Blind spots for neutralinos in NMSSM with light singlet scalar

A substantial contribution to the SM-like Higgs mass may come from the mixing with the lightest singlet-dominated scalar in NMSSM for moderate or large values of $\tan\beta$ [1]. The LSP neutralino in this model may also contain the singlet component - singlino. In this work we analyze the direct detection cross section for a Higgsino-singlino LSP with the emphasis on possible direct detection blind spots in the parameter space. Correlations between the LSP properties and the effects in the Higgs sector coming from the mixing are also discussed.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures, published in the Proceedings of 18th International Conference From the Planck Scale to the Electroweak Scale, 25-29 May 2015, Ioannina, Greece, based on arXiv:1512.02472. PoS(PLANCK 2015)13

Generalization of Einstein-Lovelock theory to higher order dilaton gravity

A higher order theory of dilaton gravity is constructed as a generalization of the Einstein-Lovelock theory of pure gravity. Its Lagrangian contains terms with higher powers of the Riemann tensor and of the first two derivatives of the dilaton. Nevertheless, the resulting equations of motion are quasi-linear in the second derivatives of the metric and of the dilaton. This property is crucial for the existence of brane solutions in the thin wall limit. At each order in derivatives the contribution to the Lagrangian is unique up to an overall normalization. Relations between symmetries of this theory and the O(d,d) symmetry of the string-inspired models are discussed.Comment: 18 pages, references added, version to be publishe

Electroweak Symmetry Breaking and Bottom-Top Yukawa Unification

The condition of unification of gauge couplings in the minimal supersymmetric standard model provides successful predictions for the weak mixing angle as a function of the strong gauge coupling and the supersymmetric threshold scale. In addition, in some scenarios, e.g.\ in the minimal SO(10) model, the tau lepton and the bottom and top quark Yukawa couplings unify at the grand unification scale. The condition of Yukawa unification leads naturally to large values of $\tan\beta$, implying a proper top quark--bottom quark mass hierarchy. In this work, we investigate the feasibility of unification of the Yukawa couplings, in the framework of the minimal supersymmetric standard model with (assumed) universal mass parameters at the unification scale and with radiative breaking of the electroweak symmetry. We show that strong correlations between the parameters $\mu_0$ and $M_{1/2}$ appear within this scheme. These correlations have relevant implications for the sparticle spectrum, which presents several characteristic features. In addition, we show that due to large corrections to the running bottom quark mass induced through the supersymmetry breaking sector of the theory, the predicted top quark mass and $\tan\beta$ values are significantly lower than those previously estimated in the literature.Comment: 33 pages, 10 figures (not included) CERN-TH.7163/9

Characteristics and Enablers of Transparency in Product Development Organizations

Risks in product development lead to schedule and cost overruns and poor product quality. While many risk management frameworks have been published and research on specific practices has been conducted, little is understood of key characteristics of successful risk management in product development and how they manifest in real development projects. This research consists of two phases. The first phase is a survey on 171 best practices in risk management. Analysis of over 200 responses from industry practitioners identified transparency as a key characteristic of successful risk management in product development. Due to the limited exploration of the concept of transparency in the literature, the second phase of this work consisted of a qualitative investigation of transparency through interviews with 15 industry practitioners. Analysis of the interview results suggests a hierarchical structure which decomposes transparency into several characteristics and identifies enablers for each of these characteristics. We propose that transparency can be a valuable lever for product developers and managers. Future work is needed to validate the generalizability of the observations provided

Radiative Electroweak Symmetry Breaking and the Infrared Fixed Point of the Top Quark Mass

The infrared quasi fixed point solution for the top quark mass in the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model explains in a natural way large values of the top quark mass and appears as a prediction in many interesting theoretical schemes. Moreover, as has been recently pointed out, for moderate values of $\tan\beta$, in order to achieve gauge and bottom-tau Yukawa coupling unification, the top quark mass must be within $10 \%$ of its fixed point value. In this work we show that the convergence of the top quark mass to its fixed point value has relevant consequences for the (assumed) universal soft supersymmetry breaking parameters at the grand unification scale. In particular, we show that the low energy parameters do not depend on $A_0$ and $B_0$ but on the combination $\delta = B_0 - A_0/2$. Hence, there is a reduction in the number of independent parameters. Most interesting, the radiative $SU(2)_L \times U(1)_Y$ breaking condition implies strong correlations between the supersymmetric mass parameter $\mu$ and the supersymmetry breaking parameters $\delta$ and $M_{1/2}$ or $m_0$. These correlations, which become stronger for $\tan\beta < 2$, may have some fundamental origin, which would imply the need of a reformulation of the naive fine tuning criteria.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figures, CERN-TH.7060/9

Spontaneous localization of bulk matter fields

We study models compactified on S^1/Z_2 with bulk and brane matter fields charged under U(1) gauge symmetry. We calculate the FI-terms and show by minimizing the resulting potential that supersymmetry or gauge symmetry is spontaneously broken if the sum of the charges does not vanish. Even if this sum vanishes, there could be an instability as a consequence of localized FI-terms. This leads to a spontaneous localization of charged bulk fields on respective branes.Comment: 11 pages, LaTeX, 1 figur