Noncommutative Einstein-Maxwell pp-waves

The field equations coupling a Seiberg-Witten electromagnetic field to noncommutative gravity, as described by a formal power series in the noncommutativity parameters $\theta^{\alpha\beta}$, is investigated. A large family of solutions, up to order one in $\theta^{\alpha\beta}$, describing Einstein-Maxwell null pp-waves is obtained. The order-one contributions can be viewed as providing noncommutative corrections to pp-waves. In our solutions, noncommutativity enters the spacetime metric through a conformal factor and is responsible for dilating/contracting the separation between points in the same null surface. The noncommutative corrections to the electromagnetic waves, while preserving the wave null character, include constant polarization, higher harmonic generation and inhomogeneous susceptibility. As compared to pure noncommutative gravity, the novelty is that nonzero corrections to the metric already occur at order one in $\theta^{\alpha\beta}$.Comment: 19 revtex pages. One refrence suppressed, two references added. Minor wording changes in the abstract, introduction and conclusio

Light- and strange-quark mass dependence of the ρ(770)\rho(770) meson revisited

Recent lattice data on $\pi\pi$-scattering phase shifts in the vector-isovector channel, pseudoscalar meson masses and decay constants for strange-quark masses smaller or equal to the physical value allow us to study the strangeness dependence of these observables for the first time. We perform a global analysis on two kind of lattice trajectories depending on whether the sum of quark masses or the strange-quark mass is kept fixed to the physical point. The quark mass dependence of these observables is extracted from unitarized coupled-channel one-loop Chiral Perturbation Theory. This analysis guides new predictions on the $\rho(770)$ meson properties over trajectories where the strange-quark mass is lighter than the physical mass, as well as on the SU(3) symmetric line. As a result, the light- and strange-quark mass dependence of the $\rho(770)$ meson parameters are discussed and precise values of the Low Energy Constants present in unitarized one-loop Chiral Perturbation Theory are given. Finally, the current discrepancy between two- and three-flavor lattice results for the $\rho(770)$ meson is studied.Comment: 44 pages, 41 figures, 11 table

The molecular envelope of CRL 618: A new model based on Herschel/HIFI observations

We study the physical properties and molecular excitation of the different warm gas components found in the protoplanetary nebula CRL 618. We revise our previous Herschel/HIFI observations, which consist of several 12CO and 13CO lines in the far-infrared/sub-mm band. These data have been re-analyzed in detail by improving calibration, the signal-to-noise-ratio, and baseline substraction. We identify the contributions of the different nebular components to the line profiles. We have used a spatio-kinematical model to better constrain the temperature, density, and kinematics of the molecular components probed by the improved CO observations. The 12CO and 13CO J=16-15, J=10-9, and J=6-5 transitions are detected in this source. The line profiles present a composite structure showing spectacular wings in some cases, which become dominant as the energy level increases. Our analysis of the high-energy CO emission with the already known low-energy J=2-1 and J=1-0 lines confirms that the high-velocity component, or fast bipolar outflow, is hotter than previously estimated with a typical temperature of ~300 K. This component may then be an example of a very recent acceleration of the gas by shocks that has not yet cooled down. We also find that the dense central core is characterized by a very low expansion velocity, ~5 km/s, and a strong velocity gradient. We conclude that this component is very likely to be the unaltered circumstellar layers that are lost in the last AGB phase, where the ejection velocity is particularly low. The physical properties of the other two nebular components, the diffuse halo and the double empty shell, more or less agrees with the estimations derived in previous models.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics. 8 pages, 3 figure