71 research outputs found
Scalar potentials, propagators and global symmetries in AdS/CFT
We study the transition of a scalar field in a fixed background
between an extremum and a minimum of a potential. We first prove that two
conditions must be met for the solution to exist. First, the potential involved
cannot be generic, i.e. a fine-tuning of their parameters is mandatory. Second,
at least in some region its second derivative must have a negative upper limit
which depends only on the dimensionality . We then calculate the boundary
propagator for small momenta in two different ways: first in a WKB
approximation, and second with the usual matching method, generalizing the
known calculation to arbitrary order. Finally, we study a system with
spontaneously broken non-Abelian global symmetry, and show in the holographic
language why the Goldstone modes appear.Comment: 26 pages - Invited contribution for the Central European Journal of
Physics, topical issue devoted to "Cosmology and Particle Physics beyond
Standard Models". Some parts overlap with 1304.3051v1, which has been
replaced by the published versio
On the matching method and the Goldstone theorem in holography
We study the transition of a scalar field in a fixed background
between an extremum and a minimum of a potential. We compute analytically the
solution to the perturbation equation for the vev deformation case by
generalizing the usual matching method to higher orders and find the propagator
of the boundary theory operator defined through the AdS-CFT correspondence. We
show that, contrary to what happens at the leading order of the matching
method, the next-to-leading order presents a simple pole at in
accordance with the Goldstone theorem applied to a spontaneously broken
dilatation invariance.Comment: 16 pages, 1 figure, published versio
Holographic phase transitions from higgsed, non abelian charged black holes
We find solutions of a gravity-Yang-Mills-Higgs theory in four dimensions
that represent asymptotic anti-de Sitter charged black holes with partial/full
gauge symmetry breaking. We then apply the AdS/CFT correspondence to study the
strong coupling regime of a quantum field theory at temperature and
finite chemical potential, which undergoes transitions to phases exhibiting the
condensation of a composite charged vector operator below a critical
temperature , presumably describing -wave superconductors. In the
case of -wave superconductors the transitions are always of second order.
But for -wave superconductors we determine the existence of a critical value
of the gravitational coupling (for fixed Higgs v.e.v. parameter
) beyond which the transitions become of first order. As a
by-product, we show that the -wave phase is energetically favored over the
one, for any values of the parameters. We also find the ground state
solutions corresponding to zero temperature. Such states are described by
domain wall geometries that interpolate between spaces with different
light velocities, and for a given , they exist below a critical
value of the coupling. The behavior of the order parameter as function of the
gravitational coupling near the critical coupling suggests the presence of
second order quantum phase transitions. We finally study the dependence of the
solution on the Higgs coupling, and find the existence of a critical value
beyond which no condensed solution is present.Comment: 29 pages, 43 figure
About the stability of a D4 - anti D 4 system
We study a system of coincident and branes with non zero
world-volume magnetic fields in the weak coupling limit. We show that the
conditions for absence of tachyons in the spectrum coincide exactly with those
found in hep-th/0206041, in the low energy effective theory approach, for the
system to preserve a of the supersymmetries of the Type IIA string
theory vacuum. We present further evidence about the stability of the system by
computing the lowest order interaction amplitude from both open and closed
channels, thus verifying the no force condition as well as the supersymmetric
character of the spectrum. A brief discussion of the low energy effective five
dimensional world-volume theory is given.Comment: 37 pages, latex file, no figures, heavy changes in language all along
the paper, references added; to appear in Nuclear Physics
Holographic thermal propagator for low scale dimensions
Using the AdS/CFT correspondence we model the behaviour of the two point
correlator of an operator with arbitrary scale dimension in arbitrary
spacetime dimension for small but non-zero temperature. The obtained
propagator coincides in the low temperature regime with the known result for
for large at the order as well as with the and
terms of the exact all order result for . Furthermore, for
arbitrary we explicitly write down the expression for the order of
the propagator for arbitrary , and present a conjecture for the order
in the large limit.Comment: 22 pages, 3 figure
The state of the Martian climate
60°N was +2.0°C, relative to the 1981–2010 average value (Fig. 5.1). This marks a new high for the record. The average annual surface air temperature (SAT) anomaly for 2016 for land stations north of starting in 1900, and is a significant increase over the previous highest value of +1.2°C, which was observed in 2007, 2011, and 2015. Average global annual temperatures also showed record values in 2015 and 2016. Currently, the Arctic is warming at more than twice the rate of lower latitudes
State of the climate in 2018
In 2018, the dominant greenhouse gases released into Earth’s atmosphere—carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide—continued their increase. The annual global average carbon dioxide concentration at Earth’s surface was 407.4 ± 0.1 ppm, the highest in the modern instrumental record and in ice core records dating back 800 000 years. Combined, greenhouse gases and several halogenated gases contribute just over 3 W m−2 to radiative forcing and represent a nearly 43% increase since 1990. Carbon dioxide is responsible for about 65% of this radiative forcing. With a weak La Niña in early 2018 transitioning to a weak El Niño by the year’s end, the global surface (land and ocean) temperature was the fourth highest on record, with only 2015 through 2017 being warmer. Several European countries reported record high annual temperatures. There were also more high, and fewer low, temperature extremes than in nearly all of the 68-year extremes record. Madagascar recorded a record daily temperature of 40.5°C in Morondava in March, while South Korea set its record high of 41.0°C in August in Hongcheon. Nawabshah, Pakistan, recorded its highest temperature of 50.2°C, which may be a new daily world record for April. Globally, the annual lower troposphere temperature was third to seventh highest, depending on the dataset analyzed. The lower stratospheric temperature was approximately fifth lowest. The 2018 Arctic land surface temperature was 1.2°C above the 1981–2010 average, tying for third highest in the 118-year record, following 2016 and 2017. June’s Arctic snow cover extent was almost half of what it was 35 years ago. Across Greenland, however, regional summer temperatures were generally below or near average. Additionally, a satellite survey of 47 glaciers in Greenland indicated a net increase in area for the first time since records began in 1999. Increasing permafrost temperatures were reported at most observation sites in the Arctic, with the overall increase of 0.1°–0.2°C between 2017 and 2018 being comparable to the highest rate of warming ever observed in the region. On 17 March, Arctic sea ice extent marked the second smallest annual maximum in the 38-year record, larger than only 2017. The minimum extent in 2018 was reached on 19 September and again on 23 September, tying 2008 and 2010 for the sixth lowest extent on record. The 23 September date tied 1997 as the latest sea ice minimum date on record. First-year ice now dominates the ice cover, comprising 77% of the March 2018 ice pack compared to 55% during the 1980s. Because thinner, younger ice is more vulnerable to melting out in summer, this shift in sea ice age has contributed to the decreasing trend in minimum ice extent. Regionally, Bering Sea ice extent was at record lows for almost the entire 2017/18 ice season. For the Antarctic continent as a whole, 2018 was warmer than average. On the highest points of the Antarctic Plateau, the automatic weather station Relay (74°S) broke or tied six monthly temperature records throughout the year, with August breaking its record by nearly 8°C. However, cool conditions in the western Bellingshausen Sea and Amundsen Sea sector contributed to a low melt season overall for 2017/18. High SSTs contributed to low summer sea ice extent in the Ross and Weddell Seas in 2018, underpinning the second lowest Antarctic summer minimum sea ice extent on record. Despite conducive conditions for its formation, the ozone hole at its maximum extent in September was near the 2000–18 mean, likely due to an ongoing slow decline in stratospheric chlorine monoxide concentration. Across the oceans, globally averaged SST decreased slightly since the record El Niño year of 2016 but was still far above the climatological mean. On average, SST is increasing at a rate of 0.10° ± 0.01°C decade−1 since 1950. The warming appeared largest in the tropical Indian Ocean and smallest in the North Pacific. The deeper ocean continues to warm year after year. For the seventh consecutive year, global annual mean sea level became the highest in the 26-year record, rising to 81 mm above the 1993 average. As anticipated in a warming climate, the hydrological cycle over the ocean is accelerating: dry regions are becoming drier and wet regions rainier. Closer to the equator, 95 named tropical storms were observed during 2018, well above the 1981–2010 average of 82. Eleven tropical cyclones reached Saffir–Simpson scale Category 5 intensity. North Atlantic Major Hurricane Michael’s landfall intensity of 140 kt was the fourth strongest for any continental U.S. hurricane landfall in the 168-year record. Michael caused more than 30 fatalities and 6 billion (U.S. dollars) in damages across the Philippines, Hong Kong, Macau, mainland China, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands. Tropical Storm Son-Tinh was responsible for 170 fatalities in Vietnam and Laos. Nearly all the islands of Micronesia experienced at least moderate impacts from various tropical cyclones. Across land, many areas around the globe received copious precipitation, notable at different time scales. Rodrigues and Réunion Island near southern Africa each reported their third wettest year on record. In Hawaii, 1262 mm precipitation at Waipā Gardens (Kauai) on 14–15 April set a new U.S. record for 24-h precipitation. In Brazil, the city of Belo Horizonte received nearly 75 mm of rain in just 20 minutes, nearly half its monthly average. Globally, fire activity during 2018 was the lowest since the start of the record in 1997, with a combined burned area of about 500 million hectares. This reinforced the long-term downward trend in fire emissions driven by changes in land use in frequently burning savannas. However, wildfires burned 3.5 million hectares across the United States, well above the 2000–10 average of 2.7 million hectares. Combined, U.S. wildfire damages for the 2017 and 2018 wildfire seasons exceeded $40 billion (U.S. dollars)
Hearing loss prevalence and years lived with disability, 1990–2019: findings from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019
Background
Hearing loss affects access to spoken language, which can affect cognition and development, and can negatively affect social wellbeing. We present updated estimates from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study on the prevalence of hearing loss in 2019, as well as the condition's associated disability.
Methods
We did systematic reviews of population-representative surveys on hearing loss prevalence from 1990 to 2019. We fitted nested meta-regression models for severity-specific prevalence, accounting for hearing aid coverage, cause, and the presence of tinnitus. We also forecasted the prevalence of hearing loss until 2050.
Findings
An estimated 1·57 billion (95% uncertainty interval 1·51–1·64) people globally had hearing loss in 2019, accounting for one in five people (20·3% [19·5–21·1]). Of these, 403·3 million (357·3–449·5) people had hearing loss that was moderate or higher in severity after adjusting for hearing aid use, and 430·4 million (381·7–479·6) without adjustment. The largest number of people with moderate-to-complete hearing loss resided in the Western Pacific region (127·1 million people [112·3–142·6]). Of all people with a hearing impairment, 62·1% (60·2–63·9) were older than 50 years. The Healthcare Access and Quality (HAQ) Index explained 65·8% of the variation in national age-standardised rates of years lived with disability, because countries with a low HAQ Index had higher rates of years lived with disability. By 2050, a projected 2·45 billion (2·35–2·56) people will have hearing loss, a 56·1% (47·3–65·2) increase from 2019, despite stable age-standardised prevalence.
Interpretation
As populations age, the number of people with hearing loss will increase. Interventions such as childhood screening, hearing aids, effective management of otitis media and meningitis, and cochlear implants have the potential to ameliorate this burden. Because the burden of moderate-to-complete hearing loss is concentrated in countries with low health-care quality and access, stronger health-care provision mechanisms are needed to reduce the burden of unaddressed hearing loss in these settings
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