Invariant Killing spinors in 11D and type II supergravities

We present all isotropy groups and associated $\Sigma$ groups, up to discrete identifications of the component connected to the identity, of spinors of eleven-dimensional and type II supergravities. The $\Sigma$ groups are products of a Spin group and an R-symmetry group of a suitable lower dimensional supergravity theory. Using the case of SU(4)-invariant spinors as a paradigm, we demonstrate that the $\Sigma$ groups, and so the R-symmetry groups of lower-dimensional supergravity theories arising from compactifications, have disconnected components. These lead to discrete symmetry groups reminiscent of R-parity. We examine the role of disconnected components of the $\Sigma$ groups in the choice of Killing spinor representatives and in the context of compactifications.Comment: 22 pages, typos correcte

Classification of IIB backgrounds with 28 supersymmetries

We show that all IIB backgrounds with strictly 28 supersymmetries are locally isometric to the plane wave solution of arXiv:hep-th/0206195. Moreover, we demonstrate that all solutions with more than 26 supersymmetries and only 5-form flux are maximally supersymmetric. The N=28 plane wave solution is a superposition of the maximally supersymmetric IIB plane wave with a heterotic string solution. We investigate the propagation of strings in this background, find the spectrum and give the string light-cone Hamiltonian.Comment: 30 pages, typos correcte

Bulge RR Lyrae stars in the VVV tile b201\textit{b201}

The VISTA Variables in the V\'ia L\'actea (VVV) Survey is one of the six ESO public surveys currently ongoing at the VISTA telescope on Cerro Paranal, Chile. VVV uses near-IR ($ZYJHK_{\rm s}$) filters that at present provide photometry to a depth of $K_{\rm s} \sim 17.0$ mag in up to 36 epochs spanning over four years, and aim at discovering more than 10$^6$ variable sources as well as trace the structure of the Galactic bulge and part of the southern disk. A variability search was performed to find RR Lyrae variable stars. The low stellar density of the VVV tile $\textit{b201}$, which is centered at ($\ell, b$) $\sim$ ($-9^\circ, -9^\circ$), makes it suitable to search for variable stars. Previous studies have identified some RR Lyrae stars using optical bands that served to test our search procedure. The main goal is to measure the reddening, interstellar extinction, and distances of the RR Lyrae stars and to study their distribution on the Milky Way bulge. A total of 1.5 sq deg were analyzed, and we found 39 RR Lyrae stars, 27 of which belong to the ab-type and 12 to the c-type. Our analysis recovers all the previously identified RR Lyrae variables in the field and discovers 29 new RR Lyrae stars. The reddening and extinction toward all the RRab stars in this tile were derived, and distance estimations were obtained through the period--luminosity relation. Despite the limited amount of RR Lyrae stars studied, our results are consistent with a spheroidal or central distribution around $\sim 8.1$ and $\sim 8.5$ kpc. for either the Cardelli or Nishiyama extinction law.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysic

Three-dimensional N=8 conformal supergravity and its coupling to BLG M2-branes

This paper is concerned with the problem of coupling the N=8 superconformal Bagger-Lambert-Gustavsson (BLG) theory to N=8 conformal supergravity in three dimensions. We start by constructing the on-shell N=8 conformal supergravity in three dimensions consisting of a Chern-Simons type term for each of the gauge fields: the spin connection, the SO(8) R-symmetry gauge field and the spin 3/2 Rarita-Schwinger (gravitino) field. We then proceed to couple this theory to the BLG theory. The final theory should have the same physical content, i.e., degrees of freedom, as the ordinary BLG theory. We discuss briefly the properties of this "topologically gauged" BLG theory and why this theory may be useful.Comment: 20 pages, v2: references and comments added, presentation in section 3.2 extended. v3: misprints and a sign error corrected, version published in JHE

All the supersymmetric solutions of N=1,d=5 ungauged supergravity

We classify the supersymmetric solutions of ungauged N=1 d=5 SUGRA coupled to vector multiplets and hypermultiplets. All the solutions can be seen as deformations of solutions with frozen hyperscalars. We show explicitly how the 5-dimensional Reissner-Nordstrom black hole is deformed when hyperscalars are living on SO(4,1)/SO(4) are turned on, reducing its supersymmetry from 1/2 to 1/8. We also describe in the timelike and null cases the solutions that have one extra isometry and can be reduced to N=2,d=4 solutions. Our formulae allows the uplifting of certain N=2,d=4 black holes to N=1,d=5 black holes on KK monopoles or to pp-waves propagating along black strings.Comment: Some typos fixed and some paragraphs improved. 44 pages, Latex 2e file, no figures. Version to be published in JHE

Reduction of parasitic currents in level-set calculations with a consistent discretization of the surface-tension force for the CSF model

Parasitic currents may develop in grid-based interface simulations because of inaccurate representation of the surface forces in the discretized equations. This is due to two causes : firstly, inconsistent discretization of the surface tension force and the pressure gradient, such that the force balance is not fulfilled for a drop or a bubble at rest. Secondly, the problem is inaccurate approximation of the curvature. The least you should demand from a discretization is that it preserves a stationary solution. In this article, it is shown that this can be accomplished by rewriting the interfacial force term in the momentum equation. Using exact curvature, the exact solution for a drop is preserved to machine accuracy. In general, with this discretization, the calculation of the curvature is the only remaining source of spurious currents. Contrary to common practice for the level-set method, we stress that the curvature should be evaluated at the point on the interface whose normal cross the discretization point, and not at the gridpoint in the smeared-out region outside the interface. In 2D, a simple geometrical argument may be used to find the curvature at the interface, whereas in 3D we use extrapolation normal to the interface to create the correct curvature field in a small region around the interface

Función de homenaje al Maestro Enrique Morera en ocasión del centenario de su nacimiento

De cada obra s'ha digitalitzat un programa sencer. De la resta s'han digitalitzat les parts que són diferents.Programa: Fiesta Mayor ; Concierto; Tassarb

Maximally Minimal Preons in Four Dimensions

Killing spinors of N=2, D=4 supergravity are examined using the spinorial geometry method, in which spinors are written as differential forms. By making use of methods developed in hep-th/0606049 to analyze preons in type IIB supergravity, we show that there are no simply connected solutions preserving exactly 3/4 of the supersymmetry.Comment: 18 pages. References added, comments added discussing the possibility of discrete quotients of AdS(4) preserving 3/4 supersymmetry

Vanishing Preons in the Fifth Dimension

We examine supersymmetric solutions of N=2, D=5 gauged supergravity coupled to an arbitrary number of abelian vector multiplets using the spinorial geometry method. By making use of methods developed in hep-th/0606049 to analyse preons in type IIB supergravity, we show that there are no solutions preserving exactly 3/4 of the supersymmetry.Comment: 19 pages, latex. Reference added, and further modification to the introductio