On the Picard-Fuchs Equations of N=2 Supersymmetric E_6 Yang-Mills Theory

We obtain the Picard-Fuchs equations of N=2 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory with the exceptional gauge group E_6. Such equations are based on E_6 spectral curve.Comment: Latex, 5 pages, few misprints are corrected, conclusion is adde

Spin Alignment of Dark Matter Halos: Mad Halos

We investigate the spin alignment of the dark matter halos by considering a mechanism somewhat similar to tidal locking. We dubbed it Tidal Locking Theory (TLT). While Tidal Torque Theory is responsible for the initial angular momentum of the dark matter halos, the Tidal locking Theory explains the angular momentum evolution during non-linear ages. Our previous work showed that close encounters between haloes could drastically change their angular momentum. The current manuscript argues that the tidal locking theory predicts partial alignment between speed and the spin direction for the large high-speed halos. To examine this prediction, we use the IllustrisTNG simulation and look for the alignment of the halos' rotation axis. We find that the excess probability of alignment between spin and speed is about 10 percent at $z=0$ for fast haloes; with velocities larger than twice the median. We show that tidal torque theory predicts that the spin of a halo tends to be aligned with the middle eigendirection of the tidal tensor. Moreover, we find that the halos at $z=10$ are preferentially aligned with the middle eigendirection of the tidal tensor with an excess probability of 15 percent. We show that tidal torque theory fails to predict correct alignment at $z=0$ while it works almost flawlessly at $z=10$.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure

Local Features with Large Spiky non-Gaussianities during Inflation

We provide a dynamical mechanism to generate localized features during inflation. The local feature is due to a sharp waterfall phase transition which is coupled to the inflaton field. The key effect is the contributions of waterfall quantum fluctuations which induce a sharp peak on the curvature perturbation which can be as large as the background curvature perturbation from inflaton field. Due to non-Gaussian nature of waterfall quantum fluctuations a large spike non-Gaussianity is produced which is narrowly peaked at modes which leave the Hubble radius at the time of phase transition. The large localized peaks in power spectrum and bispectrum can have interesting consequences on CMB anisotropies.Comment: 22 pages, 2 figure

Effects of Variable Newton Constant During Inflation

In this paper the effects of time-dependent Newton constant G during inflation are studied. We present the formalism of curvature perturbations in an inflationary system with a time-dependent Newton constant. As an example we consider a toy model in which G undergoes a sudden change during inflation. By imposing the appropriate matching conditions the imprints of this sharp change in G on curvature perturbation power spectrum are studied. We show that if G increases (decreases) during the transition the amplitude of curvature perturbations on large scales decreases (increases). In our model with a sudden change in G a continuous sinusoidal modulations on curvature power spectrum is induced. However, in a realistic scenario in which the change in G has some finite time scale we expect these sinusoidal modulations to be damped on short scales. The generated features may be used to explain the observed glitches on CMB power spectrum. This puts a bound on $\Delta G$ during inflation of roughly the same order as current bounds on $\Delta G$ during the entire observed age of the universe.Comment: 15 pages, 2 figures. Typos fixed, new references added, conforms with the journal versio

The Importance of Slow-roll Corrections During Multi-field Inflation

We re-examine the importance of slow-roll corrections during the evolution of cosmological perturbations in models of multi-field inflation. We find that in many instances the presence of light degrees of freedom leads to situations in which next to leading order slow-roll corrections become significant. Examples where we expect such corrections to be crucial include models in which modes exit the Hubble radius while the inflationary trajectory undergoes an abrupt turn in field space, or during a phase transition. We illustrate this with two examples -- hybrid inflation and double quadratic inflation. Utilizing both analytic estimates and full numerical results, we find that corrections can be as large as 20%. Our results have implications for many existing models in the literature, as these corrections must be included to obtain accurate observational predictions -- particularly given the level of accuracy expected from CMB experiments such as PlanckComment: v1: 21 pages, 3 figures, 1 appendix. v2: clarifications to {\S}{\S}2.1, 3.1 and 4, {\S}5.3 added, references added, results unchanged. Matches published version in JCA

Issues on Generating Primordial Anisotropies at the End of Inflation

We revisit the idea of generating primordial anisotropies at the end of inflation in models of inflation with gauge fields. To be specific we consider the charged hybrid inflation model where the waterfall field is charged under a U(1) gauge field so the surface of end of inflation is controlled both by inflaton and the gauge fields. Using delta N formalism properly we find that the anisotropies generated at the end of inflation from the gauge field fluctuations are exponentially suppressed on cosmological scales. This is because the gauge field evolves exponentially during inflation while in order to generate appreciable anisotropies at the end of inflation the spectator gauge field has to be frozen and scale invariant. We argue that this is a generic feature, that is, one can not generate observable anisotropies at the end of inflation within an FRW background.Comment: V3: new references added, JCAP published versio

Large-scale Perturbations from the Waterfall Field in Hybrid Inflation

We estimate large-scale curvature perturbations from isocurvature fluctuations in the waterfall field during hybrid inflation, in addition to the usual inflaton field perturbations. The tachyonic instability at the end of inflation leads to an explosive growth of super-Hubble scale perturbations, but they retain the steep blue spectrum characteristic of vacuum fluctuations in a massive field during inflation. The power spectrum thus peaks around the Hubble-horizon scale at the end of inflation. We extend the usual delta-N formalism to include the essential role of these small fluctuations when estimating the large-scale curvature perturbation. The resulting curvature perturbation due to fluctuations in the waterfall field is second-order and the spectrum is expected to be of order 10^{-54} on cosmological scales.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures; v2 comments added on application of delta-N formalism including Hubble scale fluctuation

Rehydration of air-dried cervical smears: An alternative to routine wet fixation

To prepare Pap smears, the routine practice is to fix the slides immediately in 95 ethanol. This study was performed to evaluate the possibility of routine use of alternative method of air-drying and rehydration prior to alcohol fixation instead of conventional method. Paired cervical smears with at least low cellularity were collected from 117 women who participated in the study. One set was labeled WF (wet fixed or fixed immediately in 95 ethanol) and the other one ARF (air-dried, rehydrated and fixed). The latter further split into 3 subgroups based on the duration of air-drying. The staining quality of the slides was assessed with respect to chromatin, nuclear and cytoplasmic borders, cytolysis, cellularity, cytoplasmic staining, and red blood cells lysis. Then they were graded blindly. The results were analyzed by Chi square test to compare the defined parameters between the 2 groups and also the 3 subgroups. ARF slides were significantly better with regard to clearance of background due to the lysis of red blood cells (P value, 0.000, x2 test; kappa, -0.27). No statistically significant differences were noted between two groups in terms of other cytologic features. Cytologic features of ARF slides were statistically identical to WF smears. However, red blood cells lysis rendered clearer background in ARF slides. Air-drying and rehydration of slides is a superior method for heavily blood stained smears and can be used at least with identical quality for routine practice. © 2007 Tehran University of Medical Sciences. All rights reserved