Dimensional Reduction of the Abelian-Higgs Carroll-Field-Jackiw Model

Taking as a starting point a Lorentz non-invariant Abelian-Higgs model defined in 1+3 dimensions, we carry out its dimensional reduction to D=1+2, obtaining a new planar model composed by a Maxwell-Chern-Simons-Proca gauge sector, a massive scalar sector, and a mixing term (involving the fixed background (v^{\mu}) that imposes the Lorentz violation to the reduced model. The propagators of the scalar and massive gauge field are evaluated and the corresponding dispersion relations determined. Based on the poles of the propagators, a causality and unitarity analysis is carried out at tree-level. One then shows that the model is totally causal and unitary.Comment: 10 pages, style revtex, revised version to appear in Eur. Phys. J. C(2004

Non-Minimal Coupling to a Lorentz-Violating Background and Topological Implications

The non-minimal coupling of fermions to a background responsible for the breaking of Lorentz symmetry is introduced in Dirac's equation; the non-relativistic regime is contemplated, and the Pauli's equation is used to show how an Aharonov-Casher phase may appear as a natural consequence of the Lorentz violation, once the particle is placed in a region where there is an electric field. Different ways of implementing the Lorentz breaking are presented and, in each case, we show how to relate the Aharonov-Casher phase to the particular components of the background vector or tensor that realises the violation of Lorentz symmetry.Comment: 8 pages, added references, no figure

\u3cem\u3eDobbey v. Illinois Department of Corrections\u3c/em\u3e: A Small Piece of a Growing Policy Puzzle

The First Amendment right to petition is deeply intertwined with the other liberties offered by the Bill of Rights. However, the right to petition is still rarely analyzed in the legal world. This already difficult topic has become even more muddled in the prison system. Although the Prison Litigation Reform Act sought both to help prisoners and reduce the abundance of inmate lawsuits, inmate grievance processes actually suffocate the right to petition in prisons, sometimes going so far as to create a culture that offers barely any First Amendment protection. The Seventh Circuit\u27s decision in Dobbey v. Illinois Dept. of Corrections illustrates the problem. Since little guidance has been offered as to how the right should be construed, a circuit split has developed over the breadth of the right. This Note argues the right to petition must be broad for inmates because prison grievance systems have proven unable to provide satisfactory in-house resolution of inmate claims

Classical Solutions in a Lorentz-violating Maxwell-Chern-Simons Electrodynamics

We take as starting point the planar model arising from the dimensional reduction of the Maxwell Electrodynamics with the (Lorentz-violating) Carroll-Field-Jackiw term. We then write and study the extended Maxwell equations and the corresponding wave equations for the potentials. The solution to these equations show some interesting deviations from the usual MCS Electrodynamics, with background-dependent correction terms. In the case of a time-like background, the correction terms dominate over the MCS sector in the region far from the origin, and establish the behaviour of a massless Electrodynamics (in the electric sector). In the space-like case, the solutions indicate the clear manifestation of spatial anisotropy, which is consistent with the existence of a privileged direction is space.Comment: latex, 8 page

Electron-Electron Bound States in Maxwell-Chern-Simons-Proca QED3

We start from a parity-breaking MCS QED$_{3}$ model with spontaneous breaking of the gauge symmetry as a framework for evaluation of the electron-electron interaction potential and for attainment of numerical values for the e-e bound state. Three expressions are obtained for the potential according to the polarization state of the scattered electrons. In an energy scale compatible with Condensed Matter electronic excitations, these three potentials become degenerated. The resulting potential is implemented in the Schrodinger equation and the variational method is applied to carry out the electronic binding energy. The resulting binding energies in the scale of 10-100 meV and a correlation length in the scale of 10-30 Angs. are possible indications that the MCS-QED$_{3}$ model adopted may be suitable to address an eventual case of e-e pairing in the presence of parity-symmetry breakdown. The data analyzed here suggest an energy scale of 10-100 meV to fix the breaking of the U(1)-symmetry. PACS numbers: 11.10.Kk 11.15.Ex 74.20.-z 74.72.-h ICEN-PS-01/17Comment: 13 pages, style revtex, revised versio