Topological Insulators and Superconductors from String Theory

Topological insulators and superconductors in different spatial dimensions and with different discrete symmetries have been fully classified recently, revealing a periodic structure for the pattern of possible types of topological insulators and supercondutors, both in terms of spatial dimensions and in terms of symmetry classes. It was proposed that K-theory is behind the periodicity. On the other hand, D-branes, a solitonic object in string theory, are also known to be classified by K-theory. In this paper, by inspecting low-energy effective field theories realized by two parallel D-branes, we establish a one-to-one correspondence between the K-theory classification of topological insulators/superconductors and D-brane charges. In addition, the string theory realization of topological insulators and superconductors comes naturally with gauge interactions, and the Wess-Zumino term of the D-branes gives rise to a gauge field theory of topological nature, such as ones with the Chern-Simons term or the $\theta$-term in various dimensions. This sheds light on topological insulators and superconductors beyond non-interacting systems, and the underlying topological field theory description thereof. In particular, our string theory realization includes the honeycomb lattice Kitaev model in two spatial dimensions, and its higher-dimensional extensions. Increasing the number of D-branes naturally leads to a realization of topological insulators and superconductors in terms of holography (AdS/CFT).Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures;references update

Wigner transform and pseudodifferential operators on symmetric spaces of non-compact type

We obtain a general expression for a Wigner transform (Wigner function) on symmetric spaces of non-compact type and study the Weyl calculus of pseudodifferential operators on them

Connecting geodesics and security of configurations in compact locally symmetric spaces

A pair of points in a riemannian manifold makes a secure configuration if the totality of geodesics connecting them can be blocked by a finite set. The manifold is secure if every configuration is secure. We investigate the security of compact, locally symmetric spaces.Comment: 27 pages, 2 figure

Unmanned aerial vehicle remote sensing of snow: improving snowmelt prediction

Non-Peer Reviewe

Soil origin and land use history determine C cycling in transplanted soils after 21 years

Non-Peer Reviewe

Response of transplanted Chernozems towards C addition after 21 years of identical climatic, topographic, and management practices

Non-Peer Reviewe

Assessing microbial communities in transplanted soils after 21 years

Non-Peer Reviewe

Semidirect product gauge group [SU(3)c×SU(2)L]⋊U(1)Y[SU(3)_{\rm c} \times SU(2)_{\rm L}]\rtimes U(1)_{\rm Y} and quantization of hypercharge

In the Standard Model the hypercharges of quarks and leptons are not determined by the gauge group $SU(3)_{\rm c} \times SU(2)_{\rm L} \times U(1)_{\rm Y}$ alone. We show that, if we choose the semidirect product group $[SU(3)_{\rm c} \times SU(2)_{\rm L}] \rtimes U(1)_{\rm Y}$ as its gauge group, the hyperchages are settled to be $n/6 \mod {\mathbb{Z}}\;(n = 0,1,3,4)$. In addition, the conditions for gauge-anomaly cancellation give strong constraints. As a result, the ratios of the hypercharges are uniquely determined and the gravitational anomaly is automatically canceled. The standard charge assignment to quarks and leptons can be properly reproduced. For exotic matter fields their hypercharges are also discussed.Comment: 17 pages, 2 tables; LaTeX; typos corrected, references added or replaced, argument in Secs. 2 and 3 revised, results unchanged; to be published in Phys. Rew.

Social correlates of cigarette smoking among Icelandic adolescents: A population-based cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: Previous research has shown that between 80 and 90 percent of adult smokers report having started smoking before 18 years of age. Several studies have revealed that multiple social factors influence the likelihood of smoking during adolescence, the period during which the onset of smoking usually occurs. To better understand the social mechanisms that influence adolescent smoking, we analyzed the relationship and relative importance of a broad spectrum of social variables in adolescent smoking in Iceland, a Nordic country with high per-capita income. METHODS: We used cross-sectional data from 7,430 14- to 16 year-old students (approximately 81% of all Icelanders in these age cohorts) in the 2006 Youth in Iceland study. The Youth in Iceland studies are designed to investigate the role of several cognitive, behavioral, and social factors in the lives of adolescents, and the data collected are used to inform the design, implementation, and evaluation of substance use prevention programs that are being developed by Icelandic social scientists, policy makers, and practitioners. RESULTS: Our analysis revealed that friends' smoking behavior and attitude toward smoking were strongly associated with adolescent smoking and other tobacco use, as well as alcohol consumption during the previous 30 days. Main protective factors were parent's perceived attitude toward smoking, the quantity of time spent with parents, absence of serious verbal conflict between parents and adolescents, and participation in physical activity. Family structure was related to adolescent smoking to a small extent, but other background factors were not. CONCLUSION: We conclude that multiple social factors are related to adolescent smoking. Parents and other primary preventive agents need to be informed about the complicated nature of the adolescent social world in order to maximize their impact.Icelandic Alcohol and Drug Prevention CommitteeIcelandic Red CrossCity of ReykjavikSports and Recreational Committee of Reykjavik to the Icelandic Centre for Social Research and AnalysisIcelandic Centre for Research (RANNÍS)Publishe

A generalised Landau-Lifshitz equation for isotropic SU(3) magnet

In the paper we obtain equations for large-scale fluctuations of the mean field (the field of magnetization and quadrupole moments) in a magnetic system realized by a square (cubic) lattice of atoms with spin s >= 1 at each site. We use the generalized Heisenberg Hamiltonian with biquadratic exchange as a quantum model. A quantum thermodynamical averaging gives classical effective models, which are interpreted as Hamiltonian systems on coadjoint orbits of Lie group SU(3).Comment: 15 pages, 1 figur