Primordial magnetic fields and nonlinear electrodynamics

The creation of large scale magnetic fields is studied in an inflationary universe where electrodynamics is assumed to be nonlinear. After inflation ends electrodynamics becomes linear and thus the description of reheating and the subsequent radiation dominated stage are unaltered. The nonlinear regime of electrodynamics is described by lagrangians having a power law dependence on one of the invariants of the electromagnetic field. It is found that there is a range of parameters for which primordial magnetic fields of cosmologically interesting strengths can be created.Comment: 21 pages, 3 figure

Unconventional cosmology on the (thick) brane

We consider the cosmology of a thick codimension 1 brane. We obtain the matching conditions leading to the cosmological evolution equations and show that when one includes matter with a pressure component along the extra dimension in the brane energy-momentum tensor, the cosmology is of non-standard type. In particular one can get acceleration when a dust of non-relativistic matter particles is the only source for the (modified) Friedman equation. Our equations would seem to violate the conservation of energy-momentum from a 4D perspective, but in 5D the energy-momentum is conserved. One could write down an effective conserved 4D energy-momentum tensor attaching a ``dark energy'' component to the energy-momentum tensor of matter that has pressure along the extra dimension. This extra component could, on a cosmological scale, be interpreted as matter-coupled quintessence. We comment on the effective 4D description of this effect in terms of the time evolution of a scalar field (the 5D radion) coupled to this kind of matter.Comment: 9 pages, v2. eq.(17) corrected, comments on effective theory change

Self-Dual Supersymmetric Dirac-Born-Infeld Action

We present a self-dual N=1 supersymmetric Dirac-Born-Infeld action in three dimensions. This action is based on the supersymmetric generalized self-duality in odd dimensions developed originally by Townsend, Pilch and van Nieuwenhuizen. Even though such a self-duality had been supposed to be very difficult to generalize to a supersymmetrically interacting system, we show that Dirac-Born-Infeld action is actually compatible with supersymmetry and self-duality in three-dimensions. The interactions can be further generalized to arbitrary (non)polynomial interactions. As a by-product, we also show that a third-rank field strength leads to a more natural formulation of self-duality in 3D. We also show an interesting role played by the third-rank field strength leading to a supersymmetry breaking, in addition to accommodating a Chern-Simons form.Comment: 12 pages, no figure

Equipment specification for a space rated radar altimeter Final technical report

Equipment specifications for GEOS C mission altimeter

(4aS,4bR,7R,10aS)-3,7-Dimethyl-10a-(propan-2-yl)-1,4,4a,4b,5,6,7,8,10,10a-deca­hydro­phenanthrene-1,4-dione

In the title compound, C19H26O2, the A ring adopts a chair conformation, whereas the B and C rings both adopt distorted half-chair conformations with the quaternary C atom common to both rings lying 0.577 (3) and 0.648 (3) Å out of the approximate plane defined by the remaining five C atoms (r.m.s. deviations = 0.1386 and 0.1156 Å) for the B and C rings, respectively. Mol­ecules are assembled in the crystal through C—H⋯O inter­actions involving both carbonyl O atoms, which lead to supra­molecular chains aligned along the b axis

(4R*,4aS*,4bS*,5R*,10aR*)-4-Hy­droxy-4a,5-dimethyl-2-(propan-2-yl)-1,4,4a,4b,5,6,7,8,10,10a-deca­hydro­phenan­thren-1-one

In the title compound, C19H28O2, the A ring adopts a chair conformation. Both the B and C rings adopt envelope conformations with the C atoms common to both rings and adjacent to the carbonyl and hydroxyl groups, respectively, lying 0.604 (3) and 0.634 (3) Å out of the mean planes defined by the remaining five C atoms of rings B and C, respectively (r.m.s. deviations = 0.0100 and 0.0157 Å, respectively). The formation of linear supra­molecular C(7) chains along the a axis mediated by hy­droxy-O—H⋯O(carbon­yl) hydrogen bonds is the most prominent feature of the crystal packing

Nonlinear electrodynamics and CMB polarization

Recently WMAP and BOOMERanG experiments have set stringent constraints on the polarization angle of photons propagating in an expanding universe: $\Delta \alpha = (-2.4 \pm 1.9)^\circ$. The polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background radiation (CMB) is reviewed in the context of nonlinear electrodynamics (NLED). We compute the polarization angle of photons propagating in a cosmological background with planar symmetry. For this purpose, we use the Pagels-Tomboulis (PT) Lagrangian density describing NLED, which has the form $L\sim (X/\Lambda^4)^{\delta - 1}\; X$, where $X=1/4 F_{\alpha\beta} F^{\alpha \beta}$, and $\delta$ the parameter featuring the non-Maxwellian character of the PT nonlinear description of the electromagnetic interaction. After looking at the polarization components in the plane orthogonal to the ($x$)-direction of propagation of the CMB photons, the polarization angle is defined in terms of the eccentricity of the universe, a geometrical property whose evolution on cosmic time (from the last scattering surface to the present) is constrained by the strength of magnetic fields over extragalactic distances.Comment: 17 pages, 2 figures, minor changes, references adde

Clinical presentation of pertussis in fully immunized children in Lithuania

BACKGROUND: In Lithuania, the vaccination coverage against pertussis is high. Nevertheless, there is a significant increase in pertussis cases in fully immunized children. The aim of our study was to determine the frequency of classical symptoms of laboratory confirmed pertussis and describe its epidemiology in children fully vaccinated against pertussis. METHODS: From May to December 2001, 70 children aged 1 month to 15 years, suffering from prolonged cough were investigated in the Centre of Paediatrics, Vilnius University Children's Hospital. The collected information included personal data, vaccination history, clinical symptoms of the current illness, and treatment before hospitalization. At the admission to the hospital blood samples were taken from all studied children for Bordetella pertussis IgM and IgA. RESULTS: A total of 53 (75.7%) of the 70 recruited patients with prolonged cough showed laboratory evidence of pertussis. 32 of them were fully vaccinated with whole cell pertussis vaccine (DTP). The age of fully vaccinated patients varied from 4 to 15 years (average 10.9 ± 3.1; median 11). The time period between the last vaccination dose (fourth) and the clinical manifestation of pertussis was 2.6–13 years (average 8.9 ± 3.0; median 9). More than half of the children before the beginning of pertussis were in contact with persons suffering from long lasting cough illness in the family, school or day-care center. The mean duration from onset of pertussis symptoms until hospitalization was 61.4 ± 68.3 days (range, 7 to 270 days; median 30). For 11 patients who had had two episodes (waves) of coughing, the median duration of cough was 90 days, and for 21 with one episode 30 days (p < 0.0002). Most of the children (84.4%) had paroxysmal cough, 31.3% had post-tussive vomiting, 28.1% typical whoop, and 3.1% apnea. Only 15.6% children had atypical symptoms of pertussis. CONCLUSION: Fully vaccinated children fell ill with pertussis at the median of 11 years old, 9 years following pertussis vaccination. More than half of the children could catch pertussis at home, at school or day-care center. Clinical picture of pertussis in previously immunized children is usually characterized by such classical symptoms as prolonged and paroxysmal cough, rarely by whopping and post-tussive vomiting, and very rarely by apnea