Super-critical Accretion Flows around Black Holes: Two-dimensional, Radiation-pressure-dominated Disks with Photon-trapping

The quasi-steady structure of super-critical accretion flows around a black hole is studied based on the two-dimensional radiation-hydrodynamical (2D-RHD) simulations. The super-critical flow is composed of two parts: the disk region and the outflow regions above and below the disk. Within the disk region the circular motion as well as the patchy density structure are observed, which is caused by Kelvin-Helmholtz instability and probably by convection. The mass-accretion rate decreases inward, roughly in proportion to the radius, and the remaining part of the disk material leaves the disk to form outflow because of strong radiation pressure force. We confirm that photon trapping plays an important role within the disk. Thus, matter can fall onto the black hole at a rate exceeding the Eddington rate. The emission is highly anisotropic and moderately collimated so that the apparent luminosity can exceed the Eddington luminosity by a factor of a few in the face-on view. The mass-accretion rate onto the black hole increases with increase of the absorption opacity (metalicity) of the accreting matter. This implies that the black hole tends to grow up faster in the metal rich regions as in starburst galaxies or star-forming regions.Comment: 16 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ (Volume 628, July 20, 2005 issue

D-branes as a Bubbling Calabi-Yau

We prove that the open topological string partition function on a D-brane configuration in a Calabi-Yau manifold X takes the form of a closed topological string partition function on a different Calabi-Yau manifold X_b. This identification shows that the physics of D-branes in an arbitrary background X of topological string theory can be described either by open+closed string theory in X or by closed string theory in X_b. The physical interpretation of the ''bubbling'' Calabi-Yau X_b is as the space obtained by letting the D-branes in X undergo a geometric transition. This implies, in particular, that the partition function of closed topological string theory on certain bubbling Calabi-Yau manifolds are invariants of knots in the three-sphere.Comment: 32 pages; v.2 reference adde

Polaronic Heat Capacity in The Anderson - Hasegawa Model

An exact treatment of the Anderson - Hasegawa two - site model, incorporating the presence of superexchange and polarons, is used to compute the heat capacity. The calculated results point to the dominance of the lattice contribution, especially in the ferromagnetic regime. This behavior is in qualitative agreement with experimental findings.Comment: 9 pages, Revtex, 4 postscript figure

Wilson Loops, Geometric Transitions and Bubbling Calabi-Yau's

Motivated by recent developments in the AdS/CFT correspondence, we provide several alternative bulk descriptions of an arbitrary Wilson loop operator in Chern-Simons theory. Wilson loop operators in Chern-Simons theory can be given a description in terms of a configuration of branes or alternatively anti-branes in the resolved conifold geometry. The representation of the Wilson loop is encoded in the holonomy of the gauge field living on the dual brane configuration. By letting the branes undergo a new type of geometric transition, we argue that each Wilson loop operator can also be described by a bubbling Calabi-Yau geometry, whose topology encodes the representation of the Wilson loop. These Calabi-Yau manifolds provide a novel representation of knot invariants. For the unknot we confirm these identifications to all orders in the genus expansion.Comment: 26 pages; v.2 typos corrected, explanations clarified; v.3 typos corrected, reference adde

Large transconductance oscillations in a single-well vertical Aharonov-Bohm interferometer

Aharonov-Bohm (AB) interference is reported for the first time in the conductance of a vertical nanostructure based on a single GaAs/AlGaAs quantum well (QW). The two lowest subbands of the well are spatially separated by the Hartree barrier originating from electronic repulsion in the modulation-doped QW and provide AB two-path geometry. Split-gates control the in-plane electronic momentum dispersion. In our system, we have clearly demonstrated AB interference in both electrostatic and magnetic modes. In the latter case the magnetic field was applied parallel to the QW plane, and perpendicular to the 0.02 um^2 AB loop. In the electrostatic mode of operation the single-QW scheme adopted led to large transconductance oscillations with relative amplitudes exceeding 30 %. The relevance of the present design strategy for the implementation of coherent nanoelectronic devices is underlined.Comment: Accepted for publication on Physical Review B Rapid Communication

BIons in topological string theory

When many fundamental strings are stacked together, they puff up into D-branes. BIons and giant gravitons are the examples of such D-brane configurations that arise from coincident strings. We propose and demonstrate analogous transitions in topological string theory. Such transitions can also be understood in terms of the Fourier transform of D-brane amplitudes.Comment: 21 pages; v.2 references added; v.3 reference added; v.4 minor corrections; v.5 substantial rewritin

Large N Duality, Lens Spaces and the Chern-Simons Matrix Model

We demonsrate that the spectral curve of the matrix model for Chern-Simons theory on the Lens space S^{3}/\ZZ_p is precisely the Riemann surface which appears in the mirror to the blownup, orbifolded conifold. This provides the first check of the $A$-model large $N$ duality for T^{*}(S^{3}/\ZZ_p), p>2.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figure

Gas-Phase Lubrication of ta-C by Glycerol and Hydrogen Peroxide. Experimental and Computer Modeling

Tetrahedrally coordinated hydrogen-free amorphous diamond-like carbon coating (denoted as ta-C) presents ultralow friction under boundary lubrication conditions at 80 °C in presence of OH-containing molecules. To understand the mechanism of ultralow friction, we performed gas-phase lubrication experiments followed by time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) analyses and this using two simple molecules: deuterated glycerol and hydrogen peroxide. The experiments were complemented by computer simulations using the ReaxFF reactive force field. These simulations suggest a ta-C surface rich in sp^2 carbon with some reactive sp^1 carbon atoms, in agreement with previous energy filtered transmission electron microscopy (EFTEM) results. Sliding simulations show that the carbon surface atoms react with glycerol and hydrogen peroxide to form OH-termination. Moreover, the hydroxylation is then followed by the chemical dissociation of some of the glycerol molecules leading to the formation of water. This is in agreement with the secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) analyses and mass spectrometer results obtained with gas-phase lubrication experiments with the same molecules. Both experimental and computer simulations strongly suggest that the hydroxylation of the carbon surface is at the origin of ultralow friction together with the formation of water-rich film in the sliding interface

A prediction for bubbling geometries

We study the supersymmetric circular Wilson loops in N=4 Yang-Mills theory. Their vacuum expectation values are computed in the parameter region that admits smooth bubbling geometry duals. The results are a prediction for the supergravity action evaluated on the bubbling geometries for Wilson loops.Comment: 21 pages, latex; v.2 reference added; v.3 minor correction