Topological changes of two-dimensional magnetic textures

We investigate the interaction of magnetic vortices and skyrmions with a spin-polarized current. In a square lattice, fixed classical spins and quantum itinerant electrons, evolve according to the coupled Landau-Lifshitz and Schr\"odinger equations. Changes in the topology occur at microscopic time and length scales, and are shown to be triggered by the nucleation of a nontrivial electron-spin structure at the vortex core.Comment: See supplementary material (high resolution figures and movies) https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0By4j_RJ9SKLpQ2R5UklXLURvbEE&usp=sharing --- v2: Extended versio

The Topology of Dislocations in Smectic Liquid Crystals

The order parameter of the smectic liquid crystal phase is the same as that of a superfluid or superconductor, namely a complex scalar field. We show that the essential difference in boundary conditions between these systems leads to a markedly different topological structure of the defects. Screw and edge defects can be distinguished topologically. This implies an invariant on an edge dislocation loop so that smectic defects can be topologically linked not unlike defects in ordered systems with non-Abelian fundamental groups.Comment: 11 pages, many figures, the full catastrophe. Supplementary data with two movies can be found at http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1367-2630/18/5/05301

Experimental Evidence on English Auctions: Oral Outcry vs. Clock

This paper tests experimentally, in a common value setting, the equivalence between the Japanese English auction (or clock auction) and an open outcry auction, where bidders are allowed to call their own bids. We find that (i) bidding behaviour is different in each type of auction, but also that (ii) this difference in bidding behaviour does not affect significantly the auction prices. This lends some support to the equivalence between these two types of auction. The winner's curse is present: overbidding led to higher than expected prices (under Nash bidding strategies) in both types of auction.English auctions, discrete bidding, winner's curse

Black holes and the double copy

Recently, a perturbative duality between gauge and gravity theories (the double copy) has been discovered, that is believed to hold to all loop orders. In this paper, we examine the relationship between classical solutions of non-Abelian gauge theory and gravity. We propose a general class of gauge theory solutions that double copy to gravity, namely those involving stationary Kerr-Schild metrics. The Schwarzschild and Kerr black holes (plus their higher-dimensional equivalents) emerge as special cases. We also discuss plane wave solutions. Furthermore, a recently examined double copy between the self-dual sectors of Yang-Mills theory and gravity can be reinterpreted using a momentum-space generalisation of the Kerr-Schild framework.Comment: 22 pages; typos corrected and references adde

Hemobilia due to cystic artery pseudoaneurysm: A rare late complication of laparoscopic cholecystectomy

We discuss a patient with late presentation of hemobilia following cholecystectomy, which is unusual because pseudoaneurysm caused by vascular injury during surgery typically presents soon after surgery. Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography revealed a large blood clot arising from the biliary orifice with subsequent computed tomography angiography diagnosing a large pseudoaneurysm in the region of the cystic artery adjacent to the cholecystectomy clips. Embolization was performed via direct percutaneous puncture of the pseudoaneurysm

Vacuum solutions with nontrivial boundaries for the Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet theory

The classification of certain class of static solutions for the Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet theory in vacuum is presented. The spacelike section of the class of metrics under consideration is a warped product of the real line with a nontrivial base manifold. For arbitrary values of the Gauss-Bonnet coupling, the base manifold must be Einstein with an additional scalar restriction. The geometry of the boundary can be relaxed only when the Gauss-Bonnet coupling is related with the cosmological and Newton constants, so that the theory admits a unique maximally symmetric solution. This additional freedom in the boundary metric allows the existence of three main branches of geometries in the bulk, containing new black holes and wormholes in vacuum.Comment: Prepared for the proceedings of the 7th Alexander Friedmann International Seminar on Gravitation and Cosmology, July 2008, Joao Pessoa, Brasil. 4 pages, References adde

VO2: A Novel View from Band Theory

New calculations for vanadium dioxide, one of the most controversely discussed materials for decades, reveal that band theory as based on density functional theory is well capable of correctly describing the electronic and magnetic properties of the metallic as well as both the insulating M1 and M2 phases. Considerable progress in the understanding of the physics of VO2 is achieved by the use of the recently developed hybrid functionals, which include part of the electron-electron interaction exactly and thereby improve on the weaknesses of semilocal exchange functionals as provided by the local density and generalized gradient approximations. Much better agreement with photoemission data as compared to previous calculations is found and a consistent description of the rutile-type early transition-metal dioxides is achieved.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Type I + II Seesaw in a Two Higgs Doublet Model

Two Higgs Doublet Models (2HDM) are popular extensions of the Standard Model for several reasons, but do not explain neutrino masses. In this work, we investigate how one can incorporate neutrino masses within the framework of the 2HDM-U(1), where U(1) is an abelian gauge symmetry used to nicely address the absence of flavor changing neutral currents in 2HDM. In particular, we explore realizations of the type I and type II seesaw since they are mechanisms that we dote on for being able to generate elegantly small active neutrino masses. We show that one can build several models featuring type I, type II and type I+II seesaw mechanism with different phenomenological implications.Comment: 12 page