Related papers: Building a St\"uckelberg Portal
We propose to generalize the extensions of the Standard Model where the $Z$ boson serves as a mediator between the Standard Model sector and the dark sector $\chi$. We show that, like in the Higgs portal case, the combined constraints from…
As is well-known, Trinification, \ie, the extension of the Standard Model (SM) to $[SU(3)]^3=SU(3)_c\times SU(3)_L\times SU(3)_R$ as occurs in $E_6$ models, allows for a partial unification of the gauge forces even though quarks and leptons…
Little experimental data bears on the question of whether there is a spontaneously broken hidden sector that has no Standard Model quantum numbers. Here we discuss the prospects of finding evidence for such a hidden sector through…
Extra dimensions have proven to be a very useful tool in constructing new physics models. In earlier work, we began investigating toy models for the 5-D analog of the kinetic mixing/vector portal scenario where the interactions of dark…
We propose a minimal embedding of the Standard Model spectrum in a D-brane configuration of type I string theory. The SU(3) color and SU(2) weak interactions arise from two different collections of branes. The model is neither grand unified…
In some string compactifications, for instance the recently proposed KKLT set-up, light moduli are stabilized by nonperturbative effects at supersymmetric AdS vacuum which is lifted to a dS vacuum by supersymmetry breaking uplifting…
We apply the well-known Scherk-Schwarz supersymmetry breaking mechanism in an open string context. We construct a new Z_3\times Z_3^\prime model, containing only D9-branes, and rederive from a more geometric perspective the known…
The Cremmer-Scherk mechanism is generalised in a non-Abelian context. In the presence of the Higgs scalars of the standard model it is argued that fields arising from the low energy effective string action may contribute to the mass…
We present a model of supersymmetry breaking mediated through a small extra dimension. Standard model matter multiplets and a supersymmetry-breaking (or ``hidden'') sector are confined to opposite four-dimensional boundaries while gauge…
The non-perturbative dynamics of quantum field theories is studied using theoretical tools inspired by string formalism. Two main lines are developed: the analysis of stringy instantons in a class of four-dimensional N=2 gauge theories and…
In this paper we explore the possibility that the sterile neutrino and Dark Matter sectors in the Universe have a common origin. We study the consequences of this assumption in the simple case of coupling the dark sector to the Standard…
Dark matter from a hidden sector with SU($N$) gauge symmetry can have a nonabelian kinetic mixing portal with the standard model. The dark photon becomes massive in the confining phase without the need for spontaneous symmetry breaking.…
An appealing framework for dark matter is provided by light hidden sectors, below the electroweak scale, feebly coupled to the Standard Model via light mediators. We consider a minimal, predictive model where both the dark matter and the…
The MiniBooNE collaboration found evidence for the existence of sterile neutrinos, at a mass scale comparable to the active left-handed neutrinos. While sterile neutrinos arise naturally in large volume string scenarios, they are more…
We develop a new class of clockwork theories with an augmented structure of the near-neighbour interactions along a one-dimensional closed chain. Such a topology leads to new and attractive features in addition to generating light states…
We show that quantum systems of extended objects naturally give rise to a large class of exotic phases - namely topological phases. These phases occur when the extended objects, called ``string-nets'', become highly fluctuating and…
We consider supersymmetry breaking communicated entirely by the superconformal anomaly in supergravity. This scenario is naturally realized if supersymmetry is broken in a hidden sector whose couplings to the observable sector are…
Starting from the non-supersymmetric, tachyon-free orientifold of type 0 string theory, we construct four-dimensional brane world models with D6-branes intersecting at angles on internal tori. They support phenomenologically interesting…
We develop velocity-dependent models describing the evolution of string networks that involve several types of interacting strings, each with a different tension. These incorporate the formation of Y-type junctions with links stretching…
The minimal $U(1)_X$ extension of the Standard Model (SM) is a well-motivated new physics scenario, where anomaly cancellation dictates new neutral gauge boson ($Z^\prime$) couplings with the SM fermions in terms of the $U(1)_X$ charges of…