13,146 research outputs found
Quantum two level systems and Kondo-like traps as possible sources of decoherence in superconducting qubits
We discuss the origin of decoherence in Josephson junction qubits. We find
that two level systems in the surrounding insulator cannot be the dominant
source of noise in small qubits. We argue that electron traps in the Josephson
barrier with large Coulomb repulsion would give noise that agrees both in
magnitude and in temperature dependence with experimental data.Comment: 4 pages, no figure
Geometric constraints in dual F-theory and heterotic string compactifications
We systematically analyze a broad class of dual heterotic and F-theory models
that give four-dimensional supergravity theories, and compare the geometric
constraints on the two sides of the duality. Specifically, we give a complete
classification of models where the heterotic theory is compactified on a smooth
Calabi-Yau threefold that is elliptically fibered with a single section and
carries smooth irreducible vector bundles, and the dual F-theory model has a
corresponding threefold base that has the form of a P^1 bundle. We formulate
simple conditions for the geometry on the F-theory side to support an
elliptically fibered Calabi-Yau fourfold. We match these conditions with
conditions for the existence of stable vector bundles on the heterotic side,
and show that F-theory gives new insight into the conditions under which such
bundles can be constructed. In particular, we find that many allowed F-theory
models correspond to vector bundles on the heterotic side with exceptional
structure groups, and determine a topological condition that is only satisfied
for bundles of this type. We show that in many cases the F-theory geometry
imposes a constraint on the extent to which the gauge group can be enhanced,
corresponding to limits on the way in which the heterotic bundle can decompose.
We explicitly construct all (4962) F-theory threefold bases for dual
F-theory/heterotic constructions in the subset of models where the common
twofold base surface is toric, and give both toric and non-toric examples of
the general results.Comment: 81 pages, 2 figures; v2, v3: references added, minor corrections; v4:
minor errors, Table 5 correcte
M-Theory on the Orbifold C^2/Z_N
We construct M-theory on the orbifold C^2/Z_N by coupling 11-dimensional
supergravity to a seven-dimensional Yang-Mills theory located on the orbifold
fixed plane. It is shown that the resulting action is supersymmetric to leading
non-trivial order in the 11-dimensional Newton constant. This action provides
the starting point for a reduction of M-theory on G_2 spaces with co-dimension
four singularities.Comment: 33 pages, Late
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