And what if gravity is intrinsically quantic ?

Since the early days of search for a quantum theory of gravity the attempts have been mostly concentrated on the quantization of an otherwise classical system. The two most contentious candidate theories of gravity, sting theory and quantum loop gravity are based on a quantum field theory - the latter is a quantum field theory of connections on a SU(2) group manifold and former a quantum field theory in two dimensional spaces. Here we argue that there is a very close relation between quantum mechanics and gravity. Without gravity quantum mechanics becomes ambiguous. We consider this observation as the evidence for an intrinsic relation between these fundamental laws of nature. We suggest a quantum role and definition for gravity in the context of a quantum universe, and present a preliminary formulation for gravity in a system with a finite number of particles.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figure. To appear in the proceedings of the DICE2008 conference, Castiglioncello, Tuscany, Italy, 22-26 Sep. 2008. V2: some typos remove

Lead telluride bonding and segmentation study Semiannual phase report, Aug. 1, 1967 - Jan. 31, 1968

Constitutional studies of SnTe and Si-Ge metal systems, segmented Si-Ge-PdTe thermocouple efficiencies, and pore migration in PbSnTe thermoelement

Lead telluride bonding and segmentation study Interim report, 1 Nov. 1966 - 31 Jul. 1967

Lead telluride bonding and segmentation studies including couple design, test devices, and life testin

On Cosmological Implication of the Trace Anomaly

We establish a connection between the trace anomaly and a thermal radiation in the context of the standard cosmology. This is done by solving the covariant conservation equation of the stress tensor associated with a conformally invariant quantum scalar field. The solution corresponds to a thermal radiation with a temperature which is given in terms of a cut-off time excluding the spacetime regions very close to the initial singularity. We discuss the interrelation between this result and the result obtained in a two-dimensional schwarzschild spacetime.Comment: 8 pages, no figure

Gauss-Bonnet black holes with non-constant curvature horizons

We investigate static and dynamical n(\ge 6)-dimensional black holes in Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet gravity of which horizons have the isometries of an (n-2)-dimensional Einstein space with a condition on its Weyl tensor originally given by Dotti and Gleiser. Defining a generalized Misner-Sharp quasi-local mass that satisfies the unified first law, we show that most of the properties of the quasi-local mass and the trapping horizon are shared with the case with horizons of constant curvature. It is shown that the Dotti-Gleiser solution is the unique vacuum solution if the warp factor on the (n-2)-dimensional Einstein space is non-constant. The quasi-local mass becomes constant for the Dotti-Gleiser black hole and satisfies the first law of the black-hole thermodynamics with its Wald entropy. In the non-negative curvature case with positive Gauss-Bonnet constant and zero cosmological constant, it is shown that the Dotti-Gleiser black hole is thermodynamically unstable. Even if it becomes locally stable for the non-zero cosmological constant, it cannot be globally stable for the positive cosmological constant.Comment: 15 pages, 1 figure; v2, discussion clarified and references added; v3, published version; v4, Eqs.(4.22)-(4.24) corrected, which do not change Eqs.(4.25)-(4.27

Hawking Radiation in the Ghost Condensate is Non-Thermal

We consider a Schwarzschild black hole immersed in a ghost condensate background. It is shown that the Hawking radiation in the quanta of small perturbations around this background is highly suppressed- in particular it is not given by a thermal spectrum. This result is in accord with observations that such black holes can be used to violate the generalized second law of thermodynamics, and thus cannot have a standard entropy/area relation.Comment: 26 pages; v2: reference added, missing Christoffel symbols included in appendix, minor typos corrected in equations (39) and (50

Skyrme Black Holes in the Isolated Horizons Formalism

We study static, spherically symmetric, Skyrme black holes in the context of the assumption that they can be viewed as bound states between ordinary bare black holes and solitons. This assumption and results stemming from the isolated horizons formalism lead to several conjectures about the static black hole solutions. These conjectures are tested against the Skyrme black hole solutions. It is shown that, while there is in general good agreement with the conjectures, a crucial aspect seems to violate one of the conjectures.Comment: Full journal version, 6 pages, 5 figure

The Presidio Trust and our National Parks: Not a Model to be Trusted

The Presidio is unique. As a large area of natural habitat in a congested urban landscape, as a site which retains centuries of historic and prehistoric artifacts, as the longest continually operating military base in the United States, and as the southern promontory of the Golden Gate Bridge, one of the world\u27s most recognized vistas, the Presidio is without equal. Also unique are the politics which led to the terms under which this national park is now being managed. The 104th Congress, and particularly its leadership, mounted an unprecedented assault on America\u27s public lands, including our national parks. Those leaders called for no less than eliminating parks and ending federal ownership and control of vast areas of the public estate. While unsuccessful in this frontal attack, they did succeed in inserting elements of their agenda into otherwise positive or innocuous legislation. The Presidio Trust bill, the topic of this article, came nowhere near accomplishing what those leaders hoped to accomplish. Yet a close analysis reveals troubling provisions heretofore unthinkable for management of our national parks. In sum, while the Presidio Trust legislation could have been worse, it needs to be improved for the sake of the Presidio and cannot be viewed as a model for the management of other parks

Thick film silicon growth techniques

Silicon ribbon growth experiments were conducted using orifices (dies) fabricated from SiC-SiO2 mixtures, fused quartz, SiC, and fine-grained, high density graphite. The best results were obtained from graphite dies. A number of different approaches was tried in modifying the thermal gradient in the dies and in holding the dies. The best results here were obtained from a 0.25-in. thick Mo disc holding a graphite die directly and fitting the die quite closely. Ribbon growths as wide as 9 mm were obtained, while the longest ribbon was 450 x 3.5 x 0.5 mm. Resistivities of ribbons grown from graphite dies have been measured over the range of 0.03 to 1.6 ohm-cm. Some thoughts and literature findings are presented regarding refractory oxide materials as potential orifices