431 research outputs found
Predicting the baryon asymmetry with degenerate right-handed neutrinos
We consider the generation of a baryon asymmetry in an extension of the
Standard Model with two singlet Majorana fermions that are degenerate above the
electroweak phase transition. The model can explain neutrino masses as well as
the observed matter-antimatter asymmetry, for masses of the heavy singlets
below the electroweak scale. The only physical CP violating phases in the model
are those in the PMNS mixing matrix, i.e. the Dirac phase and a Majorana phase
that enter light neutrino observables. We present an accurate analytic
approximation for the baryon asymmetry in terms of CP flavour invariants, and
derive the correlations with neutrino observables. We demonstrate that the
measurement of CP violation in neutrino oscillations as well as the mixings of
the heavy neutral leptons with the electron, muon and tau flavours suffice to
pin down the matter-antimatter asymmetry from laboratory measurements.Comment: 29 + 4 pages, 9 figures. Includes a comparison to the non-degenerate
scenario. Matches published version in JHE
Thermodynamics of a black hole in a cavity
We present a unified thermodynamical description of the configurations
consisting on self-gravitating radiation with or without a black hole. We
compute the thermal fluctuations and evaluate where will they induce a
transition from metastable configurations towards stable ones. We show that the
probability of finding such a transition is exponentially small. This indicates
that, in a sequence of quasi equilibrium configurations, the system will remain
in the metastable states till it approaches very closely the critical point
beyond which no metastable configuration exists. Near that point, we relate the
divergence of the local temperature fluctuations to the approach of the
instability of the whole system, thereby generalizing the usual fluctuations
analysis in the cases where long range forces are present. When angular
momentum is added to the cavity, the above picture is slightly modified.
Nevertheless, at high angular momentum, the black hole loses most of its mass
before it reaches the critical point at which it evaporates completely.Comment: 27 pages, latex file, contains 3 figures available on request at
[email protected]
Lemaitre-Tolman-Bondi dust spacetimes: Symmetry properties and some extensions to the dissipative case
We consider extensions of Lemaitre-Tolman-Bondi (LTB) spacetimes to the
dissipative case. For doing that we previously carry out a systematic study on
LTB. This study is based on two different aspects of LTB. On the one hand, a
symmetry property of LTB will be presented. On the other hand, the description
of LTB in terms of some fundamental scalar functions (structure scalars)
appearing in the orthogonal splitting of Riemann tensor will be provided. We
shall consider as "natural" generalizations of LTB (hereafter referred to as
GLTB) either those metrics admitting some similar kind of symmetry as LTB, or
those sharing structure scalars with similar dependence on the metric.Comment: 13 pages RevTex. To appear in Phys. Rev. D. Some references corrected
and update
Attenuation and damping of electromagnetic fields: Influence of inertia and displacement current
New results for attenuation and damping of electromagnetic fields in rigid
conducting media are derived under the conjugate influence of inertia due to
charge carriers and displacement current. Inertial effects are described by a
relaxation time for the current density in the realm of an extended Ohm's law.
The classical notions of poor and good conductors are rediscussed on the basis
of an effective electric conductivity, depending on both wave frequency and
relaxation time. It is found that the attenuation for good conductors at high
frequencies depends solely on the relaxation time. This means that the
penetration depth saturates to a minimum value at sufficiently high
frequencies. It is also shown that the actions of inertia and displacement
current on damping of magnetic fields are opposite to each other. That could
explain why the classical decay time of magnetic fields scales approximately as
the diffusion time. At very small length scales, the decay time could be given
either by the relaxation time or by a fraction of the diffusion time, depending
whether inertia or displacement current, respectively, would prevail on
magnetic diffusion.Comment: 21 pages, 1 figur
Unilateral subthalamotomy in Parkinson's disease: Cognitive, psychiatric and, neuroimaging changes
Unilateral subthalamotomy is an effective treatment for the cardinal motor features of Parkinson's disease (PD). However, non-motor changes possibly associated with right or left subthalamotomy remain unknown. Our aim was to assess cognitive, psychiatric and neuroimaging changes after treatment with unilateral subthalamotomy. Fourteen medicated patients with PD were evaluated before and after (mean 6 months after operation) unilateral subthalamotomy (5 right, 9 left). In addition to motor assessments, cognitive (global cognition and executive functions), psychiatric (apathy, depression, anxiety, mania, hypo- and hyperdopaminergic behaviours, impulsivity), quality of life evaluations and volume of lesions were obtained. After surgery, significant improvement of motor signs was observed. Unilateral subthalamotomy improved general cognitive status, but left subthalamotomy reduced semantic verbal fluency compared to the pre-operative state. Depression and quality of life were improved with both right and left subthalamotomy. However, hyper-emotionality was present after surgery and right subthalamotomy increased impulsivity and disinhibition (on NeuroPsychiatric Inventory and Ardouin Scale for Behaviour in PD), a result linked to larger lesion volumes. We conclude that unilateral subthalamotomy is effective for treating the cardinal motor features of PD and improves mood. Right subthalamotomy is associated with greater risk of impulsivity and disinhibition, while left subthalamotomy induces further impairment of semantic verbal fluency
Thermodynamics of black holes: an analogy with glasses
The present equilibrium formulation of thermodynamics for black holes has
several drawbacks, such as assuming the same temperature for black hole and
heat bath. Recently the author formulated non-equilibrium thermodynamics for
glassy systems. This approach is applied to black holes, with the cosmic
background temperature being the bath temperature, and the Hawking temperature
the internal temperature. Both Hawking evaporation and absorption of background
radiation are taken into account.
It is argued that black holes did not form in the very early universe.Comment: 4 pages revtex; submitted to Phys. Rev. Let
Scalar-Tensor Theory of Gravity and Generalized Second Law of Thermodynamics on the Event Horizon
In blackhole physics, the second law of thermodynamics is generally valid
whether the blackhole is a static or a non-static one. Considering the universe
as a thermodynamical system the second law of blackhole dynamics extends to the
non-negativity of the sum of the entropy of the matter and the horizon, known
as generalized second law of thermodynamics(GSLT). Here, we have assumed the
universe to be bounded by the event-horizon or filled with perfect fluid and
holographic dark energy in two cases. Thus considering entropy to be an
arbitrary function of the area of the event-horizon, we have tried to find the
conditions and the restrictions over the scalar field and equation of state for
the validity of the GSLT and both in quintessence-era and in phantom-era in
scalar tensor theory.Comment: 8 page
Geometry of the extreme Kerr black holes
Geometrical properties of the extreme Kerr black holes in the topological
sectors of nonextreme and extreme configurations are studied. We find that the
Euler characteristic plays an essential role to distinguish these two kinds of
extreme black holes. The relationship between the geometrical properties and
the intrinsic thermodynamics are investigated.Comment: Latex version, 10 page
Cosmological entropy and generalized second law of thermodynamics in theory of gravity
We consider a spatially flat Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker space time
and investigate the second law and the generalized second law of thermodynamics
for apparent horizon in generalized modified Gauss Bonnet theory of gravity
(whose action contains a general function of Gauss Bonnet invariant and the
Ricci scalar: ). By assuming that the apparent horizon is in thermal
equilibrium with the matter inside it, conditions which must be satisfied by
are derived and elucidated through two examples: a quasi-de Sitter
space-time and a universe with power law expansion.Comment: 10 pages, minor changes, typos corrected, accepted for publication in
Europhysics Letter
Quantum cosmic models and thermodynamics
The current accelerating phase of the evolution of the universe is considered
by constructing most economical cosmic models that use just general relativity
and some dominating quantum effects associated with the probabilistic
description of quantum physics. Two of such models are explicitly analyzed.
They are based on the existence of a sub-quantum potential and correspond to a
generalization of the spatially flat exponential model of de Sitter space. The
thermodynamics of these two cosmic solutions is discussed, using the second
principle as a guide to choose which among the two is more feasible. The paper
also discusses the relativistic physics on which the models are based, their
holographic description, some implications from the classical energy
conditions, and an interpretation of dark energy in terms of the entangled
energy of the universe.Comment: 15 pages, 1 figure, accepted for publication in Class. Quantum Gra
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