The silicon stable isotope distribution along the GEOVIDE section (GEOTRACES GA-01) of the North Atlantic Ocean

The stable isotope composition of dissolved silicon in seawater (δ30SiDSi) was examined at 10 stations along the GEOVIDE section (GEOTRACES GA-01), spanning the North Atlantic Ocean (40–60∘ N) and Labrador Sea. Variations in δ30SiDSi below 500 m were closely tied to the distribution of water masses. Higher δ30SiDSi values are associated with intermediate and deep water masses of northern Atlantic or Arctic Ocean origin, whilst lower δ30SiDSi values are associated with DSi-rich waters sourced ultimately from the Southern Ocean. Correspondingly, the lowest δ30SiDSi values were observed in the deep and abyssal eastern North Atlantic, where dense southern-sourced waters dominate. The extent to which the spreading of water masses influences the δ30SiDSi distribution is marked clearly by Labrador Sea Water (LSW), whose high δ30SiDSi signature is visible not only within its region of formation within the Labrador and Irminger seas, but also throughout the mid-depth western and eastern North Atlantic Ocean. Both δ30SiDSi and hydrographic parameters document the circulation of LSW into the eastern North Atlantic, where it overlies southern-sourced Lower Deep Water. The GEOVIDE δ30SiDSi distribution thus provides a clear view of the direct interaction between subpolar/polar water masses of northern and southern origin, and allow examination of the extent to which these far-field signals influence the local δ30SiDSi distribution

Evidences of evanescent Bloch waves in Phononic Crystals

We show both experimentally and theoretically the evanescent behaviour of modes in the Band Gap (BG) of finite Phononic Crystal (PC). Based on experimental and numerical data we obtain the imaginary part of the wave vector in good agreement with the complex band structures obtained by the Extended Plane Wave Expansion (EPWE). The calculated and measured acoustic field of a localized mode out of the point defect inside the PC presents also evanescent behaviour. The correct understanding of evanescent modes is fundamental for designing narrow filters and wave guides based on Phononic Crystals with defects.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figure

A new scenario for string unification

We present a new scenario for gauge coupling unification in flipped SU(5) string models, which identifies the $M_{32}$ scale of SU(3) and SU(2) unification with the empirical $M_{\rm LEP}\sim10^{15-16}$~GeV scale, and the $M_{51}$ scale of SU(5) and U(1) unification with the theoretical $M_{\rm string}\sim5\times10^{17}$~GeV string unification scale. The vacuum shift necessary for the cancellation of the anomalous $\rm U_A(1)$ and an SU(4) hidden sector with fractionally-charged particles, play a crucial role in the dynamical determination of all intermediate mass scales in this scenario.Comment: 8 pages, LaTeX, 2 figures (uuencoded

Dynamical supersymmetry breaking from unoriented D-brane instantons

We study the non-perturbative dynamics of an unoriented Z_5-quiver theory of GUT kind with gauge group U(5) and chiral matter. At strong coupling the non-perturbative dynamics is described in terms of set of baryon/meson variables satisfying a quantum deformed constraint. We compute the effective superpotential of the theory and show that it admits a line of supersymmetric vacua and a phase where supersymmetry is dynamically broken via gaugino condensation.Comment: 24 pages, 1 figur

Relativistic Jets from Collapsars

We have studied the relativistic beamed outflow proposed to occur in the collapsar model of gamma-ray bursts. A jet forms as a consequence of an assumed energy deposition of $\sim 10^{50}- 10^{51}$ erg/s within a $30^{\circ}$ cone around the rotation axis of the progenitor star. The generated jet flow is strongly beamed (\la few degrees) and reaches the surface of the stellar progenitor (r $\approx 3 10^{10}$cm) intact. At break-out the maximum Lorentz factor of the jet flow is about 33. Simulations have been performed with the GENESIS multi-dimensional relativistic hydrodynamic code.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, to appear in the proceedings of the conference "Godunov methods: theory and applications", Oxford, October 199

Flavor changing neutral current constraints on standard-like orbifold models

We examine for standard-like orbifold compactification models the constraints due to quarks and leptons generation non-universality of soft supersymmetry breaking interactions. We follow the approach initiated by Ibanez and Lust and developed by Brignole, Ibanez and Munoz. The breaking of supersymmetry is represented in terms of dilaton and moduli auxiliary field components and, consistently with a vanishing cosmological constant, is parametrized in terms of the dilaton-moduli mixing angle $\theta$ and the gravitino mass scale $m_g$. The soft breaking interactions (gaugino masses, squarks and sleptons mass matrices, scalars interactions A and B coupling constants) are calculable as a function of these parameters and of the discrete set of modular weight parameters specifying the modular transformation properties of the low-energy fields. We solve the renormalization group one-loop equations for the full set of gauge, Yukawa and supersymmetry breaking coupling constants.Comment: 32 page