Absence of a metallicity effect for ultra-short-period planets

Ultra-short-period (USP) planets are a newly recognized class of planets with periods shorter than one day and radii smaller than about 2 Earth radii. It has been proposed that USP planets are the solid cores of hot Jupiters that lost their gaseous envelopes due to photo-evaporation or Roche lobe overflow. We test this hypothesis by asking whether USP planets are associated with metal-rich stars, as has long been observed for hot Jupiters. We find the metallicity distributions of USP-planet and hot-Jupiter hosts to be significantly different ($p = 3\times 10^{-4}$), based on Keck spectroscopy of Kepler stars. Evidently, the sample of USP planets is not dominated by the evaporated cores of hot Jupiters. The metallicity distribution of stars with USP planets is indistinguishable from that of stars with short-period planets with sizes between 2--4~$R_\oplus$. Thus it remains possible that the USP planets are the solid cores of formerly gaseous planets smaller than Neptune.Comment: AJ, in pres

New N=5,6, 3D gauged supergravities and holography

We study $N=5$ gauged supergravity in three dimensions with compact, non-compact and non-semisimple gauge groups. The theory under consideration is of Chern-Simons type with $USp(4,k)/USp(4)\times USp(k)$ scalar manifold. We classify possible semisimple gauge groups of the $k=2,4$ cases and identify some of their critical points. A number of supersymmetric $AdS_3$ critical points are found, and holographic RG flows interpolating between these critical points are also investigated. As one of our main results, we consider a non-semisimple gauge group $SO(5)\ltimes \mathbf{T}^{10}$ for the theory with $USp(4,4)/USp(4)\times USp(4)$ scalar manifold. The resulting theory describes $N=5$ gauged supergravity in four dimensions reduced on $S^1/\mathbb{Z}_2$ and admits a maximally supersymmetric $AdS_3$ critical point with $Osp(5|2,\mathbb{R})\times Sp(2,\mathbb{R})$ superconformal symmetry. We end the paper with the construction of $SO(6)\ltimes \mathbf{T}^{15}$ gauged supergravity with $N=6$ supersymmetry. The theory admits a half-supersymmetric domain wall as a vacuum solution and may be obtained from an $S^1/\mathbb{Z}_2$ reduction of $N=6$ gauged supergravity in four dimensions.Comment: 35 pages, 1 figur

Structure-based analysis of the ultraspiracle protein and docking studies of putative ligands

The ultraspiracle protein (USP) is the insect ortholog of the mammalian retinoid X receptor (RXR). Fundamental questions concern the functional role of USP as the heterodimerization partner of insect nuclear receptors such as the ecdysone receptor. The crystallographic structures of the ligand binding domain of USPs of Heliothis virescens and Drosophila melanogaster solved recently show that helix 12 is locked in an antagonist conformation raising the question whether USPs could adopt an agonist conformation as observed in RXRα. In order to investigate this hypothesis, a homology model for USP is proposed that allows a structural analysis of the agonist conformation of helix 12 based on the sequence comparison with RXR. For USP, one of the main issues concerns its function and in particular whether its activity is ligand independent or not. The x-ray structures strongly suggest that USP can bind ligands. Putative ligands have therefore been docked in the USP homology model. Juvenile hormones and juvenile hormone analogs were chosen as target ligands for the docking study. The interaction between the ligand and the receptor are examined in terms of the pocket shape as well as in terms of the chemical nature of the residues lining the ligand binding cavity

USp(2k) Matrix Model

We review the construction and theoretical implications of the USp(2k) matrix model in zero dimension introduced in ref. \cite{IT1,IT2}. It is argued that the model provides a constructive approach to Type I superstrings and is at the same time dynamical theory of spacetime points. Three subjects are discussed : semiclassical pictures and series of degenerate perturbative vacua associated with the worldvolume representation of the model, the formation of extended (D-)objects from the fermionic integrations via the (non-)abelian Berry phase, and the Schwinger-Dyson/loop equations which exhibit the joining-splitting interactions required. Lectures presented at the 13th Nishinomiya-Yukawa Memorial Symposium ``Dynamics of Fields and Strings'' (November 12-13,1998) and at the YITP workshop (November 16-18, 1998).Comment: 32 pages, Latex with PTPTex.sty, 16 epsf figure

Anomaly Cancellations in the Type I D9-anti-D9 System and the USp(32) String Theory

We check some consistency conditions for the D9-anti-D9 system in type I string theory. The gravitational anomaly and gauge anomaly for SO(n) x SO(m) gauge symmetry are shown to be cancelled when n-m=32. In addition, we find that a string theory with USp(n) x USp(m) gauge symmetry also satisfies the anomaly cancellation conditions. After tachyon condensation, the theory reduces to a tachyon-free USp(32) string theory, though there is no spacetime supersymmetry.Comment: 17 pages + 10 eps figures, LaTeX; minor corrections, reference added, version to appear in Prog. Theor. Phy

Comments on the twisted punctures of AevenA_\text{even} class S theory

We point out that the $\text{USp}$ symmetry associated to a full twisted puncture of a class S theory of type $A_\text{even}$ has the global anomaly associated to $\pi_4(\text{USp})=\mathbb{Z}_2$. We discuss manifestations of this fact in the context of the superconformal field theory $R_{2,2N}$ introduced by Chacaltana, Distler and Trimm. For example, we find that this theory can be thought of as a natural ultraviolet completion of an infrared-free $\text{SO}(2N+1)$ gauge theory with $2N$ flavors, whose $\text{USp}(4N)$ symmetry clearly has the global anomaly.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figures; v2: minor change

Orientifold 4-plane in brane configurations and N=4 USp(2Nc) and SO(Nc) theory

We consider brane configurations in elliptic models which represent softly broken N=4 USp(2 N_c) and SO(N_c) theory. We generalize the notion of the O4 plane, so that it is compatible with the symmetry in the covering space of the elliptic models. By using this notion of the O4 plane, we find the curve for softly broken N=4 USp(2 N_c) and that for SO(N_c) theory as infinite series expansions. For the USp case, we can present the expansion as a polynomial.Comment: LATeX, 19 pages, 3 figures, The SO(2N_c+1) case is added and the Title is changed. A footnote is changed. Typo errors are correcte