4,483 research outputs found
Black Hole Meiosis
The enumeration of BPS bound states in string theory needs refinement.
Studying partition functions of particles made from D-branes wrapped on
algebraic Calabi-Yau 3-folds, and classifying states using split attractor flow
trees, we extend the method for computing a refined BPS index, arXiv:0810.4301.
For certain D-particles, a finite number of microstates, namely polar states,
exclusively realized as bound states, determine an entire partition function
(elliptic genus). This underlines their crucial importance: one might call them
the `chromosomes' of a D-particle or a black hole. As polar states also can be
affected by our refinement, previous predictions on elliptic genera are
modified. This can be metaphorically interpreted as `crossing-over in the
meiosis of a D-particle'. Our results improve on hep-th/0702012, provide
non-trivial evidence for a strong split attractor flow tree conjecture, and
thus suggest that we indeed exhaust the BPS spectrum. In the D-brane
description of a bound state, the necessity for refinement results from the
fact that tachyonic strings split up constituent states into `generic' and
`special' states. These are enumerated separately by topological invariants,
which turn out to be partitions of Donaldson-Thomas invariants. As modular
predictions provide a check on many of our results, we have compelling evidence
that our computations are correct.Comment: 46 pages, 8 figures. v2: minor changes. v3: minor changes and
reference adde
Thermodynamics of Higher Spin Black Holes in AdS
We discuss the thermodynamics of recently constructed three-dimensional
higher spin black holes in SL(N,R)\times SL(N,R) Chern-Simons theory with
generalized asymptotically-anti-de Sitter boundary conditions. From a
holographic perspective, these bulk theories are dual to two-dimensional CFTs
with W_N symmetry algebras, and the black hole solutions are dual to thermal
states with higher spin chemical potentials and charges turned on. Because the
notion of horizon area is not gauge-invariant in the higher spin theory, the
traditional approaches to the computation of black hole entropy must be
reconsidered. One possibility, explored in the recent literature, involves
demanding the existence of a partition function in the CFT, and consistency
with the first law of thermodynamics. This approach is not free from
ambiguities, however, and in particular different definitions of energy result
in different expressions for the entropy. In the present work we show that
there are natural definitions of the thermodynamically conjugate variables that
follow from careful examination of the variational principle, and moreover
agree with those obtained via canonical methods. Building on this intuition, we
derive general expressions for the higher spin black hole entropy and free
energy which are written entirely in terms of the Chern-Simons connections, and
are valid for both static and rotating solutions. We compare our results to
other proposals in the literature, and provide a new and efficient way to
determine the generalization of the Cardy formula to a situation with higher
spin charges.Comment: 30 pages, PDFLaTeX; v2: typos corrected, explicit expressions for the
free energy adde
The elliptic genus from split flows and Donaldson-Thomas invariants
We analyze a mixed ensemble of low charge D4-D2-D0 brane states on the
quintic and show that these can be successfully enumerated using attractor flow
tree techniques and Donaldson-Thomas invariants. In this low charge regime one
needs to take into account worldsheet instanton corrections to the central
charges, which is accomplished by making use of mirror symmetry. All the
charges considered can be realized as fluxed D6-D2-D0 and anti-D6-D2-D0 pairs
which we enumerate using DT invariants. Our procedure uses the low charge
counterpart of the picture developed Denef and Moore. By establishing the
existence of flow trees numerically and refining the index factorization
scheme, we reproduce and improve some results obtained by Gaiotto, Strominger
and Yin. Our results provide appealing evidence that the strong split flow tree
conjecture holds and allows to compute exact results for an important sector of
the theory. Our refined scheme for computing indices might shed some light on
how to improve index computations for systems with larger charges.Comment: 37 pages, 12 figure
Far-Ultraviolet Radiation from Elliptical Galaxies
Far-ultraviolet radiation is a ubiquitous, if unanticipated, phenomenon in
elliptical galaxies and early-type spiral bulges. It is the most variable
photometric feature associated with old stellar populations. Recent
observational and theoretical evidence shows that it is produced mainly by
low-mass, small-envelope, helium-burning stars in extreme horizontal branch and
subsequent phases of evolution. These are probably descendents of the dominant,
metal rich population of the galaxies. Their lifetime UV outputs are remarkably
sensitive to their physical properties and hence to the age and the helium and
metal abundances of their parents. UV spectra are therefore exceptionally
promising diagnostics of old stellar populations, although their calibration
requires a much improved understanding of giant branch mass loss, helium
enrichment, and atmospheric diffusion.Comment: 46 pages; includes LaTeX text file, 9 PS figures, 1 JPG figure, 2
style files. Full resolution figures and PS version available at
http://www.astro.virginia.edu/~rwo/araa99/. Article to appear in Annual
Reviews of Astronomy & Astrophysics, 199
Microscopics of Extremal Kerr from Spinning M5 Branes
We show that the spinning magnetic one-brane in minimal five-dimensional
supergravity admits a decoupling limit that interpolates smoothly between a
self-dual null orbifold of AdS_3 \times S^2 and the near-horizon limit of the
extremal Kerr black hole times a circle. We use this interpolating solution to
understand the field theory dual to spinning M5 branes as a deformation of the
Discrete Light Cone Quantized (DLCQ) Maldacena-Stominger-Witten (MSW) CFT. In
particular, the conformal weights of the operators dual to the deformation
around AdS_3 \times S^2 are calculated. We present pieces of evidence showing
that a CFT dual to the four-dimensional extremal Kerr can be obtained from the
deformed MSW CFT.Comment: 5 page
Associations between lifestyle factors and an unhealthy diet
BACKGROUND: Unhealthy dietary patterns have been associated with other unhealthy lifestyle factors such as smoking and physical inactivity. Whether these associations are similar in high- and low-educated individuals is currently unknown. METHODS: We used information of the EPIC-NL cohort, a prospective cohort of 39 393 men and women, aged 20-70 years at recruitment. A lifestyle questionnaire and a validated food frequency questionnaire were administered at recruitment (1993-97). Low adherence to a Mediterranean-style diet was used to determine an unhealthy dietary pattern. Lifestyle-related factors included body mass index, waist circumference, smoking status, physical activity level, dietary supplement use and daily breakfast consumption. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed for the total population and by strata of educational level. RESULTS: In total 30% of the study population had an unhealthy dietary pattern: 39% in the lowest educated group and 20% in the highest educated group. Physical inactivity, a large waist circumference, no dietary supplement use and skipping breakfast were associated with an unhealthy dietary pattern in both low and high educated participants. Among low educated participants, current smokers had a greater odds of an unhealthy diet compared with never smokers: OR 1.42 (95% CI: 1.25; 1.61). This association was not observed in the high educated group. CONCLUSIONS: Most associations between lifestyle-related factors and unhealthy diet were consistent across educational levels, except for smoking. Only among low educated participants, current smokers reported an unhealthier dietary pattern in comparison to never smokers. These results can be used in the development of targeted health promotion strategies
An Infinite-Dimensional Family of Black-Hole Microstate Geometries
We construct the first explicit, smooth, horizonless black-hole microstate
geometry whose moduli space is described by an arbitrary function of one
variable and is thus infinite-dimensional. This is achieved by constructing the
scalar Green function on a simple D6 anti-D6 background, and using this Green
function to obtain the fully back-reacted solution for a supertube with varying
charge density in this background. We show that this supertube can store
parametrically more entropy than in flat space, confirming the entropy
enhancement mechanism that was predicted using brane probes. We also show that
all the local properties of the fully back-reacted solution can, in fact, be
obtained using the DBI action of an appropriate brane probe. In particular, the
supergravity and the DBI analysis yield identical functional bubble equations
that govern the relative locations of the centers. This indicates that there is
a non-renormalization theorem that protects these functional equations as one
moves in moduli space. Our construction creates configurations that are beyond
the scope of recent arguments that appear to put strong limits on the entropy
that can be found in smooth supergravity solutions.Comment: 46 pages, 1 figure, LaTe
Multiple D4-D2-D0 on the Conifold and Wall-crossing with the Flop
We study the wall-crossing phenomena of D4-D2-D0 bound states with two units
of D4-brane charge on the resolved conifold. We identify the walls of marginal
stability and evaluate the discrete changes of the BPS indices by using the
Kontsevich-Soibelman wall-crossing formula. In particular, we find that the
field theories on D4-branes in two large radius limits are properly connected
by the wall-crossings involving the flop transition of the conifold. We also
find that in one of the large radius limits there are stable bound states of
two D4-D2-D0 fragments.Comment: 24 pages, 4 figures; v2: typos corrected, minor changes, a reference
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A bound on the entropy of supergravity?
We determine, in two independent ways, the number of BPS quantum states
arising from supergravity degrees of freedom in a system with fixed total D4D0
charge. First, we count states generated by quantizing the spacetime degrees of
freedom of 'entropyless' multicentered solutions consisting of anti-D0-branes
bound to a D6-anti-D6 pair. Second, we determine the number of free
supergravity excitations of the corresponding AdS_3 geometry with the same
total charge. We find that, although these two approaches yield a priori
different sets of states, the leading degeneracies in a large charge expansion
are equal to each other and that, furthermore, the number of such states is
parametrically smaller than that arising from the D4D0 black hole's entropy.
This strongly suggests that supergravity alone is not sufficient to capture all
degrees of freedom of large supersymmetric black holes. Comparing the free
supergravity calculation to that of the D6-anti-D6-D0 system we find that the
bound on the free spectrum imposed by the stringy exclusion principle (a
unitarity bound in the dual CFT) seems to be captured in the dynamics of the
fully interacting but classcial supergravity equations of motion.Comment: 33 pages, 5 figure
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