Stability Walls in Heterotic Theories

We study the sub-structure of the heterotic Kahler moduli space due to the presence of non-Abelian internal gauge fields from the perspective of the four-dimensional effective theory. Internal gauge fields can be supersymmetric in some regions of the Kahler moduli space but break supersymmetry in others. In the context of the four-dimensional theory, we investigate what happens when the Kahler moduli are changed from the supersymmetric to the non-supersymmetric region. Our results provide a low-energy description of supersymmetry breaking by internal gauge fields as well as a physical picture for the mathematical notion of bundle stability. Specifically, we find that at the transition between the two regions an additional anomalous U(1) symmetry appears under which some of the states in the low-energy theory acquire charges. We compute the associated D-term contribution to the four-dimensional potential which contains a Kahler-moduli dependent Fayet-Iliopoulos term and contributions from the charged states. We show that this D-term correctly reproduces the expected physics. Several mathematical conclusions concerning vector bundle stability are drawn from our arguments. We also discuss possible physical applications of our results to heterotic model building and moduli stabilization.Comment: 37 pages, 4 figure

Vector current conservation and neutrino emission from singlet-paired baryons in neutron stars

Neutrino emission caused by singlet Cooper pairing of baryons in neutron stars is recalculated by accurately taking into account for conservation of the vector weak currents. The neutrino emissivity via the vector weak currents is found to be several orders of magnitude smaller than that obtained before by different authors. This makes unimportant the neutrino radiation from singlet pairing of protons or hyperons.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figur

Yukawa Couplings in Heterotic Compactification

We present a practical, algebraic method for efficiently calculating the Yukawa couplings of a large class of heterotic compactifications on Calabi-Yau three-folds with non-standard embeddings. Our methodology covers all of, though is not restricted to, the recently classified positive monads over favourable complete intersection Calabi-Yau three-folds. Since the algorithm is based on manipulating polynomials it can be easily implemented on a computer. This makes the automated investigation of Yukawa couplings for large classes of smooth heterotic compactifications a viable possibility.Comment: 38 page

Confinement of Spin and Charge in High-Temperature Superconductors

By exploiting the internal gauge-invariance intrinsic to a spin-charge separated electron, we show that such degrees of freedom must be confined in two-dimensional superconductors experiencing strong inter-electron repulsion. We also demonstrate that incipient confinement in the normal state can prevent chiral spin-fluctuations from destroying the cross-over between strange and psuedo-gap regimes in under-doped high-temperature superconductors. Last, we suggest that the negative Hall anomaly observed in these materials is connected with this confinement effect.Comment: 12 pages, 1 postscript figure, to appear in PRB (RC), May 199

Singularities in the Fermi liquid description of a partially filled Landau level and the energy gaps of fractional quantum Hall states

We consider a two dimensional electron system in an external magnetic field at and near an even denominator Landau level filling fraction. Using a fermionic Chern--Simons approach we study the description of the system's low energy excitations within an extension of Landau's Fermi liquid theory. We calculate perturbatively the effective mass and the quasi--particle interaction function characterizing this description. We find that at an even denominator filling fraction the fermion's effective mass diverges logarithmically at the Fermi level, and argue that this divergence allows for an {\it exact} calculation of the energy gaps of the fractional quantized Hall states asymptotically approaching these filling fractions. We find that the quasi--particle interaction function approaches a delta function. This singular behavior leads to a cancelation of the diverging effective mass from the long wavelength low frequency linear response functions at even denominator filling fractions.Comment: 46 pages, RevTeX, 5 figures included in a uuencoded postscript file. Minor revisions relative to the original version. The paper will be published in the Physical Review B, and can be retrieved from the World Wide Web, in http://cmtw.harvard.edu/~ster

On the Spin Gap Phase of Strongly-Correlated Electrons

We discuss the possible existence of a spin-gap phase in the low-doping regime of strongly-correlated two-dimensional electrons within the gauge field description of the t-J model. The spin-gap phase was recently shown by Ubbens and Lee to be destroyed by gauge field quantum fluctuations for a single-layer 2D system in the absence of disorder and for a full gap. We show that the same conclusion applies both in the dirty limit and for the case of a gapless spinon condensate.Comment: 7 pages, uuencoded Postscript, including 1 figur

Early-Holocene warming in Beringia and its mediation by sea-level and vegetation changes

Arctic land-cover changes induced by recent global climate change (e.g., expansion of woody vegetation into tundra and effects of permafrost degradation) are expected to generate further feedbacks to the climate system. Past changes can be used to assess our understanding of feedback mechanisms through a combination of process modelling and paleo-observations. The sub-continental region of Beringia (Northeast Siberia, Alaska, and northwestern Canada) was largely ice-free at the peak of deglacial warming and experienced both major vegetation change and loss of permafrost when many arctic regions were still ice covered. The evolution of Beringian climate at this time was largely driven by global features, such as the amplified seasonal cycle of Northern Hemisphere insolation and changes in global ice volume and atmospheric composition, but changes in regional land-surface controls, such as the widespread development of thaw lakes, the replacement of tundra by deciduous forest or woodland, and the flooding of the Bering–Chukchi land bridge, were probably also important. We examined the sensitivity of Beringia’s early Holocene climate to these regional-scale controls using a regional climate model (RegCM). Lateral and oceanic boundary conditions were provided by global climate simulations conducted using the GENESIS V2.01 atmospheric general circulation model (AGCM) with a mixed-layer ocean. We carried out two present day simulations of regional climate, one with modern and one with 11 ka geography, plus another simulation for 6 ka. In addition, we performed five ? 11 ka climate simulations, each driven by the same global AGCM boundary conditions: (i) 11 ka “Control”, which represents conditions just prior to the major transitions (exposed land bridge, no thaw lakes or wetlands, widespread tundra vegetation), (ii) sea-level rise, which employed present day continental outlines, (iii) vegetation change, with deciduous needleleaf and deciduous broadleaf boreal vegetation types distributed as suggested by the paleoecological record, (iv) thaw lakes, which used the present day distribution of lakes and wetlands; and (v) post-11 ka “All”, incorporating all boundary conditions changed in experiments (ii)–(iv). We find that regional-scale controls strongly mediate the climate responses to changes in the large-scale controls, amplifying them in some cases, damping them in others, and, overall, generating considerable spatial heterogeneity in the simulated climate changes. The change from tundra to deciduous woodland produces additional widespread warming in spring and early summer over that induced by the 11 ka insolation regime alone, and lakes and wetlands produce modest and localized cooling in summer and warming in winter. The greatest effect is the flooding of the land bridge and shelves, which produces generally cooler conditions in summer but warmer conditions in winter and is most clearly manifest on the flooded shelves and in eastern Beringia. By 6 ka continued amplification of the seasonal cycle of insolation and loss of the Laurentide ice sheet produce temperatures similar to or higher than those at 11 ka, plus a longer growing season

Mean field approach to antiferromagnetic domains in the doped Hubbard model

We present a restricted path integral approach to the 2D and 3D repulsive Hubbard model. In this approach the partition function is approximated by restricting the summation over all states to a (small) subclass which is chosen such as to well represent the important states. This procedure generalizes mean field theory and can be systematically improved by including more states or fluctuations. We analyze in detail the simplest of these approximations which corresponds to summing over states with local antiferromagnetic (AF) order. If in the states considered the AF order changes sufficiently little in space and time, the path integral becomes a finite dimensional integral for which the saddle point evaluation is exact. This leads to generalized mean field equations allowing for the possibility of more than one relevant saddle points. In a big parameter regime (both in temperature and filling), we find that this integral has {\em two} relevant saddle points, one corresponding to finite AF order and the other without. These degenerate saddle points describe a phase of AF ordered fermions coexisting with free, metallic fermions. We argue that this mixed phase is a simple mean field description of a variety of possible inhomogeneous states, appropriate on length scales where these states appear homogeneous. We sketch systematic refinements of this approximation which can give more detailed descriptions of the system.Comment: 14 pages RevTex, 6 postscript figures included using eps

The B-L/Electroweak Hierarchy in Heterotic String and M-Theory

E8 x E8 heterotic string and M-theory, when compactified on a Calabi-Yau threefold admitting an SU(4) vector bundle with Wilson lines, can give rise to the exact MSSM spectrum with three right-handed neutrino chiral superields, one per family. Rank preserving Wilson lines require that the standard model group be augmented by a gauged U(1)_B-L. Since there are no fields in this theory for which 3(B-L) is an even, non-zero integer, the gauged B-L symmetry must be spontaneously broken at a low scale, not too far above the electroweak scale. It is shown that in these heterotic standard models, the B-L symmetry can be broken, with a phenomenologically viable B-L/electroweak hierarchy, by at least one right-handed sneutrino acquiring a vacuum expectation value. This is explicitly demonstrated, in a specific region of parameter space, using a renormalization group analysis and soft supersymmetry breaking operators. The vacuum state is shown to be a stable, local minimum of the potential and the resultant hierarchy is explicitly presented in terms of tan[beta].Comment: 16 pages; typos fixed, analysis generalize

Conductivity sum rule, implication for in-plane dynamics and c-axis response

Recently observed $c$-axis optical sum rule violations indicate non-Fermi liquid in-plane behavior. For coherent $c$-axis coupling, the observed flat, nearly frequency independent $c$-axis conductivity $\sigma_{1}(\omega)$ implies a large in-plane scattering rate $\Gamma$ around $(0,\pi)$ and therefore any pseudogap that might form at low frequency in the normal state will be smeared. On the other hand incoherent $c$-axis coupling places no restriction on the value of $\Gamma$ and gives a more consistent picture of the observed sum rule violation which, we find in some cases, can be less than half.Comment: 3 figures. To appear in PR