17006831
Quiver topology and RG dynamics
Renormalization group flows of quiver gauge theories play a central role in determining the low-energy properties of string vacua. We demonstrate that useful predictions about the RG dynamics of a quiver gauge theory may be extracted from the global structure of its quiver diagram. For quiver theories of a certain type, we develop an efficient and practical method for determining which superpotential deformations generate a flow to an interacting conformal fixed point.
16140829
Typicality versus thermality: an analytic distinction
In systems with a large degeneracy of states such as black holes, one expects that the average value of probe correlation functions will be well approximated by the thermal ensemble. To understand how correlation functions in individual microstates differ from the canonical ensemble average and from each other, we study the variances in correlators. Using general statistical considerations, we show that the variance between microstates will be exponentially suppressed in the entropy. However, by exploiting the analytic properties of correlation functions we argue that these variances are amplified in imaginary time, thereby distinguishing pure states from the thermal density matrix. We demonstrate our general results in specific examples and argue that our results apply to the microstates of black holes.
84181918
Bulk curves from boundary data in holography
We embed spherical Rindler space—a geometry with a spherical hole in its center—in asymptotically anti– de Sitter (AdS) spacetime and show that it carries a gravitational entropy proportional to the area of the hole. Spherical AdS-Rindler space is holographically dual to an ultraviolet sector of the boundary field theory given by restriction to a strip of finite duration in time. Because measurements have finite durations, local observers in the field theory can only access information about bounded spatial regions. We propose a notion of differential entropy that captures uncertainty about the state of a system left by the collection of local, finite-time observables. For two-dimensional conformal field theories we use holography and the strong subadditivity of entanglement to propose a formula for differential entropy and show that it precisely reproduces the areas of circular holes in AdS3. Extending the notion to field theories on strips with variable durations in time, we show more generally that differential entropy computes the areas of all closed, inhomogeneous curves on a spatial slice of AdS3. We discuss the extension to higher-dimensional field theories, the relation of differential entropy to entanglement between scales, and some implications for the emergence of space from the renormalization group flow of entangled field theories.
15617697
Trace Anomaly in Geometric Discretization
I develop the simplest geometric-discretized analogue of two dimensional scalar field theory, which qualitatively reproduces the trace anomaly of the continuous theory. The discrete analogue provides an interpretation of the trace anomaly in terms of a non-trivial transformation of electric-magnetic duality-invariant modes of resistor networks that accommodate both electric and magnetic charge currents.
118485314
A novel channel for vacuum decay
Abstract I show that cosmological bubble walls in the thin wall approximation are unstable to the creation of “barnacles” – loci of different wall tension adjacent to regions filled with a third vacuum. Barnacle formation appears to have the same observational consequences as the extensively studied bubble collision scenario, but occurs exponentially more often. The process is described by a saddle point of the thin wall action with two negative modes.
117771864
Holographic definition of points and distances
We discuss the way in which field theory quantities assemble the spatial geometry of three-dimensional anti\char21{}de Sitter space (${\mathrm{AdS}}_{3}$). The field theory ingredients are the entanglement entropies of boundary intervals. A point in ${\mathrm{AdS}}_{3}$ corresponds to a collection of boundary intervals which is selected by a variational principle we discuss. Coordinates in ${\mathrm{AdS}}_{3}$ are integration constants of the resulting equation of motion. We propose a distance function for this collection of points, which obeys the triangle inequality as a consequence of the strong subadditivity of entropy. Our construction correctly reproduces the static slice of ${\mathrm{AdS}}_{3}$ and the Ryu-Takayanagi relation between geodesics and entanglement entropies. We discuss how these results extend to quotients of ${\mathrm{AdS}}_{3}$\char22{}the conical defect and the BTZ geometries. In these cases, the set of entanglement entropies must be supplemented by other field theory quantities, which can carry the information about lengths of nonminimal geodesics.
14871446
Isotopic dependence of the caloric curve
Isotopic effects in projectile fragmentation at relativistic energies have been studied with the ALADIN forward spectrometer at SIS. Stable and radioactive Sn and La beams with an incident energy of 600 MeV per nucleon have been used in order to explore a wide range of isotopic compositions. Chemical freeze-out temperatures are found to be nearly invariant with respect to the A/Z ratio of the produced spectator sources, consistent with predictions for expanded systems. Consequences for the proposed interpretation of chemical breakup temperatures as representing the limiting temperatures predicted by microscopic models are discussed.
117764751
Tracing a phase transition with fluctuations of the largest fragment size: Statistical multifragmentation models and the ALADIN S254 data
A phase transition signature associated with cumulants of the largest fragment size distribution has been identified in statistical multifragmentation models and examined in analysis of the ALADIN S254 data on fragmentation of neutron-poor and neutron-rich projectiles. Characteristics of the transition point indicated by this signature are weakly dependent on the A/Z ratio of the fragmenting spectator source. In particular, chemical freeze-out temperatures are estimated within the range 5.9 to 6.5 MeV. The experimental results are well reproduced by the SMM model.
109634219
Heavy-ion test of detectors with conventional and resistive Micromegas used in TPC configuration
Abstract We have performed tests of Micromegas detector prototypes using the heavy-ion beams from the SIS synchrotron of GSI (Darmstadt, Germany). The beams varied from C 6 + 12 to Au 65 + 179 and from 250 to 1000 MeV per nucleon. We have tested two amplification technologies, conventional and resistive Micromegas, and two construction concepts, bulk-Micromegas and micro-meshes screwed on the PCB. The obtained position resolution below 200 μ m for 5 mm wide strips implies that the bulk resistive Micromegas technology might meet the requirements of the future R3B TPC project. We also developed a fast and very low noise front-end electronics connected directly to the Printed Circuit Board (PCB) of the detector itself. This concept has shown very good performances and robustness.
18167299
N/Z DEPENDENCE OF PROJECTILE FRAGMENTATION
The N/Z dependence of projectile fragmentation at relativistic energies has been studied in a recent experiment at the GSI laboratory with the ALADiN forward spectrometer coupled to the LAND neutron detector. Besides a primary beam of 124Sn, also secondary beams of 124La and 107Sn delivered by the FRS fragment separator have been used in order to extend the range of isotopic compositions of the produced spectator sources. With the achieved mass resolution of ΔA/A ≈ 1.5%, lighter isotopes with atomic numbers Z ≤ 10 are individually resolved. The presently ongoing analyses of the measured isotope yields focus on isoscaling and its relation to the properties of hot fragments at freeze-out and on the derivation of chemical freeze-out temperatures which are found to be independent of the isotopic composition of the studied systems. The latter result is at variance with the predictions for limiting temperatures as obtained with finite-temperature Hartree-Fock calculations.
16807669
Nuclear multifragmentation and fission: Similarity and differences
Thermal multifragmentation of hot nuclei is interpreted as the nuclear liquid–fog phase transition inside the spinodal region. The experimental data for p(8.1GeV)+Au collisions are analyzed. It is concluded that the decay process of hot nuclei is characterized by two size parameters: one density at the transition state and one at the kinetic freeze-out. The similarity between the dynamics of fragmentation and ordinary fission is discussed. The IMF emission time is related to the mean rupture time at the multiscission point, which corresponds to the kinetic freeze-out configuration.