391 research outputs found
SQCD: A Geometric Apercu
We take new algebraic and geometric perspectives on the old subject of SQCD.
We count chiral gauge invariant operators using generating functions, or
Hilbert series, derived from the plethystic programme and the Molien-Weyl
formula. Using the character expansion technique, we also see how the global
symmetries are encoded in the generating functions. Equipped with these methods
and techniques of algorithmic algebraic geometry, we obtain the character
expansions for theories with arbitrary numbers of colours and flavours.
Moreover, computational algebraic geometry allows us to systematically study
the classical vacuum moduli space of SQCD and investigate such structures as
its irreducible components, degree and syzygies. We find the vacuum manifolds
of SQCD to be affine Calabi-Yau cones over weighted projective varieties.Comment: 49 pages, 1 figur
Interactions Among Western Corn Rootworm (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), Yellow Foxtail, and Corn
Field studies at sites with two contrasting soil types investigated effects from the presence of yellow foxtail [Setaria pumila (Poir.) Roem. and Schult.], established in bands parallel to corn rows, on western corn rootworm (Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte) survival, corn root injury, lodging, biomass production, and yield. Results suggested that the presence of foxtail as an alternate host inßuenced the degree and progression of corn rootworm damage and adult emergence in a givenlocality. Rootworm adults emergedlater from foxtail band areas and had smaller head capsule size than did individuals from areas without foxtail, consistent with earlier Þndings that foxtail in the diet of western corn rootworm was a poor nutritional substitute for corn. Lodging was reduced in the presence of yellow foxtail in some cases, but corn stover biomass and yield also were lower. Inßuences, if any, of soil type on rootworm survival were unclear because of differences in planting date between the two sites. Foxtail may function as a buffer to reduce rootworm damage to corn and serves as an alternate host that should be considered in the development of resistance management strategies for transgenic corn modiÞed for rootworm resistance
N=1 Chern-Simons theories, orientifolds and Spin(7) cones
We construct three dimensional N=1 Chern-Simons theories living on M2 branes
probing Spin(7) cones. We consider Spin(7) manifolds obtained as quotients of
Calabi-Yau four-folds by an anti-holomorphic involution, following a
construction by Joyce. The corresponding Chern-Simons theories can be obtained
from N=2 theories by an orientifolding procedure. These theories are
holographically dual to M theory solutions AdS_4 \times H, where the weak G_2
manifold H is the base of the Spin(7) cone.Comment: 26 pages, 3 figures, reference added
Lung volume reduction reoperations
BACKGROUND:
Optimal management of emphysematous patients who have lost the benefits achieved after lung volume reduction surgery is a clinical dilemma. We have hypothesized that in stringently selected instances, lung volume reduction reoperations might be considered as a salvage surgical treatment. We sought to analyze the results of a series of patients undergoing lung volume reduction reoperations after successful bilateral lung volume reduction surgery.
METHODS:
Between January 2000 and April 2006, 17 patients (mean age, 66 +/- 3 years) with radiologic evidence of distinct regional lung hyperinflation underwent lung volume reduction reoperations. Surgical procedures entailed completion lobectomy in 7 patients, nonanatomic resection of lung target areas were performed in 5 patients under general anesthesia with one-lung ventilation, and awake lung plication was performed in 5 patients under sole epidural anesthesia. Follow-up at 6 and 12 months was complete in all survivors.
RESULTS:
Mean operative time was 100 +/- 12 minutes. Two patients (11.7%) died perioperatively of adult respiratory distress syndrome. Hospital stay was 9 +/- 2 days. Significant improvements occurred for up to 12 months in forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV(1); p < 0.001), forced vital capacity (p < 0.002), residual volume (p < 0.001), 6-minute walk test (p < 0.001), and modified Medical Research Council dyspnea index (p < 0.001). At 6-months, improvements in FEV(1) were greater than 200 mL in 11 patients and correlated with the postoperative reduction in residual volume (r = -0.62, p = 0.01); baseline residual volume was inversely correlated with the degree of improvement in the dyspnea index (r = -0.54, p = 0.03).
CONCLUSIONS:
Lung volume reduction reoperations can offer significant clinical improvement to stringently selected patients who have lost the clinical benefit achieved after lung volume reduction surgery
Phases of M2-brane Theories
We investigate different toric phases of 2+1 dimensional quiver gauge
theories arising from M2-branes probing toric Calabi-Yau 4 folds. A brane
tiling for each toric phase is presented. We apply the 'forward algorithm' to
obtain the toric data of the mesonic moduli space of vacua and exhibit the
equivalence between the vacua of different toric phases of a given singularity.
The structures of the Master space, the mesonic moduli space, and the baryonic
moduli space are examined in detail. We compute the Hilbert series and use them
to verify the toric dualities between different phases. The Hilbert series,
R-charges, and generators of the mesonic moduli space are matched between toric
phases.Comment: 60 pages, 28 figures, 6 tables. v2: minor correction
Brane Tilings and Specular Duality
We study a new duality which pairs 4d N=1 supersymmetric quiver gauge
theories. They are represented by brane tilings and are worldvolume theories of
D3 branes at Calabi-Yau 3-fold singularities. The new duality identifies
theories which have the same combined mesonic and baryonic moduli space,
otherwise called the master space. We obtain the associated Hilbert series
which encodes both the generators and defining relations of the moduli space.
We illustrate our findings with a set of brane tilings that have reflexive
toric diagrams.Comment: 42 pages, 16 figures, 5 table
Influence of Yellow Foxtail on Corn Growth and Yield
Yellow foxtail [Setaria pumila syn. Setaria glauca (L.) Beauv.] competitive influence on corn (Zea mays L.) growth and yield was investigated at Brookings, South Dakota, and Morris, Minnesota, in 1995 and 1996. Yellow foxtail was seeded at different densities, and at Morris, two levels of nitrogen (N) were applied. Corn biomass measured at V‐6 or V‐8, silking, and harvest and grain yield were correlated negatively to foxtail biomass and density, but the loss differed between years and sites. Nitrogen increased corn growth and decreased yield loss. Defining a single foxtail density or biomass that resulted in a maximum yield loss of 10% was not possible. The most conservative estimate was 3 yellow foxtail plants m−2 or 24 g m−2 of yellow foxtail biomass, but ranged up to 55 plants m−2 and 256 g m−2 when weather conditions and N were optimal
Scattering Amplitudes and Toric Geometry
In this paper we provide a first attempt towards a toric geometric
interpretation of scattering amplitudes. In recent investigations it has indeed
been proposed that the all-loop integrand of planar N=4 SYM can be represented
in terms of well defined finite objects called on-shell diagrams drawn on
disks. Furthermore it has been shown that the physical information of on-shell
diagrams is encoded in the geometry of auxiliary algebraic varieties called the
totally non negative Grassmannians. In this new formulation the infinite
dimensional symmetry of the theory is manifest and many results, that are quite
tricky to obtain in terms of the standard Lagrangian formulation of the theory,
are instead manifest. In this paper, elaborating on previous results, we
provide another picture of the scattering amplitudes in terms of toric
geometry. In particular we describe in detail the toric varieties associated to
an on-shell diagram, how the singularities of the amplitudes are encoded in
some subspaces of the toric variety, and how this picture maps onto the
Grassmannian description. Eventually we discuss the action of cluster
transformations on the toric varieties. The hope is to provide an alternative
description of the scattering amplitudes that could contribute in the
developing of this very interesting field of research.Comment: 58 pages, 25 figures, typos corrected, a reference added, to be
published in JHE
Brane Tilings and M2 Branes
Brane tilings are efficient mnemonics for Lagrangians of N=2
Chern-Simons-matter theories. Such theories are conjectured to arise on
M2-branes probing singular toric Calabi-Yau fourfolds. In this paper, a simple
modification of the Kasteleyn technique is described which is conjectured to
compute the three dimensional toric diagram of the non-compact moduli space of
a single probe. The Hilbert Series is used to compute the spectrum of
non-trivial scaling dimensions for a selected set of examples.Comment: 47 pages, 23 figure
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