36 research outputs found
Hawking radiation of nonsingular black holes in two dimensions
In this letter we study the process of Hawking radiation of a black hole
assuming the existence of a limiting physical curvature scale. The particular
model is constructed using the Limiting Curvature Hypothesis (LCH) and in the
context of two-dimensional dilaton gravity. The black hole solution exhibits
properties of the standard Schwarzschild solution at large values of the radial
coordinate. However, near the center, the black hole is nonsingular and the
metric becomes that of de Sitter spacetime. The Hawking temperature is
calculated using the method of complex paths. We find that such black holes
radiate eternally and never completely evaporate. The final state is an
eternally radiating relic, near the fundamental scale, which should make a
viable dark matter candidate. We briefly comment on the black hole information
loss problem and the production of such black holes in collider experiments.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures; minor revisions; references added; version to
appear in JHE
Ghosts in asymmetric brane gravity and the decoupled stealth limit
We study the spectrum of gravitational perturbations around a vacuum de
Sitter brane in a 5D asymmetric braneworld model, with induced curvature on the
brane. This generalises the stealth acceleration model proposed by Charmousis,
Gregory and Padilla (CGP) which realises the Cardassian cosmology in which
power law cosmic acceleration can be driven by ordinary matter. Whenever the
bulk has infinite volume we find that there is always a perturbative ghost
propagating on the de Sitter brane, in contrast to the Minkowski brane case
analysed by CGP. We discuss the implication of this ghost for the stealth
acceleration model, and identify a limiting case where the ghost decouples as
the de Sitter curvature vanishes.Comment: 21 page
Illusions of general relativity in Brans-Dicke gravity
Contrary to common belief, the standard tenet of Brans-Dicke theory reducing
to general relativity when omega tends to infinity is false if the trace of the
matter energy-momentum tensor vanishes. The issue is clarified in a new
approach using conformal transformations. The otherwise unaccountable limiting
behavior of Brans-Dicke gravity is easily understood in terms of the conformal
invariance of the theory when the sources of gravity have radiation-like
properties. The rigorous computation of the asymptotic behavior of the
Brans-Dicke scalar field is straightforward in this new approach.Comment: 16 pages, LaTeX, to appear in Physical Review
The Causal Structure of QED in Curved Spacetime: Analyticity and the Refractive Index
The effect of vacuum polarization on the propagation of photons in curved
spacetime is studied in scalar QED. A compact formula is given for the full
frequency dependence of the refractive index for any background in terms of the
Van Vleck-Morette matrix for its Penrose limit and it is shown how the
superluminal propagation found in the low-energy effective action is reconciled
with causality. The geometry of null geodesic congruences is found to imply a
novel analytic structure for the refractive index and Green functions of QED in
curved spacetime, which preserves their causal nature but violates familiar
axioms of S-matrix theory and dispersion relations. The general formalism is
illustrated in a number of examples, in some of which it is found that the
refractive index develops a negative imaginary part, implying an amplification
of photons as an electromagnetic wave propagates through curved spacetime.Comment: 54 pages, 19 figures, corrected some signs in formulae and graph
Coupled oscillators as models of phantom and scalar field cosmologies
We study a toy model for phantom cosmology recently introduced in the
literature and consisting of two oscillators, one of which carries negative
kinetic energy. The results are compared with the exact phase space picture
obtained for similar dynamical systems describing, respectively, a massive
canonical scalar field conformally coupled to the spacetime curvature, and a
conformally coupled massive phantom. Finally, the dynamical system describing
exactly a minimally coupled phantom is studied and compared with the toy model.Comment: 18 pages, LaTeX, to appear in Physical Review
Functional determinants for general self-adjoint extensions of Laplace-type operators resulting from the generalized cone
In this article we consider the zeta regularized determinant of Laplace-type
operators on the generalized cone. For {\it arbitrary} self-adjoint extensions
of a matrix of singular ordinary differential operators modelled on the
generalized cone, a closed expression for the determinant is given. The result
involves a determinant of an endomorphism of a finite-dimensional vector space,
the endomorphism encoding the self-adjoint extension chosen. For particular
examples, like the Friedrich's extension, the answer is easily extracted from
the general result. In combination with \cite{BKD}, a closed expression for the
determinant of an arbitrary self-adjoint extension of the full Laplace-type
operator on the generalized cone can be obtained.Comment: 27 pages, 2 figures; to appear in Manuscripta Mathematic
Hamiltonian dynamics and Noether symmetries in Extended Gravity Cosmology
We discuss the Hamiltonian dynamics for cosmologies coming from Extended
Theories of Gravity. In particular, minisuperspace models are taken into
account searching for Noether symmetries. The existence of conserved quantities
gives selection rule to recover classical behaviors in cosmic evolution
according to the so called Hartle criterion, that allows to select correlated
regions in the configuration space of dynamical variables. We show that such a
statement works for general classes of Extended Theories of Gravity and is
conformally preserved. Furthermore, the presence of Noether symmetries allows a
straightforward classification of singularities that represent the points where
the symmetry is broken. Examples of nonminimally coupled and higher-order
models are discussed.Comment: 20 pages, Review paper to appear in EPJ
Extended Theories of Gravity and their Cosmological and Astrophysical Applications
We review Extended Theories of Gravity in metric and Palatini formalism
pointing out their cosmological and astrophysical application. The aim is to
propose an alternative approach to solve the puzzles connected to dark
components.Comment: 44 pages, 11 figure
Antioxidant therapeutic advances in COPD
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is associated with a high incidence of morbidity and mortality. Cigarette smoke-induced oxidative stress is intimately associated with the progression and exacerbation of COPD and therefore targeting oxidative stress with antioxidants or boosting the endogenous levels of antioxidants is likely to have beneficial outcome in the treatment of COPD. Among the various antioxidants tried so far, thiol antioxidants and mucolytic agents, such as glutathione, N-acetyl-L-cysteine, N-acystelyn, erdosteine, fudosteine and carbocysteine; Nrf2 activators; and dietary polyphenols (curcumin, resveratrol, and green tea catechins/quercetin) have been reported to increase intracellular thiol status along with induction of GSH biosynthesis. Such an elevation in the thiol status in turn leads to detoxification of free radicals and oxidants as well as inhibition of ongoing inflammatory responses. In addition, specific spin traps, such as α-phenyl-N-tert-butyl nitrone, a catalytic antioxidant (ECSOD mimetic), porphyrins (AEOL 10150 and AEOL 10113), and a SOD mimetic M40419 have also been reported to inhibit cigarette smoke-induced inflammatory responses in vivo in the lung. Since a variety of oxidants, free radicals and aldehydes are implicated in the pathogenesis of COPD, it is possible that therapeutic administration of multiple antioxidants and mucolytics will be effective in management of COPD. However, a successful outcome will critically depend upon the choice of antioxidant therapy for a particular clinical phenotype of COPD, whose pathophysiology should be first properly understood. This article will review the various approaches adopted to enhance lung antioxidant levels, antioxidant therapeutic advances and recent past clinical trials of antioxidant compounds in COPD