292 research outputs found
On Instability of Certain Bi-Metric and Massive-Gravity Theories
Stability about cosmological background solutions to the bi-metric
Hassan-Rosen theory is studied. The results of this analysis are presented, and
it is shown that a large class of cosmological backgrounds is classically
unstable. This sets serious doubts on the physical viability of the
Hassan-Rosen theory - and in turn also of the de Rham-Gadabaze-Tolley model, to
which the mentioned theory is parent. A way to overcome this instability by
means of curvature-type deformations is discussed.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures; v2: minor changes to match PRD versio
From Golden Spirals to Constant Slope Surfaces
In this paper, we find all constant slope surfaces in the Euclidean 3-space,
namely those surfaces for which the position vector of a point of the surface
makes constant angle with the normal at the surface in that point. These
surfaces could be thought as the bi-dimensional analogue of the generalized
helices. Some pictures are drawn by using the parametric equations we found.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figure
Triangulations and Severi varieties
We consider the problem of constructing triangulations of projective planes
over Hurwitz algebras with minimal numbers of vertices. We observe that the
numbers of faces of each dimension must be equal to the dimensions of certain
representations of the automorphism groups of the corresponding Severi
varieties. We construct a complex involving these representations, which should
be considered as a geometric version of the (putative) triangulations
Nitrate stable isotopes and major ions in snow and ice samples from four Svalbard sites
Increasing reactive nitrogen (N-r) deposition in the Arctic may adversely impact N-limited ecosystems. To investigate atmospheric transport of N-r to Svalbard, Norwegian Arctic, snow and firn samples were collected from glaciers and analysed to define spatial and temporal variations (1 10 years) in major ion concentrations and the stable isotope composition (delta N-15 and delta O-18) of nitrate (NO3-) across the archipelago. The delta N-15(NO3-) and delta O-18(NO3-) averaged -4 parts per thousand and 67 parts per thousand in seasonal snow (2010-11) and -9 parts per thousand and 74 parts per thousand in firn accumulated over the decade 2001-2011. East-west zonal gradients were observed across the archipelago for some major ions (non-sea salt sulphate and magnesium) and also for delta N-15(NO3-) and delta O-18(NO3-) in snow, which suggests a different origin for air masses arriving in different sectors of Svalbard. We propose that snowfall associated with long-distance air mass transport over the Arctic Ocean inherits relatively low delta N-15(NO3-) due to in-transport N isotope fractionation. In contrast, faster air mass transport from the north-west Atlantic or northern Europe results in snowfall with higher delta N-15(NO3-) because in-transport fractionation of N is then time-limited
Recommended from our members
Luminosity dependent accretion state change in GRO J1008-57
In a former publication, we have analyzed the transient neutron star X-ray binary GRO J1008-57 using all available RXTE-, Swift-, and Suzaku-data. As we have found, the source's spectral components, i.e., a power-law with high exponential cutoff and a black-body, are strongly correlated with the hard X-ray flux (15-50 keV). We update the analytical description of these dependence, including a change in the photon index behaviour from a flat to a logarithmic function. The flux, where the change occurs, is consistent with the onset of the black-body emission. Thus, a change of the accretion state always occurs in GRO J1008-57 at a particular flux level
The Well-Defined Phase of Simplicial Quantum Gravity in Four Dimensions
We analyze simplicial quantum gravity in four dimensions using the Regge
approach. The existence of an entropy dominated phase with small negative
curvature is investigated in detail. It turns out that observables of the
system possess finite expectation values although the Einstein-Hilbert action
is unbounded. This well-defined phase is found to be stable for a one-parameter
family of measures. A preliminary study indicates that the influence of the
lattice size on the average curvature is small. We compare our results with
those obtained by dynamical triangulation and find qualitative correspondence.Comment: 29 pages, uuencoded postscript file; to appear in Phys. Rev.
A constant Cyclotron Line Energy in 4U 0115+634
We present a study of RXTE and INTEGRAL spectra of the transient 3.6 s X-ray pulsar 4U 0115+634 taken during a giant outburst in 2008 March/April. The spectra can be almost equally well modeled by two different semi-empirical continuum models, modified by an Fe Kα fluorescence line, interstellar absorption, and cyclotron resonance scattering features (CRSFs) located at ∼10.7, 21.8, 35.5, 46.7, and 59.7 keV. One of these two models, the so called NPEX
model, leads to an anticorrelation between the centroid energy of the fundamental CRSF E_0 and the X-ray flux F_X, in agreement with previous works. The other model, consisting of a simple exponentially cutoff power law modified by a Gaussian emission feature around 10 keV, however, leads to a constant value for E_0 for the observed fluxes and a comparatively narrow line shape. We show that the cyclotron line model component resulting from the NPEX fits rather contribute to the broadband continuum model. We conclude that the previously reported anticorrelation is probably due to an artifact of the particular modeling of the continuum
Dynamical Boson Stars
The idea of stable, localized bundles of energy has strong appeal as a model
for particles. In the 1950s John Wheeler envisioned such bundles as smooth
configurations of electromagnetic energy that he called {\em geons}, but none
were found. Instead, particle-like solutions were found in the late 1960s with
the addition of a scalar field, and these were given the name {\em boson
stars}. Since then, boson stars find use in a wide variety of models as sources
of dark matter, as black hole mimickers, in simple models of binary systems,
and as a tool in finding black holes in higher dimensions with only a single
killing vector. We discuss important varieties of boson stars, their dynamic
properties, and some of their uses, concentrating on recent efforts.Comment: 79 pages, 25 figures, invited review for Living Reviews in
Relativity; major revision in 201
A Suzaku View of Cyclotron Line Sources and Candidates
Seventeen accreting neutron star pulsars, mostly high mass X-ray binaries
with half of them Be-type transients, are known to exhibit Cyclotron Resonance
Scattering Features (CRSFs) in their X-ray spectra, with characteristic line
energies from 10 to 60 keV. To date about two thirds of them, plus a few
similar systems without known CRSFs, have been observed with Suzaku. We present
an overview of results from these observations, including the discovery of a
CRSF in the transient 1A 1118-61 and pulse phase resolved spectroscopy of GX
301-2. These observations allow for the determination of cyclotron line
parameters to an unprecedented degree of accuracy within a moderate amount of
observing time. This is important since these parameters vary - e.g., with
orbital phase, pulse phase, or luminosity - depending on the geometry of the
magnetic field of the pulsar and the properties of the accretion column at the
magnetic poles. We briefly introduce a spectral model for CRSFs that is
currently being developed and that for the first time is based on these
physical properties. In addition to cyclotron line measurements, selected
highlights from the Suzaku analyses include dip and flare studies, e.g., of 4U
1907+09 and Vela X-1, which show clumpy wind effects (like partial absorption
and/or a decrease in the mass accretion rate supplied by the wind) and may also
display magnetospheric gating effects.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, 1 table, to appear in the proceedings of the
conference "Suzaku 2011 Exploring the X-ray Universe: Suzaku and Beyond"
which will be published electronically by AI
- …