687 research outputs found
Logical Dreams
We discuss the past and future of set theory, axiom systems and independence
results. We deal in particular with cardinal arithmetic
Analysis of MERCATOR data Part I: variable B stars
We re-classified 31 variable B stars which were observed more than 50 times
in the Geneva photometric system with the P7 photometer attached to the
MERCATOR telescope (La Palma) during its first 3 years of scientific
observations. HD89688 is a possible beta Cephei/slowly pulsating B star hybrid
and the main mode of the COROT target HD180642 shows non-linear effects. The
Maia candidates are re-classified as either ellipsoidal variables or spotted
stars. Although the mode identification is still ongoing, all the
well-identified modes so far have a degree l = 0, 1 or 2.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures. To appear in: Proceedings of JENAM 2005 'Distant
worlds', Communications in Asteroseismolog
Paraoxonase 2 protein is spatially expressed in the human placenta and selectively reduced in labour
Humans parturition involves interaction of hormonal, neurological, mechanical stretch and inflammatory pathways and the placenta plays a crucial role. The paraoxonases (PONs 1–3) protect against oxidative damage and lipid peroxidation, modulation of endoplasmic reticulum stress and regulation of apoptosis. Nothing is known about the role of PON2 in the placenta and labour. Since PON2 plays a role in oxidative stress and inflammation, both features of labour, we hypothesised that placental PON2 expression would alter during labour. PON2 was examined in placentas obtained from women who delivered by cesarean section and were not in labour and compared to the equivalent zone of placentas obtained from women who delivered vaginally following an uncomplicated labour. Samples were obtained from 12 sites within each placenta: 4 equally spaced apart pieces were sampled from the inner, middle and outer placental regions. PON2 expression was investigated by Western blotting and real time PCR. Two PON2 forms, one at 62 kDa and one at 43 kDa were found in all samples. No difference in protein expression of either isoform was found between the three sites in either the labour or non-labour group. At the middle site there was a highly significant decrease in PON2 expression in the labour group when compared to the non-labour group for both the 62 kDa form (p = 0.02) and the 43 kDa form (p = 0.006). No spatial differences were found within placentas at the mRNA level in either labour or non-labour. There was, paradoxically, an increase in PON2 mRNA in the labour group at the middle site only. This is the first report to describe changes in PON2 in the placenta in labour. The physiological and pathological significance of these remains to be elucidated but since PON2 is anti-inflammatory further studies are warranted to understand its role
Lorentz Violation in Extra Dimensions
In theories with extra dimensions it is well known that the Lorentz
invariance of the -dimensional spacetime is lost due to the compactified
nature of the dimensions leaving invariance only in 4d. In such theories
other sources of Lorentz violation may exist associated with the physics that
initiated the compactification process at high scales. Here we consider the
possibility of capturing some of this physics by analyzing the higher
dimensional analog of the model of Colladay and Kostelecky. In that scenario a
complete set of Lorentz violating operators arising from spontaneous Lorentz
violation, that are not obviously Planck-scale suppressed, are added to the
Standard Model action. Here we consider the influence of the analogous set of
operators which break Lorentz invariance in 5d within the Universal Extra
Dimensions picture. We show that such operators can greatly alter the
anticipated Kaluza-Klein(KK) spectra, induce electroweak symmetry breaking at a
scale related to the inverse compactification radius, yield sources of parity
violation in, e.g., 4d QED/QCD and result in significant violations of
KK-parity conservation produced by fermion Yukawa couplings, thus destabilizing
the lightest KK particle. LV in 6d is briefly discussed.Comment: 26 pages, 2 figures; additional references and discussio
A Class of Topological Actions
We review definitions of generalized parallel transports in terms of
Cheeger-Simons differential characters. Integration formulae are given in terms
of Deligne-Beilinson cohomology classes. These representations of parallel
transport can be extended to situations involving distributions as is
appropriate in the context of quantized fields.Comment: 41 pages, no figure
Realistic D-Brane Models on Warped Throats: Fluxes, Hierarchies and Moduli Stabilization
We describe the construction of string theory models with semirealistic
spectrum in a sector of (anti) D3-branes located at an orbifold singularity at
the bottom of a highly warped throat geometry, which is a generalisation of the
Klebanov-Strassler deformed conifold. These models realise the Randall-Sundrum
proposal to naturally generate the Planck/electroweak hierarchy in a concrete
string theory embedding, and yielding interesting chiral open string spectra.
We describe examples with Standard Model gauge group (or left-right symmetric
extensions) and three families of SM fermions, with correct quantum numbers
including hypercharge. The dilaton and complex structure moduli of the geometry
are stabilised by the 3-form fluxes required to build the throat. We describe
diverse issues concerning the stabilisation of geometric Kahler moduli, like
blow-up modes of the orbifold singularities, via D term potentials and gauge
theory non-perturbative effects, like gaugino condensation. This local
geometry, once embedded in a full compactification, could give rise to models
with all moduli stabilised, and with the potential to lead to de Sitter vacua.
Issues of gauge unification, proton stability, supersymmetry breaking and
Yukawa couplings are also discussed.Comment: 46 pages, 13 figures (figures 3 and 13 corrected
BGWM as Second Constituent of Complex Matrix Model
Earlier we explained that partition functions of various matrix models can be
constructed from that of the cubic Kontsevich model, which, therefore, becomes
a basic elementary building block in "M-theory" of matrix models. However, the
less topical complex matrix model appeared to be an exception: its
decomposition involved not only the Kontsevich tau-function but also another
constituent, which we now identify as the Brezin-Gross-Witten (BGW) partition
function. The BGW tau-function can be represented either as a generating
function of all unitary-matrix integrals or as a Kontsevich-Penner model with
potential 1/X (instead of X^3 in the cubic Kontsevich model).Comment: 42 page
Chiral bosonization for non-commutative fields
A model of chiral bosons on a non-commutative field space is constructed and
new generalized bosonization (fermionization) rules for these fields are given.
The conformal structure of the theory is characterized by a level of the
Kac-Moody algebra equal to where is the
non-commutativity parameter and chiral bosons living in a non-commutative
fields space are described by a rational conformal field theory with the
central charge of the Virasoro algebra equal to 1. The non-commutative chiral
bosons are shown to correspond to a free fermion moving with a speed equal to where is the speed of light. Lorentz
invariance remains intact if is rescaled by . The
dispersion relation for bosons and fermions, in this case, is given by .Comment: 16 pages, JHEP style, version published in JHE
R Symmetries in the Landscape
In the landscape, states with symmetries at the classical level form a
distinct branch, with a potentially interesting phenomenology. Some preliminary
analyses suggested that the population of these states would be significantly
suppressed. We survey orientifolds of IIB theories compactified on Calabi-Yau
spaces based on vanishing polynomials in weighted projective spaces, and find
that the suppression is quite substantial. On the other hand, we find that a
R-parity is a common feature in the landscape. We discuss whether the
cosmological constant and proton decay or cosmology might select the low energy
branch. We include also some remarks on split supersymmetry.Comment: 13 page
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