One Loop Graviton Self-Energy In A Locally De Sitter Background

The graviton tadpole has recently been computed at two loops in a locally de Sitter background. We apply intermediate results of this work to exhibit the graviton self-energy at one loop. This quantity is interesting both to check the accuracy of the first calculation and to understand the relaxation effect it reveals. In the former context we show that the self-energy obeys the appropriate Ward identity. We also show that its flat space limit agrees with the flat space result obtained by Capper in what should be the same gauge.Comment: 35 pages, plain TeX, 4 Postscript files, uses psfig.sty, revised June 1996 for publication in Physical Review

Improving the Single Scalar Consistency Relation

We propose a test of single-scalar inflation based on using the well-measured scalar power spectrum to reconstruct the tensor power spectrum, up to a single integration constant. Our test is a sort of integrated version of the single-scalar consistency relation. This sort of test can be used effectively, even when the tensor power spectrum is measured too poorly to resolve the tensor spectral index. We give an example using simulated data based on a hypothetical detection with tensor-to-scalar ratio $r = 0.01$. Our test can also be employed for correlating scalar and tensor features in the far future when the data is good.Comment: 16 pages, 1 figure, uses LaTeX2e version 2 extensively revised for publicatio

The Volume of the Past Light-Cone and the Paneitz Operator

We study a conjecture involving the invariant volume of the past light-cone from an arbitrary observation point back to a fixed initial value surface. The conjecture is that a 4th order differential operator which occurs in the theory of conformal anomalies gives $8\pi$ when acted upon the invariant volume of the past light-cone. We show that an extended version of the conjecture is valid for an arbitrary homogeneous and isotropic geometry. First order perturbation theory about flat spacetime reveals a violation of the conjecture which, however, vanishes for any vacuum solution of the Einstein equation. These results may be significant for constructing quantum gravitational observables, for quantifying the back-reaction on spacetime expansion and for alternate gravity models which feature a timelike vector field.Comment: 22 pages, no figures, 5 tables. Version 2 substantially extended to cover nonzero spatial curvature, and with simplified derivation

Chemical abundances in the protoplanetary disk LV2 (Orion): clues to the causes of the abundance anomaly in HII regions

Optical integral field spectroscopy of the archetype protoplanetary disk LV2 in the Orion Nebula is presented, taken with the VLT FLAMES/Argus fibre array. The detection of recombination lines of CII and OII from this class of objects is reported, and the lines are utilized as abundance diagnostics. The study is complemented with the analysis of HST Faint Object Spectrograph ultraviolet and optical spectra of the target contained within the Argus field of view. By subtracting the local nebula background the intrinsic spectrum of the proplyd is obtained and its elemental composition is derived for the first time. The proplyd is found to be overabundant in carbon, oxygen and neon compared to the Orion Nebula and the sun. The simultaneous coverage over LV2 of the CIII] 1908-A and [OIII] 5007-A collisionally excited lines (CELs) and CII and OII recombination lines (RLs) has enabled us to measure the abundances of C++ and O++ for LV2 with both sets of lines. The two methods yield consistent results for the intrinsic proplyd spectrum, but not for the proplyd spectrum contaminated by the generic nebula spectrum, thus providing one example where the long-standing abundance anomaly plaguing metallicity studies of HII regions has been resolved. These results would indicate that the standard forbidden-line methods used in the derivation of light metal abundances in HII regions in our own and other galaxies underestimate the true gas metallicity.Comment: Accepted by MNRAS November 8; 16 pages, 9 figs; typos corrected, error in FWHMs in table 4 corrected in this versio