344 research outputs found
Dirac's Footsteps and Supersymmetry
One hundred years after its creator's birth, the Dirac equation stands as the
cornerstone of XXth Century physics. But it is much more, as it carries the
seeds of supersymmetry. Dirac also invented the light-cone, or "front form"
dynamics, which plays a crucial role in string theory and in elucidating the
finiteness of N=4 Yang-Mills theory. The light-cone structure of
eleven-dimensional supergravity (N=8 supergravity in four dimensions) suggests
a group-theoretical interpretation of its divergences. We speculate they could
be compensated by an infinite number of triplets of massless higher spin
fields, each obeying a Dirac-like equation associated with the coset
. The divergences are proportional to the trace over a non-compact
structure containing the compact form of . Its nature is still unknown,
but it could show the way to -theory.Comment: Invited Talk at Dirac's Centennial Symposium, Tallahasse, Florida,
Dec 200
Quintics with Finite Simple Symmetries
We construct all quintic invariants in five variables with simple Non-Abelian
finite symmetry groups. These define Calabi-Yau three-folds which are left
invariant by the action of A_5, A_6 or PSL_2(11).Comment: 18 pages, typos corrected, matches published versio
Gauge symmetry and Slavnov-Taylor identities for randomly stirred fluids
The path integral for randomly forced incompressible fluids is shown to have
an underlying Becchi-Rouet-Stora (BRS) symmetry as a consequence of Galilean
invariance. This symmetry must be respected to have a consistent generating
functional, free from both an overall infinite factor and spurious relations
amongst correlation functions. We present a procedure for respecting this BRS
symmetry, akin to gauge fixing in quantum field theory. Relations are derived
between correlation functions of this gauge fixed, BRS symmetric theory,
analogous to the Slavnov-Taylor identities of quantum field theory.Comment: 5 pages, no figures, In Press Physical Review Letters, 200
Anti-shielding Effect and Negative Temperature in Instantaneously Reversed Electric Fields and Left-Handed Media
The connections between the anti-shielding effect, negative absolute
temperature and superluminal light propagation in both the instantaneously
reversed electric field and the left-handed media are considered in the present
paper. The instantaneous inversion of the exterior electric field may cause the
electric dipoles into the state of negative absolute temperature and therefore
give rise to a negative effective mass term of electromagnetic field (i. e.,
the electromagnetic field propagating inside the negative-temperature medium
will acquire an imaginary rest mass), which is said to result in the potential
superluminality effect of light propagation in this anti-shielding dielectric.
In left-handed media, such phenomena may also arise.Comment: 9 pages, Late
Namib Desert dune/interdune transects exhibit habitat-specific edaphic bacterial communities.
The sand dunes and inter-dune zones of the hyper-arid central Namib Desert represent heterogeneous soil habitats. As little is known about their indigenous edaphic bacterial communities, we aimed to evaluate their diversity and factors of assembly and hypothesized that soil physicochemistry gradients would strongly shape dune/interdune communities. We sampled a total of 125 samples from 5 parallel dune/interdune transects and characterized 21 physico-chemical edaphic parameters coupled with 16S rRNA gene bacterial community fingerprinting using T-RFLP and 454 pyrosequencing. Multivariate analyses of T-RFLP data showed significantly different bacterial communities, related to physico-chemical gradients, in four distinct dune habitats: the dune top, slope, base and interdune zones. Pyrosequencing of 16S rRNA gene amplicon sets showed that each dune zone presented a unique phylogenetic profile, suggesting a high degree of environmental selection. The combined results strongly infer that habitat filtering is an important factor shaping Namib Desert dune bacterial communities, with habitat stability, soil texture and mineral and nutrient contents being the main environmental drivers of bacterial community structures
L'usage des systèmes d'informations électroniques en recherche scientifique : le cas de la neurophysiologie.
Nous présentons les premiers résultats d'une enquête destinée à mieux connaître les pratiques de recherche d'information bibliographique et documentaire chez les chercheurs scientifiques. 64 chercheurs et étudiants doctorants en neurophysiologie ont répondu à un questionnaire portant sur les méthodes, les outils, et les objectifs des recherches d'information typiques dans leur activité. De plus, 11 personnes parmi les répondants ont participé à un entretien individuel semi structuré. Il en ressort que l'usage d'outils informatisés de recherche d'information bibliographique (RIB) est désormais pratique courante, au détriment des index et autres sources imprimées. Les principaux outils utilisés sont la base de données bibliographiques PubMed et le moteur de recherche Google, avec toutefois de nombreux autres outils plus spécifiques utilisés à titre complémentaire. Les répondants mentionnent des objectifs très variés, comme l'acquisition de connaissances nouvelles, mais aussi la recherche de techniques expérimentales, la veille documentaire, l'alimentation du débat scientifique, ou l'aide à l'enseignement. Les difficultés que rencontrent les experts en neurosciences intégratives dans l'exploitation des outils informatiques de RIB spécialisés semblent surtout liées à l'absence de formation des experts à ces outils. Les chercheurs définissent l'outil informatique de RIB « idéal » comme fiable et exhaustif, mais aussi rapide et facile à utiliser et apprendre . De fait, le facteur temps apparaît déterminant dans leur choix d'utilisation ou non d'un outil particulier. Cette étude ouvre la voie à des expériences plus spécifiques, qui porteront sur les stratégies cognitives des experts dans ce type de tâches
Generating functional for the gravitational field: implementation of an evolutionary quantum dynamics
We provide a generating functional for the gravitational field, associated to
the relaxation of the primary constraints as extended to the quantum sector.
This requirement of the theory, relies on the assumption that a suitable time
variable exist, when taking the T-products of the dynamical variables. More
precisely, we start from the gravitational field equations written in the
Hamiltonian formalism and expressed via Misner-like variables; hence we
construct the equation to which the T-products of the dynamical variables obey
and transform this paradigm in terms of the generating functional, as taken on
the theory phase-space. We show how the relaxation of the primary constraints
(which correspond to break down the invariance of the quantum theory under the
4-diffeomorphisms) is summarized by a free functional taken on the Lagrangian
multipliers, accounting for such constraints in the classical theory. The issue
of our analysis is equivalent to a Gupta-Bleuler approach on the quantum
implementation of all the gravitational constraints; in fact, in the limit of
small , the quantum dynamics is described by a Schr\"odinger equation,
as soon as the mean values of the momenta, associated to the lapse function and
the shift vector, are not vanishing. Finally we show how, in the classical
limit, the evolutionary quantum gravity reduces to General Relativity in the
presence of an Eckart fluid, which corresponds to the classical counterpart of
the physical clock, introduced in the quantum theory.Comment: 23 pages, no figures, to appear on International Journal of Modern
Physics
Diel-scale temporal dynamics recorded for bacterial groups in Namib Desert soil
Microbes in hot desert soil partake in core ecosystem processes e.g., biogeochemical cycling of carbon. Nevertheless, there is still a fundamental lack of insights regarding short-term (i.e., over a 24-hour [diel] cycle) microbial responses to highly fluctuating microenvironmental parameters like temperature and humidity. To address this, we employed T-RFLP fingerprinting and 454 pyrosequencing of 16S rRNA-derived cDNA to characterize potentially active bacteria in Namib Desert soil over multiple diel cycles. Strikingly, we found that significant shifts in active bacterial groups could occur over a single 24-hour period. For instance, members of the predominant Actinobacteria phyla exhibited a significant reduction in relative activity from morning to night, whereas many Proteobacterial groups displayed an opposite trend. Contrary to our leading hypothesis, environmental parameters could only account for 10.5% of the recorded total variation. Potential biotic associations shown through co-occurrence networks indicated that non-random inter- and intra-phyla associations were 'time-of-day-dependent' which may constitute a key feature of this system. Notably, many cyanobacterial groups were positioned outside and/or between highly interconnected bacterial associations (modules); possibly acting as inter-module 'hubs' orchestrating interactions between important functional consortia. Overall, these results provide empirical evidence that bacterial communities in hot desert soils exhibit complex and diel-dependent inter-community associations.EM201
Translation and validation of the French Movement Imagery Questionnaire. Revised Second Version (MIQ-RS)
Introduction
Motor imagery can be defined as a dynamic state during which the representation of a movement is internally rehearsed in the absence of voluntary movements. There are two strategies to mentally simulate the movements, either a visual representation of the movements (visual imagery), or kinesthetic feeling of the movement (kinetic imagery). In stroke rehabilitation, studies indicate that motor imagery associated with physical therapy results in cortical reorganization and correlative functional improvements.
Aim
The aim of this study is to provide to the French-speaking community a valid and reliable version of the Movement Imagery Questionnaire – Revised Second Version (MIQ-RS).
Method
We examined the test-retest, inter-rate reliability and the internal consistency of the visual and kinesthetic items of our French version of MIQ-RS in 153 healthy subjects.
Results
Results showed the internal consistency (Cronbach α = 0.90) and test-retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient for visual items = 0.68 and for kinesthetic items = 0.78) of the French version of MIQ-RS were satisfactory; the two-factor structure was supported by confirmatory factor analysis.
Conclusion
The French version of MIQ-RS is a valid and reliable instrument in French-speaking population and therefore useful as a measure for motor imagery ability
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