350 research outputs found
On-shell Techniques and Universal Results in Quantum Gravity
We compute the leading post-Newtonian and quantum corrections to the Coulomb
and Newtonian potentials using the full modern arsenal of on-shell techniques;
we employ spinor-helicity variables everywhere, use the Kawai-Lewellen-Tye
(KLT) relations to derive gravity amplitudes from gauge theory and use
unitarity methods to extract the terms needed at one-loop order. We stress that
our results are universal and thus will hold in any quantum theory of gravity
with the same low-energy degrees of freedom as we are considering. Previous
results for the corrections to the same potentials, derived historically using
Feynman graphs, are verified explicitly, but our approach presents a huge
simplification, since starting points for the computations are compact and
tedious index contractions and various complicated integral reductions are
eliminated from the onset, streamlining the derivations. We also analyze the
spin dependence of the results using the KLT factorization, and show how the
spinless correction in the framework are easily seen to be independent of the
interacting matter considered.Comment: 34 pages, 7 figures, typos corrected, published versio
Constraints on the variability of quark masses from nuclear binding
Based on recent work on nuclear binding, we update and extend the anthropic
constraints on the light quark masses, with results that are more tightly
constrained than previously obtained. We find that heavy nuclei would fall
apart (because the attractive nuclear central potential becomes too weak) if
the sum of the light quark masses m_u+m_d would exceed their physical values by
64% (at 95% confidence level). We summarize the anthropic constraints that
follow from requiring the existence both of heavy atoms and of hydrogen. With
the additional assumption that the quark Yukawa couplings do not vary, these
constraints provide a remarkably tight anthropic window for the Higgs vacuum
expectation value: 0.39 < v/v_physical < 1.64.Comment: 21 pages, 7 figure
Isotropy of the early universe from CMB anisotropies
The acoustic peak in the CMB power spectrum is sensitive to causal processes
and cosmological parameters in the early universe up to the time of last
scattering. We provide limits on correlated spatial variations of the peak
height and peak position and interpret these as constraints on the spatial
variation of the cosmological parameters (baryon density, cold dark matter
density and cosmological constant as well as the amplitude and tilt of the
original fluctuations). We utilize recent work of Hansen, Banday and Gorski
(HBG) who have studied the spatial isotropy of the power spectrum as measured
by WMAP by performing the power spectrum analysis on smaller patches of the
sky. We find that there is no statistically significant correlated asymmetry of
the peak. HBG have also provided preliminary indications of a preferred
direction in the lower angular momentum range(~ 2-40) and we show how possible
explanations of this asymmetry are severely constrained by the data on the
acoustic peak. Finally we show a possible non-gaussian feature in the data,
associated with a difference in the northern and southern galactic hemispheres.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures, v.2 adds an extra relevant reference and commen
On the parameterization dependence of the energy momentum tensor and the metric
We use results by Kirilin to show that in general relativity the nonleading
terms in the energy-momentum tensor of a particle depends on the
parameterization of the gravitational field. While the classical metric that is
calculated from this source, used to define the leading long-distance
corrections to the metric, also has a parameteriztion dependence, it can be
removed by a coordinate change. Thus the classical observables are
parameterization independent. The quantum effects that emerge within the same
calculation of the metric also depend on the parameterization and a full
quantum calculation requires the inclusion of further diagrams. However, within
a given parameterization the quantum effects calculated by us in a previous
paper are well defined. Flaws of Kirilin's proposed alternate metric definition
are described and we explain why the diagrams that we calculated are the
appropriate ones.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figure
A virtual world of paleontology
Computer-aided visualization and analysis of fossils has revolutionized the study of extinct organisms. Novel techniques allow fossils to be characterized in three dimensions and in unprecedented detail. This has enabled paleontologists to gain important insights into their anatomy, development, and preservation. New protocols allow more objective reconstructions of fossil organisms, including soft tissues, from incomplete remains. The resulting digital reconstructions can be used in functional analyses, rigorously testing long-standing hypotheses regarding the paleobiology of extinct organisms. These approaches are transforming our understanding of long-studied fossil groups, and of the narratives of organismal and ecological evolution that have been built upon them
Photon-Photon Scattering, Pion Polarizability and Chiral Symmetry
Recent attempts to detect the pion polarizability via analysis of
measurements are examined. The connection
between calculations based on dispersion relations and on chiral perturbation
theory is established by matching the low energy chiral amplitude with that
given by a full dispersive treatment. Using the values for the polarizability
required by chiral symmetry, predicted and experimental cross sections are
shown to be in agreement.Comment: 21 pages(+10 figures available on request), LATEX, UMHEP-38
Asymptotic Limits and Structure of the Pion Form Factor
We use dispersive techniques to address the behavior of the pion form factor
as and . We perform the matching with the
constraints of perturbative QCD and chiral perturbation theory in the high
energy and low energy limits, leading to four sum rules. We present a version
of the dispersive input which is consistent with the data and with all
theoretical constraints. The results indicate that the asymptotic perturbative
QCD limit is approached relatively slowly, and give a model independent
determination of low energy chiral parameters.Comment: 8 pages, Latex, 2 figure
Gauge federation as an alternative to unification
We motivate and explore the possibility that extra SU(N) gauge groups may
exist independently of the Standard Model groups, yet not be subgroups of some
grand unified group. We study the running of the coupling constants as a
potential evidence for a common origin of all the gauge theories. Several
different example are displayed. Some of the multiple options involve physics
at the TeV scale.Comment: 7 pages, 10 figure
On the power counting of loop diagrams in general relativity
A class of loop diagrams in general relativity appears to have a behavior
which would upset the utility of the energy expansion for quantum effects. We
show through the study of specific diagrams that cancellations occur which
restore the expected behaviour of the energy expansion. By considering the
power counting in a physical gauge we show that the apparent bad behavior is a
gauge artifact, and that the quantum loops enter with a well behaved energy
expansion.Comment: 29 pages, uses axodraw and epsfig.tex, one small .eps file is
included. The full PostScript version is also available as
http://het.phast.umass.edu/students/kakukk/powercount_hepth.p
Classical Physics and Quantum Loops
The standard picture of the loop expansion associates a factor of h-bar with
each loop, suggesting that the tree diagrams are to be associated with
classical physics, while loop effects are quantum mechanical in nature. We
discuss examples wherein classical effects arise from loop contributions and
display the relationship between the classical terms and the long range effects
of massless particles.Comment: 15 pages, 3 figure
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