46 research outputs found
Minding the Terrazzo Gap between Athletes and Nonathletes: Representativeness, Integration, and Academic Performance at the U.S. Air Force Academy
The tension between focusing on collegiate athletic or academic performance has persisted for decades. A recent study finds that recruited athletes in college athletic programs underperform academically, earning lower grades than predicted. It postulates that increased representativeness and integration efforts will enhance the academic value of college athletes’ experience. The U.S. Air Force Academy system presents a natural experiment of whether such efforts can affect student-athlete academic performance. In this setting, we find that student-athletes perform comparably to nonathletes after controlling for predicted academic performance
Courant-like brackets and loop spaces
We study the algebra of local functionals equipped with a Poisson bracket. We
discuss the underlying algebraic structures related to a version of the
Courant-Dorfman algebra. As a main illustration, we consider the functionals
over the cotangent bundle of the superloop space over a smooth manifold. We
present a number of examples of the Courant-like brackets arising from this
analysis.Comment: 20 pages, the version published in JHE
Sigma models with off-shell N=(4,4) supersymmetry and noncommuting complex structures
We describe the conditions for extra supersymmetry in N=(2,2) supersymmetric
nonlinear sigma models written in terms of semichiral superfields. We find that
some of these models have additional off-shell supersymmetry. The (4,4)
supersymmetry introduces geometrical structures on the target-space which are
conveniently described in terms of Yano f-structures and Magri-Morosi
concomitants. On-shell, we relate the new structures to the known
bi-hypercomplex structures.Comment: 20 pages; v2: significant corrections, clarifications, and
reorganization; v3: discussion of supersymmetry vs twisted supersymmetry
added, relevant signs corrected
Spherically Symmetric and Rotating Wormholes Produced by Lightlike Branes
Lightlike p-branes (LL-branes) with dynamical (variable) tension allow simple
and elegant Polyakov-type and dual to it Nambu-Goto-like world-volume action
formulations. Here we first briefly describe the dynamics of LL-branes as test
objects in various physically interesting gravitational backgrounds of black
hole type, including rotating ones. Next we show that LL-branes are the
appropriate gravitational sources that provide proper matter energy momentum
tensors in the Einstein equations of motion needed to generate traversable
wormhole solutions, in particular, self-consistent cylindrical rotating
wormholes, with the LL-branes occupying their throats. Here a major role is
being played by the dynamical LL-brane tension which turns out to be negative
but may be of arbitrary small magnitude. As a particular solution we obtain
traversable wormhole with Schwarzschild geometry generated by a LL-brane
positioned at the wormhole throat, which represents the correct consistent
realization of the original Einstein-Rosen "bridge" manifold.Comment: 27 pages; important clarifications regarding the meaning of the
original Einstein-Rosen "bridge" construction; an important addition to the
Appendix; acknowledgments adde
Gauged (2,2) Sigma Models and Generalized Kahler Geometry
We gauge the (2,2) supersymmetric non-linear sigma model whose target space
has bihermitian structure (g, B, J_{\pm}) with noncommuting complex structures.
The bihermitian geometry is realized by a sigma model which is written in terms
of (2,2) semi-chiral superfields. We discuss the moment map, from the
perspective of the gauged sigma model action and from the integrability
condition for a Hamiltonian vector field. We show that for a concrete example,
the SU(2) x U(1) WZNW model, as well as for the sigma models with almost
product structure, the moment map can be used together with the corresponding
Killing vector to form an element of T+T* which lies in the eigenbundle of the
generalized almost complex structure. Lastly, we discuss T-duality at the level
of a (2,2) sigma model involving semi-chiral superfields and present an
explicit example.Comment: 33 page
New advancements in charge-coupled device technology: sub-electron noise and 4096x4096 pixel CCDs
This paper reports on two new advancements in CCD technology. The first area of development has produced a special purpose CCD designed for ultra low-signal level imaging and spectroscopy applications that require sub-electron read noise floors. A nondestructive output circuit operating near its 1/f noise regime is clocked in a special manner to read a single pixel multiple times. Off-chip electronics average the multiple values, reducing the random noise by the square-root of the number of samples taken. Noise floors below 0.5 electrons rms are reported. The second development involves the design and performance of a high resolution imager of 4096 x 4096 pixels, the largest CCD manufactured in terms of pixel count. The device utilizes a 7.5-micron pixel fabricated with three-level poly-silicon to achieve high yield
Topological twisted sigma model with H-flux revisited
In this paper we revisit the topological twisted sigma model with H-flux. We
explicitly expand and then twist the worldsheet Lagrangian for bi-Hermitian
geometry. we show that the resulting action consists of a BRST exact term and
pullback terms, which only depend on one of the two generalized complex
structures and the B-field. We then discuss the topological feature of the
model.Comment: 16 pages. Appendix adde
NS-NS fluxes in Hitchin's generalized geometry
The standard notion of NS-NS 3-form flux is lifted to Hitchin's generalized
geometry. This generalized flux is given in terms of an integral of a modified
Nijenhuis operator over a generalized 3-cycle. Explicitly evaluating the
generalized flux in a number of familiar examples, we show that it can compute
three-form flux, geometric flux and non-geometric Q-flux. Finally, a
generalized connection that acts on generalized vectors is described and we
show how the flux arises from it.Comment: 21 pages, 1 figure; v3: minor change
Hiding and Confining Charges via "Tube-like" Wormholes
We describe two interesting effects in wormhole physics. First, we find that
a genuinely charged matter source may appear neutral to an external observer -
a phenomenon opposite to the famous Misner-Wheeler "charge without charge"
effect. This phenomenon takes place when coupling a bulk
gravity/nonlinear-gauge-field system to a charged lightlike brane as a matter
source. The "charge-hiding" effect occurs in a wormhole solution which connects
a non-compact "universe", comprising the exterior region of
Schwarzschild-(anti-)de-Sitter (SdS) or purely Schwarzschild black hole beyond
the Schwarzschild horizon, to a Levi-Civita-Bertotti-Robinson-type (LCBR)
"tube-like" "universe" via a wormhole "throat" occupied by the brane. In this
solution the whole electric flux produced by the brane is expelled into the
"tube-like" "universe" and the brane is detected as neutral by an observer in
the non-compact "universe". Next, we find a truly charge-confining wormhole
solution when we couple the bulk gravity/nonlinear-gauge-field system to two
oppositely charged lightlike branes. The latter system possesses a "two-throat"
wormhole solution, where the "left-most" and the "right-most" "universes" are
two identical copies of the exterior region of SdS black hole beyond the
Schwarzschild horizon, whereas the "middle" "universe" is of LCBR "tube-like"
form with geometry dS_2 x S^2. It comprises the finite-extent intermediate
region of dS_2 between its two horizons. Both "throats" are occupied by the two
oppositely charged lightlike branes and the whole electric flux produced by the
latter is confined entirely within the middle "tube-like" "universe". A crucial
ingredient is the special form of the nonlinear gauge field action, which
contains both the standard Maxwell term as well as a square root of the latter.
This theory was previously shown to produce a QCD-like confining dynamics in
flat space-time.Comment: 26 pages, 2 figures; v.2 several references added, missing constant
factors in few equations inserted, acknowledgement added, results unchanged;
v.3 28 pages, several clarifying remarks, references and acknowledgements
added, version to appear in International Journal of Modern Physics