16292932
The stability of noncommutative scalar solitons
We determine the stability conditions for a radially symmetric non-commutative scalar soliton at finite noncommutivity parameter θ. We find an intriguing relationship between the stability and existence conditions for all level-1 solutions, in that they all have nearly-vanishing stability eigenvalues at critical θm2. The stability or non-stability of the system may then be determined entirely by the 3 coefficient in the potential. For higher-level solutions we find an ambiguity in extrapolating solutions to finite θ which prevents us from making any general statements. For these stability may be determined by comparing the fluctuation eigenvalues to critical values which we calculate.
119247401
Spin-statistics violations from heterotic string worldsheet instantons
In this paper, we consider the role that worldsheet instantons in the heterotic string could play in spin-statistics violations. Such violations are nonperturbative in the string tension and so would not appear in the spacetime effective action, producing a unique signature of string theory and the details of compactification. By performing a Bogomol'nyi transformation it is shown that there are no instanton solutions in the simplest model proposed by Harvey and Liu, but it is conjectured that more sophisticated models may yield solutions. If such instantons do exist, their effect might be measured by upcoming experiments.
27614684
Model independent signatures of new physics in the inflationary power spectrum.
We compute the universal generic corrections to the inflationary power spectrum due to unknown high-energy physics. We arrive at this result via a careful integrating out of massive fields in the "in-in" formalism yielding a consistent and predictive low-energy effective description in time-dependent backgrounds. We find that the power spectrum is universally modified at order H/M, where H is the scale of inflation. This is qualitatively different from the universal corrections in time-independent backgrounds, and it suggests that such effects may be present in upcoming cosmological observations.
15602764
Two black hole holography, lensing, and intensity
We numerically verify the analysis of the 'expanding horizon' theory of Susskind in relation to the 't Hooft holographic conjecture. By using a numerical simulation to work out the holographic image formed by two black holes upon a screen very far away, it is seen that it is impossible for a horizon to hide behind another. We also compute the holographic intensity distribution of such an arrangement.
118874471
Model-Independent Signatures of New Physics in non-Gaussianity
Instituut-Lorentz for Theoretical Physics, University of Leiden, Leiden 2333CA, The Netherlands(Dated: February 6, 2012)We compute the model-independent contributions to the primordial bispectrum and trispectrum inde Sitter space due to high-energy physics. We do this by coupling a light inaton to an auxiliaryheavy eld, and then evaluating correlation functions in the Schwinger-Keldysh \in-in" formalism.The high-energy physics produces corrections parametrized by H=Mwhere His the scale of ina-tion and M is the mass of the heavy eld. The bispectrum peaks near the elongated shape, butotherwise contains no features. On the other hand, the trispectrum contains oscillations which areof a magnitude possibly detectable using upcoming data. These oscillations are the cosmologicalanalogue of energy eigenstate mixing.
13946666
A Quantum Mechanical Model of Spherical Supermembranes
We present a quantum mechanical model of spherical supermembranes. Using superfields to represent the cartesian coordinates of the membrane, we are able to exactly determine its supersymmetric vacua. We find there are two classical vacua, one corresponding to an extended membrane and one corresponding to a point-like membrane. For the = 2 case, instanton effects then lift these vacua to massive states. For the = 4 case, there is no instanton tunneling, and the vacua remain massless. Similarities to spherical supermembranes as giant gravitons and in Matrix theory on pp-waves is discussed.
118351795
Balloon-borne hard X-ray astronomy with PoGOLite: Opening a new window on the universe
High energy polarization can be an indication of geometry, orientation, and other physical phenomena for a variety of sources, but has heretofore been a virtually unmeasured phenomenon. PoGOLite is a balloon-borne instrument intended to measure the polarization of X-rays between 25 and 100 keV. The pathfinder version of the instrument is scheduled to be launched from northern Sweden in summer 2013. The primary targets are the Crab pulsar and nebula and Cygnus X-1.
18221217
A REFINED EPHEMERIS AND PHASE-RESOLVED X-RAY SPECTROSCOPY OF THE GEMINGA PULSAR
We present a refined, phase-connected, postglitch ephemeris for the Geminga pulsar that is a good fit to all the postglitch data from EGRET, ASCA, and XMM-Newton. We also present the results of phase-resolved spectroscopy of two XMM-Newton X-ray observations of the Geminga pulsar obtained in 2002 and 2004. An investigation is made into a previously claimed existence of a small hot spot on the neutron star surface. We conclude that that interpretation was more likely an artifact of an overly restrictive assumption used to fit the phase-resolved spectra: namely, that the spectral index of the nonthermal component is constant. When we allow the spectral index to vary as a function of rotation phase, we find systematic variations in spectral index, and such fits do not require an additional hot blackbody component.
119245531
Observational evidence of dissipative photospheres in gamma-ray bursts
The emission from a gamma-ray burst (GRB) photosphere can give rise to a variety of spectral shapes. The spectrum can retain the shape of a Planck function or it can be broadened and have the shape ...
16544780
XMM-Newton, Chandra, and CGPS observations of the Supernova Remnants G85.4+0.7 and G85.9–0.6
We present an XMM-Newton detection of two low radio surface brightness supernova remnants (SNRs), G85.4+0.7 and G85.9–0.6, discovered with the Canadian Galactic Plane Survey (CGPS). High-resolution XMM-Newton images revealing the morphology of the diffuse emission, as well as discrete point sources, are presented and correlated with radio and Chandra images. The new data also permit a spectroscopic analysis of the diffuse emission regions, and a spectroscopic and timing analysis of the point sources. Distances have been determined from H I and CO data to be 3.5 ± 1.0 kpc for SNR G85.4+0.7 and 4.8 ± 1.6 kpc for SNR G85.9–0.6. The SNR G85.4+0.7 is found to have a temperature of ~12-13 MK and a 0.5-2.5 keV luminosity of ~(1–4) × 1033D23.5 erg s−1 (where D3.5 is the distance in units of 3.5 kpc), with an electron density ne of ~(0.07–0.16) (fD3.5)−1/2 cm−3 (where f is the volume filling factor) and a shock age of ~(9–49) (fD3.5)1/2 kyr. The SNR G85.9–0.6 is found to have a temperature of ~15-19 MK and a 0.5-2.5 keV luminosity of ~(1–4) × 1034D24.8 erg s−1 (where D4.8 is the distance in units of 4.8 kpc), with an electron density ne of ~(0.04–0.10) (fD4.8)−1/2 cm−3 and a shock age of ~(12–42) (fD4.8)1/2 kyr. Based on the data presented here, none of the point sources appears to be the neutron star associated with either SNR.