4,413 research outputs found
Conservative evaluation of the uncertainty in the LAGEOS-LAGEOS II Lense-Thirring test
We deal with the test of the general relativistic gravitomagnetic
Lense-Thirring effect currently ongoing in the Earth's gravitational field with
the combined nodes \Omega of the laser-ranged geodetic satellites LAGEOS and
LAGEOS II.
One of the most important source of systematic uncertainty on the orbits of
the LAGEOS satellites, with respect to the Lense-Thirring signature, is the
bias due to the even zonal harmonic coefficients J_L of the multipolar
expansion of the Earth's geopotential which account for the departures from
sphericity of the terrestrial gravitational potential induced by the
centrifugal effects of its diurnal rotation. The issue addressed here is: are
the so far published evaluations of such a systematic error reliable and
realistic? The answer is negative. Indeed, if the difference \Delta J_L among
the even zonals estimated in different global solutions (EIGEN-GRACE02S,
EIGEN-CG03C, GGM02S, GGM03S, ITG-Grace02, ITG-Grace03s, JEM01-RL03B, EGM2008,
AIUB-GRACE01S) is assumed for the uncertainties \delta J_L instead of using
their more or less calibrated covariance sigmas \sigma_{J_L}, it turns out that
the systematic error \delta\mu in the Lense-Thirring measurement is about 3 to
4 times larger than in the evaluations so far published based on the use of the
sigmas of one model at a time separately, amounting up to 37% for the pair
EIGEN-GRACE02S/ITG-Grace03s. The comparison among the other recent GRACE-based
models yields bias as large as about 25-30%. The major discrepancies still
occur for J_4, J_6 and J_8, which are just the zonals the combined
LAGEOS/LAGOES II nodes are most sensitive to.Comment: LaTex, 12 pages, 12 tables, no figures, 64 references. To appear in
Central European Journal of Physics (CEJP
Will the recently approved LARES mission be able to measure the Lense-Thirring effect at 1%?
After the approval by the Italian Space Agency of the LARES satellite, which
should be launched at the end of 2009 with a VEGA rocket and whose claimed goal
is a about 1% measurement of the general relativistic gravitomagnetic
Lense-Thirring effect in the gravitational field of the spinning Earth, it is
of the utmost importance to reliably assess the total realistic accuracy that
can be reached by such a mission. The observable is a linear combination of the
nodes of the existing LAGEOS and LAGEOS II satellites and of LARES able to
cancel out the impact of the first two even zonal harmonic coefficients of the
multipolar expansion of the classical part of the terrestrial gravitational
potential representing a major source of systematic error. While LAGEOS and
LAGEOS II fly at altitudes of about 6000 km, LARES will be placed at an
altitude of 1450 km. Thus, it will be sensitive to much more even zonals than
LAGEOS and LAGEOS II. Their corrupting impact \delta\mu has been evaluated by
using the standard Kaula's approach up to degree L=70 along with the sigmas of
the covariance matrices of eight different global gravity solutions
(EIGEN-GRACE02S, EIGEN-CG03C, GGM02S, GGM03S, JEM01-RL03B, ITG-Grace02s,
ITG-Grace03, EGM2008) obtained by five institutions (GFZ, CSR, JPL, IGG, NGA)
with different techniques from long data sets of the dedicated GRACE mission.
It turns out \delta\mu about 100-1000% of the Lense-Thirring effect. An
improvement of 2-3 orders of magnitude in the determination of the high degree
even zonals would be required to constrain the bias to about 1-10%.Comment: Latex, 15 pages, 1 table, no figures. Final version matching the
published one in General Relativity and Gravitation (GRG
Reduction of Couplings in Quantum Field Theories with applications in Finite Theories and the MSSM
We apply the method of reduction of couplings in a Finite Unified Theory and
in the MSSM. The method consists on searching for renormalization group
invariant relations among couplings of a renormalizable theory holding to all
orders in perturbation theory. It has a remarkable predictive power since, at
the unification scale, it leads to relations between gauge and Yukawa couplings
in the dimensionless sectors and relations involving the trilinear terms and
the Yukawa couplings, as well as a sum rule among the scalar masses and the
unified gaugino mass in the soft breaking sector. In both the MSSM and the FUT
model we predict the masses of the top and bottom quarks and the light Higgs in
remarkable agreement with the experiment. Furthermore we also predict the
masses of the other Higgses, as well as the supersymmetric spectrum, both being
in very confortable agreement with the LHC bounds on Higgs and supersymmetric
particles.Comment: 18 pages, 4 figures. To appear in the proceedings of LT-10, Varna.
Based on invited talks given at: LT-10, Varna; PACT-2013, Madrid; SQS'2013,
Dubna; CORFU 2013, Corfu, and in several invited seminar
On the trace identity in a model with broken symmetry
Considering the simple chiral fermion meson model when the chiral symmetry is
explicitly broken, we show the validity of a trace identity -- to all orders of
perturbation theory -- playing the role of a Callan-Symanzik equation and which
allows us to identify directly the breaking of dilatations with the trace of
the energy-momentum tensor. More precisely, by coupling the quantum field
theory considered to a classical curved space background, represented by the
non-propagating external vielbein field, we can express the conservation of the
energy-momentum tensor through the Ward identity which characterizes the
invariance of the theory under the diffeomorphisms. Our ``Callan-Symanzik
equation'' then is the anomalous Ward identity for the trace of the
energy-momentum tensor, the so-called ``trace identity''.Comment: 11 pages, Revtex file, final version to appear in Phys.Rev.
Constraints from orbital motions around the Earth of the environmental fifth-force hypothesis for the OPERA superluminal neutrino phenomenology
It has been recently suggested by Dvali and Vikman that the superluminal
neutrino phenomenology of the OPERA experiment may be due to an environmental
feature of the Earth, naturally yielding a long-range fifth force of
gravitational origin whose coupling with the neutrino is set by the scale M_*,
in units of reduced Planck mass. Its characteristic length lambda should not be
smaller than one Earth's radius R_e, while its upper bound is expected to be
slightly smaller than the Earth-Moon distance (60 R_e). We analytically work
out some orbital effects of a Yukawa-type fifth force for a test particle
moving in the modified field of a central body. Our results are quite general
since they are not restricted to any particular size of lambda; moreover, they
are valid for an arbitrary orbital configuration of the particle, i.e. for any
value of its eccentricity . We find that the dimensionless strength coupling
parameter alpha is constrained to |alpha| <= 1 10^-10-4 10^-9 for 1 R_e <=
lambda <= 10 R_e by the laser data of the Earth's artificial satellite LAGEOS
II, corresponding to M_* >= 4 10^9 -1.6 10^10. The Moon perigee allows to
obtain |alpha| <= 3 10^-11 for the Earth-Moon pair in the range 15 R_e <=
lambda = 3 10^10 - 4.5 10^10. Our results
are neither necessarily limited to the superluminal OPERA scenario nor to the
Dvali-Vikman model, in which it is M_* = 10^-6 at lambda = 1 R_e, in contrast
with our bounds: they generally extend to any theoretical scenario implying a
fifth-force of Yukawa-type.Comment: LaTex2e, 18 pages, 4 figures, 1 table, 81 reference
Quantum Holonomy in Three-dimensional General Covariant Field Theory and Link Invariant
We consider quantum holonomy of some three-dimensional general covariant
non-Abelian field theory in Landau gauge and confirm a previous result
partially proven. We show that quantum holonomy retains metric independence
after explicit gauge fixing and hence possesses the topological property of a
link invariant. We examine the generalized quantum holonomy defined on a
multi-component link and discuss its relation to a polynomial for the link.Comment: RevTex, 12 pages. The metric independence of path integral measure is
justified and the case of multi-component link is discussed in detail. To be
published in Physical Review
Hard Thermal Loops, Static Response and the Composite Effective Action
First, we investigate the static non-Abelian Kubo equation. We prove that it
does not possess finite energy solutions; thereby we establish that gauge
theories do not support hard thermal solitons. A similar argument shows that
"static" instantons are absent. In addition, we note that the static equations
reproduce the expected screening of the non-Abelian electric field by a gauge
invariant Debye mass m=gT sqrt((N+N_F/2)/3). Second, we derive the non-Abelian
Kubo equation from the composite effective action. This is achieved by showing
that the requirement of stationarity of the composite effective action is
equivalent, within a kinematical approximation scheme, to the condition of
gauge invariance for the generating functional of hard thermal loops.Comment: 17 pages, MIT preprint CTP#2261. An Appendix [including one
(appended) PS figure] presenting a numerical analysis of the static solutions
has been included. A note relating our approach to alternative ones has been
added. We have also added references and comments in Section II
An Assessment of the Systematic Uncertainty in Present and Future Tests of the Lense-Thirring Effect with Satellite Laser Ranging
We deal with the attempts to measure the Lense-Thirring effect with the
Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR) technique applied to the existing LAGEOS and
LAGEOS II terrestrial satellites and to the recently approved LARES
spacecraft.The first issue addressed here is: are the so far published
evaluations of the systematic uncertainty induced by the bad knowledge of the
even zonal harmonic coefficients J_L of the multipolar expansion of the Earth's
geopotential reliable and realistic?
Our answer is negative. Indeed, if the differences Delta J_L among the even
zonals estimated in different Earth's gravity field global solutions from the
dedicated GRACE mission are assumed for the uncertainties delta J_L instead of
using their covariance sigmas sigma_JL, it turns out that the systematic
uncertainty \delta\mu in the Lense-Thirring test with the nodes Omega of LAGEOS
and LAGEOS II may be up to 3 to 4 times larger than in the evaluations so far
published () based on the use of the sigmas of one model at a time
separately. The second issue consists of the possibility of using a different
approach in extracting the relativistic signature of interest from the
LAGEOS-type data. The third issue is the possibility of reaching a realistic
total accuracy of 1% with LAGEOS, LAGEOS II and LARES, which should be launched
in November 2009 with a VEGA rocket. While LAGEOS and LAGEOS II fly at
altitudes of about 6000 km, LARES will be likely placed at an altitude of 1450
km. Thus, it will be sensitive to much more even zonals than LAGEOS and LAGEOS
II. Their corrupting impact has been evaluated with the standard Kaula's
approach up to degree L=60 by using Delta J_L and sigma_JL; it turns out that
it may be as large as some tens percent.Comment: LaTex, 19 pages, 1 figure, 12 tables. Invited and refereed
contribution to The ISSI Workshop, 6-10 October 2008, on The Nature of
Gravity Confronting Theory and Experiment in Space To appear in Space Science
Review
Phenomenology of the Lense-Thirring effect in the Solar System
Recent years have seen increasing efforts to directly measure some aspects of
the general relativistic gravitomagnetic interaction in several astronomical
scenarios in the solar system. After briefly overviewing the concept of
gravitomagnetism from a theoretical point of view, we review the performed or
proposed attempts to detect the Lense-Thirring effect affecting the orbital
motions of natural and artificial bodies in the gravitational fields of the
Sun, Earth, Mars and Jupiter. In particular, we will focus on the evaluation of
the impact of several sources of systematic uncertainties of dynamical origin
to realistically elucidate the present and future perspectives in directly
measuring such an elusive relativistic effect.Comment: LaTex, 51 pages, 14 figures, 22 tables. Invited review, to appear in
Astrophysics and Space Science (ApSS). Some uncited references in the text
now correctly quoted. One reference added. A footnote adde
Symmetries of topological field theories in the BV-framework
Topological field theories of Schwarz-type generally admit symmetries whose
algebra does not close off-shell, e.g. the basic symmetries of BF models or
vector supersymmetry of the gauge-fixed action for Chern-Simons theory (this
symmetry being at the origin of the perturbative finiteness of the theory). We
present a detailed discussion of all these symmetries within the algebraic
approach to the Batalin-Vilkovisky formalism. Moreover, we discuss the general
algebraic construction of topological models of both Schwarz- and Witten-type.Comment: 30 page
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