10,929 research outputs found
4d Conformal Field Theories and Strings on Orbifolds
We propose correspondences between 4d quantum field theories with N=2,1,0
(super)conformal invariance and Type IIB string theory on various orbifolds. We
argue using the spacetime string theory, and check using the beta functions
(exactly for N=2,1 and so far at 1-loop for the gauge couplings in the N=0
case), that these theories have conformal fixed lines. The latter case
potentially gives well-defined non-supersymmetric vacua of string theory, with
a mechanism for making the curvature and cosmological constant small at
nontrivial string coupling. We suggest a correspondence between
nonsupersymmetric conformal fixed lines and nonsupersymmetric string vacua with
vanishing vacuum energy.Comment: 11 pages, harvmac big. Reference adde
Ultrarelativistic boost of spinning black rings
We study the D=5 Emparan-Reall spinning black ring under an ultrarelativistic
boost along an arbitrary direction. We analytically determine the resulting
shock pp-wave, in particular for boosts along axes orthogonal and parallel to
the plane of rotation. The solution becomes physically more interesting and
simpler if one enforces equilibrium between the forces on the ring. We also
comment on the ultrarelativistic limit of recently found supersymmetric black
rings with two independent angular momenta. Essential distinct features with
respect to the boosted Myers-Perry black holes are pointed out.Comment: 15 pages, 2 figures. v2: added multipole expansions at spatial
infinity, and a comparison with the boosted Myers-Perry solution in a new
appendix. To appear in JHE
Vestibular heading discrimination and sensitivity to linear acceleration in head and world coordinates
Effective navigation and locomotion depend critically on an observer\u27s ability to judge direction of linear self-motion, i.e., heading. The vestibular cue to heading is the direction of inertial acceleration that accompanies transient linear movements. This cue is transduced by the otolith organs. The otoliths also respond to gravitational acceleration, so vestibular heading discrimination could depend on (1) the direction of movement in head coordinates (i.e., relative to the otoliths), (2) the direction of movement in world coordinates (i.e., relative to gravity), or (3) body orientation (i.e., the direction of gravity relative to the otoliths). To quantify these effects, we measured vestibular and visual discrimination of heading along azimuth and elevation dimensions with observers oriented both upright and side-down relative to gravity. We compared vestibular heading thresholds with corresponding measurements of sensitivity to linear motion along lateral and vertical axes of the head (coarse direction discrimination and amplitude discrimination). Neither heading nor coarse direction thresholds depended on movement direction in world coordinates, demonstrating that the nervous system compensates for gravity. Instead, they depended similarly on movement direction in head coordinates (better performance in the horizontal plane) and on body orientation (better performance in the upright orientation). Heading thresholds were correlated with, but significantly larger than, predictions based on sensitivity in the coarse discrimination task. Simulations of a neuron/anti-neuron pair with idealized cosine-tuning properties show that heading thresholds larger than those predicted from coarse direction discrimination could be accounted for by an amplitude-response nonlinearity in the neural representation of inertial motion
Density of non-residues in Burgess-type intervals and applications
We show that for any fixed \eps>0, there are numbers and with the following property: for every prime and every integer
such that p^{1/(4\sqrt{e})+\eps}\le N\le p, the sequence
contains at least quadratic non-residues modulo . We use this
result to obtain strong upper bounds on the sizes of the least quadratic
non-residues in Beatty and Piatetski--Shapiro sequences.Comment: In the new version we use an idea of Roger Heath-Brown (who is now a
co-author) to simply the proof and improve the main results of the previous
version, 14 page
The Number of States of Two Dimensional Critical String Theory
We discuss string theory vacua which have the wrong number of spacetime
dimensions, and give a crude argument that vacua with more than four large
dimensions are improbable. We then turn to two dimensional vacua, which naively
appear to violate Bekenstein's entropy principle. A classical analysis shows
that the naive perturbative counting of states is unjustified. All excited
states of the system have strong coupling singularities which prevent us from
concluding that they really exist. A speculative interpretation of the
classical solutions suggests only a finite number of states will be found in
regions bounded by a finite area. We also argue that the vacuum degeneracy of
two dimensional classical string theory is removed in quantum mechanics. The
system appears to be in a Kosterlitz-Thouless phase. This leads to the
conclusion that it is also improbable to have only two large spacetime
dimensions in string theory. However, we note that, unlike our argument for
high dimensions, our conclusions about the ground state have neglected two
dimensional quantum gravitational effects, and are at best incomplete.Comment: 12 pages, harvma
Matrix Theory Description of Schwarzschild Black Holes in the Regime N >> S
We study the description of Schwarzschild black holes, of entropy S, within
matrix theory in the regime . We obtain the most general matrix
theory equation of state by requiring that black holes admit a description
within this theory. It has a recognisable form in various cases. In some cases
a D dimensional black hole can plausibly be thought of as a
dimensional black hole, described by another auxiliary matrix theory, but in
its regime. We find what appears to be a matrix theory
generalisation to higher dynamical branes of the normalisation of dynamical
string tension, seen in other contexts. We discuss a further possible
generalisation of the matrix theory equation of state. In a special case, it is
governed by dynamical degrees of freedom.Comment: 22 pages. Latex fil
Effect of charged partons on black hole production at the Large Hadron Collider
The cross section for black hole production in hadron colliders is calculated
using a factorization hypothesis in which the parton-level process is
integrated over the parton density functions of the protons. The mass, spin,
charge, colour, and finite size of the partons are usually ignored. We examine
the effects of parton electric charge on black hole production using the
trapped-surface approach of general relativity. Accounting for electric charge
of the partons could reduce the black hole cross section by one to four orders
of magnitude at the Large Hadron Collider. The cross section results are
sensitive to the Standard Model brane thickness. Lower limits on the amount of
energy trapped behind the event horizon in the collision of charged particles
are also calculated.Comment: corrected typo in figure 1b; added some clarification in 3 places; 21
pages, 9 figures, JHEP3 forma
Nonsingular Black Hole Evaporation and ``Stable'' Remnants
We examine the evaporation of two--dimensional black holes, the classical
space--times of which are extended geometries, like for example the
two--dimensional section of the extremal Reissner--Nordstrom black hole. We
find that the evaporation in two particular models proceeds to a stable
end--point. This should represent the generic behavior of a certain class of
two--dimensional dilaton--gravity models. There are two distinct regimes
depending on whether the back--reaction is weak or strong in a certain sense.
When the back--reaction is weak, evaporation proceeds via an adiabatic
evolution, whereas for strong back--reaction, the decay proceeds in a somewhat
surprising manner. Although information loss is inevitable in these models at
the semi--classical level, it is rather benign, in that the information is
stored in another asymptotic region.Comment: 23 pages, 6 figures, harvmac and epsf, RU-93-12, PUPT-1399,
NSF-ITP-93-5
Is There A String Theory Landscape
We examine recent claims of a large set of flux compactification solutions of
string theory. We conclude that the arguments for AdS solutions are plausible.
The analysis of meta-stable dS solutions inevitably leads to situations where
long distance effective field theory breaks down. We then examine whether these
solutions are likely to lead to a description of the real world. We conclude
that one must invoke a strong version of the anthropic principle. We explain
why it is likely that this leads to a prediction of low energy supersymmetry
breaking, but that many features of anthropically selected flux
compactifications are likely to disagree with experiment.Comment: 39 pages, Latex, ``Terminology surrounding the anthropic principle
revised to conform with accepted usage. More history of the anthropic
principle included. Various references added.
Measurement of beam divergence of 30-centimeter dished grids
The beam divergence of a 30-centimeter diameter thruster with dished grids was calculated from current densities measured with a probe rake containing seventeen planar molybdenum probes. The measured data were analyzed as a function of a number of parameters. The most sensitive parameters were the amount of compensation of the accelerator grid and the ratio of net to total accelerating voltage. The thrust losses were reduced by over 5 percent with the use of compensated grids alone, and by variation of other parameters the overall thrust losses due to beam divergence were reduced to less than 2 percent
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