arXiv subjects

P. Binetruy

Publications and source records attributed to P. Binetruy.

33 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2000

Dynamical Instability of Brane Solutions with a Self-Tuning Cosmological Constant

A five-dimensional solution to Einstein's equations coupled to a scalar field has been proposed as a partial solution to the cosmological constant problem: the effect of arbitrary vacuum energy (tension) of a 3-brane is cancelled; however, the scalar field becomes singular at some finite proper distance in the extra dimension. We show that in the original model with a vanishing bulk potential for the scalar, the solution is a saddle point which is unstable to expansion or contraction of the brane world. We construct exact time-dependent solutions which generalize the static solution, and demonstrate that they do not conserve energy on the brane; thus they do not have an effective 4-D field theoretic description. When a bulk scalar field potential is added, the boundary conditions on the brane cannot be trivially satisfied, raising hope that the self-tuning mechanism may still give some insight into the cosmological constant problem in this case.

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arXiv2000

Supergravity couplings: a geometric formulation

This report provides a pedagogical introduction to the description of the general Poincare supergravity/matter/Yang-Mills couplings using methods of Kahler superspace geometry. At a more advanced level this approach is generalized to include tensor field and Chern-Simons couplings in supersymmetry and supergravity, relevant in the context of weakly and strongly coupled string theories.

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arXiv1998

Report of the GDR working group on the R-parity violation

This report summarizes the work of the "R-parity violation group" of the French Research Network (GDR) in Supersymmetry, concerning the physics of supersymmetric models without conservation of R-parity at HERA, LEP, Tevatron and LHC and limits on R-parity violating couplings from various processes. The report includes a discussion of the recent searches at the HERA experiment, prospects for new experiments, a review of the existing limits, and also theoretically motivated alternatives to R-parity and a brief discussion on the implications of R-parity violation on the neutrino masses.

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arXiv1998

Pseudo-anomalous U(1) symmetry in the strong coupling limit of the heterotic string

We discuss, in the context of the strongly coupled E_8 \times E_8 heterotic string proposed by Horava and Witten, the appearance of anomalous U(1)_X symmetries of a nonperturbative origin, related to the presence, after compactification, of five-branes in the five-dimensional bulk of the theory. We compute the gauge anomalies and the induced Fayet-Iliopoulos terms on each boundary, which we find to be lower than the universal one induced in the weakly coupled case.

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arXiv1998

Global vs local cosmic strings from pseudo-anomalous U(1)

We study the structure of cosmic strings produced at the breaking of an anomalous U(1) gauge symmetry present in many superstring compactification models. We show that their coupling with the axion necessary in order to cancel the anomalies does not prevent them from being local, even though their energy per unit length is found to diverge logarithmically. We discuss the formation of such strings and the phenomenological constraints that apply to their parameters.

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arXiv1997

Quark flavour conserving violations of the lepton number

We study supersymmetric models of lepton and baryon number violation based on an abelian family gauge group. Due to possible lepton-Higgs mixing, the lepton violating couplings are related to the Yukawa couplings and may be generated by them even if they were absent in the original theory. Such terms may be dominant and are not given by the naive family charge counting rules. This enhancement mechanism can provide an alignment between lepton-number violating terms and Yukawa couplings: as a result they conserve quark flavour. A natural way of suppressing baryon number violation in this class of models is also proposed.

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arXiv1996

Anomalous U(1) and low-energy physics: the power of D-flatness and holomorphy

In models with an anomalous abelian symmetry broken at a very large scale, we study which requirements to impose on the anomalous charges in order to prevent standard model fields from acquiring large vacuum expectation values. The use of holomorphic invariants to study D-flat directions for the anomalous symmetry, proves to be a very powerful tool. We find that in order to forbid unphysical vacuum configurations at that scale, the superpotential must contain many interaction terms, including the usual Yukawa terms. Our analysis suggests that the anomalous charge of the μ-term is zero. It is remarkable that, together with the seesaw mechanism, and mass hierarchies, this implies a natural conservation of R-parity.

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arXiv1996

Quasi-degenerate neutrinos from an abelian family symmetry

We show that models with an abelian family symmetry which accounts for the observed hierarchies of masses and mixings in the quark sector may also accomodate quasi-degeneracies in the neutrino mass spectrum. Such approximate degeneracies are, in this context, associated with large mixing angles. The parameters of this class of models are constrained. We discuss their phenomenological implications for present and foreseen neutrino experiments.

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arXiv1996

Gaugino condensation and the anomalous $U(1)$

We study gaugino condensation in presence of an anomalous $U(1)$ gauge group and find that global supersymmetry is dynamically broken. An example of particular interest is provided by effective string models with 4-dimensional Green-Schwarz anomaly cancellation mechanism. The structure of the hidden sector is constrained by the anomaly cancellation conditions and the scale of gaugino condensation is shifted compared with the usual case. We explicitly compute the resulting soft supersymmetry breaking terms.

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arXiv1995

Dynamical mass matrices from effective superstring theories

We analyze the general structure of the fermion mass matrices in effective superstrings. They are generically given at low energy by non-trivial functions of the gauge singlet moduli fields. Interesting structures appear in particular if they are homogeneous functions of zero degree in the moduli. In this case we find Yukawa matrices very similar to the ones obtained by imposing a $U(1)$ family symmetry to reproduce the observed hierarchy of masses and mixing angles. The role of the $U(1)$ symmetry is played here by the modular symmetry. Explicit orbifold examples are given where realistic quark mass matrices can be obtained. Finally, a complete scenario is proposed which generates the observed hierarchies in a dynamical way.

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arXiv1995

Dynamical Supersymmetry Breaking and the Linear Multiplet

We analyze gaugino condensation in the presence of a dilaton and an antisymmetric tensor field, with couplings reminiscent of string theories. The degrees of freedom relevant to a supersymmetric description of the effective theory below the scale of condensation are discussed in this context.

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arXiv1994

Fermion mass hierarchies in low energy supergravity and superstring models

We investigate the problem of the fermion mass hierarchy in supergravity models with flat directions of the scalar potential associated with some gauge singlet moduli fields. The low-energy Yukawa couplings are nontrivial homogeneous functions of the moduli and a geometric constraint between them plays, in a large class of models, a crucial role in generating hierarchies. Explicit examples are given for no-scale type supergravity models. The Yukawa couplings are dynamical variables at low energy, to be determined by a minimization process which amounts to fixing ratios of the moduli fields. The Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM) is studied and the constraints needed on the parameters in order to have a top quark much heavier than the other fermions are worked out. The bottom mass is explicitly computed and shown to be compatible with the experimental data for a large region of the parameter space.

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arXiv1994

Nambu mass hierarchies in strings

We show that a recent proposal by Nambu to generate a hierarchy among Yukawa couplings in the standard model may be easily implemented in superstring models. In such models, two of the main ingredients of the Nambu proposal find a natural explanation: minimising with respect to the Yukawas amounts to a minimisation with respect to the underlying moduli fields and a constraint on the Yukawas of the type of the Veltman condition may be attributed to the relaxation process to a phenomenologically viable string vacuum.

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arXiv1993

Dilaton, moduli and string/five-brane duality as seen from four dimensions

A naive dimensional reduction of the $N=1, D=10$ supergravity theory that naturally arises in five-brane models is used to determine the rôle of two fields which are basic ingredients of string models: the dilaton and, among the moduli, the breathing mode. It is shown that, under the duality transformation that relates five-branes and strings, these two fields exchange the rôles of 10-dimensional dilaton and radius of the compact manifold. A description of this phenomenon in terms of the linear multiplets of the 4-dimensional supergravity is also presented.

hep-th↗

arXiv1993

The vacuum structure in a supersymmetric gauged Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model

The dynamical breakdown of the $SU(2) \times U(1)$ symmetry triggered by a top-antitop condensate is studied in a supersymmetric version of the gauged Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model. An effective potential approach is used to investigate the vacuum structure and the equivalence with the minimal supersymmetric standard model. The role of the soft supersymmetry breaking terms is analyzed in detail in a version of the model where the electroweak gauge interactions are turned off.

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