8,074 research outputs found
Ghosts in asymmetric brane gravity and the decoupled stealth limit
We study the spectrum of gravitational perturbations around a vacuum de
Sitter brane in a 5D asymmetric braneworld model, with induced curvature on the
brane. This generalises the stealth acceleration model proposed by Charmousis,
Gregory and Padilla (CGP) which realises the Cardassian cosmology in which
power law cosmic acceleration can be driven by ordinary matter. Whenever the
bulk has infinite volume we find that there is always a perturbative ghost
propagating on the de Sitter brane, in contrast to the Minkowski brane case
analysed by CGP. We discuss the implication of this ghost for the stealth
acceleration model, and identify a limiting case where the ghost decouples as
the de Sitter curvature vanishes.Comment: 21 page
TeV Burst of Gamma-Ray Bursts and Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays
Some recent experiments detecting very high energy (VHE) gamma-rays above
10-20 TeV independently reported VHE bursts for some of bright gamma-ray bursts
(GRBs). If these signals are truly from GRBs, these GRBs must emit a much
larger amount of energy as VHE gamma-rays than in the ordinary photon energy
range of GRBs (keV-MeV). We show that such extreme phenomena can be reasonably
explained by synchrotron radiation of protons accelerated to \sim 10^{20-21}
eV, which has been predicted by Totani (1998a). Protons seem to carry about
(m_p/m_e) times larger energy than electrons, and hence the total energy
liberated by one GRB becomes as large as \sim 10^{56} (\Delta \Omega / 4 \pi)
ergs. Therefore a strong beaming of GRB emission is highly likely. Extension of
the VHE spectrum beyond 20 TeV gives a nearly model-independent lower limit of
the Lorentz factor of GRBs, as \gamma \gtilde 500. Furthermore, our model
gives the correct energy range and time variability of ordinary keV-MeV
gamma-rays of GRBs by synchrotron radiation of electrons. Therefore the VHE
bursts of GRBs strongly support the hypothesis that ultra high energy cosmic
rays observed on the Earth are produced by GRBs.Comment: Final version to appear in ApJ Lett. Emphasizing that the extremely
large energy required in this model is not theoretically impossible if GRB
emission is strongly beamed. References update
The effects of species properties and community context on establishment success
Understanding whether factors important for species establishment in a local community are predictable or context- dependent is key for determining the features that affect community stability and species coexistence. A major challenge for scientists addressing this question is that natural systems are complex. This makes it difficult to test multiple properties of species and features of the resident community simultaneously to determine what factors are most important for establishment success of a species into a novel community. We used the model aquatic system inside the leaves of the pitcher plant Sarracenia purpurea to test whether properties predicted to be important for establishment success of a species (initial density, competitive ability, body size) are generalizable across communities varying in resource availability and the presence of a top predator. For intermediate trophic-level species, we found that both competitive dominance and initial density were important for establishment success. Although a less competitive species was also able to successfully establish in the communities, high resource availability and high initial density were important for its establishment success. Body size of the introduced species, although correlated with competitive ability, was not an important characteristic for establishment success. The presence of a top predator significantly decreased the densities of the introduced species when resources were low, but did not completely inhibit establishment success. The relative importance of each of these factors, and interactions among them, could not have been discerned through single hypothesis testing. The results from this work show the need for detailed experiments that focus on combinations of factors to understand if mechanisms determining community assembly and species establishment can be generalized across systems
Galaxy Clusters in the Line of Sight to Background Quasars: I. Survey Design and Incidence of MgII Absorbers at Cluster Redshifts
We describe the first optical survey of absorption systems associated with
galaxy clusters at z= 0.3-0.9. We have cross-correlated SDSS DR3 quasars with
high-redshift cluster/group candidates from the Red-Sequence Cluster Survey. We
have found 442 quasar-cluster pairs for which the MgII doublet might be
detected at a transverse (physical) distance d<2 Mpc from the cluster centers.
To investigate the incidence (dN/dz) and equivalent-width distribution n(W) of
MgII systems at cluster redshifts, two statistical samples were drawn out of
these pairs: one made of high-resolution spectroscopic quasar observations (46
pairs), and one made of quasars used in MgII searches found in the literature
(375 pairs). The results are: (1) the population of strong MgII systems
(W_0>2.0 Ang.) near cluster redshifts shows a significant (>3 sigma)
overabundance (up to a factor of 15) when compared with the 'field' population;
(2) the overabundance is more evident at smaller distances (d<1 Mpc) than
larger distances (d<2 Mpc) from the cluster center; and, (3) the population of
weak MgII systems (W_0<0.3 Ang.) near cluster redshifts conform to the field
statistics. Unlike in the field, this dichotomy makes n(W) in clusters appear
flat and well fitted by a power-law in the entire W-range. A sub-sample of the
most massive clusters yields a stronger and still significant signal. Since
either the absorber number density or filling-factor/cross-section affects the
absorber statistics, an interesting possibility is that we have detected the
signature of truncated halos due to environmental effects. Thus, we argue that
the excess of strong systems is due to a population of absorbers in an
overdense galaxy environment, and the lack of weak systems to a different
population, that got destroyed in the cluster environment. (Abridged)Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journa
Terahertz metamaterials on free-standing highly-flexible polyimide substrates
We have fabricated resonant terahertz metamaterials on free standing
polyimide substrates. The low-loss polyimide substrates can be as thin as 5.5
micron yielding robust large-area metamaterials which are easily wrapped into
cylinders with a radius of a few millimeters. Our results provide a path
forward for creating multi-layer non-planar metamaterials at terahertz
frequencies.Comment: 4 pages, higher resolution figures available upon reques
The KINDRA project â towards Open Science in Hydrogeology for higher impact
Groundwater knowledge and research in the European Union is often scattered and non-standardised. Therefore, KINDRA is conducting an EU-wide assessment of existing groundwater-related practical and scientific knowledge based on a new Hydrogeological Research Classification System (HRC-SYS). The classification is supported by a web service, the European Inventory of Groundwater Research (EIGR), which acts not only as a knowledge repository but also as a tool to help identify relevant research topics, existing research trends and critical research challenges. These results will be useful for
producing synergies, implementing policies and optimising water management in Europe. This article presents the work of the project during the first two years in relation to a common classification system and an activity for data collection and training delivered by the EFGâs National Associations in 20 European countries
Ghosts in the self-accelerating universe
The self-accelerating universe realizes the accelerated expansion of the
universe at late times by large-distance modification of general relativity
without a cosmological constant. The Dvali-Gabadadze-Porrati (DGP) braneworld
model provides an explicit example of the self-accelerating universe. Recently,
the DGP model becomes very popular to study the observational consequences of
the modified gravity models as an alternative to dark energy models in GR.
However, it has been shown that the self-accelerating universe in the DGP model
contains a ghost at the linearized level. The ghost carries negative energy
densities and it leads to the instability of the spacetime. In this article, we
review the origin of the ghost in the self-accelerating universe and explore
the physical implication of the existence of the ghost.Comment: Invited topical review for Classical and Quantum Gravity, 20 pages, 4
figure
Inflaton perturbations in brane-world cosmology with induced gravity
We study cosmological perturbations in the brane models with an induced
Einstein-Hilbert term on a brane. We consider an inflaton confined to a de
Sitter brane in a five-dimensional Minkowski spacetime. Inflaton fluctuations
excite Kaluza-Klein modes of bulk metric perturbations with mass and where is an
integer. There are two branches ( branches) of solutions for the
background spacetime. In the branch, which includes the self-accelerating
universe, a resonance appears for a mode with due to a spin-0
perturbation with . The self-accelerating universe has a distinct
feature because there is also a helicity-0 mode of spin-2 perturbations with
. In the branch, which can be thought as the Randall-Sundrum
type brane-world with the high energy quantum corrections, there is no
resonance. At high energies, we analytically confirm that four-dimensional
Einstein gravity is recovered, which is related to the disappearance of van
Dam-Veltman-Zakharov discontinuity in de Sitter spacetime.
On sufficiently small scales, we confirm that the lineariaed gravity on the
brane is well described by the Brans-Dicke theory with in
branch and in branch, respectively, which confirms the
existence of the ghost in branch. We also study large scale perturbations.
In branch, the resonance induces a non-trivial anisotropic stress on the
brane via the projection of Weyl tensor in the bulk, but no instability is
shown to exist on the brane.Comment: 20 pages, 4 figure
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