Nonlinear superhorizon perturbations in Horava-Lifshitz gravity

We perform a fully nonlinear analysis of superhorizon perturbation in Ho\v{r}ava-Lifshitz gravity, based on the gradient expansion method. We present a concrete expression for the solution of gravity equations up to the second order in the gradient expansion, and prove that the solution can be extended to any order. The result provides yet another example for analogue of the Vainshtein effect: the nonlinear solution is regular in the limit $\lambda\to 1$ and recovers general relativity coupled to dark matter at low energy. Finally, we propose a definition of nonlinear curvature perturbation ${\cal R}$ in Ho\v{r}ava-Lifshitz gravity and show that it is conserved up to the first order in the gradient expansion.Comment: 11 page

Superluminal Propagation and Acausality of Nonlinear Massive Gravity

Massive gravity is an old idea: trading geometry for mass. Much effort has been expended on establishing a healthy model, culminating in the current ghost-free version. We summarize here our recent findings -- that it is still untenable -- because it is locally acausal: CTC solutions can be constructed in a small neighborhood of any event.Comment: Contribution to Conference in Honour of the 90th Birthday of Freeman Dyson -- To Appear in Proceeding. v2: Explicit CTC example, and other improvements, adde

Entanglement of Indistinguishable Particles

We present a general criterion for entanglement of N indistinguishable particles decomposed into arbitrary s subsystems based on the unambiguous measurability of correlation. Our argument provides a unified viewpoint on the entanglement of indistinguishable particles, which is still unsettled despite various proposals made mainly for the s = 2 case. Even though entanglement is defined only with reference to the measurement setup, we find that the so-called i.i.d. states form a special class of bosonic states which are universally separable.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, major revisio

Midazolam inhibits hippocampal long-term potentiation and learning through dual central and peripheral benzodiazepine receptor activation and neurosteroidogenesis

Benzodiazepines (BDZs) enhance GABA(A) receptor inhibition by direct actions on central BDZ receptors (CBRs). Although some BDZs also bind mitochondrial receptors [translocator protein (18 kDa) (TSPO)] and promote the synthesis of GABA-enhancing neurosteroids, the role of neurosteroids in the clinical effects of BDZs is unknown. In rat hippocampal slices, we compared midazolam, an anesthetic BDZ, with clonazepam, an anticonvulsant/anxiolytic BDZ that activates CBRs selectively. Midazolam, but not clonazepam, increased neurosteroid levels in CA1 pyramidal neurons without changing TSPO immunostaining. Midazolam, but not clonazepam, also augmented a form of spike inhibition after stimulation adjacent to the pyramidal cell layer and inhibited induction of long-term potentiation. These effects were prevented by finasteride, an inhibitor of neurosteroid synthesis, or 17PA [17-phenyl-(3α,5α)-androst-16-en-3-ol], a blocker of neurosteroid effects on GABA(A) receptors. Moreover, the synaptic effects were mimicked by a combination of clonazepam with FGIN (2-[2-(4-fluorophenyl)-1H-indol-3-yl]-N,N-dihexylacetamide), a selective TSPO agonist, or a combination of clonazepam with exogenous allopregnanolone. Consistent with these in vitro results, finasteride abolished the effects of midazolam on contextual fear learning when administrated 1 d before midazolam injection. Thus, dual activation of CBRs and TSPO appears to result in unique actions of clinically important BDZs. Furthermore, endogenous neurosteroids are shown to be important regulators of pyramidal neuron function and synaptic plasticity

Final Evolution and Delayed Explosions of Spinning White Dwarfs in Single Degenerate Models for Type Ia Supernovae

We study the occurrence of delayed SNe~Ia in the single degenerate (SD) scenario. We assume that a massive carbon-oxygen (CO) white dwarf (WD) accretes matter coming from a companion star, making it to spin at the critical rate. We assume uniform rotation due to magnetic field coupling. The carbon ignition mass for non-rotating WDs is M_{ig}^{NR} \approx 1.38 M_{\odot}; while for the case of uniformly rotating WDs it is a few percent larger (M_{ig}^{R} \approx 1.43 M_{\odot}). When accretion rate decreases, the WD begins to lose angular momentum, shrinks, and spins up; however, it does not overflow its critical rotation rate, avoiding mass shedding. Thus, angular momentum losses can lead the CO WD interior to compression and carbon ignition, which would induce an SN~Ia. The delay, largely due to the angular momentum losses timescale, may be large enough to allow the companion star to evolve to a He WD, becoming undetectable at the moment of explosion. This scenario supports the occurrence of delayed SNe~Ia if the final CO WD mass is 1.38 M_{\odot} < M < 1.43 M_{\odot}. We also find that if the delay is longer than ~3 Gyr, the WD would become too cold to explode, rather undergoing collapse.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, 809, L6 (2015), added some corrections for errat

Sense of Self in Baby Chimpanzees

Philippe Rochat and his colleague tentatively proposed that young infants' propensity to engage in self-perception and systematic exploration of the perceptual consequences of their own action plays and is probably at the origin of an early sense of self: the ecological self. Rochat and Hespos (1997) reported that neonates discriminate between external and self-stimulation. Neonate tended to display significantly more rooting responses (i.e., head turn towards the stimulation with mouth open and tonguing) following external compared to self-stimulation. Rochat et al. (1998) also reported that 2-month-olds showed clear sign of modulation of their oral activity on the pacifier as a function of analog versus non-analog condition. Rochat and his colleague concluded that these observations are interpreted as evidence of self-exploration and the emergence of a sense of self-agency by 2-month-olds. We tried to replicate these findings in infant chimpanzees. We observed rooting responses of three baby chimpanzees in two condition, self-stimulation and external stimulation. In external stimulation condition, the index finger of the experimenter or small stick touched one of the infant's cheeks. In self-stimulation condition, the experimenter took infant's hand and touched his or her cheek with their fingers. In Rochat and Hespos, they recorded and analyzed several measures such as state, head movement, mouth activity and so on. How ever, we analyzed only mouth activities tentatively. We found infant chimpanzees tended to show more rooting responses following external stimulation compared to self-stimulation as well as human infants. We also carried out sucking experiment with two baby chimpanzees. The experimenter held the pacifier and put the artificial nipple into the infant's mouth. A session started when the infant take the nipple inside the his or her mouth. Auditory stimulus, which was a complex tone comprised of six harmonics with equal intensity, was given to the chimpanzee according to the test condition during their sucking. There were four test conditions and each condition consisted with three types of feedback as follows: 1) silent baseline, contingent, and steady, 2) contingent baseline, 1-sec delay, and 3-sec delay, 3) contingent baseline, 6-sec delay, and 12-sec delay, 4) contingent baseline, 1/2 efficiency, and 1/4 efficiency. In test 1, one infant chimpanzee showed decrease of the minimum pressure of sucking in the contingent condition. In test 2, one subject showed shorter intervals of sucking in 3-sec delay condition. This seems to be similar to human infant's. We may be able to postulate ecological self in baby chimpanzees according to the self-exploration. In test 3 and 4, we did not obtain any effects of stimulus conditions. Results of these studies. These studies were conducted as the parts of the chimpanzee development project in Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, organized by Professor Tetsuro Matsuzawa

Correlation between Tc and Lattice Parameters of Novel Superconducting NaxCoO2 yH2O

We synthesized the five batches of the samples of the novel P3 type superconductor, Na$_{x}$(H$_{3}$O)$_{y'}$CoO$_{2}\cdot y''$H$_{2}$O, by the soft chemical process starting from $\alpha$-NaCoO$_{2}$. The chemical and structural properties varied rather widely from batch to batch, with a result that $T_{c}$ varied from 4.6 K to 3.2 K. The magnetic susceptibility above $T_{c}$ shows upturn at low temperature as in the case of the P2 phase. The $T_{c}$ seems to be well correlated to the lattice parameters.Comment: 2 pages, 2 figures, and 1 table, to be published in J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 73 (9) with possible minor revision

Classification of minimal actions of a compact Kac algebra with amenable dual

We show the uniqueness of minimal actions of a compact Kac algebra with amenable dual on the AFD factor of type II$_1$. This particularly implies the uniqueness of minimal actions of a compact group. Our main tools are a Rohlin type theorem, the 2-cohomology vanishing theorem, and the Evans-Kishimoto type intertwining argument.Comment: 68 pages, Introduction rewritten; minor correction

Correlation, Breit and Quantum Electrodynamics effects on energy level and transition properties of W54+^{54+} ion

The electron correlation effects and Breit interaction as well as Quantum Electro-Dynamics (QED) effects were expected to have important contribution to the energy level and transition properties of heavy highly charged ions. The ground states [Ne]$3s^{2}3p^{6}3d^{2}$ and first excited states [Ne]3s$^{2}3p^{5}3d^{3}$ of W$^{54+}$ ion have been studied by using Multi-Configuration Dirac-Fock method with the implementation of Grasp2K package. A restricted active space was employed to investigate the correlation contribution from different models. The Breit interaction and QED effects were taken into account in the relativistic configuration interaction calculation with the converged wavefunction. It is found that the correlation contribution from 3s and 3p orbital have important contribution to the energy level, transition wavelength and probability of the ground and the first excited state of W$^{54+}$ ion