New QCD Results from String Theory

We discuss new results in QCD obtained with string-based methods. These methods were originally derived from superstring theory and are significantly more efficient than conventional Feynman rules. This technology was a key ingredient in the first calculation of the one-loop five-gluon amplitude. We also present a conjecture for a particular one-loop helicity amplitude with an arbitrary number of external gluons.Comment: talk presented by Z.B. at Strings 1993, May 24-29, Berkeley CA, 16 page

Critical velocity ionisation in substellar atmospheres

The observation of radio, X-ray and Hα emission from substellar objects indicates the presence of plasma regions and associated high-energy processes in their surrounding envelopes. This paper numerically simulates and characterises Critical Velocity Ionisation, a potential ionisation process, that can efficiently generate plasma as a result of neutral gas flows interacting with seed magnetized plasmas. By coupling a Gas-MHD interactions code (to simulate the ionisation mechanism) with a substellar global circulation model (to provide the required gas flows) we quantify the spatial extent of the resulting plasma regions, their degree of ionisation and their lifetime for a typical substellar atmosphere. It is found that the typical average ionisation fraction reached at equilibrium (where the ionisation and recombination rates are equal and opposite) ranges from 10-5 to 10-8, at pressures between 10-1 and 10-3 bar, with a trend of increasing ionisation fraction with decreasing atmospheric pressure. The ionisation fractions reached as a result of Critical Velocity Ionisation are sufficient to allow magnetic fields to couple to gas flows in the atmosphere

Ultrasonic metal sheet thickness measurement without prior wave speed calibration

Conventional ultrasonic mensuration of sample thickness from one side only requires the bulk wave reverberation time and a calibration speed. This speed changes with temperature, stress, and microstructure, limiting thickness measurement accuracy. Often, only one side of a sample is accessible, making in situ calibration impossible. Non-contact ultrasound can generate multiple shear horizontal guided wave modes on one side of a metal plate. Measuring propagation times of each mode at different transducer separations, allows sheet thickness to be calculated to better than 1% accuracy for sheets of at least 1.5 mm thickness, without any calibration

The Five Gluon Amplitude and One-Loop Integrals

We review the conventional field theory description of the string motivated technique. This technique is applied to the one-loop five-gluon amplitude. To evaluate the amplitude a general method for computing dimensionally regulated one-loop integrals is outlined including results for one-loop integrals required for the pentagon diagram and beyond. Finally, two five-gluon helicity amplitudes are given.Comment: (talk presented at DPF92), LaTeX, 6 pages, CERN-Th.6733/92, SLAC-PUB-6012, UCLA/92/TEP/4

Spinning test particles and clock effect in Schwarzschild spacetime

We study the behaviour of spinning test particles in the Schwarzschild spacetime. Using Mathisson-Papapetrou equations of motion we confine our attention to spatially circular orbits and search for observable effects which could eventually discriminate among the standard supplementary conditions namely the Corinaldesi-Papapetrou, Pirani and Tulczyjew. We find that if the world line chosen for the multipole reduction and whose unit tangent we denote as $U$ is a circular orbit then also the generalized momentum $P$ of the spinning test particle is tangent to a circular orbit even though $P$ and $U$ are not parallel four-vectors. These orbits are shown to exist because the spin induced tidal forces provide the required acceleration no matter what supplementary condition we select. Of course, in the limit of a small spin the particle's orbit is close of being a circular geodesic and the (small) deviation of the angular velocities from the geodesic values can be of an arbitrary sign, corresponding to the possible spin-up and spin-down alignment to the z-axis. When two spinning particles orbit around a gravitating source in opposite directions, they make one loop with respect to a given static observer with different arrival times. This difference is termed clock effect. We find that a nonzero gravitomagnetic clock effect appears for oppositely orbiting both spin-up or spin-down particles even in the Schwarzschild spacetime. This allows us to establish a formal analogy with the case of (spin-less) geodesics on the equatorial plane of the Kerr spacetime. This result can be verified experimentally.Comment: IOP macros, eps figures n. 2, to appear on Classical and Quantum gravity, 200

One-Loop Self-Dual and N=4 Super Yang-Mills

We conjecture a simple relationship between the one-loop maximally helicity violating gluon amplitudes of ordinary QCD (all helicities identical) and those of N=4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills (all but two helicities identical). Because the amplitudes in self-dual Yang Mills have been shown to be the same as the maximally helicity violating ones in QCD, this conjecture implies that they are also related to the maximally helicity violating ones of N=4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills. We have an explicit proof of the relation up to the six-point amplitude; for amplitudes with more external legs, it remains a conjecture. A similar conjecture relates amplitudes in self-dual gravity to maximally helicity violating N=8 supergravity amplitudes.Comment: 14 pages, TeX, three figures, two new references adde

Point Process Algorithm: A New Bayesian Approach for Planet Signal Extraction with the Terrestrial Planet Finder

The capability of the Terrestrial Planet Finder Interferometer (TPF-I) for planetary signal extraction, including both detection and spectral characterization, can be optimized by taking proper account of instrumental characteristics and astrophysical prior information. We have developed the Point Process Algorithm (PPA), a Bayesian technique for extracting planetary signals using the sine-chopped outputs of a dual nulling interferometer. It is so-called because it represents the system being observed as a set of points in a suitably-defined state space, thus providing a natural way of incorporating our prior knowledge of the compact nature of the targets of interest. It can also incorporate the spatial covariance of the exozodi as prior information which could help mitigate against false detections. Data at multiple wavelengths are used simultaneously, taking into account possible spectral variations of the planetary signals. Input parameters include the RMS measurement noise and the a priori probability of the presence of a planet. The output can be represented as an image of the intensity distribution on the sky, optimized for the detection of point sources. Previous approaches by others to the problem of planet detection for TPF-I have relied on the potentially non-robust identification of peaks in a "dirty" image, usually a correlation map. Tests with synthetic data suggest that the PPA provides greater sensitivity to faint sources than does the standard approach (correlation map + CLEAN), and will be a useful tool for optimizing the design of TPF-I.Comment: 17 pages, 6 figures. AJ in press (scheduled for Nov 2006