Open strings with topologically inspired boundary conditions

We consider an open string described by an action of the Dirac-Nambu-Goto type with topological corrections which affect the boundary conditions but not the equations of motion. The most general addition of this kind is a sum of the Gauss-Bonnet action and the first Chern number (when the background spacetime dimension is four) of the normal bundle to the string worldsheet. We examine the modification introduced by such terms in the boundary conditions at the ends of the string.Comment: 12 pages, late

Selfdual 2-form formulation of gravity and classification of energy-momentum tensors

It is shown how the different irreducibility classes of the energy-momentum tensor allow for a Lagrangian formulation of the gravity-matter system using a selfdual 2-form as a basic variable. It is pointed out what kind of difficulties arise when attempting to construct a pure spin-connection formulation of the gravity-matter system. Ambiguities in the formulation especially concerning the need for constraints are clarified.Comment: title changed, extended versio

Towards a path integral for the pure-spin connection formulation of gravity

A proposal for the path-integral of pure-spin-connection formulation of gravity is described, based on the two-form formulation of Capovilla et. al. It is shown that the resulting effective-action for the spin-connection, upon functional integration of the two-form field $\Sigma$ and the auxiliary matrix field $\psi$ is {\it non-polynomial}, even for the case of vanishing cosmological constant and absence of any matter couplings. Further, a diagramatic evaluation is proposed for the contribution of the matrix-field to the pure spin connection action.Comment: 8 pages in plain-TeX.-----IUCAA_TH/9

Stresses in lipid membranes

The stresses in a closed lipid membrane described by the Helfrich hamiltonian, quadratic in the extrinsic curvature, are identified using Noether's theorem. Three equations describe the conservation of the stress tensor: the normal projection is identified as the shape equation describing equilibrium configurations; the tangential projections are consistency conditions on the stresses which capture the fluid character of such membranes. The corresponding torque tensor is also identified. The use of the stress tensor as a basis for perturbation theory is discussed. The conservation laws are cast in terms of the forces and torques on closed curves. As an application, the first integral of the shape equation for axially symmetric configurations is derived by examining the forces which are balanced along circles of constant latitude.Comment: 16 pages, introduction rewritten, other minor changes, new references added, version to appear in Journal of Physics

Neighbours of Einstein's Equations: Connections and Curvatures

Once the action for Einstein's equations is rewritten as a functional of an SO(3,C) connection and a conformal factor of the metric, it admits a family of ``neighbours'' having the same number of degrees of freedom and a precisely defined metric tensor. This paper analyzes the relation between the Riemann tensor of that metric and the curvature tensor of the SO(3) connection. The relation is in general very complicated. The Einstein case is distinguished by the fact that two natural SO(3) metrics on the GL(3) fibers coincide. In the general case the theory is bimetric on the fibers.Comment: 16 pages, LaTe

Geometry of lipid vesicle adhesion

The adhesion of a lipid membrane vesicle to a fixed substrate is examined from a geometrical point of view. This vesicle is described by the Helfrich hamiltonian quadratic in mean curvature; it interacts by contact with the substrate, with an interaction energy proportional to the area of contact. We identify the constraints on the geometry at the boundary of the shared surface. The result is interpreted in terms of the balance of the force normal to this boundary. No assumptions are made either on the symmetry of the vesicle or on that of the substrate. The strong bonding limit as well as the effect of curvature asymmetry on the boundary are discussed.Comment: 7 pages, some major changes in sections III and IV, version published in Physical Review

Hamilton's equations for a fluid membrane: axial symmetry

Consider a homogenous fluid membrane, or vesicle, described by the Helfrich-Canham energy, quadratic in the mean curvature. When the membrane is axially symmetric, this energy can be viewed as an `action' describing the motion of a particle; the contours of equilibrium geometries are identified with particle trajectories. A novel Hamiltonian formulation of the problem is presented which exhibits the following two features: {\it (i)} the second derivatives appearing in the action through the mean curvature are accommodated in a natural phase space; {\it (ii)} the intrinsic freedom associated with the choice of evolution parameter along the contour is preserved. As a result, the phase space involves momenta conjugate not only to the particle position but also to its velocity, and there are constraints on the phase space variables. This formulation provides the groundwork for a field theoretical generalization to arbitrary configurations, with the particle replaced by a loop in space.Comment: 11 page

Hamiltonian dynamics of extended objects

We consider a relativistic extended object described by a reparametrization invariant local action that depends on the extrinsic curvature of the worldvolume swept out by the object as it evolves. We provide a Hamiltonian formulation of the dynamics of such higher derivative models which is motivated by the ADM formulation of general relativity. The canonical momenta are identified by looking at boundary behavior under small deformations of the action; the relationship between the momentum conjugate to the embedding functions and the conserved momentum density is established. The canonical Hamiltonian is constructed explicitly; the constraints on the phase space, both primary and secondary, are identified and the role they play in the theory described. The multipliers implementing the primary constraints are identified in terms of the ADM lapse and shift variables and Hamilton's equations shown to be consistent with the Euler-Lagrange equations.Comment: 24 pages, late

The one-loop elastic coefficients for the Helfrich membrane in higher dimensions

Using a covariant geometric approach we obtain the effective bending couplings for a 2-dimensional rigid membrane embedded into a $(2+D)$-dimensional Euclidean space. The Hamiltonian for the membrane has three terms: The first one is quadratic in its mean extrinsic curvature. The second one is proportional to its Gaussian curvature, and the last one is proportional to its area. The results we obtain are in agreement with those finding that thermal fluctuations soften the 2-dimensional membrane embedded into a 3-dimensional Euclidean space.Comment: 9 page

Lipid membranes with an edge

Consider a lipid membrane with a free exposed edge. The energy describing this membrane is quadratic in the extrinsic curvature of its geometry; that describing the edge is proportional to its length. In this note we determine the boundary conditions satisfied by the equilibria of the membrane on this edge, exploiting variational principles. The derivation is free of any assumptions on the symmetry of the membrane geometry. With respect to earlier work for axially symmetric configurations, we discover the existence of an additional boundary condition which is identically satisfied in that limit. By considering the balance of the forces operating at the edge, we provide a physical interpretation for the boundary conditions. We end with a discussion of the effect of the addition of a Gaussian rigidity term for the membrane.Comment: 8 page