1,008 research outputs found
Stability in Designer Gravity
We study the stability of designer gravity theories, in which one considers
gravity coupled to a tachyonic scalar with anti-de Sitter boundary conditions
defined by a smooth function W. We construct Hamiltonian generators of the
asymptotic symmetries using the covariant phase space method of Wald et al.and
find they differ from the spinor charges except when W=0. The positivity of the
spinor charge is used to establish a lower bound on the conserved energy of any
solution that satisfies boundary conditions for which has a global minimum.
A large class of designer gravity theories therefore have a stable ground
state, which the AdS/CFT correspondence indicates should be the lowest energy
soliton. We make progress towards proving this, by showing that minimum energy
solutions are static. The generalization of our results to designer gravity
theories in higher dimensions involving several tachyonic scalars is discussed.Comment: 29 page
Supersymmetric Field-Theoretic Models on a Supermanifold
We propose the extension of some structural aspects that have successfully
been applied in the development of the theory of quantum fields propagating on
a general spacetime manifold so as to include superfield models on a
supermanifold. We only deal with the limited class of supermanifolds which
admit the existence of a smooth body manifold structure. Our considerations are
based on the Catenacci-Reina-Teofillatto-Bryant approach to supermanifolds. In
particular, we show that the class of supermanifolds constructed by
Bonora-Pasti-Tonin satisfies the criterions which guarantee that a
supermanifold admits a Hausdorff body manifold. This construction is the
closest to the physicist's intuitive view of superspace as a manifold with some
anticommuting coordinates, where the odd sector is topologically trivial. The
paper also contains a new construction of superdistributions and useful results
on the wavefront set of such objects. Moreover, a generalization of the
spectral condition is formulated using the notion of the wavefront set of
superdistributions, which is equivalent to the requirement that all of the
component fields satisfy, on the body manifold, a microlocal spectral condition
proposed by Brunetti-Fredenhagen-K\"ohler.Comment: Final version to appear in J.Math.Phy
Counter-term charges generate bulk symmetries
We further explore the counter-term subtraction definition of charges (e.g.,
energy) for classical gravitating theories in spacetimes of relevance to
gauge/gravity dualities; i.e., in asymptotically anti-de Sitter spaces and
their kin. In particular, we show in general that charges defined via the
counter-term subtraction method generate the desired asymptotic symmetries. As
a result, they can differ from any other such charges, such as those defined by
bulk spacetime-covariant techniques, only by a function of auxiliary
non-dynamical structures such as a choice of conformal frame at infinity (i.e.,
a function of the boundary fields alone). Our argument is based on the Peierls
bracket, and in the AdS context allows us to demonstrate the above result even
for asymptotic symmetries which generate only conformal symmetries of the
boundary (in the chosen conformal frame). We also generalize the counter-term
subtraction construction of charges to the case in which additional
non-vanishing boundary fields are present.Comment: 13 pages, Latex, no figures, v3: errors fixed, boundary terms
carefully controlled, awkward assumption removed, references update
Post-test simulations for the NACIE-UP benchmark by STH codes
This paper illustrates the results obtained in the last phase of the NACIE-UP benchmark activity foreseen inside the EU SESAME Project. The purpose of this research activity, performed by system thermal–hydraulic (STH) codes, is finalized to the improvement, development and validation of existing STH codes for Heavy Liquid Metal (HLM) systems. All the participants improved their modelling of the NACIE-UP facility, respect to the initial blind simulation phase, adopting the actual experimental boundary conditions and reducing as much as possible sources of uncertainty in their numerical model. Four different STH codes were employed by the participants to the benchmark to model the NACIE-UP facility, namely: CATHARE for ENEA, ATHLET for GRS, RELAP5-3D© for the “Sapienza” University of Rome and RELAP5/Mod3.3(modified) for the University of Pisa. Three reference tests foreseen in the NACIE-UP benchmark and carried out at ENEA Brasimone Research Centre were analysed from four participants. The data from the post-test analyses, performed independently by the participant using different STH codes, were compared together and with the available experimental results and critically discussed
Uniqueness and nonuniqueness of the stationary black holes in 5D Einstein-Maxwell and Einstein-Maxwell-dilaton gravity
In the present paper we investigate the general problem of uniqueness of the
stationary black solutions in 5D Einstein-Maxwell-dilaton gravity with
arbitrary dilaton coupling parameter containing the Einstein-Maxwell gravity as
a particular case. We formulate and prove uniqueness theorems classifying the
stationary black hole solutions in terms of their interval structure, electric
and magnetic charges and the magnetic fluxes. The proofs are based on the
nonpositivity of the Riemann curvature operator on the space of the potentials
which imposes restrictions on the dilaton coupling parameter.Comment: 21 pages, LaTe
A technique to record the sedentary to walk movement during free living mobility : a comparison of healthy and stroke populations
Background
Hesitation between moving from a sedentary posture (lying/sitting) to walking is a characteristic of
mobility impaired individuals, as identified from laboratory studies. Knowing the extent to which this
hesitation occurs during everyday life would benefit rehabilitation research. This study aimed to
quantify this transition hesitation through a novel approach to analysing data from a physical activity
monitor based on a tri-axial accelerometer and compare results from two populations; stroke
patients and age-matched unimpaired controls.
Methods
Stroke patients living at home with early supported discharge (n=34, 68.9YO ± 11.8) and age matched
controls (n=30, 66.8YO ± 10.5) wore a physical activity monitor for 48hrs. The outputs from
the monitor were then used to determine the transitions from sedentary to walking. The time delay
between a sedentary posture ending and the start of walking classified four transition types: 1)
fluent (<=2s), 2) hesitant (>2s<=10s), 3) separated (>10s) and 4) a change from sedentary with no
registered walking to a return to sedentary.
Results
Control participants initiated walking after a sedentary posture on 92% of occasions. Most
commonly (43%) this was a fluent transition. In contrast stroke patients walked after changing from
a sedentary posture on 68% of occasions with only 9% of transitions classed as fluent, (p<0.05).
Discussion/Conclusion
A new data analysis technique reports the frequency of walking following a change in sedentary
position in stroke patients and healthy controls and characterises this transition according to the
time delay before walking. This technique creates opportunities to explore everyday mobility in
greater depth
Asymptotic generators of fermionic charges and boundary conditions preserving supersymmetry
We use a covariant phase space formalism to give a general prescription for
defining Hamiltonian generators of bosonic and fermionic symmetries in
diffeomorphism invariant theories, such as supergravities. A simple and general
criterion is derived for a choice of boundary condition to lead to conserved
generators of the symmetries on the phase space. In particular, this provides a
criterion for the preservation of supersymmetries. For bosonic symmetries
corresponding to diffeomorphisms, our prescription coincides with the method of
Wald et al.
We then illustrate these methods in the case of certain supergravity theories
in . In minimal AdS supergravity, the boundary conditions such that the
supercharges exist as Hamiltonian generators of supersymmetry transformations
are unique within the usual framework in which the boundary metric is fixed. In
extended AdS supergravity, or more generally in the presence
of chiral matter superfields, we find that there exist many boundary conditions
preserving supersymmetry for which corresponding generators
exist. These choices are shown to correspond to a choice of certain arbitrary
boundary ``superpotentials,'' for suitably defined ``boundary superfields.'' We
also derive corresponding formulae for the conserved bosonic charges, such as
energy, in those theories, and we argue that energy is always positive, for any
supersymmetry-preserving boundary conditions. We finally comment on the
relevance and interpretation of our results within the AdS-CFT correspondence.Comment: 45 pages, Latex, no figures, v2: extended discussion of positive
energy theorem and explicit form of fermionic generators, references adde
Association between neighbourhood fast-food and full-service restaurant density and BMI: A cross-sectional study of Canadian adults
OBJECTIVE: Frequent fast-food consumption is a well-known risk factor for obesity. This study sought to determine whether the availability of fast-food restaurants has an influence on body mass index (BMI).
METHODS: BMI and individual-level confounding variables were obtained from the 2007-08 Canadian Community Health Survey. Neighbourhood socio-demographic variables were acquired from the 2006 Canadian Census. The geographic locations of all restaurants in Canada were assembled from a validated business registry database. The density of fast-food, full-service and non-chain restaurants per 10,000 individuals was calculated for respondents’ forward sortation area. Multivariable regression analyses were conducted to analyze the association between restaurant density and BMI.
RESULTS: Fast-food, full-service and non-chain restaurant density variables were statistically significantly associated with BMI. Fast-food density had a positive association whereas full-service and non-chain restaurant density had a negative association with BMI (additional 10 fast-food restaurants per capita corresponded to a weight increase of 1 kilogram; p\u3c0.001). These associations were primarily found in Canada’s major urban jurisdictions.
CONCLUSIONS: This research was the first to investigate the influence of fast-food and full-service restaurant density on BMI using individual-level data from a nationally representative Canadian survey. The finding of a positive association between fast-food restaurant density and BMI suggests that interventions aiming to restrict the availability of fast-food restaurants in local neighbourhoods may be a useful obesity prevention strategy
Influences of state anxiety on gaze behavior and stepping accuracy in older adults during adaptive locomotion
This article is available open access through the publisher’s website at the link below. Copyright © The Authors 2011.OBJECTIVES: Older adults deemed to be at a high risk of falling transfer their gaze from a stepping target earlier than their low-risk counterparts. The extent of premature gaze transfer increases with task complexity and is associated with a decline in stepping accuracy. This study tests the hypothesis that increased anxiety about upcoming obstacles is associated with (a) premature transfers of gaze toward obstacles (i.e., looking away from a target box prior to completing the step on it in order to fixate future constraints in the walkway) and (b) reduced stepping accuracy on the target in older adults. METHODS: High-risk (9) and low-risk (8) older adult participants walked a 10-m pathway containing a stepping target area followed by various arrangements of obstacles, which varied with each trial. Anxiety, eye movements, and movement kinematics were measured. RESULTS: Progressively increasing task complexity resulted in associated statistically significant increases in measures of anxiety, extent of early gaze transfer, and stepping inaccuracies in the high-risk group. DISCUSSION: These results provide evidence that increased anxiety about environmental hazards is related to suboptimal visual sampling behavior which, in turn, negatively influences stepping performance, potentially contributing to increased falls risk in older adults.Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Counci
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