Holography for Non-Critical Superstrings

We argue that a class of ``non-critical superstring'' vacua is holographically related to the (non-gravitational) theory obtained by studying string theory on a singular Calabi-Yau manifold in the decoupling limit $g_s\to 0$. In two dimensions, adding fundamental strings at the singularity of the CY manifold leads to conformal field theories dual to a recently constructed class of $AdS_3$ vacua. In four dimensions, special cases of the construction correspond to the theory on an NS5-brane wrapped around a Riemann surface.Comment: 29 pages, harvmac; minor changes, references adde

Effective numbers of charge carriers in doped graphene: The generalized Fermi liquid approach

The single-band current-dipole Kubo formula for the dynamical conductivity of heavily doped graphene from Kup\v{c}i\'{c} [Phys. Rev. B 91, 205428 (2015)] is extended to a two-band model for conduction $\pi$ electrons in lightly doped graphene. Using a posteriori relaxation-time approximation in the two-band quantum transport equations, with two different relaxation rates and one quasi-particle lifetime, we explain a seemingly inconsistent dependence of the dc conductivity $\sigma^{\rm dc}_{\alpha \alpha}$ of ultraclean and dirty lightly doped graphene samples on electron doping, in a way consistent with the charge continuity equation. It is also shown that the intraband contribution to the effective number of conduction electrons in $\sigma^{\rm dc}_{\alpha \alpha}$ vanishes at $T=0$ K in the ultraclean regime, but it remains finite in the dirty regime. The present model is shown to be consistent with a picture in which the intraband and interband contributions to $\sigma^{\rm dc}_{\alpha \alpha}$ are characterized by two different mobilities of conduction electrons, the values of which are well below the widely accepted value of mobility in ultraclean graphene. The dispersions of Dirac and $\pi$ plasmon resonances are reexamined to show that the present, relatively simple expression for the dynamical conductivity tensor can be used to study simultaneously single-particle excitations in the dc and optical conductivity and collective excitations in energy loss spectroscopy experiments.Comment: 13 pages, 11 figure

Cu nuclear magnetic resonance study of charge and spin stripe order in La1.875_{1.875}Ba0.125_{0.125}CuO4_4

We present a Cu nuclear magnetic/quadrupole resonance study of the charge stripe ordered phase of LBCO, with detection of previously unobserved ('wiped-out') signal. We show that spin-spin and spin-lattice relaxation rates are strongly enhanced in the charge ordered phase, explaining the apparent signal decrease in earlier investigations. The enhancement is caused by magnetic, rather than charge fluctuations, conclusively confirming the long-suspected assumption that spin fluctuations are responsible for the wipeout effect. Observation of the full Cu signal enables insight into the spin and charge dynamics of the stripe-ordered phase, and measurements in external magnetic fields provide information on the nature and suppression of spin fluctuations associated with charge order. We find glassy spin dynamics, in agreement with previous work, and incommensurate static charge order with charge modulation amplitude similar to other cuprate compounds, suggesting that the amplitude of charge stripes is universal in the cuprates.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure

Resistivity phase diagram of cuprates revisited

The phase diagram of the cuprate superconductors has posed a formidable scientific challenge for more than three decades. This challenge is perhaps best exemplified by the need to understand the normal-state charge transport as the system evolves from Mott insulator to Fermi-liquid metal with doping. Here we report a detailed analysis of the temperature (T) and doping (p) dependence of the planar resistivity of simple-tetragonal HgBa$_2$CuO$_{4+\delta}$ (Hg1201), the single-CuO$_2$-layer cuprate with the highest optimal $T_c$. The data allow us to test a recently proposed phenomenological model for the cuprate phase diagram that combines a universal transport scattering rate with spatially inhomogeneous (de)localization of the Mott-localized hole. We find that the model provides an excellent description of the data. We then extend this analysis to prior transport results for several other cuprates, including the Hall number in the overdoped part of the phase diagram, and find little compound-to-compound variation in (de)localization gap scale. The results point to a robust, universal structural origin of the inherent gap inhomogeneity that is unrelated to doping-related disorder. They are inconsistent with the notion that much of the phase diagram is controlled by a quantum critical point, and instead indicate that the unusual electronic properties exhibited by the cuprates are fundamentally related to strong nonlinearities associated with subtle nanoscale inhomogeneity.Comment: 22 pages, 5 figure

Measurement of radiation-pressure-induced optomechanical dynamics in a suspended Fabry-Perot cavity

We report on experimental observation of radiation-pressure induced effects in a high-power optical cavity. These effects play an important role in next generation gravitational wave (GW) detectors, as well as in quantum non-demolition (QND) interferometers. We measure the properties of an optical spring, created by coupling of an intense laser field to the pendulum mode of a suspended mirror; and also the parametric instability (PI) that arises from the nonlinear coupling between acoustic modes of the cavity mirrors and the cavity optical mode. Specifically, we measure an optical rigidity of $K = 3 \times 10^4$ N/m, and PI value $R = 3$.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Minimum and maximum against k lies

A neat 1972 result of Pohl asserts that [3n/2]-2 comparisons are sufficient, and also necessary in the worst case, for finding both the minimum and the maximum of an n-element totally ordered set. The set is accessed via an oracle for pairwise comparisons. More recently, the problem has been studied in the context of the Renyi-Ulam liar games, where the oracle may give up to k false answers. For large k, an upper bound due to Aigner shows that (k+O(\sqrt{k}))n comparisons suffice. We improve on this by providing an algorithm with at most (k+1+C)n+O(k^3) comparisons for some constant C. The known lower bounds are of the form (k+1+c_k)n-D, for some constant D, where c_0=0.5, c_1=23/32=0.71875, and c_k=\Omega(2^{-5k/4}) as k goes to infinity.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figure

On Byzantine Broadcast in Loosely Connected Networks

We consider the problem of reliably broadcasting information in a multihop asynchronous network that is subject to Byzantine failures. Most existing approaches give conditions for perfect reliable broadcast (all correct nodes deliver the authentic message and nothing else), but they require a highly connected network. An approach giving only probabilistic guarantees (correct nodes deliver the authentic message with high probability) was recently proposed for loosely connected networks, such as grids and tori. Yet, the proposed solution requires a specific initialization (that includes global knowledge) of each node, which may be difficult or impossible to guarantee in self-organizing networks - for instance, a wireless sensor network, especially if they are prone to Byzantine failures. In this paper, we propose a new protocol offering guarantees for loosely connected networks that does not require such global knowledge dependent initialization. In more details, we give a methodology to determine whether a set of nodes will always deliver the authentic message, in any execution. Then, we give conditions for perfect reliable broadcast in a torus network. Finally, we provide experimental evaluation for our solution, and determine the number of randomly distributed Byzantine failures than can be tolerated, for a given correct broadcast probability.Comment: 1

Chaos and Correspondence in Classical and Quantum Hamiltonian Ratchets: A Heisenberg Approach

Previous work [Gong and Brumer, Phys. Rev. Lett., 97, 240602 (2006)] motivates this study as to how asymmetry-driven quantum ratchet effects can persist despite a corresponding fully chaotic classical phase space. A simple perspective of ratchet dynamics, based on the Heisenberg picture, is introduced. We show that ratchet effects are in principle of common origin in classical and quantum mechanics, though full chaos suppresses these effects in the former but not necessarily the latter. The relationship between ratchet effects and coherent dynamical control is noted.Comment: 21 pages, 7 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev.

Deterministic meeting of sniffing agents in the plane

Two mobile agents, starting at arbitrary, possibly different times from arbitrary locations in the plane, have to meet. Agents are modeled as discs of diameter 1, and meeting occurs when these discs touch. Agents have different labels which are integers from the set of 0 to L-1. Each agent knows L and knows its own label, but not the label of the other agent. Agents are equipped with compasses and have synchronized clocks. They make a series of moves. Each move specifies the direction and the duration of moving. This includes a null move which consists in staying inert for some time, or forever. In a non-null move agents travel at the same constant speed, normalized to 1. We assume that agents have sensors enabling them to estimate the distance from the other agent (defined as the distance between centers of discs), but not the direction towards it. We consider two models of estimation. In both models an agent reads its sensor at the moment of its appearance in the plane and then at the end of each move. This reading (together with the previous ones) determines the decision concerning the next move. In both models the reading of the sensor tells the agent if the other agent is already present. Moreover, in the monotone model, each agent can find out, for any two readings in moments t1 and t2, whether the distance from the other agent at time t1 was smaller, equal or larger than at time t2. In the weaker binary model, each agent can find out, at any reading, whether it is at distance less than \r{ho} or at distance at least \r{ho} from the other agent, for some real \r{ho} > 1 unknown to them. Such distance estimation mechanism can be implemented, e.g., using chemical sensors. Each agent emits some chemical substance (scent), and the sensor of the other agent detects it, i.e., sniffs. The intensity of the scent decreases with the distance.Comment: A preliminary version of this paper appeared in the Proc. 23rd International Colloquium on Structural Information and Communication Complexity (SIROCCO 2016), LNCS 998