1,212 research outputs found
Asymptotics of Regulated Field Commutators for Einstein-Rosen Waves
We discuss the asymptotic behavior of regulated field commutators for
linearly polarized, cylindrically symmetric gravitational waves and the
mathematical techniques needed for this analysis. We concentrate our attention
on the effects brought about by the introduction of a physical cut-off in the
study of the microcausality of the model and describe how the different
physically relevant regimes are affected by its presence. Specifically we
discuss how genuine quantum gravity effects can be disentangled from those
originating in the introduction of a regulator.Comment: 9 figures, 19 pages in DIN A4 format. Accepted for publication in
Journal of Mathematical Physic
Evolution Operators for Linearly Polarized Two-Killing Cosmological Models
We give a general procedure to obtain non perturbative evolution operators in
closed form for quantized linearly polarized two Killing vector reductions of
general relativity with a cosmological interpretation. We study the
representation of these operators in Fock spaces and discuss in detail the
conditions leading to unitary evolutions.Comment: Accepted for publication in Physical Review
Hamiltonian Dynamics of Linearly Polarized Gowdy Models Coupled to Massless Scalar Fields
The purpose of this paper is to analyze in detail the Hamiltonian formulation
for the compact Gowdy models coupled to massless scalar fields as a necessary
first step towards their quantization. We will pay special attention to the
coupling of matter and those features that arise for the three-handle and
three-sphere topologies that are not present in the well studied three torus
case -in particular the polar constraints that come from the regularity
conditions on the metric. As a byproduct of our analysis we will get an
alternative understanding, within the Hamiltonian framework, of the appearance
of initial and final singularities for these models.Comment: Final version to appear in Classical and Quantum Gravit
A new absolute arrival time data set for Europe
The main aim of this study is to create a data set of accurate absolute arrival times for stations in Europe which do not report to the International Seismological Centre (ISC). Waveforms were obtained from data centres and temporary experiments and a semi-automatic picking method was applied to determine absolute arrival times for P and S phases. 85 000 arrival times were picked whose distribution of residuals shows generally low standard deviations on the order of 0.5-0.7 s. Furthermore, mean teleseismic station residuals reflect the properties of the underlying crust and uppermost mantle. Comparison to ISC data for matching event-station-phase combinations also confirms the good quality of the new absolute arrival time picks. Most importantly, this data set complements the ISC data as it fills regional data coverage gaps in Europ
Unitary evolution of free massless fields in de Sitter space-time
We consider the quantum dynamics of a massless scalar field in de Sitter
space-time. The classical evolution is represented by a canonical
transformation on the phase space for the field theory. By studying the
corresponding Bogoliubov transformations, we show that the symplectic map that
encodes the evolution between two instants of time cannot be unitarily
implemented on any Fock space built from a SO(4)-symmetric complex structure.
We will show also that, in contrast with some effectively lower dimensional
examples arising from Quantum General Relativity such as Gowdy models, it is
impossible to find a time dependent conformal redefinition of the massless
scalar field leading to a quantum unitary dynamics.Comment: 20 pages. Comments and references adde
CRISPR-spacer integration reporter plasmids reveal distinct genuine acquisition specificities among CRISPR-Cas I-E variants of Escherichia coli
Prokaryotes immunize themselves against transmissible genetic elements by the integration (acquisition) in clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) loci of spacers homologous to invader nucleic acids, defined as protospacers. Following acquisition, mono-spacer CRISPR RNAs (termed crRNAs) guide CRISPR-associated (Cas) proteins to degrade (interference) protospacers flanked by an adjacent motif in extrachomosomal DNA. During acquisition, selection of spacer-precursors adjoining the protospacer motif and proper orientation of the integrated fragment with respect to the leader (sequence leading transcription of the flanking CRISPR array) grant efficient interference by at least some CRISPR-Cas systems. This adaptive stage of the CRISPR action is poorly characterized, mainly due to the lack of appropriate genetic strategies to address its study and, at least in Escherichia coli, the need of Cas overproduction for insertion detection. In this work, we describe the development and application in Escherichia coli strains of an interference-independent assay based on engineered selectable CRISPR-spacer integration reporter plasmids. By using this tool without the constraint of interference or cas overexpression, we confirmed fundamental aspects of this process such as the critical requirement of Cas1 and Cas2 and the identity of the CTT protospacer motif for the E. coli K12 system. In addition, we defined the CWT motif for a non-K12 CRISPR-Cas variant, and obtained data supporting the implication of the leader in spacer orientation, the preferred acquisition from plasmids harboring cas genes and the occurrence of a sequential cleavage at the insertion site by a ruler mechanism.This work was funded by the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (BIO2011-24417)
Finite-frequency Rayleigh wave tomography of the western Mediterranean: Mapping its lithospheric structure
We present a 3-D shear wave velocity model for the crust and upper mantle of the western Mediterranean from Rayleigh wave tomography. We analyzed the fundamental mode in the 20¿167 s period band (6.0¿50.0 mHz) from earthquakes recorded by a number of temporary and permanent seismograph arrays. Using the two-plane wave method, we obtained phase velocity dispersion curves that were inverted for an isotropic Vs model that extends from the southern Iberian Massif, across the Gibraltar Arc and the Atlas mountains to the Saharan Craton. The area of the western Mediterranean that we have studied has been the site of complex subduction, slab rollback, and simultaneous compression and extension during African-European convergence since the Oligocene. The shear velocity model shows high velocities beneath the Rif from 65 km depth and beneath the Granada Basin from ¿¿70 km depth that extend beneath the Alboran Domain to more than 250 km depth, which we interpret as a near-vertical slab dangling from beneath the western Alboran Sea. The slab appears to be attached to the crust beneath the Rif and possibly beneath the Granada Basin and Sierra Nevada where low shear velocities (3.8 km/s) are mapped to >55 km depth. The attached slab is pulling down the Gibraltar Arc crust, thickening it, and removing the continental margin lithospheric mantle beneath both Iberia and Morocco as it descends into the deeper mantle. Thin lithosphere is indicated by very low upper mantle velocities beneath the Alboran Sea, above and east of the dangling slab and beneath the Cenozoic volcanics.This research was funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation EAR-0808939. The deployment of the IberArray broadband seismic network is part of the CONSOLIDER CSD2006-00041 (Geosciences in Iberia: Integrated studies on Topography and 4-D Evolution) grant from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation. Additional funding was provided by the Spanish ministry under grants CGL2010-17280
and by Generalitat de Catalunya under grant 2009 SGR 6.Peer Reviewe
Quantum Cylindrical Waves and Sigma Models
We analyze cylindrical gravitational waves in vacuo with general polarization
and develop a viewpoint complementary to that presented recently by Niedermaier
showing that the auxiliary sigma model associated with this family of waves is
not renormalizable in the standard perturbative sense.Comment: 11 pages (DIN A4), accepted in International Journal of Modern
Physics
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