656 research outputs found
On the Nature of the Hagedorn Transition in NCOS Systems
We extend the study of the nature of the Hagedorn transition in NCOS systems
in various dimensions. The canonical analysis results in a microscopic
ionization picture of a bound state system in which the Hagedorn transition is
postponed till irrelevancy. A microcanonical analysis leads to a limiting
Hagedorn behaviour dominated by highly excited, long open strings. The study of
the full phase diagram of the NCOS system using the AdS/CFT correspondence
suggests that the microscopic ionization picture is the correct one. We discuss
some refinements of the ionization mechanism for NCOS systems, including
the formation of a temperature-dependent barrier for the process. Some possible
consequences of this behaviour, including a potential puzzle for , are
discussed. Phase diagrams of a regularized form of NCOS systems are introduced
and do accomodate a phase of long open strings which disappears in the strict
NCOS limit.Comment: 37 pages, 3 Postscript figure
Long time scales and eternal black holes
We discuss the various scales determining the temporal behaviour of
correlation functions in the presence of eternal black holes. We point out the
origins of the failure of the semiclassical gravity approximation to respect a
unitarity-based bound suggested by Maldacena. We find that the presence of a
subleading (in the large-N approximation involved) master field does restore
the compliance with one bound but additional configurations are needed to
explain the more detailed expected time dependence of the Poincare recurrences
and their magnitude.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures. Presented at Johns Hopkins 2003 and Ahrenshoop
2003 workshop
Remarks on Black Hole Instabilities and Closed String Tachyons
Physical arguments stemming from the theory of black-hole thermodynamics are
used to put constraints on the dynamics of closed-string tachyon condensation
in Scherk--Schwarz compactifications. A geometrical interpretation of the
tachyon condensation involves an effective capping of a noncontractible cycle,
thus removing the very topology that supports the tachyons. A semiclassical
regime is identified in which the matching between the tachyon condensation and
the black-hole instability flow is possible. We formulate a generalized
correspondence principle and illustrate it in several different circumstances:
an Euclidean interpretation of the transition from strings to black holes
across the Hagedorn temperature and instabilities in the brane-antibrane
system.Comment: harvmac, 20 pp, 4 eps figures. Contribution to Jacob Bekenstein's
Festschrif
Touring the Hagedorn Ridge
We review aspects of the Hagedorn regime in critical string theories, from
basic facts about the ideal gas approximation to the proposal of a global
picture inspired by general ideas of holography. It was suggested that the
condensation of thermal winding modes triggers a first-order phase transition.
We propose, by an Euclidean analogue of the string/black hole correspondence
principle, that the transition is actually related to a topology change in
spacetime. Similar phase transitions induced by unstable winding modes can be
studied in toy models. There, using T-duality of supersymmetric cycles, one can
identify a topology change of the Gregory--Laflamme type, which we associate
with large-N phase transitions of Yang--Mills theories on tori. This essay is
dedicated to the memory of Ian Kogan.Comment: 29 pages, 18 figures, contribution to I.I. Kogan memorial volume,
references adde
The Asiago Supernova Catalogue- 10 years after
Ten years after the publication of the previous release, we present a new
edition of the Asiago Supernova Catalogue updated to December 31, 1998 and
containing data for 1447 supernovae and their parent galaxies\footnote{Tables 1
and 2 are only available in electronic form at the CDS via anonymous ftp to
cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or via
http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/Abstract.html}. In addition to list the data for a
large number of new SNe, we made an effort to search the literature for new
information on past SNe as well. We also tried to update and homogenize the
data for the parent galaxies. To allow a global view of the Catalogue, a few
descriptive figures and a summary table is reported. The present Catalogue is
intended as a large and modern database for statistical studies on the
supernova phenomenon.Comment: 6 pages. To be published in A&A supplement. Enclosed as postscript
files are the full lists in chronological (snean.ps) and R.A. (snear.ps)
order (to be published only in electronic form.
The Distribution of High and Low Redshift Type Ia Supernovae
The distribution of high redshift Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) with respect to
projected distance from the center of the host galaxy is studied and compared
to the distribution of local SNe. The distribution of high-z SNe Ia is found to
be similar to the local sample of SNe Ia discovered with CCDs, but different
than the sample discovered photographically. This is shown to be due to the
Shaw effect. These results have implications for the use of SNe Ia to determine
cosmological parameters if the local sample of supernovae used to calibrate the
light curve decline relationships is drawn from a sample discovered
photographically. A K-S test shows that the probability that the high redshift
SNe of the Supernova Cosmology Project are drawn from the same distribution as
the low redshift calibrators of Riess et al. is 0.1%. This is a potential
problem because photographically discovered SNe are preferentially discovered
farther away from the galaxy nucleus, where SNe show a lower scatter in
absolute magnitude, and are on average 0.3 magnitudes fainter than SNe located
closer to the center of their host galaxy. This raises questions about whether
or not the calibration SNe sample the full range of parameters potentially
present in high redshift SNe Ia. The limited data available suggest that the
calibration process is adequate; however, it would be preferable if high
redshift SNe and the low redshift SNe used to calibrate them were drawn from
the same sample, as subtle differences may be important. Data are also
presented which suggest that the seeming anti-Malmquist trend noticed by
Tammann et al.(1996, 1998) for SNe Ia in galaxies with Cepheid distances may be
due to the location of the SNe in their host galaxies.Comment: 16 pages, 2 figures Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical
Journa
The Late Time Light Curve of SN 1998bw Associated with GRB980425
We report 139 photometric observations through the B, V, and I filters of the
supernova SN 1998bw, an object which is associated with the Gamma-Ray Burst GRB
980425. Detailed light curves of this unique supernova can be compared to
theoretical models, so we report here our light curve for 123 days between 27
June 1998 and 28 October 1998. The light curve of SN 1988bw is consistent with
those of the Type Ic class. We find that the magnitude-versus-time relation for
this supernova is linear to within 0.05 mags in all colors over the entire
duration of our study. Our measured uniform decline rates are , , and magnitudes per day in the
B, V, and I bands. The linear decline and the rate of that decline suggest that
late time light curve is powered by the radioactive decay of cobalt with some
leakage of the gamma rays.Comment: 15 pages, 1 figure, 1 table, Accepted for publication in PAS
Type II Supernovae as Standardized Candles
We present evidence for a correlation between expansion velocities of the
ejecta of Type II plateau supernovae and their bolometric luminosities during
the plateau phase. This correlation permits one to standardize the candles and
decrease the scatter in the Hubble diagram from ~1 mag to a level of 0.4 and
0.3 mag in the V and I bands, respectively. When we restrict the sample to the
eight objects which are well in the Hubble flow (cz > 3,000 km/s) the scatter
drops even further to only 0.2 mag (or 9% in distance), which is comparable to
the precision yielded by Type Ia supernovae and far better than the ``expanding
photosphere method'' applied to Type II supernovae. Using SN 1987A to calibrate
the Hubble diagrams we get Ho=55+/-12.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures, 1 table, accepted by ApJ
Some Global Aspects of Duality is String Theory
We explore some of the global aspects of duality transformations in String
Theory and Field Theory. We analyze in some detail the equivalence of dual
models corresponding to different topologies at the level of the partition
function and in terms of the operator correspondence for abelian duality. We
analyze the behavior of the cosmological constant under these transformations.
We also explore several examples of non-abelian duality where the classical
background interpretation can be maintained for the original and the dual
theories. In particular we construct a non-abelian dual of which
turns out to be a three-dimensional black holeComment: 31pp. One figure available upon request. CERN-TH-6991/6
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