A Comment on "Brans-Dicke Cosmology with a scalar field potential"

We show that a recent letter claiming to present exact cosmological solutions in Brans-Dicke theory actually uses a flawed set of equations as the starting point for their analysis. The results presented in the letter are therefore not valid.Comment: 2 pages, no figures. To appear in Europhysics Letter

General relativistic treatment of LISA optical links

LISA is a joint space mission of the NASA and the ESA for detecting low frequency gravitational waves in the band $10^{-5} - 1$ Hz. In order to attain the requisite sensitivity for LISA, the laser frequency noise must be suppressed below the other secondary noises such as the optical path noise, acceleration noise etc. This is achieved by combining time-delayed data for which precise knowledge of time-delays is required. The gravitational field, mainly that of the Sun and the motion of LISA affect the time-delays and the optical links. Further, the effect of the gravitational field of the Earth on the orbits of spacecraft is included. This leads to additional flexing over and above that of the Sun. We have written a numerical code which computes the optical links, that is, the time-delays with great accuracy $\sim 10^{-2}$ metres - more than what is required for time delay interferometry (TDI) - for most of the orbit and with sufficient accuracy within $\sim 10$ metres for an integrated time window of about six days, when one of the arms tends to be tangent to the orbit. Our analysis of the optical links is fully general relativistic and the numerical code takes into account effects such as the Sagnac, Shapiro delay, etc.. We show that with the deemed parameters in the design of LISA, there are symmetries inherent in the configuration of LISA and in the physics, which may be used effectively to suppress the residual laser noise in the modified first generation TDI. We demonstrate our results for some important TDI variables

Temperature effects on the universal equation of state of solids

Recently it has been argued based on theoretical calculations and experimental data that there is a universal form for the equation of state of solids. This observation was restricted to the range of temperatures and pressures such that there are no phase transitions. The use of this universal relation to estimate pressure-volume relations (i.e., isotherms) required three input parameters at each fixed temperature. It is shown that for many solids the input data needed to predict high temperature thermodynamical properties can be dramatically reduced. In particular, only four numbers are needed: (1) the zero pressure (P=0) isothermal bulk modulus; (2)it P=0 pressure derivative; (3) the P=0 volume; and (4) the P=0 thermal expansion; all evaluated at a single (reference) temperature. Explicit predictions are made for the high temperature isotherms, the thermal expansion as a function of temperature, and the temperature variation of the isothermal bulk modulus and its pressure derivative. These predictions are tested using experimental data for three representative solids: gold, sodium chloride, and xenon. Good agreement between theory and experiment is found

Universality in the compressive behavior of solids

It was discovered that the isothermal equation of state for solids in compression is a simple, universal form. This single form accurately describes the pressure and bulk modulus as a function of volume for tonic, metallic, covalent, and rare gas solids

Radiation Pressure Induced Instabilities in Laser Interferometric Detectors of Gravitational Waves

The large scale interferometric gravitational wave detectors consist of Fabry-Perot cavities operating at very high powers ranging from tens of kW to MW for next generations. The high powers may result in several nonlinear effects which would affect the performance of the detector. In this paper, we investigate the effects of radiation pressure, which tend to displace the mirrors from their resonant position resulting in the detuning of the cavity. We observe a remarkable effect, namely, that the freely hanging mirrors gain energy continuously and swing with increasing amplitude. It is found that the `time delay', that is, the time taken for the field to adjust to its instantaneous equilibrium value, when the mirrors are in motion, is responsible for this effect. This effect is likely to be important in the optimal operation of the full-scale interferometers such as VIRGO and LIGO.Comment: 27 pages, 11 figures, RevTex styl

Optimising the directional sensitivity of LISA

It was shown in a previous work that the data combinations canceling laser frequency noise constitute a module - the module of syzygies. The cancellation of laser frequency noise is crucial for obtaining the requisite sensitivity for LISA. In this work we show how the sensitivity of LISA can be optimised for a monochromatic source - a compact binary - whose direction is known, by using appropriate data combinations in the module. A stationary source in the barycentric frame appears to move in the LISA frame and our strategy consists of "coherently tracking" the source by appropriately "switching" the data combinations so that they remain optimal at all times. Assuming that the polarisation of the source is not known, we average the signal over the polarisations. We find that the best statistic is the `network' statistic, in which case LISA can be construed of as two independent detectors. We compare our results with the Michelson combination, which has been used for obtaining the standard sensitivity curve for LISA, and with the observable obtained by optimally switching the three Michelson combinations. We find that for sources lying in the ecliptic plane the improvement in SNR increases from 34% at low frequencies to nearly 90% at around 20 mHz. Finally we present the signal-to-noise ratios for some known binaries in our galaxy. We also show that, if at low frequencies SNRs of both polarisations can be measured, the inclination angle of the plane of the orbit of the binary can be estimated.Comment: 16 pages, 8 figures, submitted to Phys Rev

A Quantum Analogue of the Z{\cal Z} Algebra

We define a natural quantum analogue for the ${\cal Z}$ algebra, and which we refer to as the ${\cal Z}_q$ algebra, by modding out the Heisenberg algebra from the quantum affine algebra $U_q(\hat{sl(2)})$ with level $k$. We discuss the representation theory of this ${\cal Z}_q$ algebra. In particular, we exhibit its reduction to a group algebra, and to a tensor product of a group algebra with a quantum Clifford algebra when $k=1$, and $k=2$, and thus, we recover the explicit constructions of \uq-standard modules as achieved by Frenkel-Jing and Bernard, respectively. Moreover, for arbitrary nonzero level $k$, we show that the explicit basis for the simplest ${\cal Z}$-generalized Verma module as constructed by Lepowsky and primc is also a basis for its corresponding ${\cal Z}_q$-module, i.e., it is invariant under the q-deformation for generic q. We expect this ${\cal Z}_q$ algebra (associated with \uq at level $k$), to play the role of a dynamical symmetry in the off-critical $Z_k$ statistical models.Comment: 32 pages, LATEX, minor change

Free-Field Representation of Group Element for Simple Quantum Group

A representation of the group element (also known as ``universal ${\cal T}$-matrix'') which satisfies $\Delta(g) = g\otimes g$, is given in the form $$g = \left(\prod_{s=1}^{d_B}\phantom.^>\ {\cal E}_{1/q_{i(s)}}(\chi^{(s)}T_{-i(s)})\right) q^{2\vec\phi\vec H} \left(\prod_{s=1}^{d_B}\phantom.^<\ {\cal E}_{q_{i(s)}}(\psi^{(s)} T_{+i(s)})\right)$$ where $d_B = \frac{1}{2}(d_G - r_G)$, $q_i = q^{|| \vec\alpha_i||^2/2}$ and $H_i = 2\vec H\vec\alpha_i/||\vec\alpha_i||^2$ and $T_{\pm i}$ are the generators of quantum group associated respectively with Cartan algebra and the {\it simple} roots. The ``free fields'' $\chi,\ \vec\phi,\ \psi$form a Heisenberg-like algebra:$\psi^{(s)}\psi^{(s')} = q^{-\vec\alpha_{i(s)} \vec\alpha_{i(s')}} \psi^{(s')}\psi^{(s)}, & \chi^{(s)}\chi^{(s')} = q^{-\vec\alpha_{i(s)}\vec\alpha_{i(s')}} \chi^{(s')}\chi^{(s)}& {\rm for} \ s<s', \\ q^{\vec h\vec\phi}\psi^{(s)} = q^{\vec h\vec\alpha_{i(s)}} \psi^{(s)}q^{\vec h\vec\phi}, & q^{\vec h\vec\phi}\chi^{(s)} = q^{\vec h \vec\alpha_{i(s)}}\chi^{(s)}q^{\vec h\vec\phi}, & \\ &\psi^{(s)} \chi^{(s')} = \chi^{(s')}\psi^{(s)} & {\rm for\ any}\ s,s'.$We argue that the$d_G$-parametric ``manifold'' which$g$spans in the operator-valued universal envelopping algebra, can also be invariant under the group multiplication$g \rightarrow g'\cdot g''$. The universal${\cal R}$-matrix with the property that${\cal R} (g\otimes I)(I\otimes g) = (I\otimes g)(g\otimes I){\cal R}$is given by the usual formula$${\cal R} = q^{-\sum_{ij}^{r_G}||\vec\alpha_i||^2|| \vec\alpha_j||^2 (\vec\alpha\vec\alpha)^{-1}_{ij}H_i \otimes H_j}\prod_{ \vec\alpha > 0}^{d_B}{\cal E}_{q_{\vec\alpha}}\left(-(q_{\vec\alpha}- q_{\vec\alpha}^{-1})T_{\vec\alpha}\otimes T_{-\vec\alpha}\right).$$Comment: 68 page