We explore realizations of minimal flavor violation (MFV) for leptons in the simplest seesaw models where the neutrino mass generation mechanism is driven by new fermion singlets (type I) or triplets (type III) and by a scalar triplet (type II). We a
lso discuss similarities and differences of the MFV implementation among the three scenarios. To study the phenomenological implications, we consider a number of effective dimension-six operators that are purely leptonic or couple leptons to the standard-model gauge and Higgs bosons and evaluate constraints on the scale of MFV associated with these operators from the latest experimental information. Specifically, we employ the most recent measurements of neutrino mixing parameters as well as the currently available data on flavor-violating radiative and three-body decays of charged leptons, mu -> e conversion in nuclei, the anomalous magnetic moments of charged leptons, and their electric dipole moments. The most stringent lower-limit on the MFV scale comes from the present experimental bound on mu -> e gamma and can reach 500 TeV or higher, depending on the details of the seesaw scheme. With our numerical results, we illustrate some important differences among the seesaw types. In particular, we show that in types I and III there are features which can bring about potentially remarkable effects which do not occur in type II. In addition, we comment on how one of the new effective operators can induce flavor-changing dilepton decays of the Higgs boson, which may be probed in upcoming searches at the LHC.
The A4 x U(1) flavor model of He, Keum, and Volkas is extended to provide a minimal modification to tribimaximal mixing that accommodates a nonzero reactor angle theta13 ~ 0.1. The sequestering problem is circumvented by forbidding superheavy scales
and large coupling constants which would otherwise generate sizable RG flows. The model is compatible with (but does not require) a stable or metastable dark matter candidate in the form of a complex scalar field with unit charge under a discrete subgroup Z4 of the U(1) flavor symmetry.
The standard model (SM) plus a real gauge-singlet scalar field dubbed darkon (SM+D) is the simplest model possessing a weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP) dark-matter candidate. The upper limits for the WIMP-nucleon elastic cross-section as a
function of WIMP mass from the recent XENON10 and CDMS-II experiments rule out darkon mass ranges from 10 to (50,70,75) GeV for Higgs-boson masses of (120,200,350) GeV, respectively. This may exclude the possibility of the darkon providing an explanation for the gamma-ray excess observed in the EGRET data. We show that by extending the SM+D to a two-Higgs-doublet model plus a darkon the experimental constraints on the WIMP-nucleon interactions can be circumvented due to suppression occurring at some values of the product tan(alpha)tan(beta), with alpha being the neutral-Higgs mixing angle and tan(beta) the ratio of vacuum expectation values of the Higgs doublets. We also comment on the implication of the darkon model for Higgs searches at the LHC.
We consider extension of the standard model $SU(2)_l times SU(2)_h times U(1)$ where the first two families of quarks and leptons transform according to the $SU(2)_l$ group and the third family according to the $SU(2)_h$ group. In this approach, the
largeness of top-quark mass is associated with the large vacuum expectation value of the corresponding Higgs field. The model predicts almost degenerate heavy $W$ and $Z$ bosons with non-universal couplings, and extra Higgs bosons. We present in detail the symmetry breaking mechanism, and carry out the subsequent phenomenology of the gauge sector. We compare the model with electroweak precision data, and conclude that the extra gauge bosons and the Higgs bosons whose masses lie in the TeV range, can be discovered at the LHC.
We evaluate one-loop diagrams in the unitary gauge that contribute to flavor-changing neutral current (FCNC) transitions involving two and four fermions. Specifically, we deal with penguin and box diagrams arising within the standard model (SM) and i
n nonrenormalizable extensions thereof with anomalous couplings of the W boson to quarks. We show explicitly in the SM the subtle cancelation among divergences from individual unitary-gauge contributions to some of the physical FCNC amplitudes and derive expressions consistent with those obtained using R_xi gauges in the literature. Some of our results can be used more generally in certain models involving fermions and gauge bosons which have interactions similar in form to those we consider.
Unparticle $U$ with scaling dimension $d_U$ has peculiar thermal properties due to its unique phase space structure. We find that the equation of state parameter $omega_U$, the ratio of pressure to energy density, is given by $1/(2d_U +1)$ providing
a new form of energy in our universe. In an expanding universe, the unparticle energy density $rho_U(T)$ evolves dramatically differently from that for photons. For $d_U >1$, even if $rho_U(T_D)$ at a high decoupling temperature $T_D$ is very small, it is possible to have a large relic density $rho_U(T^0_gamma)$ at present photon temperature $T^0_gamma$, large enough to play the role of dark matter. We calculate $T_D$ and $rho_U(T^0_gamma)$ using photon-unparticle interactions for illustration.
The See-Saw mechanism provides a nice way to explain why neutrino masses are so much lighter than their charged lepton partners. It also provides a nice way to explain baryon asymmetry in our universe via the leptogenesis mechanism. In this talk we r
eview leptogenesis and LHC physics in a See-Saw model proposed in 1989, now termed the Type III See-Saw model. In this model, $SU(2)_L$ triplet leptons are introduced with the neutral particles of the triplets playing the role of See-Saw. The triplet leptons have charged partners with standard model gauge interactions resulting in many new features. The gauge interactions of these particles make it easier for leptognesis with low masses, as low as a TeV is possible. The gauge interactions also make the production and detection of triplet leptons at LHC possible. The See-Saw mechanism and leptogenesis due to Type III See-Saw may be tested at LHC.
Starting from a new zeroth order basis for quark mixing (CKM) matrix based on the quark-lepton complementarity and the tri-bimaximal pattern of lepton mixing, we derive a triminimal parametrization of CKM matrix with three small angles and a CP-viola
ting phase as its parameters. This new triminimal parametrization has the merits of fast convergence and simplicity in application. With the quark-lepton complementary relations, we derive relations between the two unified triminimal parametrizations for quark mixing obtained in this work and for lepton mixing obtained by Pakvasa-Rodejohann-Weiler. Parametrization deviating from quark-lepton complementarity is also discussed.
We consider scale invariant theories of continuous mass fields, and show how interactions of these fields with the standard model can reproduce unparticle interactions. There is no fixed point or dimensional transmutation involved in this approach. W
e generalize interactions of the standard model to multiple unparticles in this formalism and explicitly work out some examples, in particular we show that the product of two scalar unparticles behaves as a normalized scalar unparticle with dimension equal to the sum of the two composite unparticle dimensions. Extending the formalism to scale invariant interactions of continuous mass fields, we calculate three point function of unparticles.
We study baryon number violating nucleon decays induced by unparticle interactions with the standard model particles. We find that the lowest dimension operators which cause nucleon decays can arise at dimension 6 + (d_s-3/2) with the unparticles bei
ng a spinor of dimension d_s=d_U +1/2. For scalar and vector unparticles of dimension d_U, the lowest order operatoers arise at 6+d_U and 7+d_U dimensions,respectively. Comparing the spinor unparticle induced n to O^s_U and experimental bound on invisible decay of a neutron from KamLAND, we find that the scale for unparticle physics is required to be larger than 10^{10} GeV for d_U < 2 if the couplings are set to be of order one. For scalar and vector unparticles, the dominant baryon number violating decay modes are nto bar u + O_U (O^mu_U) and p to e^+ + O_U (O^mu_U). The same experimental bound puts the scales for scalar and vector unparticle to be larger than 10^{7} and 10^{5} GeV for d_U <2 with couplings set to be of order one. Data on, p to e^+ invisible, puts similar constraints on unparticle interactions.
