Lower limit on the entropy of black holes as inferred from gravitational wave observations

Black hole (BH) thermodynamics was established by Bekenstein and Hawking, who made abstract theoretical arguments about the second law of thermodynamics and quantum theory in curved spacetime respectively. Testing these ideas experimentally has, so far, been impractical because the putative flux of Hawking radiation from astrophysical BHs is too small to be distinguished from the rest of the hot environment. Here, it is proposed that the spectrum of emitted gravitational waves (GWs) after the merger of two BHs, in particular the spectrum of GW150914, can be used to infer a lower limit on the magnitude of the entropy of the post-merger BH. This lower bound is potentially significant as it could be of the same order as the Bekenstein-Hawking entropy. To infer this limit, we first assume that the result of the merger is an ultracompact object with an external geometry which is Schwarzschild or Kerr, but with an outer surface which is capable of reflecting in-falling GWs rather than fully absorbing them. If the absence of deviations from the predictions of general relativity in detected GW signals will be verified, we will then obtain a bound on the minimal redshift factor of GWs that emerge from the vicinity of the object's surface. This lack of deviations would also mean that the remnant of the merger has to have a strongly absorbing surface and must then be a BH for all practical purposes. We conclude that a relationship between the minimal redshift factor and the BH entropy, which was first proposed by 't Hooft, could then be used to set a lower bound on the entropy of the post-merger BH.Comment: Corrected error in estimation of current bounds on the entropy. Improved discussion of energy stored in echoes, V3 replaced to match published version, clarifications and explanations adde

First principles investigation of transition-metal doped group-IV semiconductors: Rx{_x}Y1−x_{1-x} (R=Cr, Mn, Fe; Y=Si, Ge)

A number of transition-metal (TM) doped group-IV semiconductors, R$_{x}$Y$_{1-x}$ (R=Cr, Mn and Fe; Y=Si, Ge), have been studied by the first principles calculations. The obtained results show that antiferromagnetic (AFM) order is energetically more favored than ferromagnetic (FM) order in Cr-doped Ge and Si with $x$=0.03125 and 0.0625. In 6.25% Fe-doped Ge, FM interaction dominates in all range of the R-R distances while for Fe-doped Ge at 3.125% and Fe-doped Si at both concentrations of 3.125% and 6.25%, only in a short R-R range can the FM states exist. In the Mn-doped case, the RKKY-like mechanism seems to be suitable for the Ge host matrix, while for the Mn-doped Si, the short-range AFM interaction competes with the long-range FM interaction. The different origin of the magnetic orders in these diluted magnetic semiconductors (DMSs) makes the microscopic mechanism of the ferromagnetism in the DMSs more complex and attractive.Comment: 14 pages, 2 figures, 6 table

Probing the size of extra dimension with gravitational wave astronomy

In Randall-Sundrum II (RS-II) braneworld model, it has been conjectured according to the AdS/CFT correspondence that brane-localized black hole (BH) larger than the bulk AdS curvature scale $\ell$ cannot be static, and it is dual to a four dimensional BH emitting the Hawking radiation through some quantum fields. In this scenario, the number of the quantum field species is so large that this radiation changes the orbital evolution of a BH binary. We derived the correction to the gravitational waveform phase due to this effect and estimated the upper bounds on $\ell$ by performing Fisher analyses. We found that DECIGO/BBO can put a stronger constraint than the current table-top result by detecting gravitational waves from small mass BH/BH and BH/neutron star (NS) binaries. Furthermore, DECIGO/BBO is expected to detect 10$^5$ BH/NS binaries per year. Taking this advantage, we found that DECIGO/BBO can actually measure $\ell$ down to $\ell=0.33 \mu$m for 5 year observation if we know that binaries are circular a priori. This is about 40 times smaller than the upper bound obtained from the table-top experiment. On the other hand, when we take eccentricities into binary parameters, the detection limit weakens to $\ell=1.5 \mu$m due to strong degeneracies between $\ell$ and eccentricities. We also derived the upper bound on $\ell$ from the expected detection number of extreme mass ratio inspirals (EMRIs) with LISA and BH/NS binaries with DECIGO/BBO, extending the discussion made recently by McWilliams. We found that these less robust constraints are weaker than the ones from phase differences.Comment: 19 pages, 10 figures. Published in PRD, typos corrected, references and footnotes adde

Inhibition of I κ B-α phosphorylation at serine and tyrosine acts independently on sensitization to DNA damaging agents in human glioma cells

Molecular mechanisms and/or intrinsic factors controlling cellular radiosensitivity are not fully understood in mammalian cells. The recent studies have suggested that nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) is one of such factors. The activation and regulation of NF-κB are tightly controlled by IκB-α, a cellular inhibitory protein of NF-κB. Most importantly, phosphorylation regulates activity of the inhibitor IκB-α, which sequesters NF-κB in the cytosol. Two different pathways for the phosphorylation of IκB-α are demonstrated, such as serine (at residues 32 and 36) and tyrosine (at residue 42) phosphorylations. To assess a role of the transcription factor, NF-κB, on cellular sensitivity to DNA damaging agents, we constructed three different types of expression plasmids, i.e. S-IκB (mutations at residues 32 and 36), Y-IκB (mutation at residue 42) and SY-IκB (mutations at residues 32, 36 and 42). The cell clones expressing S-IκB and Y-IκB proteins became sensitive to X-rays as compared with the parental and vector-transfected cells. The cell clones expressing SY-IκB were further radiosensitive. By the treatment with herbimycin A, an inhibitor of phosphorylation, the X-ray sensitivity of cells expressing SY-IκB did not change, while that of the cells expressing S-IκB and Y-IκB and the parental cells was enhanced. Change in the sensitivity to adriamycin and UV in those clones was very similar to that in the X-ray sensitivity. The inhibition of IκB-α phosphorylation at serine and tyrosine acts independently on the sensitization to X-rays, adriamycin and UV. These findings suggest that the transcriptional activation induced by NF-κB may play a role in the DNA damage repair. The present study proposes a possibility that the inactivation of NF-κB by inhibition of both serine and tyrosine phosphorylations may be useful for the treatment of cancer in radio- and chemotherapies. © 2000 Cancer Research Campaig

Influence of Charge and Energy Imbalances on the Tunneling Current through a Superconductor-Normal Metal Junction

We consider quasiparticle charge and energy imbalances in a thin superconductor weakly coupled with two normal-metal electrodes via tunnel junctions at low temperatures. Charge and energy imbalances, which can be created by injecting quasiparticles at one junction, induce excess tunneling current $I_{\rm ex}$ at the other junction. We numerically obtain $I_{\rm ex}$ as a function of the bias voltage $V_{\rm det}$ across the detection junction. We show that $I_{\rm ex}$ at the zero bias voltage is purely determined by the charge imbalance, while the energy imbalance causes a nontrivial $V_{\rm det}$-dependence of $I_{\rm ex}$. The obtained voltage-current characteristics qualitatively agree with the experimental result by R. Yagi [Phys. Rev. B {\bf 73} (2006) 134507].Comment: 10 pages, 5 figure

Gravitational Waves from Quasi-Circular Black Hole Binaries in Dynamical Chern-Simons Gravity

Dynamical Chern-Simons gravity cannot be strongly constrained with current experiments because it reduces to General Relativity in the weak-field limit. This theory, however, introduces modifications in the non-linear, dynamical regime, and thus, it could be greatly constrained with gravitational waves from the late inspiral of black hole binaries. We complete the first self-consistent calculation of such gravitational waves in this theory. For favorable spin-orientations, advanced ground-based detectors may improve existing solar-system constraints by 6 orders of magnitude.Comment: 6 pages, 1 figure; errors corrected in Eqs. (8) and (9

Newcomers Meet the Intracluster Medium in the Coma Cluster

A main topic at this meeting is how galaxies are affected when they enter for the first time the cluster environment from the outskirts. Most of the times we are forced to infer the environmental effects indirectly, relying on systematic variations of galaxy properties with environment, but there aren't many examples of direct observations able to unveil ongoing transformations taking place, and the corresponding mechanism producing it. We present a case in which it is possible to identify the cluster environment, and in particular the intracluster medium and the recent infall history of galaxies onto the cluster, as the cause for a recent, abrupt change in the evolutionary history of galaxies.Comment: 5 pages, 1 postscript figure -- to appear in "Outskirts of Galaxy Clusters: intense life in the suburbs", IAU Colloquium N. 195, 2004, ed. A Diaferi