Neural components underlying subjective preferential decision making

The objectives of the current study were twofold: (i) to investigate the neural precursors of the formation of a subjective preference of facial stimuli, and (ii) to characterize the spatiotemporal brain activity patterns distinguishing between preferred and non-preferred faces. Multivariate EEG signals were recorded while participants made preference decisions, based on approachability, between two faces presented sequentially with unrestricted viewing time; the decision being made after presentation of the second face. The paired faces were similar in their physical properties, emphasizing the role of the subjective experience of the participants in making the decisions. EEG signals were analyzed in terms of event-related-potential (ERP) components and wavelet-based time-frequency-representations (TFR). The behavioural data showed that the presentation order and the exposure duration did not influence preference formation. The EEG data showed three effects. The earliest effect, the sustained posterior ERP positivity for preferred first faces as compared to non-preferred first faces, was found following the onset of the first face, and this was interpreted as the formation of a positive first impression of the first face. The two later effects following the second faces were an increase of frontal theta band oscillations around 500 ms for preferred second faces and of posterior gamma band oscillations around 650 ms for preferred first faces; both of which were interpreted as being related to the formation of a preference. All of these effects occurred well before the moment of conscious decision, thereby suggesting the implicitness of these neurally identifiable components

Non-perturbatively Renormalized Light-Quark Masses with the Alpha Action

We have computed the light quark masses using the O(a^2) improved Alpha action, in the quenched approximation. The renormalized masses have been obtained non-perturbatively. By eliminating the systematic error coming from the truncation of the perturbative series, our procedure removes the discrepancies, observed in previous calculations, between the results obtained using the vector and the axial-vector Ward identities. It also gives values of the quark masses larger than those obtained by computing the renormalization constants using (boosted) perturbation theory. Our main results, in the RI (MOM) scheme and at a renormalization scale \mu=2 GeV, are m^{RI}_s= 138(15) MeV and m^{RI}_l= 5.6(5) MeV, where m^{RI}_s is the mass of the strange quark and m^{RI}_l=(m^{RI}_u+m^{RI}_d)/2 the average mass of the up-down quarks. From these results, which have been obtained non-perturbatively, by using continuum perturbation theory we derive the \bar{MS} masses, at the same scale, and the renormalization group invariant (m^{RGI}) masses. We find m^{NLO \bar{MS}}_s= 121(13)$ MeV and m^{NLO\bar{MS}}_l= 4.9(4) MeV at the next-to-leading order; m^{N^2LO \bar{MS}}_s= 111(12) MeV, m^{N^2LO \bar{MS}}_l= 4.5(4) MeV, m_s^{RGI}= 177(19) MeV and m^{RGI}_l= 7.2(6) MeV at the next-to-next-to-leading order.Comment: 13 pages, 1 figur

Superconformal Indices for Orbifold Chern-Simons Theories

We calculate the superconformal indices of recently discovered three-dimensional N=4,5 Chern-Simons-matter theories and compare them with the corresponding indices of supergravity on AdS4 times orbifolds of S7. We find perfect agreement in the large N and large k limit, provided that the twisted sector contributions at the fixed loci of the orbifolds are properly taken into account. We also discuss the index for the so-called "dual ABJM" proposal.Comment: 27 pages, 1 figure; v2. reference added, minor correction

Heavy --> Light semileptonic decays of pseudoscalar mesons from lattice QCD

We have computed the form factors for B --> pi and D --> K(pi) semileptonic decays on the lattice by using full non-perturbative O(a) improvement, in the quenched approximation. Our results are expressed in terms of few parameters which describe the q^2-dependence and normalization of the form factors.Comment: 28 pages (LaTeX2e), 11 PostScript figures (version to appear in Nucl.Phys.B

The Morphology of N=6 Chern-Simons Theory

We tabulate various properties of the language of N=6 Chern-Simons Theory, in the sense of Polyakov. Specifically we enumerate and compute character formulas for all syllables of up to four letters, i.e. all irreducible representations of OSp(6|4) built from up to four fundamental fields of the ABJM theory. We also present all tensor product decompositions for up to four singletons and list the (cyclically invariant) four-letter words, which correspond to single-trace operators of length four. As an application of these results we use the two-loop dilatation operator to compute the leading correction to the Hagedorn temperature of the weakly-coupled planar ABJM theory on R \times S^2.Comment: 41 pages, 1 figure; v2: minor correction

Equation of state and magnetic susceptibility of spin polarized isospin asymmetric nuclear matter

Properties of spin polarized isospin asymmetric nuclear matter are studied within the framework of the Brueckner--Hartree--Fock formalism. The single-particle potentials of neutrons and protons with spin up and down are determined for several values of the neutron and proton spin polarizations and the asymmetry parameter. It is found an almost linear and symmetric variation of the single-particle potentials as increasing these parameters. An analytic parametrization of the total energy per particle as a function of the asymmetry and spin polarizations is constructed. This parametrization is employed to compute the magnetic susceptibility of nuclear matter for several values of the asymmetry from neutron to symmetric matter. The results show no indication of a ferromagnetic transition at any density for any asymmetry of nuclear matter.Comment: 23 pages, 8 figures, 2 tables (submitted to Phys. Rev. C

Localized Intersections of Non-Extremal p-branes and S-branes

A class of solutions to Supergravity in 10 or 11 dimensions is presented which extends the non-standard or semi-local intersections of Dp-branes to the case of non-extremal p-branes. The type of non-extremal solutions involved in the intersection is free and we provide two examples involving black-branes and/or D-\bar{D} systems. After a rotation among the time coordinate and a relatively transverse radial direction the solutions admit the interpretation of an intersection among D-branes and S-branes. We speculate on the relevance of these configurations both to study time dependent phenomena in the AdS/CFT correspondence as well as to construct cosmological brane-world scenarios within String Theory admitting accelerating expansion of the Universe.Comment: 31 pages, latex file; v2: typos corrected and references adde

G\"{o}del black hole, closed timelike horizon, and the study of particle emissions

We show that a particle, with positive orbital angular momentum, following an outgoing null/timelike geodesic, shall never reach the closed timelike horizon (CTH) present in the $(4+1)$-dimensional rotating G\"{o}del black hole space-time. Therefore a large part of this space-time remains inaccessible to a large class of geodesic observers, depending on the conserved quantities associated with them. We discuss how this fact and the existence of the closed timelike curves present in the asymptotic region make the quantum field theoretic study of the Hawking radiation, where the asymptotic observer states are a pre-requisite, unclear. However, the semiclassical approach provides an alternative to verify the Smarr formula derived recently for the rotating G\"{o}del black hole. We present a systematic analysis of particle emissions, specifically for scalars, charged Dirac spinors and vectors, from this black hole via the semiclassical complex path method.Comment: 13 pages; minor changes, references adde

A lattice study of the exclusive B→K∗γB \to K^* \gamma decay amplitude, using the Clover action at β=6.0\beta=6.0

We present the results of a numerical calculation of the $B\to K^* \gamma$ form factors. The results have been obtained by studying the relevant correlation functions at $\beta=6.0$, on an $18^3 \times 64$ lattice, using the ${\rm O(a)}$-improved fermion action, in the quenched approximation. From the study of the matrix element $$ we have obtained the form factor $T_1(0)$ which controls the exclusive decay rate. The results are compared with the recent results from CLEO. We also discuss the compatibility between the scaling laws predicted by the Heavy Quark Effective Theory (HQET) and pole dominance, by studying the mass- and $q^2$-dependence of the form factors. From our analysis, it appears that the form factors follow a mass behaviour compatible with the predictions of the HQET and that the $q^2$-dependence of $T_2$ is weaker than would be predicted by pole dominance.Comment: 17 pages, LaTeX + epsf.sty. Uuencoded, compressed, tar archive including the text and one postscript figur

Are the magnetic fields of millisecond pulsars ~ 10^8 G?

It is generally assumed that the magnetic fields of millisecond pulsars (MSPs) are $\sim 10^{8}$G. We argue that this may not be true and the fields may be appreciably greater. We present six evidences for this: (1) The $\sim 10^{8}$ G field estimate is based on magnetic dipole emission losses which is shown to be questionable; (2) The MSPs in low mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) are claimed to have $< 10^{11}$ G on the basis of a Rayleygh-Taylor instability accretion argument. We show that the accretion argument is questionable and the upper limit $10^{11}$ G may be much higher; (3) Low magnetic field neutron stars have difficulty being produced in LMXBs; (4) MSPs may still be accreting indicating a much higher magnetic field; (5) The data that predict $\sim 10^{8}$ G for MSPs also predict ages on the order of, and greater than, ten billion years, which is much greater than normal pulsars. If the predicted ages are wrong, most likely the predicted $\sim 10^{8}$ G fields of MSPs are wrong; (6) When magnetic fields are measured directly with cyclotron lines in X-ray binaries, fields $\gg 10^{8}$ G are indicated. Other scenarios should be investigated. One such scenario is the following. Over 85% of MSPs are confirmed members of a binary. It is possible that all MSPs are in large separation binaries having magnetic fields $> 10^{8}$ G with their magnetic dipole emission being balanced by low level accretion from their companions.Comment: 16 pages, accept for publication in Astrophysics and Space Scienc