68 research outputs found
RR photons
Journal of High Energy Physics 2011.9 (2011): 110 reproduced by permission of Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati (SISSA)Type II string compactifications to 4d generically contain massless Ramond-Ramond U(1) gauge symmetries. However there is no massless matter charged under these U(1)âs, which makes a priori difficult to measure any physical consequences of their existence. There is however a window of opportunity if these RR U(1)âs mix with the hypercharge U(1)Y (hence with the photon). In this paper we study in detail different avenues by which U(1)RR bosons may mix with D-brane U(1)âs. We concentrate on Type IIA orientifolds and their M-theory lift, and provide geometric criteria for the existence of such mixing, which may occur either via standard kinetic mixing or via the mass terms induced by StĂŒckelberg couplings. The latter case is particularly interesting, and appears whenever D-branes wrap torsional p-cycles in the compactification manifold. We also show that in the presence of torsional cycles discrete gauge symmetries and Aharanov-Bohm strings and particles appear in the 4d effective action, and that type IIA StĂŒckelberg couplings can be understood in terms of torsional (co)homology in M-theory. We provide examples of Type IIA Calabi-Yau orientifolds in which the required torsional cycles exist and kinetic mixing induced by mass mixing is present. We discuss some henomenological consequences of our findings. In particular, we find that mass mixing may induce corrections relevant for hypercharge gauge coupling unification in F-theory SU(5) GUTâ
Fluid dynamics of mixing in the tanks of small vanadium redox flow batteries: Insights from order-of-magnitude estimates and transient two-dimensional simulations
This paper investigates the fluid dynamics of mixing in the tanks of
small-scale vanadium redox flow batteries. These systems use two redox pairs
dissolved in separate electrolytes to convert electrical energy into chemical
energy, a process that can be reversed in an efficient way to restore the
initial electrical energy with negligible chemical losses. After flowing
through the electrochemical cell, the electrolytes are stored in separate
tanks, where they discharge as submerged jets with small temperature and
composition changes compared to the electrolyte already present in the tanks.
The subsequent mixing process is critical for battery performance, as imperfect
mixing tends to reduce the energy capacity and may lead to asymmetric battery
operation. The analysis starts using order-of-magnitude estimates to determine
the conditions under which the mixing process is dominated by momentum or
buoyancy. Transient two-dimensional simulations illustrate the different flow
regimes that emerge in the tanks under laminar flow conditions. The results
show that, contrary to the common assumption, the electrolytes do not mix well
in the tanks. In the presence of high-momentum -- and, specially, positively
buoyant -- jets, a significant fraction of the electrolyte remains unmixed and
unreacted for long periods, thus reducing the energy capacity. The results also
show that the availability of reliable electrolyte properties is crucial for
the accuracy of the numerical simulations, as, under the mixed convection
conditions that typically prevail in vanadium redox flow batteries, small
density variations can significantly impact the long-term mixing of the
electrolytes. In particular, in momentum-dominated flows the cumulative effect
of density changes over time eventually leads to flow instabilities that
significantly promote mixing; therefore, they should be taken into account in
future studies
A review of High Performance Computing foundations for scientists
The increase of existing computational capabilities has made simulation
emerge as a third discipline of Science, lying midway between experimental and
purely theoretical branches [1, 2]. Simulation enables the evaluation of
quantities which otherwise would not be accessible, helps to improve
experiments and provides new insights on systems which are analysed [3-6].
Knowing the fundamentals of computation can be very useful for scientists, for
it can help them to improve the performance of their theoretical models and
simulations. This review includes some technical essentials that can be useful
to this end, and it is devised as a complement for researchers whose education
is focused on scientific issues and not on technological respects. In this
document we attempt to discuss the fundamentals of High Performance Computing
(HPC) [7] in a way which is easy to understand without much previous
background. We sketch the way standard computers and supercomputers work, as
well as discuss distributed computing and discuss essential aspects to take
into account when running scientific calculations in computers.Comment: 33 page
Gravitational waves in dynamical spacetimes with matter content in the Fully Constrained Formulation
The Fully Constrained Formulation (FCF) of General Relativity is a novel
framework introduced as an alternative to the hyperbolic formulations
traditionally used in numerical relativity. The FCF equations form a hybrid
elliptic-hyperbolic system of equations including explicitly the constraints.
We present an implicit-explicit numerical algorithm to solve the hyperbolic
part, whereas the elliptic sector shares the form and properties with the well
known Conformally Flat Condition (CFC) approximation. We show the stability
andconvergence properties of the numerical scheme with numerical simulations of
vacuum solutions. We have performed the first numerical evolutions of the
coupled system of hydrodynamics and Einstein equations within FCF. As a proof
of principle of the viability of the formalism, we present 2D axisymmetric
simulations of an oscillating neutron star. In order to simplify the analysis
we have neglected the back-reaction of the gravitational waves into the
dynamics, which is small (<2 %) for the system considered in this work. We use
spherical coordinates grids which are well adapted for simulations of stars and
allow for extended grids that marginally reach the wave zone. We have extracted
the gravitational wave signature and compared to the Newtonian quadrupole and
hexadecapole formulae. Both extraction methods show agreement within the
numerical errors and the approximations used (~30 %).Comment: 17 pages, 9 figures, 2 tables, accepted for publication in PR
Fluxes, moduli fixing and MSSM-like vacua in a simple IIA orientifold
We study the effects of adding RR, NS and metric fluxes on a T^6/(\Omega
(-1)^{F_L} I_3) Type IIA orientifold. By using the effective flux-induced
superpotential we obtain Minkowski or AdS vacua with broken or unbroken
supersymmetry. In the Minkowski case some combinations of real moduli remain
undetermined, whereas all can be stabilized in the AdS solutions. Many flux
parameters are available which are unconstrained by RR tadpole cancellation
conditions allowing to locate the minima at large volume and small dilaton. We
also find that in AdS supersymmetric vacua with metric fluxes, the overall flux
contribution to RR tadpoles can vanish or have opposite sign to that of
D6-branes, allowing for new model-building possibilities. In particular, we
construct the first N=1 supersymmetric intersecting D6-brane models with
MSSM-like spectrum and with all closed string moduli stabilized. Some
axion-like fields remain undetermined but they are precisely required to give
St\"uckelberg masses to (potentially anomalous) U(1) brane fields. We show that
the cancellation of the Freed-Witten anomaly guarantees that the axions with
flux-induced masses are orthogonal to those giving masses to the U(1)'s.
Cancellation of such anomalies also guarantees that the D6-branes in our N=1
supersymmetric AdS vacua are calibrated so that they are forced to preserve one
unbroken supersymmetry.Comment: 61 pages, Latex, v2: added references, v3: minor correction
Biodiversity Assessment and Geographical Affinities of Discards in Clam Fisheries in the AtlanticâMediterranean Transition (Northern Alboran Sea)
This study focused on the assessment and quantification of discards generated by clam fisheries along the northern Alboran Sea (western Mediterranean). Discard samples (nâ=â278) were collected throughout one year on board nine commercial vessels. A total of 129 species were identified, mostly represented by molluscs (72 spp.), arthropods (20 spp.) and echinoderms (12 spp.). Molluscs dominated in terms of abundance (67.5%) and biomass (94.2%). The superfamily Paguroidea (i.e. hermit crabs), together with undersized target individuals, were the most abundant taxa. The abundance and biomass of discards displayed significant maximum values in winter, which could be partly related to biotic factors including population dynamics of some dominant species. Multivariate analyses indicated the presence of different assemblages related to the targeted bivalve species, reflecting the transition between a fine surface-sands biocoenosis exposed to wave action and a well-sorted fine sands biocoenosis below 5 m depth. Analysis of biogeographical affinities showed that most discarded species (73.2%) have an extensive Atlantic range, whereas 7.1% have a restricted distribution within the Mediterranean. The presence of subtropical species highlights the uniqueness of this area (the AtlanticâMediterranean transition) in European seas. The usefulness of discard analysis for biodiversity assessment is discussed.Postprin
Holomorphic variables in magnetized brane models with continuous Wilson lines
We analyze the action of the target-space modular group in toroidal type IIB
orientifold compactifications with magnetized D-branes and continuous Wilson
lines. The transformation of matter fields agree with that of twisted fields in
heterotic compactifications, constituting a check of type I/heterotic duality.
We identify the holomorphic N = 1 variables for these compactifications. Matter
fields and closed string moduli are both redefined by open string moduli. The
redefinition of matter fields can be read directly from the perturbative Yukawa
couplings, whereas closed string moduli redefinitions are obtained from D-brane
instanton superpotential couplings. The resulting expressions reproduce and
generalize, in the presence of internal magnetic fields, previous results in
the literature.Comment: 9 pages, no figures; v2: conventions for Wilson lines changed, major
simplifications in expressions, discussions extended, typos corrected, some
references adde
Isospin violating dark matter in StĂŒckelberg portal scenarios
Journal of High Energy Physics 2015.4 (2015): 175 reproduced by permission of Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati (SISSA)Hidden sector scenarios in which dark matter (DM) interacts with the Standard Model matter fields through the exchange of massive ZâČ bosons are well motivated by certain string theory constructions. In this work, we thoroughly study the phenomenological aspects of such scenarios and find that they present a clear and testable consequence for direct DM searches. We show that such string motivated StĂŒckelberg portals naturally lead to isospin violating interactions of DM particles with nuclei. We find that the relations between the DM coupling to neutrons and protons for both, spin-independent (fn/fp) and spin-dependent (an/ap) interactions, are very flexible depending on the charges of the quarks under the extra U(1) gauge groups. We show that within this construction these ratios are generically different from ±1 (i.e. different couplings to protons and neutrons) leading to a potentially measurable distinction from other popular portals. Finally, we incorporate bounds from searches for dijet and dilepton resonances at the LHC as well as LUX bounds on the elastic scattering of DM off nucleons to determine the experimentally allowed values of fn/fp and an/apThe authors are grateful to D. G. Cerdeño, L. Ibañez, F. Kahlhoefer and G. Shiu for useful comments. V.M.L. and M.P. would like to thank the support of the European Union under the ERC Advanced Grant SPLE under contract ERC-2012-ADG-20120216-320421, the support of the Consolider-Ingenio 2010 programme under grant MULTIDARK CSD2009-00064, the Spanish MICINN under Grant No. FPA2012-34694, the Spanish MINECO âCentro de excelencia Severo Ochoa Programâ under Grant No. SEV-2012-0249, and the Community of Madrid under Grant No. HEPHACOS S2009/ESP-1473. P.S. would like to thank DESY, the University of Hamburg, and the Hong Kong IAS for kind hospitality during the completion of this work. He acknowledges support from the DOE grant DEFG-02-95ER40896 and the HKRGC grant HKUST4/CRF/13G, 604231, as well as the Collaborative Research Center SFB676 of the DFG at the University of Hambur
How does neighbourhood socio-economic status affect the interrelationships between functioning dimensions in first episode of psychosis? A network analysis approach
The links between psychosis and socio-economic disadvantage have been widely studied. No previous study has analysed the interrelationships and mutual influences between functioning dimensions in first episode of psychosis (FEP) according to their neighbourhood household income, using a multidimensional and transdiagnostic perspective. 170 patients and 129 controls, participants in an observational study (AGES-CM), comprised the study sample. The WHO Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS 2.0) was used to assess functioning, whereas participants' postcodes were used to obtain the average household income for each neighbourhood, collected by the Spanish National Statistics Institute (INE). Network analyses were conducted with the aim of defining the interrelationships between the different dimensions of functioning according to the neighbourhood household income. Our results show that lower neighbourhood socioeconomic level is associated with lower functioning in patients with FEP. Moreover, our findings suggest that âhousehold responsibilitiesâ plays a central role in the disability of patients who live in low-income neighbourhoods, whereas âdealing with strangersâ is the most important node in the network of patients who live in high-income neighbourhoods. These results could help to personalize treatments, by allowing the identification of potential functioning areas to be prioritized in the treatment of FEP according to the patient's neighbourhood characteristic
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