Generalized polarizabilities and the spin-averaged amplitude in virtual Compton scattering off the nucleon

We discuss the low-energy behavior of the spin-averaged amplitude of virtual Compton scattering (VCS) off a nucleon. Based on gauge invariance, Lorentz invariance and the discrete symmetries, it is shown that to first order in the frequency of the final real photon only two generalized polarizabilities appear. Different low-energy expansion schemes are discussed and put into perspective.Comment: 13 pages, 1 postscript figure, Revtex using eps

Scales of Fermion Mass Generation and Electroweak Symmetry Breaking

The scale of mass generation for fermions (including neutrinos) and the scale for electroweak symmetry breaking (EWSB) can be bounded from above by the unitarity of scattering involving longitudinal weak gauge bosons or their corresponding would-be Goldstone bosons. Including the exact n-body phase space we analyze the 2 --> n ($n \geq 2$) processes for the fermion-(anti)fermion scattering into multiple gauge boson final states. Contrary to naive energy power counting, we demonstrate that as $n$ becomes large, the competition between an increasing energy factor and a phase-space suppression leads to a {\it strong new upper bound} on the scale of fermion mass generation at a finite value $n=n_s$, which is {\it independent of the EWSB scale,} $v = (\sqrt{2}G_F)^{-1/2}$. For quarks, leptons and Majorana neutrinos, the strongest 2 --> n limits range from about 3TeV to 130-170TeV (with $2\lesssim n_s \lesssim 24$), depending on the measured fermion masses. Strikingly, given the tiny neutrino masses as constrained by the neutrino oscillations, neutrinoless double-beta decays and astrophysical observations, the unitarity violation of $\nu_L\nu_L\to nW_L^a$ scattering actually occurs at a scale no higher than ~170 TeV. Implications for various mechanisms of neutrino mass generation are analyzed. On the other hand, for the 2 --> n pure Goldstone-boson scattering, we find that the decreasing phase space factor always dominates over the growing overall energy factor when $n$ becomes large, so that the best unitarity bound on the scale of EWSB remains at n=2.Comment: 67pp, to match PRD (minor typos fixed

Can Light Signals Travel Faster than c in Nontrivial Vacuua in Flat space-time? Relativistic Causality II

In this paper we show that the Scharnhorst effect (Vacuum with boundaries or a Casimir type vacuum) cannot be used to generate signals showing measurable faster-than-c speeds. Furthermore, we aim to show that the Scharnhorst effect would violate special relativity, by allowing for a variable speed of light in vacuum, unless one can specify a small invariant length scale. This invariant length scale would be agreed upon by all inertial observers. We hypothesize the approximate scale of the invariant length.Comment: 12 pages no figure

Thermal Effects in Low-Temperature QED

QED is studied at low temperature ($T\ll m$, where $m$ is the electron mass) and zero chemical potential. By integrating out the electron field and the nonzero bosonic Matsubara modes, we construct an effective three-dimensional field theory that is valid at distances $R\gg1/T$. As applications, we reproduce the ring-improved free energy and calculate the Debye mass to order $e^5$.Comment: 20 pages, 4 figures, revte

Casimir energy of a dilute dielectric ball with uniform velocity of light at finite temperature

The Casimir energy, free energy and Casimir force are evaluated, at arbitrary finite temperature, for a dilute dielectric ball with uniform velocity of light inside the ball and in the surrounding medium. In particular, we investigate the classical limit at high temperature. The Casimir force found is repulsive, as in previous calculations.Comment: 15 pages, 1 figur

Superluminal pions in a hadronic fluid

We study the propagation of pions at finite temperature and finite chemical potential in the framework of the linear sigma model with 2 quark flavors and $N_c$ colors. The velocity of massless pions in general differs from that of light. One-loop calculations show that in the chiral symmetry broken phase pions, under certain conditions, propagate faster than light.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures included. Considerably revised, discussions expanded, one figure added, typos corrected, results unchanged. To be published in Phys. Rev.

Adenylate cyclase A acting on PKA mediates induction of stalk formation by cyclic diguanylate at the <i>Dictyostelium</i> organizer

Coordination of cell movement with cell differentiation is a major feat of embryonic development. The Dictyostelium stalk always forms at the organizing tip, by a mechanism that is not understood. We previously reported that cyclic diguanylate (c-di-GMP), synthesized by diguanylate cyclase A (DgcA), induces stalk formation. Here we used transcriptional profiling of dgca− structures to identify target genes for c-di-GMP, and used these genes to investigate the c-di-GMP signal transduction pathway. We found that knockdown of cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA) activity in prestalk cells reduced stalk gene induction by c-di-GMP, whereas PKA activation bypassed the c-di-GMP requirement for stalk gene expression. c-di-GMP caused a persistent increase in cAMP, which still occurred in mutants lacking the adenylate cyclases ACG or ACR, or the cAMP phosphodiesterase RegA. However, both inhibition of adenylate cyclase A (ACA) with SQ22536 and incubation of a temperature-sensitive ACA mutant at the restrictive temperature prevented c-di-GMP–induced cAMP synthesis as well as c-di-GMP–induced stalk gene transcription. ACA produces the cAMP pulses that coordinate Dictyostelium morphogenetic cell movement and is highly expressed at the organizing tip. The stalk-less dgca− mutant regained its stalk by expression of a light-activated adenylate cyclase from the ACA promoter and exposure to light, indicating that cAMP is also the intermediate for c-di-GMP in vivo. Our data show that the more widely expressed DgcA activates tip-expressed ACA, which then acts on PKA to induce stalk genes. These results explain why stalk formation in Dictyostelia always initiates at the site of the morphogenetic organizer

Randomised Evaluation of Modified Valsalva Effectiveness in Re-Entrant Tachycardias (REVERT)

Conference posterThe Valsalva manoeuvre is an internationally recommended physical emergency treatment for supraventricular tachycardia (SVT), an abnormal fast heart rhythm. However in normal practice, the manoeuvre only works in 5–20% of cases and intravenous treatment with adenosine is required. This drug causes a pause in heart activity which patients often find very distressing. A simple posture modification to the Valsalva manoeuvre could improve its effectiveness and we carried out a randomised controlled trial to assess whether it could increase the rate of cardioversion and reduce use of adenosine.REVERT is funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) through its Research for Patient Benefit (RfPB) Programme: Grant Reference Number PB-PG-0211-24145. The study has been approved by the South West Exeter Research Ethics Committee, is registered with Current Controlled Trials (ISRCTN67937027) and has been adopted by the NIHR Clinical Research Network