341 research outputs found
Orbifolds and Flows from Gauged Supergravity
We examine orbifolds of the IIB string via gauged supergravity. For the
gravity duals of the A_{n-1} quiver gauge theories, we extract the massless
degrees of freedom and assemble them into multiplets of N=4 gauged supergravity
in five dimensions. We examine the embedding of the gauge group into the
isometry group of the scalar manifold, as well as the symmetries of the scalar
potential. From this we find that there is a large SU(1,n) symmetry group which
relates different RG flows in the dual quiver gauge theory. We find that this
symmetry implies an extension of the usual duality between ten-dimensional IIB
solutions which involves exchanging geometric moduli with background fluxes.Comment: 37 pages, harvma
Two-dimensional Navier--Stokes simulation of deformation and break up of liquid patches
The large deformations and break up of circular 2D liquid patches in a high
Reynolds number (Re=1000) gas flow are investigated numerically. The 2D, plane
flow Navier--Stokes equations are directly solved with explicit tracking of the
interface between the two phases and a new algorithm for surface tension. The
numerical method is able to pursue the simulation beyond the breaking or
coalescence of droplets. The simulations are able to unveil the intriguing
details of the non-linear interplay between the deforming droplets and the
vortical structures in the droplet's wake.Comment: 13 pages including 4 postscript figures; Revised version as
resubmitted to PRL. Title has change
On Validating an Astrophysical Simulation Code
We present a case study of validating an astrophysical simulation code. Our
study focuses on validating FLASH, a parallel, adaptive-mesh hydrodynamics code
for studying the compressible, reactive flows found in many astrophysical
environments. We describe the astrophysics problems of interest and the
challenges associated with simulating these problems. We describe methodology
and discuss solutions to difficulties encountered in verification and
validation. We describe verification tests regularly administered to the code,
present the results of new verification tests, and outline a method for testing
general equations of state. We present the results of two validation tests in
which we compared simulations to experimental data. The first is of a
laser-driven shock propagating through a multi-layer target, a configuration
subject to both Rayleigh-Taylor and Richtmyer-Meshkov instabilities. The second
test is a classic Rayleigh-Taylor instability, where a heavy fluid is supported
against the force of gravity by a light fluid. Our simulations of the
multi-layer target experiments showed good agreement with the experimental
results, but our simulations of the Rayleigh-Taylor instability did not agree
well with the experimental results. We discuss our findings and present results
of additional simulations undertaken to further investigate the Rayleigh-Taylor
instability.Comment: 76 pages, 26 figures (3 color), Accepted for publication in the ApJ
Generalized Kaehler Potentials from Supergravity
We consider supersymmetric N=2 solutions with non-vanishing NS three-form.
Building on worldsheet results, we reduce the problem to a single generalized
Monge-Ampere equation on the generalized Kaehler potential K recently
interpreted geometrically by Lindstrom, Rocek, Von Unge and Zabzine. One input
in the procedure is a holomorphic function w that can be thought of as the
effective superpotential for a D3 brane probe. The procedure is hence likely to
be useful for finding gravity duals to field theories with non-vanishing
abelian superpotential, such as Leigh-Strassler theories. We indeed show that a
purely NS precursor of the Lunin-Maldacena dual to the beta-deformed N=4
super-Yang-Mills falls in our class.Comment: "38 pages. v3: improved exposition and minor mistakes corrected in
sec. 4
Poincare gauge invariance and gravitation in Minkowski spacetime
A formulation of Poincare symmetry as an inner symmetry of field theories
defined on a fixed Minkowski spacetime is given. Local P gauge transformations
and the corresponding covariant derivative with P gauge fields are introduced.
The renormalization properties of scalar, spinor and vector fields in P gauge
field backgrounds are determined. A minimal gauge field dynamics consistent
with the renormalization constraints is given.Comment: 36 pages, latex-fil
Magnetic Field Induced Quantum Criticality via new Asymptotically AdS_5 Solutions
Using analytical methods, we derive and extend previously obtained numerical
results on the low temperature properties of holographic duals to
four-dimensional gauge theories at finite density in a nonzero magnetic field.
We find a new asymptotically AdS_5 solution representing the system at zero
temperature. This solution has vanishing entropy density, and the charge
density in the bulk is carried entirely by fluxes. The dimensionless magnetic
field to charge density ratio for these solutions is bounded from below, with a
quantum critical point appearing at the lower bound. Using matched asymptotic
expansions, we extract the low temperature thermodynamics of the system. Above
the critical magnetic field, the low temperature entropy density takes a simple
form, linear in the temperature, and with a specific heat coefficient diverging
at the critical point. At the critical magnetic field, we derive the scaling
law s ~ T^{1/3} inferred previously from numerical analysis. We also compute
the full scaling function describing the region near the critical point, and
identify the dynamical critical exponent: z=3.
These solutions are expected to holographically represent boundary theories
in which strongly interacting fermions are filling up a Fermi sea. They are
fully top-down constructions in which both the bulk and boundary theories have
well known embeddings in string theory.Comment: 50 page
String theory and the Classical Stability of Plane Waves
The presence of fields with negative mass-squared typically leads to some
form of instability in standard field theories. The observation that, at least
in the light-cone gauge, strings propagating in plane wave spacetimes can have
worldsheet scalars with such tachyon-like masses suggests that the supergravity
background may itself be unstable. To address this issue, we perform a
perturbative analysis around the type IIB vacuum plane wave, the solution which
most obviously generates worldsheet scalars with negative mass-squared. We
argue that this background is perturbatively stable.Comment: 23 pages, no figures; v2: very minor changes, references added,
version accepted by PR
An assessment of Evans' unified field theory I
Evans developed a classical unified field theory of gravitation and
electromagnetism on the background of a spacetime obeying a Riemann-Cartan
geometry. This geometry can be characterized by an orthonormal coframe theta
and a (metric compatible) Lorentz connection Gamma. These two potentials yield
the field strengths torsion T and curvature R. Evans tried to infuse
electromagnetic properties into this geometrical framework by putting the
coframe theta to be proportional to four extended electromagnetic potentials A;
these are assumed to encompass the conventional Maxwellian potential in a
suitable limit. The viable Einstein-Cartan(-Sciama-Kibble) theory of gravity
was adopted by Evans to describe the gravitational sector of his theory.
Including also the results of an accompanying paper by Obukhov and the author,
we show that Evans' ansatz for electromagnetism is untenable beyond repair both
from a geometrical as well as from a physical point of view. As a consequence,
his unified theory is obsolete.Comment: 39 pages of latex, modified because of referee report, mistakes and
typos removed, partly reformulated, taken care of M.W.Evans' rebutta
Adding flavour to the Polchinski-Strassler background
As an extension of holography with flavour, we analyze in detail the
embedding of a D7-brane probe into the Polchinski-Strassler gravity background,
in which the breaking of conformal symmetry is induced by a 3-form flux G_3.
This corresponds to giving masses to the adjoint chiral multiplets. We consider
the N=2 supersymmetric case in which one of the adjoint chiral multiplets is
kept massless while the masses of the other two are equal. This setup requires
a generalization of the known expressions for the backreaction of G_3 in the
case of three equal masses to generic mass values. We work to second order in
the masses to obtain the embedding of D7-brane probes in the background. At
this order, the 2-form potentials corresponding to the background flux induce
an 8-form potential which couples to the worldvolume of the D7-branes. We show
that the embeddings preserve an SU(2) x SU(2) symmetry. We study possible
embeddings both analytically in a particular approximation, as well as
numerically. The embeddings preserve supersymmetry, as we investigate using the
approach of holographic renormalization. The meson spectrum associated to one
of the embeddings found reflects the presence of the adjoint masses by
displaying a mass gap.Comment: LaTeX, 50 pages, 9 figure
Solutions to the Wheeler-Dewitt Equation Inspired by the String Effective Action
The Wheeler-DeWitt equation is derived from the bosonic sector of the
heterotic string effective action assuming a toroidal compactification. The
spatially closed, higher dimensional Friedmann-Robertson-Walker (FRW) cosmology
is investigated and a suitable change of variables rewrites the equation in a
canonical form. Real- and imaginary-phase exact solutions are found and a
method of successive approximations is employed to find more general power
series solutions. The quantum cosmology of the Bianchi IX universe is also
investigated and a class of exact solutions is found.Comment: 21 pages of plain LaTeX, Fermilab-Pub-93/100-
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