Non-Singularity of the Exact Two-Dimensional String Black Hole

We study the global structure of the exact two-dimensional space-time which emerges from string theory. Previous work has shown that in the semi-classical limit, this is a black hole similar to the Schwarzschild solution. However, we find that in the exact case, a new Euclidean region appears "between" the singularity and black hole interior. However the boundary between the Lorentzian and Euclidean regions is a coordinate singularity, which turns out to be a surface of time reflection symmetry in an extended space-time. Thus strings having fallen through the black hole horizon would eventually emerge through another one into a new asymptotically flat region. The maximally extended space-time consists of an infinite number of universes connected by wormholes. There are no singularities present in this geometry. We also calculate the mass and temperature associated with the space-time.Comment: 9 pages, latex, DAMTP R93/

Numerical simulations of a kilometre-thick Arctic ice shelf consistent with ice grounding observations

Recently obtained geophysical data show sets of parallel erosional features on the Lomonosov Ridge in the central Arctic Basin, indicative of ice grounding in water depths up to 1280 m. These features have been interpreted as being formed by an ice shelf—either restricted to the Amerasian Basin (the “minimum model”) or extending across the entire Arctic Basin. Here, we use a numerical ice sheet-shelf model to explore how such an ice shelf could form. We rule out the “minimum model” and suggest that grounding on the Lomonosov Ridge requires complete Arctic ice shelf cover; this places a minimum estimate on its volume, which would have exceeded that of the modern Greenland Ice Sheet. Buttressing provided by an Arctic ice shelf would have increased volumes of the peripheral terrestrial ice sheets. An Arctic ice shelf could have formed even in the absence of a hypothesised East Siberian Ice Sheet

Axions In String Theory

In the context of string theory, axions appear to provide the most plausible solution of the strong CP problem. However, as has been known for a long time, in many string-based models, the axion coupling parameter F_a is several orders of magnitude higher than the standard cosmological bounds. We re-examine this problem in a variety of models, showing that F_a is close to the GUT scale or above in many models that have GUT-like phenomenology, as well as some that do not. On the other hand, in some models with Standard Model gauge fields supported on vanishing cycles, it is possible for F_a to be well below the GUT scale.Comment: 62 pages, v2; references, acknowledgements and minor corrections adde

Branes, Instantons, And Taub-NUT Spaces

ALE and Taub-NUT (or ALF) hyper-Kahler four-manifolds can be naturally constructed as hyper-Kahler quotients. In the ALE case, this construction has long been understood in terms of D-branes; here we give a D-brane derivation in the Taub-NUT case. Likewise, instantons on ALE spaces and on Taub-NUT spaces have ADHM-like constructions related to hyper-Kahler quotients. Here we refine the analysis in the Taub-NUT case by making use of a D-brane probe, and give an application to M-theory.Comment: 63 p

Reflectance spectra of "featureless" materials and the surface mineralogies of M- and E-class asteroids

The 0.3- to 2.6-μm reflectance spectra of meteoritic enstatite (nearly pure MgSiO3), iron meteorite metal, magnetite and amorphous carbon, and various mixtures of these materials with mafic silicates have been measured in order to search for diagnostic spectral parameters which can be used to differentiate among the different materials and to provide information on the detection limits for mafic silicates. Enstatite and metal can be discriminated on the basis of albedo and spectral slopes. Metal, magnetite, and amorphous carbon are variably effective at suppressing mafic silicate absorption bands. Metal-silicate spectra suggest that >25 wt% olivine must be present to be spectrally resolvable while the lower limit for orthopyroxene is ~10 wt %. Magnetite-silicate spectra indicate that magnetite is not an effective suppressor of mafic silicate absorption bands and that fine-grained magnetite imparts a less red overall slope to mafic silicate spectra than coarse-grained magnetite. Carbon-silicate spectra indicate that suppression of olivme absorption bands is enhanced when the olivine is finely comminuted and is less effective at larger grain sizes. Carbon and magnetite both seem to be required to impart a blue overall slope to mafic silicate spectra and to suppress Fe2+ absorption bands. The small amount of carbon present in ordinary chondrites is probably not the cause of the flat reflectance spectra of metal-rich ordinary chondrite separates. The observational data for a representative M-class asteroid, (16) Psyche, are largely consistent with a fine-grained metal-rich surface assemblage, although an enstatite chondrite-like assemblage cannot be ruled out. The observational data for the E-class asteroid (44) Nysa indicate that its surface is composed of fine-grained material similar to enstatite achondrites (aubrites), with a small amount of material comparable to the chondritic inclusions found in the Cumberland Falls aubrite.This study was supported by grants-in-aid of research from the Central Research Fund of the University of Alberta (to D.G.W.S.), from Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society and the Geological Society of America 3741-87 (to E.A.C.) and NASA Planetary Geology and Geophysics grant NAGW 642 (to M.J.G.).https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1029/JB095iB01p0028

Quantum Monte Carlo Calculations of Pion Scattering from Li

We show that the neutron and proton transition densities predicted by recent quantum Monte Carlo calculations for A=6,7 nuclei are consistent with pion scattering from 6Li and 7Li at energies near the Delta resonance. This has provided a microscopic understanding of the enhancement factors for quadrople excitations, which were needed to describe pion inelastic scattering within the nuclear shell model of Cohen and Kurath.Comment: 10 pages, REVTeX, 3 postscript figures; added calculation of elastic and inelastic pion scattering from 6Li at multiple energie

Mutations in the Satellite Cell Gene MEGF10 Cause a Recessive Congenital Myopathy with Minicores

We ascertained a nuclear family in which three of four siblings were affected with an unclassified autosomal recessive myopathy characterized by severe weakness, respiratory impairment, scoliosis, joint contractures, and an unusual combination of dystrophic and myopathic features on muscle biopsy. Whole genome sequence from one affected subject was filtered using linkage data and variant databases. A single gene, MEGF10, contained nonsynonymous mutations that co-segregated with the phenotype. Affected subjects were compound heterozygous for missense mutations c.976T > C (p.C326R) and c.2320T > C (p.C774R). Screening the MEGF10 open reading frame in 190 patients with genetically unexplained myopathies revealed a heterozygous mutation, c.211C > T (p.R71W), in one additional subject with a similar clinical and histological presentation as the discovery family. All three mutations were absent from at least 645 genotyped unaffected control subjects. MEGF10 contains 17 atypical epidermal growth factor-like domains, each of which contains eight cysteine residues that likely form disulfide bonds. Both the p.C326R and p.C774R mutations alter one of these residues, which are completely conserved in vertebrates. Previous work showed that murine Megf10 is required for preserving the undifferentiated, proliferative potential of satellite cells, myogenic precursors that regenerate skeletal muscle in response to injury or disease. Here, knockdown of megf10 in zebrafish by four different morpholinos resulted in abnormal phenotypes including unhatched eggs, curved tails, impaired motility, and disorganized muscle tissue, corroborating the pathogenicity of the human mutations. Our data establish the importance of MEGF10 in human skeletal muscle and suggest satellite cell dysfunction as a novel myopathic mechanism

The Eocene-Oligocene boundary climate transition: An Antarctic perspective

Antarctica underwent a complex evolution over the course of the Cenozoic, which influenced the history of the Earth’s climate system. The Eocene-Oligocene boundary is a divide of this history when the ice-free ‘greenhouse world’ transitioned to the ‘icehouse’ with the glaciation of Antarctica. Prior to this, Antarctica experienced warm climates, peaking during Early Eocene when tropical-like conditions existed at the margins of the continent where geological evidence is present. Climate signals in the geological record show that the climate then cooled, but not enough to allow the existence of significant ice until the latest Eocene. Glacial deposits from several areas around the continental margin indicate that ice was present by the earliest Oligocene. This matches the major oxygen isotope positive shift captured by marine records. On land, vegetation was able to persist, but the thermophylic plants of the Eocene were replaced by shrubby vegetation with the southern beech Nothofagus, mosses and ferns, which survived in tundra-like conditions. Coupled climate–ice sheet modelling indicates that changing levels of atmospheric CO2 controlled Antarctica’s climate and the onset of glaciation. Factors such as mountain uplift, vegetation changes, ocean gateway opening and orbital forcing all played a part in cooling the polar climate, but only when CO2 levels reached critical thresholds was Antarctica tipped into an icy glacial world