SU(2|2) for Theories with Sixteen Supercharges at Weak and Strong Coupling

We consider the dimensional reductions of N=4 Supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory on R x S^3 to the three-dimensional theory on R x S^2, the orbifolded theory on R x S^3/Z_k, and the plane-wave matrix model. With explicit emphasis on the three-dimensional theory, we demonstrate the realization of the SU(2|3) algebra in a radial Hamiltonian framework. Using this structure we constrain the form of the spin chains, their S-matrices, and the corresponding one- and two-loop Hamiltonian of the three dimensional theory and find putative signs of integrability up to the two-loop order. The string duals of these theories admit the IIA plane-wave geometry as their Penrose limit. Using known results for strings quantized on this background, we explicitly construct the strong-coupling dual extended SU(2|2) algebra and discuss its implications for the gauge theories.Comment: 37 pages, 1 figure. v2 some minor improvements to the text, version to appear in Phys.Rev.

Aerogels as diverse nanomaterials

Aerogels are 3-D light-weight nanoporous materials pursued for their low thermal conductivity, low dielectric constant and high acoustic attenuation. Those exceptional macroscopic properties of aerogels are dependent on the chemical nature of nanoparticles, complex hierarchical solid skeletal framework and porosity. Also, the free space can become host for functional guests such as pharmaceuticals. In chapter I, we investigated randomly mesoporous bio-compatible polymer-crosslinked dysprosia aerogels as drug delivery vehicles and demonstrated storage and release of drugs under physiological conditions. Comparative study with ordered and randomly mesoporous silica showed high drug uptake and slower release rate for random nanostructures (silica or dysprosia) relative to ordered silica. Drug release data from dysprosia aerogels showed that drug is stored successively in three hierarchical pore sites on the skeletal framework. In chapter II, we developed flexible polyurethane-acrylate aerogels from star monomer containing urethane linkage and terminal acrylate bonds by free-radical polymerization. Lower density samples were flexible, while higher density samples were mechanically strong. Those results were dependent on the particle size and interparticle connectivity of skeletal framework, pointing to a nanoscopic origin for their flexibility, rather than to a molecular one. Further, the acrylate bonds were converted to norbornene moieties and the gelation process was brought down to room temperature by using ring opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP). In chapter III, we developed polydicyclopentadiene (pDCPD) based aerogels using two different Grubbs catalysts (GC-I and GC-II) with different catalytic activity towards ROMP. The different behavior of pDCPD aerogels was traced to a different polymer configuration at molecular level. --Abstract, page v

Profiling the antiviral small RNA response in mosquitoes to arbovirus infection: intra- and interspecies comparisons and relationship to vector competence

2014 Summer.To view the abstract, please see the full text of the document