1,945 research outputs found
Quantizing higher-spin gravity in free-field variables
We study the formulation of massless higher-spin gravity on AdS in a
gauge in which the fundamental variables satisfy free field Poisson brackets.
This gauge choice leaves a small portion of the gauge freedom unfixed, which
should be further quotiented out. We show that doing so leads to a bulk version
of the Coulomb gas formalism for CFT's: the generators of the residual
gauge symmetries are the classical limits of screening charges, while the
gauge-invariant observables are classical charges. Quantization in these
variables can be carried out using standard techniques and makes manifest a
remnant of the triality symmetry of . This symmetry can be
used to argue that the theory should be supplemented with additional matter
content which is precisely that of the Prokushkin-Vasiliev theory. As a further
application, we use our formulation to quantize a class of conical surplus
solutions and confirm the conjecture that these are dual to specific degenerate
primaries, to all orders in the large central charge expansion.Comment: 31 pages + appendices. V2: typos corrected, reference adde
g-Functions and gluon scattering amplitudes at strong coupling
We study gluon scattering amplitudes/Wilson loops in N=4 super Yang-Mills
theory at strong coupling by calculating the area of the minimal surfaces in
AdS_3 based on the associated thermodynamic Bethe ansatz system. The remainder
function of the amplitudes is computed by evaluating the free energy, the T-
and Y-functions of the homogeneous sine-Gordon model. Using conformal field
theory (CFT) perturbation, we examine the mass corrections to the free energy
around the CFT point corresponding to the regular polygonal Wilson loop. Based
on the equivalence between the T-functions and the g-functions, which measure
the boundary entropy, we calculate corrections to the T- and Y-functions as
well as express them at the CFT point by the modular S-matrix. We evaluate the
remainder function around the CFT point for 8 and 10-point amplitudes
explicitly and compare these analytic expressions with the 2-loop formulas. The
two rescaled remainder functions show very similar power series structures.Comment: 51 pages, 4 figures, v2: some comments and references added, based on
the published version, v3: minor change
Matrix geometries and Matrix Models
We study a two parameter single trace 3-matrix model with SO(3) global
symmetry. The model has two phases, a fuzzy sphere phase and a matrix phase.
Configurations in the matrix phase are consistent with fluctuations around a
background of commuting matrices whose eigenvalues are confined to the interior
of a ball of radius R=2.0. We study the co-existence curve of the model and
find evidence that it has two distinct portions one with a discontinuous
internal energy yet critical fluctuations of the specific heat but only on the
low temperature side of the transition and the other portion has a continuous
internal energy with a discontinuous specific heat of finite jump. We study in
detail the eigenvalue distributions of different observables.Comment: 20 page
Giant Faraday rotation in single- and multilayer graphene
Optical Faraday rotation is one of the most direct and practically important
manifestations of magnetically broken time-reversal symmetry. The rotation
angle is proportional to the distance traveled by the light, and up to now
sizeable effects were observed only in macroscopically thick samples and in
two-dimensional electron gases with effective thicknesses of several
nanometers. Here we demonstrate that a single atomic layer of carbon - graphene
- turns the polarization by several degrees in modest magnetic fields. The
rotation is found to be strongly enhanced by resonances originating from the
cyclotron effect in the classical regime and the inter-Landau-level transitions
in the quantum regime. Combined with the possibility of ambipolar doping, this
opens pathways to use graphene in fast tunable ultrathin infrared
magneto-optical devices
On the break in the single-particle energy dispersions and the `universal' nodal Fermi velocity in the high-temperature copper-oxide superconductors
Recent data from angle-resolved photoemission experiments published by Zhou
et al. [Nature, Vol. 423, 398 (2003)] concerning a number of hole-doped
copper-oxide-based high-temperature superconductors reveal that in the nodal
directions of the underlying square Brillouin zones (i.e. the directions along
which the d-wave superconducting gap is vanishing) the Fermi velocities for
some finite range of k inside the Fermi sea and away from the nodal Fermi
wavevector k_F are to within an experimental uncertainty of approximately 20%
the same both in all the compounds investigated and over a wide range of doping
concentrations and that, in line with earlier experimental observations, at
some characteristic wavevector k_* away from k_F the Fermi velocities undergo a
sudden change, with this change (roughly speaking, a finite discontinuity)
being the greatest (smallest) in the case of underdoped (overdoped) compounds.
In this paper we present a rigorous analysis concerning the implications of
these observations. [Short abstract]Comment: 29 pages, 4 postscript figures. Brought into conformity with the
published versio
Thermodynamic Bethe Ansatz Equations for Minimal Surfaces in AdS_3
We study classical open string solutions with a null polygonal boundary in
AdS_3 in relation to gluon scattering amplitudes in N=4 super Yang-Mills at
strong coupling. We derive in full detail the set of integral equations
governing the decagonal and the dodecagonal solutions and identify them with
the thermodynamic Bethe ansatz equations of the homogeneous sine-Gordon models.
By evaluating the free energy in the conformal limit we compute the central
charges, from which we observe general correspondence between the polygonal
solutions in AdS_n and generalized parafermions.Comment: 25 pages, 4 figures, v2: a figure and references added, minor
corrections, v3: references added, minor corrections, to appear in JHE
Investigating hyper-vigilance for social threat of lonely children
The hypothesis that lonely children show hypervigilance for social threat was examined in a series of three studies that employed different methods including advanced eye-tracking technology. Hypervigilance for social threat was operationalized as hostility to ambiguously motivated social exclusion in a variation of the hostile attribution paradigm (Study 1), scores on the Children’s Rejection-Sensitivity Questionnaire (Study 2), and visual attention to socially rejecting stimuli (Study 3). The participants were 185 children (11 years-7 months to 12 years-6 months), 248 children (9 years-4 months to 11 years-8 months) and 140 children (8 years-10 months to 12 years-10 months) in the three studies, respectively. Regression analyses showed that, with depressive symptoms covaried, there were quadratic relations between loneliness and these different measures of hypervigilance to social threat. As hypothesized, only children in the upper range of loneliness demonstrated elevated hostility to ambiguously motivated social exclusion, higher scores on the rejection sensitivity questionnaire, and disengagement difficulties when viewing socially rejecting stimuli. We found that very lonely children are hypersensitive to social threat
Diffusion-weighted MRI for detecting prostate tumour in men at increased genetic risk.
Background Diffusion-weighted (DW)-MRI is invaluable in detecting prostate cancer. We determined its sensitivity and specificity and established interobserver agreement for detecting tumour in men with a family history of prostate cancer stratified by genetic risk.Methods 51 men with a family history of prostate cancer underwent T2-W + DW-endorectal MRI at 3.0 T. Presence of tumour was noted at right and left apex, mid and basal prostate sextants by 2 independent observers, 1 experienced and the other inexperienced in endorectal MRI. Sensitivity and specificity against a 10-core sampling technique (lateral and medial cores at each level considered together) in men with >2× population risk based on 71 SNP analysis versus those with lower genetic risk scores was established. Interobserver agreement was determined at a subject level.Results Biopsies indicated cancer in 28 sextants in 13/51 men; 32 of 51 men had twice the population risk (>0.25) based on 71 SNP profiling. Sensitivity/specificity per-subject for patients was 90.0%/86.4% (high-risk) vs. 66.7%/100% (low-risk, observer 1) and 60.0%/86.3% (high-risk) vs. 33.3%/93.8% (low-risk, observer 2) with moderate overall inter-observer agreement (kappa = 0.42). Regional sensitivities/specificities for high-risk vs. low-risk for observer 1 apex 72.2%/100% [33.3%/100%], mid 100%/93.1% [100%/97.3%], base 16.7%/98.3% [0%/100%] and for observer 2 apex 36.4%/98.1% [0%/100%], mid 28.6%/96.5% [100%/100%], base 20%/100% [0%/97.3%] were poorer as they failed to detect multiple lesions.Conclusion Endorectal T2W + DW-MRI at 3.0 T yields high sensitivity and specificity for tumour detection by an experienced observer in screening men with a family history of prostate cancer and increased genetic risk
Fiscal Multipliers and Public Debt Dynamics in Consolidations
The success of a consolidation in reducing the debt ratio depends crucially on the value of the multiplier, which measures the impact of consolidation on growth, and on the reaction of sovereign yields to such a consolidation.
We present a theoretical framework that formalizes the re spo nse of the public debt ratio to fiscal consolidations in relation to the value of fiscal multipliers, the starting debt level and the cyclical elasticity of the budget balance. We also assess the role of markets confidence to fiscal consolidations under al ternative scenarios. We find that with high levels of public debt and sizeable fiscal multipliers , debt ratios are likely to increase in the short term in response to fiscal consolidations. Hence, the typical horizon for a consolidation during crises episo des to reduce the debt ratio is two - three years , although this horizon depends critically on the size and persistence of fiscal multipliers and the reaction of financial markets.
Anyway, such undesired debt responses are mainly short - lived.
This effect is very unlikely in non - crisis times, as it requires a number of conditions difficult to observe at the same time , especially high fiscal multipliers
Cryptosporidium Priming Is More Effective than Vaccine for Protection against Cryptosporidiosis in a Murine Protein Malnutrition Model
Cryptosporidium is a major cause of severe diarrhea, especially in malnourished children. Using a murine model of C. parvum oocyst challenge that recapitulates clinical features of severe cryptosporidiosis during malnutrition, we interrogated the effect of protein malnutrition (PM) on primary and secondary responses to C. parvum challenge, and tested the differential ability of mucosal priming strategies to overcome the PM-induced susceptibility. We determined that while PM fundamentally alters systemic and mucosal primary immune responses to Cryptosporidium, priming with C. parvum (106 oocysts) provides robust protective immunity against re-challenge despite ongoing PM. C. parvum priming restores mucosal Th1-type effectors (CD3+CD8+CD103+ T-cells) and cytokines (IFNγ, and IL12p40) that otherwise decrease with ongoing PM. Vaccination strategies with Cryptosporidium antigens expressed in the S. Typhi vector 908htr, however, do not enhance Th1-type responses to C. parvum challenge during PM, even though vaccination strongly boosts immunity in challenged fully nourished hosts. Remote non-specific exposures to the attenuated S. Typhi vector alone or the TLR9 agonist CpG ODN-1668 can partially attenuate C. parvum severity during PM, but neither as effectively as viable C. parvum priming. We conclude that although PM interferes with basal and vaccine-boosted immune responses to C. parvum, sustained reductions in disease severity are possible through mucosal activators of host defenses, and specifically C. parvum priming can elicit impressively robust Th1-type protective immunity despite ongoing protein malnutrition. These findings add insight into potential correlates of Cryptosporidium immunity and future vaccine strategies in malnourished children
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