Black Holes in Six-dimensional Conformal Gravity

We study conformally-invariant theories of gravity in six dimensions. In four dimensions, there is a unique such theory that is polynomial in the curvature and its derivatives, namely Weyl-squared, and furthermore all solutions of Einstein gravity are also solutions of the conformal theory. By contrast, in six dimensions there are three independent conformally-invariant polynomial terms one could consider. There is a unique linear combination (up to overall scale) for which Einstein metrics are also solutions, and this specific theory forms the focus of our attention in this paper. We reduce the equations of motion for the most general spherically-symmetric black hole to a single 5th-order differential equation. We obtain the general solution in the form of an infinite series, characterised by 5 independent parameters, and we show how a finite 3-parameter truncation reduces to the already known Schwarzschild-AdS metric and its conformal scaling. We derive general results for the thermodynamics and the first law for the full 5-parameter solutions. We also investigate solutions in extended theories coupled to conformally-invariant matter, and in addition we derive some general results for conserved charges in cubic-curvature theories in arbitrary dimensions.Comment: 28 pages. References adde

Phase Coexistence of Complex Fluids in Shear Flow

We present some results of recent calculations of rigid rod-like particles in shear flow, based on the Doi model. This is an ideal model system for exhibiting the generic behavior of shear-thinning fluids (polymer solutions, wormlike micelles, surfactant solutions, liquid crystals) in shear flow. We present calculations of phase coexistence under shear among weakly-aligned (paranematic) and strongly-aligned phases, including alignment in the shear plane and in the vorticity direction (log-rolling). Phase coexistence is possible, in principle, under conditions of both common shear stress and common strain rate, corresponding to different orientations of the interface between phases. We discuss arguments for resolving this degeneracy. Calculation of phase coexistence relies on the presence of inhomogeneous terms in the dynamical equations of motion, which select the appropriate pair of coexisting states. We cast this condition in terms of an equivalent dynamical system, and explore some aspects of how this differs from equilibrium phase coexistence.Comment: 16 pages, 10 figures, submitted to Faraday Discussion

An ω\omega Deformation of Gauged STU Supergravity

Four-dimensional ${\cal N}=2$ gauged STU supergravity is a consistent truncation of the standard ${\cal N}=8$ gauged $SO(8)$ supergravity in which just the four $U(1)$ gauge fields in the Cartan subgroup of $SO(8)$ are retained. One of these is the graviphoton in the ${\cal N}=2$ supergravity multiplet and the other three lie in three vector multiplets. In this paper we carry out the analogous consistent truncation of the newly-discovered family of $\omega$-deformed ${\cal N}=8$ gauged $SO(8)$ supergravities, thereby obtaining a family of $\omega$-deformed STU gauged supergravities. Unlike in some other truncations of the deformed ${\cal N}=8$ supergravity that have been considered, here the scalar potential of the deformed STU theory is independent of the $\omega$ parameter. However, it enters in the scalar couplings in the gauge-field kinetic terms, and it is non-trivial because of the minimal couplings of the fermion fields to the gauge potentials. We discuss the supersymmetry transformation rules in the $\omega$-deformed supergravities, and present some examples of black hole solutions.Comment: 31 pages. Derivation of the range of \omega corrected; discussion of supersymmetry of solutions extended, and a reference adde

AdS Dyonic Black Hole and its Thermodynamics

We obtain spherically-symmetric and $\R^2$-symmetric dyonic black holes that are asymptotic to anti-de Sitter space-time (AdS), which are solutions in maximal gauged four-dimensional supergravity, with just one of the U(1) fields carrying both the electric and magnetic charges $(Q,P)$. We study the thermodynamics, and find that the usually-expected first law does not hold unless P=0, Q=0 or P=Q. For general values of the charges, we find that the first law requires a modification with a new pair of thermodynamic conjugate variables. We show that they describe the scalar hair that breaks some of the asymptotic AdS symmetries.Comment: 21 pages, typos corrected, discussion of Euclidean action adde

Manual of phosphoric acid fuel cell power plant optimization model and computer program

An optimized cost and performance model for a phosphoric acid fuel cell power plant system was derived and developed into a modular FORTRAN computer code. Cost, energy, mass, and electrochemical analyses were combined to develop a mathematical model for optimizing the steam to methane ratio in the reformer, hydrogen utilization in the PAFC plates per stack. The nonlinear programming code, COMPUTE, was used to solve this model, in which the method of mixed penalty function combined with Hooke and Jeeves pattern search was chosen to evaluate this specific optimization problem

On the rooted Tutte polynomial

The Tutte polynomial is a generalization of the chromatic polynomial of graph colorings. Here we present an extension called the rooted Tutte polynomial, which is defined on a graph where one or more vertices are colored with prescribed colors. We establish a number of results pertaining to the rooted Tutte polynomial, including a duality relation in the case that all roots reside around a single face of a planar graph. The connection with the Potts model is also reviewed.Comment: plain latex, 14 pages, 2 figs., to appear in Annales de l'Institut Fourier (1999

Phosphoric acid fuel cell power plant system performance model and computer program

A FORTRAN computer program was developed for analyzing the performance of phosphoric acid fuel cell power plant systems. Energy mass and electrochemical analysis in the reformer, the shaft converters, the heat exchangers, and the fuel cell stack were combined to develop a mathematical model for the power plant for both atmospheric and pressurized conditions, and for several commercial fuels