflation scenario. In this letter we show that, in the Palatini formulation of gravitation, Higgs inflation does not suffer from unitarity violation since the UV cutoff lies parametrically much higher than the Hubble rate so that unknown UV physics does not disrupt the inflationary dynamics. Higgs-Palatini inflation, as we call it, is, therefore, UV-safe, minimal and endowed with predictive power.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2010

Tevatron Higgs Mass Bounds: Projecting U(1)' Models to LHC Domain

We study Higgs boson masses in supersymmetric models with an extra U(1) symmetry to be called U(1)$^{\prime}$. Such extra gauge symmetries are urged by the $μ$ problem of the MSSM, and they also arise frequently in low-energy supersymmetric models stemming from GUTs and strings. We analyze mass of the lightest Higgs boson and various other particle masses and couplings by taking into account the LEP bounds as well as the recent bounds from Tevatron experiments. We find that the $μ$-problem motivated generic low-energy U(1)$^{\prime}$ model yields Higgs masses as large as $\sim 200\ {\rm GeV}$ and violate the Tevatron bounds for certain ranges of parameters. We analyze correlations among various model parameters, and determine excluded regions by both scanning the parameter space and by examining certain likely parameter values. We also make educated projections for LHC measurements in light of the Tevatron restrictions on the parameter space. We further analyze certain benchmark models stemming from E(6) breaking, and find that they elevate Higgs boson mass into Tevatron's forbidden band when U(1)$^{\prime}$ gauge coupling takes larger values than the one corresponding to one-step GUT breaking.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2010

Sneutrino Dark Matter: Symmetry Protection and Cosmic Ray Anomalies

We present an R-parity conserving model of sneutrino dark matter within a Higgs-philic U(1)' extension of the minimal supersymmetric standard model. In this theory, the mu parameter and light Dirac neutrino masses are generated naturally upon the breaking of the U(1)' gauge symmetry. The leptonic and hadronic decays of sneutrinos in this model, taken to be the lightest and next-to-lightest superpartners, allow for a natural fit to the recent results reported by the PAMELA experiment.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2009

Vacuum Energy as the Origin of the Gravitational Constant

We develop a geometro-dynamical approach to the cosmological constant problem (CCP) by invoking a geometry induced by the energy-momentum tensor of vacuum, matter and radiation. The construction, which utilizes the dual role of the metric tensor that it structures both the spacetime manifold and energy-momentum tensor of the vacuum, gives rise to a framework in which the vacuum energy induced by matter and radiation, instead of gravitating, facilitates the generation of the gravitational constant. The non-vacuum sources comprising matter and radiation gravitate normally. At the level of classical gravitation, the mechanism deadens the CCP yet quantum gravitational effects, if can be strong in de Sitter space, can keep it existent.

hep-th↗

arXiv2009

General Tensor Lagrangians from Gravitational Higgs Mechanism

The gravitational Higgs mechanism proposed by 't Hooft in arXiv:0708.3184 involves the spacetime metric g_{mu nu} as well as the induced metric \bar{g}_{mu nu} proportional to η_{a b} \partial_{mu} ϕ^a \partial_{nu} ϕ^b where ϕ^{a} (a=0,...,3), as we call it, break all four diffeomorphisms spontaneously via the vacuum expectation values < ϕ^a > proportional to x^a. In this framework, we construct and analyze the most general action density in terms of various invariants involving the curvature tensors, connexion coefficients, and the contractions and the determinants of the two metric fields. We show that this action admits a consistent expansion about the flat background such that the resulting Lagrangian possesses several novel features not found in the linearized Einstein-Hilbert Lagrangian with Fierz-Pauli mass term (LELHL-FP): (i) its kinetic part generalizes that of LELHL-FP by weighing the corresponding structures with certain coefficients generated by invariants, (ii) the entire Lagrangian is ghost-- and tachyon--free for mass terms not necessarily in the Fierz-Pauli form, and, (iii) a consistent mass term is generated with no apparent need to higher derivative couplings.

hep-th↗

arXiv2009

Search for Gauge Extensions of the MSSM at the LHC

The extensions of the minimal supersymmetric model (MSSM), driving mainly from the need to solve the μproblem, involve novel matter species and gauge groups. These extended MSSM models can be searched for at the LHC via the effects of the gauge and Higgs bosons or their fermionic partners. Traditionally, the focus has been on the study of the extra forces induced by the new gauge and Higgs bosons present in such models. An alternative way of studying such effects is through the superpartners of matter species and the gauge forces. We thus consider a $U(1)^\prime$ gauge extension of the MSSM, and perform an extensive study of the signatures of the model through the production and decays of the scalar quarks and gluino, which are expected to be produced copiously at the LHC. After a detailed study of the distinctive features of such models with regard to the signatures at the LHC, we carry out a detailed Monte Carlo analysis of the signals from the process pp-> n leptons + m jets + EMT, and compare the resulting distributions with those predicted by the MSSM. Our results show that the searches for the extra gauge interactions in the supersymmetric framework can proceed not only through the forces mediated by the gauge and Higgs bosons but also through the superpartner forces mediated by the gauge and Higgs fermions. Analysis of the events induced by the squark/gluino decays presented here is complementary to the direct Z' searches at the LHC.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2008

Signatures for doubly-charged Higgsinos at colliders

Several supersymmetric models with extended gauge structures predict light doubly-charged Higgsinos. Their distinctive signature at the large hadron collider is highlighted by studying their production and decay characteristics.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2008

Inflation with Non-Minimal Coupling: Metric vs. Palatini Formulations

We analyze non-minimally coupled scalar field theories in metric (second-order) and Palatini (first-order) formalisms in a comparative fashion. After contrasting them in a general setup, we specialize to inflation and find that the two formalisms differ in their predictions for various cosmological parameters. The main reason is that dependencies on the non-minimal coupling parameter are different in the two formalisms. For successful inflation, the Palatini approach prefers a much larger value for the non-minimal coupling parameter than the Metric approach. Unlike the Metric formalism, in Palatini, the inflaton stays well below the Planck scale whereby providing a natural inflationary epoch.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2008

Signals of Doubly-Charged Higgsinos at the CERN Large Hadron Collider

Several supersymmetric models with extended gauge structures, motivated by either grand unification or by neutrino mass generation, predict light doubly-charged Higgsinos. In this work we study productions and decays of doubly-charged Higgsinos present in left-right supersymmetric models, and show that they invariably lead to novel collider signals not found in the minimal supersymmetric model (MSSM) or in any of its extensions motivated by the μproblem or even in extra dimensional theories. We investigate their distinctive signatures at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in both pair-- and single--production modes, and show that they are powerful tools in determining the underlying model via the measurements at the LHC experiments.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2007

Dirac Neutrino Masses from Generalized Supersymmetry Breaking

We demonstrate that Dirac neutrino masses in the experimentally preferred range are generated within supersymmetric gauge extensions of the Standard Model with a generalized supersymmetry breaking sector. If the usual superpotential Yukawa couplings are forbidden by the additional gauge symmetry (such as a U(1)'), effective Dirac mass terms involving the "wrong Higgs" field can arise either at tree level due to hard supersymmetry breaking fermion Yukawa couplings, or at one-loop due to nonanalytic or "nonholomorphic" soft supersymmetry breaking trilinear scalar couplings. As both of these operators are naturally suppressed in generic models of supersymmetry breaking, the resulting neutrino masses are naturally in the sub-eV range. The neutrino magnetic and electric dipole moments resulting from the radiative mechanism also vanish at one-loop order.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2007

Squark Pair Production in the MSSM with Explicit CP Violation

We analyze effects of the CP-odd soft phases in the MSSM on the pair-productions of colored superpartners in pp collisions at the LHC energies. We find that, among all pair-production processes, those of the scalar quarks in the first and second generations are particularly sensitive to the CP-odd phases, more precisely, to the phases of the gluinos and neutralinos. We compute pair-production cross sections, classify various production modes according to their dependencies on the gluino and neutralino phases, perform a detailed numerical analysis to determine individual as well as total cross sections, and give a detailed discussion of EDM bounds. We find that pair-productions of first and second generation squarks serve as a viable probe of the CP violation sources in the gaugino sector of the theory even if experiments cannot determine chirality, flavor and electric charge of the squarks produced.

hep-ph↗