942 research outputs found
Bogomol'nyi Bounds for Gravitational Cosmic Strings
We present a new method for finding lower bounds on the energy of topological
cosmic string solutions in gravitational field theories. This new method
produces bounds that are valid over the entire space of solutions, unlike the
traditional approach, where the bounds obtained are only valid for
cylindrically symmetric solutions. This method is shown to be a generalisation
of the well-known Bogomol'nyi procedure for non-gravitational theories and as
such, it can be used to find gravitational Bogomol'nyi bounds for models
wherever the traditional Bogomol'nyi procedure can be applied in the
non-gravitational limit. Furthermore, this method yields Bogomol'nyi equations
that do not rule out the existence of asymmetric bound-saturating solutions.Comment: 17 pages - final version (accepted for publication in JHEP
Convenient Versus Unique Effective Action Formalism in 2D Dilaton-Maxwell Quantum Gravity
The structure of one-loop divergences of two-dimensional dilaton-Maxwell
quantum gravity is investigated in two formalisms: one using a convenient
effective action and the other a unique effective action. The one-loop
divergences (including surface divergences) of the convenient effective action
are calculated in three different covariant gauges: (i) De Witt, (ii)
-degenerate De Witt, and (iii) simplest covariant. The on-shell
effective action is given by surface divergences only (finiteness of the
-matrix), which yet depend upon the gauge condition choice.
Off-shell renormalizability is discussed and classes of renormalizable
dilaton and Maxwell potentials are found which coincide in the cases of
convenient and unique effective actions. A detailed comparison of both
situations, i.e. convenient vs. unique effective action, is given. As an
extension of the procedure, the one-loop effective action in two-dimensional
dilaton-Yang-Mills gravity is calculated.Comment: 25 pages, LaTeX file, HUPD-93-0
Type 0A 2D Black Hole Thermodynamics and the Deformed Matrix Model
Recently, it has been proposed that the deformed matrix model describes a
two-dimensional type 0A extremal black hole. In this paper, the thermodynamics
of 0A charged non-extremal black holes is investigated. We observe that the
free energy of the deformed matrix model to leading order in 1/q can be seen to
agree to that of the extremal black hole. We also speculate on how the deformed
matrix model is able to describe the thermodynamics of non-extremal black
holes.Comment: 12 page
Accuracy and Limitations of Fitting and Stereoscopic Methods to Determine the Direction of Coronal Mass Ejections from Heliospheric Imagers Observations
Using data from the Heliospheric Imagers (HIs) onboard STEREO, it is possible
to derive the direction of propagation of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) in
addition to their speed with a variety of methods. For CMEs observed by both
STEREO spacecraft, it is possible to derive their direction using simultaneous
observations from the twin spacecraft and also, using observations from only
one spacecraft with fitting methods. This makes it possible to test and compare
different analyses techniques. In this article, we propose a new fitting method
based on observations from one spacecraft, which we compare to the commonly
used fitting method of Sheeley et al. (1999). We also compare the results from
these two fitting methods with those from two stereoscopic methods, focusing on
12 CMEs observed simultaneously by the two STEREO spacecraft in 2008 and 2009.
We find evidence that the fitting method of Sheeley et al. (1999) can result in
significant errors in the determination of the CME direction when the CME
propagates outside of 60deg \pm 20 deg from the Sun-spacecraft line. We expect
our new fitting method to be better adapted to the analysis of halo or limb
CMEs with respect to the observing spacecraft. We also find some evidence that
direct triangulation in the HI fields-of-view should only be applied to CMEs
propagating approximatively towards Earth (\pm 20deg from the Sun-Earth line).
Last, we address one of the possible sources of errors of fitting methods: the
assumption of radial propagation. Using stereoscopic methods, we find that at
least seven of the 12 studied CMEs had an heliospheric deflection of less than
20deg as they propagated in the HI fields-of-view, which, we believe, validates
this approximation.Comment: 17 pages, 6 figures, 2 tables, accepted to Solar Physic
A systematic review of the impacts and management of introduced deer (family Cervidae) in Australia
Deer are among the world's most successful invasive mammals and can have substantial deleterious impacts on natural and agricultural ecosystems. Six species have established wild populations in Australia, and the distributions and abundances of some species are increasing. Approaches to managing wild deer in Australia are diverse and complex, with some populations managed as 'game' and others as 'pests'. Implementation of cost-effective management strategies that account for this complexity is hindered by a lack of knowledge of the nature, extent and severity of deer impacts. To clarify the knowledge base and identify research needs, we conducted a systematic review of the impacts and management of wild deer in Australia. Most wild deer are in south-eastern Australia, but bioclimatic analysis suggested that four species are well suited to the tropical and subtropical climates of northern Australia. Deer could potentially occupy most of the continent, including parts of the arid interior. The most significant impacts are likely to occur through direct effects of herbivory, with potentially cascading indirect effects on fauna and ecosystem processes. However, evidence of impacts in Australia is largely observational, and few studies have experimentally partitioned the impacts of deer from those of sympatric native and other introduced herbivores. Furthermore, there has been little rigorous testing of the efficacy of deer management in Australia, and our understanding of the deer ecology required to guide deer management is limited. We identified the following six priority research areas: (i) identifying long-term changes in plant communities caused by deer; (ii) understanding interactions with other fauna; (iii) measuring impacts on water quality; (iv) assessing economic impacts on agriculture (including as disease vectors); (v) evaluating efficacy of management for mitigating deer impacts; and (vi) quantifying changes in distribution and abundance. Addressing these knowledge gaps will assist the development and prioritisation of cost-effective management strategies and help increase stakeholder support for managing the impacts of deer on Australian ecosystems
Unitarity of Quantum Theory and Closed Time-Like Curves
Interacting quantum fields on spacetimes containing regions of closed
timelike curves (CTCs) are subject to a non-unitary evolution . Recently, a
prescription has been proposed, which restores unitarity of the evolution by
modifying the inner product on the final Hilbert space. We give a rigorous
description of this proposal and note an operational problem which arises when
one considers the composition of two or more non-unitary evolutions. We propose
an alternative method by which unitarity of the evolution may be regained, by
extending to a unitary evolution on a larger (possibly indefinite) inner
product space. The proposal removes the ambiguity noted by Jacobson in
assigning expectation values to observables localised in regions spacelike
separated from the CTC region. We comment on the physical significance of the
possible indefiniteness of the inner product introduced in our proposal.Comment: 13 pages, LaTeX. Final revised paper to be published in Phys Rev D.
Some changes are made to expand our discussion of Anderson's Proposal for
restoring unitarit
Dynamic Scaling and Two-Dimensional High-Tc Superconductors
There has been ongoing debate over the critical behavior of two-dimensional
superconductors; in particular for high Tc superconductors. The conventional
view is that a Kosterlitz-Thouless-Berezinskii transition occurs as long as
finite size effects do not obscure the transition. However, there have been
recent suggestions that a different transition actually occurs which
incorporates aspects of both the dynamic scaling theory of Fisher, Fisher, and
Huse and the Kosterlitz-Thouless-Berezinskii transition. Of general interest is
that this modified transition apparently has a universal dynamic critical
exponent. Some have countered that this apparent universal behavior is rooted
in a newly proposed finite-size scaling theory; one that also incorporates
scaling and conventional two-dimensional theory. To investigate these issues we
study DC voltage versus current data of a 12 angstrom thick YBCO film. We find
that the newly proposed scaling theories have intrinsic flexibility that is
relevant to the analysis of the experiments. In particular, the data scale
according to the modified transition for arbitrarily defined critical
temperatures between 0 K and 19.5 K, and the temperature range of a successful
scaling collapse is related directly to the sensitivity of the measurement.
This implies that the apparent universal exponent is due to the intrinsic
flexibility rather than some real physical property. To address this intrinsic
flexibility, we propose a criterion which would give conclusive evidence for
phase transitions in two-dimensional superconductors. We conclude by reviewing
results to see if our criterion is satisfied.Comment: 14 page
On the degree of scale invariance of inflationary perturbations
Many, if not most, inflationary models predict the power-law index of the
spectrum of density perturbations is close to one, though not precisely equal
to one, |n-1| \sim O(0.1), implying that the spectrum of density perturbations
is nearly, but not exactly, scale invariant. Some models allow n to be
significantly less than one (n \sim 0.7); a spectral index significantly
greater than one is more difficult to achieve. We show that n \approx 1 is a
consequence of the slow-roll conditions for inflation and ``naturalness,'' and
thus is a generic prediction of inflation. We discuss what is required to
deviate significantly from scale invariance, and then show, by explicit
construction, the existence of smooth potentials that satisfy all the
conditions for successful inflation and give as large as 2.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
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