Orientifolds and duality cascades: confinement before the wall

We consider D-branes at orientifold singularities and discuss two properties of the corresponding low energy four-dimensional effective theories which are not shared, generically, by other Calabi-Yau singularities. The first property is that duality cascades are finite and, unlike ordinary ones, do not require an infinite number of degrees of freedom to be UV-completed. The second is that orientifolds tend to stabilize runaway directions. These two properties can have interesting implications and widen in an intriguing way the variety of gauge theories one can describe using D-branes

A comparison of four different methods to estimate population size of Alpine marmot (Marmota marmota)

Obtaining reliable information on animal abundance in mountainous landscapes is challenging. Highly heterogeneous habitats tend to reduce detection probabilities, and the three-dimensional, rugged nature of the terrain poses severe limits to the fulfilment of a number of assumptions underlying several statistical methods. In this study, we aimed to compare the performance of 4 different methods to estimate population size of Alpine marmot (Marmota marmota), a highly social semifossorial rodent widely distributed on the European Alps. Between May and August 2015, in a study area within the Stelvio National Park (Italy) we conducted 8 sessions of capture-mark-recapture, 6 sessions of mark-resight from vantage points, 8 sessions of line distance sampling along 4 transects, and 2 sessions using double-observer methods from vantage points. The minimum number of animals alive, obtained during the mark-resight surveys, was n=54 individuals. Capture-mark-recapture models estimated a population size of n=56 individuals [95% CI (45,87)]; similar, but more precise estimates were obtained with the mark-resight approach {Bowden’s estimator: n=62 [95% CI (54,71)]; Poisson log-normal estimator: n=62 [95% CI (55,69)]}. Line distance sampling and double-observer methods were severely biased low {Line distance sampling: n=24 individuals [95% CI (19,31)]; Independent double-observer: n=24 [95% CI (22, 35)]; Dependent double-observer: n=15 [95% CI (15,20)]}. Our results suggest that the probabilistic approach based on marked individuals yielded fairly robust estimates of population size. The underestimates obtained using distance sampling and double-observer methods were likely due to the violation of some underlying assumptions. While the topography of the mountainous landscape makes it difficult to randomize the sampling scheme, the semifossorial behaviour of the target species is likely to lower the detection probabilities and violate the assumption of perfect detection on the transect

Regular R-R and NS-NS BPS black holes

We show in a precise group theoretical fashion how the generating solution of regular BPS black holes of N=8 supergravity, which is known to be a solution also of a simpler N=2 STU model truncation, can be characterized as NS-NS or R-R charged according to the way the corresponding STU model is embedded in the original N=8 theory. Of particular interest is the class of embeddings which yield regular BPS black hole solutions carrying only R-R charge and whose microscopic description can possibly be given in terms of bound states of D-branes only. The microscopic interpretation of the bosonic fields in this class of STU models relies on the solvable Lie algebra (SLA) method. In the present article we improve this mathematical technique in order to provide two distinct descriptions for type IIA and type IIB theories and an algebraic characterization of S*T--dual embeddings within the N=8,d=4 theory. This analysis will be applied to the particular example of a four parameter (dilatonic) solution of which both the full macroscopic and microscopic descriptions will be worked out.Comment: latex, 30 pages. Final version to appear on Int.J.Mod.Phy

Gauge/gravity duality and the interplay of various fractional branes

We consider different types of fractional branes on a Z_2 orbifold of the conifold and analyze in detail the corresponding gauge/gravity duality. The gauge theory possesses a rich and varied dynamics, both in the UV and in the IR. We find the dual supergravity solution which contains both untwisted and twisted 3-form fluxes, related to what are known as deformation and N=2 fractional branes respectively. We analyze the resulting RG flow from the supergravity perspective, by developing an algorithm to easily extract it. We find hints of a generalization of the familiar cascade of Seiberg dualities due to a non-trivial interplay between the different types of fractional branes. We finally consider the IR behavior in several limits, where the dominant effective dynamics is either confining, in a Coulomb phase or runaway, and discuss the resolution of singularities in the dual geometric background.Comment: 38 pages + appendices, 15 figures; v2: refs added and typos correcte

Natural semi-direct gauge mediation and D-branes at singularities

We consider semi-direct gauge mediation models of supersymmetry breaking where the messengers are composite fields and their supersymmetric mass is naturally generated through quartic superpotential couplings. We show that such composite messenger models can be easily embedded in quiver gauge theories arising from D-branes at Calabi-Yau singularities, and argue that semi-direct gauge mediation is in fact a very natural option for supersymmetry breaking in D-brane models. We provide several explicit examples and discuss their salient phenomenological properties.Comment: 20 pages, 5 figures. V2: Typos corrected and a note about putative unsuppressed gaugino mass adde

Living on the walls of super-QCD

We study BPS domain walls in four-dimensional N = 1 massive SQCD with gauge group SU (N) and F < N flavors. We propose a class of three-dimensional Chern-Simons-matter theories to describe the effective dynamics on the walls. Our proposal passes several checks, including the exact matching between its vacua and the solutions to the four-dimensional BPS domain wall equations, that we solve in the small mass regime. As the flavor mass is varied, domain walls undergo a second-order phase transition, where multiple vacua coalesce into a single one. For special values of the parameters, the phase transition exhibits supersymmetry enhancement. Our proposal includes and extends previous results in the literature, providing a complete picture of BPS domain walls for F < N massive SQCD. A similar picture holds also for SQCD with gauge group Sp (N) and F < N + 1 flavors

Black holes as D3-branes on Calabi-Yau threefolds

We show how an extremal Reissner-Nordstrom black hole can be obtained by wrapping a dyonic D3-brane on a Calabi-Yau manifold. In the orbifold limit T^6/Z_3, we explicitly show the correspondence between the solution of the supergravity equations of motion and the D-brane boundary state description of such a black hole.Comment: 14 pages, LaTex, minor corrections, version to appear on Phys. Lett.

Scalar multiplet recombination at large N and holography

We consider the coupling of a free scalar to a single-trace operator of a large N CFT in d dimensions. This is equivalent to a double-trace deformation coupling two primary operators of the CFT, in the limit when one of the two saturates the unitarity bound. At leading order, the RG-flow has a non-trivial fixed point where multiplets recombine. We show this phenomenon in field theory, and provide the holographic dual description. Free scalars correspond to singleton representations of the AdS algebra. The double-trace interaction is mapped to a boundary condition mixing the singleton with the bulk field dual to the single-trace operator. In the IR, the singleton and the bulk scalar merge, providing just one long representation of the AdS algebra. \ua9 2016, The Author(s)

The challenge of the performance-based approach for the design of reinforced concrete structures in chloride bearing environment

The performance-based approach, published by the International Federation for Structural Concrete (fib), was applied for the design of a RC element in a marine environment, with corrosion resistant reinforcement, to analyse the potentiality of the model as well as the possible reasons which limit its use. Results showed that the fib model allows to compare different solutions and to consider the benefits connected with the use of preventative measures. However the definition of reliable values for some input parameters, as the critical chloride threshold for corrosion resistant reinforcement, is demanded to the designer and this aspect clearly limits a widespread use

Vacuum structure of large N QCD3 from holography

We study the vacuum structure of three-dimensional SU(N) gauge theory coupled to a Chern-Simons term at level k and to F fundamental Dirac fermions. We use a large N holographic description based on a D3/D7 system in type IIB string theory compactified on a supersymmetry breaking circle. The multiple vacua of the theory and the transitions between them are nicely captured by the dual holographic background. The resulting phase diagram, which we derive both at leading and first subleading orders in the 1/N expansion, shows a rich structure where topological field theories, non-linear sigma models and first-order phase transitions appear