Down to earth relativity

The basic concepts of the special and general theories of relativity are described. Simple examples are given to illustrate the effect of relativity on measurements of time and frequency in the near-earth environment

Frobenius map for quintic threefolds

We calculate the matrix of the Frobenius map on the middle dimensional cohomology of the one parameter family that is related by mirror symmetry to the family of all quintic threefolds.Comment: 19 pages, discussion of $p$-adic zeta values adde

BRST Reduction of the chiral Hecke Algebra

We explore the relationship between de Rham and Lie algebra cohomologies in the finite dimensional and affine settings. As an application, we describe the BRST reduction of the chiral Hecke algebra as a vertex super algebra.Comment: 35 page

Viking radio science data analysis and synthesis

Viking radio data analysis and synthesis was used for the following: (1) Solar System Model and Data Set; (2) Rotation of Mars; and (3) Solar System Constants and Tests of Relativity

Principles of very-long-baseline interferometry

The basic principles of very-long-baseline interferometry as related to its use in the determination of vector baselines, polar motion, and earth rotation are presented. Aspects relevant to geodetic applications that involve observations of extragalactic radio sources are covered. The instrumentation used in these observations and the basic observables and their simplest interpretation are described. Complications of the interpretation due to the various geophysical 'signals' and nongeophysical 'noise' that affect the observables are considered

Dark energy: a quantum fossil from the inflationary Universe?

The discovery of dark energy (DE) as the physical cause for the accelerated expansion of the Universe is the most remarkable experimental finding of modern cosmology. However, it leads to insurmountable theoretical difficulties from the point of view of fundamental physics. Inflation, on the other hand, constitutes another crucial ingredient, which seems necessary to solve other cosmological conundrums and provides the primeval quantum seeds for structure formation. One may wonder if there is any deep relationship between these two paradigms. In this work, we suggest that the existence of the DE in the present Universe could be linked to the quantum field theoretical mechanism that may have triggered primordial inflation in the early Universe. This mechanism, based on quantum conformal symmetry, induces a logarithmic, asymptotically-free, running of the gravitational coupling. If this evolution persists in the present Universe, and if matter is conserved, the general covariance of Einstein's equations demands the existence of dynamical DE in the form of a running cosmological term whose variation follows a power law of the redshift.Comment: LaTeX, 14 pages, extended discussion. References added. Accepted in J. Phys. A: Mathematical and Theoretica

Cosmologies with variable parameters and dynamical cosmon: implications on the cosmic coincidence problem

Dynamical dark energy (DE) has been proposed to explain various aspects of the cosmological constant (CC) problem(s). For example, it is very difficult to accept that a strictly constant Lambda-term constitutes the ultimate explanation for the DE in our Universe. It is also hard to acquiesce in the idea that we accidentally happen to live in an epoch where the CC contributes an energy density value right in the ballpark of the rapidly diluting matter density. It should perhaps be more plausible to conceive that the vacuum energy, is actually a dynamical quantity as the Universe itself. More generally, we could even entertain the possibility that the total DE is in fact a mixture of vacuum energy and other dynamical components (e.g. fields, higher order terms in the effective action etc) which can be represented collectively by an effective entity X (dubbed the ``cosmon''). The ``cosmon'', therefore, acts as a dynamical DE component different from the vacuum energy. While it can actually behave phantom-like by itself, the overall DE fluid may effectively appear as standard quintessence, or even mimic at present an almost exact CC behavior. Thanks to the versatility of such cosmic fluid we can show that a composite DE system of this sort (``LXCDM'') may have a key to resolving the mysterious coincidence problem.Comment: LaTeX, 13 pages, 5 figure