The Threebrane Soliton of the M-Fivebrane

We discuss the supersymmetry algebra of the M theory fivebrane and obtain a new threebrane soliton preserving half of the six-dimensional supersymmetry. This solution is dimensionally reduced to various D-p-branes.Comment: 10 pages, phyzz

A New Massive Type IIA Supergravity From Compactification

We consider the most general form for eleven dimensional supersymmetry compatible with on-shell superfields. This allows for the introduction of a conformal Spin(1,10) connection. In eleven dimensional Minkowski space this modification is trivial and can be removed by a field redefinition, however, upon compactification on S^1 it is possible to introduce a non-trivial `Wilson line'. The resulting ten dimensional supergravity has massive 1-form and 3-form potentials and a cosmological constant. This theory does not possess a supersymmetric eightbrane soliton but it does admit a supersymmetric non-static cosmological solution.Comment: 13 pages, phyzzx. The introduction is clarifed and a reference adde

The Principal Axis of the Virgo Cluster

Using accurate distances to individual Virgo cluster galaxies obtained by the method of Surface Brightness Fluctuations, we show that Virgo's brightest ellipticals have a remarkably collinear arrangement in three dimensions. This axis, which is inclined by 10 to 15 degrees from the line of sight, can be traced to even larger scales where it appears to join a filamentary bridge of galaxies connecting Virgo to the rich cluster Abell 1367. The orientations of individual Virgo ellipticals also show some tendency to be aligned with the cluster axis, as does the jet of the supergiant elliptical M87. These results suggest that the formation of the Virgo cluster, and its brightest member galaxies, have been driven by infall of material along the Virgo-A1367 filament.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ Letter

The Low-level Spectrum of the W3W_3 String

We investigate the spectrum of physical states in the $W_3$ string theory, up to level 2 for a multi-scalar string, and up to level 4 for the two-scalar string. The (open) $W_3$ string has a photon as its only massless state. By using screening charges to study the null physical states in the two-scalar $W_3$ string, we are able to learn about the gauge symmetries of the states in the multi-scalar $W_3$ string.Comment: 31 pages, Plain Tex, CTP TAMU-70/92, Goteborg ITP 92-43, Imperial/TP/91-92/22, KCL-TH-92-

Inscribing property, rituals, and royal alliances: The ‘Theutberga Gospels’ and the Abbey of Remiremont

This paper examines the ‘Theutberga Gospels’, a ninth-century gospelbook recently sold at auction at Christie’s in London, in light of questions about literate practices, ritual scripting and aristocratic patronage of female religious communities in Lotharingia between the middle decades of the ninth century and the beginning of the eleventh. While an estate list entered into the manuscript c. 1000 likely refers to property management at the abbey of Remiremont, an ordination ritual for abbesses entered roughly a century earlier reveals significant efforts to revise the representation of abbatial office in a transitional phase of that institution’s existence. These observations invite re-interpretation of traditional assumptions about how the manuscript should be located in mid-ninth-century patronage networks. Appended to the article are editions of the estate list and the ordination ritual

ESO 3060170 -- a massive fossil galaxy group with a heated gas core?

We present a detailed study of the ESO 3060170 galaxy group combining Chandra, XMM and optical observations. The system is found to be a fossil galaxy group. The group X-ray emission is composed of a central dense cool core (10 kpc in radius) and an isothermal medium beyond the central 10 kpc. The region between 10 and 50 kpc (the cooling radius) has the same temperature as the gas from 50 kpc to 400 kpc although the gas cooling time between 10 and 50 kpc (2 - 6 Gyr) is shorter than the Hubble time. Thus, the ESO 3060170 group does not have a group-sized cooling core. We suggest that the group cooling core may have been heated by a central AGN outburst in the past and the small dense cool core is the truncated relic of a previous cooling core. The Chandra observations also reveal a variety of X-ray features in the central region, including a ``finger'', an edge-like feature and a small ``tail'', all aligned along a north-south axis, as are the galaxy light and group galaxy distribution. The proposed AGN outburst may cause gas ``sloshing'' around the center and produce these asymmetric features. The observed flat temperature profile to 1/3 R_vir is not consistent with the predicted temperature profile in recent numerical simulations. We compare the entropy profile of the ESO 3060170 group with those of three other groups and find a flatter relation than that predicted by simulations involving only shock heating, S $\propto$ r$^{~ 0.85}$. This is direct evidence for the importance of non-gravitational processes in group centers. We derive the mass profiles within 1/3 R_vir and find the ESO 3060170 group is the most massive fossil group known (1 - 2 X 10$^{14}$ M$_{\odot}$). The M/L ratio of the system, ~ 150 at 0.3 R_vir, is normal.Comment: 17 pages, 12 figures, to appear in ApJ. A high-resolution version can be downloaded from http://cxc.harvard.edu/~msun/esoa.p

Very Extended E8E_8 and A8A_8 at low levels, Gravity and Supergravity

We define a level for a large class of Lorentzian Kac-Moody algebras. Using this we find the representation content of very extended $A_{D-3}$ and $E_8$ (i.e. $E_{11}$) at low levels in terms of $A_{D-1}$ and $A_{10}$ representations respectively. The results are consistent with the conjectured very extended $A_8$ and $E_{11}$ symmetries of gravity and maximal supergravity theories given respectively in hep-th/0104081 and hep-th/0107209. We explain how these results provided further evidence for these conjectures.Comment: 16 pages, plain tex (equation 3.3 modified and one reference expanded

The luminous late-time emission of the type Ic supernova iPTF15dtg - evidence for powering from a magnetar?

iPTF15dtg is a Type Ic supernova (SN) showing a broad light curve around maximum light, consistent with massive ejecta if we assume a radioactive-powering scenario. We study the late-time light curve of iPTF15dtg, which turned out to be extraordinarily luminous for a stripped-envelope (SE) SN. We compare the observed light curves to those of other SE SNe and also with models for the $^{56}$Co decay. We analyze and compare the spectra to nebular spectra of other SE SNe. We build a bolometric light curve and fit it with different models, including powering by radioactivity, magnetar powering, as well as a combination of the two. Between 150 d and 750 d past explosion, iPTF15dtg's luminosity declined by merely two magnitudes instead of the six magnitudes expected from $^{56}$Co decay. This is the first spectroscopically-regular SE SN showing this behavior. The model with both radioactivity and magnetar powering provides the best fit to the light curve and appears to be the more realistic powering mechanism. An alternative mechanism might be CSM interaction. However, the spectra of iPTF15dtg are very similar to those of other SE SNe, and do not show signs of strong CSM interaction. iPTF15dtg is the first spectroscopically-regular SE SN whose light curve displays such clear signs of a magnetar contributing to the powering of the late time light curve. Given this result, the mass of the ejecta needs to be revised to a lower value, and therefore the progenitor mass could be significantly lower than the previously estimated $>$35 $M_{\odot}$.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysic