1,355 research outputs found
Endolithic microbial model for Martian exobiology: The road to extinction
Martian exobiology is based on the assumption that on early Mars, liquid water was present and that conditions were suitable for the evolution of life. The cause for life to disappear from the surface and the recognizable fingerprints of past microbial activity preserved on Mars are addressed. The Antarctic cryptoendolithic microbial ecosystem as a model for extinction in the deteriorating Martian environment is discussed
Trace fossils of microbial colonization on Mars: Criteria for search and for sample return
The recent discovery of microbial trace-fossil formation in the frigid Ross Desert of Antarctica suggests that early primitive life on Mars may have left behind similar signatures. These trace fossils are apparent as chemical or physical changes in rock (or sediment) structure (or chemistry) caused by the activity of organisms. Life on Mars, if it ever existed, almost certainly did not evolve above the level of microorganisms, and this should be considered in search for fossil life. For the reasons detailed here, microbial trace fossils seem to be a better and more realistic target for search than would be true microbial fossils (remnants of cellular structures)
Multidimensional perfect fluid cosmology with stable compactified internal dimensions
Multidimensional cosmological models in the presence of a bare cosmological
constant and a perfect fluid are investigated under dimensional reduction to
4-dimensional effective models. Stable compactification of the internal spaces
is achieved for a special class of perfect fluids. The external space behaves
in accordance with the standard Friedmann model. Necessary restrictions on the
parameters of the models are found to ensure dynamical behavior of the external
(our) universe in agreement with observations.Comment: 11 pages, Latex2e, uses IOP packages, submitted to Class.Quant.Gra
Heterotic Cosmic Strings
We show that all three conditions for the cosmological relevance of heterotic
cosmic strings, the right tension, stability and a production mechanism at the
end of inflation, can be met in the strongly coupled M-theory regime. Whereas
cosmic strings generated from weakly coupled heterotic strings have the well
known problems posed by Witten in 1985, we show that strings arising from
M5-branes wrapped around 4-cycles (divisors) of a Calabi-Yau in heterotic
M-theory compactifications, solve these problems in an elegant fashion.Comment: 25 pages, v2: section and references adde
Gaussian coordinate systems for the Kerr metric
We present the whole class of Gaussian coordinate systems for the Kerr
metric. This is achieved through the uses of the relationship between Gaussian
observers and the relativistic Hamilton-Jacobi equation. We analyze the
completeness of this coordinate system. In the appendix we present the
equivalent JEK formulation of General Relativity -- the so-called
quasi-Maxwellian equations -- which acquires a simpler form in the Gaussian
coordinate system. We show how this set of equations can be used to obtain the
internal metric of the Schwazschild solution, as a simple example. We suggest
that this path can be followed to the search of the internal Kerr metric
Magnetic field effects on the density of states of orthorhombic superconductors
The quasiparticle density of states in a two-dimensional d-wave
superconductor depends on the orientation of the in-plane external magnetic
field H. This is because. in the region of the gap nodes, the Doppler shift due
to the circulating supercurrents around a vortex depend on the direction of H.
For a tetragonal system the induced pattern is four-fold symmetric and, at zero
energy, the density of states exhibits minima along the node directions. But
YBa_2C_3O_{6.95} is orthorhombic because of the chains and the pattern becomes
two-fold symmetric with the position of the minima occuring when H is oriented
along the Fermi velocity at a node on the Fermi surface. The effect of impurity
scattering in the Born and unitary limit is discussed.Comment: 24 pages, 11 Figure
Regularisation Techniques for the Radiative Corrections of Wilson lines and Kaluza-Klein states
Within an effective field theory framework we compute the most general
structure of the one-loop corrections to the 4D gauge couplings in one- and
two-dimensional orbifold compactifications with non-vanishing constant gauge
background (Wilson lines). Although such models are non-renormalisable, we keep
the analysis general by considering the one-loop corrections in three
regularisation schemes: dimensional regularisation (DR), Zeta-function
regularisation (ZR) and proper-time cut-off regularisation (PT). The relations
among the results obtained in these schemes are carefully addressed. With
minimal re-definitions of the parameters involved, the results obtained for the
radiative corrections can be applied to most orbifold compactifications with
one or two compact dimensions. The link with string theory is discussed. We
mention a possible implication for the gauge couplings unification in such
models.Comment: 37 pages, 1 Figure, LaTeX; minor correction
Remarks on Limits on String Scale from Proton Decay and Low-Energy amplitudes in Braneworld Scenario
We discuss IR limit of four-fermion scattering amplitudes in braneworld
models including intersecting-branes and SUSY SU(5) GUT version of it. With
certain compactification where instanton effect is negligible, grand
unification condition in D6-D6 intersecting-branes scenario subject to
experimental constraint on proton decay provides possibility for upper limit on
the string scale, , through relationship between the string coupling,
, and the string scale. We discuss how IR divergence is related to number
of twisted fields we have to introduce into intersection region and how it can
change IR behaviour of tree-level amplitudes in various intersecting-branes
models. Using number of twisted fields, we identify some intersecting-branes
models whose tree-level amplitudes are purely stringy in nature and
automatically proportional to at low energy. They are
consequently suppressed by the string scale. For comparison, we also derive
limit on the lower bound of the string scale from experimental constraint on
proton decay induced from purely stringy contribution in the coincident-branes
model, the limit is about TeV.Comment: 14 page
Flux-Line Lattice Structures in Untwinned YBa2Cu3O
A small angle neutron scattering study of the flux-line lattice in a large
single crystal of untwinned YBa2Cu3O is presented. In fields parallel to the
c-axis, diffraction spots are observed corresponding to four orientations of a
hexagonal lattice, distorted by the a-b anisotropy. A value for the anisotropy,
the penetration depth ratio, of 1.18(2) was obtained. The high quality of the
data is such that second order diffraction is observed, indicating a well
ordered FLL. With the field at 33 degrees to c a field dependent re-orientation
of the lattice is observed around 3T.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
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