Action minimizing solutions of the Newtonian n-body problem: from homology to symmetry

An action minimizing path between two given configurations, spatial or planar, of the $n$-body problem is always a true -- collision-free -- solution. Based on a remarkable idea of Christian Marchal, this theorem implies the existence of new "simple" symmetric periodic solutions, among which the Eight for 3 bodies, the Hip-Hop for 4 bodies and their generalizations

Symmetry-break in Voronoi tessellations

We analyse in a common framework the properties of the Voronoi tessellations resulting from regular 2D and 3D crystals and those of tessellations generated by Poisson distributions of points, thus joining on symmetry breaking processes and the approach to uniform random distributions of seeds. We perturb crystalline structures in 2D and 3D with a spatial Gaussian noise whose adimensional strength is α and analyse the statistical properties of the cells of the resulting Voronoi tessellations using an ensemble approach. In 2D we consider triangular, square and hexagonal regular lattices, resulting into hexagonal, square and triangular tessellations, respectively. In 3D we consider the simple cubic (SC), body-centred cubic (BCC), and face-centred cubic (FCC) crystals, whose corresponding Voronoi cells are the cube, the truncated octahedron, and the rhombic dodecahedron, respectively. In 2D, for all values α>0, hexagons constitute the most common class of cells. Noise destroys the triangular and square tessellations, which are structurally unstable, as their topological properties are discontinuous in α=0. On the contrary, the honeycomb hexagonal tessellation is topologically stable and, experimentally, all Voronoi cells are hexagonal for small but finite noise with α0.5), memory of the specific initial unperturbed state is lost, because the statistical properties of the three perturbed regular tessellations are indistinguishable. When α>2, results converge to those of Poisson-Voronoi tessellations. In 2D, while the isoperimetric ratio increases with noise for the perturbed hexagonal tessellation, for the perturbed triangular and square tessellations it is optimised for specific value of noise intensity. The same applies in 3D, where noise degrades the isoperimetric ratio for perturbed FCC and BCC lattices, whereas the opposite holds for perturbed SCC lattices. This allows for formulating a weaker form of the Kelvin conjecture. By analysing jointly the statistical properties of the area and of the volume of the cells, we discover that also the cells shape heavily fluctuates when noise is introduced in the system. In 2D, the geometrical properties of n-sided cells change with α until the Poisson-Voronoi limit is reached for α>2; in this limit the Desch law for perimeters is shown to be not valid and a square root dependence on n is established, which agrees with exact asymptotic results. Anomalous scaling relations are observed between the perimeter and the area in the 2D and between the areas and the volumes of the cells in 3D: except for the hexagonal (2D) and FCC structure (3D), this applies also for infinitesimal noise. In the Poisson-Voronoi limit, the anomalous exponent is about 0.17 in both the 2D and 3D case. A positive anomaly in the scaling indicates that large cells preferentially feature large isoperimetric quotients. As the number of faces is strongly correlated with the sphericity (cells with more faces are bulkier), in 3D it is shown that the anomalous scaling is heavily reduced when we perform power law fits separately on cells with a specific number of faces

The Co-Points of Rays are Cut Points of Upper Level Sets for Busemann Functions

Abstract. We show that the co-rays to a ray in a complete non-compact Finsler manifold contain geodesic segments to upper level sets of Busemann functions. Moreover, we characterise the co-point set to a ray as the cut locus of such level sets. The structure theorem of the co-point set on a surface, namely that is a local tree, and other properties follow immediately from the known results about the cut locus. We point out that some of our findings, in special the relation of co-point set to the upper lever sets, are new even for Riemannian manifolds

Slavnov and Gaudin-Korepin Formulas for Models without U(1) Symmetry: the Twisted XXX Chain

Abstract. We consider the XXX spin-1 2 Heisenberg chain on the circle with an arbitrary twist. We characterize its spectral problem using the modified algebraic Bethe anstaz and study the scalar product between the Bethe vector and its dual. We obtain modified Slavnov and Gaudin-Korepin formulas for the model. Thus we provide a first example of such formulas for quantum integrable models without U(1) symmetry characterized by an inhomogenous Baxter T-Q equation. The study of quantum integrable models with U(1) symmetry by the Bethe ansatz (BA) methods In the case of models without U(1) symmetry, the usual BA techniques in general fail to provide a complete description of the spectrum 1 . Thus alternative methods have been developed, for instance, the separation of variables (SoV) 1 In some cases, some gauge transformation can allow to apply the ABA, see for example the XYZ spin chai

Loops in SU(2), Riemann Surfaces, and Factorization, I

Abstract. In previous work we showed that a loop g : S 1 → SU(2) has a triangular factorization if and only if the loop g has a root subgroup factorization. In this paper we present generalizations in which the unit disk and its double, the sphere, are replaced by a based compact Riemann surface with boundary, and its double. One ingredient is the theory of generalized Fourier-Laurent expansions developed by Krichever and Novikov. We show that a SU(2) valued multiloop having an analogue of a root subgroup factorization satisfies the condition that the multiloop, viewed as a transition function, defines a semistable holomorphic SL(2, C) bundle. Additionally, for such a multiloop, there is a corresponding factorization for determinants associated to the spin Toeplitz operators defined by the multiloop

The Quaternions and Bott Periodicity Are Quantum Hamiltonian Reductions

Abstract. We show that the Morita equivalences Cliff(4) H, Cliff(7) Cliff(−1), and Clif

Zamolodchikov Tetrahedral Equation and Higher Hamiltonians of 2d Quantum Integrable Systems

Abstract. The main aim of this work is to develop a method of constructing higher Hamiltonians of quantum integrable systems associated with the solution of the Zamolodchikov tetrahedral equation. As opposed to the result of V.V. Bazhanov and S.M. Sergeev the approach presented here is effective for generic solutions of the tetrahedral equation without spectral parameter. In a sense, this result is a two-dimensional generalization of the method by J.-M. Maillet. The work is a part of the project relating the tetrahedral equation with the quasi-invariants of 2-knots

Nonrenormalization of Flux Superpotentials in String Theory

Recent progress in understanding modulus stabilization in string theory relies on the existence of a non-renormalization theorem for the 4D compactifications of Type IIB supergravity which preserve N=1 supersymmetry. We provide a simple proof of this non-renormalization theorem for a broad class of Type IIB vacua using the known symmetries of these compactifications, thereby putting them on a similar footing as the better-known non-renormalization theorems of heterotic vacua without fluxes. The explicit dependence of the tree-level flux superpotential on the dilaton field makes the proof more subtle than in the absence of fluxes.Comment: 16 pages, no figures. Final version, to appear in JHEP. Arguments for validity of R-symmetry made more explicit. Minor extra comments and references adde

Vanishing cycles and mutation

This is the writeup of a talk given at the European Congress of Mathematics, Barcelona. It considers Picard-Lefschetz theory from the Floer cohomology viewpoint.Comment: 20 pages, LaTeX2e. TeXnical problem should now be fixed, so that the images will appear even if you download the .ps fil

Uplifting and Inflation with D3 Branes

Back-reaction effects can modify the dynamics of mobile D3 branes moving within type IIB vacua, in a way which has recently become calculable. We identify some of the ways these effects can alter inflationary scenarios, with the following three results: (1) By examining how the forces on the brane due to moduli-stabilizing interactions modify the angular motion of D3 branes moving in Klebanov-Strassler type throats, we show how previous slow-roll analyses can remain unchanged for some brane trajectories, while being modified for other trajectories. These forces cause the D3 brane to sink to the bottom of the throat except in a narrow region close to the D7 brane, and do not ameliorate the \eta-problem of slow roll inflation in these throats; (2) We argue that a recently-proposed back-reaction on the dilaton field can be used to provide an alternative way of uplifting these compactifications to Minkowski or De Sitter vacua, without the need for a supersymmetry-breaking anti-D3 brane; and (3) by including also the D-term forces which arise when supersymmetry-breaking fluxes are included on D7 branes we identify the 4D supergravity interactions which capture the dynamics of D3 motion in D3/D7 inflationary scenarios. The form of these potentials sheds some light on recent discussions of how symmetries constrain D term interactions in the low-energy theory.Comment: JHEP.cls, 35 pages, 3 .eps figure