9,266 research outputs found
Root system architecture determines fitness in an Arabidopsis mutant in competition for immobile phosphate ions but not for nitrate ions
Plant root systems often have complex branching patterns. Models indicate that a complex architecture is only required for the acquisition of immobile resources, such as phosphate; mobile ions, notably nitrate, can be effectively taken up by very restricted root systems. We have tested this prediction using the axr4 mutation of Arabidopsis thaliana, the principal phenotypic effect of which is to reduce the number of lateral roots. Arabidopsis thaliana is not a host for mycorrhizal fungi and so acquires all its nutrients through the root system. In both a pot experiment and a field experiment conducted under natural conditions for A. thaliana, we found that only phosphate, and not nitrate, affected the fitness of the mutant relative to the isogenic wild-type line, Columbia. These results confirm model predictions and have implications both for the evolution of complex root systems and for the design of efficient root systems for crops
Consistent truncation of d = 11 supergravity on AdS_4 x S^7
We study the system of equations derived twenty five years ago by B. de Wit
and the first author [Nucl. Phys. B281 (1987) 211] as conditions for the
consistent truncation of eleven-dimensional supergravity on AdS_4 x S^7 to
gauged N = 8 supergravity in four dimensions. By exploiting the E_7(7)
symmetry, we determine the most general solution to this system at each point
on the coset space E_7(7)/SU(8). We show that invariants of the general
solution are given by the fluxes in eleven-dimensional supergravity. This
allows us to both clarify the explicit non-linear ansatze for the fluxes given
previously and to fill a gap in the original proof of the consistent
truncation. These results are illustrated with several examples.Comment: 41 pages, typos corrected, published versio
Joint modeling of ChIP-seq data via a Markov random field model
Chromatin ImmunoPrecipitation-sequencing (ChIP-seq) experiments have now become routine in biology for the detection of protein-binding sites. In this paper, we present a Markov random field model for the joint analysis of multiple ChIP-seq experiments. The proposed model naturally accounts for spatial dependencies in the data, by assuming first-order Markov dependence and, for the large proportion of zero counts, by using zero-inflated mixture distributions. In contrast to all other available implementations, the model allows for the joint modeling of multiple experiments, by incorporating key aspects of the experimental design. In particular, the model uses the information about replicates and about the different antibodies used in the experiments. An extensive simulation study shows a lower false non-discovery rate for the proposed method, compared with existing methods, at the same false discovery rate. Finally, we present an analysis on real data for the detection of histone modifications of two chromatin modifiers from eight ChIP-seq experiments, including technical replicates with different IP efficiencies
N=2 supergravity in five dimensions revisited
We construct matter-coupled N=2 supergravity in five dimensions, using the
superconformal approach. For the matter sector we take an arbitrary number of
vector-, tensor- and hyper-multiplets. By allowing off-diagonal vector-tensor
couplings we find more general results than currently known in the literature.
Our results provide the appropriate starting point for a systematic search for
BPS solutions, and for applications of M-theory compactifications on Calabi-Yau
manifolds with fluxes.Comment: 35 pages; v.2: A sign changed in a bilinear fermion term in (5.7
E7(7) invariant Lagrangian of d=4 N=8 supergravity
We present an E7(7) invariant Lagrangian that leads to the equations of
motion of d=4 N=8 supergravity without using Lagrange multipliers. The
superinvariance of this new action and the closure of the supersymmetry algebra
are proved explicitly for the terms that differ from the Cremmer--Julia
formulation. Since the diffeomorphism symmetry is not realized in the standard
way on the vector fields, we switch to the Hamiltonian formulation in order to
prove the invariance of the E7(7) invariant action under general coordinate
transformations. We also construct the conserved E7(7)-Noether current of
maximal supergravity and we conclude with comments on the implications of this
manifest off-shell E7(7)-symmetry for quantizing d=4 N=8 supergravity, in
particular on the E7(7)-action on phase space.Comment: 45 pages, references adde
The Tensor Hierarchies of Pure N=2,d=4,5,6 Supergravities
We study the supersymmetric tensor hierarchy of pure (gauged) N=2,d=4,5,6
supergravity and compare them with those of the pure, ungauged, theories
(worked out by Gomis and Roest for d=5) and the predictions of the Kac-Moody
approach made by Kleinschmidt and Roest. We find complete agreement in the
ungauged case but we also find that, after gauging, new Stueckelberg symmetries
reduce the number of independent "physical" top-forms. The analysis has to be
performed to all orders in fermion fields.
We discuss the construction of the worldvolume effective actions for the
p-branes which are charged with respect to the (p+1)-form potentials and the
relations between the tensor hierarchies and p-branes upon dimensional
reduction.Comment: LaTeX2e file, 20 pages, 1 figure Results refined by extension of the
analysis to all orders in fermion
Minimal Stability in Maximal Supergravity
Recently, it has been shown that maximal supergravity allows for
non-supersymmetric AdS critical points that are perturbatively stable. We
investigate this phenomenon of stability without supersymmetry from the
sGoldstino point of view. In particular, we calculate the projection of the
mass matrix onto the sGoldstino directions, and derive the necessary conditions
for stability. Indeed we find a narrow window allowing for stable SUSY breaking
points. As a by-product of our analysis, we find that it seems impossible to
perturb supersymmetric critical points into non-supersymmetric ones: there is a
minimal amount of SUSY breaking in maximal supergravity.Comment: 27 pages, 1 figure. v2: two typos corrected, published versio
Supersymmetry on AdS3 and AdS4
We consider a supersymmetric extension of the algebra associated with three
and four dimensional Anti de Sitter space. A representation of the
supersymmetry operators in superspace is given. Supersymmetry invariant models
are constructed for the superspace associated with AdS3.Comment: 14 pages, no figures. Final published version. Now includes a
discussion of the relation of our approach to previous work on supersymmetry
in AdS space
More on Membranes in Matrix Theory
We study noncompact and static membrane solutions in Matrix theory. Demanding
axial symmetry on a membrane embedded in three spatial dimensions, we obtain a
wormhole solution whose shape is the same with the catenoidal solution of
Born-Infeld theory. We also discuss another interesting class of solutions,
membranes embedded holomorphically in four spatial dimensions, which are 1/4
BPS.Comment: 7 pages, LaTeX; expanded to treat matrix membrane solutions with
electric flux, equivalently fundamental strings; to appear in Phys. Rev.
Completeness in supergravity constructions
We prove that the supergravity r- and c-maps preserve completeness. As a
consequence, any component H of a hypersurface {h=1} defined by a homogeneous
cubic polynomial such that -d^2 h is a complete Riemannian metric on H defines
a complete projective special Kahler manifold and any complete projective
special Kahler manifold defines a complete quaternionic Kahler manifold of
negative scalar curvature. We classify all complete quaternionic Kahler
manifolds of dimension less or equal to 12 which are obtained in this way and
describe some complete examples in 16 dimensions.Comment: 29 page
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