Self-completeness and spontaneous dimensional reduction

A viable quantum theory of gravity is one of the biggest challenges facing physicists. We discuss the confluence of two highly expected features which might be instrumental in the quest of a finite and renormalizable quantum gravity -- spontaneous dimensional reduction and self-completeness. The former suggests the spacetime background at the Planck scale may be effectively two-dimensional, while the latter implies a condition of maximal compression of matter by the formation of an event horizon for Planckian scattering. We generalize such a result to an arbitrary number of dimensions, and show that gravity in higher than four dimensions remains self-complete, but in lower dimensions it is not. In such a way we established an "exclusive disjunction" or "exclusive or" (XOR) between the occurrence of self-completeness and dimensional reduction, with the goal of actually reducing the unknowns for the scenario of the physics at the Planck scale. Potential phenomenological implications of this result are considered by studying the case of a two-dimensional dilaton gravity model resulting from dimensional reduction of Einstein gravity.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures; v3: final version in press on Eur. Phys. J. Plu

Composition of Jupiter irregular satellites sheds light on their origin

Irregular satellites of Jupiter with their highly eccentric, inclined and distant orbits suggest that their capture took place just before the giant planet migration. We aim to improve our understanding of the surface composition of irregular satellites of Jupiter to gain insight into a narrow time window when our Solar System was forming. We observed three Jovian irregular satellites, Himalia, Elara, and Carme, using a medium-resolution 0.8-5.5 micro m spectrograph on the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF). Using a linear spectral unmixing model we have constrained the major mineral phases on the surface of these three bodies. Our results confirm that the surface of Himalia, Elara, and Carme are dominated by opaque materials such as those seen in carbonaceous chondrite meteorites. Our spectral modeling of NIR spectra of Himalia and Elara confirm that their surface composition is the same and magnetite is the dominant mineral. A comparison of the spectral shape of Himalia with the two large main C-type asteroids, Themis (D 176 km) and Europa (D 352 km), suggests surface composition similar to Europa. The NIR spectrum of Carme exhibits blue slope up to 1.5 microm and is spectrally distinct from those of Himalia and Elara. Our model suggests that it is compositionally similar to amorphous carbon. Himalia and Elara are compositionally similar but differ significantly from Carme. These results support the hypotheses that the Jupiter irregular satellites are captured bodies that were subject to further breakup events and clustered as families based on their similar physical and surface compositions

The postlarval phase of bivalve mollusks: A review of functional ecology and new records of postlarval drifting of Chesapeake Bay bivalves

Many bivalve mollusks have one or more separate post-metamorphic stages which are functionally distinct from the late juvenile or the adult. The benthic plantigrade and the planktonic postlarva are defined and reviewed here. The plantigrade is a developmentally obligatory stage in mast bivalves. Various anatomical or conchological features, depending on taxa, are intermediate between the veliger and the juvenile. The plantigrade is benthic but highly mobile, via the foot and byssus, relative to the adult, although in some highly mobile bivalves, the plantigrade is functionally similar to the adult. The plantigrade may enter the water column briefly, but not nearly to the extent that the postlarva does. The planktonic postlarva is a non-obligatory stage, usually developmentally synonymous with the plantigrade, but functionally distinct. A specialized byssus or similar drogue is used by the postlarva for extended planktonic drifting. The plantigrade may serve simply as a developmentally intermediate stage between the larva and the juvenile, it may increase a species\u27 options when selecting a habitat by its ability to relocate, or it may occupy a different habitat than later stages. The planktonic postlarva can either increase the dispersal ability of a bivalve, or, like the plantigrade phase, it can permit an ontogenetic niche shift. Planktonic postlarvae for three species not previously shown to exhibit this phase (Anadara transversa, Geukensia demissa, and Tellina agilis) are reported and described here

Quasiclassical Equations of Motion for Nonlinear Brownian Systems

Following the formalism of Gell-Mann and Hartle, phenomenological equations of motion are derived from the decoherence functional formalism of quantum mechanics, using a path-integral description. This is done explicitly for the case of a system interacting with a ``bath'' of harmonic oscillators whose individual motions are neglected. The results are compared to the equations derived from the purely classical theory. The case of linear interactions is treated exactly, and nonlinear interactions are compared using classical and quantum perturbation theory.Comment: 24 pages, CALT-68-1848 (RevTeX 2.0 macros

Exotic fermion multiplets as a solution to baryon asymmetry, dark matter and neutrino masses

We propose an extension to the standard model where three exotic fermion 5-plets and one scalar 6-plet are added to the particle content. By demanding that all interactions are renormalizable and standard model gauge invariant, we show that the lightest exotic particle in this model can be a dark matter candidate as long as the new 6-plet scalar does not develop a nonzero vacuum expectation value. Furthermore, light neutrino masses are generated radiatively at one-loop while the baryon asymmetry is produced by the CP-violating decays of the second lightest exotic particle. We have demonstrated using concrete examples that there is a parameter space where a consistent solution to the problems of baryon asymmetry, dark matter and neutrino masses can be obtained.Comment: 17 pages, 2 figures (REVTeX4.1), v2: some refs added, v3: typos corrected, Sec.VI.B, C modified, this version to appear in PR

Decoherent Histories Quantum Mechanics with One 'Real' Fine-Grained History

Decoherent histories quantum theory is reformulated with the assumption that there is one "real" fine-grained history, specified in a preferred complete set of sum-over-histories variables. This real history is described by embedding it in an ensemble of comparable imagined fine-grained histories, not unlike the familiar ensemble of statistical mechanics. These histories are assigned extended probabilities, which can sometimes be negative or greater than one. As we will show, this construction implies that the real history is not completely accessible to experimental or other observational discovery. However, sufficiently and appropriately coarse-grained sets of alternative histories have standard probabilities providing information about the real fine-grained history that can be compared with observation. We recover the probabilities of decoherent histories quantum mechanics for sets of histories that are recorded and therefore decohere. Quantum mechanics can be viewed as a classical stochastic theory of histories with extended probabilities and a well-defined notion of reality common to all decoherent sets of alternative coarse-grained histories.Comment: 11 pages, one figure, expanded discussion and acknowledgment

N-body Gravity and the Schroedinger Equation

We consider the problem of the motion of $N$ bodies in a self-gravitating system in two spacetime dimensions. We point out that this system can be mapped onto the quantum-mechanical problem of an N-body generalization of the problem of the H$_{2}^{+}$ molecular ion in one dimension. The canonical gravitational N-body formalism can be extended to include electromagnetic charges. We derive a general algorithm for solving this problem, and show how it reduces to known results for the 2-body and 3-body systems.Comment: 15 pages, Latex, references added, typos corrected, final version that appears in CQ

Gapless Hartree-Fock Resummation Scheme for the O(N) Model

A modified selfconsistent Hartree-Fock approximation to the lambda*phi^4 theory with spontaneously broken O(N) symmetry is proposed. It preserves all the desirable features, like conservation laws and thermodynamic consistency, of the selfconsistent Dyson scheme generated from a 2PI functional, also known as the Phi-derivable scheme, while simultaneously respecting the Nambu-Goldstone theorem in the chiral-symmetry broken phase. Various approximate resummation schemes are discussed.Comment: 13 pages, 10 figures / Version accepted by Phys. Rev. D: the introduction has been expanded by a few remarks in order to further clarify the goal of the pape

Dark Matter as the signal of Grand Unification

We argue that the existence of Dark Matter (DM) is a possible consequence of GUT symmetry breaking. In GUTs like SO(10), discrete Z_2 matter parity (-1)^{3(B-L)} survives despite of broken B-L, and group theory uniquely determines that the only possible Z_2-odd matter multiplets belong to representation 16. We construct the minimal non-SUSY SO(10) model containing one scalar 16 for DM and study its predictions below M_{G}. We find that EWSB occurs radiatively due to DM couplings to the SM Higgs boson. For thermal relic DM the mass range M_{DM}\sim (0.1-1) TeV is predicted by model perturbativity up to M_{G}. For M_{DM}\sim (1) TeV to explain the observed cosmic ray anomalies with DM decays, there exists a lower bound on the spin-independent direct detection cross section within the reach of planned experiments.Comment: DM direct detection cross section is corrected by adding s-quark contribution which turned out to be the dominant one. The prediction is just below the present CDMS and XENON10 bound. Extended version, RGE-s included, new references adde

The 1987 update on leased grounds near the US 17 bridge over Chuckatuck Creek

This report is an update of a study made in June to mid-august 1979. This study was made by the Virginia Institute of Marine Science of the College of William and Mary for the Department of Highways and Transportation, Suffolk, Virginia. The previous study provided: 1) a description of the shellfish resource prior to construction of a new bridge; 2) an estimate of the value of the oysters and shell on leased areas within the right-of-way; and 3) a basis for a later study after construction to evaluate possible environmental changes. Since 1979 the Commonwealth has purchased the right-of-way and the VMRC has opened it to public fishing. There is no shellfish resources in the right-of-way. Therefore, the study describes the present shellfish resource in the adjacent leases, within 600 ft. of the center of the bridge, which might be affected by construction activity