11,356 research outputs found
Discrete Newtonian Cosmology
In this paper we lay down the foundations for a purely Newtonian theory of
cosmology, valid at scales small compared with the Hubble radius, using only
Newtonian point particles acted on by gravity and a possible cosmological term.
We describe the cosmological background which is given by an exact solution of
the equations of motion in which the particles expand homothetically with their
comoving positions constituting a central configuration. We point out, using
previous work, that an important class of central configurations are
homogeneous and isotropic, thus justifying the usual assumptions of elementary
treatments. The scale factor is shown to satisfy the standard Raychaudhuri and
Friedmann equations without making any fluid dynamic or continuum
approximations. Since we make no commitment as to the identity of the point
particles, our results are valid for cold dark matter, galaxies, or clusters of
galaxies. In future publications we plan to discuss perturbations of our
cosmological background from the point particle viewpoint laid down in this
paper and show consistency with much standard theory usually obtained by more
complicated and conceptually less clear continuum methods. Apart from its
potential use in large scale structure studies, we believe that out approach
has great pedagogic advantages over existing elementary treatments of the
expanding universe, since it requires no use of general relativity or continuum
mechanics but concentrates on the basic physics: Newton's laws for
gravitationally interacting particles.Comment: 33 pages; typos fixed, references added, some clarification
Flux-Confinement in Dilatonic Cosmic Strings
We study dilaton-electrodynamics in flat spacetime and exhibit a set of
global cosmic string like solutions in which the magnetic flux is confined.
These solutions continue to exist for a small enough dilaton mass but cease to
do so above a critcal value depending on the magnetic flux. There also exist
domain wall and Dirac monopole solutions. We discuss a mechanism whereby
magnetic monopolesmight have been confined by dilaton cosmic strings during an
epoch in the early universe during which the dilaton was massless.Comment: 8 pages, DAMTP R93/3
D-string on near horizon geometries and infinite conformal symmetry
We show that the symmetries of effective D-string actions in constant dilaton
backgrounds are directly related to homothetic motions of the background
metric. In presence of such motions, there are infinitely many nonlinearly
realized rigid symmetries forming a loop (or loop like) algebra. Near horizon
(AdS) D3 and D1+D5 backgrounds are discussed in detail and shown to provide 2d
interacting field theories with infinite conformal symmetry.Comment: 5 pages, revtex, no figures; symmetry transformations for BI action
added, coupling of D-string to RR 2-form in D1-D5 background corrected; final
version, to appear in Phys. Rev. Let
Gravitating Fluxbranes
We consider the effect that gravity has when one tries to set up a constant
background form field. We find that in analogy with the Melvin solution, where
magnetic field lines self-gravitate to form a flux-tube, the self-gravity of
the form field creates fluxbranes. Several exact solutions are found
corresponding to different transverse spaces and world-volumes, a dilaton
coupling is also considered.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figure
Accelerating universes driven by bulk particles
We consider our universe as a 3d domain wall embedded in a 5d dimensional
Minkowski space-time. We address the problem of inflation and late time
acceleration driven by bulk particles colliding with the 3d domain wall. The
expansion of our universe is mainly related to these bulk particles. Since our
universe tends to be permeated by a large number of isolated structures, as
temperature diminishes with the expansion, we model our universe with a 3d
domain wall with increasing internal structures. These structures could be
unstable 2d domain walls evolving to fermi-balls which are candidates to cold
dark matter. The momentum transfer of bulk particles colliding with the 3d
domain wall is related to the reflection coefficient. We show a nontrivial
dependence of the reflection coefficient with the number of internal dark
matter structures inside the 3d domain wall. As the population of such
structures increases the velocity of the domain wall expansion also increases.
The expansion is exponential at early times and polynomial at late times. We
connect this picture with string/M-theory by considering BPS 3d domain walls
with structures which can appear through the bosonic sector of a
five-dimensional supergravity theory.Comment: To appear in Phys. Rev. D, 16 pages, 3 eps figures, minor changes and
references adde
Comparative Advantage, Learning, and Sectoral Wage Determination
We develop a model in which a worker's skills determine the worker's current wage and sector. Both the market and the worker are initially uncertain about some of the worker's skills. Endogenous wage changes and sector mobility occur as labor-market participants learn about these unobserved skills. We show how the model can be estimated using non-linear instrumental-variables techniques. We then apply our methodology to study the wages and allocation of workers across occupations and across industries. For both occupations and industries, we find that high-wage sectors employ high-skill workers and offer high returns to workers' skills. Estimates of these sectoral wage differences that do not account for sector-specific returns are therefore misleading. We also suggest further applications of our theory and methodology.
7.2% efficient polycrystalline silicon photoelectrode
After etching, n-type cast polycrystalline silicon photoanodes immersed in a solution of methanol and a substituted ferrocene reagent exhibit photoelectrode efficiencies of 7.2%±0.7% under simulated AM2 illumination. Scanning laser spot data indicate that the grain boundaries are active; however, the semiconductor/liquid contact does not display the severe shunting effects which are observed at a polycrystalline Si/Pt Schottky barrier. Evidence for an interfacial oxide on the operating polycrystalline Si photoanode is presented. Some losses in short circuit current can be ascribed to bulk semiconductor properties; however, despite these losses, photoanodes fabricated from polycrystalline substrates exhibit efficiencies comparable to those of single crystal material. Two major conclusions of our studies are that improved photoelectrode behavior in the polycrystalline silicon/methanol system will primarily result from changes in bulk electrode properties and from grain boundary passivation, and that Fermi level pinning by surface states does not prevent the design of efficient silicon-based liquid junctions
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