0000000000186393
AUTHOR
Joseph D. Lykken
showing 9 related works from this author
Neutrinos that violate CPT, and the experiments that love them
2002
Recently we proposed a framework for explaining the observed evidence for neutrino oscillations without enlarging the neutrino sector, by introducing CPT violating Dirac masses for the neutrinos. In this paper we continue the exploration of the phenomenology of CPT violation in the neutrino sector. We show that our CPT violating model fits the existing SuperKamiokande data at least as well as the standard atmospheric neutrino oscillation models. We discuss the challenge of measuring CP violation in a neutrino sector that also violates CPT. We point out that the proposed off-axis extension of MINOS looks especially promising in this regard. Finally, we describe a method to compute CPT violat…
Colliders as a simultaneous probe of supersymmetric dark matter and Terascale cosmology
2006
Terascale supersymmetry has the potential to provide a natural explanation of the dominant dark matter component of the standard lambda-CDM cosmology. However once we impose the constraints on minimal supersymmetry parameters from current particle physics data, a satisfactory dark matter abundance is no longer prima facie natural. This Neutralino Tuning Problem could be a hint of nonstandard cosmology during and/or after the Terascale era. To quantify this possibility, we introduce an alternative cosmological benchmark based upon a simple model of quintessential inflation. This benchmark has no free parameters, so for a given supersymmetry model it allows an unambiguous prediction of the da…
A model of CPT violation for neutrinos
2002
Any local relativistic quantum field theory of Dirac-Weyl fermions conserves CPT. Here we examine whether a simple nonlocal field theory can violate CPT. We construct a new relativistic field theory of fermions, which we call ``homeotic'', which is nonlocal but causal and Lorentz invariant. The free homeotic theory is in fact equivalent to free Dirac theory. We show that a homeotic theory with a suitable nonlocal four-fermion interaction is causal and as a result has a well-defined perturbative S-matrix. By coupling a right-handed homeotic fermion to a left-handed Dirac-Weyl fermion, we obtain a causal theory of CPT-violating neutrino oscillations.
Ultrahigh-energy neutrino flux as a probe of large extra dimensions
2007
A suppression in the spectrum of ultrahigh-energy (UHE, >= 10^{18} eV) neutrinos will be present in extra-dimensional scenarios, due to enhanced neutrino-antineutrino annihilation processes with the supernova relic neutrinos. In the n>4 scenario, being n the number of extra dimensions, neutrinos can not be responsible for the highest energy events observed in the UHE cosmic ray spectrum. A direct implication of these extra-dimensional interactions would be the absence of UHE neutrinos in ongoing and future neutrino telescopes.
Neutrinos as the messengers of CPT violation
2001
CPT violation has the potential to explain all three existing neutrino anomalies without enlarging the neutrino sector. CPT violation in the Dirac mass terms of the three neutrino flavors preserves Lorentz invariance, but generates independent masses for neutrinos and antineutrinos. This specific signature is strongly motivated by braneworld scenarios with extra dimensions, where neutrinos are the natural messengers for Standard Model physics of CPT violation in the bulk. A simple model of maximal CPT violation is sufficient to explain the exisiting neutrino data quite neatly, while making dramatic predictions for the upcoming KamLAND and MiniBooNE experiments. Furthermore we obtain a promi…
Minimal noncanonical cosmologies
2006
We demonstrate how much it is possible to deviate from the standard cosmological paradigm of inflation-assisted LambdaCDM, keeping within current observational constraints, and without adding to or modifying any theoretical assumptions. We show that within a minimal framework there are many new possibilities, some of them wildly different from the standard picture. We present three illustrative examples of new models, described phenomenologically by a noncanonical scalar field coupled to radiation and matter. These models have interesting implications for inflation, quintessence, reheating, electroweak baryogenesis, and the relic densities of WIMPs and other exotics.
Adding pseudo-observables to the four-lepton experimentalist’s toolbox
2018
The "golden" channel, in which the newly-discovered Higgs boson decays to four leptons by means of intermediate vector bosons, is important for determining the properties of the Higgs boson and for searching for subtle new physics effects. Different approaches exist for parametrizing the relevant Higgs couplings in this channel; here we relate the use of pseudo-observables to methods based on specifying the most general amplitude or Lagrangian terms for the $HVV$ interactions. We also provide projections for sensitivity in this channel in several novel scenarios, illustrating the use of pseudo-observables, and analyze the role of kinematic distributions and (ratios of) rates in such $H\to4\…
Quintessence, inflation and baryogenesis from a single pseudo-Nambu-Goldstone boson
2007
15 pages, 3 figures.-- ISI Article Identifier: 000250759700079.-- ArXiv pre-print available at: http://arxiv.org/abs/0707.3999
Self-accelerating solutions of scalar-tensor gravity
2007
Scalar-tensor gravity is the simplest and best understood modification of general relativity, consisting of a real scalar field coupled directly to the Ricci scalar curvature. Models of this type have self-accelerating solutions. In an example inspired by string dilaton couplings, scalar-tensor gravity coupled to ordinary matter exhibits a de Sitter type expansion, even in the presence of a {\it negative} cosmological constant whose magnitude exceeds that of the matter density. This unusual behavior does not require phantoms, ghosts or other exotic sources. More generally, we show that any expansion history can be interpreted as arising partly or entirely from scalar-tensor gravity. To dist…