arXiv subjects

Savas Dimopoulos

Publications and source records attributed to Savas Dimopoulos.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2001

Black Holes at the LHC

If the scale of quantum gravity is near a TeV, the LHC will be producing one black hole (BH) about every second. The BH decays into prompt, hard photons and charged leptons is a clean signature with low background. The absence of significant missing energy allows the reconstruction of the mass of the decaying BH. The correlation between the BH mass and its temperature, deduced from the energy spectrum of the decay products, can test experimentally the higher dimensional Hawking evaporation law. It can also determine the number of large new dimensions and the scale of quantum gravity.

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arXiv2001

Little String Theory at a TeV

We propose a framework where the string scale as well as all compact dimensions are at the electroweak scale $\sim$ TeV$^{-1}$. The weakness of gravity is attributed to the small value of the string coupling $g_s \sim 10^{-16}$, presumably a remnant of the dilaton's runaway behavior, suggesting the possibility of a common solution to the hierarchy and dilaton-runaway problems. In spite of the small $g_s$, in type II string theories with gauge interactions localized in the vicinity of NS5-branes, the standard model gauge couplings are of order one and are associated with the sizes of compact dimensions. At a TeV these theories exhibit higher dimensional and stringy behavior. The models are holographically dual to a higher dimensional non-critical string theory and this can be used to compute the experimentally accessible spectrum and self-couplings of the little strings. In spite of the stringy behavior, gravity remains weak and can be ignored at collider energies. The Damour-Polyakov mechanism is an automatic consequence of our scenario and suggests the presence of a massless conformally-coupled scalar, leading to potentially observable deviations from Einstein's theory, including violations of the equivalence principle.

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arXiv2001

Soft Supersymmetry Breaking and the Supersymmetric Standard Model

We recall how the idea of Softly Broken Supersymmetry led to the construction of the Supersymmetric Standard Model in 1981. Its first prediction, the supersymmetric unification of gauge couplings, was conclusively verified by the LEP and SLC experiments 10 years later. Its other predictions include: the existence of superparticles at the electroweak scale; a stable lightest superparticle (LSP) with a mass of $\sim 100$ GeV, anticipated to be a neutral electroweak gaugino; the universality of scalar and gaugino masses at the unification scale. The original motivation for the model, solving the hierarchy problem, indicates that the superparticles should be discovered at the LHC or the TeVatron.

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arXiv2000

A Small Cosmological Constant from a Large Extra Dimension

We propose a new approach to the Cosmological Constant Problem which makes essential use of an extra dimension. A model is presented in which the Standard Model vacuum energy ``warps'' the higher-dimensional spacetime while preserving 4D flatness. We argue that the strong curvature region of our solutions may effectively cut off the size of the extra dimension, thereby giving rise to macroscopic 4D gravity without a cosmological constant. In our model, the higher-dimensional gravity dynamics is treated classically with carefully chosen couplings. Our treatment of the Standard Model is however fully quantum field-theoretic, and the 4D flatness of our solutions is robust against Standard Model quantum loops and changes to Standard Model couplings.

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arXiv1999

Manyfold Universe

We propose that our world is a brane folded many times inside the sub-millimeter extra dimensions. The folding produces many connected parallel branes or folds with identical microphysics - a Manyfold. Nearby matter on other folds can be detected gravitationally as dark matter since the light it emits takes a long time to reach us traveling around the fold. Hence dark matter is microphysically identical to ordinary matter; it can dissipate and clump possibly forming dark replicas of ordinary stars which are good MACHO candidates. Its dissipation may lead to far more frequent occurrence of gravitational collapse and consequently to a significant enhancement in gravitational wave signals detectable by LIGO and LISA. Sterile neutrinos find a natural home on the other folds. Since the folded brane is not a BPS state, it gives a new geometric means for supersymmetry breaking in our world. It may also offer novel approach for the resolution of the cosmological horizon problem, although it still requires additional dynamics to solve the flatness problem. Although there are constraints from BBN, structure formation, the enormity of galactic halos and the absence of stars and globular clusters with a discernible dark matter component, we show that the model is consistent with current observational limits. It presents us with a new dark matter particle and a new framework for the evolution of structure in our universe.

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arXiv1999

Logarithmic Unification From Symmetries Enhanced in the Sub-Millimeter Infrared

In theories with TeV string scale and sub-millimeter extra dimensions the attractive picture of logarithmic gauge coupling unification at $10^{16}$ GeV is seemingly destroyed. In this paper we argue to the contrary that logarithmic unification {\it can} occur in such theories. The rationale for unification is no longer that a gauge symmetry is restored at short distances, but rather that a geometric symmetry is restored at large distances in the bulk away from our 3-brane. The apparent `running' of the gauge couplings to energies far above the string scale actually arises from the logarithmic variation of classical fields in (sets of) two large transverse dimensions. We present a number of N=2 and N=1 supersymmetric D-brane constructions illustrating this picture for unification.

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arXiv1999

Infinitely Large New Dimensions

We construct intersecting brane configurations in Anti-de-Sitter space localizing gravity to the intersection region, with any number $n$ of extra dimensions. This allows us to construct two kinds of theories with infinitely large new dimensions, TeV scale quantum gravity and sub-millimeter deviations from Newton's Law. The effective 4D Planck scale $M_{Pl}$ is determined in terms of the fundamental Planck scale $M_*$ and the $AdS$ radius of curvature $L$ via the familiar relation $M_{Pl}^2 \sim M_{*}^{2+n} L^n$; $L$ acts as an effective radius of compactification for gravity on the intersection. Taking $M_* \sim $ TeV and $L \sim $ sub-mm reproduces the phenomenology of theories with large extra dimensions. Alternately, taking $M_* \sim L^{-1} \sim M_{Pl}$, and placing our 3-brane a distance $\sim 100 M_{Pl}^{-1}$ away from the intersection gives us a theory with an exponential determination of the Weak/Planck hierarchy.

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arXiv1999

Early Inflation and Cosmology in Theories with Sub-Millimeter Dimensions

We discuss early cosmology in theories where the fundamental Planck mass is close to the TeV scale. In such theories the standard model fields are localized to a (3+1)-dimensional wall with n new transverse sub-millimeter sized spatial dimensions. The topic touched upon include: early inflation that occurs while the size of the new dimensions are still small, the spectrum and magnitude of density perturbations, the post-inflation era of contraction of our world while the internal dimensions evolve to their final ``large'' radius, and the production of gravitons in the bulk during these two eras. The radion moduli problem is also discussed.

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arXiv1999

Rapid Asymmetric Inflation and Early Cosmology in Theories with Sub-Millimeter Dimensions

It was recently pointed out that the fundamental Planck mass could be close to the TeV scale with the observed weakness of gravity at long distances being due the existence of new sub-millimeter spatial dimensions. In this picture the standard model fields are localized to a $(3+1)$-dimensional wall or ``3-brane''. We show that in such theories there exist attractive models of inflation that occur while the size of the new dimensions are still small. We show that it is easy to produce the required number of efoldings, and further that the density perturbations $δρ/ρ$ as measured by COBE can be easily reproduced, both in overall magnitude and in their approximately scale-invariant spectrum. In the minimal approach, the inflaton field is just the moduli describing the size of the internal dimensions, the role of the inflationary potential being played by the stabilizing potential of the internal space. We show that under quite general conditions, the inflationary era is followed by an epoch of contraction of our world on the brane, while the internal dimensions slowly expand to their stabilization radius. We find a set of exact solutions which describe this behavior, generalizing the well-known Kasner solutions. During this phase, the production of bulk gravitons remains suppressed. The period of contraction is terminated by the blue-shifting of Hawking radiation left on our wall at the end of the inflationary de Sitter phase. The temperature to which this is reheated is consistent with the normalcy bounds. We give a precise definition of the radion moduli problem.

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arXiv1998

Neutrino Masses from Large Extra Dimensions

Recently it was proposed that the standard model (SM) degrees of freedom reside on a $(3+1)$-dimensional wall or ``3-brane'' embedded in a higher-dimensional spacetime. Furthermore, in this picture it is possible for the fundamental Planck mass $\mst$ to be as small as the weak scale $\mst\simeq O(\tev)$ and the observed weakness of gravity at long distances is due the existence of new sub-millimeter spatial dimensions. We show that in this picture it is natural to expect neutrino masses to occur in the $10^{-1} - 10^{-4}\ev$ range, despite the lack of any fundamental scale higher than $\mst$. Such suppressed neutrino masses are not the result of a see-saw, but have intrinsically higher-dimensional explanations. We explore two possibilities. The first mechanism identifies any massless bulk fermions as right-handed neutrinos. These give naturally small Dirac masses for the same reason that gravity is weak at long distances in this framework. The second mechanism takes advantage of the large {\it infrared} desert: the space in the extra dimensions. Here, small Majorana neutrino masses are generated by breaking lepton number on distant branes.

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arXiv1998

New origin for approximate symmetries from distant breaking in extra dimensions

The recently proposed theories with TeV-scale quantum gravity remove the usual ultraviolet desert between $\sim 10^{3} - 10^{19}$ GeV where effective field theory ideas apply. Consequently, the success of the desert in explaining approximate symmetries is lost, and theories of flavor, neutrino masses, proton longevity or supersymmetry breaking, lose their usual habitat. In this paper we show that these ideas can find a new home in an infrared desert: the large space in the extra dimensions. The main idea is that symmetries are primordially exact on our brane, but are broken at O(1) on distant branes. This breaking is communicated to us in a distance-suppressed way by bulk messengers. We illustrate these ideas in a number of settings: 1) We construct theories for the fermion mass hierarchy which avoid large FCNC's. 2) We re-iterate that proton stability can arise if baryon number is gauged in the bulk. 3) We study experimental constraints on light gauge fields and scalars in the bulk. 4) We remark that the same ideas can be used to explain small neutrino masses, and hierarchical supersymmetry breaking. 5) We construct a theory with bulk technicolor, avoiding the difficulties with extended technicolor. There are also interesting experimental signals of these ideas: 1) Attractive or repulsive, isotope dependent sub-millimeter forces $\sim 10^6$ times gravitational strength, from the exchange of light bulk particles. 2) Novel Higgs decays to light generation fermions plus bulk scalars. 3) Collider production of bulk vector and scalar fields, leading to large $γ$ or jet+ missing energy signals.

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arXiv1998

Stabilization of Sub-Millimeter Dimensions: The New Guise of the Hierarchy Problem

A new framework for solving the hierarchy problem was recently proposed which does not rely on low energy supersymmetry or technicolor. The fundamental Planck mass is at a $\tev$ and the observed weakness of gravity at long distances is due the existence of new sub-millimeter spatial dimensions. In this picture the standard model fields are localized to a $(3+1)$-dimensional wall or ``3-brane''. The hierarchy problem becomes isomorphic to the problem of the largeness of the extra dimensions. This is in turn inextricably linked to the cosmological constant problem, suggesting the possibility of a common solution. The radii of the extra dimensions must be prevented from both expanding to too great a size, and collapsing to the fundamental Planck length $\tev^{-1}$. In this paper we propose a number of mechanisms addressing this question. We argue that a positive bulk cosmological constant $\barΛ$ can stabilize the internal manifold against expansion, and that the value of $\barΛ$ is not unstable to radiative corrections provided that the supersymmetries of string theory are broken by dynamics on our 3-brane. We further argue that the extra dimensions can be stabilized against collapse in a phenomenologically successful way by either of two methods: 1) Large, topologically conserved quantum numbers associated with higher-form bulk U(1) gauge fields, such as the naturally occurring Ramond-Ramond gauge fields, or the winding number of bulk scalar fields. 2) The brane-lattice-crystallization of a large number of 3-branes in the bulk. These mechanisms are consistent with theoretical, laboratory, and cosmological considerations such as the absence of large time variations in Newton's constant during and after primordial nucleosynthesis, and millimeter-scale tests of gravity.

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arXiv1998

Black Holes and Sub-millimeter Dimensions

Recently, a new framework for solving the hierarchy problem was proposed which does not rely on low energy supersymmetry or technicolor. The fundamental Planck mass is at a TeV and the observed weakness of gravity at long distances is due the existence of new sub-millimeter spatial dimensions. In this letter, we study how the properties of black holes are altered in these theories. Small black holes---with Schwarzschild radii smaller than the size of the new spatial dimensions---are quite different. They are bigger, colder, and longer-lived than a usual $(3+1)$-dimensional black hole of the same mass. Furthermore, they primarily decay into harmless bulk graviton modes rather than standard-model degrees of freedom. We discuss the interplay of our scenario with the holographic principle. Our results also have implications for the bounds on the spectrum of primordial black holes (PBHs) derived from the photo-dissociation of primordial nucleosynthesis products, distortion of the diffuse gamma-ray spectrum, overclosure of the universe, gravitational lensing, as well as the phenomenology of black hole production. For example, the bound on the spectral index of the primordial spectrum of density perturbations is relaxed from 1.25 to 1.45-1.60 depending on the epoch of the PBH formation. In these scenarios PBHs provide interesting dark matter candidates; for 6 extra dimensions MACHO candidates with mass $\sim 0.1M_\odot$ can arise. For 2 or 3 extra dimensions PBHs with mass $\sim 2000 M_\odot$ can occur and may act as both dark matter and seeds for early galaxy and QSO formation.

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arXiv1998

Phenomenology, Astrophysics and Cosmology of Theories with Sub-Millimeter Dimensions and TeV Scale Quantum Gravity

We recently proposed a solution to the hierarchy problem not relying on low-energy supersymmetry or technicolor. Instead, the problem is nullified by bringing quantum gravity down to the TeV scale. This is accomplished by the presence of $n \geq 2$ new dimensions of sub-millimeter size, with the SM fields localised on a 3-brane in the higher dimensional space. In this paper we systematically study the experimental viability of this scenario. Constraints arise both from strong quantum gravitational effects at the TeV scale, and more importantly from the production of massless higher dimensional gravitons with TeV suppressed couplings. Theories with $n>2$ are safe due mainly to the infrared softness of higher dimensional gravity. For $n=2$, the six dimensional Planck scale must be pushed above $\sim 30$ TeV to avoid cooling SN1987A and distortions of the diffuse photon background. Nevertheless, the particular implementation of our framework within type I string theory can evade all constraints, for any $n \geq 2$, with string scale $m_s \sim 1$ TeV. We also explore novel phenomena resulting from the existence of new states propagating in the higher dimensional space. The Peccei-Quinn solution to the strong CP problem is revived with a weak scale axion in the bulk. Gauge fields in the bulk can mediate repulsive forces $\sim 10^6 - 10^8$ times stronger than gravity at sub-mm distances, and may help stabilize the proton. Higher-dimensional gravitons produced on our brane and captured on a different "fat" brane can provide a natural dark matter candidate.

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arXiv1998

The Hierarchy Problem and New Dimensions at a Millimeter

We propose a new framework for solving the hierarchy problem which does not rely on either supersymmetry or technicolor. In this framework, the gravitational and gauge interactions become united at the weak scale, which we take as the only fundamental short distance scale in nature. The observed weakness of gravity on distances $\gsim$ 1 mm is due to the existence of $n \geq 2$ new compact spatial dimensions large compared to the weak scale. The Planck scale $M_{Pl} \sim G_N^{-1/2}$ is not a fundamental scale; its enormity is simply a consequence of the large size of the new dimensions. While gravitons can freely propagate in the new dimensions, at sub-weak energies the Standard Model (SM) fields must be localized to a 4-dimensional manifold of weak scale "thickness" in the extra dimensions. This picture leads to a number of striking signals for accelerator and laboratory experiments. For the case of $n=2$ new dimensions, planned sub-millimeter measurements of gravity may observe the transition from $1/r^2 \to 1/r^4$ Newtonian gravitation. For any number of new dimensions, the LHC and NLC could observe strong quantum gravitational interactions. Furthermore, SM particles can be kicked off our 4 dimensional manifold into the new dimensions, carrying away energy, and leading to an abrupt decrease in events with high transverse momentum $p_T \gsim$ TeV. For certain compact manifolds, such particles will keep circling in the extra dimensions, periodically returning, colliding with and depositing energy to our four dimensional vacuum with frequencies of $ \sim 10^{12}$ Hz or larger. As a concrete illustration, we construct a model with SM fields localised on the 4-dimensional throat of a vortex in 6 dimensions, with a Pati-Salam gauge symmetry $SU(4) \times SU(2) \times SU(2)$ in the bulk.

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arXiv1997

A Simple Complete Model of Gauge-Mediated SUSY-Breaking and Dynamical Relaxation Mechanism for Solving the mu-Problem

In this paper two things are done. First, we propose a simple model of dynamical gauge-mediated SUSY breaking. This model incorporates a dynamical relaxation mechanism which solves the μ-problem with no light fields beyond those of the MSSM. In the second part of the paper we show how this mechanism is generalized and give two more examples in which it is incorporated.

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arXiv1997

Dynamical Inflation and Unification Scale on Quantum Moduli Spaces

We show that simple strongly coupled supersymmetric gauge theories with quantum moduli spaces can naturally lead to hybrid inflation. These theories contain no input dimensionful or small parameters. The effective superpotential is linear in the inflaton field; this ensures that supergravity corrections do not spoil the slow roll conditions for inflation. We construct a simple theory in which the classical moduli space exhibits neither GUT-symmetry-breaking nor inflation whereas its quantum modification exhibits both. As a result, the dynamical origin and scales of inflation and grand unification coincide.

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arXiv1997

Dynamical Soft Terms with Unbroken Supersymmetry

We construct a class of simple and calculable theories for the supersymmetry breaking soft terms. They are based on quantum modified moduli spaces. These theories do not break supersymmetry in their ground state; instead we postulate that we live in a supersymmetry breaking plateau of false vacua. We demonstrate that tunneling from the plateau to the supersymmetric ground state is highly supressed. At one loop, the plateau develops a local minimum which can be anywhere between $10^8$ GeV and the grand unification scale. The value of this minimum is the mass of the messengers of supersymmetry breaking. Primordial element abundances indicate that the messengers' mass is smaller than $10^{12}$ GeV.

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