Describing Sr2RuO4 superconductivity in a generalized Ginzburg--Landau theory

We propose a simple explanation of unconventional thermodynamical and magnetic properties observed for Sr2RuO4. Actually, our two-phase model of superconductivity, based on a straight generalization of the Ginzburg-Landau theory, does predict two jumps in the heat capacity as well as a double curve for the dependence of the critical temperature on an external magnetic field. Such theoretical previsions well agree with the currently available experimental data for Sr2RuO4Comment: revtex, 9 pages, 1 eps figur

Majorana and the investigation of infrared spectra of ammonia

An account is given on the first studies on the physics of ammonia, focusing on the infrared spectra of that molecule. Relevant contributions from several authors, in the years until 1932, are pointed out, discussing also an unknown study by E.Majorana on this topic.Comment: 13 page

One-loop analysis with nonlocal boundary conditions

In the eighties, Schroder studied a quantum mechanical model where the stationary states of Schrodinger's equation obey nonlocal boundary conditions on a circle in the plane. For such a problem, we perform a detailed one-loop calculation for three choices of the kernel characterizing the nonlocal boundary conditions. In such cases, the zeta(0) value is found to coincide with the one resulting from Robin boundary conditions. The detailed technique here developed may be useful for studying one-loop properties of quantum field theory and quantum gravity if nonlocal boundary conditions are imposed.Comment: 17 pages, Revtex4. In the final version, the presentation in section 5 has been improved, and important References have been adde

Fermi, Majorana and the statistical model of atoms

We give an account of the appearance and first developments of the statistical model of atoms proposed by Thomas and Fermi, focusing on the main results achieved by Fermi and his group in Rome. Particular attention is addressed to the unknown contribution to this subject by Majorana, anticipating some important results reached later by leading physicists.Comment: Latex, 16 pages, 2 figure

Self-dual road to noncommutative gravity with twist: a new analysis

The field equations of noncommutative gravity can be obtained by replacing all exterior products by twist-deformed exterior products in the action functional of general relativity, and are here studied by requiring that the torsion 2-form should vanish, and that the Lorentz-Lie-algebra- valued part of the full connection 1-form should be self-dual. Other two conditions, expressing self-duality of a pair 2-forms occurring in the full curvature 2-form, are also imposed. This leads to a systematic solution strategy, here displayed for the first time, where all parts of the connection 1-form are first evaluated, hence the full curvature 2-form, and eventually all parts of the tetrad 1-form, when expanded on the basis of {\gamma}-matrices. By assuming asymptotic expansions which hold up to first order in the noncommutativity matrix in the neighbourhood of the vanishing value for noncommutativity, we find a family of self-dual solutions of the field equations. This is generated by solving first a inhomogeneous wave equation on 1-forms in a classical curved spacetime (which is itself self-dual and solves the vacuum Einstein equations), subject to the Lorenz gauge condition. In particular, when the classical undeformed geometry is Kasner spacetime, the above scheme is fully computable out of solutions of the scalar wave equation in such a Kasner model.Comment: 37 pages, Revtex. Appendix A is a recollection of mathematical tools used in the paper. In the final version, Appendix C and some valuable References have been added. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:hep-th/0703014 by other authors. Misprints in Eq. (10.23) and (10.25) have been amended, as well as their propagation in Sec.

The scalar wave equation in a non-commutative spherically symmetric space-time

Recent work in the literature has studied a version of non-commutative Schwarzschild black holes where the effects of non-commutativity are described by a mass function depending on both the radial variable r and a non-commutativity parameter theta. The present paper studies the asymptotic behaviour of solutions of the zero-rest-mass scalar wave equation in such a modified Schwarzschild space-time in a neighbourhood of spatial infinity. The analysis is eventually reduced to finding solutions of an inhomogeneous Euler--Poisson--Darboux equation, where the parameter theta affects explicitly the functional form of the source term. Interestingly, for finite values of theta, there is full qualitative agreement with general relativity: the conformal singularity at spacelike infinity reduces in a considerable way the differentiability class of scalar fields at future null infinity. In the physical space-time, this means that the scalar field has an asymptotic behaviour with a fall-off going on rather more slowly than in flat space-time.Comment: 19 pages, Revtex4, 7 figure

Baryon asymmetry in the Universe resulting from Lorentz violation

We analyze the phenomenological consequences of a Lorentz violating energy-momentum dispersion relation in order to give a simple explanation for the baryon asymmetry in the Universe. By assuming very few hypotheses, we propose a straightforward mechanism for generating the observed matter-antimatter asymmetry which entails a Lorentz-breakdown energy scale of the order of the Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuzmin cut-off.Comment: 7 page

Non-commutative Einstein equations and Seiberg-Witten map

The Seiberg--Witten map is a powerful tool in non-commutative field theory, and it has been recently obtained in the literature for gravity itself, to first order in non-commutativity. This paper, relying upon the pure-gravity form of the action functional considered in Ref. 2, studies the expansion to first order of the non-commutative Einstein equations, and whether the Seiberg--Witten map can lead to a solution of such equations when the underlying classical geometry is Schwarzschild.Comment: 6 and 1/2 pages, based on talk prepared for the Friedmann Seminar, May-June 2011. In the final version, the presentation has been improved, including a better notatio

Space-time symmetry restoration in cosmological models with Kalb--Ramond and scalar fields

We study symmetry of space-time in presence of a minimally coupled scalar field interacting with a Kalb--Ramond tensor fields in a homogeneous but initially anisotropic universe. The analysis is performed for the two relevant cases of a pure cosmological constant and a minimal quadratic, renormalizable, interaction term. In both cases, due to expansion, a complete spatial symmetry restoration is dynamically obtained.Comment: Latex, 7 pages, 3 eps figure