Kappa symmetry, generalized calibrations and spinorial geometry

We extend the spinorial geometry techniques developed for the solution of supergravity Killing spinor equations to the kappa symmetry condition for supersymmetric brane probe configurations in any supergravity background. In particular, we construct the linear systems associated with the kappa symmetry projector of M- and type II branes acting on any Killing spinor. As an example, we show that static supersymmetric M2-brane configurations which admit a Killing spinor representing the SU(5) orbit of $Spin(10,1)$ are generalized almost hermitian calibrations and the embedding map is pseudo-holomorphic. We also present a bound for the Euclidean action of M- and type II branes embedded in a supersymmetric background with non-vanishing fluxes. This leads to an extension of the definition of generalized calibrations which allows for the presence of non-trivial Born-Infeld type of fields in the brane actions.Comment: 9 pages, latex, references added and minor change

Wrapped branes with fluxes in 8d gauged supergravity

We study the gravity dual of several wrapped D-brane configurations in presence of 4-form RR fluxes partially piercing the unwrapped directions. We present a systematic approach to obtain these solutions from those without fluxes. We use D=8 gauged supergravity as a starting point to build up these solutions. The configurations include (smeared) M2-branes at the tip of a G_2 cone on S^3 x S^3, D2-D6 branes with the latter wrapping a special Lagrangian 3-cycle of the complex deformed conifold and an holomorphic sphere in its cotangent bundle T^*S^2, D3-branes at the tip of the generalized resolved conifold, and others obtained by means of T duality and KK reduction. We elaborate on the corresponding N=1 and N=2 field theories in 2+1 dimensions.Comment: 32 pages, LateX, v2: minor changes, reference added, v3: section 3.5.2 improve

Parallelisable Heterotic Backgrounds

We classify the simply-connected supersymmetric parallelisable backgrounds of heterotic supergravity. They are all given by parallelised Lie groups admitting a bi-invariant lorentzian metric. We find examples preserving 4, 8, 10, 12, 14 and 16 of the 16 supersymmetries.Comment: 17 pages, AMSLaTe

The holonomy of the supercovariant connection and Killing spinors

We show that the holonomy of the supercovariant connection for M-theory backgrounds with $N$ Killing spinors reduces to a subgroup of SL(32-N,\bR)\st (\oplus^N \bR^{32-N}). We use this to give the necessary and sufficient conditions for a background to admit $N$ Killing spinors. We show that there is no topological obstruction for the existence of up to 22 Killing spinors in eleven-dimensional spacetime. We investigate the symmetry superalgebras of supersymmetric backgrounds and find that their structure constants are determined by an antisymmetric matrix. The Lie subalgebra of bosonic generators is related to a real form of a symplectic group. We show that there is a one-one correspondence between certain bases of the Cartan subalgebra of sl(32, \bR) and supersymmetric planar probe M-brane configurations. A supersymmetric probe configuration can involve up to 31 linearly independent planar branes and preserves one supersymmetry. The space of supersymmetric planar probe M-brane configurations is preserved by an SO(32,\bR) subgroup of SL(32, \bR).Comment: 27 pages, a key reference was added. v3: minor change

N=31, D=11

We show that eleven-dimensional supergravity backgrounds with thirty one supersymmetries, N=31, admit an additional Killing spinor and so they are locally isometric to maximally supersymmetric ones. This rules out the existence of simply connected eleven-dimensional supergravity preons. We also show that N=15 solutions of type I supergravities are locally isometric to Minkowski spacetime.Comment: 17 page

Sediment compaction rates and subsidence in deltaic plains : numerical constraints and stratigraphic influences

This paper is not subject to U.S. copyright. The definitive version was published in Basin Research 19 (2007): 19-31, doi:10.1111/j.1365-2117.2006.00310.x.Natural sediment compaction in deltaic plains influences subsidence rates and the evolution of deltaic morphology. Determining compaction rates requires detailed knowledge of subsurface geotechnical properties and depositional history, neither of which is often readily available. To overcome this lack of knowledge, we numerically forward model the incremental sedimentation and compaction of stochastically generated stratigraphies with geotechnical properties typical of modern depositional environments in the Mississippi River delta plain. Using a Monte Carlo approach, the range of probable compaction rates for stratigraphies with compacted thicknesses <150 m and accumulation times <20 kyr. varies, but maximum values rarely exceed a few mm yr-1. The fastest compacting stratigraphies are composed primarily of peat and bar sand, whereas the slowest compacting stratigraphies are composed of prodelta mud and natural levee deposits. These results suggest that compaction rates can significantly influence vertical and lateral stratigraphic trends during deltaic evolution

Let's Twist Again: General Metrics of G(2) Holonomy from Gauged Supergravity

We construct all complete metrics of cohomogeneity one G(2) holonomy with S^3 x S^3 principal orbits from gauged supergravity. Our approach rests on a generalization of the twisting procedure used in this framework. It corresponds to a non-trivial embedding of the special Lagrangian three-cycle wrapped by the D6-branes in the lower dimensional supergravity. There are constraints that neatly reduce the general ansatz to a six functions one. Within this approach, the Hitchin system and the flop transformation are nicely realized in eight dimensional gauged supergravity.Comment: 31 pages, latex; v2: minor changes, references adde

Rotating membranes on G_2 manifolds, logarithmic anomalous dimensions and N=1 duality

We show that the $E-S \sim \log S$ behaviour found for long strings rotating on $AdS_5\times S^5$ may be reproduced by membranes rotating on $AdS_4\times S^7$ and on a warped $AdS_5$ M-theory solution. We go on to obtain rotating membrane configurations with the same $E-K \sim \log K$ relation on $G_2$ holonomy backgrounds that are dual to ${\mathcal{N}}=1$ gauge theories in four dimensions. We study membrane configurations on $G_2$ holonomy backgrounds systematically, finding various other Energy-Charge relations. We end with some comments about strings rotating on warped backgrounds.Comment: 1+44 pages. Latex. No figures. Minor corrections to make all membrane configurations consistent. One configuration is now noncompac

Spin and energy transfer in nanocrystals without transport of charge

We describe a mechanism of spin transfer between individual quantum dots that does not require tunneling. Incident circularly-polarized photons create inter-band excitons with non-zero electron spin in the first quantum dot. When the quantum-dot pair is properly designed, this excitation can be transferred to the neighboring dot via the Coulomb interaction with either {\it conservation} or {\it flipping} of the electron spin. The second dot can radiate circularly-polarized photons at lower energy. Selection rules for spin transfer are determined by the resonant conditions and by the strong spin-orbit interaction in the valence band of nanocrystals. Coulomb-induced energy and spin transfer in pairs and chains of dots can become very efficient under resonant conditions. The electron can preserve its spin orientation even in randomly-oriented nanocrystals.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figure

The Geometry of D=11 Killing Spinors

We propose a way to classify all supersymmetric configurations of D=11 supergravity using the G-structures defined by the Killing spinors. We show that the most general bosonic geometries admitting a Killing spinor have at least a local SU(5) or an (Spin(7)\ltimes R^8)x R structure, depending on whether the Killing vector constructed from the Killing spinor is timelike or null, respectively. In the former case we determine what kind of local SU(5) structure is present and show that almost all of the form of the geometry is determined by the structure. We also deduce what further conditions must be imposed in order that the equations of motion are satisfied. We illustrate the formalism with some known solutions and also present some new solutions including a rotating generalisation of the resolved membrane solutions and generalisations of the recently constructed D=11 Godel solution.Comment: 36 pages. Typos corrected and discussion on G-structures improved. Final version to appear in JHE