Forces from noncommutative geometry

Einstein derived general relativity from Riemannian geometry. Connes extends this derivation to noncommutative geometry and obtains electro-magnetic, weak and strong forces. These are pseudo forces, that accompany the gravitational force just as in Minkowskian geometry the magnetic force accompanies the electric force. The main physical input of Connes' derivation is parity violation. His main output is the Higgs boson which breaks the gauge symmetry spontaneously and gives masses to gauge and Higgs bosons.Comment: 15 p. LaTeX, talk at the annuel meeting of the French Physical Society, Strasbourg, july 0

Yang-Mills gauge anomalies in the presence of gravity with torsion

The BRST transformations for the Yang-Mills gauge fields in the presence of gravity with torsion are discussed by using the so-called Maurer-Cartan horizontality conditions. With the help of an operator \d which allows to decompose the exterior spacetime derivative as a BRST commutator we solve the Wess-Zumino consistency condition corresponding to invariant Chern-Simons terms and gauge anomalies.Comment: 24 pages, report REF. TUW 94-1

Reconstructing Quantum Geometry from Quantum Information: Spin Networks as Harmonic Oscillators

Loop Quantum Gravity defines the quantum states of space geometry as spin networks and describes their evolution in time. We reformulate spin networks in terms of harmonic oscillators and show how the holographic degrees of freedom of the theory are described as matrix models. This allow us to make a link with non-commutative geometry and to look at the issue of the semi-classical limit of LQG from a new perspective. This work is thought as part of a bigger project of describing quantum geometry in quantum information terms.Comment: 16 pages, revtex, 3 figure

Spectral action, Weyl anomaly and the Higgs-Dilaton potential

We show how the bosonic spectral action emerges from the fermionic action by the renormalization group flow in the presence of a dilaton and the Weyl anomaly. The induced action comes out to be basically the Chamseddine-Connes spectral action introduced in the context of noncommutative geometry. The entire spectral action describes gauge and Higgs fields coupled with gravity. We then consider the effective potential and show, that it has the desired features of a broken and an unbroken phase, with the roll down.Comment: 23 pages, 4 figure

The placebo effect in the motor domain is differently modulated by the external and internal focus of attention

Among the cognitive strategies that can facilitate motor performance in sport and physical practice, a prominent role is played by the direction of the focus of attention and the placebo effect. Consistent evidence converges in indicating that these two cognitive functions can influence the motor outcome, although no study up-to-now tried to study them together in the motor domain. In this explorative study, we combine for the first time these approaches, by applying a placebo procedure to increase force and by manipulating the focus of attention with explicit verbal instructions. Sixty healthy volunteers were asked to perform abduction movements with the index finger as strongly as possible against a piston and attention could be directed either toward the movements of the finger (internal focus, IF) or toward the movements of the piston (external focus, EF). Participants were randomized in 4 groups: two groups underwent a placebo procedure (Placebo-IF and Placebo-EF), in which an inert treatment was applied on the finger with verbal information on its positive effects on force; two groups underwent a control procedure (Control-IF and Control-EF), in which the same treatment was applied with overt information about its inefficacy. The placebo groups were conditioned about the effects of the treatment with a surreptitious amplification of a visual feedback signalling the level of force. During the whole procedure, we recorded actual force, subjective variables and electromyography from the hand muscles. The Placebo-IF group had higher force levels after the procedure than before, whereas the Placebo-EF group had a decrease of force. Electromyography showed that the Placebo-IF group increased the muscle units recruitment without changing the firing rate. These findings show for the first time that the placebo effect in motor performance can be influenced by the subject\u2019s attentional focus, being enhanced with the internal focus of attention

C14ORF39/SIX6OS1 is a constituent of the synaptonemal complex and is essential for mouse fertility

Meiotic recombination generates crossovers between homologous chromosomes that are essential for genome haploidization. The synaptonemal complex is a ‘zipper’-like protein assembly that synapses homologue pairs together and provides the structural framework for processing recombination sites into crossovers. Humans show individual differences in the number of crossovers generated across the genome. Recently, an anonymous gene variant in C14ORF39/SIX6OS1 was identified that influences the recombination rate in humans. Here we show that C14ORF39/SIX6OS1 encodes a component of the central element of the synaptonemal complex. Yeast two-hybrid analysis reveals that SIX6OS1 interacts with the well-established protein synaptonemal complex central element 1 (SYCE1). Mice lacking SIX6OS1 are defective in chromosome synapsis at meiotic prophase I, which provokes an arrest at the pachytene-like stage and results in infertility. In accordance with its role as a modifier of the human recombination rate, SIX6OS1 is essential for the appropriate processing of intermediate recombination nodules before crossover formation.This work was supported by BFU_2014-59307-R, MEIONet and JCyLe (CSI052U16). LGH and NFM are supported by European Social Fund/JCyLe grants (EDU/1083/2013 and EDU/310/2015). ORD is a Sir Henry Dale Fellow jointly funded by the Wellcome Trust and Royal Society (Grant Number 104158/Z/14/Z). RB is funded by DFG (grant Be1168/8-1). AT and ID were supported by DFG grants TO421/8-2 and TO421/6-1, respectively.Peer reviewe