Gauge Spinors and String Duality

When the gauge groups of the two heterotic string theories are broken, over tori, to their "SO(16)x SO(16)" subgroups, the winding modes correspond to representations which are spinorial with respect to those subgroups. Globally, the two subgroups are isomorphic neither to SO(16)x SO(16) nor to each other. Any attempt to formulate the T-duality of the two theories on any manifold more complicated than the product of a circle with a Euclidean space must therefore take into account the possible non-existence of the relevant "generalised spin structure". We give here a global formulation of T-duality in this case, and discuss examples where the duality seems to be obstructed.Comment: 36 page

The Geometry of The Entropic Principle and the Shape of the Universe

Ooguri, Vafa, and Verlinde have outlined an approach to two-dimensional accelerating string cosmology which is based on topological string theory, the ultimate objective being to develop a string-theoretic understanding of "creating the Universe from nothing". The key technical idea here is to assign *two different* Lorentzian spacetimes to a certain Euclidean space. Here we give a simple framework which allows this to be done in a systematic way. This framework allows us to extend the construction to higher dimensions. We find then that the general shape of the spatial sections of the newly created Universe is constrained by the OVV formalism: the sections have to be flat and compact.Comment: 24 pages, 4 eps figures, improved exposition of Euclidean/Lorentzian smoothin

A Holographic Bound on Cosmic Magnetic Fields

Magnetic fields large enough to be observable are ubiquitous in astrophysics, even at extremely large length scales. This has led to the suggestion that such fields are seeded at very early (inflationary) times, and subsequently amplified by various processes involving, for example, dynamo effects. Many such mechanisms give rise to extremely large magnetic fields at the end of inflationary reheating, and therefore also during the quark-gluon plasma epoch of the early universe. Such plasmas have a well-known holographic description in terms of a thermal asymptotically AdS black hole. We show that holography imposes an upper bound on the intensity of magnetic fields ($\approx \; 3.6 \times 10^{18}\;\; \text{gauss}$ at the hadronization temperature) in these circumstances; this is above, but not far above, the values expected in some models of cosmic magnetogenesis.Comment: 16 pages, 2 figures, explicit numerical value given for the bound, improved discussion of implications for superadiabatic amplification, version to appear in Nucl Phys

Velocity field path-planning for single and multiple unmanned ariel vehicles

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) have seen a rapid growth in utilisation for reconnaissance, mostly using single UAVs. However, future utilisation of UAVs for applications such as bistatic synthetic aperture radar and stereoscopic imaging, will require the use of multiple UAVs acting cooperatively to achieve mission goals. In addition, to de-skill the operation of UAVs for certain applications will require the migration of path-planning functions from the ground to the UAV. This paper details a computationally efficient algorithm to enable path-planning for single UAVs and to form and re-form UAV formations with active collision avoidance. The algorithm presented extends classical potential field methods used in other domains for the UAV path-planning problem. It is demonstrated that a range of tasks can be executed autonomously, allowing high level tasking of single and multiple UAVs in formation, with the formation commanded as a single entity

How Does the Quark-Gluon Plasma Know the Collision Energy?

Heavy ion collisions at the LHC facility generate a Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP) which, for central collisions, has a higher energy density and temperature than the plasma generated in central collisions at the RHIC. But sufficiently peripheral LHC collisions give rise to plasmas which have the \emph{same} energy density and temperature as the "central" RHIC plasmas. One might assume that the two versions of the QGP would have very similar properties (for example, with regard to jet quenching), but recent investigations have suggested that \emph{they do not}: the plasma "knows" that the overall collision energy is different in the two cases. We argue, using a gauge-gravity analysis, that the strong magnetic fields arising in one case (peripheral collisions), but not the other, may be relevant here. If the residual magnetic field in peripheral LHC plasmas is of the order of at least $eB\,\approx \,5\,m^2_{\pi}$, then the model predicts modifications of the relevant quenching parameter which approach those recently reported.Comment: 16 pages, one figure; version to appear in Nuclear Physics

Orbits in a generalized two-body problem

The two-body problem is a well-known case of the general central force problem with an attractive, inverse square force. However, there are forms of spacecraft propulsion, such as solar sails and minimagnetospheric plasmapropulsion, which generate a repulsive, inverse square force. Because this force can be modulated, a more general central force problem is then formed. Such a problem is investigated and the families of orbits available using both forward integration and an inverse approach are explored. Both are used to explore various modes of transfer between circular coplanar orbits and to determine strategies for escape

Angular Momentum in QGP Holography

The quark chemical potential is one of the fundamental parameters describing the Quark-Gluon Plasma produced by sufficiently energetic heavy-ion collisions. It is not large at the extremely high temperatures probed by the LHC, but it plays a key role in discussions of the beam energy scan programmes at the RHIC and other facilities. On the other hand, collisions at such energies typically (that is, in peripheral collisions) give rise to very high values of the angular momentum density. Here we explain that holographic estimates of the quark chemical potential of a rotating sample of plasma can be very considerably improved by taking the angular momentum into account.Comment: 22 pages, 2 figures, version to appear in Nuclear Physics

Stringy Instability of Topologically Non-Trivial Ads Black Holes and of desitter S-Brane Spacetimes

Seiberg and Witten have discussed a specifically "stringy" kind of instability which arises in connection with "large" branes in asymptotically AdS spacetimes. It is easy to see that this instability actually arises in most five-dimensional asymptotically AdS black hole string spacetimes with non-trivial horizon topologies. We point out that this is a more serious problem than it may at first seem, for it cannot be resolved even by taking into account the effect of the branes on the geometry of spacetime. [It is ultimately due to the {\em topology} of spacetime, not its geometry.] Next, assuming the validity of some kind of dS/CFT correspondence, we argue that asymptotically deSitter versions of the Hull-Strominger-Gutperle S-brane spacetimes are also unstable in this "topological" sense, at least in the case where the R-symmetries are preserved. We conjecture that this is due to the unrestrained creation of "late" branes, the spacelike analogue of large branes, at very late cosmological times.Comment: References added, NPB versio