279 research outputs found
D-brane Dynamics and the Quantum Hall Effect
We study the recently proposed D-brane configuration [hep-th/0010105]
modeling the quantum Hall effect, focusing on the nature of the interactions
between the charged particles. Our analysis indicates that the interaction is
repulsive, which it should be for the ground state of the system to behave as a
quantum Hall liquid. The strength of interactions varies inversely with the
filling fraction, leading us to conclude that a Wigner crystal is the ground
state at small nu. For larger rational nu (still less than unity), it is
reasonable to expect a fractional quantum Hall ground state.Comment: 13 pages, latex, two figures. v2: Corrected cyclotron gap makes
quantum Hall ground state more likel
S-duality in AdS/CFT magnetohydrodynamics
We study the nonlinear hydrodynamics of a 2+1 dimensional charged conformal
fluid subject to slowly varying external electric and magnetic fields.
Following recent work on deriving nonlinear hydrodynamics from gravity, we
demonstrate how long wavelength perturbations of the AdS dyonic black brane
solution of 4D supergravity are governed by equations equivalent to fluid
dynamics equations in the boundary theory. We investigate the implications of
-duality for our system, and derive restrictions imposed on the transport
coefficients of a generic fluid invariant under the S operation. We also expand
on our earlier work and determine a new set of previously undetermined
transport coefficients for the conformal fluid with an AdS gravity dual. Quite
surprisingly, we discover that half of the transport coefficients allowed by
symmetry vanish in the holographic fluid at linear order in the hydrodynamic
expansion.Comment: 25 page
A note on spherically symmetric naked singularities in general dimension
We discuss generalizations of the recent theorem by Dafermos (hep-th/0403033)
forbidding a certain class of naked singularities in the spherical collapse of
a scalar field. Employing techniques similar to the ones Dafermos used, we
consider extending the theorem (1) to higher dimensions, (2) by including more
general matter represented by a stress-energy tensor satisfying certain
assumptions, and (3) by replacing the spherical geometry by a toroidal or
higher genus (locally hyperbolic) one. We show that the extension to higher
dimensions and a more general topology is straightforward; on the other hand,
replacing the scalar field by a more general matter content forces us to shrink
the class of naked singularities we are able to exclude. We then show that the
most common matter theories (scalar field interacting with a non-abelian gauge
field and a perfect fluid satisfying certain conditions) obey the assumptions
of our weaker theorem, and we end by commenting on the applicability of our
results to the five-dimensional AdS scenarii considered recently in the
literature.Comment: 16 pages, no figures, typos fixe
Biophysics at the coffee shop: lessons learned working with George Oster
Over the past 50 years, the use of mathematical models, derived from physical
reasoning, to describe molecular and cellular systems has evolved from an art
of the few to a cornerstone of biological inquiry. George Oster stood out as a
pioneer of this paradigm shift from descriptive to quantitative biology not
only through his numerous research accomplishments, but also through the many
students and postdocs he mentored over his long career. Those of us fortunate
enough to have worked with George agree that his sharp intellect, physical
intuition and passion for scientific inquiry not only inspired us as scientists
but also greatly influenced the way we conduct research. We would like to share
a few important lessons we learned from George in honor of his memory and with
the hope that they may inspire future generations of scientists.Comment: 22 pages, 3 figures, accepted in Molecular Biology of the Cel
Acoustic geometry for general relativistic barotropic irrotational fluid flow
"Acoustic spacetimes", in which techniques of differential geometry are used
to investigate sound propagation in moving fluids, have attracted considerable
attention over the last few decades. Most of the models currently considered in
the literature are based on non-relativistic barotropic irrotational fluids,
defined in a flat Newtonian background. The extension, first to special
relativistic barotropic fluid flow, and then to general relativistic barotropic
fluid flow in an arbitrary background, is less straightforward than it might at
first appear. In this article we provide a pedagogical and simple derivation of
the general relativistic "acoustic spacetime" in an arbitrary (d+1) dimensional
curved-space background.Comment: V1: 23 pages, zero figures; V2: now 24 pages, some clarifications, 2
references added. This version accepted for publication in the New Journal of
Physics. (Special issue on "Classical and Quantum Analogues for Gravitational
Phenomena and Related Effects"
Constraints on Fluid Dynamics from Equilibrium Partition Functions
We study the thermal partition function of quantum field theories on
arbitrary stationary background spacetime, and with arbitrary stationary
background gauge fields, in the long wavelength expansion. We demonstrate that
the equations of relativistic hydrodynamics are significantly constrained by
the requirement of consistency with any partition function. In examples at low
orders in the derivative expansion we demonstrate that these constraints
coincide precisely with the equalities between hydrodynamical transport
coefficients that follow from the local form of the second law of
thermodynamics. In particular we recover the results of Son and Surowka on the
chiral magnetic and chiral vorticity flows, starting from a local partition
function that manifestly reproduces the field theory anomaly, without making
any reference to an entropy current. We conjecture that the relations between
transport coefficients that follow from the second law of thermodynamics agree
to all orders in the derivative expansion with the constraints described in
this paper.Comment: Typos corrected, References adde
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