Laser-Desorbed Large Molecules in a Supersonic Jet

A new technique of desorption of non volatile thermally unstable molecules into a supersonic jet has been developped. With this method isolated large molecules are now available for mass spectrometry as well as for spectroscopic studies at temperatures of a few Kelvin, thus avoiding spectral congestion. It could be demonstrated that molecules like tryptophane and retinal could be desorbed with an IR laser pulse without decomposition and be ionized with a second UV laser to form bare molecule ions without fragmentation

On the cosmological effects of the Weyssenhoff spinning fluid in the Einstein-Cartan framework

The effects of non-Riemannian structures in Cosmology have been studied long ago and are still a relevant subject of investigation. In the seventies, it was discovered that singularity avoidance and early accelerated expansion can be induced by torsion in the Einstein-Cartan theory. In this framework, torsion is not dynamical and is completely expressed by means of the spin sources. Thus, in order to study the effects of torsion in the Einstein-Cartan theory, one has to introduce matter with spin. In principle, this can be done in several ways. In this work we consider the cosmological evolution of the universe in the presence of a constant isotropic and homogeneous axial current and the Weyssenhoff spinning fluid. We analyse possible solutions of this model, with and without the spinning fluid.Comment: Work presented at the 7th Alexander Friedmann International Seminar on Gravitation and Cosmology, Joao Pessoa, Brazil, 29 Jun - 5 Jul 2008. No figures, 5 pages. New version with dynamical equation corrected, new reference and a brief comparison with its experimental bound

On the general structure of mathematical models for physical systems

It is proposed that the mathematical models for any physical systems that are based in first principles, such as conservation laws or balance principles, have some common elements, namely, a space of kinematical states, a space of dynamical states, a constitutive law that associates dynamical states with kinematical states, as well as a duality principle. The equations of motion or statics then come about from, on the one hand, specifying the integrability of the kinematical state, and on the other hand, specifying a statement that is dual to it for the dynamical states. Examples are given from various fundamental physical systems.Comment: 34 pages; Ann. Phys. (Berlin), 1-25 (2011

Low-energy general relativity with torsion: a systematic derivative expansion

We attempt to build systematically the low-energy effective Lagrangian for the Einstein--Cartan formulation of gravity theory that generally includes the torsion field. We list all invariant action terms in certain given order; some of the invariants are new. We show that in the leading order the fermion action with torsion possesses additional U(1)_L x U(1)_R gauge symmetry, with 4+4 components of the torsion (out of the general 24) playing the role of Abelian gauge bosons. The bosonic action quadratic in torsion gives masses to those gauge bosons. Integrating out torsion one obtains a point-like 4-fermion action of a general form containing vector-vector, axial-vector and axial-axial interactions. We present a quantum field-theoretic method to average the 4-fermion interaction over the fermion medium, and perform the explicit averaging for free fermions with given chemical potential and temperature. The result is different from that following from the "spin fluid" approach used previously. On the whole, we arrive to rather pessimistic conclusions on the possibility to observe effects of the torsion-induced 4-fermion interaction, although under certain circumstances it may have cosmological consequences.Comment: 33 pages, 1 figure. A new section, discussion and references added. Final (published) versio

Dark spinors with torsion in cosmology

We solve one of the open problems in Einstein-Cartan theory, namely we find a natural matter source whose spin angular momentum tensor is compatible with the cosmological principle. We analyze the resulting evolution equations and find that an epoch of accelerated expansion is an attractor. The torsion field quickly decays in that period. Our results are interpreted in the context of the standard model of cosmology.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures; reference added, minor improvement

Dynamics of test bodies with spin in de Sitter spacetime

We study the motion of spinning test bodies in the de Sitter spacetime of constant positive curvature. With the help of the 10 Killing vectors, we derive the 4-momentum and the tensor of spin explicitly in terms of the spacetime coordinates. However, in order to find the actual trajectories, one needs to impose the so-called supplementary condition. We discuss the dynamics of spinning test bodies for the cases of the Frenkel and Tulczyjew conditions.Comment: 11 pages, RevTex forma

Classical String in Curved Backgrounds

The Mathisson-Papapetrou method is originally used for derivation of the particle world line equation from the covariant conservation of its stress-energy tensor. We generalize this method to extended objects, such as a string. Without specifying the type of matter the string is made of, we obtain both the equations of motion and boundary conditions of the string. The world sheet equations turn out to be more general than the familiar minimal surface equations. In particular, they depend on the internal structure of the string. The relevant cases are classified by examining canonical forms of the effective 2-dimensional stress-energy tensor. The case of homogeneously distributed matter with the tension that equals its mass density is shown to define the familiar Nambu-Goto dynamics. The other three cases include physically relevant massive and massless strings, and unphysical tahyonic strings.Comment: 12 pages, REVTeX 4. Added a note and one referenc