Conformal Field Theories: From Old to New

In a short review of recent work, we discuss the general problem of constructing the actions of new conformal field theories from old conformal field theories. Such a construction follows when the old conformal field theory admits new conformal stress tensors in its chiral algebra, and it turns out that the new conformal field theory is generically a new spin-two gauge theory. As an example we discuss the new spin-two gauged sigma models which arise in this fashion from the general conformal non-linear sigma model.Comment: 7 pages, LaTeX, to appear in a memorial issue of Theoretical and Mathematical Physics in memory of F.A. Lune

An analysis of some mistakes, miracles and myths in supplier selection

This paper analyzes some consequences of formal methods and procedures for supplier selection. It argues that many mistakes and miracles may occur in frequently used procedures. Practical examples are given. In the analysis it turns out that preventing these unwanted effects from occurring may be tackled by methodological improvements. Some examples and guidelines for these are given as well. But another important point lies in the perspectives of the actors in supplier selection: governments and industry policy makers, purchasers, suppliers and (management) researchers. The analysis shows that these different actors often operate from quite different and sometimes conflicting attitudes, assumptions and principles. On the one hand this analysis leads to the conclusion that using some sort of formal approach for supplier selection may be necessary. On the other hand it clarifies the criticism on such an approach and the difficulties associated with its use. The paper concludes with recommendations and implications for policy makers, researchers, and practitioners

Entanglement, Holography and Causal Diamonds

We argue that the degrees of freedom in a d-dimensional CFT can be re-organized in an insightful way by studying observables on the moduli space of causal diamonds (or equivalently, the space of pairs of timelike separated points). This 2d-dimensional space naturally captures some of the fundamental nonlocality and causal structure inherent in the entanglement of CFT states. For any primary CFT operator, we construct an observable on this space, which is defined by smearing the associated one-point function over causal diamonds. Known examples of such quantities are the entanglement entropy of vacuum excitations and its higher spin generalizations. We show that in holographic CFTs, these observables are given by suitably defined integrals of dual bulk fields over the corresponding Ryu-Takayanagi minimal surfaces. Furthermore, we explain connections to the operator product expansion and the first law of entanglement entropy from this unifying point of view. We demonstrate that for small perturbations of the vacuum, our observables obey linear two-derivative equations of motion on the space of causal diamonds. In two dimensions, the latter is given by a product of two copies of a two-dimensional de Sitter space. For a class of universal states, we show that the entanglement entropy and its spin-three generalization obey nonlinear equations of motion with local interactions on this moduli space, which can be identified with Liouville and Toda equations, respectively. This suggests the possibility of extending the definition of our new observables beyond the linear level more generally and in such a way that they give rise to new dynamically interacting theories on the moduli space of causal diamonds. Various challenges one has to face in order to implement this idea are discussed.Comment: 84 pages, 12 figures; v2: expanded discussion on constraints in section 7, matches published versio

Thermodynamics of Higher Spin Black Holes in AdS3_3

We discuss the thermodynamics of recently constructed three-dimensional higher spin black holes in SL(N,R)\times SL(N,R) Chern-Simons theory with generalized asymptotically-anti-de Sitter boundary conditions. From a holographic perspective, these bulk theories are dual to two-dimensional CFTs with W_N symmetry algebras, and the black hole solutions are dual to thermal states with higher spin chemical potentials and charges turned on. Because the notion of horizon area is not gauge-invariant in the higher spin theory, the traditional approaches to the computation of black hole entropy must be reconsidered. One possibility, explored in the recent literature, involves demanding the existence of a partition function in the CFT, and consistency with the first law of thermodynamics. This approach is not free from ambiguities, however, and in particular different definitions of energy result in different expressions for the entropy. In the present work we show that there are natural definitions of the thermodynamically conjugate variables that follow from careful examination of the variational principle, and moreover agree with those obtained via canonical methods. Building on this intuition, we derive general expressions for the higher spin black hole entropy and free energy which are written entirely in terms of the Chern-Simons connections, and are valid for both static and rotating solutions. We compare our results to other proposals in the literature, and provide a new and efficient way to determine the generalization of the Cardy formula to a situation with higher spin charges.Comment: 30 pages, PDFLaTeX; v2: typos corrected, explicit expressions for the free energy adde

Je omgeving bepaalt je lot

Slim ontworpen materialen zetten straks lichaamseigen cellen aan tot spontaan herstel van weefsels. Onderzoeksinstituut Mira zoekt verbanden tussen celgroei en oppervlaktestructuren van metaal of kunststof

A link between the accumulation of DNA damage and loss of multi-potency of human mesenchymal stromal cells

Human mesenchymal stromal cells (hMSCs) represent an attractive cell source for clinic applications. Besides being multi-potent, recent clinical trials suggest that they secrete both trophic and immunomodulatory factors, allowing allogenic MSCs to be used in a wider variety of clinical situations. The yield of prospective isolation is however very low, making expansion a required step toward clinical applications. Unfortunately, this leads to a significant decrease in their stemness. To identify the mechanism behind loss of multi-potency, hMSCs were expanded until replicative senescence and the concomitant molecular changes were characterized at regular intervals. We observed that, with time of culture, loss of multi-potency was associated with both the accumulation of DNA damage and the respective activation of the DNA damage response pathway, suggesting a correlation between both phenomena. Indeed, exposing hMSCs to DNA damage agents led to a significant decrease in the differentiation potential. We also showed that hMSCs are susceptible to accumulate DNA damage upon in vitro expansion, and that although hMSCs maintained an effective nucleotide excision repair activity, there was a progressive accumulation of DNA damage. We propose a model in which DNA damage accumulation contributes to the loss of differentiation potential of hMSCs, which might not only compromise their potential for clinical applications but also contribute to the characteristics of tissue agein

Near Horizon Limits of Massless BTZ and Their CFT Duals

We consider the massless BTZ black hole and show that it is possible to take its "near horizon" limit in two distinct ways. The first one leads to a null self-dual orbifold of AdS3 and the second to a spacelike singular AdS3/Z_K orbifold in the large K limit, the "pinching orbifold". We show that from the dual 2d CFT viewpoint, the null orbifold corresponds to the p^+=0 sector of the Discrete Light-Cone Quantisation (DLCQ) of the 2d CFT where a chiral sector of the CFT is decoupled, while the pinching orbifold corresponds to taking an infinite mass gap limit in both the right and left sectors of the 2d CFT, essentially leaving us with the states L_0=\bar L_0=c/24 only. In the latter case, one can combine the near horizon limit with sending the 3d Planck length l_P to zero, or equivalently the dual CFT central charge c to infinity. We provide preliminary evidence that in that case some nontrivial dynamics may survive the limit.Comment: 22 pages, no figures, v2: minor improvements, references adde

The chiral ring of AdS3/CFT2 and the attractor mechanism

We study the moduli dependence of the chiral ring in N = (4,4) superconformal field theories, with special emphasis on those CFTs that are dual to type IIB string theory on AdS3xS3xX4. The chiral primary operators are sections of vector bundles, whose connection describes the operator mixing under motion on the moduli space. This connection can be exactly computed using the constraints from N = (4,4) supersymmetry. Its curvature can be determined using the tt* equations, for which we give a derivation in the physical theory which does not rely on the topological twisting. We show that for N = (4,4) theories the chiral ring is covariantly constant over the moduli space, a fact which can be seen as a non-renormalization theorem for the three-point functions of chiral primaries in AdS3/CFT2. From the spacetime point of view our analysis has the following applications. First, in the case of a D1/D5 black string, we can see the matching of the attractor flow in supergravity to RG-flow in the boundary field theory perturbed by irrelevant operators, to first order away from the fixed point. Second, under spectral flow the chiral primaries become the Ramond ground states of the CFT. These ground states represent the microstates of a small black hole in five dimensions consisting of a D1/D5 bound state. The connection that we compute can be considered as an example of Berry's phase for the internal microstates of a supersymmetric black hole.Comment: 72 pages (60 + appendices

Anomalous Breaking of Anisotropic Scaling Symmetry in the Quantum Lifshitz Model

In this note we investigate the anomalous breaking of anisotropic scaling symmetry in a non-relativistic field theory with dynamical exponent z=2. On general grounds, one can show that there exist two possible "central charges" which characterize the breaking of scale invariance. Using heat kernel methods, we compute these two central charges in the quantum Lifshitz model, a free field theory which is second order in time and fourth order in spatial derivatives. We find that one of the two central charges vanishes. Interestingly, this is also true for strongly coupled non-relativistic field theories with a geometric dual described by a metric and a massive vector field.Comment: 26 pages; major revision (results were unaffected), published versio