Supersymmetry on a Euclidean Spacetime Lattice I: A Target Theory with Four Supercharges

We formulate a Euclidean spacetime lattice whose continuum limit is (2,2) supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory in two dimensions, a theory which possesses four supercharges and an anomalous global chiral symmetry. The lattice action respects one exact supersymmetry, which allows the target theory to emerge in the continuum limit without fine-tuning. Our method exploits an orbifold construction described previously for spatial lattices in Minkowski space, and can be generalized to more complicated theories with additional supersymmetry and more spacetime dimensions

The gas metallicity gradient and the star formation activity of disc galaxies

We study oxygen abundance profiles of the gaseous disc components in simulated galaxies in a hierarchical universe. We analyse the disc metallicity gradients in relation to the stellar masses and star formation rates of the simulated galaxies. We find a trend for galaxies with low stellar masses to have steeper metallicity gradients than galaxies with high stellar masses at z ~0. We also detect that the gas-phase metallicity slopes and the specific star formation rate (sSFR) of our simulated disc galaxies are consistent with recently reported observations at z ~0. Simulated galaxies with high stellar masses reproduce the observed relationship at all analysed redshifts and have an increasing contribution of discs with positive metallicity slopes with increasing redshift. Simulated galaxies with low stellar masses a have larger fraction of negative metallicity gradients with increasing redshift. Simulated galaxies with positive or very negative metallicity slopes exhibit disturbed morphologies and/or have a close neighbour. We analyse the evolution of the slope of the oxygen profile and sSFR for a gas-rich galaxy-galaxy encounter, finding that this kind of events could generate either positive and negative gas-phase oxygen profiles depending on their state of evolution. Our results support claims that the determination of reliable metallicity gradients as a function of redshift is a key piece of information to understand galaxy formation and set constrains on the subgrid physics.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figures, accepted MNRA

Political competition and the limits of political compromise

We consider an economy where competing political parties alternate in office. Due to rent-seeking motives, incumbents have an incentive to set public expenditures above the socially optimum level. Parties cannot commit to future policies, but they can forge a political compromise where each party curbs excessive spending when in office if they expect future governments to do the same. We find that, if the government cannot manipulate state variables, more intense political competition fosters a compromise that yields better outcomes, potentially even the first best. By contrast, if the government can issue debt, vigorous political competition can render a compromise unsustainable and drive the economy to a low-welfare, high-debt, long-run trap. Our analysis thus suggests a legislative trade-off between restricting political competition and constraining the ability of governments to issue debt

Active Carboxylic Acid-Terminated Alkanethiol Self-Assembled Monolayers on Gold Bead Electrodes for Immobilization of Cytochromes c

It is extremely difficult to immobilize cytochrome c (cyt c) on carboxylic acid-terminated alkanethiol self-assembled monolayers (HOOC-SAM) on gold bead electrodes prepared in a hydrogen flame. We found that simple pretreatment of a HOOC-SAM/gold bead electrode by potential cycling in buffer solution in the range ±300 mV prior to immobilization of the protein facilitated stable cyt c binding to HOOC-SAMs. The stability of cyt c on the HOOC-SAMs is independent of the topology of the gold surface

Hilbert spaces and the pair correlation of zeros of the Riemann zeta-function

Montgomery's pair correlation conjecture predicts the asymptotic behavior of the function $N(T,\beta)$ defined to be the number of pairs $\gamma$ and $\gamma'$ of ordinates of nontrivial zeros of the Riemann zeta-function satisfying $0<\gamma,\gamma'\leq T$ and $0 < \gamma'-\gamma \leq 2\pi \beta/\log T$ as $T\to \infty$. In this paper, assuming the Riemann hypothesis, we prove upper and lower bounds for $N(T,\beta)$, for all $\beta >0$, using Montgomery's formula and some extremal functions of exponential type. These functions are optimal in the sense that they majorize and minorize the characteristic function of the interval $[-\beta, \beta]$ in a way to minimize the $L^1\big(\mathbb{R}, \big\{1 - \big(\frac{\sin \pi x}{\pi x}\big)^2 \big\}\,dx\big)$-error. We give a complete solution for this extremal problem using the framework of reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces of entire functions. This extends previous work by P. X. Gallagher in 1985, where the case $\beta \in \frac12 \mathbb{N}$ was considered using non-extremal majorants and minorants.Comment: to appear in J. Reine Angew. Mat

Long-term trends in tropical cyclone tracks around Korea and Japan in late summer and early fall

This study investigates long-term trends in tropical cyclones (TCs) over the extratropical western North Pacific (WNP) over a period of 35 years (1982-2016). The area analyzed extended across 30-45 degrees N and 120-150 degrees E, including the regions of Korea and Japan that were seriously affected by TCs. The northward migration of TCs over the WNP to the mid-latitudes showed a sharp increase in early fall. In addition, the duration of TCs over the WNP that migrated northwards showed an increase, specifically in early to mid-September. Therefore, more recently, TC tracks have been observed to significantly extend into the mid-latitudes. The recent northward extension of TC tracks over the WNP in early fall was observed to be associated with changes in environmental conditions that were favorable for TC activities, including an increase in sea surface temperature (SST), decrease in vertical wind shear, expansion of subtropical highs, strong easterly steering winds, and an increase in relative vorticity. In contrast, northward migrations of TCs to Korea and Japan showed a decline in late August, because of the presence of unfavorable environmental conditions for TC activities. These changes in environmental conditions, such as SST and vertical wind shear, can be partially associated with the Pacific decadal oscillation