304 research outputs found
N=2 Sigma Models for Ramond-Ramond Backgrounds
Using the U(4) hybrid formalism, manifestly N=(2,2) worldsheet supersymmetric
sigma models are constructed for the Type IIB superstring in Ramond-Ramond
backgrounds. The Kahler potential in these N=2 sigma models depends on four
chiral and antichiral bosonic superfields and two chiral and antichiral
fermionic superfields. When the Kahler potential is quadratic, the model is a
free conformal field theory which describes a flat ten-dimensional target space
with Ramond-Ramond flux and non-constant dilaton. For more general Kahler
potentials, the model describes curved target spaces with Ramond-Ramond flux
that are not plane-wave backgrounds. Ricci-flatness of the Kahler metric
implies the on-shell conditions for the background up to the usual four-loop
conformal anomaly.Comment: 19 pages harvma
Observation and Modeling of the Solar-Cycle Variation of the Meridional Flow
We present independent observations of the solar-cycle variation of flows
near the solar surface and at a depth of about 60 Mm, in the latitude range
. We show that the time-varying components of the meridional flow
at these two depths have opposite sign, while the time-varying components of
the zonal flow are in phase. This is in agreement with previous results. We
then investigate whether the observations are consistent with a theoretical
model of solar-cycle dependent meridional circulation based on a flux-transport
dynamo combined with a geostrophic flow caused by increased radiative loss in
the active region belt (the only existing quantitative model). We find that the
model and the data are in qualitative agreement, although the amplitude of the
solar-cycle variation of the meridional flow at 60 Mm is underestimated by the
model.Comment: To be published in Solar Physcis Topical Issue "Helioseismology,
Asteroseismology, and MHD Connections
Comparisons of Supergranule Characteristics During the Solar Minima of Cycles 22/23 and 23/24
Supergranulation is a component of solar convection that manifests itself on
the photosphere as a cellular network of around 35 Mm across, with a turnover
lifetime of 1-2 days. It is strongly linked to the structure of the magnetic
field. The horizontal, divergent flows within supergranule cells carry local
field lines to the cell boundaries, while the rotational properties of
supergranule upflows may contribute to the restoration of the poloidal field as
part of the dynamo mechanism that controls the solar cycle. The solar minimum
at the transition from cycle 23 to 24 was notable for its low level of activity
and its extended length. It is of interest to study whether the convective
phenomena that influences the solar magnetic field during this time differed in
character to periods of previous minima. This study investigates three
characteristics (velocity components, sizes and lifetimes) of solar
supergranulation. Comparisons of these characteristics are made between the
minima of cycles 22/23 and 23/24 using MDI Doppler data from 1996 and 2008,
respectively. It is found that whereas the lifetimes are equal during both
epochs (around 18 h), the sizes are larger in 1996 (35.9 +/- 0.3 Mm) than in
2008 (35.0 +/- 0.3 Mm), while the dominant horizontal velocity flows are weaker
(139 +/- 1 m/s in 1996; 141 +/- 1 m/s in 2008). Although numerical differences
are seen, they are not conclusive proof of the most recent minimum being
inherently unusual.Comment: 22 pages, 5 figures. Solar Physics, in pres
Exactly solvable model of superstring in Ramond-Ramond plane wave background
We describe in detail the solution of type IIB superstring theory in the
maximally supersymmetric plane-wave background with constant null Ramond-Ramond
5-form field strength. The corresponding light-cone Green-Schwarz action found
in hep-th/0112044 is quadratic in both bosonic and fermionic coordinates. We
find the spectrum of the light-cone Hamiltonian and the string representation
of the supersymmetry algebra. The superstring Hamiltonian has a
``harmonic-oscillator'' form in both the string-oscillator and the zero-mode
parts and thus has discrete spectrum in all 8 transverse directions. We analyze
the structure of the zero-mode sector of the theory, establishing the precise
correspondence between the lowest-lying ``massless'' string states and the type
IIB supergravity fluctuation modes in the plane-wave background. The zero-mode
spectrum has certain similarity to the supergravity spectrum in AdS_5 x S^5 of
which the plane-wave background is a special limit. We also compare the
plane-wave string spectrum with expected form of the light-cone gauge spectrum
of superstring in AdS_5 x S^5.Comment: 33 pages, latex. v4: minor sign corrections in (1.5) and (3.62), to
appear in PR
On the Behavior of the Effective QCD Coupling alpha_tau(s) at Low Scales
The hadronic decays of the tau lepton can be used to determine the effective
charge alpha_tau(m^2_tau') for a hypothetical tau-lepton with mass in the range
0 < m_tau' < m_tau. This definition provides a fundamental definition of the
QCD coupling at low mass scales. We study the behavior of alpha_tau at low mass
scales directly from first principles and without any renormalization-scheme
dependence by looking at the experimental data from the OPAL Collaboration. The
results are consistent with the freezing of the physical coupling at mass
scales s = m^2_tau' of order 1 GeV^2 with a magnitude alpha_tau ~ 0.9 +/- 0.1.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Physical Review D, added
references, some text added, no results nor figures change
The Renormalization Group with Exact beta-Functions
The perturbative -function is known exactly in a number of
supersymmetric theories and in the 't Hooft renormalization scheme in the
model. It is shown how this allows one to compute the effective
action exactly for certain background field configurations and to relate bare
and renormalized couplings. The relationship between the MS and SUSY
subtraction schemes in super Yang-Mills theory is discussed
Strong Coupling Effects in non-commutative spaces from OM Theory and supergravity
We show that a four-parameter class of 3+1 dimensional NCOS theories can be
obtained by dimensional reduction on a general 2-torus from OM theory.
Compactifying two spatial directions of NCOS theory on a 2-torus, we study the
transformation properties under the T-duality group. We then
discuss non-perturbative configurations of non-commutative super Yang-Mills
theory. In particular, we calculate the tension for magnetic monopoles and
(p,q) dyons and exhibit their six-dimensional origin, and construct a
supergravity solution representing an instanton in the gauge theory. We also
compute the potential for a monopole-antimonopole in the supergravity
approximation.Comment: 24 pages, latex. Explanations adde
iNOS activity is critical for the clearance of Burkholderia mallei from infected RAW 264.7 murine macrophages
Burkholderia mallei is a facultative intracellular pathogen that can cause fatal disease in animals and humans. To better understand the role of phagocytic cells in the control of infections caused by this organism, studies were initiated to examine the interactions of B. mallei with RAW 264.7 murine macrophages. Utilizing modified kanamycin-protection assays, B. mallei was shown to survive and replicate in RAW 264.7 cells infected at multiplicities of infection (moi) of ≤ 1. In contrast, the organism was efficiently cleared by the macrophages when infected at an moi of 10. Interestingly, studies demonstrated that the monolayers only produced high levels of TNF-α, IL-6, IL-10, GM-CSF, RANTES and IFN-β when infected at an moi of 10. In addition, nitric oxide assays and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) immunoblot analyses revealed a strong correlation between iNOS activity and clearance of B. mallei from RAW 264.7 cells. Furthermore, treatment of activated macrophages with the iNOS inhibitor, aminoguanidine, inhibited clearance of B. mallei from infected monolayers. Based upon these results, it appears that moi significantly influence the outcome of interactions between B. mallei and murine macrophages and that iNOS activity is critical for the clearance of B. mallei from activated RAW 264.7 cells
Measurement of the polarisation of W bosons produced with large transverse momentum in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS experiment
This paper describes an analysis of the angular distribution of W->enu and
W->munu decays, using data from pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV recorded with
the ATLAS detector at the LHC in 2010, corresponding to an integrated
luminosity of about 35 pb^-1. Using the decay lepton transverse momentum and
the missing transverse energy, the W decay angular distribution projected onto
the transverse plane is obtained and analysed in terms of helicity fractions
f0, fL and fR over two ranges of W transverse momentum (ptw): 35 < ptw < 50 GeV
and ptw > 50 GeV. Good agreement is found with theoretical predictions. For ptw
> 50 GeV, the values of f0 and fL-fR, averaged over charge and lepton flavour,
are measured to be : f0 = 0.127 +/- 0.030 +/- 0.108 and fL-fR = 0.252 +/- 0.017
+/- 0.030, where the first uncertainties are statistical, and the second
include all systematic effects.Comment: 19 pages plus author list (34 pages total), 9 figures, 11 tables,
revised author list, matches European Journal of Physics C versio
Observation of a new chi_b state in radiative transitions to Upsilon(1S) and Upsilon(2S) at ATLAS
The chi_b(nP) quarkonium states are produced in proton-proton collisions at
the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV and recorded by the ATLAS
detector. Using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.4
fb^-1, these states are reconstructed through their radiative decays to
Upsilon(1S,2S) with Upsilon->mu+mu-. In addition to the mass peaks
corresponding to the decay modes chi_b(1P,2P)->Upsilon(1S)gamma, a new
structure centered at a mass of 10.530+/-0.005 (stat.)+/-0.009 (syst.) GeV is
also observed, in both the Upsilon(1S)gamma and Upsilon(2S)gamma decay modes.
This is interpreted as the chi_b(3P) system.Comment: 5 pages plus author list (18 pages total), 2 figures, 1 table,
corrected author list, matches final version in Physical Review Letter
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