Strings And Dyonic Plasmas

Recently Olesen has shown the existence of dual string solutions to the equations of ideal Magnetohydrodynamics that describe the long wavelength properties of electrically charged plasmas. Here, we extend these solutions to include the case of plasmas consisting of point like dyons, which carry both electric and magnetic charge. Such strings are dyonic in that they consist of both magnetic and electric flux. We contrast some physical features of dyonic plasmas with those of the purely electric or magnetic type, particularly in relation to the validity of the ideal approximation.Comment: 11 pages, LaTeX, no figure

Variability of the soft X-ray excess in IRAS 13224-3809

We study the soft excess variability of the narrow line Seyfert 1 galaxy IRAS 13224-3809. We considered all five archival XMM-Newton observations, and we applied the 'flux-flux plot' (FFP) method. We found that the flux-flux plots were highly affected by the choice of the light curves' time bin size, most probably because of the fast and large amplitude variations, and the intrinsic non-linear flux--flux relations in this source. Therefore, we recommend that the smallest bin-size should be used in such cases. Hence, We constructed FFPs in 11 energy bands below 1.7 keV, and we considered the 1.7-3 keV band, as being representative of the primary emission. The FFPs are reasonably well fitted by a 'power-law plus a constant' model. We detected significant positive constants in three out of five observations. The best-fit slopes are flatter than unity at energies below $\sim 0.9$ keV, where the soft excess is strongest. This suggests the presence of intrinsic spectral variability. A power-law-like primary component, which is variable in flux and spectral slope (as $\Gamma\propto N_{\rm PL}^{0.1}$) and a soft-excess component, which varies with the primary continuum (as $F_{\rm excess}\propto F_{\rm primary}^{0.46}$), can broadly explain the FFPs. In fact, this can create positive `constants', even when a stable spectral component does not exist. Nevertheless, the possibility of a stable, soft--band constant component cannot be ruled out, but its contribution to the observed 0.2-1 keV band flux should be less than $\sim 15$ %. The model constants in the FFPs were consistent with zero in one observation, and negative at energies below 1 keV in another. It is hard to explain these results in the context of any spectral variability scenario, but they may signify the presence of a variable, warm absorber in the source.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A, 10 pages, 7 figure

Modular Symmetries, Threshold Corrections And Moduli For Z2×Z2Z_2 \times Z_2 Orbifolds

${\bf Z}_2\times {\bf Z}_2$ Coxeter orbifolds are constructed with the property that some twisted sectors have fixed planes for which the six-torus can not be decomposed into a direct sum ${\bf T}^2\bigoplus{\bf T}^4$ with the fixed plane lying in ${\bf T}^2$. The string loop threshold corrections to the gauge coupling constants are derived, and display symmetry groups for the $T$ and $U$ moduli that are subgroups of the full modular group $PSL(2,Z)$. The effective potential for duality invariant gaugino condensate in the presence of hidden sector matter is constructed and minimized for the values of the moduli. The effect of Wilson lines on the modular symmetries is also studied.Comment: QMW--TH--94/18, 12 page

Special Geometry and Twisted Moduli in Orbifold Theories with Continuous Wilson Lines

Target space duality symmetries, which acts on K\"ahler and continuous Wilson line moduli, of a ${\bf Z}_N$ ($N\not=2$) 2-dimensional subspace of the moduli space of orbifold compactification are modified to include twisted moduli. These spaces described by the cosets $SU(n,1)\over SU(n)\times U(1)$ are $special$ K\"ahler, a fact which is exploited in deriving the extension of tree level duality transformation to include higher orders of the twisted moduli. Also, restrictions on these higher order terms are derived.Comment: 13 page

Duality Symmetries in Orbifold Models

We derive the duality symmetries relevant to moduli dependent gauge coupling constant threshold corrections, in Coxeter ${\bf Z_N}$ orbifolds. We consider those orbifolds for which the point group leaves fixed a 2-dimensional sublattice $\Lambda_2$, of the six dimensional torus lattice $\Lambda_6$, where $\Lambda_6$ cannot be decomposed as $\Lambda_2 \bigoplus{\Lambda_4}.$Comment: 13 pages, QMW--TH--93/21, SUSX--TH--93/1

General Static N=2 Black Holes

We find general static BPS black hole solutions for general N=2, d=4 supergravity theories with an arbitrary number of vector multiplets. These solutions are completely specified by the K\"ahler potential of the underlying special K\"ahler geometry and a set of constrained harmonic functions.Comment: Latex, 7 pages, typos corrected, version to appear in MPL

Anisotropic Solutions For Orbifold Moduli From Duality Invariant Gaugino Condensates

The values of the $T$ and $U$ moduli are studied for those ${\bf Z}_N$ Coxeter orbifolds with the property that some of the twisted sectors have fixed planes for which the six-torus ${\bf T}^6$ can not be decomposed into a direct sum ${\bf T}^2\bigoplus {\bf T}^4$ with the fixed plane lying in ${\bf T}^2$. Such moduli in general transform under a subgroup of the modular group $SL(2,Z).$ The moduli are determined by minimizing the effective potential derived from a duality invariant gaugino condensate.Comment: QMW--TH--94/11, SUSX--TH--94/11, 16 page

Modular Symmetries in ZNZ_N Orbifold Compactified String Theories with Wilson lines

Target space modular symmetries relevant to string loop threshold corrections are studied for $Z_N$ orbifold compactified string theories containing Wilson line background fields.Comment: SUSX--TH--93/17, QMW--TH--93/31, 12 page

Towards c=0 Flows

We discuss some implications of the gravitational dressing of the renormalization group for conformal field theories perturbed by relevant operators. The renormalization group flows are defined with respect to the dilatation operator associated with the $J_0^{(0)}$ mode of the $SL(2,R)$ affine algebra. We discuss the possibility of passing under the $c=25$ barrier along renormalization group flows in some models.Comment: LaTex file, 11 pages, QMW Preprint, QMW 94-2