1,039 research outputs found
On CPT Symmetry: Cosmological, Quantum-Gravitational and other possible violations and their phenomenology
I discuss various ways in which CPT symmetry may be violated, and their
phenomenology in current or immediate future experimental facilities, both
terrestrial and astrophysical. Specifically, I discuss first violations of CPT
symmetry due to the impossibility of defining a scattering matrix as a
consequence of the existence of microscopic or macroscopic space-time
boundaries, such as Planck-scale Black-Hole (event) horizons, or cosmological
horizons due to the presence of a (positive) cosmological constant in the
Universe. Second, I discuss CPT violation due to breaking of Lorentz symmetry,
which may characterize certain approaches to quantum gravity, and third, I
describe models of CPT non invariance due to violations of locality of
interactions. In each of the above categories I discuss experimental
sensitivities. I argue that the majority of Lorentz-violating cases of CPT
breaking, with minimal (linear) suppression by the Planck-mass scale, are
already excluded by current experimental tests. There are however some
(stringy) models which can evade these constraints.Comment: 27 pages latex, Conference talk Beyond the Desert 200
A supersymmetric model for triggering Supernova Ia in isolated white dwarfs
We propose a model for supernovae Ia explosions based on a phase transition
to a supersymmetric state which becomes the active trigger for the deflagration
starting the explosion in an isolated sub-Chandrasekhar white dwarf star. With
two free parameters we fit the rate and several properties of type Ia
supernovae and address the gap in the supermassive black hole mass
distribution. One parameter is a critical density fit to about
g/cc while the other has the units of a space time volume and is found to be of
order Gyr where is the earth radius. The model involves
a phase transition to an exact supersymmetry in a small core of a dense star.Comment: 20 pages, 5 figures, expanded version to be published in Physical
Review
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A case of mistaken identification of an amber fossil male strepsipteran (Insecta: Strepsiptera)
A well preserved specimen of amber Strepsiptera was erroneously described as Stylops neotropicallis Kogan and Poinar, 2010. The taxonomic position of the species was based on a count of 6 antennomeres (typical of the Stylopidae), however, further observations showed that there are actually 7 antennomeres, which places the fossil in the family Myrmecolacidae, and it is herein re-described in the genus Palaeomyrmecolax Kulicka, 2001. Furthermore, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy analysis of a sample of the amber piece containing the fossil revealed that it was Baltic rather than Dominican amber as originally thought. The fossil was compared to another specimen from Baltic amber in the Poinar collection, which shows close affinity to P. succineus Kulicka, 2001, the type species of the genus. P. neotropicallis (n.comb.) differs from that specimen and seems to differ also from the other 4 species in the genus Palaeomyrmecolax.Keywords: Palaeomyrmecolax succineus, Palaeomyrmecolax, Baltic amber, Stylops neotropicalis, Myrmecolacida
In-training assessment using direct observation of single-patient encounters: a literature review
We reviewed the literature on instruments for work-based assessment in single clinical encounters, such as the mini-clinical evaluation exercise (mini-CEX), and examined differences between these instruments in characteristics and feasibility, reliability, validity and educational effect. A PubMed search of the literature published before 8 January 2009 yielded 39 articles dealing with 18 different assessment instruments. One researcher extracted data on the characteristics of the instruments and two researchers extracted data on feasibility, reliability, validity and educational effect. Instruments are predominantly formative. Feasibility is generally deemed good and assessor training occurs sparsely but is considered crucial for successful implementation. Acceptable reliability can be achieved with 10 encounters. The validity of many instruments is not investigated, but the validity of the mini-CEX and the ‘clinical evaluation exercise’ is supported by strong and significant correlations with other valid assessment instruments. The evidence from the few studies on educational effects is not very convincing. The reports on clinical assessment instruments for single work-based encounters are generally positive, but supporting evidence is sparse. Feasibility of instruments seems to be good and reliability requires a minimum of 10 encounters, but no clear conclusions emerge on other aspects. Studies on assessor and learner training and studies examining effects beyond ‘happiness data’ are badly needed
Thermal Partition Functions for S-branes
We calculate the thermal partition functions of open strings on the S-brane
backgrounds (the bouncing or rolling tachyon backgrounds) both in the bosonic
and superstring cases. According to hep-th/0302146, we consider the discretized
temperatures compatible with the pure imaginary periodicity of tachyon
profiles. The ``effective Hagedorn divergence'' is shown to appear no matter
how low temperature is chosen (including zero-temperature). This feature is
likely to be consistent with the large rate of open string pair production
discussed in hep-th/0209090 and also emission of closed string massive modes
hep-th/0303139. We also discuss the possibility to remove the divergence by
considering the space-like linear dilaton backgrounds as in hep-th/0306132.Comment: 33 pages, no figure; v2 typos corrected, a reference adde
Spontaneous rupture of renal pelvis after renal transplantation
Spontaneous rupture of the renal pelvis occurred in 4 cases following renal transplantation. The diagnosis was difficult, and all 4 patients were septic at the time of treatment. Three patients survived, but preservation of the transplant was possible in only 1 case. The cause is uncertain but may be related to functional obstruction or vascular insufficiency.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/24216/1/0000475.pd
Simple de Sitter Solutions
We present a framework for de Sitter model building in type IIA string
theory, illustrated with specific examples. We find metastable dS minima of the
potential for moduli obtained from a compactification on a product of two Nil
three-manifolds (which have negative scalar curvature) combined with
orientifolds, branes, fractional Chern-Simons forms, and fluxes. As a discrete
quantum number is taken large, the curvature, field strengths, inverse volume,
and four dimensional string coupling become parametrically small, and the de
Sitter Hubble scale can be tuned parametrically smaller than the scales of the
moduli, KK, and winding mode masses. A subtle point in the construction is that
although the curvature remains consistently weak, the circle fibers of the
nilmanifolds become very small in this limit (though this is avoided in
illustrative solutions at modest values of the parameters). In the simplest
version of the construction, the heaviest moduli masses are parametrically of
the same order as the lightest KK and winding masses. However, we provide a
method for separating these marginally overlapping scales, and more generally
the underlying supersymmetry of the model protects against large corrections to
the low-energy moduli potential.Comment: 37 pages, harvmac big, 4 figures. v3: small correction
Two-Point Functions and S-Parameter in QCD-like Theories
We calculated the vector, axial-vector, scalar and pseudo-scalar two-point
functions up to two-loop level in the low-energy effective field theory for
three different QCD-like theories. In addition we also calculated the
pseudo-scalar decay constant . The QCD-like theories we used are those
with fermions in a complex, real or pseudo-real representation with in general
n flavours. These case correspond to global symmetry breaking pattern of
, or .
We also estimated the S parameter for those different theories.Comment: 29 page
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