37 research outputs found
Trophodynamics and ecology of pelagic early-juvenile Nassau grouper, Epinephelus striatus, during recruitment into bank habitats, in the Bahamas
Universality of Nonperturbative Effects in c<1 Noncritical String Theory
Nonperturbative effects in c<1 noncritical string theory are studied using
the two-matrix model. Such effects are known to have the form fixed by the
string equations but the numerical coefficients have not been known so far.
Using the method proposed recently, we show that it is possible to determine
the coefficients for (p,q) string theory. We find that they are indeed finite
in the double scaling limit and universal in the sense that they do not depend
on the detailed structure of the potential of the two-matrix model.Comment: 17 page
Transcriptional implications of intragenic DNA methylation in the oestrogen receptor alpha gene in breast cancer cells and tissues
Background DNA methylation variability regions (MVRs) across the oestrogen receptor alpha (ESR1) gene have been identified in peripheral blood cells from breast cancer patients and healthy individuals. In contrast to promoter methylation, gene body methylation may be important in maintaining active transcription. This study aimed to assess MVRs in ESR1 in breast cancer cell lines, tumour biopsies and exfoliated epithelial cells from expressed breast milk (EBM), to determine their significance for ESR1 transcription. Methods DNA methylation levels in eight MVRs across ESR1 were assessed by pyrosequencing bisulphite-converted DNA from three oestrogen receptor (ER)-positive and three ER-negative breast cancer cell lines. DNA methylation and expression were assessed following treatment with DAC (1 μM), or DMSO (controls). ESR1 methylation levels were also assayed in DNA from 155 invasive ductal carcinoma biopsies provided by the Breast Cancer Campaign Tissue Bank, and validated with DNA methylation profiles from the TCGA breast tumours (n = 356 ER-pos, n = 109 ER-neg). DNA methylation was profiled in exfoliated breast epithelial cells from EBM using the Illumina 450 K (n = 36) and pyrosequencing in a further 53 donor samples. ESR1 mRNA levels were measured by qRT-PCR. Results We show that ER-positive cell lines had unmethylated ESR1 promoter regions and highly methylated intragenic regions (median, 80.45%) while ER-negative cells had methylated promoters and lower intragenic methylation levels (median, 38.62%). DAC treatment increased ESR1 expression in ER-negative cells, but significantly reduced methylation and expression of ESR1 in ER-positive cells. The ESR1 promoter was unmethylated in breast tumour biopsies with high levels of intragenic methylation, independent of ER status. However, ESR1 methylation in the strongly ER-positive EBM DNA samples were very similar to ER-positive tumour cell lines. Conclusion DAC treatment inhibited ESR1 transcription in cells with an unmethylated ESR1 promoter and reduced intragenic DNA methylation. Intragenic methylation levels correlated with ESR1 expression in homogenous cell populations (cell lines and exfoliated primary breast epithelial cells), but not in heterogeneous tumour biopsies, highlighting the significant differences between the in vivo tumour microenvironment and individual homogenous cell types. These findings emphasise the need for care when choosing material for epigenetic research and highlights the presence of aberrant intragenic methylation levels in tumour tissue
The Trouble with de Sitter Space
In this paper we assume the de Sitter Space version of Black Hole
Complementarity which states that a single causal patch of de Sitter space is
described as an isolated finite temperature cavity bounded by a horizon which
allows no loss of information. We discuss the how the symmetries of de Sitter
space should be implemented. Then we prove a no go theorem for implementing the
symmetries if the entropy is finite. Thus we must either give up the finiteness
of the de Sitter entropy or the exact symmetry of the classical space. Each has
interesting implications for the very long time behavior. We argue that the
lifetime of a de Sitter phase can not exceed the Poincare recurrence time. This
is supported by recent results of Kachru, Kallosh, Linde and Trivedi.Comment: 15 pages, 1 figure. v2: added fifth section with comments on long
time stability of de Sitter space, in which we argue that the lifetime can
not exceed the Poincare recurrence time. v3: corrected a minor error in the
appendi
Scattered Results in 2D String Theory
The nonperturbative tachyon scattering amplitude in 2D type 0A
string theory is computed. The probability that particles are produced is a
monotonically decreasing function of whenever is large enough that
statistical methods apply. The results are compared with expectations from
black hole thermodynamics.Comment: 22 pages, 5 figures, harvmac. v2: minor comments added, typos
correcte
Nonperturbative effects and nonperturbative definitions in matrix models and topological strings
We develop techniques to compute multi-instanton corrections to the 1/N
expansion in matrix models described by orthogonal polynomials. These
techniques are based on finding trans-series solutions, i.e. formal solutions
with exponentially small corrections, to the recursion relations characterizing
the free energy. We illustrate this method in the Hermitian, quartic matrix
model, and we provide a detailed description of the instanton corrections in
the Gross-Witten-Wadia (GWW) unitary matrix model. Moreover, we use Borel
resummation techniques and results from the theory of resurgent functions to
relate the formal multi-instanton series to the nonperturbative definition of
the matrix model. We study this relation in the case of the GWW model and its
double-scaling limit, providing in this way a nice illustration of various
mechanisms connecting the resummation of perturbative series to nonperturbative
results, like the cancellation of nonperturbative ambiguities. Finally, we
argue that trans-series solutions are also relevant in the context of
topological string theory. In particular, we point out that in topological
string models with both a matrix model and a large N gauge theory description,
the nonperturbative, holographic definition involves a sum over the
multi-instanton sectors of the matrix modelComment: 50 pages, 12 figures, comments and references added, small
correction
An approximate renormalization-group transformation for Hamiltonian systems with three degrees of freedom
We construct an approximate renormalization transformation that combines
Kolmogorov-Arnold-Moser (KAM)and renormalization-group techniques, to analyze
instabilities in Hamiltonian systems with three degrees of freedom. This scheme
is implemented both for isoenergetically nondegenerate and for degenerate
Hamiltonians. For the spiral mean frequency vector, we find numerically that
the iterations of the transformation on nondegenerate Hamiltonians tend to
degenerate ones on the critical surface. As a consequence, isoenergetically
degenerate and nondegenerate Hamiltonians belong to the same universality
class, and thus the corresponding critical invariant tori have the same type of
scaling properties. We numerically investigate the structure of the attracting
set on the critical surface and find that it is a strange nonchaotic attractor.
We compute exponents that characterize its universality class.Comment: 10 pages typeset using REVTeX, 7 PS figure
A toy model for the AdS/CFT correspondence
We study the large N gauged quantum mechanics for a single Hermitian matrix
in the Harmonic oscillator potential well as a toy model for the AdS/CFT
correspondence. We argue that the dual geometry should be a string in two
dimensions with a curvature of stringy size. Even though the dual geometry is
not weakly curved, one can still gain knowledge of the system from a detailed
study of the open-closed string duality. We give a mapping between the basis of
states made of traces (closed strings) and the eigenvalues of the matrix
(D-brane picture) in terms of Schur polynomials. We connect this model with the
study of giant gravitons in AdS_5 x S^5. We show that the two giant gravitons
that expand along AdS_5 and S^5 can be interpreted in the matrix model as
taking an eigenvalue from the Fermi sea and exciting it very much, or as making
a hole in the Fermi sea respectively. This is similar to recent studies of the
c=1 string. This connection gives new insight on how to perform calculations
for giant gravitons.Comment: 19 pages JHEP, 4 figures. v2: comments added, typos fixed, additional
refs. v3: The paper has been largely revised, to make the relation as a limit
of N=4 SYM clear, also some proofs have been written in full rather than
sketched. This updated version reflects the changes that were made in the
published versio
Large D-instanton effects in string theory
By reduction along the time direction, black holes in 4 dimensions yield
instantons in 3 dimensions. Each of these instantons contributes individually
at order to certain protected couplings in the
three-dimensional effective action, but the number of distinct instantons is
expected to be equal (or comparable) to the number of black hole micro-states,
i.e. of order . The same phenomenon also occurs for certain
protected couplings in four dimensions, such as the hypermultiplet metric in
type II string theories compactified on a Calabi-Yau threefold. In either case,
the D-instanton series is therefore asymptotic, much like the perturbative
expansion in any quantum field theory. By using a Borel-type resummation
method, adapted to the Gaussian growth of the D-instanton series, we find that
the total D-instanton sum has an inherent ambiguity of order .
We further suggest that this ambiguity can be lifted by including Kaluza-Klein
monopole or NS5-brane instantons.Comment: 11 pages, uses JHEP3.cls, v2, typos fixed and added footnote, v3,
minor correction
Quantum Black Holes as Holograms in AdS Braneworlds
We propose a new approach for using the AdS/CFT correspondence to study
quantum black hole physics. The black holes on a brane in an AdS
braneworld that solve the classical bulk equations are interpreted as duals of
{\it quantum-corrected} -dimensional black holes, rather than classical
ones, of a conformal field theory coupled to gravity. We check this explicitly
in D=3 and D=4. In D=3 we reinterpret the existing exact solutions on a flat
membrane as states of the dual 2+1 CFT. We show that states with a sufficiently
large mass really are 2+1 black holes where the quantum corrections dress the
classical conical singularity with a horizon and censor it from the outside. On
a negatively curved membrane, we reinterpret the classical bulk solutions as
quantum-corrected BTZ black holes. In D=4 we argue that the bulk solution for
the brane black hole should include a radiation component in order to describe
a quantum-corrected black hole in the 3+1 dual. Hawking radiation of the
conformal field is then dual to classical gravitational bremsstrahlung in the
AdS bulk.Comment: 28 pages, JHEP latex, 1 .eps figure, v2: references and comments
added, v3: comments and acknowledgements added to match the published pape