Mixed perturbative expansion: the validity of a model for the cascading

A new type of perturbative expansion is built in order to give a rigorous derivation and to clarify the range of validity of some commonly used model equations. This model describes the evolution of the modulation of two short and localized pulses, fundamental and second harmonic, propagating together in a bulk uniaxial crystal with non-vanishing second order susceptibility $\chi^(2)$ and interacting through the nonlinear effect known as ``cascading'' in nonlinear optics. The perturbative method mixes a multi-scale expansion with a power series expansion of the susceptibility, and must be carefully adapted to the physical situation. It allows the determination of the physical conditions under which the model is valid: the order of magnitude of the walk-off, phase-mismatch,and anisotropy must have determined values.Comment: arxiv version is already officia

Anyons, group theory and planar physics

Relativistic and nonrelativistic anyons are described in a unified formalism by means of the coadjoint orbits of the symmetry groups in the free case as well as when there is an interaction with a constant electromagnetic field. To deal with interactions we introduce the extended Poincar\'e and Galilei Maxwell groups.Comment: 22 pages, journal reference added, bibliography update

Hopf instantons, Chern-Simons vortices, and Heisenberg ferromagnets

The dimensional reduction of the three-dimensional fermion-Chern-Simons model (related to Hopf maps) of Adam et el. is shown to be equivalent to (i) either the static, fixed--chirality sector of our non-relativistic spinor-Chern-Simons model in 2+1 dimensions, (ii) or a particular Heisenberg ferromagnet in the plane.Comment: 4 pages, Plain Tex, no figure

Lorentz Transformation from Symmetry of Reference Principle

The Lorentz Transformation is traditionally derived requiring the Principle of Relativity and light-speed universality. While the latter can be relaxed, the Principle of Relativity is seen as core to the transformation. The present letter relaxes both statements to the weaker, Symmetry of Reference Principle. Thus the resulting Lorentz transformation and its consequences (time dilatation, length contraction) are, in turn, effects of how we manage space and time.Comment: 2 page

(In)finite extensions of algebras from their Inonu-Wigner contractions

The way to obtain massive non-relativistic states from the Poincare algebra is twofold. First, following Inonu and Wigner the Poincare algebra has to be contracted to the Galilean one. Second, the Galilean algebra is to be extended to include the central mass operator. We show that the central extension might be properly encoded in the non-relativistic contraction. In fact, any Inonu-Wigner contraction of one algebra to another, corresponds to an infinite tower of abelian extensions of the latter. The proposed method is straightforward and holds for both central and non-central extensions. Apart from the Bargmann (non-zero mass) extension of the Galilean algebra, our list of examples includes the Weyl algebra obtained from an extension of the contracted SO(3) algebra, the Carrollian (ultra-relativistic) contraction of the Poincare algebra, the exotic Newton-Hooke algebra and some others. The paper is dedicated to the memory of Laurent Houart (1967-2011).Comment: 7 pages, revtex style; v2: Minor corrections, references added; v3: Typos correcte

Finite-distance singularities in the tearing of thin sheets

We investigate the interaction between two cracks propagating in a thin sheet. Two different experimental geometries allow us to tear sheets by imposing an out-of-plane shear loading. We find that two tears converge along self-similar paths and annihilate each other. These finite-distance singularities display geometry-dependent similarity exponents, which we retrieve using scaling arguments based on a balance between the stretching and the bending of the sheet close to the tips of the cracks.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Towards SDp-brane Quantization

The quantum mechanical analysis of the canonical hamiltonian description of the effective action of a SDp-brane in bosonic ten dimensional Type II supergravity in a homogeneous background is given. We find exact solutions for the corresponding quantum theory by solving the Wheeler-deWitt equation in the late-time limit of the rolling tachyon. The probability densities for several values of p are shown and their possible interpretation is discussed. In the process the effects of electromagnetic fields are also incorporated and it is shown that in this case the interpretation of tachyon regarded as ``matter clock'' is modified.Comment: 15 pages, 3 eps figures, revtex

Comments on Supergravity Description of S-branes

This is a note on the coupled supergravity-tachyon matter system, which has been earlier proposed as a candidate for the effective space-time description of S-branes. In particular, we study an ansatz with the maximal ISO(p+1)xSO(8-p,1) symmetry, for general brane dimensionality p and homogeneous brane distribution in transverse space \rho_\perp. A simple application of singularity theorems shows that (for p \le 7) the most general solution with these symmetries is always singular. (This invalidates a recent claim in the literature.) We include a few general comments about the possibility of describing the decay of unstable D-branes in purely gravitational terms.Comment: 19 pages, refs adde

Investigation of multiple pulsing and hysteresis phenomena in the erbium-doped double-clad fiber laser

We investigate both experimentally and theoretically the multiple pulsing behaviour of an erbium-doped double-clad fiber laser passively mode-locked through nonlinear polarization rotation. Hysteresis phenomena are found experimentally in both the normal and anomalous dispersion regime. Theoretical results are compared with experimental data allowing to fix the range of validity of the model