Conformal Gravity with Electrodynamics for Fermion Fields and their Symmetry Breaking Mechanism

In this paper we consider an axial torsion to build metric-compatible connections in conformal gravity, with gauge potentials; the geometric background is filled with Dirac spinors: scalar fields with suitable potentials are added eventually. The system of field equations is worked out to have torsional effects converted into spinorial self-interactions: the massless spinors display self-interactions of a specific form that gives them the features they have in the non-conformal theory but with the additional character of renormalizability, and the mechanisms of generation of mass and cosmological constants become dynamical. As a final step we will address the cosmological constant and coincidence problems.Comment: 13 page

Static quantum corrections to the Schwarzschild spacetime

We study static quantum corrections of the Schwarzschild metric in the Boulware vacuum state. Due to the absence of a complete analytic expression for the full semiclassical Einstein equations we approach the problem by considering the s-wave approximation and solve numerically the associated backreaction equations. The solution, including quantum effects due to pure vacuum polarization, is similar to the classical Schwarzschild solution up to the vicinity of the classical horizon. However, the radial function has a minimum at a time-like surface close to the location of the classical event horizon. There the g_{00} component of the metric reaches a very small but non-zero value. The analysis unravels how a curvature singularity emerges beyond this bouncing point. We briefly discuss the physical consequences of these results by extrapolating them to a dynamical collapsing scenario.Comment: 10 pages; Talk given at QG05, Cala Gonone (Italy), September 200

Can conformal Transformations change the fate of 2D black holes?

By using a classical Liouville-type model of two dimensional dilaton gravity we show that the one-loop theory implies that the fate of a black hole depends on the conformal frame. There is one frame for which the evaporation process never stops and another one leading to a complete disappearance of the black hole. This can be seen as a consequence of the fact that thermodynamic variables are not conformally invariant. In the second case the evaporation always produces the same static and regular end-point geometry, irrespective of the initial state.Comment: Some typos corrected. A few comments and two references added. Accepted for publication in PLB. Latex, 11 pages, no figure

Low-energy scattering of extremal black holes by neutral matter

We investigate the decay of a spherically symmetric near-extremal charged black hole, including back-reaction effects, in the near-horizon region. The non-locality of the effective action controlling this process allows and also forces us to introduce a complementary set of boundary conditions which permit to determine the asymptotic late time Hawking flux. The evaporation rate goes down exponentially and admits an infinite series expansion in Planck's constant. At leading order it is proportional to the total mass and the higher order terms involve higher order momenta of the classical stress-tensor. Moreover we use this late time behaviour to go beyond the near-horizon approximation and comment on the implications for the information loss paradox.Comment: LaTeX file, 14 pages. Expanded version replacing earlier hep-th/001201

Labour market performance of immigrants in the UK labour market

From executive summary: This document is a report commissioned by the Home Office to analyse the performance of immigrants in the UK labour market. It attempts to draw a comprehensive picture of the labour market performance of immigrants, and the process of adaptation relative to the UK-born white population. Four indicators of economic performance are investigated: (i) employment, (ii) labour force participation, (iii) self-employment, and (iv) wages. The analysis distinguishes between males and females, and between groups of different origin. The effects of specific variables on these outcomes are investigated in detail. The report also considers labour market outcomes of ethnic minority individuals who are born in the UK, and compares their outcomes with those of UK-born white individuals, and of ethnic minority individuals who are foreign-born

Semiclassical zero-temperature corrections to Schwarzschild spacetime and holography

Motivated by the quest for black holes in AdS braneworlds, and in particular by the holographic conjecture relating 5D classical bulk solutions with 4D quantum corrected ones, we numerically solve the semiclassical Einstein equations (backreaction equations) with matter fields in the (zero temperature) Boulware vacuum state. In the absence of an exact analytical expression for in four dimensions we work within the s-wave approximation. Our results show that the quantum corrected solution is very similar to Schwarzschild till very close to the horizon, but then a bouncing surface for the radial function appears which prevents the formation of an event horizon. We also analyze the behavior of the geometry beyond the bounce, where a curvature singularity arises. In the dual theory, this indicates that the corresponding 5D static classical braneworld solution is not a black hole but rather a naked singularity.Comment: 26 pages, 4 figures; revised version (title changed, conclusions shortened), published as Phys. Rev. D73, 104023 (2006

The Holographic Interpretation of Hawking Radiation

Holography gives us a tool to view the Hawking effect from a new, classical perspective. In the context of Randall-Sundrum braneworld models, we show that the basic features of four-dimensional evaporating solutions are nicely translated into classical five-dimensional language. This includes the dual bulk description of particles tunneling through the horizon.Comment: 10 pages, 1 figure, Honorable Mention in the Gravity Research Foundation Essay Competition 200