Coulombic effects on fermion masses in models with standard model fields in large extra dimensions

We study the effects of Coulombic interactions between fermions in generic models with large extra dimensions in which standard model fields propagate. It is suggested that these interactions could help to explain (i) why the heaviest known fermion is a charge 2/3 quark, rather than a charge −1/3 quark or a lepton, (ii) why this fermion has a mass mt comparable to the electroweak symmetry breaking scale Mew and, (iii) the patterns mt⪢mb>mτ and mc⪢ms>mμ.