Schwinger type processes via branes and their gravity duals

We consider Schwinger type processes involving the creation of the charge and monopole pairs in the external fields and propose interpretation of these processes via corresponding brane configurations in Type IIB string theory. We suggest simple description of some new interesting nonperturbative processes like monopole/dyon transitions in the electric field and W-boson decay in the magnetic field using the brane language. Nonperturbative pair production in the strong coupling regime using the AdS/CFT correspondence is studied. The treatment of the similar processes in the noncommutative theories when noncommutativity is traded for the background fields is presented and the possible role of the critical magnetic field which is S-dual to the critical electric field is discussed.Comment: 29pp, LaTeX; v3. reference adde

Phase Diagram of Bosonic Atoms in Two-Color Superlattices

We investigate the zero temperature phase diagram of a gas of bosonic atoms in one- and two-color standing-wave lattices in the framework of the Bose-Hubbard model. We first introduce some relevant physical quantities; superfluid fraction, condensate fraction, quasimomentum distribution, and matter-wave interference pattern. We then discuss the relationships between them on the formal level and show that the superfluid fraction, which is the relevant order parameter for the superfluid to Mott-insulator transition, cannot be probed directly via the matter wave interference patterns. The formal considerations are supported by exact numerical solutions of the Bose-Hubbard model for uniform one-dimensional systems. We then map out the phase diagram of bosons in non-uniform lattices. The emphasis is on optical two-color superlattices which exhibit a sinusoidal modulation of the well depth and can be easily realized experimentally. From the study of the superfluid fraction, the energy gap, and other quantities we identify new zero-temperature phases, including a localized and a quasi Bose-glass phase, and discuss prospects for their experimental observation.Comment: 18 pages, 17 figures, using REVTEX

Euler Top Dynamics of Nambu-Goto P-Branes

We propose a method to obtain new exact solutions of spinning p-branes in flat space-times for any p, which manifest themselves as higher dimensional Euler Tops and minimize their energy functional. We provide concrete examples for the case of spherical topology S^{2}, S^{3} and rotational symmetry \prod_{i}SO(q_{i}). In the case of toroidal topology T^{2}, T^{3} the rotational symmetry is \prod SU(q_{i}) and m target dimensions are compactified on the torus T^{m} . By double dimensional reduction the Light Cone Hamiltonians of T^{2}, T^{3} reduce to those of closed string S^{1} and T^{2} membranes respectively. The solutions are interpreted as non-perturbative spinning soliton states of type IIA-IIB superstrings.Comment: 33 pages, LATEX; more typos corrected; some equation numbering correction

On Wilson loops and QQˉQ\bar Q-potentials from the AdS/CFT relation at T≥0T\geq 0

We give a short introduction to and a partial review of the work on the calculation of Wilson loops and $Q\bar Q$-potentials via the conjectured AdS/CFT duality. Included is a discussion of the relative weight of the stringy correction to the target space background versus the correction by the quantum fluctuations of the string world sheet.Comment: 7 pages, one figure (eps), Latex, uses lamuphys.sty and bibnorm.sty, based on conference talks. a reference adde