2,597 research outputs found
Invariant Killing spinors in 11D and type II supergravities
We present all isotropy groups and associated groups, up to discrete
identifications of the component connected to the identity, of spinors of
eleven-dimensional and type II supergravities. The groups are products
of a Spin group and an R-symmetry group of a suitable lower dimensional
supergravity theory. Using the case of SU(4)-invariant spinors as a paradigm,
we demonstrate that the groups, and so the R-symmetry groups of
lower-dimensional supergravity theories arising from compactifications, have
disconnected components. These lead to discrete symmetry groups reminiscent of
R-parity. We examine the role of disconnected components of the groups
in the choice of Killing spinor representatives and in the context of
compactifications.Comment: 22 pages, typos correcte
Exact N=2 Supergravity Solutions With Polarized Branes
We construct several classes of exact supersymmetric supergravity solutions
describing D4 branes polarized into NS5 branes and F-strings polarized into D2
branes. These setups belong to the same universality class as the perturbative
solutions used by Polchinski and Strassler to describe the string dual of N=1*
theories. The D4-NS5 setup can be interpreted as a string dual to a confining
4+1 dimensional theory with 8 supercharges, whose properties we discuss. By
T-duality, our solutions give Type IIB supersymmetric backgrounds with
polarized branes.Comment: 22 pages. v2 - references added, details clarifie
The effect of oxygen pickup during selective laser melting on the microstructure and mechanical properties of Ti–6Al–4V lattices
Additive manufacturing techniques such as Selective Laser Melting (SLM) can produce complex shapes with relatively thin sections and fine detail. However, common materials for the process, such as Ti–6Al–4V, have microstructure and properties that are sensitive to the pickup of interstitial impurities, such as oxygen, which the material will be exposed to during the process. This problem would be especially severe for parts with thin sections, where surface effects can be more significant, and where poor properties may coincide with locally-elevated stress. Here we explore the effects of oxygen level in thin sections with the use of lattice materials (materials which can be considered to consist exclusively of near-surface material). Oxygen levels are artificially raised using repeated melting passes to result in more pickup, leading to significantly reduced ductility and hence reduced strength measured in compression. A ductile to brittle transition in strut failure mechanism is found with increasing number of melting passes, with significant modification in chemistry and crystallographic structure, despite the presence of a similar fine plate-like microstructure throughout
Strain in epitaxial MnSi films on Si(111) in the thick film limit studied by polarization-dependent extended x-ray absorption fine structure
We report a study of the strain state of epitaxial MnSi films on Si(111)
substrates in the thick film limit (100-500~\AA) as a function of film
thickness using polarization-dependent extended x-ray absorption fine structure
(EXAFS). All films investigated are phase-pure and of high quality with a sharp
interface between MnSi and Si. The investigated MnSi films are in a thickness
regime where the magnetic transition temperature assumes a
thickness-independent enhanced value of 43~K as compared with that of
bulk MnSi, where . A detailed refinement of
the EXAFS data reveals that the Mn positions are unchanged, whereas the Si
positions vary along the out-of-plane [111]-direction, alternating in
orientation from unit cell to unit cell. Thus, for thick MnSi films, the unit
cell volume is essentially that of bulk MnSi --- except in the vicinity of the
interface with the Si substrate (thin film limit). In view of the enhanced
magnetic transition temperature we conclude that the mere presence of the
interface, and its specific characteristics, strongly affects the magnetic
properties of the entire MnSi film, even far from the interface. Our analysis
provides invaluable information about the local strain at the MnSi/Si(111)
interface. The presented methodology of polarization dependent EXAFS can also
be employed to investigate the local structure of other interesting interfaces.Comment: 11 pages, 10 figure
Lineage A betacoronavirus NS2 proteins and the homologous torovirus Berne pp1a carboxy-terminal domain are phosphodiesterases that antagonize activation of RNase L
Viruses in the family Coronaviridae, within the order Nidovirales, are etiologic agents of a range of human and animal diseases, including both mild and severe respiratory diseases in humans. These viruses encode conserved replicase and structural proteins as well as more diverse accessory proteins, encoded in the 3′ ends of their genomes, that often act as host cell antagonists. We previously showed that 2′,5′-phosphodiesterases (2′,5′-PDEs) encoded by the prototypical Betacoronavirus, mouse hepatitis virus (MHV), and by Middle East respiratory syndrome-associated coronavirus antagonize the oligoadenylate-RNase L (OAS-RNase L) pathway. Here we report that additional coronavirus superfamily members, including lineage A betacoronaviruses and toroviruses infecting both humans and animals, encode 2′,5′-PDEs capable of antagonizing RNase L. We used a chimeric MHV system (MHV(Mut)) in which exogenous PDEs were expressed from an MHV backbone lacking the gene for a functional NS2 protein, the endogenous RNase L antagonist. With this system, we found that 2′,5′-PDEs encoded by the human coronavirus HCoV-OC43 (OC43; an agent of the common cold), human enteric coronavirus (HECoV), equine coronavirus (ECoV), and equine torovirus Berne (BEV) are enzymatically active, rescue replication of MHV(Mut) in bone marrow-derived macrophages, and inhibit RNase L-mediated rRNA degradation in these cells. Additionally, PDEs encoded by OC43 and BEV rescue MHV(Mut) replication and restore pathogenesis in wild-type (WT) B6 mice. This finding expands the range of viruses known to encode antagonists of the potent OAS-RNase L antiviral pathway, highlighting its importance in a range of species as well as the selective pressures exerted on viruses to antagonize it. IMPORTANCE Viruses in the family Coronaviridae include important human and animal pathogens, including the recently emerged viruses severe acute respiratory syndrome-associated coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and Middle East respiratory syndrome-associated coronavirus (MERS-CoV). We showed previously that two viruses within the genus Betacoronavirus, mouse hepatitis virus (MHV) and MERS-CoV, encode 2′,5′-phosphodiesterases (2′,5′-PDEs) that antagonize the OAS-RNase L pathway, and we report here that these proteins are furthermore conserved among additional coronavirus superfamily members, including lineage A betacoronaviruses and toroviruses, suggesting that they may play critical roles in pathogenesis. As there are no licensed vaccines or effective antivirals against human coronaviruses and few against those infecting animals, identifying viral proteins contributing to virulence can inform therapeutic development. Thus, this work demonstrates that a potent antagonist of host antiviral defenses is encoded by multiple and diverse viruses within the family Coronaviridae, presenting a possible broad-spectrum therapeutic target
Towards A Topological G_2 String
We define new topological theories related to sigma models whose target space
is a 7 dimensional manifold of G_2 holonomy. We show how to define the
topological twist and identify the BRST operator and the physical states.
Correlation functions at genus zero are computed and related to Hitchin's
topological action for three-forms. We conjecture that one can extend this
definition to all genus and construct a seven-dimensional topological string
theory. In contrast to the four-dimensional case, it does not seem to compute
terms in the low-energy effective action in three dimensions.Comment: 15 pages, To appear in the proceedings of Cargese 2004 summer schoo
Dynamics of intersecting brane systems -- Classification and their applications --
We present dynamical intersecting brane solutions in higher-dimensional
gravitational theory coupled to dilaton and several forms. Assuming the forms
of metric, form fields, and dilaton field, we give a complete classification of
dynamical intersecting brane solutions with/without M-waves and Kaluza-Klein
monopoles in eleven-dimensional supergravity. We apply these solutions to
cosmology and black holes. It is shown that these give FRW cosmological
solutions and in some cases Lorentz invariance is broken in our world. If we
regard the bulk space as our universe, we may interpret them as black holes in
the expanding universe. We also discuss lower-dimensional effective theories
and point out naive effective theories may give us some solutions which are
inconsistent with the higher-dimensional Einstein equations.Comment: 44 pages; v2: minor corrections, references adde
Branes in Time-Dependent Backgrounds and AdS/CFT Correspondence
We study supergravity solutions of Dp-branes in the time-dependent orbifold
background. We show that worldvolume theories decouple from the bulk gravity
for p less than six. Along AdS/CFT correspondence, these solutions could
provide the gravity description of noncommutative field theory with
time-dependent noncommutative parameter. Type II NS5-brane (M5-brane) in the
presence of RR n-form for n=0,..., 4 (C field) in this time-dependent
background have also been studied.Comment: 15 pages, latex file, v2: typos corrected, ref added, v3: references
added, minor change
Uniqueness of M-theory PP-Wave Background with Extra Supersymmetries
We examine Killing spinor equations of the general eleven-dimensional pp-wave
backgrounds, which contain a scalar H(x^m,x^-) in the metric and a three-form
\xi(x^m,x^-) in the flux. Considering non-harmonic extra Killing spinors, we
show that if the backgrounds admit at least one extra Killing spinor in
addition to the standard 16 Killing spinors, they can be reduced to the form
with H=A_{mn}(x^-)x^mx^n and \xi(x^-) modulo coordinate transformations. We
further examine the cases in which the extra Killing spinor is characterized by
a set of Cartan matrices. The super-isometry algebras of the resulting
backgrounds are also derived.Comment: 25 pages, LaTeX2e, comments added, version to appear in PR
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