972 research outputs found
Novel colours and the content of experience
I propose a counterexample to naturalistic representational theories of phenomenal character. The counterexample is generated by experiences of novel colours reported by Crane and Piantanida. I consider various replies that a representationalist might make, including whether novel colours could be possible colours of objects and whether one can account for novel colours as one would account for binary colours or colour mixtures. I argue that none of these strategies is successful and therefore that one cannot fully explain the nature of the phenomenal character of perceptual experiences using a naturalistic conception of representation
Reconnection of Non-Abelian Cosmic Strings
Cosmic strings in non-abelian gauge theories naturally gain a spectrum of
massless, or light, excitations arising from their embedding in color and
flavor space. This opens up the possibility that colliding strings miss each
other in the internal space, reducing the probability of reconnection. We study
the topology of the non-abelian vortex moduli space to determine the outcome of
string collision. Surprisingly we find that the probability of classical
reconnection in this system remains unity, with strings passing through each
other only for finely tuned initial conditions. We proceed to show how this
conclusion can be changed by symmetry breaking effects, or by quantum effects
associated to fermionic zero modes, and present examples where the probability
of reconnection in a U(N) gauge theory ranges from 1/N for low-energy
collisions to one at higher energies.Comment: 25 Pages, 3 Figures. v2: comment added, reference adde
The (p,q) String Tension in a Warped Deformed Conifold
We find the tension spectrum of the bound states of p fundamental strings and
q D-strings at the bottom of a warped deformed conifold. We show that it can be
obtained from a D3-brane wrapping a 2-cycle that is stabilized by both electric
and magnetic fluxes. Because the F-strings are Z_M-charged with non-zero
binding energy, binding can take place even if (p,q) are not coprime.
Implications for cosmic strings are briefly discussed.Comment: 17 pages, 1 figur
Wall and Anti-Wall in the Randall-Sundrum Model and A New Infrared Regularization
An approach to find the field equation solution of the Randall-Sundrum model
with the extra axis is presented. We closely examine the infrared
singularity. The vacuum is set by the 5 dimensional Higgs field. Both the
domain-wall and the anti-domain-wall naturally appear, at the {\it ends} of the
extra compact axis, by taking a {\it new infrared regularization}. The
stability is guaranteed from the outset by the kink boundary condition. A {\it
continuous} (infrared-)regularized solution, which is a truncated {\it Fourier
series} of a {\it discontinuous} solution, is utilized.The ultraviolet-infrared
relation appears in the regularized solution.Comment: 36 pages, 29 eps figure file
Stochastic Inflation Revisited: Non-Slow Roll Statistics and DBI Inflation
Stochastic inflation describes the global structure of the inflationary
universe by modeling the super-Hubble dynamics as a system of matter fields
coupled to gravity where the sub-Hubble field fluctuations induce a stochastic
force into the equations of motion. The super-Hubble dynamics are ultralocal,
allowing us to neglect spatial derivatives and treat each Hubble patch as a
separate universe. This provides a natural framework in which to discuss
probabilities on the space of solutions and initial conditions. In this article
we derive an evolution equation for this probability for an arbitrary class of
matter systems, including DBI and k-inflationary models, and discover
equilibrium solutions that satisfy detailed balance. Our results are more
general than those derived assuming slow roll or a quasi-de Sitter geometry,
and so are directly applicable to models that do not satisfy the usual slow
roll conditions. We discuss in general terms the conditions for eternal
inflation to set in, and we give explicit numerical solutions of highly
stochastic, quasi-stationary trajectories in the relativistic DBI regime.
Finally, we show that the probability for stochastic/thermal tunneling can be
significantly enhanced relative to the Hawking-Moss instanton result due to
relativistic DBI effects.Comment: 38 pages, 2 figures. v3: minor revisions; version accepted into JCA
The Real Combination Problem : Panpsychism, Micro-Subjects, and Emergence
Panpsychism harbors an unresolved tension, the seriousness of which has yet to be fully appreciated. I capture this tension as a dilemma, and offer panpsychists advice on how to resolve it. The dilemma, briefly, is as follows. Panpsychists are committed to the perspicuous explanation of macro-mentality in terms of micro-mentality. But panpsychists take the micro-material realm to feature not just mental properties, but also micro-subjects to whom these properties belong. Yet it is impossible to explain the constitution of a macro-subject (like one of us) in terms of the assembly of micro-subjects, for, I show, subjects cannot combine. Therefore the panpsychist explanatory project is derailed by the insistence that the worldâs ultimate material constituents (ultimates) are subjects of experience. The panpsychist faces a choice of abandoning her explanatory project, or recanting the claim that the ultimates are subjects. This is the dilemma. I argue that the latter option is to be preferred. This neednât constitute a wholesale abandonment of panpsychism, however, since panpsychists can maintain that the ultimates possess phenomenal qualities, despite not being subjects of those qualities. This proposal requires us to make sense of phenomenal qualities existing independently of experiencing subjects, a challenge I tackle in the penultimate section. The position eventually reached is a form of neutral monism, so another way to express the overall argument is to say that, keeping true to their philosophical motivations, panpsychists should really be neutral monists.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio
On the Slow Roll Expansion for Brane Inflation
One possibility for identifying the inflaton in the framework of string
theory is that it is a -brane modulus. This option involves a specific,
non-canonical form of the kinetic energy -- the Dirac-Born-Infeld action. This
note investigates the applicability of the slow roll approximation in
inflationary models of this type. To this end the slow roll expansion of
Liddle, Parsons and Barrow is derived for the case of the DBI action. The
resulting slow roll conditions augment the standard ones valid in the case of
canonical kinetic terms. It is also shown that in DBI models inflation does not
require that the potential dominate the energy density.Comment: References adde
Cosmological Expansion in the Randall-Sundrum Brane World Scenario
The cosmology of the Randall-Sundrum scenario for a positive tension brane in
a 5-D Universe with localized gravity has been studied previously. In the
radiation-dominated Universe, it was suggested that there are two solutions for
the cosmic scale factor a(t) : the standard solution , and a
solution , which is incompatible with standard big bang
nucleosynthesis. In this note, we reconsider expansion of the Universe in this
scenario. We derive and solve a first order, linear differential equation for
H^2, the square of the expansion rate of the Universe, as a function of a. The
differences between our equation for H^2 and the relationship found in standard
cosmology are (i) there is a term proportional to density squared (a fact
already known), which is small when the density is small compared to the brane
tension, and (ii) there is a contribution which acts like a relativistic fluid.
We show that this second contribution is due to gravitational degrees of
freedom in the bulk. Thus, we find that there need not be any conflict between
cosmology of the Randall-Sundrum scenario and the standard model of cosmology.
We discuss how reheating at the end of inflation leads to the correct
relationship between matter density and expansion rate, , and the conditions that must be met for the expansion rate of the
Universe to be close to its standard model value around the epoch of
cosmological nucleosynthesis.Comment: 14 pages, 1 figure. Error in interpretation corrected, references
adde
Tunneling and propagation of vacuum bubbles on dynamical backgrounds
In the context of bubble universes produced by a first-order phase transition
with large nucleation rates compared to the inverse dynamical time scale of the
parent bubble, we extend the usual analysis to non-vacuum backgrounds. In
particular, we provide semi-analytic and numerical results for the modified
nucleation rate in FLRW backgrounds, as well as a parameter study of bubble
walls propagating into inhomogeneous (LTB) or FLRW spacetimes, both in the
thin-wall approximation. We show that in our model, matter in the background
often prevents bubbles from successful expansion and forces them to collapse.
For cases where they do expand, we give arguments why the effects on the
interior spacetime are small for a wide range of reasonable parameters and
discuss the limitations of the employed approximations.Comment: 29 pages, 8 figures, typos corrected, matches published versio
String Cosmology: A Review
We give an overview of the status of string cosmology. We explain the
motivation for the subject, outline the main problems, and assess some of the
proposed solutions. Our focus is on those aspects of cosmology that benefit
from the structure of an ultraviolet-complete theory.Comment: 55 pages. v2: references adde
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