8,233 research outputs found
Non-Gaussian statistics in space plasma turbulence, fractal properties and pitfalls
Magnetic field fluctuations in the vicinity of the Earth's bow shock have
been investigated with the aim to characterize the intermittent behaviour of
strong plasma turbulence. The observed small-scale intermittency may be the
signature of a multifractal process but a deeper inspection reveals caveats in
such an interpretation. Several effects, including the anisotropy of the
wavefield, the violation of the Taylor hypothesis and the occasional occurrence
of coherent wave packets, strongly affect the higher order statistical
properties. After correcting these effects, a more Gaussian and scale-invariant
wavefield is recovered.Comment: 13 pages (including 13 postscript figures), to appear in Nonlinear
Processes in Geophysic
Corrosion of alloy 800H and the effect of surface-applied CeO2 in a sulphidizing/oxidizing/carburizing environment at 700°C
The corrosion behavior of a wrought austenitic Fe-20Cr-32Ni steel, Alloy 800H, was studied in a simulated coal-gasification atmosphere at 700°C for exposure times up to 2500 hr. The influence of preoxidation and CeO2-surface application followed by preoxidation on the corrosion resistance of this material was assessed. The improvement in the corrosion resistance due to preoxidation of the blank material was small, whereas the effect of the CeO2-treatment was significant. This difference is thought to be due to better scale adherence in the case of CeO2-surface application
Einstein-Cartan theory as a theory of defects in space-time
The Einstein-Cartan theory of gravitation and the classical theory of defects
in an elastic medium are presented and compared. The former is an extension of
general relativity and refers to four-dimensional space-time, while we
introduce the latter as a description of the equilibrium state of a
three-dimensional continuum. Despite these important differences, an analogy is
built on their common geometrical foundations, and it is shown that a
space-time with curvature and torsion can be considered as a state of a
four-dimensional continuum containing defects. This formal analogy is useful
for illustrating the geometrical concept of torsion by applying it to concrete
physical problems. Moreover, the presentation of these theories using a common
geometrical basis allows a deeper understanding of their foundations.Comment: 18 pages, 7 EPS figures, RevTeX4, to appear in the American Journal
of Physics, revised version with typos correcte
Magnetic flux density and the critical field in the intermediate state of type-I superconductors
To address unsolved fundamental problems of the intermediate state (IS), the
equilibrium magnetic flux structure and the critical field in a high purity
type-I superconductor (indium film) are investigated using magneto-optical
imaging with a 3D vector magnet and electrical transport measurements. The
least expected observation is that the critical field in the IS can be as small
as nearly 40% of the thermodynamic critical field . This indicates that
the flux density in the \textit{bulk} of normal domains can be
\textit{considerably} less than , in apparent contradiction with the long
established paradigm, stating that the normal phase is unstable below .
Here we present a novel theoretical model consistently describing this and
\textit{all} other properties of the IS. Moreover, our model, based the
rigorous thermodynamic treatment of observed laminar flux structure in a tilted
field, allows for a \textit{quantitative} determination of the domain-wall
parameter and the coherence length, and provides new insight into the
properties of all superconductors.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure
N=1/2 supergravity with matter in four Euclidean dimensions
An N=1/2 supergravity in four Euclidean spacetime dimensions, coupled to both
vector- and scalar-multiplet matter, is constructed for the first time. We
begin with the standard (1,1) conformally extended supergravity in four
Euclidean dimensions, and freeze out the graviphoton field strength to an
arbitrary (fixed) self-dual field (the so-called C-deformation). Though a
consistency of such procedure with local supersymmetry is not guaranteed, we
find a simple consistent set of algebraic constraints that reduce the local
supersymmetry by 3/4 and eliminate the corresponding gravitini. The final field
theory (after the superconformal gauge-fixing) has the residual local N=(0,1/2)
or just N=1/2 supersymmetry with only one chiral gravitino as the corresponding
gauge field. Our theory is not `Lorentz'-invariant because of the non-vanishing
self-dual graviphoton vacuum expectation value, which is common to the
C-deformed N=1/2 rigidly supersymmetric field theories constructed in a
non-anticommutative superspace.Comment: 21 pages, LaTeX, no figures; a reference adde
Off-shell N=2 tensor supermultiplets
A multiplet calculus is presented for an arbitrary number n of N=2 tensor
supermultiplets. For rigid supersymmetry the known couplings are reproduced. In
the superconformal case the target spaces parametrized by the scalar fields are
cones over (3n-1)-dimensional spaces encoded in homogeneous SU(2) invariant
potentials, subject to certain constraints. The coupling to conformal
supergravity enables the derivation of a large class of supergravity
Lagrangians with vector and tensor multiplets and hypermultiplets. Dualizing
the tensor fields into scalars leads to hypermultiplets with hyperkahler or
quaternion-Kahler target spaces with at least n abelian isometries. It is
demonstrated how to use the calculus for the construction of Lagrangians
containing higher-derivative couplings of tensor multiplets. For the
application of the c-map between vector and tensor supermultiplets to
Lagrangians with higher-order derivatives, an off-shell version of this map is
proposed. Various other implications of the results are discussed. As an
example an elegant derivation of the classification of 4-dimensional
quaternion-Kahler manifolds with two commuting isometries is given.Comment: 36 page
Special complex manifolds
We introduce the notion of a special complex manifold: a complex manifold
(M,J) with a flat torsionfree connection \nabla such that (\nabla J) is
symmetric. A special symplectic manifold is then defined as a special complex
manifold together with a \nabla-parallel symplectic form \omega . This
generalises Freed's definition of (affine) special K\"ahler manifolds. We also
define projective versions of all these geometries. Our main result is an
extrinsic realisation of all simply connected (affine or projective) special
complex, symplectic and K\"ahler manifolds. We prove that the above three types
of special geometry are completely solvable, in the sense that they are locally
defined by free holomorphic data. In fact, any special complex manifold is
locally realised as the image of a holomorphic 1-form \alpha : C^n \to T^* C^n.
Such a realisation induces a canonical \nabla-parallel symplectic structure on
M and any special symplectic manifold is locally obtained this way. Special
K\"ahler manifolds are realised as complex Lagrangian submanifolds and
correspond to closed forms \alpha. Finally, we discuss the natural geometric
structures on the cotangent bundle of a special symplectic manifold, which
generalise the hyper-K\"ahler structure on the cotangent bundle of a special
K\"ahler manifold.Comment: 24 pages, latex, section 3 revised (v2), modified Abstract and
Introduction, version to appear in J. Geom. Phy
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
Pharmacological LRRK2 kinase inhibition induces LRRK2 protein destabilization and proteasomal degradation
Leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2) kinase activity is increased in several pathogenic mutations, including the most common mutation, G2019S, and is known to play a role in Parkinson’s disease (PD) pathobiology. This has stimulated the development of potent, selective LRRK2 kinase inhibitors as one of the most prevailing disease-modifying therapeutic PD strategies. Although several lines of evidence support beneficial effects of LRRK2 kinase inhibitors, many questions need to be answered before clinical applications can be envisaged. Using six different LRRK2 kinase inhibitors, we show that LRRK2 kinase inhibition induces LRRK2 dephosphorylation and can reduce LRRK2 protein levels of overexpressed wild type and G2019S, but not A2016T or K1906M, LRRK2 as well as endogenous LRRK2 in mouse brain, lung and kidney. The inhibitor-induced reduction in LRRK2 levels could be reversed by proteasomal inhibition, but not by lysosomal inhibition, while mRNA levels remained unaffected. In addition, using LRRK2 S910A and S935A phosphorylation mutants, we show that dephosphorylation of these sites is not required for LRRK2 degradation. Increasing our insight in the molecular and cellular consequences of LRRK2 kinase inhibition will be crucial in the further development of LRRK2-based PD therapies
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