Relativistic kinematics beyond Special Relativity

In the context of departures from Special Relativity written as a momentum power expansion in the inverse of an ultraviolet energy scale M, we derive the constraints that the relativity principle imposes between coefficients of a deformed composition law, dispersion relation, and transformation laws, at first order in the power expansion. In particular, we find that, at that order, the consistency of a modification of the energy-momentum composition law fixes the modification in the dispersion relation. We therefore obtain the most generic modification of Special Relativity that preserves the relativity principle at leading order in 1/M.Comment: Version with minor corrections, to appear in Phys. Rev.

Tachoastrometry: astrometry with radial velocities

Spectra of composite systems (e.g., spectroscopic binaries) contain spatial information that can be retrieved by measuring the radial velocities (i.e., Doppler shifts) of the components in four observations with the slit rotated by 90 degrees in the sky. By using basic concepts of slit spectroscopy we show that the geometry of composite systems can be reliably retrieved by measuring only radial velocity differences taken with different slit angles. The spatial resolution is determined by the precision with which differential radial velocities can be measured. We use the UVES spectrograph at the VLT to observe the known spectroscopic binary star HD 188088 (HIP 97944), which has a maximum expected separation of 23 milli-arcseconds. We measure an astrometric signal in radial velocity of 276 \ms, which corresponds to a separation between the two components at the time of the observations of 18 $\pm2$ milli-arcseconds. The stars were aligned east-west. We describe a simple optical device to simultaneously record pairs of spectra rotated by 180 degrees, thus reducing systematic effects. We compute and provide the function expressing the shift of the centroid of a seeing-limited image in the presence of a narrow slit.The proposed technique is simple to use and our test shows that it is amenable for deriving astrometry with milli-arcsecond accuracy or better, beyond the diffraction limit of the telescope. The technique can be further improved by using simple devices to simultaneously record the spectra with 180 degrees angles.With tachoastrometry, radial velocities and astrometric positions can be measured simultaneously for many double line system binaries in an easy way. The method is not limited to binary stars, but can be applied to any astrophysical configuration in which spectral lines are generated by separate (non-rotational symmetric) regions.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&

Bound states in the continuum: localization of Dirac-like fermions

We report the formation of bound states in the continuum for Dirac-like fermions in structures composed by a trilayer graphene flake connected to nanoribbon leads. The existence of this kind of localized states can be proved by combining local density of states and electronic conductance calculations. By applying a gate voltage, the bound states couple to the continuum, yielding a maximum in the electronic transmission. This feature can be exploited to identify bound states in the continuum in graphene-based structures.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure

Light-cone quantization of two dimensional field theory in the path integral approach

A quantization condition due to the boundary conditions and the compatification of the light cone space-time coordinate $x^-$ is identified at the level of the classical equations for the right-handed fermionic field in two dimensions. A detailed analysis of the implications of the implementation of this quantization condition at the quantum level is presented. In the case of the Thirring model one has selection rules on the excitations as a function of the coupling and in the case of the Schwinger model a double integer structure of the vacuum is derived in the light-cone frame. Two different quantized chiral Schwinger models are found, one of them without a $\theta$-vacuum structure. A generalization of the quantization condition to theories with several fermionic fields and to higher dimensions is presented.Comment: revtex, 14 p

Adsorption Mechanism and Uptake of Methane in Covalent Organic Frameworks: Theory and Experiment

We determined the methane (CH_4) uptake (at 298 K and 1 to 100 bar pressure) for a variety of covalent organic frameworks (COFs), including both two-dimensional (COF-1, COF-5, COF-6, COF-8, and COF-10) and three-dimensional (COF-102, COF-103, COF-105, and COF-108) systems. For all COFs, the CH_4 uptake was predicted from grand canonical Monte Carlo (GCMC) simulations based on force fields (FF) developed to fit accurate quantum mechanics (QM) [second order Møller−Plesset (MP2) perturbation theory using doubly polarized quadruple-ζ (QZVPP) basis sets]. This FF was validated by comparison with the equation of state for CH_4 and by comparison with the experimental uptake isotherms at 298 K (reported here for COF-5 and COF-8), which agrees well (within 2% for 1−100 bar) with the GCMC simulations. From our simulations we have been able to observe, for the first time, multilayer formation coexisting with a pore filling mechanism. The best COF in terms of total volume of CH_4 per unit volume COF absorbent is COF-1, which can store 195 v/v at 298 K and 30 bar, exceeding the U.S. Department of Energy target for CH_4 storage of 180 v/v at 298 K and 35 bar. The best COFs on a delivery amount basis (volume adsorbed from 5 to 100 bar) are COF-102 and COF-103 with values of 230 and 234 v(STP: 298 K, 1.01 bar)/v, respectively, making these promising materials for practical methane storage

Conserved Ising Model on the Human Connectome

Dynamical models implemented on the large scale architecture of the human brain may shed light on how function arises from the underlying structure. This is the case notably for simple abstract models, such as the Ising model. We compare the spin correlations of the Ising model and the empirical functional brain correlations, both at the single link level and at the modular level, and show that their match increases at the modular level in anesthesia, in line with recent results and theories. Moreover, we show that at the peak of the specific heat (the \it{critical state}) the spin correlations are minimally shaped by the underlying structural network, explaining how the best match between structure and function is obtained at the onset of criticality, as previously observed. These findings confirm that brain dynamics under anesthesia shows a departure from criticality and could open the way to novel perspectives when the conserved magnetization is interpreted in terms of an homeostatic principle imposed to neural activity

Asymptotic approach to Special Relativity compatible with a relativistic principle

We propose a general framework to describe Planckian deviations from Special Relativity (SR) compatible with a relativistic principle. They are introduced as the leading corrections in an asymptotic approach to SR going beyond the energy power expansion of effective field theories. We discuss the conditions in which these Planckian effects might be experimentally observable in the near future, together with the non-trivial limits of applicability of this asymptotic approach that such a situation would produce, both at the very high (ultraviolet) and the very low (infrared) energy regimes.Comment: 12 page

Special Geometry of Euclidean Supersymmetry III: the local r-map, instantons and black holes

We define and study projective special para-Kahler manifolds and show that they appear as target manifolds when reducing five-dimensional vector multiplets coupled to supergravity with respect to time. The dimensional reductions with respect to time and space are carried out in a uniform way using an epsilon-complex notation. We explain the relation of our formalism to other formalisms of special geometry used in the literature. In the second part of the paper we investigate instanton solutions and their dimensional lifting to black holes. We show that the instanton action, which can be defined after dualising axions into tensor fields, agrees with the ADM mass of the corresponding black hole. The relation between actions via Wick rotation, Hodge dualisation and analytic continuation of axions is discussed.Comment: 72 pages, 2 figure

Consistency of Lorentz-invariance violation neutrino scenarios in time delay analyses

Modifications inspired by quantum gravity in the kinematics of special relativity can manifest in various ways, including anomalies in the time of flight of massless particles and the emergence of decay channels for otherwise stable particles. Typically, these effects are studied independently; however, it may be necessary to combine both to perform a consistent analysis. In this work, we study the interplay between time-of-flight anomalies and neutrino instability in the context of a flavor-independent high-energy Lorentz-invariance violation (LIV) in the neutrino sector. Ensuring compatibility between both types of effects imposes strong constraints on the existence of early neutrinos with energies exceeding a maximum value determined by the scale of new physics. Such constraints depend on the specific LIV scenario and should be integrated into searches for high-energy neutrinos from gamma-ray bursts exhibiting LIV time shifts.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figure