Lagrangian Formulations of Self-dual Gauge Theories in Diverse Dimensions

In this work, we study Lagrangian formulations for self-dual gauge theories, also known as chiral $n$-form gauge theories, for $n = 2p$ in $D = 4p+2$ dimensional spacetime. Motivated by a recent formulation of M5-branes derived from the BLG model, we generalize the earlier Lagrangian formulation based on a decomposition of spacetime into $(D-1)$ dimensions plus a special dimension, to construct Lagrangian formulations based on a generic decomposition of spacetime into $D'$ and $D" = D - D'$ dimensions. Although the Lorentz symmetry is not manifest, we prove that the action is invariant under modified Lorentz transformations.Comment: 27 pages, the modified Lorentz transformation rule revised, minor modification

Captures of Hot and Warm Sterile Antineutrino Dark Matter on EC-decaying Ho-163 Nuclei

Capturing low-energy electron antineutrinos on radioactive Ho-163 nuclei, which decay into Dy-163 via electron capture (EC), is a noteworthy opportunity to detect relic sterile antineutrinos. Such hypothetical particles are more or less implied by current experimental and cosmological data, and they might be a part of hot dark matter or a candidate for warm dark matter in the Universe. Using the isotope Ho-163 as a target and assuming reasonable active-sterile antineutrino mixing angles, we calculate the capture rate of relic electron antineutrinos against the corresponding EC-decay background in the presence of sterile antineutrinos at the sub-eV or keV mass scale. We show that the signature of hot or warm sterile antineutrino dark matter should in principle be observable, provided the target is big enough and the energy resolution is good enough.Comment: 16 pages, 6 figures, more discussions and references added. To appear in JCA

Estalviar en R+D+I surt car

A Catalunya parlar d'innovació s'ha convertit gairebé en un tòpic. Sentim en declaracions i discursos que la R+D+I hauria de salvar l'economia del país, però, realment, quants dels que ho diuen s'ho creuen? No ho sé, però és evident que per sortir enfortits de la crisi necessitem innovar. Tanmateix, perquè la innovació es converteixi en un motor de l'economia fan falta polítiques que ho facin possible. La innovació no la fa l'administració, també ha d'innovar, com qualsevol organització, però no és l'administració la que té aquesta funció. Amb tot, sense l'administració la innovació no reïx. Els països que han fet de la innovació una prioritat política han crescut mé

The Epidemiology of Stargardt Disease in the United Kingdom

The authors thank the British Ophthalmological Surveillance Unit (BOSU) for the support received, as well as Mr Barnaby Foot, research coordinator for BOSU, for his help and advice on this project. The authors thank the following ophthalmologists who assisted with data collection for this study: N. Acharya, S. Anwar, V. Bansal, P.N. Bishop, D. Byles, J.S. Chawla, A. Churchill, M. Clarke, B. Dhillon, M. Ekstein, S. George, J. Gillian, J.T. Gillow, D. Gilmour, R. Gray, P.T.S. Gregory, R. Gupta, S.P. Kelly, I.C. Lloyd, A. Lotery, M. McKibbin, R. MacLaren, G. Menon, A.T. Moore, A. Mulvihill, Y. Osoba, R. Pilling, H. Porooshani, A. Raghu Ram, T. Rimmer, I. Russell-Eggitt, M. Sarhan, R. Savides, S. Shafquat, A. Smith, A. Tekriwal, P. Tesha, P. Watts.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Self-optimisation of admission control and handover parameters in LTE

In mobile cellular networks the handover (HO) algorithm is responsible for determining when calls of users that are moving from one cell to another are handed over from the former to the latter. The admission control (AC) algorithm, which is the algorithm that decides whether new (fresh or HO) calls that enter a cell are allowed to the cell or not, often tries to facilitate HO by prioritising HO calls in favour of fresh calls. In this way, a good quality of service (QoS) for calls that are already admitted to the network is pursued. In this paper, the effect of self-optimisation of AC parameters on the HO performance in a long term evolution (LTE) network is studied, both with and without the self-optimisation of HO parameters. Simulation results show that the AC parameter optimisation algorithm considerably improves the HO performance by reducing the amount of calls that are dropped prior to or during HO