348 research outputs found
Supersymmetric AdS_4 black holes and attractors
Using the general recipe given in arXiv:0804.0009, where all timelike
supersymmetric solutions of N=2, D=4 gauged supergravity coupled to abelian
vector multiplets were classified, we construct the first examples of genuine
supersymmetric black holes in AdS_4 with nonconstant scalar fields. This is
done for various choices of the prepotential, amongst others for the STU model.
These solutions permit to study the BPS attractor flow in AdS. We also
determine the most general supersymmetric static near-horizon geometry and
obtain the attractor equations in gauged supergravity. As a general feature we
find the presence of flat directions in the black hole potential, i.e.,
generically the values of the moduli on the horizon are not completely
specified by the charges. For one of the considered prepotentials, the
resulting moduli space is determined explicitely. Still, in all cases, we find
that the black hole entropy depends only on the charges, in agreement with the
attractor mechanism.Comment: 25 pages, uses JHEP3.cl
Early-Time Energy Loss in a Strongly-Coupled SYM Plasma
We carry out an analytic study of the early-time motion of a quark in a
strongly-coupled maximally-supersymmetric Yang-Mills plasma, using the AdS/CFT
correspondence. Our approach extracts the first thermal effects as a small
perturbation of the known quark dynamics in vacuum, using a double expansion
that is valid for early times and for (moderately) ultrarelativistic quark
velocities. The quark is found to lose energy at a rate that differs
significantly from the previously derived stationary/late-time result: it
scales like T^4 instead of T^2, and is associated with a friction coefficient
that is not independent of the quark momentum. Under conditions representative
of the quark-gluon plasma as obtained at RHIC, the early energy loss rate is a
few times smaller than its late-time counterpart. Our analysis additionally
leads to thermally-corrected expressions for the intrinsic energy and momentum
of the quark, in which the previously discovered limiting velocity of the quark
is found to appear naturally.Comment: 39 pages, no figures. v2: Minor corrections and clarifications.
References added. Version to be published in JHE
Coulomb-blockade transport in single-crystal organic thin-film transistors
Coulomb-blockade transport—whereby the Coulomb interaction between electrons can prohibit their transport around a circuit—occurs in systems in which both the tunnel resistance, RT, between neighbouring sites is large (»h/e2) and the charging energy, EC (EC = e2/2C, where C is the capacitance of the site), of an excess electron on a site is large compared to kT. (Here e is the charge of an electron, k is Boltzmann's constant, and h is Planck's constant.) The nature of the individual sites—metallic, superconducting, semiconducting or quantum dot—is to first order irrelevant for this phenomenon to be observed. Coulomb blockade has also been observed in two-dimensional arrays of normal-metal tunnel junctions, but the relatively large capacitances of these micrometre-sized metal islands results in a small charging energy, and so the effect can be seen only at extremely low temperatures. Here we demonstrate that organic thin-film transistors based on highly ordered molecular materials can, to first order, also be considered as an array of sites separated by tunnel resistances. And as a result of the sub-nanometre sizes of the sites (the individual molecules), and hence their small capacitances, the charging energy dominates at room temperature. Conductivity measurements as a function of both gate bias and temperature reveal the presence of thermally activated transport, consistent with the conventional model of Coulomb blockade.
Stochastic Gravity: Theory and Applications
Whereas semiclassical gravity is based on the semiclassical Einstein equation
with sources given by the expectation value of the stress-energy tensor of
quantum fields, stochastic semiclassical gravity is based on the
Einstein-Langevin equation, which has in addition sources due to the noise
kernel.In the first part, we describe the fundamentals of this new theory via
two approaches: the axiomatic and the functional. In the second part, we
describe three applications of stochastic gravity theory. First, we consider
metric perturbations in a Minkowski spacetime: we compute the two-point
correlation functions for the linearized Einstein tensor and for the metric
perturbations. Second, we discuss structure formation from the stochastic
gravity viewpoint. Third, we discuss the backreaction of Hawking radiation in
the gravitational background of a quasi-static black hole.Comment: 75 pages, no figures, submitted to Living Reviews in Relativit
Critical Trapped Surfaces Formation in the Collision of Ultrarelativistic Charges in (A)dS
We study the formation of marginally trapped surfaces in the head-on
collision of two ultrarelativistic charges in space-time. The metric of
ultrarelativistic charged particles in is obtained by boosting
Reissner-Nordstr\"om space-time to the speed of light. We show that
formation of trapped surfaces on the past light cone is only possible when
charge is below certain critical - situation similar to the collision of two
ultrarelativistic charges in Minkowski space-time. This critical value depends
on the energy of colliding particles and the value of a cosmological constant.
There is richer structure of critical domains in case. In this case
already for chargeless particles there is a critical value of the cosmological
constant only below which trapped surfaces formation is possible. Appearance of
arbitrary small nonzero charge significantly changes the physical picture.
Critical effect which has been observed in the neutral case does not take place
more. If the value of the charge is not very large solution to the equation on
trapped surface exists for any values of cosmological radius and energy density
of shock waves. Increasing of the charge leads to decrease of the trapped
surface area, and at some critical point the formation of trapped surfaces of
the type mentioned above becomes impossible.Comment: 30 pages, Latex, 7 figures, Refs. added and typos correcte
Stochastic Gravity: Theory and Applications
Whereas semiclassical gravity is based on the semiclassical Einstein equation
with sources given by the expectation value of the stress-energy tensor of
quantum fields, stochastic semiclassical gravity is based on the
Einstein-Langevin equation, which has in addition sources due to the noise
kernel. In the first part, we describe the fundamentals of this new theory via
two approaches: the axiomatic and the functional. In the second part, we
describe three applications of stochastic gravity theory. First, we consider
metric perturbations in a Minkowski spacetime, compute the two-point
correlation functions of these perturbations and prove that Minkowski spacetime
is a stable solution of semiclassical gravity. Second, we discuss structure
formation from the stochastic gravity viewpoint. Third, we discuss the
backreaction of Hawking radiation in the gravitational background of a black
hole and describe the metric fluctuations near the event horizon of an
evaporating black holeComment: 100 pages, no figures; an update of the 2003 review in Living Reviews
in Relativity gr-qc/0307032 ; it includes new sections on the Validity of
Semiclassical Gravity, the Stability of Minkowski Spacetime, and the Metric
Fluctuations of an Evaporating Black Hol
Holographic Vitrification
We establish the existence of stable and metastable stationary black hole
bound states at finite temperature and chemical potentials in global and planar
four-dimensional asymptotically anti-de Sitter space. We determine a number of
features of their holographic duals and argue they represent structural
glasses. We map out their thermodynamic landscape in the probe approximation,
and show their relaxation dynamics exhibits logarithmic aging, with aging rates
determined by the distribution of barriers.Comment: 100 pages, 25 figure
Impact of spouse caregiving on health behaviors and physical and mental health status
The impact of caring for a spouse with a progressive dementia on caregiver's health behaviors and health status was examined. Data collected from 44 spouse caregivers indicates that: • Providing full-time care interferes with preventive health behaviors (eating nutritiously, exercising) and contributes to high risk behaviors (overeating, alcohol and substance use); • Health behaviors are frequently used as coping strategies; • Caregivers rated their own health as poorer than their spouse's health; and • Disabling (arthritis, cardiac and back problems) and stress-related health problems (migraines, colitis) are a consequence of and interfere with care provision.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/68204/2/10.1177_153331759400900105.pd
BRCA1/2 mutation testing in breast cancer patients: a prospective study of the long-term psychological impact of approach during adjuvant radiotherapy
This study assessed psychological distress during the first year after diagnosis in breast cancer patients approached for genetic counseling at the start of adjuvant radiotherapy and identified those vulnerable to long-term high distress. Of the approached patients some chose to receive a DNA test result (n = 58), some were approached but did not fulfill criteria for referral (n = 118) and some declined counseling and/or testing (n = 44). The comparative group consisted of patients not eligible for genetic counseling (n = 182) and was therefore not approached. Patients actively approached for genetic counseling showed no more long-term distress than patients not eligible for such counseling. There were no differences between the subgroups of approached patients. Predictors for long-term high distress or an increase in distress over time were pre-existing high distress and a low quality of life, having children, and having no family members with breast cancer. It is concluded that breast cancer patients can be systematically screened and approached for genetic counseling during adjuvant radiotherapy without imposing extra psychological burden. Patients vulnerable to long-term high distress already displayed high distress shortly after diagnosis with no influence of their medical treatment on their level of distress at long-term
Reaction rates and transport in neutron stars
Understanding signals from neutron stars requires knowledge about the
transport inside the star. We review the transport properties and the
underlying reaction rates of dense hadronic and quark matter in the crust and
the core of neutron stars and point out open problems and future directions.Comment: 74 pages; commissioned for the book "Physics and Astrophysics of
Neutron Stars", NewCompStar COST Action MP1304; version 3: minor changes,
references updated, overview graphic added in the introduction, improvements
in Sec IV.A.
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