(Extra)Ordinary Gauge Mediation

We study models of "(extra)ordinary gauge mediation," which consist of taking ordinary gauge mediation and extending the messenger superpotential to include all renormalizable couplings consistent with SM gauge invariance and an R-symmetry. We classify all such models and find that their phenomenology can differ significantly from that of ordinary gauge mediation. Some highlights include: arbitrary modifications of the squark/slepton mass relations, small mu and Higgsino NLSP's, and the possibility of having fewer than one effective messenger. We also show how these models lead naturally to extremely simple examples of direct gauge mediation, where SUSY and R-symmetry breaking occur not in a hidden sector, but due to the dynamics of the messenger sector itself.Comment: 50 pages, 11 figure

Exact Black Hole Degeneracies and the Topological String

Motivated by the recent conjecture of Ooguri, Strominger and Vafa, we compute the semi-canonical partition function of BPS black holes in N=4 and N=8 string theories, to all orders in perturbation theory. Not only are the black hole partition functions surprisingly simple; they capture the full topological string amplitudes, as expected from the OSV conjecture. The agreement is not perfect, however, as there are differences between the black hole and topological string partition functions even at the perturbative level. We propose a minimal modification of the OSV conjecture, in which these differences are understood as a nontrivial measure factor for the topological string.Comment: 24 page

Evidence for an intermediate mass black hole and a multi-zone warm absorber in NGC 4395

We report on the results of an analysis in the X-ray band of a recent long ASCA observation of NGC 4395, the most variable low-luminosity AGN known. A relativistically-broadened iron line at ~6.4 keV is clearly resolved in the time-averaged spectrum, with an equivalent width of 310^{+70}_{-90} eV. Time-resolved spectral analysis of the heavily absorbed soft X-ray band confirms the existence of a variable, multi-zone warm absorber in this source, as proposed in a previous analysis of a shorter ASCA observation. The light curve of the source is wildly variable on timescales of hours or less, and a factor of nearly 10 change in count-rate was recorded in a period of less than 2000 s. The long observation and variability of the source allowed the power density spectrum (PDS) to be constructed to an unprecedented level of detail. There is evidence for a break in the PDS from a slope of \alpha~1 to \alpha~1.8 at a frequency of around 3 \times 10^{-4} Hz. The central black hole mass of NGC 4395 is estimated to be approximately 10^4-10^5 solar masses using the break in the PDS, a result consistent with previous analyses using optical and kinematical techniques.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA

CHL Dyons and Statistical Entropy Function from D1-D5 System

We give a proof of the recently proposed formula for the dyon spectrum in CHL string theories by mapping it to a configuration of D1 and D5-branes and Kaluza-Klein monopole. We also give a prescription for computing the degeneracy as a systematic expansion in inverse powers of charges. The computation can be formulated as a problem of extremizing a duality invariant statistical entropy function whose value at the extremum gives the logarithm of the degeneracy. During this analysis we also determine the locations of the zeroes and poles of the Siegel modular forms whose inverse give the dyon partition function in the CHL models.Comment: LaTeX file, 48 pages; v2: typos correcte

Dyon Spectrum in CHL Models

We propose a formula for the degeneracy of quarter BPS dyons in a class of CHL models. The formula uses a modular form of a subgroup of the genus two modular group Sp(2,Z). Our proposal is S-duality invariant and reproduces correctly the entropy of a dyonic black hole to first non-leading order for large values of the charges.Comment: LaTeX file, 38 pages, minor changes in section 3.3(v2), minor changes in introduction, appendix A and C(v3