Yang-Mills, Complex Structures and Chern's Last Theorem

Recently Shiing-Shen Chern suggested that the six dimensional sphere $\mathbb{S}^6$ has no complex structure. Here we explore the relations between his arguments and Yang-Mills theories. In particular, we propose that Chern's approach is widely applicable to investigate connections between the geometry of manifolds and the structure of gauge theories. We also discuss several examples of manifolds, both with and without a complex structure.Comment: Chern's proof remains incomplete, and we have edited some statements in our article accordingl

Seismic Safety Analysis of Earth Dam — Case History Studies

The method of seismic safety analysis for earth dam was examined by using actual performances of earth dams during the Chi-Chi Earthquake. Results of analysis under design earthquakes were also collected and compared with the performance records of earth dams. From the results of these studies, it appears that the Seed-Lee-Idriss approach can provide reasonable predictions on the dynamic responses and post-earthquake performance of well-compacted earth dam

Extension of the Poincar\'e Group and Non-Abelian Tensor Gauge Fields

In the recently proposed generalization of the Yang-Mills theory the group of gauge transformation gets essentially enlarged. This enlargement involves an elegant mixture of the internal and space-time symmetries. The resulting group is an extension of the Poincar\'e group with infinitely many generators which carry internal and space-time indices. This is similar to the super-symmetric extension of the Poincar\'e group, where instead of an anti-commuting spinor variable one should introduce a new vector variable. The construction of irreducible representations of the extended Poincar\'e algebra identifies a vector variable with the derivative of the Pauli-Lubanski vector over its length. As a result of this identification the generators of the gauge group have nonzero components only in the plane transversal to the momentum and are projecting out non-Abelian tensor gauge fields into the transversal plane, keeping only their positively definite space-like components.Comment: 21 page

On number fields with nontrivial subfields

What is the probability for a number field of composite degree $d$ to have a nontrivial subfield? As the reader might expect the answer heavily depends on the interpretation of probability. We show that if the fields are enumerated by the smallest height of their generators the probability is zero, at least if $d>6$. This is in contrast to what one expects when the fields are enumerated by the discriminant. The main result of this article is an estimate for the number of algebraic numbers of degree $d=e n$ and bounded height which generate a field that contains an unspecified subfield of degree $e$. If $n>\max\{e^2+e,10\}$ we get the correct asymptotics as the height tends to infinity

The causal structure of spacetime is a parameterized Randers geometry

There is a by now well-established isomorphism between stationary 4-dimensional spacetimes and 3-dimensional purely spatial Randers geometries - these Randers geometries being a particular case of the more general class of 3-dimensional Finsler geometries. We point out that in stably causal spacetimes, by using the (time-dependent) ADM decomposition, this result can be extended to general non-stationary spacetimes - the causal structure (conformal structure) of the full spacetime is completely encoded in a parameterized (time-dependent) class of Randers spaces, which can then be used to define a Fermat principle, and also to reconstruct the null cones and causal structure.Comment: 8 page

Fractional vortices and composite domain walls in flat nanomagnets

We provide a simple explanation of complex magnetic patterns observed in ferromagnetic nanostructures. To this end we identify elementary topological defects in the field of magnetization: ordinary vortices in the bulk and vortices with half-integer winding numbers confined to the edge. Domain walls found in experiments and numerical simulations in strips and rings are composite objects containing two or more of the elementary defects.Comment: Minor changes: updated references and fixed typo

Two universal results for Wilson loops at strong coupling

We present results for Wilson loops in strongly coupled gauge theories. The loops may be taken around an arbitrarily shaped contour and in any field theory with a dual IIB geometry of the form M x S^5. No assumptions about supersymmetry are made. The first result uses D5 branes to show how the loop in any antisymmetric representation is computed in terms of the loop in the fundamental representation. The second result uses D3 branes to observe that each loop defines a rich sequence of operators associated with minimal surfaces in S^5. The action of these configurations are all computable. Both results have features suggesting a connection with integrability.Comment: 1+12 pages. LaTeX. No figure

On some geometric features of the Kramer interior solution for a rotating perfect fluid

Geometric features (including convexity properties) of an exact interior gravitational field due to a self-gravitating axisymmetric body of perfect fluid in stationary, rigid rotation are studied. In spite of the seemingly non-Newtonian features of the bounding surface for some rotation rates, we show, by means of a detailed analysis of the three-dimensional spatial geodesics, that the standard Newtonian convexity properties do hold. A central role is played by a family of geodesics that are introduced here, and provide a generalization of the Newtonian straight lines parallel to the axis of rotation.Comment: LaTeX, 15 pages with 4 Poscript figures. To be published in Classical and Quantum Gravit

Assessment of Dynamic Properties of Wushantou Dam

Accurate assessment of material properties is essential for a meaningful evaluation of the dynamic behavior of a dam. Comprehensive studies using in- situ measurement and laboratory testing techniques coupled with back calculations of dam responses in recorded motion gives the following conclusions : (1) Response in good agreement with actual motion can be obtained by using appropriate analytical models and material properties; (2) a laboratory test may give reasonable result, but allowance should be made for the effects of strain level, sample disturbance and reconsolidation, especially in loose, non - cohesive soil; (3) in- situ shear wave velocity measurement is considered to be the most representative technique and gives the best estimation in Gmax

A covariant formalism for Chern-Simons gravity

Chern--Simons type Lagrangians in $d=3$ dimensions are analyzed from the point of view of their covariance and globality. We use the transgression formula to find out a new fully covariant and global Lagrangian for Chern--Simons gravity: the price for establishing globality is hidden in a bimetric (or biconnection) structure. Such a formulation allows to calculate from a global and simpler viewpoint the energy-momentum complex and the superpotential both for Yang--Mills and gravitational examples.Comment: 12 pages,LaTeX, to appear in Journal of Physics