1,013 research outputs found
Supersymmetry of a different kind
Valenzuela, M (Valenzuela, Mauricio). Univ Talca, Inst Matemat & Fis, Talca, ChileA local supersymmetric action for a (2+1)-dimensional system including gravity, the electromagnetic field and a Dirac spin-1/2 field is presented. The action is a Chern-Simons form for a connection of the OSp(2|2) group. All the fields enter as parts of the connection, that transforms in the adjoint representation of the gauge group. The system is off-shell invariant under local (gauge) supersymmetry. Although the supersymmetry is locally realized, there is no spin-3/2 gravitino, and is therefore not supergravity. The fields do not necessarily form supersymmetric doublets of equal mass, and moreover, the fermion may acquire mass through the coupling with geometry, while the bosons - the U(1) field and the spin connection - remain massless
Couplings between Chern-Simons gravities and 2p-branes
The interaction between Chern-Simons (CS) theories and localized external
sources (2p-branes) is analyzed. This interaction generalizes the minimal
coupling between a point charge (0-brane) and a gauge connection. The external
currents that define the 2p-branes are covariantly constant (D-2p-1)-forms
coupled to (2p-1) CS forms. The general expression for the sources --charged
with respect to the corresponding gauge algebra-- is presented, focusing on two
special cases: 0-branes and (D-3)-branes.
In any dimension, 0-branes are constructed as topological defects produced by
a surface deficit of (D-2)-sphere in AdS space, and they are not constant
curvature spaces for D>3. They correspond to dimensionally continued black
holes with negative mass.
On the other hand, in the case of CS (super) gravities, the (D-3)-branes are
naked conical singularities (topological defects) obtained by identification of
points with a Killing vector. In 2+1 dimensions, extremal spinning branes of
this type are BPS states. Stable (D-3)-branes are shown to exist also in higher
dimensions, as well.
Classical field equations are also discussed and in the presence of sources
there is a large number of inequivalent and disconnected sectors in solution
space.Comment: 29 pages, no figures; version accepted in PRD; extended introduction
and several references added; some sections have been reorganized and several
minor corrections mad
Quantum Degenerate Systems
Degenerate dynamical systems are characterized by symplectic structures whose
rank is not constant throughout phase space. Their phase spaces are divided
into causally disconnected, nonoverlapping regions such that there are no
classical orbits connecting two different regions. Here the question of whether
this classical disconnectedness survives quantization is addressed. Our
conclusion is that in irreducible degenerate systems --in which the degeneracy
cannot be eliminated by redefining variables in the action--, the
disconnectedness is maintained in the quantum theory: there is no quantum
tunnelling across degeneracy surfaces. This shows that the degeneracy surfaces
are boundaries separating distinct physical systems, not only classically, but
in the quantum realm as well. The relevance of this feature for gravitation and
Chern-Simons theories in higher dimensions cannot be overstated.Comment: 18 pages, no figure
Optical Properties of a \theta-Vacuum
Chern-Simons (CS) forms generalize the minimal coupling between gauge
potentials and point charges, to sources represented by charged extended
objects (branes). The simplest example of such a CS-brane coupling is a domain
wall coupled to the electromagnetic CS three-form. This describes a
topologically charged interface where the CS form AdA is supported, separating
two three-dimensional spatial regions in 3+1 spacetime. Electrodynamics at
either side of the brane is described by the same Maxwell's equations, but
those two regions have different vacua, characterized by a different value of
the \theta-parameter multiplying the Pontryagin form F ^ F. The \theta-term is
the abelian version of the concept introduced by 't Hooft for the resolution of
the U(1) problem in QCD. We point out that CS-generalized classical
electrodynamics shows new phenomena when two neighboring regions with different
\theta-vacua are present. These topological effects result from surface effects
induced by the boundary and we explore the consequences of such boundary
effects for the propagation of the electromagnetic field in Maxwell theory.
Several features, including optical and electrostatic/magnetostatic responses,
which may be observable in condensed matter systems, like topological
insulators, are discussed.Comment: 11 pages, no figure
Effect of waste glass (TV/PC cathodic tube and screen) on technological properties and sintering behaviour of porcelain stoneware tiles
In the present work, the effects of TV and PC cathodic tube and screen glasses additions (5 and 10 wt.%) to a porcelain stoneware body, in replacement of feldspar, were evaluated simulating the tilemaking process. The presence of glass allows to preserve good technological and mechanical properties, complying with the latest requirements of the industrial practice. The sintering pattern of the glass-added bodies, evaluated by hot stage microscopy, is modified according to the different glass amount and typology; in particular, cathodic tube glass when present at 5 wt.% brings about a lowering of the maximum densification temperature and of the activation energy
Black Hole Entropy and the Dimensional Continuation of the Gauss-Bonnet Theorem
The Euclidean black hole has topology . It is
shown that -in Einstein's theory- the deficit angle of a cusp at any point in
and the area of the are canonical conjugates. The
black hole entropy emerges as the Euler class of a small disk centered at the
horizon multiplied by the area of the there.These results are
obtained through dimensional continuation of the Gauss-Bonnet theorem. The
extension to the most general action yielding second order field equations for
the metric in any spacetime dimension is given.Comment: 7 pages, RevTe
A fixed-time second order sliding mode observer for a class of nonlinear systems
This paper presents a second order fixed time sliding mode observer based on an extension of the super-twisting algorithm. This observer can be applied to a class of nonlinear system with a block-wise representation. The block structure provides a straightforward form to the application of the proposed second order sliding mode algorithm, yielding to finite-time convergence with a settling time independent to the system initial conditions. Finally, as numerical simulation example, the case of a linear induction motor is studied, exposing the efficiency and feasibility of the proposal
Violation of Energy Bounds in Designer Gravity
We continue our study of the stability of designer gravity theories, where
one considers anti-de Sitter gravity coupled to certain tachyonic scalars with
boundary conditions defined by a smooth function W. It has recently been argued
there is a lower bound on the conserved energy in terms of the global minimum
of W, if the scalar potential arises from a superpotential P and the scalar
reaches an extremum of P at infinity. We show, however, there are
superpotentials for which these bounds do not hold.Comment: 16 pages, 4 figures, v2: discussion of vacuum decay included, typos
corrected, reference adde
Water activated ionic conduction in cross-linked polyelectrolytes
The electrical properties of polyelectrolytes depend on the water concentration of the environment. The behaviour of both conductance and capacitance caused by variations in relative humidity and temperature was investigated by impedance spectroscopy for humidity sensors based on an interpenetrated network of a polymer and a polyelectrolyte. The results were interpreted on the base of the Langmuir and Kelvin equations and two different sensing mechanisms were highlighted for low and high water content
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