It is shown that the SU(2) semilocal model--the Abelian Higgs model with two complex scalars--admits a new class of stationary, straight string solutions carrying a persistent current and having finite energy per unit length. In the plane orthogonal to their direction they correspond to a nontrivial deformation of the embedded Abrikosov-Nielsen-Olesen (ANO) vortices by the current flowing throu...

Jervell and Lange-Nielsen syndrome is an autosomal recessive hereditary condition that presents with cardiac abnormalities characterized by a prolonged Q-T electrocardiographic pattern and congenital severe-to-profound auditory deficits. This paper describes the auditory history of twin boys born out of consanguinity and diagnosed with this syndrome. Both infants were products of the neonatal i...

We review the quantum instability of the Savvidy-Nielsen-Olesen (SNO) vacuum of the one-loop effective action of SU(2) QCD, and point out a critical defect in the calculation of the functional determinant of the gluon loop in the SNO effective action. We prove that the gauge invariance, in particular the color reflection invariance, exclude the unstable tachyonic modes from the gluon loop integ...

We consider a large class of models where the SU(5) gauge symmetry and a Froggatt-Nielsen (FN) Abelian flavor symmetry arise from a U(5)×U(5) quiver gauge theory. An intriguing feature of these models is a relation between the gauge representation and the horizontal charge, leading to a restricted set of possible FN charges. Requiring that quark masses are hierarchical, the lepton flavor struct...

We consider the Froggatt-Nielsen (FN) mechanism reproducing the observed mass hierarchies and mixing angles for quarks and leptons. The large νμ-ντ mixing suggested from recent Superkamiokande experiments on the atmospheric neutrinos implies lopsided FN U(1) charges for the lepton doublets. There are two possible charge assignments to generate the large νμ-ντ mixing. We point out that the two m...

It is shown that the Ginsparg-Wilson relation implies an exact symmetry of the fermion action, which may be regarded as a lattice form of an infinitesimal chiral rotation. Using this result it is straightforward to construct lattice Yukawa models with unbroken flavour and chiral symmetries and no doubling of the fermion spectrum. A contradiction with the Nielsen-Ninomiya theorem is avoided, bec...

BACKGROUND The congenital long-QT syndrome (LQTS) is a genetically heterogeneous disease characterized by prolonged ventricular repolarization and life-threatening arrhythmias. Mutations of the KVLQT1 gene, a cardiac potassium channel, generate two allelic diseases: the Romano-Ward syndrome, inherited as a dominant trait, and the Jervell and Lange-Nielsen syndrome, inherited as an autosomal rec...