204 research outputs found
Ricci flows and expansion in axion-dilaton cosmology
We study renormalization-group flows by deforming a class of conformal
sigma-models. We consider overall scale factor perturbation of Einstein spaces
as well as more general anisotropic deformations of three-spheres. At leading
order in alpha, renormalization-group equations turn out to be Ricci flows. In
the three-sphere background, the latter is the Halphen system, which is exactly
solvable in terms of modular forms. We also analyze time-dependent deformations
of these systems supplemented with an extra time coordinate and time-dependent
dilaton. In some regimes time evolution is identified with
renormalization-group flow and time coordinate can appear as Liouville field.
The resulting space-time interpretation is that of a homogeneous isotropic
Friedmann-Robertson-Walker universe in axion-dilaton cosmology. We find as
general behaviour the superposition of a big-bang (polynomial) expansion with a
finite number of oscillations at early times. Any initial anisotropy disappears
during the evolution.Comment: 22 page
G3-homogeneous gravitational instantons
We provide an exhaustive classification of self-dual four-dimensional
gravitational instantons foliated with three-dimensional homogeneous spaces,
i.e. homogeneous self-dual metrics on four-dimensional Euclidean spaces
admitting a Bianchi simply transitive isometry group. The classification
pattern is based on the algebra homomorphisms relating the Bianchi group and
the duality group SO(3). New and general solutions are found for Bianchi III.Comment: 24 pages, few correction
Solutions of the sDiff(2)Toda equation with SU(2) Symmetry
We present the general solution to the Plebanski equation for an H-space that
admits Killing vectors for an entire SU(2) of symmetries, which is therefore
also the general solution of the sDiff(2)Toda equation that allows these
symmetries. Desiring these solutions as a bridge toward the future for yet more
general solutions of the sDiff(2)Toda equation, we generalize the earlier work
of Olivier, on the Atiyah-Hitchin metric, and re-formulate work of Babich and
Korotkin, and Tod, on the Bianchi IX approach to a metric with an SU(2) of
symmetries. We also give careful delineations of the conformal transformations
required to ensure that a metric of Bianchi IX type has zero Ricci tensor, so
that it is a self-dual, vacuum solution of the complex-valued version of
Einstein's equations, as appropriate for the original Plebanski equation.Comment: 27 page
Projective dynamics and classical gravitation
Given a real vector space V of finite dimension, together with a particular
homogeneous field of bivectors that we call a "field of projective forces", we
define a law of dynamics such that the position of the particle is a "ray" i.e.
a half-line drawn from the origin of V. The impulsion is a bivector whose
support is a 2-plane containing the ray. Throwing the particle with a given
initial impulsion defines a projective trajectory. It is a curve in the space
of rays S(V), together with an impulsion attached to each ray. In the simplest
example where the force is identically zero, the curve is a straight line and
the impulsion a constant bivector. A striking feature of projective dynamics
appears: the trajectories are not parameterized.
Among the projective force fields corresponding to a central force, the one
defining the Kepler problem is simpler than those corresponding to other
homogeneities. Here the thrown ray describes a quadratic cone whose section by
a hyperplane corresponds to a Keplerian conic. An original point of view on the
hidden symmetries of the Kepler problem emerges, and clarifies some remarks due
to Halphen and Appell. We also get the unexpected conclusion that there exists
a notion of divergence-free field of projective forces if and only if dim V=4.
No metric is involved in the axioms of projective dynamics.Comment: 20 pages, 4 figure
Blurred constitutive laws and bipotential convex covers
In many practical situations, incertitudes affect the mechanical behaviour
that is given by a family of graphs instead of a single one. In this paper, we
show how the bipotential method is able to capture such blurred constitutive
laws, using bipotential convex covers
Analytic and Asymptotic Methods for Nonlinear Singularity Analysis: a Review and Extensions of Tests for the Painlev\'e Property
The integrability (solvability via an associated single-valued linear
problem) of a differential equation is closely related to the singularity
structure of its solutions. In particular, there is strong evidence that all
integrable equations have the Painlev\'e property, that is, all solutions are
single-valued around all movable singularities. In this expository article, we
review methods for analysing such singularity structure. In particular, we
describe well known techniques of nonlinear regular-singular-type analysis,
i.e. the Painlev\'e tests for ordinary and partial differential equations. Then
we discuss methods of obtaining sufficiency conditions for the Painlev\'e
property. Recently, extensions of \textit{irregular} singularity analysis to
nonlinear equations have been achieved. Also, new asymptotic limits of
differential equations preserving the Painlev\'e property have been found. We
discuss these also.Comment: 40 pages in LaTeX2e. To appear in the Proceedings of the CIMPA Summer
School on "Nonlinear Systems," Pondicherry, India, January 1996, (eds) B.
Grammaticos and K. Tamizhman
Colloquium: Mechanical formalisms for tissue dynamics
The understanding of morphogenesis in living organisms has been renewed by
tremendous progressin experimental techniques that provide access to
cell-scale, quantitative information both on theshapes of cells within tissues
and on the genes being expressed. This information suggests that
ourunderstanding of the respective contributions of gene expression and
mechanics, and of their crucialentanglement, will soon leap forward.
Biomechanics increasingly benefits from models, which assistthe design and
interpretation of experiments, point out the main ingredients and assumptions,
andultimately lead to predictions. The newly accessible local information thus
calls for a reflectionon how to select suitable classes of mechanical models.
We review both mechanical ingredientssuggested by the current knowledge of
tissue behaviour, and modelling methods that can helpgenerate a rheological
diagram or a constitutive equation. We distinguish cell scale ("intra-cell")and
tissue scale ("inter-cell") contributions. We recall the mathematical framework
developpedfor continuum materials and explain how to transform a constitutive
equation into a set of partialdifferential equations amenable to numerical
resolution. We show that when plastic behaviour isrelevant, the dissipation
function formalism appears appropriate to generate constitutive equations;its
variational nature facilitates numerical implementation, and we discuss
adaptations needed in thecase of large deformations. The present article
gathers theoretical methods that can readily enhancethe significance of the
data to be extracted from recent or future high throughput
biomechanicalexperiments.Comment: 33 pages, 20 figures. This version (26 Sept. 2015) contains a few
corrections to the published version, all in Appendix D.2 devoted to large
deformation
The \u3cem\u3eChlamydomonas\u3c/em\u3e Genome Reveals the Evolution of Key Animal and Plant Functions
Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is a unicellular green alga whose lineage diverged from land plants over 1 billion years ago. It is a model system for studying chloroplast-based photosynthesis, as well as the structure, assembly, and function of eukaryotic flagella (cilia), which were inherited from the common ancestor of plants and animals, but lost in land plants. We sequenced the âŒ120-megabase nuclear genome of Chlamydomonas and performed comparative phylogenomic analyses, identifying genes encoding uncharacterized proteins that are likely associated with the function and biogenesis of chloroplasts or eukaryotic flagella. Analyses of the Chlamydomonas genome advance our understanding of the ancestral eukaryotic cell, reveal previously unknown genes associated with photosynthetic and flagellar functions, and establish links between ciliopathy and the composition and function of flagella
A comparison of delamination models: Modeling, properties, and applications
This contribution presents recent results in the modeling and the analysis of delamination problems. It addresses adhesive contact, brittle, and cohesive zone models both in a quasistatic and a viscous, dynamic setting for the bulk part. Also different evolution laws for the delaminating surface are discussed
Pasquale del Pezzo, Duke of Caianello, Neapolitan mathematician
This article is dedicated to a reconstruction of some events and achievements, both personal and scientific, in the life of the Neapolitan mathematician Pasquale del Pezzo, Duke of Caianello
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