Noncommutative Vortex Solitons

We consider the noncommutative Abelian-Higgs theory and investigate general static vortex configurations including recently found exact multi-vortex solutions. In particular, we prove that the self-dual BPS solutions cease to exist once the noncommutativity scale exceeds a critical value. We then study the fluctuation spectra about the static configuration and show that the exact non BPS solutions are unstable below the critical value. We have identified the tachyonic degrees as well as massless moduli degrees. We then discuss the physical meaning of the moduli degrees and construct exact time-dependent vortex configurations where each vortex moves independently. We finally give the moduli description of the vortices and show that the matrix nature of moduli coordinates naturally emerges.Comment: 22 pages, 1 figure, typos corrected, a comment on the soliton size is adde

Elliptic supertube and a Bogomol'nyi-Prasad-Sommerfield D2-brane--anti-D2-brane Pair

An exact solution, in which a D2-brane and an anti-D2-brane are connected by an elliptically tubular D2-brane, is obtained without any junction condition. The solution is shown to preserve one quarter of the supersymmetries of the type-IIA Minkowski vacuum. We show that the configuration cannot be obtained by "blowing-up" from some inhomogeneously D0-charged superstrings. The BPS bound tells us that it is rather composed of D0-charged D2-brane-anti-D2-brane pair and a strip of superstrings connecting them. We obtain the correction to the charges of the string end points in the constant magnetic background.Comment: v3. 12 pages, journal version; title changed, length trimmed to fit for Rapid Communication forma

The Moduli Space of Noncommutative Vortices

The abelian Higgs model on the noncommutative plane admits both BPS vortices and non-BPS fluxons. After reviewing the properties of these solitons, we discuss several new aspects of the former. We solve the Bogomoln'yi equations perturbatively, to all orders in the inverse noncommutivity parameter, and show that the metric on the moduli space of k vortices reduces to the computation of the trace of a k-dimensional matrix. In the limit of large noncommutivity, we present an explicit expression for this metric.Comment: Invited contribution to special issue of J.Math.Phys. on "Integrability, Topological Solitons and Beyond"; 10 Pages, 1 Figure. v2: revision of history in introductio

Analytical treatment of critical collapse in 2+1 dimensional AdS spacetime: a toy model

We present an exact collapsing solution to 2+1 gravity with a negative cosmological constant minimally coupled to a massless scalar field, which exhibits physical properties making it a candidate critical solution. We discuss its global causal structure and its symmetries in relation with those of the corresponding continously self-similar solution derived in the $\Lambda=0$ case. Linear perturbations on this background lead to approximate black hole solutions. The critical exponent is found to be $\gamma = 2/5$.Comment: 22 pages, 6 figures. Major changes in the discussions of Sects. 2 and 5. The value of the critical exponent has been revised to \gamma = 2/

Dynamics of BPS States in the Dirac-Born-Infeld Theory

The Dirac-Born-Infeld action with transverse scalar fields is considered to study the dynamics of various BPS states. We first describe the characteristic properties of the so-called 1/2 and 1/4 BPS states on the D3 brane, which can be interpreted as F/D-strings ending on a D3-brane in Type IIB string theory picture. We then study the response of the BPS states to low energy excitations of massless fields on the brane, the scalar fields representing the shape fluctuation of the brane and U(1) gauge fields describing the open string excitations on the D-brane. This leads to an identification of interactions between BPS states including the static potentials and the kinetic interactions.Comment: 19 pages, 4 figures References added, Typographical errors are correcte

Janus within Janus

We found a simple and interesting generalization of the non-supersymmetric Janus solution in type IIB string theory. The Janus solution can be thought of as a thick AdS_d-sliced domain wall in AdS_{d+1} space. It turns out that the AdS_d-sliced domain wall can support its own AdS_{d-1}-sliced domain wall within it. Indeed this pattern persists further until it reaches the AdS_2-slice of the domain wall within self-similar AdS_{p (2<p\le d)}-sliced domain walls. In other words the solution represents a sequence of little Janus nested in the interface of the parent Janus according to a remarkably simple ``nesting'' rule. Via the AdS/CFT duality, the dual gauge theory description is in general an interface CFT of higher codimensions.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures, v2 references added. v3 eq.(3.33) correcte

Critical States in a Dissipative Sandpile Model

A directed dissipative sandpile model is studied in the two-dimension. Numerical results indicate that the long time steady states of this model are critical when grains are dropped only at the top or, everywhere. The critical behaviour is mean-field like. We discuss the role of infinite avalanches of dissipative models in periodic systems in determining the critical behaviour of same models in open systems.Comment: 4 pages (Revtex), 5 ps figures (included

Complete Supersymmetric Quantum Mechanics of Magnetic Monopoles in N=4 SYM Theory

We find the most general low energy dynamics of 1/2 BPS monopoles in the N=4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theories (SYM) when all six adjoint Higgs expectation values are turned on. When only one Higgs is turned on, the Lagrangian is purely kinetic. When all six are turned on, however, this moduli space dynamics is augmented by five independent potential terms, each in the form of half the squared norm of a Killing vector field on the moduli space. A generic stationary configuration of the monopoles can be interpreted as stable non BPS dyons, previously found as non-planar string webs connecting D3-branes. The supersymmetric extension is also found explicitly, and gives the complete quantum mechanics of monopoles in N=4 SYM theory. We explore its supersymmetry algebra.Comment: Errors in the SUSY algebra corrected. The version to appear in PR

Chaos in Sandpile Models

We have investigated the "weak chaos" exponent to see if it can be considered as a classification parameter of different sandpile models. Simulation results show that "weak chaos" exponent may be one of the characteristic exponents of the attractor of \textit{deterministic} models. We have shown that the (abelian) BTW sandpile model and the (non abelian) Zhang model posses different "weak chaos" exponents, so they may belong to different universality classes. We have also shown that \textit{stochasticity} destroys "weak chaos" exponents' effectiveness so it slows down the divergence of nearby configurations. Finally we show that getting off the critical point destroys this behavior of deterministic models.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figure

Unified Scaling Law for Earthquakes

We show that the distribution of waiting times between earthquakes occurring in California obeys a simple unified scaling law valid from tens of seconds to tens of years, see Eq. (1) and Fig. 4. The short time clustering, commonly referred to as aftershocks, is nothing but the short time limit of the general hierarchical properties of earthquakes. There is no unique operational way of distinguishing between main shocks and aftershocks. In the unified law, the Gutenberg-Richter b-value, the exponent -1 of the Omori law for aftershocks, and the fractal dimension d_f of earthquakes appear as critical indices.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure