Probing the Neutron Star Interior with Glitches

With the aim of constraining the structural properties of neutron stars and the equation of state of dense matter, we study sudden spin-ups, glitches, occurring in the Vela pulsar and in six other pulsars. We present evidence that glitches represent a self-regulating instability for which the star prepares over a waiting time. The angular momentum requirements of glitches in Vela indicate that at least 1.4% of the star's moment of inertia drives these events. If glitches originate in the liquid of the inner crust, Vela's `radiation radius' $R_\infty$ must exceed ~12 km for a mass of 1.4 solar masses. The isolated neutron star RX J18563-3754 is a promising candidate for a definitive radius measurement, and offers to further our understanding of dense matter and the origin of glitches.Comment: Invited talk at the Pacific Rim Conference on Stellar Astrophysics, Hong Kong, Aug. 1999. 9 pages, 5 figure

Endomorphism algebras and Hecke algebras for reductive p-adic groups

Let G be a reductive p-adic group and let Rep(G)^s be a Bernstein block in the category of smooth complex G-representations. We investigate the structure of Rep(G)^s, by analysing the algebra of G-endomorphisms of a progenerator \Pi of that category. We show that Rep(G)^s is "almost" Morita equivalent with a (twisted) affine Hecke algebra. This statement is made precise in several ways, most importantly with a family of (twisted) graded algebras. It entails that, as far as finite length representations are concerned, Rep(G)^s and End_G (\Pi)-Mod can be treated as the module category of a twisted affine Hecke algebra. We draw two consequences. Firstly, we show that the equivalence of categories between Rep(G)^s and End_G (\Pi)-Mod preserves temperedness of finite length representations. Secondly, we provide a classification of the irreducible representations in Rep(G)^s, in terms of the complex torus and the finite group canonically associated to Rep(G)^s. This proves a version of the ABPS conjecture and enables us to express the set of irreducible $G$-representations in terms of the supercuspidal representations of the Levi subgroups of $G$. Our methods are independent of the existence of types, and apply in complete generality.Comment: New in second version: - compatibility of the constructions with parabolic induction is discusssed - the presentation of the arguments for temperedness is improved - a paragraph about a smaller progenerator of Rep(G)^s, and how that works out in the non-cuspidal cas

Quantum geometry of moduli spaces of local systems and representation theory

Let G be a split semi-simple adjoint group, and S an oriented surface with punctures and special boundary points. We introduce a moduli space P(G,S) parametrizing G-local system on S with some boundary data, and prove that it carries a cluster Poisson structure, equivariant under the action of the cluster modular group M(G,S), containing the mapping class group of S, the group of outer automorphisms of G, and the product of Weyl / braid groups over punctures / boundary components. We prove that the dual moduli space A(G,S) carries a M(G,S)-equivariant cluster structure, and the pair (A(G,S), P(G,S)) is a cluster ensemble. These results generalize the works of V. Fock & the first author, and of I. Le. We quantize cluster Poisson varieties X for any Planck constant h s.t. h>0 or |h|=1. First, we define a *-algebra structure on the Langlands modular double A(h; X) of the algebra of functions on X. We construct a principal series of representations of the *-algebra A(h; X), equivariant under a unitary projective representation of the cluster modular group M(X). This extends works of V. Fock and the first author when h>0. Combining this, we get a M(G,S)-equivariant quantization of the moduli space P(G,S), given by the *-algebra A(h; P(G,S)) and its principal series representations. We construct realizations of the principal series *-representations. In particular, when S is punctured disc with two special points, we get a principal series *-representations of the Langlands modular double of the quantum group Uq(g). We conjecture that there is a nondegenerate pairing between the local system of coinvariants of oscillatory representations of the W-algebra and the one provided by the projective representation of the mapping class group of S.Comment: 199 pages. Minor correction