Noncommutative 6D Gauge Higgs Unification Models

The influence of higher dimensions in noncommutative field theories is considered. For this purpose, we analyze the bosonic sector of a recently proposed 6 dimensional SU(3) orbifold model for the electroweak interactions. The corresponding noncommutative theory is constructed by means of the Seiberg-Witten map in 6D. We find in the reduced bosonic interactions in 4D theory, couplings which are new with respect to other known 4D noncommutative formulations of the Standard Model using the Seiberg-Witten map. Phenomenological implications due to the noncommutativity of extra dimensions are explored. In particular, assuming that the commutative model leads to the standard model values, a bound -5.63 10^{-8} GeV^{-2}< theta <1.06 10^{-7}GeV^{-2} on the corresponding noncommutativity scale is derived from current experimental constraints on the S and T oblique parameters. This bound is used to predict a possibly significant impact of noncommutativity effects of extra dimensions on the rare Higgs boson decay H-> gamma gamma.Comment: Latex file, 11 pages, 1 figur

Quantum dynamics, dissipation, and asymmetry effects in quantum dot arrays

We study the role of dissipation and structural defects on the time evolution of quantum dot arrays with mobile charges under external driving fields. These structures, proposed as quantum dot cellular automata, exhibit interesting quantum dynamics which we describe in terms of equations of motion for the density matrix. Using an open system approach, we study the role of asymmetries and the microscopic electron-phonon interaction on the general dynamical behavior of the charge distribution (polarization) of such systems. We find that the system response to the driving field is improved at low temperatures (and/or weak phonon coupling), before deteriorating as temperature and asymmetry increase. In addition to the study of the time evolution of polarization, we explore the linear entropy of the system in order to gain further insights into the competition between coherent evolution and dissipative processes.Comment: 11pages,9 figures(eps), submitted to PR

Crossing the phantom divide in an interacting generalized Chaplygin gas

Unified generalized Chaplygin gas models assuming an interaction between dark energy and dark matter fluids have been previously proposed. Following these ideas, we consider a particular relation between dark densities, which allows the possibility of a time varying equation of state for dark energy that crosses the phantom divide at a recent epoch. Moreover, these densities decay during all the evolution of the Universe, avoiding a Big Rip. We find also a scaling solution, i.e. these densities are asymptotically proportional in the future, which contributes to the solution of the coincidence problem.Comment: Improved version, 10 pages, 4 figures, References adde

Low X-Ray Luminosity Galaxy Clusters: Main goals, sample selection, photometric and spectroscopic observations

We present the study of nineteen low X-ray luminosity galaxy clusters (L$_X \sim$ 0.5--45 $\times$ $10^{43}$ erg s$^{-1}$), selected from the ROSAT Position Sensitive Proportional Counters (PSPC) Pointed Observations (Vikhlinin et al. 1998) and the revised version of Mullis et al. (2003) in the redshift range of 0.16 to 0.7. This is the introductory paper of a series presenting the sample selection, photometric and spectroscopic observations and data reduction. Photometric data in different passbands were taken for eight galaxy clusters at Las Campanas Observatory; three clusters at Cerro Tololo Interamerican Observatory; and eight clusters at the Gemini Observatory. Spectroscopic data were collected for only four galaxy clusters using Gemini telescopes. With the photometry, the galaxies were defined based on the star-galaxy separation taking into account photometric parameters. For each galaxy cluster, the catalogues contain the PSF and aperture magnitudes of galaxies within the 90\% completeness limit. They are used together with structural parameters to study the galaxy morphology and to estimate photometric redshifts. With the spectroscopy, the derived galaxy velocity dispersion of our clusters ranged from 507 km~s$^{-1}$ for [VMF98]022 to 775 km~s$^{-1}$ for [VMF98]097 with signs of substructure. Cluster membership has been extensively discussed taking into account spectroscopic and photometric redshift estimates. In this sense, members are the galaxies within a projected radius of 0.75 Mpc from the X-ray mission peak and with cluster centric velocities smaller than the cluster velocity dispersion or 6000 km~s$^{-1}$, respectively. These results will be used in forthcoming papers to study, among the main topics, the red cluster sequence, blue cloud and green populations; the galaxy luminosity function and cluster dynamics.Comment: 13 pages, 6 tables, 9 figures. Uses emulateapj. Accepted for publication in The Astronomical Journal. Some formatting errors fixe

Towards SDp-brane Quantization

The quantum mechanical analysis of the canonical hamiltonian description of the effective action of a SDp-brane in bosonic ten dimensional Type II supergravity in a homogeneous background is given. We find exact solutions for the corresponding quantum theory by solving the Wheeler-deWitt equation in the late-time limit of the rolling tachyon. The probability densities for several values of p are shown and their possible interpretation is discussed. In the process the effects of electromagnetic fields are also incorporated and it is shown that in this case the interpretation of tachyon regarded as ``matter clock'' is modified.Comment: 15 pages, 3 eps figures, revtex

The VLT-FLAMES Tarantula Survey XXI. Stellar spin rates of O-type spectroscopic binaries

The initial distribution of spin rates of massive stars is a fingerprint of their elusive formation process. It also sets a key initial condition for stellar evolution and is thus an important ingredient in stellar population synthesis. So far, most studies have focused on single stars. Most O stars are however found in multiple systems. By establishing the spin-rate distribution of a sizeable sample of O-type spectroscopic binaries and by comparing the distributions of binary sub-populations with one another as well as with that of presumed single stars in the same region, we aim to constrain the initial spin distribution of O stars in binaries, and to identify signatures of the physical mechanisms that affect the evolution of the massive stars spin rates. We use ground-based optical spectroscopy obtained in the framework of the VLT-FLAMES Tarantula Survey (VFTS) to establish the projected equatorial rotational velocities (\vrot) for components of 114 spectroscopic binaries in 30 Doradus. The \vrot\ values are derived from the full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) of a set of spectral lines, using a FWHM vs. \vrot\ calibration that we derive based on previous line analysis methods applied to single O-type stars in the VFTS sample. The overall \vrot\ distribution of the primary stars resembles that of single O-type stars in the VFTS, featuring a low-velocity peak (at \vrot < 200 kms) and a shoulder at intermediate velocities (200 < \vrot < 300 kms). The distributions of binaries and single stars however differ in two ways. First, the main peak at \vrot \sim100 kms is broader and slightly shifted toward higher spin rates in the binary distribution compared to that of the presumed-single stars. Second, the \vrot distribution of primaries lacks a significant population of stars spinning faster than 300 kms while such a population is clearly present in the single star sample.Comment: 16 pages, 16 figures, paper accepted in Astronomy & Astrophysic

Towards a Gravitational Analog to S-duality in Non-abelian Gauge Theories

For non-abelian non-supersymmetric gauge theories, generic dual theories have been constructed. In these theories the couplings appear inverted. However, they do not possess a Yang-Mills structure but rather are a kind of non-linear sigma model. It is shown that for a topological gravitational model an analog to this duality exists.Comment: LaTeX, 14 pages, no figures, minor correction

Rotational velocities of single and binary O-type stars in the Tarantula Nebula

Rotation is a key parameter in the evolution of massive stars, affecting their evolution, chemical yields, ionizing photon budget, and final fate. We determined the projected rotational velocity, $v_e\sin i$, of $\sim$330 O-type objects, i.e. $\sim$210 spectroscopic single stars and $\sim$110 primaries in binary systems, in the Tarantula nebula or 30 Doradus (30\,Dor) region. The observations were taken using VLT/FLAMES and constitute the largest homogeneous dataset of multi-epoch spectroscopy of O-type stars currently available. The most distinctive feature of the $v_e\sin i$ distributions of the presumed-single stars and primaries in 30 Dor is a low-velocity peak at around 100\,$\rm{km s^{-1}}$. Stellar winds are not expected to have spun-down the bulk of the stars significantly since their arrival on the main sequence and therefore the peak in the single star sample is likely to represent the outcome of the formation process. Whereas the spin distribution of presumed-single stars shows a well developed tail of stars rotating more rapidly than 300\,$\rm{km s^{-1}}$, the sample of primaries does not feature such a high-velocity tail. The tail of the presumed-single star distribution is attributed for the most part -- and could potentially be completely due -- to spun-up binary products that appear as single stars or that have merged. This would be consistent with the lack of such post-interaction products in the binary sample, that is expected to be dominated by pre-interaction systems. The peak in this distribution is broader and is shifted toward somewhat higher spin rates compared to the distribution of presumed-single stars. Systems displaying large radial velocity variations, typical for short period systems, appear mostly responsible for these differences.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, Proceedings IAU Symposium No. 307, 2014, 'New windows on massive stars: asteroseismology, interferometry, and spectropolarimetry