198 research outputs found
Unitarity Bounds in AdS_3 Higher Spin Gravity
We study SL(N,R) Chern-Simons gauge theories in three dimensions. The choice
of the embedding of SL(2,R) in SL(N,R), together with asymptotic boundary
conditions, defines a theory of higher spin gravity. Each inequivalent
embedding leads to a different asymptotic symmetry group, which we map to an
OPE structure at the boundary. A simple inspection of these algebras indicates
that only the W_N algebra constructed using the principal embedding could admit
a unitary representation for large values of the central charge.Comment: 1+23 pages, Version 3 Appendix B revise
Classical Conformal Blocks and Accessory Parameters from Isomonodromic Deformations
Classical conformal blocks naturally appear in the large central charge limit
of 2D Virasoro conformal blocks. In the correspondence, they
are related to classical bulk actions and are used to calculate entanglement
entropy and geodesic lengths. In this work, we discuss the identification of
classical conformal blocks and the Painlev\'e VI action showing how
isomonodromic deformations naturally appear in this context. We recover the
accessory parameter expansion of Heun's equation from the isomonodromic
-function. We also discuss how the expansion of the
-function leads to a novel approach to calculate the 4-point classical
conformal block.Comment: 32+10 pages, 2 figures; v3: upgraded notation, discussion on moduli
space and monodromies, numerical and analytic checks; v2: added refs, fixed
emai
A note on the Virasoro blocks at order 1/c
We derive an explicit expression for the contribution to the Virasoro
blocks in 2D CFT in the limit of large with fixed values of the operators'
dimensions. We follow the direct approach of orthonormalising, at order ,
the space of the Virasoro descendants to obtain the blocks as a series
expansion around . For generic conformal weights this expansion can be
summed in terms of hypergeometric functions and their first derivatives with
respect to one parameter. For integer conformal weights we provide an
equivalent expression written in terms of a finite sum of undifferentiated
hypergeometric functions. These results make the monodromies of the blocks
around manifest.Comment: 13 pages; v2: added references to previous wor
Second-Order Formalism for 3D Spin-3 Gravity
A second-order formalism for the theory of 3D spin-3 gravity is considered.
Such a formalism is obtained by solving the torsion-free condition for the spin
connection \omega^a_{\mu}, and substituting the result into the action
integral. In the first-order formalism of the spin-3 gravity defined in terms
of SL(3,R) X SL(3,R) Chern-Simons (CS) theory, however, the generalized
torsion-free condition cannot be easily solved for the spin connection, because
the vielbein e^a_{\mu} itself is not invertible. To circumvent this problem,
extra vielbein-like fields e^a_{\mu\nu} are introduced as a functional of
e^a_{\mu}. New set of affine-like connections \Gamma_{\mu M}^N are defined in
terms of the metric-like fields, and a generalization of the Riemann curvature
tensor is also presented. In terms of this generalized Riemann tensor the
action integral in the second-order formalism is expressed. The transformation
rules of the metric and the spin-3 gauge field under the generalized
diffeomorphims are obtained explicitly. As in Einstein gravity, the new
affine-like connections are related to the spin connection by a certain gauge
transformation, and a gravitational CS term expressed in terms of the new
connections is also presented.Comment: 40 pages, no figures. v2:references added, coefficients of eqs in
apppendix D corrected, minor typos also corrected, v3:Version accepted for
publication in Classical and Quantum Gravit
Exploiting oxidative phosphorylation to promote the stem and immunoevasive properties of pancreatic cancer stem cells
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), the fourth leading cause of cancer death, has a 5-year survival rate of approximately 7–9%. The ineffectiveness of anti-PDAC therapies is believed to be due to the existence of a subpopulation of tumor cells known as cancer stem cells (CSCs), which are functionally plastic, and have exclusive tumorigenic, chemoresistant and metastatic capacities. Herein, we describe a 2D in vitro system for long-term enrichment of pancreatic CSCs that is amenable to biological and CSC-specific studies. By changing the carbon source from glucose to galactose in vitro, we force PDAC cells to utilize OXPHOS, resulting in enrichment of CSCs defined by increased CSC biomarker and pluripotency gene expression, greater tumorigenic potential, induced but reversible quiescence, increased OXPHOS activity, enhanced invasiveness, and upregulated immune evasion properties. This CSC enrichment method can facilitate the discovery of new CSC-specific hallmarks for future development into targets for PDAC-based therapies
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