28,855 research outputs found
Quantum effects from a purely geometrical relativity theory
A purely geometrical relativity theory results from a construction that
produces from three-dimensional space a happy unification of Kaluza's
five-dimensional theory and Weyl's conformal theory. The theory can provide
geometrical explanations for the following observed phenomena, among others:
(a) lifetimes of elementary particles of lengths inversely proportional to
their rest masses; (b) the equality of charge magnitude among all charged
particles interacting at an event; (c) the propensity of electrons in atoms to
be seen in discretely spaced orbits; and (d) `quantum jumps' between those
orbits. This suggests the possibility that the theory can provide a
deterministic underpinning of quantum mechanics like that provided to
thermodynamics by the molecular theory of gases.Comment: 7 pages, LaTeX jpconf.cls (Institute of Physics Publishing), 6
Encapsulated PostScript figures (Fig. 6 is 1.8M uncompressed); Presented at
VI Mexican School on Gravitation and Mathematical Physics "Approaches to
Quantum Gravity
Integrability of irrotational silent cosmological models
We revisit the issue of integrability conditions for the irrotational silent
cosmological models. We formulate the problem both in 1+3 covariant and 1+3
orthonormal frame notation, and show there exists a series of constraint
equations that need to be satisfied. These conditions hold identically for
FLRW-linearised silent models, but not in the general exact non-linear case.
Thus there is a linearisation instability, and it is highly unlikely that there
is a large class of silent models. We conjecture that there are no spatially
inhomogeneous solutions with Weyl curvature of Petrov type I, and indicate
further issues that await clarification.Comment: Minor corrections and improvements; 1 new reference; to appear Class.
Quantum Grav.; 16 pages Ioplpp
Neutrino Oscillations Induced by Gravitational Recoil Effects
Quantum gravitational fluctuations of the space-time background, described by
virtual D branes, may induce neutrino oscillations if a tiny violation of the
Lorentz invariance (or a violation of the equivalence principle) is imposed. In
this framework, the oscillation length of massless neutrinos turns out to be
proportional to M/E^2, where E is the neutrino energy and M is the mass scale
characterizing the topological fluctuations in the vacuum. Such a functional
dependence on the energy is the same obtained in the framework of loop quantum
gravity.Comment: 5 pages, LaTex fil
Symmetric Criticality for Tight Knots
We prove a version of symmetric criticality for ropelength-critical knots.
Our theorem implies that a knot or link with a symmetric representative has a
ropelength-critical configuration with the same symmetry. We use this to
construct new examples of ropelength critical configurations for knots and
links which are different from the ropelength minima for these knot and link
types.Comment: This version adds references, and most importantly an
acknowledgements section which should have been in the original postin
Local freedom in the gravitational field
In a cosmological context, the electric and magnetic parts of the Weyl
tensor, E_{ab} and H_{ab}, represent the locally free curvature - i.e. they are
not pointwise determined by the matter fields. By performing a complete
covariant decomposition of the derivatives of E_{ab} and H_{ab}, we show that
the parts of the derivative of the curvature which are locally free (i.e. not
pointwise determined by the matter via the Bianchi identities) are exactly the
symmetrised trace-free spatial derivatives of E_{ab} and H_{ab} together with
their spatial curls. These parts of the derivatives are shown to be crucial for
the existence of gravitational waves.Comment: New results on gravitational waves included; new references added;
revised version (IOP style) to appear Class. Quantum Gra
The colour-magnitude relations of ClJ1226.9+3332, a massive cluster of galaxies at z=0.89
(Abridged) The colour-magnitude relations of one of the most massive, high
redshift clusters of galaxies known have been studied. Photometry has been
measured in the V, R, I, z, F606W, F814W, J and K bands to a depth of K*+2.5
and spectroscopy confirms 27 K band selected cluster members. The V-K colours
are equivalent to a rest-frame colour of ~2700A-J, and provide a very sensitive
measure of star-formation activity. HST ACS imaging has been used to
morphologically classify the galaxies.
The cluster has a low early-type fraction compared to nearby clusters, with
only 33% of the cluster members having types E or S0. The early-type member
galaxies form a clear red-sequence in all colours. The scatter and slope of the
relations show no evolution compared to the equivalent Coma cluster relations,
suggesting the stellar populations are already very old. The normalisation of
the relations has been compared to models based on synthetic stellar
populations, and are most consistent with stellar populations forming at z>3.
Some late-type galaxies were found to lie on the red-sequence, suggesting that
they have very similar stellar populations to the early-types.
These results present a picture of a cluster in which the early-type galaxies
are all old, but in which there must be future morphological transformation of
galaxies to match the early-type fraction of nearby clusters. In order to
preserve the tight colour-magnitude relation of early-types seen in nearby
clusters, the late-type galaxies must transform their colours, through the
cessation of star-formation, before the morphological transformation occurs.
Such evolution is observed in the late-types lying on the colour-magnitude
relation.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS. 14 pages, 5 figure
Dynamics of Inflationary Universes with Positive Spatial Curvature
If the spatial curvature of the universe is positive, then the curvature term
will always dominate at early enough times in a slow-rolling inflationary
epoch. This enhances inflationary effects and hence puts limits on the possible
number of e-foldings that can have occurred, independently of what happened
before inflation began and in particular without regard for what may have
happened in the Planck era. We use a simple multi-stage model to examine this
limit as a function of the present density parameter and the epoch
when inflation ends.Comment: 9 Pages RevTex4. Revised and update
Preprototype vapor compression distillation subsystem
A three-person capacity preprototype vapor compression distillation subsystem for recovering potable water from wastewater aboard spacecraft was designed, assembled, and tested. The major components of the subsystem are: (1) a distillation unit which includes a compressor, centrifuge, central shaft, and outer shell; (2) a purge pump; (3) a liquids pump; (4) a post-treat cartridge; (5) a recycle/filter tank; (6) an evaporator high liquid level sensor; and (7) the product water conductivity monitor. A computer based control monitor instrumentation carries out operating mode change sequences, monitors and displays subsystem parameters, maintains intramode controls, and stores and displays fault detection information. The mechanical hardware occupies 0.467 m3, requires 171 W of electrical power, and has a dry weight of 143 kg. The subsystem recovers potable water at a rate of 1.59 kg/hr, which is equivalent to a duty cycle of approximately 30% for a crew of three. The product water has no foul taste or odor. Continued development of the subsystem is recommended for reclaiming water for human consumption as well as for flash evaporator heat rejection, urinal flushing, washing, and other on-board water requirements
Revisiting the Higgs Mass and Dark Matter in the CMSSM
Taking into account the available accelerator and astrophysical constraints,
the mass of the lightest neutral Higgs boson h in the minimal supersymmetric
extension of the Standard Model with universal soft supersymmetry-breaking
masses (CMSSM) has been estimated to lie between 114 and ~ 130 GeV. Recent data
from ATLAS and CMS hint that m_h ~ 125 GeV, though m_h ~ 119 GeV may still be a
possibility. Here we study the consequences for the parameters of the CMSSM and
direct dark matter detection if the Higgs hint is confirmed, focusing on the
strips in the (m_1/2, m_0) planes for different tan beta and A_0 where the
relic density of the lightest neutralino chi falls within the range of the
cosmological cold dark matter density allowed by WMAP and other experiments. We
find that if m_h ~ 125 GeV focus-point strips would be disfavoured, as would
the low-tan beta stau-chi and stop -chi coannihilation strips, whereas the
stau-chi coannihilation strip at large tan beta and A_0 > 0 would be favoured,
together with its extension to a funnel where rapid annihilation via
direct-channel H/A poles dominates. On the other hand, if m_h ~ 119 GeV more
options would be open. We give parametrizations of WMAP strips with large tan
beta and fixed A_0/m_0 > 0 that include portions compatible with m_h = 125 GeV,
and present predictions for spin-independent elastic dark matter scattering
along these strips. These are generally low for models compatible with m_h =
125 GeV, whereas the XENON100 experiment already excludes some portions of
strips where m_h is smaller.Comment: 24 pages, 9 figure
Hubble's law and faster than light expansion speeds
Naively applying Hubble's law to a sufficiently distant object gives a
receding velocity larger than the speed of light. By discussing a very similar
situation in special relativity, we argue that Hubble's law is meaningful only
for nearby objects with non-relativistic receding speeds. To support this
claim, we note that in a curved spacetime manifold it is not possible to
directly compare tangent vectors at different points, and thus there is no
natural definition of relative velocity between two spatially separated objects
in cosmology. We clarify the geometrical meaning of the Hubble's receding speed
v by showing that in a Friedmann-Robertson-Walker spacetime if the
four-velocity vector of a comoving object is parallel-transported along the
straight line in flat comoving coordinates to the position of a second comoving
object, then v/c actually becomes the rapidity of the local Lorentz
transformation, which maps the fixed four-velocity vector to the transported
one.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, to appear in Am. J. Phy
- …