5,543 research outputs found

    Cosmology as Relativistic Particle Mechanics: From Big Crunch to Big Bang

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    Cosmology can be viewed as geodesic motion in an appropriate metric on an `augmented' target space; here we obtain these geodesics from an effective relativistic particle action. As an application, we find some exact (flat and curved) cosmologies for models with N scalar fields taking values in a hyperbolic target space for which the augmented target space is a Milne universe. The singularities of these cosmologies correspond to points at which the particle trajectory crosses the Milne horizon, suggesting a novel resolution of them, which we explore via the Wheeler-deWitt equation.Comment: 17 pages, 3 figures, references and comments adde

    Cosmology as Geodesic Motion

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    For gravity coupled to N scalar fields with arbitrary potential V, it is shown that all flat (homogeneous and isotropic) cosmologies correspond to geodesics in an (N+1)-dimensional `augmented' target space of Lorentzian signature (1,N), timelike if V>0, null if V=0 and spacelike if V<0. Accelerating cosmologies correspond to timelike geodesics that lie within an `acceleration subcone' of the `lightcone'. Non-flat (k=-1,+1) cosmologies are shown to evolve as projections of geodesic motion in a space of dimension (N+2), of signature (1,N+1) for k=-1 and signature (2,N) for k=+1. This formalism is illustrated by cosmological solutions of models with an exponential potential, which are comprehensively analysed; the late-time behviour for other potentials of current interest is deduced by comparison.Comment: 26 pages, 2 figures, journal version with additional reference

    Response to a rabies epidemic in Bali, Indonesia

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    Emergency vaccinations and culling failed to contain an outbreak of rabies in Bali, Indonesia, during 2008–2009. Subsequent island-wide mass vaccination (reaching 70% coverage, &#62;200,000 dogs) led to substantial declines in rabies incidence and spread. However, the incidence of dog bites remains high, and repeat campaigns are necessary to eliminate rabies in Bali

    Staying true with the help of others: doxastic self-control through interpersonal commitment

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    I explore the possibility and rationality of interpersonal mechanisms of doxastic self-control, that is, ways in which individuals can make use of other people in order to get themselves to stick to their beliefs. I look, in particular, at two ways in which people can make interpersonal epistemic commitments, and thereby willingly undertake accountability to others, in order to get themselves to maintain their beliefs in the face of anticipated “epistemic temptations”. The first way is through the avowal of belief, and the second is through the establishment of collective belief. I argue that both of these forms of interpersonal epistemic commitment can function as effective tools for doxastic self-control, and, moreover, that the control they facilitate should not be dismissed as irrational from an epistemic perspective

    N=1 Non-Abelian Tensor Multiplet in Four Dimensions

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    We carry out the N=1 supersymmetrization of a physical non-Abelian tensor with non-trivial consistent couplings in four dimensions. Our system has three multiplets: (i) The usual non-Abelian vector multiplet (VM) (A_\mu{}^I, \lambda^I), (ii) A non-Abelian tensor multiplet (TM) (B_{\mu\nu}{}^I, \chi^I, \varphi^I), and (iii) A compensator vector multiplet (CVM) (C_\mu{}^I, \rho^I). All of these multiplets are in the adjoint representation of a non-Abelian group G. Unlike topological theory, all of our fields are propagating with kinetic terms. The C_\mu{}^I-field plays the role of a Stueckelberg compensator absorbed into the longitudinal component of B_{\mu\nu}{}^I. We give not only the component lagrangian, but also a corresponding superspace reformulation, reconfirming the total consistency of the system. The adjoint representation of the TM and CVM is further generalized to an arbitrary real representation of general SO(N) gauge group. We also couple the globally N=1 supersymmetric system to supergravity, as an additional non-trivial confirmation.Comment: 18 pages, no figur

    String/(D5)(D-5)-brane Duality and SS Duality as Symmetries of Actions

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    We realize the string/(D5)(D-5)-brane duality on the action level between the T10DT^{10-D}-compactified heterotic string effective action and the (D5)(D-5)- brane effective action in DD dimensions by managing a Lagrange multiplier field. A dual dictionary is composed to be available for the translation between the elementary or solitonic solutions of the dual pair of actions. In the same way the SS duality is also reconstructed on the action level as a double dualization for the T6T^6-compactified heterotic string effective action.Comment: 9 pages, latex, no figure

    Multiple M0-brane system in an arbitrary eleven dimensional supergravity background

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    The equations of motion of multiple M0{brane (multiple M-wave or mM0) system in an arbitrary D = 11 supergravity superspace, which generalize the Matrix model equations for the case of inter- action with a generic 11D supergravity background, are obtained in the frame of superembedding approach. We also derive the BPS equations for supersymmetric bosonic solutions of these mM0 equations and show that the set of 1/2 BPS solutions contain a fuzzy sphere modeling M2 brane as well as that the Nahm equation appears as a particular case of the 1/4 BPS equations.Comment: RevTeX4, 20 pages, no figures. V2: misprints corrected, minor changes, published in Phys. Rev. D82, 105030 (2010)). V3. Dec. 2011 : misprints in coeffs of Eqs.(5.10) correcte

    Supersymmetric Two-Time Physics

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    We construct an Sp(2,R) gauge invariant particle action which possesses manifest space-time SO(d,2) symmetry, global supersymmetry and kappa supersymmetry. The global and local supersymmetries are non-abelian generalizations of Poincare type supersymmetries and are consistent with the presence of two timelike dimensions. In particular, this action provides a unified and explicit superparticle representation of the superconformal groups OSp(N/4), SU(2,2/N) and OSp(8*/N) which underlie various AdS/CFT dualities in M/string theory. By making diverse Sp(2,R) gauge choices our action reduces to diverse one-time physics systems, one of which is the ordinary (one-time) massless superparticle with superconformal symmetry that we discuss explicitly. We show how to generalize our approach to the case of superalgebras, such as OSp(1/32), which do not have direct space-time interpretations in terms of only zero branes, but may be realizable in the presence of p-branes.Comment: Latex, 18 page
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