729 research outputs found
Localization and Diagonalization: A review of functional integral techniques for low-dimensional gauge theories and topological field theories
We review localization techniques for functional integrals which have
recently been used to perform calculations in and gain insight into the
structure of certain topological field theories and low-dimensional gauge
theories. These are the functional integral counterparts of the Mathai-Quillen
formalism, the Duistermaat-Heckman theorem, and the Weyl integral formula
respectively. In each case, we first introduce the necessary mathematical
background (Euler classes of vector bundles, equivariant cohomology, topology
of Lie groups), and describe the finite dimensional integration formulae. We
then discuss some applications to path integrals and give an overview of the
relevant literature. The applications we deal with include supersymmetric
quantum mechanics, cohomological field theories, phase space path integrals,
and two-dimensional Yang-Mills theory.Comment: 72 pages (60 A4 pages), LaTeX (to appear in the Journal of
Mathematical Physics Special Issue on Functional Integration (May 1995)
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Depth spreading through empty space induced by sparse disparity cues
A key goal of visual processing is to develop an understanding of the three-dimensional layout of the objects in our immediate vicinity from the variety of incomplete and noisy depth cues available to the eyes. Binocular disparity is one of the dominant depth cues, but it is often sparse, being definable only at the edges of uniform surface regions, and visually resolvable only where the edges have a horizontal disparity component. To understand the full 3D structure of visual objects, our visual system has to perform substantial surface interpolation across unstructured visual space. This interpolation process was studied in an eight-spoke depth spreading configuration corresponding to that used in the neon color spreading effect, which generates a strong percept of a sharp contour extending through empty space from the disparity edges within the spokes. Four hypotheses were developed for the form of the depth surface induced by disparity in the spokes defining an incomplete disk in depth: low-level local (isotropic) depth propagation, mid-level linear (anisotropic) depth-contour interpolation or extrapolation, and high-level (anisotropic) figural depth propagation of a disk figure in depth. Data for both perceived depth and position of the perceived contour clearly rejected the first three hypotheses and were consistent with the high-level figural hypothesis in both uniform disparity and slanted disk configurations. We conclude that depth spreading through empty visual space is an accurately quantifiable perceptual process that propagates depth contours anisotropically along their length and is governed by high-level figural properties of 3D object structure
Defect free global minima in Thomson's problem of charges on a sphere
Given unit points charges on the surface of a unit conducting sphere,
what configuration of charges minimizes the Coulombic energy ? Due to an exponential rise in good local minima, finding global
minima for this problem, or even approaches to do so has proven extremely
difficult. For \hbox{} recent theoretical work based on
elasticity theory, and subsequent numerical work has shown, that for --1000 adding dislocation defects to a symmetric icosadeltahedral lattice
lowers the energy. Here we show that in fact this approach holds for all ,
and we give a complete or near complete catalogue of defect free global minima.Comment: Revisions in Tables and Reference
A Compact Extreme Scattering Event Cloud Towards AO 0235+164
We present observations of a rare, rapid, high amplitude Extreme Scattering
Event toward the compact BL-Lac AO 0235+164 at 6.65 GHz. The ESE cloud is
compact; we estimate its diameter between 0.09 and 0.9 AU, and is at a distance
of less than 3.6 kpc. Limits on the angular extent of the ESE cloud imply a
minimum cloud electron density of ~ 4 x 10^3 cm^-3. Based on the amplitude and
timescale of the ESE observed here, we suggest that at least one of the
transients reported by Bower et al. (2007) may be attributed to ESEs.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figure
Hemophagocytic Macrophages Harbor Salmonella enterica during Persistent Infection
Salmonella enterica subspecies can establish persistent, systemic infections in mammals, including human typhoid fever. Persistent S. enterica disease is characterized by an initial acute infection that develops into an asymptomatic chronic infection. During both the acute and persistent stages, the bacteria generally reside within professional phagocytes, usually macrophages. It is unclear how salmonellae can survive within macrophages, cells that evolved, in part, to destroy pathogens. Evidence is presented that during the establishment of persistent murine infection, macrophages that contain S. enterica serotype Typhimurium are hemophagocytic. Hemophagocytic macrophages are characterized by the ingestion of non-apoptotic cells of the hematopoietic lineage and are a clinical marker of typhoid fever as well as certain other infectious and genetic diseases. Cell culture assays were developed to evaluate bacterial survival in hemophagocytic macrophages. S. Typhimurium preferentially replicated in macrophages that pre-phagocytosed viable cells, but the bacteria were killed in macrophages that pre-phagocytosed beads or dead cells. These data suggest that during persistent infection hemophagocytic macrophages may provide S. Typhimurium with a survival niche
Observation of Quantum Asymmetry in an Aharonov-Bohm Ring
We have investigated the Aharonov-Bohm effect in a one-dimensional
GaAs/GaAlAs ring at low magnetic fields. The oscillatory magnetoconductance of
these systems are for the first time systematically studied as a function of
density. We observe phase-shifts of in the magnetoconductance
oscillations, and halving of the fundamental period, as the density is
varied. Theoretically we find agreement with the experiment, by introducing an
asymmetry between the two arms of the ring.Comment: 4 pages RevTex including 3 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Symmetries of the Kac-Peterson Modular Matrices of Affine Algebras
The characters of nontwisted affine algebras at fixed level define
in a natural way a representation of the modular group . The
matrices in the image are called the Kac-Peterson modular
matrices, and describe the modular behaviour of the characters. In this paper
we consider all levels of , and for
each of these find all permutations of the highest weights which commute with
the corresponding Kac-Peterson matrices. This problem is equivalent to the
classification of automorphism invariants of conformal field theories, and its
solution, especially considering its simplicity, is a major step toward the
classification of all Wess-Zumino-Witten conformal field theories.Comment: 16 pp, plain te
Sigma models as perturbed conformal field theories
We show that two-dimensional sigma models are equivalent to certain perturbed
conformal field theories. When the fields in the sigma model take values in a
space G/H for a group G and a maximal subgroup H, the corresponding conformal
field theory is the limit of the coset model , and the
perturbation is related to the current of G. This correspondence allows us for
example to find the free energy for the "O(n)" (=O(n)/O(n-1)) sigma model at
non-zero temperature. It also results in a new approach to the CP^{n} model.Comment: 4 pages. v2: corrects typos (including several in the published
version
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