Instantons and Wormholes in N=2 supergravity

In this paper, we construct Euclidean instanton and wormhole solutions in $d=4$, N=2 supergravity theories with hypermultiplets. The analytic continuation of the hypermultiplet action, involving pseudoscalar axions, is discussed using the approach originally developed by Coleman which determines the apparence of boundary terms. In particular, we investigate the conditions obtained by requiring the action to be positive-definite once the boundary terms are taken into account. The case of two hypermultiplets parameterizing the coset $G_{2,2}/SU(2)\times SU(2)$ is studied in detail. Orientifold projections which reduce the supersymmetry to N=1 are also discussed.Comment: 57 pages, 4 figures, pdflatex, v2: references and some clarifications added,v3: reference corrected and figures modifie

Scherk-Schwarz Reduction of D=5 Special and Quaternionic Geometry

We give the N=2 gauged supergravity interpretation of a generic D=4, N=2 theory as it comes from generalized Scherk-Schwarz reduction of D=5, N=2 (ungauged) supergravity. We focus on the geometric aspects of the D=4 data such as the general form of the scalar potential and masses in terms of the gauging of a ``flat group''. Higgs and super-Higgs mechanism are discussed in some detail.Comment: final version to be published on Class.Quant.Gra

M-theory on `toric' G_2 cones and its type II reduction

We analyze a class of conical G_2 metrics admitting two commuting isometries, together with a certain one-parameter family of G_2 deformations which preserves these symmetries. Upon using recent results of Calderbank and Pedersen, we write down the explicit G_2 metric for the most general member of this family and extract the IIA reduction of M-theory on such backgrounds, as well as its type IIB dual. By studying the asymptotics of type II fields around the relevant loci, we confirm the interpretation of such backgrounds in terms of localized IIA 6-branes and delocalized IIB 5-branes. In particular, we find explicit, general expressions for the string coupling and R-R/NS-NS forms in the vicinity of these objects. Our solutions contain and generalize the field configurations relevant for certain models considered in recent work of Acharya and Witten.Comment: 45 pages, references adde

Monotonic growth of interlayer magnetoresistance in strong magnetic field in very anisotropic layered metals

It is shown, that the monotonic part of interlayer electronic conductivity strongly decreases in high magnetic field perpendicular to the conducting layers. We consider only the coherent interlayer tunnelling, and the obtained result strongly contradicts the standard theory. This effect appears in very anisotropic layered quasi-two-dimensional metals, when the interlayer transfer integral is less than the Landau level separation.Comment: 4 pages, no figure

No N=4 Strings on Wolf Spaces

We generalize the standard $N=2$ supersymmetric Kazama-Suzuki coset construction to the $N=4$ case by requiring the {\it non-linear} (Goddard-Schwimmer) $N=4~$ quasi-superconformal algebra to be realized on cosets. The constraints that we find allow very simple geometrical interpretation and have the Wolf spaces as their natural solutions. Our results obtained by using components-level superconformal field theory methods are fully consistent with standard results about $N=4$ supersymmetric two-dimensional non-linear sigma-models and $N=4$ WZNW models on Wolf spaces. We construct the actions for the latter and express the quaternionic structure, appearing in the $N=4$ coset solution, in terms of the symplectic structure associated with the underlying Freudenthal triple system. Next, we gauge the $N=4~$ QSCA and build a quantum BRST charge for the $N=4$ string propagating on a Wolf space. Surprisingly, the BRST charge nilpotency conditions rule out the non-trivial Wolf spaces as consistent string backgrounds.Comment: 31 pages, LaTeX, special macros are include

Solvegeometry gravitational waves

In this paper we construct negatively curved Einstein spaces describing gravitational waves having a solvegeometry wave-front (i.e., the wave-fronts are solvable Lie groups equipped with a left-invariant metric). Using the Einstein solvmanifolds (i.e., solvable Lie groups considered as manifolds) constructed in a previous paper as a starting point, we show that there also exist solvegeometry gravitational waves. Some geometric aspects are discussed and examples of spacetimes having additional symmetries are given, for example, spacetimes generalising the Kaigorodov solution. The solvegeometry gravitational waves are also examples of spacetimes which are indistinguishable by considering the scalar curvature invariants alone.Comment: 10 pages; v2:more discussion and result

Prediction of inorganic superconductors with quasi-one-dimensional crystal structure

Models of superconductors having a quasi-one-dimensional crystal structure based on the convoluted into a tube Ginzburg sandwich, which comprises a layered dielectric-metal-dielectric structure, have been suggested. The critical crystal chemistry parameters of the Ginzburg sandwich determining the possibility of the emergence of superconductivity and the Tc value in layered high-Tc cuprates, which could have the same functions in quasi-one-dimensional fragments (sandwich-type tubes), have been examined. The crystal structures of known low-temperature superconductors, in which one can mark out similar quasi-one- dimensional fragments, have been analyzed. Five compounds with quasi-one-dimensional structures, which can be considered as potential parents of new superconductor families, possibly with high transition temperatures, have been suggested. The methods of doping and modification of these compounds are provided.Comment: 22 pages, 14 figures and 2 table

Brane Inflation, Solitons and Cosmological Solutions: I

In this paper we study various cosmological solutions for a D3/D7 system directly from M-theory with fluxes and M2-branes. In M-theory, these solutions exist only if we incorporate higher derivative corrections from the curvatures as well as G-fluxes. We take these corrections into account and study a number of toy cosmologies, including one with a novel background for the D3/D7 system whose supergravity solution can be completely determined. This new background preserves all the good properties of the original model and opens up avenues to investigate cosmological effects from wrapped branes and brane-antibrane annihilation, to name a few. We also discuss in some detail semilocal defects with higher global symmetries, for example exceptional ones, that could occur in a slightly different regime of our D3/D7 model. We show that the D3/D7 system does have the required ingredients to realise these configurations as non-topological solitons of the theory. These constructions also allow us to give a physical meaning to the existence of certain underlying homogeneous quaternionic Kahler manifolds.Comment: Harvmac, 115 pages, 9 .eps figures; v2: typos corrected, references added and the last section expanded; v3: Few minor typos corrected and references added. Final version to appear in JHE