arXiv subjects

Wilfried Buchmuller

Publications and source records attributed to Wilfried Buchmuller.

68 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

arXiv2004

Dual Models of Gauge Unification in Various Dimensions

We construct a compactification of the heterotic string on an orbifold T^6/Z_6 leading to the standard model spectrum plus vector--like matter. The standard model gauge group is obtained as an intersection of three SO(10) subgroups of E_8. Three families of SO(10) 16-plets are localized at three equivalent fixed points. Gauge coupling unification favours existence of an intermediate GUT which can have any dimension between five and ten. Various GUT gauge groups occur. For example, in six dimensions one can have E_6 \times SU(3), SU(4) \times SU(4) \times U(1)^2 or SO(8) \times SO(8), depending on which of the compact dimensions are large. The different higher--dimensional GUTs are `dual' to each other. They represent different points in moduli space, with the same massless spectrum and ultraviolet completion.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2004

Maximal Temperature in Flux Compactifications

Thermal corrections have an important effect on moduli stabilization leading to the existence of a maximal temperature, beyond which the compact dimensions decompactify. In this note, we discuss generality of our earlier analysis and apply it to the case of flux compactifications. The maximal temperature is again found to be controlled by the supersymmetry breaking scale, T_{crit} \sim \sqrt{m_{3/2} M_P}.

hep-th↗

arXiv2004

The flavour puzzle from an orbifold GUT perspective

Neutrino masses and mixings are very different from quark masses and mixings. This puzzle is a crucial hint in the search for the mechanism which determines fermion masses in grand unified theories. We study the flavour problem in an SO(10) GUT model in six dimensions compactified on an orbifold. Three sequential families are localized at three branes where SO(10) is broken to its three GUT subgroups. Their mixing with bulk fields leads to large neutrino mixings as well as small mixings among left-handed quarks. The small hierarchy of neutrino masses is due to the mismatch between up-quark and down-quark mass hierarchies.

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arXiv2004

Dilaton Destabilization at High Temperature

Many compactifications of higher-dimensional supersymmetric theories have approximate vacuum degeneracy. The associated moduli fields are stabilized by non-perturbative effects which break supersymmetry. We show that at finite temperature the effective potential of the dilaton acquires a negative linear term. This destabilizes all moduli fields at sufficiently high temperature. We compute the corresponding critical temperature which is determined by the scale of supersymmetry breaking, the beta-function associated with gaugino condensation and the curvature of the K"ahler potential, T_crit ~ (m_3/2 M_P)^(1/2) (3/β)^(3/4) (K'')^(-1/4). For realistic models we find T_crit ~ 10^11-10^12 GeV, which provides an upper bound on the temperature of the early universe. In contrast to other cosmological constraints, this upper bound cannot be circumvented by late-time entropy production.

hep-th↗

arXiv2004

Gravitino and Goldstino at Colliders

We consider theories with spontaneously broken global or local supersymmetry where the pseudo-goldstino or the gravitino is the lightest superparticle (LSP). Assuming that the long-lived next-to-lightest superparticle (NSP) is a charged slepton, we study several supergravity predictions: the NSP lifetime, angular and energy distributions in 3-body NSP decays. The characteristic couplings of the gravitino, or goldstino, can be tested even for very small masses.

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arXiv2004

Supergravity at Colliders

We consider supersymmetric theories where the gravitino is the lightest superparticle (LSP). Assuming that the long-lived next-to-lightest superparticle (NSP) is a charged slepton, we investigate two complementary ways to prove the existence of supergravity in nature. The first is based on the NSP lifetime which in supergravity depends only on the Planck scale and the NSP and gravitino masses. With the gravitino mass inferred from kinematics, the measurement of the NSP lifetime will test an unequivocal prediction of supergravity. The second way makes use of the 3-body NSP decay. The angular and energy distributions and the polarizations of the final state photon and lepton carry the information on the spin of the gravitino and on its couplings to matter and radiation.

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arXiv2000

Inflation and Supersymmetry Breaking

We study the connection between inflation and supersymmetry breaking in the context of an O'Raifeartaigh model which can account for both hybrid inflation and a true vacuum where supersymmetry is spontaneously broken. For a weakly coupled inflaton field, the dynamics during the inflationary phase can be determined by the supersymmetry breaking scale $M_S\sim 10^{10}$ GeV, even if $H_I >> m_{3/2}$. The spectrum of density fluctuations is then almost scale invariant, with a spectral index $n-1={\cal O}(M_G^2/M_P^2)$. The mass parameter $M_G$ of the O'Raifeartaigh model is determined by the COBE normalization for the cosmic microwave background to be the grand unification scale, $M_G \sim 10^{16}$ GeV.

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arXiv2000

Quantum mechanics of baryogenesis

The cosmological baryon asymmetry can be explained as remnant of heavy Majorana neutrino decays in the early universe. We study this out-of-equilibrium process by means of Kadanoff-Baym equations which are solved in a perturbative expansion. To leading order the problem is reduced to solving a set of Boltzmann equations for distribution functions.

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arXiv2000

Elements of Baryogenesis

Basic ingredients of the theory of baryogenesis are reviewed with emphasis on out-of-equilibrium decays of heavy particles. The present use of kinetic theory is explained and some attempts to go beyond the classical Boltzmann equations are discussed.

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arXiv1999

Neutrino Mixing and Flavour Changing Processes

We study the implications of a large nu_mu - nu_tau mixing angle on flavour changing transitions of quarks and leptons in supersymmetric extensions of the standard model. Two patterns of supersymmetry breaking are considered, models with modular invariance and the standard scenario of universal soft breaking terms at the GUT scale. The analysis is performed for two symmetry groups G x U(1)_F, with G=SU(5) and G=SU(3)^3, where U(1)_F is a family symmetry. Models with modular invariance are in agreement with observations only for restricted scalar quark and gaugino masses, (M_squark^2)/(m_gluino^2) \simeq 7/9 and m_bino > 350 GeV. A characteristic feature of models with large tan beta and radiatively induced flavour mixing is a large branching ratio for mu -> e gamma. For both symmetry groups and for the considered range of supersymmetry breaking mass parameters we find BR(mu -> e gamma) > 10^(-14).

hep-ph↗

arXiv1997

Crossover and mass gap of the SU(2)-Higgs model at high temperature

Analytic estimates of screening masses in the symmetric, high-temperature phase of the SU(2)-Higgs model are reviewed. The size of the mass gap in the symmetric phase is closely related to the critical Higgs mass where the first-order electroweak phase transition changes to a smooth crossover. We also discuss some conjectures concerning the connection between the screening masses of propagators in a fixed gauge and screening masses of gauge-invariant operators.

hep-ph↗

arXiv1997

Constraints on the Universal Contact Interaction

Forces beyond those of the standard model may manifest themselves at low energies as four-fermion contact interactions. If these new forces are independent of colour and flavour quantum numbers including baryon and lepton number, then all low energy constraints, arising from quark-lepton universality, flavour-changing neutral currents and atomic parity violation are evaded. This is due to the global U(45) symmetry which the standard model exhibits in the limit of vanishing gauge and Yukawa couplings. The corresponding contact interaction is a unique current-current interaction. Constraints from LEP2 imply that this universal contact interaction cannot be the origin of the recently observed high-$Q^2$ events at HERA.

hep-ph↗

arXiv1995

Scaling and Diffraction in Deep Inelastic Scattering

We pursue the hypothesis that the events with a large rapidity gap, observed at HERA, reflect the scattering of electrons off lumps of wee partons inside the proton. A simple scaling behaviour is predicted for the diffractive structure functions, which are related to the inclusive structure function $F_2(x,Q^2)$ at small values of the scaling variable $x$. The results are compared with recent measurements of the diffractive structure function $F_2^D(x,Q^2,M^2)$.

hep-ph↗

arXiv1994

Probing Lumps of Wee Partons in Deep Inelastic Scattering

Recently, the ZEUS collaboration has reported on several remarkable properties of events with a large rapidity gap in deep inelastic scattering. We suggest that the mechanism underlying these events is the scattering of electrons off lumps of wee partons inside the proton. Based on an effective lagrangian approach the $Q^2$-, $x$- and $W$-distributions are evaluated. For sufficiently small invariant mass of the detected hadronic system, the mechanism implies leading twist behaviour. The $x$- and $W$-distributions are determined by the Lipatov exponent which governs the behaviour of parton densities at small $x$.

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