13,860 research outputs found
On Clifford Subalgebras, Spacetime Splittings and Applications
Z2-gradings of Clifford algebras are reviewed and we shall be concerned with
an alpha-grading based on the structure of inner automorphisms, which is
closely related to the spacetime splitting, if we consider the standard
conjugation map automorphism by an arbitrary, but fixed, splitting vector.
After briefly sketching the orthogonal and parallel components of products of
differential forms, where we introduce the parallel [orthogonal] part as the
space [time] component, we provide a detailed exposition of the Dirac operator
splitting and we show how the differential operator parallel and orthogonal
components are related to the Lie derivative along the splitting vector and the
angular momentum splitting bivector. We also introduce multivectorial-induced
alpha-gradings and present the Dirac equation in terms of the spacetime
splitting, where the Dirac spinor field is shown to be a direct sum of two
quaternions. We point out some possible physical applications of the formalism
developed.Comment: 22 pages, accepted for publication in International Journal of
Geometric Methods in Modern Physics 3 (8) (2006
How the Charge Can Affect the Formation of Gravastars
In recent work we physically interpreted a special gravastar solution
characterized by a zero Schwarzschild mass. In fact, in that case, none
gravastar was formed and the shell expanded, leaving behind a de Sitter or a
Minkowski spacetime, or collapsed without forming an event horizon, originating
what we called a massive non-gravitational object. This object has two
components of non zero mass but the exterior spacetime is Minkowski or de
Sitter. One of the component is a massive thin shell and the other one is de
Sitter spacetime inside. The total mass of this object is zero Schwarzschild
mass, which characterizes an exterior vacuum spacetime. Here, we extend this
study to the case where we have a charged shell. Now, the exterior is a
Reissner-Nordstr\"om spacetime and, depending on the parameter
of the equation of state of the shell, and the charge, a
gravastar structure can be formed. We have found that the presence of the
charge contributes to the stability of the gravastar, if the charge is greater
than a critical value. Otherwise, a massive non-gravitational object is formed
for small charges.Comment: 17 pages and 7 figures, several typos corrected, accepted for
publication in JCA
Looking for a varying in the Cosmic Microwave Background
We perform a likelihood analysis of the recently released BOOMERanG and
MAXIMA data, allowing for the possibility of a time-varying fine-structure
constant. We find that in general this data prefers a value of that
was smaller in the past (which is in agreement with measurements of
from quasar observations). However, there are some interesting degeneracies in
the problem which imply that strong statements about can not be made
using this method until independent accurate determinations of
and are available.
We also show that a preferred lower value of comes mainly from the
data points around the first Doppler peak, whereas the main effect of the
high- data points is to increase the preferred value for
(while also tightening the constraints on and ). We comment on
some implications of our results.Comment: 15 pages; submitted to Phys. Rev.
Stable Gravastars of Anisotropic Dark Energy
Dynamical models of prototype gravastars made of phantom energy are
constructed, in which an infinitely thin spherical shell of a perfect fluid
with the equation of state divides the whole spacetime
into two regions, the internal region filled with a dark energy (or phantom)
fluid, and the external Schwarzschild region. It is found that in some cases
the models represent the "bounded excursion" stable gravastars, where the thin
shell is oscillating between two finite radii, while in other cases they
collapse until the formation of black holes or normal stars. In the phase
space, the region for the "bounded excursion" gravastars is very small in
comparison to that of black holes, but not empty, as found in our previous
papers. Therefore, although the existence of gravastars can not be completely
excluded from current analysis, the opposite is not possible either, that is,
even if gravastars exist, they do not exclude the existence of black holes.Comment: 35 pages, 43 figures, added some clarifying texts and corrected some
typos, accepted for publication in JCA
Aluminum matrix texture and particle characterization in Al-Al3Ti FGMs produced by a centrifugal solid-particle method
The centrifugal solid-particle method has proved to be effective in producing functionally
graded materials (FGMs). In this study, Al-Al3Ti FGMs, were produced by this centrifugal method,
from an Al-5 wt % Ti master alloy. Applied centrifugal forces were 30, 60 and 120G (units of
gravity). Samples from the outer surface of each specimen were cut and aluminum matrix texture
analyzed by Schulz reflection method. Analysis of the resulting pole figures indicates a preferred
orientation along the (200) plane for the aluminum matrix crystals. Furthermore, increasing the
applied centrifugal force enhances the orientation effect. Al3Ti platelet orientation and area fraction
at the samplesâ outer surface along three observation planes were also measured. The Al3Ti platelets
in the outer region are orientated perpendicular to the centrifugal force direction along two of the
observed planes, also an increase in centrifugal force leads to an increase in orientation in those two
planes. The intermetallic particle volume fraction also increases with higher applied centrifugal
force, although not significantly. A correlation appears to exist between particle orientation and the
preferred orientation of the matrix.(undefined
Particle distribution and orientation in Al-Al3Zr and Al-Al3Ti FGMs produced by the centrifugal method
Al-Al3Zr and Al-Al3Ti functionally graded materials (FGMs) were produced by a centrifugal method from Al-5wt% Zr and Al-5wt% Ti alloys, respectively. Applied centrifugal forces were 30, 60 and 120G (units of gravity). Microstructural characterization was performed to evaluate the intermetallic particlesâ distribution and orientation. Knoop hardness tests were carried out, with the indenterâs long diameter normal to the centrifugal force direction. Both the Al3Zr and the Al3Ti intermetallic particles are platelet in morphology. These platelets tend to be oriented normal to the centrifugal force direction. Higher applied centrifugal force increases both the intermetallic platelet volume fraction as well as their orientation in the outer regions of the fabricated FGM rings. Also higher orientation and volume fraction distribution are observed in the Al- Al3Ti FGMs. Knoop hardness measurements in general follow the same trend as the intermetallic particle volume fraction for each sample.(undefined
Network Awareness of P2P Live Streaming Applications
Early P2P-TV systems have already attracted millions of users, and many new commercial solutions are entering this market. Little information is however available about how these systems work. In this paper we present large scale sets of experiments to compare three of the most successful P2P-TV systems, namely PPLive, SopCast and TVAnts. Our goal is to assess what level of "network awareness" has been embedded in the applications, i.e., what parameters mainly drive the peer selection and data exchange. By using a general framework that can be extended to other systems and metrics, we show that all applications largely base their choices on the peer bandwidth, i.e., they prefer high-bandwidth users, which is rather intuitive. Moreover, TVAnts and PPLive exhibits also a preference to exchange data among peers in the same autonomous system the peer belongs to. However, no evidence about preference versus peers in the same subnet or that are closer to the considered peer emerges. We believe that next-generation P2P live streaming applications definitively need to improve the level of network-awareness, so to better localize the traffic in the network and thus increase their network-friendliness as wel
The quadratic spinor Lagrangian, axial torsion current, and generalizations
We show that the Einstein-Hilbert, the Einstein-Palatini, and the Holst
actions can be derived from the Quadratic Spinor Lagrangian (QSL), when the
three classes of Dirac spinor fields, under Lounesto spinor field
classification, are considered. To each one of these classes, there corresponds
a unique kind of action for a covariant gravity theory. In other words, it is
shown to exist a one-to-one correspondence between the three classes of
non-equivalent solutions of the Dirac equation, and Einstein-Hilbert,
Einstein-Palatini, and Holst actions. Furthermore, it arises naturally, from
Lounesto spinor field classification, that any other class of spinor field
(Weyl, Majorana, flagpole, or flag-dipole spinor fields) yields a trivial
(zero) QSL, up to a boundary term. To investigate this boundary term we do not
impose any constraint on the Dirac spinor field, and consequently we obtain new
terms in the boundary component of the QSL. In the particular case of a
teleparallel connection, an axial torsion 1-form current density is obtained.
New terms are also obtained in the corresponding Hamiltonian formalism. We then
discuss how these new terms could shed new light on more general
investigations.Comment: 9 pages, RevTeX, to be published in Int.J.Mod.Phys.D (2007
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