Instability of the R^3\times S^1 vacuum in low-energy effective string theory

We present and discuss an euclidean solution of the low-energy effective string action that can be interpreded as a semiclassical decay process of the ground state of the theory.Comment: 9 pages, plain-tex file, 2 figures available upon reques

Black Hole fragmentation and holography

We discuss the entropy change due to fragmentation for black hole solutions in various dimensions. We find three different types of behavior. The entropy may decrease, increase or have a mixed behavior, characterized by the presence of a threshold mass. For two-dimensional (2D) black holes we give a complete characterization of the entropy behavior under fragmentation, in the form of sufficient conditions imposed on the function J, which defines the 2D gravitational model. We compare the behavior of the gravitational solutions with that of free field theories in d dimensions. This excludes the possibility of finding a gravity/field theory realization of the holographic principle for a broad class of solutions, including asymptotically flat black holes. We find that the most natural candidates for holographic duals of the black hole solutions with mixed behavior are field theories with a mass gap. We also discuss the possibility of formulating entropy bounds that make reference only to the energy of a system.Comment: 7 pages, no figure

Holographic Central Charge for 2-Dimensional de Sitter Space

Recently, investigations have begun into a holographic duality for two-dimensional de Sitter space. In this paper, we evaluate the associated central charge, using a modified version of the canonical Hamiltonian method that was first advocated by Catelani {\it et al}. Our computation agrees with that of a prior work (Cadoni {\it et al}), but we argue that the method used here is, perhaps, aesthetically preferable on holographic grounds. We also confirm an agreement between the Cardy and thermodynamic entropy, thus providing further support for the conjectured two-dimensional de Sitter/conformal field theory correspondence.Comment: 19 pages, Latex; discussion (Section 4) and references adde

Quantum dilaton gravity as a linear dilaton conformal field theory

A model of matter-coupled gravity in two dimensions is quantized. The crucial requirement for performing the quantization is the vanishing of the conformal anomaly, which is achieved by tuning a parameter in the interaction potential. The spectrum of the theory is determined by mapping the model first onto a field theory with a Liouville interaction, then onto a linear dilaton conformal field theory. In absence of matter fields a pure gauge theory with massless ground state is found; otherwise it is possible to minimally couple up to 11 matter scalar fields: in this case the ground state is tachyonic and the matter sector decouples, like the transverse oscillators in the critical bosonic string.Comment: 7 pages, RevTeX4 file. v2: some comments and one reference adde

2D Extremal Black Holes as Solitons

We discuss the relationship between two-dimensional (2D) dilaton gravity models and sine-Gordon-like field theories. We show that there is a one-to-one correspondence between the solutions of 2D dilaton gravity and the solutions of a (two fields) generalization of the sine-Gordon model. In particular, we find a connection between the soliton solutions of the generalized sine-Gordon model and extremal black hole solutions of 2D dilaton gravity. As a by-product of our calculations we find a easy way to generate cosmological solutions of 2D dilaton gravity.Comment: 12 pages, LaTex, no figures, typos correcte

Open strings, 2D gravity and AdS/CFT correspondence

We present a detailed discussion of the duality between dilaton gravity on AdS_2 and open strings. The correspondence between the two theories is established using their symmetries and field theoretical, thermodynamic, and statistical arguments. We use the dual conformal field theory to describe two-dimensional black holes. In particular, all the semiclassical features of the black holes, including the entropy, have a natural interpretation in terms of the dual microscopic conformal dynamics. The previous results are discussed in the general framework of the Anti-de Sitter/Conformal Field Theory dualities.Comment: 22 pages, Typeset using REVTE

Dimensional reduction of 4d heterotic string black holes

We perform the spherical symmetric dimensional reduction $4d\to2d$ of heterotic string theory. We find a class of two-dimensional (2d) dilaton gravity models that gives a general description of the near-horizon, near-extremal behavior of four-dimensional (4d) heterotic string black holes. We show that the duality group of the 4d theory is realized in two dimensions in terms of Weyl transformations of the metric. We use the 2d dilaton gravity theory to compute the statistical entropy of the near-extremal 4d, $a=1/\sqrt3$, black hole.Comment: 12 pages, LaTex fil

Phase transition and hyperscaling violation for scalar Black Branes

We investigate the thermodynamical behavior and the scaling symmetries of the scalar dressed black brane (BB) solutions of a recently proposed, exactly integrable Einstein-scalar gravity model [1], which also arises as compactification of (p-1)-branes with a smeared charge. The extremal, zero temperature, solution is a scalar soliton interpolating between a conformal invariant AdS vacuum in the near-horizon region and a scale covariant metric (generating hyperscaling violation on the boundary field theory) asymptotically. We show explicitly that for the boundary field theory this implies the emergence of an UV length scale (related to the size of the brane), which decouples in the IR, where conformal invariance is restored. We also show that at high temperatures the system undergoes a phase transition. Whereas at small temperature the Schwarzschild-AdS BB is stable, above a critical temperature the scale covariant, scalar-dressed BB solution, becomes energetically preferred. We calculate the critical exponent z and the hyperscaling violation parameter of the scalar-dressed phase. In particular we show that the hyperscaling violation parameter is always negative. We also show that the above features are not a peculiarity of the exact integrable model of Ref.[1], but are a quite generic feature of Einstein-scalar and Einstein-Maxwell-scalar gravity models for which the squared-mass of the scalar field is positive and the potential vanishes exponentially as the scalar field goes to minus infinity.Comment: 20 pages, 4 figures. In the revised version it has been pointed out that the Einstein-scalar gravity model considered in the paper also arises as compactification of black p-branes with smeared charge

Acoustic horizons for axially and spherically symmetric fluid flow

We investigate the formation of acoustic horizons for an inviscid fluid moving in a pipe in the case of stationary and axi-symmetric flow. We show that, differently from what is generally believed, the acoustic horizon forms in correspondence of either a local minimum or maximum of the flux tube cross-section. Similarly, the external potential is required to have either a maximum or a minimum at the horizon, so that the external force has to vanish there. Choosing a power-law equation of state for the fluid, $P\propto \rho^{n}$, we solve the equations of the fluid dynamics and show that the two possibilities are realized respectively for $n>-1$ and $n<-1$. These results are extended also to the case of spherically symmetric flow.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure

Hydrolysis of 5-methylfuran-2-yl to 2,5-dioxopentanyl allows for stable bio-orthogonal proximity-induced ligation

Ligation methodologies featuring bio-orthogonal units and leading to the formation of a stable adduct are the ideal candidates for being applied in a biological context. However, most of the available strategies rely on highly reactive species that require careful handling, or on the activation of pro-reactive functional groups. We here report on a proximity-induced ligation reaction that relies on a stable 2,5-dione, that can be conveniently generated under acidic conditions from a 2,5-dialkylfuran building block, and hydrazine nucleophiles. This bio-orthogonal ligation, which proceeds under physiological conditions, does not require any stimulus or trigger and leads to the formation of a pyridazinium adduct that demonstrates excellent stability under harsh conditions (24 h at 90 °C). The reaction was applied to the formation of PNA-PNA adducts, DNA- and RNA-templated ligations, and for the formation of peptide-peptide adducts in solution. This convenient methodology was further implemented on plastic and glass surfaces to realize self-addressable covalent constructs