S-Track Stabilization of Heterotic de Sitter Vacua

We present a new mechanism, the S-Track, to stabilize the volume modulus S in heterotic M-theory flux compactifications along with the orbifold-size T besides complex structure and vector bundle moduli stabilization. The key dynamical ingredient which makes the volume modulus stabilization possible, is M5-instantons arising from M5-branes wrapping the whole Calabi-Yau slice. These are natural in heterotic M-theory where the warping shrinks the Calabi-Yau volume along S^1/Z_2. Combined with H-flux, open M2-instantons and hidden sector gaugino condensation it leads to a superpotential W which stabilizes S similar like a racetrack but without the need for multi gaugino condensation. Moreover, W contains two competing non-perturbative effects which stabilize T. We analyze the potential and superpotentials to show that it leads to heterotic de Sitter vacua with broken supersymmetry through non-vanishing F-terms.Comment: 16 pages, 2 figures; final PRD versio

Superpotentials for M-theory on a G_2 holonomy manifold and Triality symmetry

For $M$-theory on the $G_2$ holonomy manifold given by the cone on {\bf S^3}\x {\bf S^3} we consider the superpotential generated by membrane instantons and study its transformations properties, especially under monodromy transformations and triality symmetry. We find that the latter symmetry is, essentially, even a symmetry of the superpotential. As in Seiberg/Witten theory, where a flat bundle given by the periods of an universal elliptic curve over the $u$-plane occurs, here a flat bundle related to the Heisenberg group appears and the relevant universal object over the moduli space is related to hyperbolic geometry.Comment: 58 pages, latex; references adde

Subtropical westerly jet influence on occurrence of western disturbances and Tibetan plateau vortices

Western disturbances (WDs) are mid-to-upper-tropospheric mesoscale vortices, which typically propagate along the subtropical westerly jet stream and bring heavy rainfall to Pakistan and northern India during boreal winter. They are dynamically similar to Tibetan Plateau vortices (TPVs), which affect southwest China during spring and summer and emanate from the Tibetan Plateau. Here, we propose that their similarity implies the existence of a more general group of upper-tropospheric vortices featuring interactions with the orography of the Hindu Kush-Himalaya-Tibetan Plateau region. Using existing track databases for WDs and TPVs derived from ERA-Interim reanalysis, we show that their respective occurrence frequencies are highly anticorrelated with each other through the seasonal cycle, yet both are strongly correlated with jet latitude. Our findings imply that the incidence of hazards due to WDs and TPVs is correlated on intra- and interannual timescales, particularly through upper-level baroclinicity

Supersymmetry of Noncompact MQCD-like Membrane Instantons and Heat Kernel Asymptotics

We perform a heat kernel asymptotics analysis of the nonperturbative superpotential obtained from wrapping of an M2-brane around a supersymmetric noncompact three-fold embedded in a (noncompact) G_2-manifold as obtained in [1], the three-fold being the one relevant to domain walls in Witten's MQCD [2], in the limit of small "zeta", a complex constant that appears in the Riemann surfaces relevant to defining the boundary conditions for the domain wall in MQCD. The MQCD-like configuration is interpretable, for small but non-zero zeta as a noncompact/"large" open membrane instanton, and for vanishing zeta, as the type IIA D0-brane (for vanishing M-theory cicle radius). We find that the eta-function Seeley de-Witt coefficients vanish, and we get a perfect match between the zeta-function Seeley de-Witt coefficients (up to terms quadratic in zeta) between the Dirac-type operator and one of the two Laplace-type operators figuring in the superpotential. This is an extremely strong signature of residual supersymmetry for the nonperturbative configurations in M-theory considered in this work.Comment: 21 pages, LaTeX; v3: several clarifying remarks added, to appear in JHE

Fluxes in M-theory on 7-manifolds and G structures

We consider warp compactifications of M-theory on 7-manifolds in the presence of 4-form fluxes and investigate the constraints imposed by supersymmetry. As long as the 7-manifold supports only one Killing spinor we infer from the Killing spinor equations that non-trivial 4-form fluxes will necessarily curve the external 4-dimensional space. On the other hand, if the 7-manifold has at least two Killing spinors, there is a non-trivial Killing vector yielding a reduction of the 7-manifold to a 6-manifold and we confirm that 4-form fluxes can be incorporated if one includes non-trivial SU(3) structures.Comment: 13 pages, Latex; minor changes & add reference

Five-brane Instantons vs Flux-induced Gauging of Isometries

In five-dimensional heterotic M-theory there is necessarily nonzero background flux, which leads to gauging of an isometry of the universal hypermultiplet moduli space. This isometry, however, is poised to be broken by M5-brane instanton effects. We show that, similarly to string theory, the background flux allows only brane instantons that preserve the above isometry. The zero-mode counting for the M5 instantons is related to the number of solutions of the Dirac equation on their worldvolume. We investigate that equation in the presence of generic background flux and also, in a particular case, with nonzero worldvolume flux.Comment: 27 pages; reference adde

G_2 Domain Walls in M-theory

M-theory is considered in its low-energy limit on a G_2 manifold with non-vanishing flux. Using the Killing spinor equations for linear flux, an explicit set of first-order bosonic equations for supersymmetric solutions is found. These solutions describe a warped product of a domain wall in four-dimensional space-time and a deformed G_2 manifold. It is shown how these domain walls arise from the perspective of the associated four-dimensional N=1 effective supergravity theories. We also discuss the inclusion of membrane and M5-brane sources.Comment: 30 pages, Late

Separating neural oscillations from aperiodic 1/f activity: Challenges and recommendations

Electrophysiological power spectra typically consist of two components: An aperiodic part usually following an 1/f power law [Formula: see text] and periodic components appearing as spectral peaks. While the investigation of the periodic parts, commonly referred to as neural oscillations, has received considerable attention, the study of the aperiodic part has only recently gained more interest. The periodic part is usually quantified by center frequencies, powers, and bandwidths, while the aperiodic part is parameterized by the y-intercept and the 1/f exponent [Formula: see text]. For investigation of either part, however, it is essential to separate the two components. In this article, we scrutinize two frequently used methods, FOOOF (Fitting Oscillations & One-Over-F) and IRASA (Irregular Resampling Auto-Spectral Analysis), that are commonly used to separate the periodic from the aperiodic component. We evaluate these methods using diverse spectra obtained with electroencephalography (EEG), magnetoencephalography (MEG), and local field potential (LFP) recordings relating to three independent research datasets. Each method and each dataset poses distinct challenges for the extraction of both spectral parts. The specific spectral features hindering the periodic and aperiodic separation are highlighted by simulations of power spectra emphasizing these features. Through comparison with the simulation parameters defined a priori, the parameterization error of each method is quantified. Based on the real and simulated power spectra, we evaluate the advantages of both methods, discuss common challenges, note which spectral features impede the separation, assess the computational costs, and propose recommendations on how to use them

Type IIB Theory on Half-flat Manifolds

In this note we derive the low-energy effective action of type IIB theory compactified on half-flat manifolds and we show that this precisely coincides with the low-energy effective action of type IIA theory compactified on a Calabi-Yau manifold in the presence of NS three-form fluxes. We provide in this way a further check of the recently formulated conjecture that half-flat manifolds appear as mirror partners of Calabi-Yau manifolds when NS fluxes are turned on.Comment: 15 pages, no figure

Moduli restriction and Chiral Matter in Heterotic String Compactifications

Supersymmetric heterotic string models, built from a stable holomorphic vector bundle $V$ on a Calabi-Yau threefold $X$, usually come with many vector bundle moduli whose stabilisation is a difficult and complex task. It is therefore of interest to look for bundle constructions which, from the outset, have as few as possible bundle moduli. One way to reach such a set-up is to start from a generic construction and to make discrete modifications of it which are available only over a subset of the bundle moduli space. Turning on such discrete 'twists' constrains the moduli to the corresponding subset of their moduli space: the twisted bundle has less parametric freedom. We give an example of a set-up where this idea can be considered concretely. Such non-generic twists lead also to new contributions of chiral matter (which greatly enhances the flexibility in model building); their computation constitutes the main issue of this note.Comment: 37 pages; comments and references adde