A narrow scalar resonance at 325 GeV?

We propose to identify the excess of events with four charged leptons at E\sim 325\GeV seen by the CDF and CMS Collaborations with a new `sterile' scalar particle characterized by a very narrow resonance of the same height and branching ratios as the Standard Model Higgs boson, as predicted in the framework of the so-called Conformal Standard ModelComment: 4 pages, 2 figures, text and references correcte

Conformal Standard Model and Inflation

This article presents a possible inflation scenario as a consequence of non-minimal gravitational couplings in the Conformal Standard Model. The model consists, in comparison to the SM, of additional right-chiral neutrinos and complex scalars coupled to the right-chiral neutrinos but not to the SM particles. The inflation is driven by two non-minimally coupled fields one being the usual Higgs and the other one of the sterile scalars. It turns out that in this model the tensor to scalar ratio and spectral index can match the current data for a wide range of parameters

Final State Interactions and the Transverse Structure of the Pion

In the factorized picture of semi-inclusive deep inelastic scattering the naive time reversal-odd parton distributions exist by virtue of the gauge link which is intrinsic to their definition. The link structure describes initial/final-state interactions of the active parton due to soft gluon exchanges with the target remnant. Though these interactions are non-perturbative, calculations of final-state interaction have been performed in a perturbative one-gluon approximation. We include higher-order contributions by applying non-perturbative eikonal methods to calculate the Boer-Mulders function of the pion. Using this framework we explore under what conditions the Boer-Mulders function can be described in terms of factorization of final state interactions and a spatial distortion.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures; Proceedings of the workshop, "Recent Advances in Perturbative QCD and Hadronic Physics" ECT*, Trento (Italy), in Honor of Anatoli V. Efremov on the occasion of his 75th Birthday, to appear in Mod. Phys. Lett.

Manifestly O(d,d)O(d,d) Invariant Approach to Space-Time Dependent String Vacua

An $O(d,d)$ symmetry of the manifold of string vacua that do not depend on $d$ (out of $D$) space-time coordinates has been recently identified. Here we write down, for $d=D-1$, the low energy equations of motion and their general solution in a manifestly $O(d,d)$-invariant form, pointing out an amusing similarity with the renormalization group framework. Previously considered cosmological and black hole solutions are recovered as particular examples.Comment: 9 page

Tailoring T-Duality Beyond the First Loop

In this article we review a recent calculation of the two-loop $\sigma$-model corrections to the T-duality map in string theory. Using the effective action approach, and focusing on backgrounds with a single Abelian isometry, we give the $O(\alpha')$ modifications of the lowest-order duality transformations. The torsion plays an important role in the theory to $O(\alpha')$, because of the Chern-Simons couplings to the gauge fields that arise via dimensional reduction.Comment: 9 pages, Latex, no figures. Based on the talks given by N. Kaloper at the conferences Black Holes: Theory and Mathematical Aspects at Banff, AB, Canada and the $7^{th}~C^2GR^2A$ in Calgary, AB, Canada, May 31 - June 7, 199

Conformal Anomalies and Gravitational Waves

We argue that the presence of conformal anomalies in gravitational theories can lead to observable modifications to Einstein's equations via the induced anomalous effective actions, whose non-localities can overwhelm the smallness of the Planck scale. The fact that no such effects have been seen in recent cosmological or gravitational wave observations therefore imposes strong restrictions on the field content of possible extensions of Einstein's theory: all viable theories should have vanishing conformal anomalies. We then show that a complete cancellation of conformal anomalies in D=4 for both the $C^2$ invariant and the Euler (Gauss-Bonnet) invariant can only be achieved for N-extended supergravities with $N \geq 5$, as well as for M theory compactified to four dimensions.Comment: 4 page

Symmetries of higher-order string gravity actions

In this paper we explicitly prove the invariance of the time-dependent string gravity Lagrangian with up to four derivatives under the global $O(d,d)$ symmetry.Comment: 10 pages, LATEX file, several misprints corrected, two references added, the final version submitted to Phys.Lett.