Supersymmetric methods in the traveling variable: inside neurons and at the brain scale

We apply the mathematical technique of factorization of differential operators to two different problems. First we review our results related to the supersymmetry of the Montroll kinks moving onto the microtubule walls as well as mentioning the sine-Gordon model for the microtubule nonlinear excitations. Second, we find analytic expressions for a class of one-parameter solutions of a sort of diffusion equation of Bessel type that is obtained by supersymmetry from the homogeneous form of a simple damped wave equations derived in the works of P.A. Robinson and collaborators for the corticothalamic system. We also present a possible interpretation of the diffusion equation in the brain contextComment: 14 pages, 1 figur

Stability of spherical stellar systems I : Analytical results

The so-called ``symplectic method'' is used for studying the linear stability of a self-gravitating collisionless stellar system, in which the particles are also submitted to an external potential. The system is steady and spherically symmetric, and its distribution function $f_0$ thus depends only on the energy $E$ and the squarred angular momentum $L^2$ of a particle. Assuming that $\partial f_0 / \partial E < 0$, it is first shown that stability holds with respect to all the spherical perturbations -- a statement which turns out to be also valid for a rotating spherical system. Thus it is proven that the energy of an arbitrary aspherical perturbation associated to a ``preserving generator" $\delta g_1$ [i.e., one satisfying $\partial f_0 / \partial L^2 \{ \delta g_1, L^2 \} = 0$] is always positive if $\partial f_0 / \partial L^2 \leq 0$ and the external mass density is a decreasing function of the distance $r$ to the center. This implies in particular (under the latter condition) the stability of an isotropic system with respect to all the perturbations. Some new remarks on the relation between the symmetry of the system and the form of $f_0$ are also reported. It is argued in particular that a system with a distribution function of the form $f_0 = f_0 (E,L^2)$ is necessarily spherically symmetric.Comment: uuencoded compressed postscript file containing 13 pages, accepted for publication in MNRA

Magnetic Collapse of a Neutron Gas: No Magnetar Formation

A degenerate neutron gas in equilibrium with a background of electrons and protons in a magnetic field exerts its pressure anisotropically, having a smaller value perpendicular than along the magnetic field. For critical fields the magnetic pressure may produce the vanishing of the equatorial pressure of the neutron gas, and the outcome could be a transverse collapse of the star. This fixes a limit to the fields to be observable in stable pulsars as a function of their density. The final structure left over after the implosion might be a mixed phase of nucleons and meson ($\pi^{\pm,0},\kappa^{\pm,0}$) condensate (a strange star also likely) or a black string, but no magnetar at all.Comment: 5 pages, 1 latex file, 1 encapsulated figure. Submitted to Physical Review Letters (24/11/2000

Magnetic collapse of a neutron gas: Can magnetars indeed be formed

A relativistic degenerate neutron gas in equilibrium with a background of electrons and protons in a magnetic field exerts its pressure anisotropically, having a smaller value perpendicular than along the magnetic field. For critical fields the magnetic pressure may produce the vanishing of the equatorial pressure of the neutron gas. Taking it as a model for neutron stars, the outcome could be a transverse collapse of the star. This fixes a limit to the fields to be observable in stable neutron star pulsars as a function of their density. The final structure left over after the implosion might be a mixed phase of nucleons and meson condensate, a strange star, or a highly distorted black hole or black "cigar", but no any magnetar, if viewed as a super strongly magnetized neutron star. However, we do not exclude the possibility of a supersotrong magnetic fields arising in supernova explosions which lead directly to strange stars. In other words, if any magnetars exist, they cannot be neutron stars.Comment: 15 pages, 3 figures. European Physical Journal C in pres