508 research outputs found
Superconducting p-branes and Extremal Black Holes
In Einstein-Maxwell theory, magnetic flux lines are `expelled' from a black
hole as extremality is approached, in the sense that the component of the field
strength normal to the horizon goes to zero. Thus, extremal black holes are
found to exhibit the sort of `Meissner effect' which is characteristic of
superconducting media. We review some of the evidence for this effect, and do
present new evidence for it using recently found black hole solutions in string
theory and Kaluza-Klein theory. We also present some new solutions, which arise
naturally in string theory, which are non-superconducting extremal black holes.
We present a nice geometrical interpretation of these effects derived by
looking carefully at the higher dimensional configurations from which the lower
dimensional black hole solutions are obtained. We show that other extremal
solitonic objects in string theory (such as p-branes) can also display
superconducting properties. In particular, we argue that the relativistic
London equation will hold on the worldvolume of `light' superconducting
p-branes (which are embedded in flat space), and that minimally coupled zero
modes will propagate in the adS factor of the near-horizon geometries of
`heavy', or gravitating, superconducting p-branes.Comment: 22 pages, 2 figure
Structure, Stresses and Local Dynamics in Glasses
The interrelations between short range structural and elastic aspects in
glasses and glass forming liquids pose important and yet unresolved questions.
In this paper these relations are analyzed for mono-atomic glasses and stressed
liquids with a short range repulsive-attractive pair potentials. Strong
variations of the local pressure are found even in a zero temperature glass,
whereas the largest values of pressure are the same in both glasses and
liquids. The coordination number z(J) and the effective first peak radius
depend on the local pressures J's. A linear relation was found between
components of site stress tensor and the local elastic constants. A linear
relation was also found between the trace of the squares of the local
frequencies and the local pressures. Those relations hold for glasses at zero
temperature and for liquids. We explain this by a relation between the
structure and the potential terms. A structural similarity between liquids and
solids is manifested by similar dependencies of the coordination number on the
pressures.Comment: 7 pages, 11 figure
Non-vanishing Magnetic Flux through the Slightly-charged Kerr Black Hole
In association with the Blanford-Znajek mechanism for rotational energy
extraction from Kerr black holes, it is of some interest to explore how much of
magnetic flux can actually penetrate the horizon at least in idealized
situations. For completely uncharged Kerr hole case, it has been known for some
time that the magnetic flux gets entirely expelled when the hole is
maximally-rotating. In the mean time, it is known that when the rotating hole
is immersed in an originally uniform magnetic field surrounded by an ionized
interstellar medium (plasma), which is a more realistic situation, the hole
accretes certain amount of electric charge. In the present work, it is
demonstrated that as a result of this accretion charge small enough not to
disturb the geometry, the magnetic flux through this slightly charged Kerr hole
depends not only on the hole's angular momentum but on the hole's charge as
well such that it never vanishes for any value of the hole's angular momentum.Comment: 33pages, 1 figure, Revtex, some comments added, typos correcte
Introduction to Isolated Horizons in Numerical Relativity
We present a coordinate-independent method for extracting mass (M) and
angular momentum (J) of a black hole in numerical simulations. This method,
based on the isolated horizon framework, is applicable both at late times when
the black hole has reached equilibrium, and at early times when the black holes
are widely separated. We show how J and M can be determined in numerical
simulations in terms of only those quantities which are intrinsic to the
apparent horizon. We also present a numerical method for finding the rotational
symmetry vector field (required to calculate J) on the horizon.Comment: 14 pages, revtex4, 7 figures. Final PRD versio
Five Dimensional Rotating Black Hole in a Uniform Magnetic Field. The Gyromagnetic Ratio
In four dimensional general relativity, the fact that a Killing vector in a
vacuum spacetime serves as a vector potential for a test Maxwell field provides
one with an elegant way of describing the behaviour of electromagnetic fields
near a rotating Kerr black hole immersed in a uniform magnetic field. We use a
similar approach to examine the case of a five dimensional rotating black hole
placed in a uniform magnetic field of configuration with bi-azimuthal symmetry,
that is aligned with the angular momenta of the Myers-Perry spacetime. Assuming
that the black hole may also possess a small electric charge we construct the
5-vector potential of the electromagnetic field in the Myers-Perry metric using
its three commuting Killing vector fields. We show that, like its four
dimensional counterparts, the five dimensional Myers-Perry black hole rotating
in a uniform magnetic field produces an inductive potential difference between
the event horizon and an infinitely distant surface. This potential difference
is determined by a superposition of two independent Coulomb fields consistent
with the two angular momenta of the black hole and two nonvanishing components
of the magnetic field. We also show that a weakly charged rotating black hole
in five dimensions possesses two independent magnetic dipole moments specified
in terms of its electric charge, mass, and angular momentum parameters. We
prove that a five dimensional weakly charged Myers-Perry black hole must have
the value of the gyromagnetic ratio g=3.Comment: 23 pages, REVTEX, v2: Minor changes, v3: Minor change
Dynamical Horizons and their Properties
A detailed description of how black holes grow in full, non-linear general
relativity is presented. The starting point is the notion of dynamical
horizons. Expressions of fluxes of energy and angular momentum carried by
gravitational waves across these horizons are obtained. Fluxes are local and
the energy flux is positive. Change in the horizon area is related to these
fluxes. A notion of angular momentum and energy is associated with
cross-sections of the horizon and balance equations, analogous to those
obtained by Bondi and Sachs at null infinity, are derived. These in turn lead
to generalizations of the first and second laws of black hole mechanics. The
relation between dynamical horizons and their asymptotic states --the isolated
horizons-- is discussed briefly. The framework has potential applications to
numerical, mathematical, astrophysical and quantum general relativity.Comment: 44 pages, 2 figures, RevTeX4. Minor typos corrected. Final PRD
versio
Probabilistic study of the speed of approach to equilibrium for an inelastic Kac model
This paper deals with a one--dimensional model for granular materials, which
boils down to an inelastic version of the Kac kinetic equation, with
inelasticity parameter . In particular, the paper provides bounds for
certain distances -- such as specific weighted --distances and the
Kolmogorov distance -- between the solution of that equation and the limit. It
is assumed that the even part of the initial datum (which determines the
asymptotic properties of the solution) belongs to the domain of normal
attraction of a symmetric stable distribution with characteristic exponent
\a=2/(1+p). With such initial data, it turns out that the limit exists and is
just the aforementioned stable distribution. A necessary condition for the
relaxation to equilibrium is also proved. Some bounds are obtained without
introducing any extra--condition. Sharper bounds, of an exponential type, are
exhibited in the presence of additional assumptions concerning either the
behaviour, near to the origin, of the initial characteristic function, or the
behaviour, at infinity, of the initial probability distribution function
Structural Probe of a Glass Forming Liquid: Generalized Compressibility
We introduce a new quantity to probe the glass transition. This quantity is a
linear generalized compressibility which depends solely on the positions of the
particles. We have performed a molecular dynamics simulation on a glass forming
liquid consisting of a two component mixture of soft spheres in three
dimensions. As the temperature is lowered (or as the density is increased), the
generalized compressibility drops sharply at the glass transition, with the
drop becoming more and more abrupt as the measurement time increases. At our
longest measurement times, the drop occurs approximately at the mode coupling
temperature . The drop in the linear generalized compressibility occurs at
the same temperature as the peak in the specific heat. By examining the
inherent structure energy as a function of temperature, we find that our
results are consistent with the kinetic view of the glass transition in which
the system falls out of equilibrium. We find no size dependence and no evidence
for a second order phase transition though this does not exclude the
possibility of a phase transition below the observed glass transition
temperature. We discuss the relation between the linear generalized
compressibility and the ordinary isothermal compressibility as well as the
static structure factor.Comment: 18 pages, Latex, 26 encapsulated postscript figures, revised paper is
shorter, to appear in Phys. Rev.
Leadership training to improve adenoma detection rate in screening colonoscopy: A randomised trial
Objective Suboptimal adenoma detection rate (ADR) at colonoscopy is associated with increased risk of interval colorectal cancer. It is uncertain how ADR might be improved. We compared t
Mobile inquiry-based learning with sensor-data in the school: Effects on student motivation
The paper discusses the design, implementation and evaluation of a
pilot project that integrated inquiry-based learning with mobile game design
and introduced mobile devices and sensors into classroom learningweSPOT Project - IST (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement N° 318499The project was supported by the SURFnet innovation grant for sustainable ICT solutions
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