1,125 research outputs found
Multi-Instantons and Multi-Cuts
We discuss various aspects of multi-instanton configurations in generic
multi-cut matrix models. Explicit formulae are presented in the two-cut case
and, in particular, we obtain general formulae for multi-instanton amplitudes
in the one-cut matrix model case as a degeneration of the two-cut case. These
formulae show that the instanton gas is ultra-dilute, due to the repulsion
among the matrix model eigenvalues. We exemplify and test our general results
in the cubic matrix model, where multi-instanton amplitudes can be also
computed with orthogonal polynomials. As an application, we derive general
expressions for multi-instanton contributions in two-dimensional quantum
gravity, verifying them by computing the instanton corrections to the string
equation. The resulting amplitudes can be interpreted as regularized partition
functions for multiple ZZ-branes, which take into full account their
back-reaction on the target geometry. Finally, we also derive structural
properties of the trans-series solution to the Painleve I equation.Comment: 34 pages, 3 figures, JHEP3.cls; v2: added references, minor changes;
v3: added 1 reference, more minor changes, final version for JMP; v4: more
typos correcte
Future Foam
We study pocket universes which have zero cosmological constant and
non-trivial boundary topology. These arise from bubble collisions in eternal
inflation. Using a simplified dust model of collisions we find that boundaries
of any genus can occur. Using a radiation shell model we perform analytic
studies in the thin wall limit to show the existence of geometries with a
single toroidal boundary. We give plausibility arguments that higher genus
boundaries can also occur. In geometries with one boundary of any genus a
timelike observer can see the entire boundary. Geometries with multiple
disconnected boundaries can also occur. In the spherical case with two
boundaries the boundaries are separated by a horizon. Our results suggest that
the holographic dual description for eternal inflation, proposed by Freivogel,
Sekino, Susskind and Yeh, should include summation over the genus of the base
space of the dual conformal field theory. We point out peculiarities of this
genus expansion compared to the string perturbation series.Comment: 23 pages, 6 figure
Black Holes and Large Order Quantum Geometry
We study five-dimensional black holes obtained by compactifying M theory on
Calabi-Yau threefolds. Recent progress in solving topological string theory on
compact, one-parameter models allows us to test numerically various conjectures
about these black holes. We give convincing evidence that a microscopic
description based on Gopakumar-Vafa invariants accounts correctly for their
macroscopic entropy, and we check that highly nontrivial cancellations -which
seem necessary to resolve the so-called entropy enigma in the OSV conjecture-
do in fact occur. We also study analytically small 5d black holes obtained by
wrapping M2 branes in the fiber of K3 fibrations. By using heterotic/type II
duality we obtain exact formulae for the microscopic degeneracies in various
geometries, and we compute their asymptotic expansion for large charges.Comment: 42 pages, 20 eps figures, small correction
Comment on ``Inflation and flat directions in modular invariant superstring effective theories''
The inflation model of Gaillard, Lyth and Murayama is revisited, with a
systematic scan of the parameter space for dilaton stabilization during
inflation.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figure
Occurrence of an Ocean Sunfish (Mola mola) Larva in the Florida Current
During a yearlong ichthyoplankton survey conducted in the Florida Current, a single ocean sunfish, Mola mola, was found from the 284 samples and 1,454 identified specimens. This sunfish larva is one of only 17 on record from the Gulf of Mexico and northwest Atlantic
Black Holes and Random Matrices
We argue that the late time behavior of horizon fluctuations in large anti-de
Sitter (AdS) black holes is governed by the random matrix dynamics
characteristic of quantum chaotic systems. Our main tool is the
Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev (SYK) model, which we use as a simple model of a black hole.
We use an analytically continued partition function as well
as correlation functions as diagnostics. Using numerical techniques we
establish random matrix behavior at late times. We determine the early time
behavior exactly in a double scaling limit, giving us a plausible estimate for
the crossover time to random matrix behavior. We use these ideas to formulate a
conjecture about general large AdS black holes, like those dual to 4D
super-Yang-Mills theory, giving a provisional estimate of the crossover time.
We make some preliminary comments about challenges to understanding the late
time dynamics from a bulk point of view.Comment: 73 pages, 15 figures, minor errors correcte
A note on spherically symmetric naked singularities in general dimension
We discuss generalizations of the recent theorem by Dafermos (hep-th/0403033)
forbidding a certain class of naked singularities in the spherical collapse of
a scalar field. Employing techniques similar to the ones Dafermos used, we
consider extending the theorem (1) to higher dimensions, (2) by including more
general matter represented by a stress-energy tensor satisfying certain
assumptions, and (3) by replacing the spherical geometry by a toroidal or
higher genus (locally hyperbolic) one. We show that the extension to higher
dimensions and a more general topology is straightforward; on the other hand,
replacing the scalar field by a more general matter content forces us to shrink
the class of naked singularities we are able to exclude. We then show that the
most common matter theories (scalar field interacting with a non-abelian gauge
field and a perfect fluid satisfying certain conditions) obey the assumptions
of our weaker theorem, and we end by commenting on the applicability of our
results to the five-dimensional AdS scenarii considered recently in the
literature.Comment: 16 pages, no figures, typos fixe
- …