A new bridge between leptonic CP violation and leptogenesis

Flavor effects due to lepton interactions in the early Universe may have played an important role in the generation of the cosmological baryon asymmetry through leptogenesis. If the only source of high-energy CP violation comes from the left-handed leptonic sector, then it is possible to establish a bridge between flavored leptogenesis and low-energy leptonic CP violation. We explore this connection taking into account our present knowledge about low-energy neutrino parameters and the matter-antimatter asymmetry observed in the Universe. In this framework, we find that leptogenesis favors a hierarchical light neutrino mass spectrum, while for quasi-degenerate and inverted hierarchical neutrino masses there is a very narrow allowed window. The absolute neutrino mass scale turns out to be m < 0.1 eV.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figure

On the Chern-Simons topological term at finite temperature

The parity-violating topological term in the effective action for 2+1 massive fermions is computed at finite temperature in the presence of a constant background field strength tensor. Gauge invariance of the finite-temperature effective action is also discussed.Comment: 8 pages, standard LaTe

Equivalence of the sine-Gordon and massive Thirring models at finite temperature

Using the path-integral approach, the quantum massive Thirring and sine-Gordon models are proven to be equivalent at finite temperature. This result is an extension of Coleman's proof of the equivalence between both theories at zero temperature. The usual identifications among the parameters of these models also remain valid at $T \neq 0$.Comment: 9 pages, standard LaTe

Spinning Relativistic Particle in an External Electromagnetic Field

The Hamiltonian formulation of the motion of a spinning relativistic particle in an external electromagnetic field is considered. The approach is based on the introduction of new coordinates and their conjugated momenta to describe the spin degrees of freedom together with an appropriate set of constraints in the Dirac formulation. For particles with gyromagnetic ratio $g=2$, the equations of motion do not predict any deviation from the standard Lorentz force, while for $g \neq 2$ an additional force, which corresponds to the magnetic dipole force, is obtained.Comment: Latex file, 11 page

Constraints on the braneworld from compact stars

According to the braneworld idea, ordinary matter is confined on a 3-dimensional space (brane) that is embedded in a higher-dimensional space-time where gravity propagates. In this work, after reviewing the limits coming from general relativity, finiteness of pressure and causality on the brane, we derive observational constraints on the braneworld parameters from the existence of stable compact stars. The analysis is carried out by solving numerically the brane-modified Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkoff equations, using different representative equations of state to describe matter in the star interior. The cases of normal dense matter, pure quark matter and hybrid matter are considered.Comment: 13 pages, 11 figures, 2 tables; new EoS considered, references and comments adde

The effects of weather and climate change on dengue

There is much uncertainty about the future impact of climate change on vector-borne diseases. Such uncertainty reflects the difficulties in modelling the complex interactions between disease, climatic and socioeconomic determinants. We used a comprehensive panel dataset from Mexico covering 23 years of province-specific dengue reports across nine climatic regions to estimate the impact of weather on dengue, accounting for the effects of non-climatic factors