21 research outputs found
Cosmic Strings in the Abelian Higgs Model with Conformal Coupling to Gravity
Cosmic string solutions of the abelian Higgs model with conformal coupling to
gravity are shown to exist. The main characteristics of the solutions are
presented and the differences with respect to the minimally coupled case are
studied. An important difference is the absence of Bogomolnyi cosmic string
solutions for conformal coupling. Several new features of the abelian Higgs
cosmic strings of both types are discussed. The most interesting is perhaps a
relation between the angular deficit and the central magnetic field which is
bounded by a critical value.Comment: 22 pages, 10 figures; to appear in Phys. Rev.
Complete Classification of the String-like Solutions of the Gravitating Abelian Higgs Model
The static cylindrically symmetric solutions of the gravitating Abelian Higgs
model form a two parameter family. In this paper we give a complete
classification of the string-like solutions of this system. We show that the
parameter plane is composed of two different regions with the following
characteristics: One region contains the standard asymptotically conic cosmic
string solutions together with a second kind of solutions with Melvin-like
asymptotic behavior. The other region contains two types of solutions with
bounded radial extension. The border between the two regions is the curve of
maximal angular deficit of .Comment: 12 pages, 4 figure
Unwrapping Closed Timelike Curves
Closed timelike curves (CTCs) appear in many solutions of the Einstein
equation, even with reasonable matter sources. These solutions appear to
violate causality and so are considered problematic. Since CTCs reflect the
global properties of a spacetime, one can attempt to change its topology,
without changing its geometry, in such a way that the former CTCs are no longer
closed in the new spacetime. This procedure is informally known as unwrapping.
However, changes in global identifications tend to lead to local effects, and
unwrapping is no exception, as it introduces a special kind of singularity,
called quasi-regular. This "unwrapping" singularity is similar to the string
singularities. We give two examples of unwrapping of essentially 2+1
dimensional spacetimes with CTCs, the Gott spacetime and the Godel universe. We
show that the unwrapped Gott spacetime, while singular, is at least devoid of
CTCs. In contrast, the unwrapped Godel spacetime still contains CTCs through
every point. A "multiple unwrapping" procedure is devised to remove the
remaining circular CTCs. We conclude that, based on the two spacetimes we
investigated, CTCs appearing in the solutions of the Einstein equation are not
simply a mathematical artifact of coordinate identifications, but are indeed a
necessary consequence of General Relativity, provided only that we demand these
solutions do not possess naked quasi-regular singularities.Comment: 29 pages, 9 figure
Magnetic Branes in Gauss-Bonnet Gravity
We present two new classes of magnetic brane solutions in
Einstein-Maxwell-Gauss-Bonnet gravity with a negative cosmological constant.
The first class of solutions yields an -dimensional spacetime with a
longitudinal magnetic field generated by a static magnetic brane. We also
generalize this solution to the case of spinning magnetic branes with one or
more rotation parameters. We find that these solutions have no curvature
singularity and no horizons, but have a conic geometry. In these spacetimes,
when all the rotation parameters are zero, the electric field vanishes, and
therefore the brane has no net electric charge. For the spinning brane, when
one or more rotation parameters are non zero, the brane has a net electric
charge which is proportional to the magnitude of the rotation parameter. The
second class of solutions yields a spacetime with an angular magnetic field.
These solutions have no curvature singularity, no horizon, and no conical
singularity. Again we find that the net electric charge of the branes in these
spacetimes is proportional to the magnitude of the velocity of the brane.
Finally, we use the counterterm method in the Gauss-Bonnet gravity and compute
the conserved quantities of these spacetimes.Comment: 17 pages, No figure, The version to be published in Phys. Rev.
Horizonless Rotating Solutions in -dimensional Einstein-Maxwell Gravity
We introduce two classes of rotating solutions of Einstein-Maxwell gravity in
dimensions which are asymptotically anti-de Sitter type. They have no
curvature singularity and no horizons. The first class of solutions, which has
a conic singularity yields a spacetime with a longitudinal magnetic field and
rotation parameters. We show that when one or more of the rotation
parameters are non zero, the spinning brane has a net electric charge that is
proportional to the magnitude of the rotation parameters. The second class of
solutions yields a spacetime with an angular magnetic field and
boost parameters. We find that the net electric charge of these traveling
branes with one or more nonzero boost parameters is proportional to the
magnitude of the velocity of the brane. We also use the counterterm method
inspired by AdS/CFT correspondence and calculate the conserved quantities of
the solutions. We show that the logarithmic divergencies associated to the Weyl
anomalies and matter field are zero, and the divergence of the action can
be removed by the counterterm method.Comment: 14 pages, references added, Sec. II amended, an appendix added. The
version to appear in Phys. Rev.
Mechanisms underlying a thalamocortical transformation during active tactile sensation
During active somatosensation, neural signals expected from movement of the sensors are suppressed in the cortex, whereas information related to touch is enhanced. This tactile suppression underlies low-noise encoding of relevant tactile features and the brainâs ability to make fine tactile discriminations. Layer (L) 4 excitatory neurons in the barrel cortex, the major target of the somatosensory thalamus (VPM), respond to touch, but have low spike rates and low sensitivity to the movement of whiskers. Most neurons in VPM respond to touch and also show an increase in spike rate with whisker movement. Therefore, signals related to self-movement are suppressed in L4. Fast-spiking (FS) interneurons in L4 show similar dynamics to VPM neurons. Stimulation of halorhodopsin in FS interneurons causes a reduction in FS neuron activity and an increase in L4 excitatory neuron activity. This decrease of activity of L4 FS neurons contradicts the "paradoxical effect" predicted in networks stabilized by inhibition and in strongly-coupled networks. To explain these observations, we constructed a model of the L4 circuit, with connectivity constrained by in vitro measurements. The model explores the various synaptic conductance strengths for which L4 FS neurons actively suppress baseline and movement-related activity in layer 4 excitatory neurons. Feedforward inhibition, in concert with recurrent intracortical circuitry, produces tactile suppression. Synaptic delays in feedforward inhibition allow transmission of temporally brief volleys of activity associated with touch. Our model provides a mechanistic explanation of a behavior-related computation implemented by the thalamocortical circuit
Rural Hospital Inpatient Surgical Volume: Cutting-edge Service or Operating on the Margin?
Modeling of Laser-Tempering Process for Hyper-Eutectoid Steels
Laser surface tempering causes reduction in the surface hardness without affecting the bulk material hardness. The tempering behavior can be advantageous in advanced manufacturing processes that require controlled softening of the surface layers of through-hardened high-strength steels. This paper presents a computational phase change kinetics-based model for selecting the laser parameters that temper the surface layers of a through-hardened hyper-eutectoid steel (AISI 52100) over a known depth. First, a three-dimensional analytical thermal model is used to evaluate the temperature field produced in the material due to thermal cycles produced by laser scanning of the surface. The computed temperature histories are then fed to the phase-change model to predict the surface and subsurface hardness for the chosen laser-processing conditions. Microstructural analysis of the laser-treated AISI 52100 workpiece surface is presented for different laser-processing conditions. It is shown that good agreement is achieved between the predicted and measured surface hardness. © 2014 The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society and ASM International.