Ricci-flat deformation of orbifolds and localized tachyonic modes

We study Ricci-flat deformations of orbifolds in type II theory. We obtain a simple formula for mass corrections to the twisted modes due to the deformations, and apply it to originally tachyonic and massless states in several examples. In the case of supersymmetric orbifolds, we find that tachyonic states appear when the deformation breaks all the supersymmetries. We also study nonsupersymmetric orbifolds C^2/Z_{2N(2N+1)}, which is T-dual to N type 0 NS5-branes. For N>=2, we compute mass corrections for states, which have string scale tachyonic masses. We find that the corrected masses coincide to ones obtained by solving the wave equation for the tachyon field in the smeared type 0 NS5-brane background geometry. For N=1, we show that the unstable mode representing the bubble creation is the unique tachyonic mode.Comment: 20 pages, minor collection

Off-Shell Interactions for Closed-String Tachyons

Off-shell interactions for localized closed-string tachyons in C/Z_N superstring backgrounds are analyzed and a conjecture for the effective height of the tachyon potential is elaborated. At large N, some of the relevant tachyons are nearly massless and their interactions can be deduced from the S-matrix. The cubic interactions between these tachyons and the massless fields are computed in a closed form using orbifold CFT techniques. The cubic interaction between nearly-massless tachyons with different charges is shown to vanish and thus condensation of one tachyon does not source the others. It is shown that to leading order in N, the quartic contact interaction vanishes and the massless exchanges completely account for the four point scattering amplitude. This indicates that it is necessary to go beyond quartic interactions or to include other fields to test the conjecture for the height of the tachyon potential.Comment: 37 pages, 3 figures, LaTeX, JHEP class. Typos corrected, references added, published versio

The Rolling Tachyon as a Matrix Model

We express all correlation functions in timelike boundary Liouville theory as unitary matrix integrals and develop efficient techniques to evaluate these integrals. We compute large classes of correlation functions explicitly, including an infinite number of terms in the boundary state of the rolling tachyon. The matrix integrals arising here also determine the correlation functions of gauge invariant operators in two dimensional Yang-Mills theory, suggesting an equivalence between the rolling tachyon and QCD_2.Comment: 22pages. 3 figures. v2: added reference, fixed minor typo

An ALMA Survey of the SCUBA-2 Cosmology Legacy Survey UKIDSS/UDS Field: The Far-infrared/Radio Correlation for High-redshift Dusty Star-forming Galaxies

We study the radio properties of 706 submillimeter galaxies (SMGs) selected at 870 μm with the Atacama Large Millimeter Array from the SCUBA-2 Cosmology Legacy Survey map of the Ultra Deep Survey field. We detect 273 SMGs at >4σ in deep Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array 1.4 GHz observations, of which a subset of 45 SMGs are additionally detected in 610 MHz Giant Metre-Wave Radio Telescope imaging. We quantify the far-infrared/radio correlation (FIRRC) through parameter q IR, defined as the logarithmic ratio of the far-infrared and radio luminosity, and include the radio-undetected SMGs through a stacking analysis. We determine a median q IR = 2.20 ± 0.03 for the full sample, independent of redshift, which places these z ~ 2.5 dusty star-forming galaxies 0.44 ± 0.04 dex below the local correlation for both normal star-forming galaxies and local ultra-luminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs). Both the lack of redshift evolution and the offset from the local correlation are likely the result of the different physical conditions in high-redshift starburst galaxies, compared to local star-forming sources. We explain the offset through a combination of strong magnetic fields (B gsim 0.2 mG), high interstellar medium (ISM) densities and additional radio emission generated by secondary cosmic rays. While local ULIRGs are likely to have similar magnetic field strengths, we find that their compactness, in combination with a higher ISM density compared to SMGs, naturally explains why local and high-redshift dusty star-forming galaxies follow a different FIRRC. Overall, our findings paint SMGs as a homogeneous population of galaxies, as illustrated by their tight and nonevolving far-infrared/radio correlation

Cardy-Verlinde Formula and Achucarro-Ortiz Black Hole

In this paper it is shown that the entropy of the black hole horizon in the Achucarro-Ortiz spacetime, which is the most general two-dimensional black hole derived from the three-dimensional rotating BTZ black hole, can be described by the Cardy-Verlinde formula. The latter is supposed to be an entropy formula of conformal field theory in any dimension.Comment: 10 pages, LaTeX, v2: minor changes, references added, to appear in Phys. Rev.

Diffusion in stochastic sandpiles

We study diffusion of particles in large-scale simulations of one-dimensional stochastic sandpiles, in both the restricted and unrestricted versions. The results indicate that the diffusion constant scales in the same manner as the activity density, so that it represents an alternative definition of an order parameter. The critical behavior of the unrestricted sandpile is very similar to that of its restricted counterpart, including the fact that a data collapse of the order parameter as a function of the particle density is only possible over a very narrow interval near the critical point. We also develop a series expansion, in inverse powers of the density. for the collective diffusion coefficient in a variant of the stochastic sandpile in which the toppling rate at a site with $n$ particles is $n(n-1)$, and compare the theoretical prediction with simulation results.Comment: 21 page

Ultrafaint [C II] emission in a redshift = 2 gravitationally lensed metal-poor dwarf galaxy

Galaxie

Fitting the integrated Spectral Energy Distributions of Galaxies

Fitting the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of galaxies is an almost universally used technique that has matured significantly in the last decade. Model predictions and fitting procedures have improved significantly over this time, attempting to keep up with the vastly increased volume and quality of available data. We review here the field of SED fitting, describing the modelling of ultraviolet to infrared galaxy SEDs, the creation of multiwavelength data sets, and the methods used to fit model SEDs to observed galaxy data sets. We touch upon the achievements and challenges in the major ingredients of SED fitting, with a special emphasis on describing the interplay between the quality of the available data, the quality of the available models, and the best fitting technique to use in order to obtain a realistic measurement as well as realistic uncertainties. We conclude that SED fitting can be used effectively to derive a range of physical properties of galaxies, such as redshift, stellar masses, star formation rates, dust masses, and metallicities, with care taken not to over-interpret the available data. Yet there still exist many issues such as estimating the age of the oldest stars in a galaxy, finer details ofdust properties and dust-star geometry, and the influences of poorly understood, luminous stellar types and phases. The challenge for the coming years will be to improve both the models and the observational data sets to resolve these uncertainties. The present review will be made available on an interactive, moderated web page (sedfitting.org), where the community can access and change the text. The intention is to expand the text and keep it up to date over the coming years.Comment: 54 pages, 26 figures, Accepted for publication in Astrophysics & Space Scienc

Abundances of the elements in the solar system

A review of the abundances and condensation temperatures of the elements and their nuclides in the solar nebula and in chondritic meteorites. Abundances of the elements in some neighboring stars are also discussed.Comment: 42 pages, 11 tables, 8 figures, chapter, In Landolt- B\"ornstein, New Series, Vol. VI/4B, Chap. 4.4, J.E. Tr\"umper (ed.), Berlin, Heidelberg, New York: Springer-Verlag, p. 560-63