Arturo Avelino, Robert P. Kirshner, (2) Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation)

We present the interesting coincidence of cosmology and astrophysics that points toward a dimensionless age of the universe H_0*t_0 that is close to one. Despite cosmic deceleration for 9 Gyr and acceleration since then, we find H_0t*_0 = 0.96 +/- 0.01 for the LCDM model that fits SN Ia data from Pan-STARRS, CMB power spectra, and baryon acoustic oscillations. Similarly, astrophysical measures of stellar ages and the Hubble constant derived from redshifts and distances point to H_0*t ~ 1.0 +/- 0.1$. The wide range of possible values for H_0*t_0 realized during comic evolution means that we live at what appears to be a special time. This "synchronicity problem" is not precisely the same as the usual Coincidence problem because there are combinations of Omega_Matter and Omega_Lambda for which the usual coincidence problem holds but for which H_0*t_0 is not close to 1.

A. Bourgoin, A. Hees, C. Le Poncin-Lafitte, G. Francou, M.-C. Francou

Lorentz symmetry violations can be parametrized by an effective field theory framework that contains both General Relativity (GR) and the Standard Model of particle physics called the Standard-Model Extension (SME). We present new constraints on pure gravity SME coefficients obtained by analyzing Lunar Laser Ranging (LLR) observations. We use a new numerical lunar ephemeris computed in the SME framework and we perform a LLR data analysis using a set of 20721 normal points covering the period August 1969 to December 2013. We emphasize that linear combination of SME coefficients to which LLR data are sensitive are not the same as those fitted in previous post-fit residuals analysis using LLR observations and based on theoretical grounds. We found no evidence for Lorentz violation at the level of $10^{-8}$ for $\bar{s}^{TX}$, $10^{-12}$ for $\bar{s}^{XY}$ and $\bar{s}^{XZ}$, $10^{-11}$ for $\bar{s}^{XX}-\bar{s}^{YY}$ and $\bar{s}^{XX}+\bar{s}^{YY}-2\bar{s}^{ZZ}-0.045\bar{s}^{YZ}$ and $10^{-9}$ for $\bar{s}^{TY}+0.43\bar{s}^{TZ}$. We improve previous constraints on SME coefficient by a factor up to 5 and 800 compared to post-fit residuals analysis of respectively binary pulsars and LLR observations.

Pavel Fileviez Perez, Clara Murgui, Sebastian Ohmer

We propose a simple left-right symmetric theory where the neutrino masses are generated at the quantum level. In this context the neutrinos are Majorana fermions and the model has the minimal degrees of freedom in the scalar sector needed for symmetry breaking and mass generation. We discuss the lepton number violating signatures with two charged leptons of different flavor and missing energy at the Large Hadron Collider in order to understand the testability of the theory.