Partition Functions, the Bekenstein Bound and Temperature Inversion in Anti-de Sitter Space and its Conformal Boundary

We reformulate the Bekenstein bound as the requirement of positivity of the Helmholtz free energy at the minimum value of the function L=E- S/(2\pi R), where R is some measure of the size of the system. The minimum of L occurs at the temperature T=1/(2\pi R). In the case of n-dimensional anti-de Sitter spacetime, the rather poorly defined size R acquires a precise definition in terms of the AdS radius l, with R=l/(n-2). We previously found that the Bekenstein bound holds for all known black holes in AdS. However, in this paper we show that the Bekenstein bound is not generally valid for free quantum fields in AdS, even if one includes the Casimir energy. Some other aspects of thermodynamics in anti-de Sitter spacetime are briefly touched upon.Comment: Latex, 32 page

Explicit Orbit Classification of Reducible Jordan Algebras and Freudenthal Triple Systems

We determine explicit orbit representatives of reducible Jordan algebras and of their corresponding Freudenthal triple systems. This work has direct application to the classification of extremal black hole solutions of N = 2, 4 locally supersymmetric theories of gravity coupled to an arbitrary number of Abelian vector multiplets in D = 4, 5 space-time dimensions.Comment: 18 pages. Updated to match published versio

Minimal Unitary Realizations of Exceptional U-duality Groups and Their Subgroups as Quasiconformal Groups

We study the minimal unitary representations of noncompact exceptional groups that arise as U-duality groups in extended supergravity theories. First we give the unitary realizations of the exceptional group E_{8(-24)} in SU*(8) as well as SU(6,2) covariant bases. E_{8(-24)} has E_7 X SU(2) as its maximal compact subgroup and is the U-duality group of the exceptional supergravity theory in d=3. For the corresponding U-duality group E_{8(8)} of the maximal supergravity theory the minimal realization was given in hep-th/0109005. The minimal unitary realizations of all the lower rank noncompact exceptional groups can be obtained by truncation of those of E_{8(-24)} and E_{8(8)}. By further truncation one can obtain the minimal unitary realizations of all the groups of the "Magic Triangle". We give explicitly the minimal unitary realizations of the exceptional subgroups of E_{8(-24)} as well as other physically interesting subgroups. These minimal unitary realizations correspond, in general, to the quantization of their geometric actions as quasi-conformal groups as defined in hep-th/0008063.Comment: 28 pages. Latex commands removed from the abstract for the arXiv. No changes in the manuscrip

Stable de Sitter Vacua in 4 Dimensional Supergravity Originating from 5 Dimensions

The five dimensional stable de Sitter ground states in N=2 supergravity obtained by gauging SO(1,1) symmetry of the real symmetric scalar manifold (in particular a generic Jordan family manifold of the vector multiplets) simultaneously with a subgroup R_s of the R-symmetry group descend to four dimensional de Sitter ground states under certain conditions. First, the holomorphic section in four dimensions has to be chosen carefully by using the symplectic freedom in four dimensions; and second, a group contraction is necessary to bring the potential into a desired form. Under these conditions, stable de Sitter vacua can be obtained in dimensionally reduced theories (from 5D to 4D) if the semi-direct product of SO(1,1) with R^(1,1) together with a simultaneous R_s is gauged. We review the stable de Sitter vacua in four dimensions found in earlier literature for N=2 Yang-Mills Einstein supergravity with SO(2,1) x R_s gauge group in a symplectic basis that comes naturally after dimensional reduction. Although this particular gauge group does not descend directly from five dimensions, we show that, its contraction does. Hence, two different theories overlap in certain limits. Examples of stable de Sitter vacua are given for the cases: (i) R_s=U(1)_R, (ii) R_s=SU(2)_R, (iii) N=2 Yang-Mills/Einstein Supergravity theory coupled to a universal hypermultiplet. We conclude with a discussion regarding the extension of our results to supergravity theories with more general homogeneous scalar manifolds.Comment: 54 page

Four Dimensional Conformal Supergravity From AdS Space

Exploring the role of conformal theories of gravity in string theory, we show that the minimal (N=2) gauged supergravities in five dimensions induce the multiplets and transformations of N=1 four dimensional conformal supergravity on the spacetime boundary. N=1 Poincare supergravity can be induced by explicitly breaking the conformal invariance via a radial cutoff in the 5d space. The AdS/CFT correspondence relates the maximal gauged supergravity in five dimensions to N=4 super Yang-Mills on the 4d spacetime boundary. In this context we show that the conformal anomaly of the gauge theory induces conformal gravity on the boundary of the space and that this theory, via the renormalization group, encapsulates the gravitational dynamics of the skin of asymptotically AdS spacetimes. Our results have several applications to the AdS/CFT correspondence and the Randall-Sundrum scenario.Comment: 20 pages, LaTeX. v3. references and minor comments adde

Fake Supergravity and Domain Wall Stability

We review the generalized Witten-Nester spinor stability argument for flat domain wall solutions of gravitational theories. Neither the field theory nor the solution need be supersymmetric. Nor is the space-time dimension restricted. We develop the non-trivial extension required for AdS-sliced domain walls and apply this to show that the recently proposed "Janus" solution of Type IIB supergravity is stable non-perturbatively for a broad class of deformations. Generalizations of this solution to arbitrary dimension and a simple curious linear dilaton solution of Type IIB supergravity are byproducts of this work.Comment: 37 pages, 3 figures, v2: minor corrections, references and acknowledgments adde

Impact of temperature and switching rate on forward and reverse conduction of GaN and SiC cascode devices:A technology evaluation

This paper provides the first comprehensive study on the forward and reverse conduction and reliability performance of the Gallium Nitride (GaN) and Silicon Carbide (SiC) power cascode devices, in comparison with standard silicon & SiC power MOSFETs and the silicon superjunction MOSFETs. The impact of temperature and the external gate resistance are investigated, and a practical yet accurate analytical model has been developed to calculate the switching rate of cascode devices. The 3 rd quadrant operation devices through the body diodes is also studied along with unclamped switching properties for avalanche breakdown limits of GaN and SiC cascodes

Negative Energy in String Theory and Cosmic Censorship Violation

We find asymptotically anti de Sitter solutions in N=8 supergravity which have negative total energy. This is possible since the boundary conditions required for the positive energy theorem are stronger than those required for finite mass (and allowed by string theory). But stability of the anti de Sitter vacuum is still ensured by the positivity of a modified energy, which includes an extra surface term. Some of the negative energy solutions describe classical evolution of nonsingular initial data to naked singularities. Since there is an open set of such solutions, cosmic censorship is violated generically in supergravity. Using the dual field theory description, we argue that these naked singularities will be resolved in the full string theory.Comment: 23 pages, 2 figures, v2: argument for forming naked singularities clarified, references adde