Physics with large extra dimensions

The recent understanding of string theory opens the possibility that the string scale can be as low as a few TeV. The apparent weakness of gravitational interactions can then be accounted by the existence of large internal dimensions, in the sub-millimeter region. Furthermore, our world must be confined to live on a brane transverse to these large dimensions, with which it interacts only gravitationally. In my lecture, I describe briefly this scenario which gives a new theoretical framework for solving the gauge hierarchy problem and the unification of all interactions. I also discuss a minimal embedding of the standard model, gauge coupling unification and proton stability. On leave from: Centre de Physique Théorique, Ecole Polytechnique, 91128 Palaiseau, Cedex, France.     

A search for fractional electric charge in sea water

The magnetic levitation technique has been used to test for fractional electric charge in sea water, using steel balls coated with sea water residue by evaporation. The objective was to reach concentration levels below 1 g^?1 which might result from cosmic ray interactions. Four stages of increasing sensitivity are reported: (1) residue from direct evaporation of unprocessed sea water, (2) residue from sea water samples enriched by ion exchangen, (3) residue reduced by high temperature evaporation, and (4) hypothetical enrichment by dilution and separation of soluble residue. Stages 1–3 are based on the generally accepted preferential retention of fractional charge during evaporation, but stage 4 limits are subject to uncertainties in the enrichment process. No evidence for fractional charge was found in a total of about 130 samples tested in these four stages. Samples containing positive and negative ions were tested separately, and concentration limits are reported for each of the stages. Levels in the region 0.01–0.1g^?1 were reached in stage 3, and 0.001 g^?1 in stage 4.     

Phosphinsubstituierte chelatliganden I. Mangan- und rheniumcarbonyl-komplexe mit phosphino-(thio)formamid- und -dithioformiat-liganden

A series of new tetracarbonyl and tricarbonyl complexes of manganese and rhenium with heteroallylic phosphine chelate ligands L  [XC(Y)PPh₂]^? and HXC-(Y)PPh₂ (X, Y  NR, O, S) were prepared by reaction of the appropriate metal carbonyl halides with the free ligands or their silyl intermediates. The silyl method yields both cis-(CO)₄ML and fac-(CO)₃M(X)L (X  Cl, Br) complexes by controlled addition of water. Analytical, spectroscopic and crystallographic data of the ambidentate thioformamide ligands result in a P,S-coordination in all complexes. The ¹³C NMR spectra of several selected compounds were recorded and reveal some unexpected features.     

New gauge anomalies and topological invariants in various dimensions

The very precise combined HERA data provides a testing ground in which the relevance of novel QCD regimes, other than the successful linear DGLAP evolution, in small-x inclusive DIS data can be ascertained. We present a study of the dependence of the AAMQS fits, based on the running coupling BK non-linear evolution equations (rcBK), on the fitted dataset. This allows for the identification of the kinematical region where rcBK accurately describes the data, and thus for the determination of its applicability boundary. We compare the rcBK results with NNLO DGLAP fits, obtained with the NNPDF methodology with analogous kinematical cuts. Further, we explore the impact on LHC phenomenology of applying stringent kinematical cuts to the low-x HERA data in a DGLAP fit.     

Eigenfunction expansions for infinite dimensional Ornstein-Uhlenbeck processes

Summary We give a general construction of infinite dimensional Ornstein-Uhlenbeck processes. We present expansions of these processes based on the expansion of the covariance operators in generalized eigenfunctions, and we answer positively some question left open by J.B. Walsh on properties of the hitting times of these processes.Partially supported by NSF-Grant MCS 8202045     

Short-range fundamental forces

We consider theoretical motivations to search for extra short-range fundamental forces as well as experiments constraining their parameters. The forces could be of two types: 1) spin-independent forces; 2) spin-dependent axion-like forces. Different experimental techniques are sensitive in respective ranges of characteristic distances. The techniques include measurements of gravity at short distances, searches for extra interactions on top of the Casimir force, precision atomic and neutron experiments. We focus on neutron constraints, thus the range of characteristic distances considered here corresponds to the range accessible for neutron experiments.