Cosmic magnetic fields and dark energy in extended electromagnetism

We discuss an extended version of electromagnetism in which the usual gauge fixing term is promoted into a physical contribution that introduces a new scalar state in the theory. This new state can be generated from vacuum quantum fluctuations during an inflationary era and, on super-Hubble scales, gives rise to an effective cosmological constant. The value of such a cosmological constant coincides with the one inferred from observations as long as inflation took place at the electroweak scale. On the other hand, the new state also generates an effective electric charge density on sub-Hubble scales that produces both vorticity and magnetic fields with coherent lengths as large as the present Hubble horizon.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures. Contribution to the proceedings of Spanish Relativity Meeting 2010, Granada, Spain, 6-10 September 201

Spacetimes with vector distortion: Inflation from generalised Weyl geometry

Spacetime with general linear vector distortion is introduced. Thus, the torsion and the nonmetricity of the affine connection are assumed to be proportional to a vector field (and not its derivatives). The resulting two-parameter family of non-Riemannian geometries generalises the conformal Weyl geometry and some other interesting special cases. Taking into account the leading order quadratic curvature correction to the Einstein-Hilbert action results uniquely in the one-parameter extension of the Starobinsky inflation known as the alpha-attractor. The most general quadratic curvature action introduces, in addition to the canonical vector kinetic term, novel ghost-free vector-tensor interactions.Comment: 5 pages, 1 table, 0 figures. V2: Added the general quadratic theor

The canonical frame of purified gravity

In the recently introduced gauge theory of translations, dubbed Coincident General Relativity, gravity is described with neither torsion nor curvature in the spacetime affine geometry. The action of the theory enjoys an enhanced symmetry and avoids the second derivatives that appear in the conventional Einstein-Hilbert action. While it implies the equivalent classical dynamics, the improved action principle can make a difference in considerations of energetics, thermodynamics, and quantum theory. This essay reports on possible progress in those three aspects of gravity theory. In the so-called purified gravity, 1) energy-momentum is described locally by a conserved, symmetric tensor, 2) the Euclidean path integral is convergent without the addition of boundary or regulating terms and 3) it is possible to identify a canonical frame for quantisation.Comment: 7 pages, no figure

The bimetric variational principle for General Relativity

The bimetric variational principle is a subtle reinterpretation of general relativity that assumes the spacetime connection to be generated by an independent metric. Unlike the so called Palatini formalism that promotes the connection into a fundamental field, the new variational principle results in a physically distinct theory since the potential for the connection carries new degrees of freedom. The connection-generating metric naturally allows also an antisymmetric component. This sets torsion propagating! It is also shown here that while in the most straightforward generalization of the Einstein-Hilbert action the nonmetric degrees of freedom become ghosts, there exist very simple actions which give rise to viable theories at the linearised level when subjected to the bimetric variational principle. However, the non linear interactions might bring unpleasant features like the Boulware-Deser ghost. This remains to be explored since this new type of bimetric theories does not, in principle, lie in the class of usual bimetric theories where non-linear interactions inevitably come in with new ghost-like degrees of freedom.Comment: 5 pages, no figures. Version 2: corrected sign error, considerably extended discussion

Model d'inundacions en ventalls al.luvials: el cas de les planes costaneres valencianes

Els ventalls al.luvials que conformen les planes costaneres valencianes estan sotmesos a inundacions periòdiques, produïdes per les revingudes sobtades dels rius i barrancs que les recorren. Els diferents episodis analitzats en la darrera dècada han servit de base per a dissenyar un model d'inundacions, que intenta caracteritzar tant els processos com les formes inundables. Els ventalls són formes convexes, on hi ha una divergència dels fluxos desbordats a les corbes i als punts d'intersecció. Els paleocaixers, normalment desconnectats dels rius actuals, drenen la superfície del ventall, mentre que els espais intercons i les marjals són zones còncaves que arrepleguen les aigües desbordades dels cons i les dels caixers que hi desemboquen. Aquest funcionament natural es complica enormement degut a l'acció antròpica que modifica les condicions naturals d'aquest espais. Així, el ponts, les carreteres, els desviaments, els cobriments i les ocupacions de caixers són obres que poden interferir en els fluxos canalizats i en els desbordaments, modificant contínuament les zones inundables. Paraules clau : ventall al.luvial, risc d'inundació, processos d'inundació, concavitats, convexitats, acció antròpica

Sobre la restauració fluviali la complexitat dels rius efímers: algunes consideracions crítiques

En aquest article s"analitzen les actuacions de restauració fluvial dutes a terme a la Confederació Hidrogràfica del Xúquer entre 2008 i 2009, especialment les intervencions de restauració geomorfològica, la qual cosa ens permet una sèrie de consideracions crítiques sobre les obres. Es fan també algunes reflexions teòriques sobre els canvis ambientals i antròpics esdevinguts al llarg del segle XX i les implicacions que tenen sobre la restauració fluvial, en la mesura que aporten complexitat i incertesa a la restauració. En particular s"analitzen algunes actuacions de restauració que comprometen la connectivitat hidrològica i sedimentària, que són especialment febles en rius efímers. This paper presents a critical review of the geomorphological river restoration works carried out in the Júcar River Basin between 2008 and 2009, considering the impacts on the hydro-geomorphic systems. The scope of the environmental and anthropogenic changes occurred in the Mediterranean rivers throughout the twentieth century adds considerable complexity and uncertainty to the restoration actions. In particular several considerations are done about some restoration works that compromise the hydrological and sediment connectivity, which are particularly weak in ephemeral rivers

Teaching about Madrid: A Collaborative Agents-Based Distributed Learning Course

Interactive art courses require a huge amount of computational resources to be running on real time. These computational resources are even bigger if the course has been designed as a Virtual Environment with which students can interact. In this paper, we present an initiative that has been develop in a close collaboration between two Spanish Universities: Universidad Politécnica de Madrid and Universidad Rey Juan Carlos with the aim of join two previous research project: a Collaborative Awareness Model for Task-Balancing-Delivery (CAMT) in clusters and the “Teaching about Madrid” course, which provides a cultural interactive background of the capital of Spain

On the kinematics of massive star forming regions: the case of IRAS 17233-3606

Direct observations of accretion disks around high-mass young stellar objects would help to discriminate between different models of formation of massive stars. However, given the complexity of massive star forming regions, such studies are still limited in number. Additionally, there is still no general consensus on the molecular tracers to be used for such investigations. Because of its close distance and high luminosity, IRAS 17233-3606 is a potential good laboratory to search for traces of rotation in the inner gas around the protostar(s). Therefore, we selected the source for a detailed analysis of its molecular emission at 230 GHz with the SMA. We systematically investigated the velocity fields of transitions in the SMA spectra which are not affected by overlap with other transitions, and searched for coherent velocity gradients to compare them to the distribution of outflows in the region. Beside CO emission we also used high-angular H2 images to trace the outflow motions driven by the IRAS 17233-3606 cluster. We find linear velocity gradients in many transitions of the same molecular species and in several molecules. We report the first detection of HNCO in molecular outflows from massive YSOs. We discuss the CH3CN velocity gradient taking into account various scenarios: rotation, presence of multiple unresolved sources with different velocities, and outflow(s). Although other interpretations cannot be ruled out, we propose that the CH3CN emission might be affected by the outflows of the region. Higher angular observations are needed to discriminate between the different scenarios. The present observations, with the possible association of CH3CN with outflows in a few thousands AU around the YSOs' cluster, (i) question the choice of the tracer to probe rotating structures, and (ii) show the importance of the use of H2 images for detailed studies of kinematics.Comment: accepted for publication in A&