Compactified NCOS and duality

We study four-dimensional U(1) on a non-commutative T^2 with rational Theta. This theory has dual descriptions as ordinary SYM or as NCOS. We identify a set of massive non-interacting KK states in the SYM theory and track them through the various dualities. They appear as stretched strings in the non-commutative U(1) providing another example of the IR/UV mixing in non-commutative field theories. In the NCOS these states appear as D-strings with winding and momentum. They form an unconventional type of 1/4 BPS state with the 3-brane. To obtain a consistent picture of S-duality for compactified theories it is essential to keep track of both the NS and the RR B-fields.Comment: 16 pages, references correcte

Thick domain walls and singular spaces

We discuss thick domain walls interpolating between spaces with naked singularities and give arguments based on the $AdS$/CFT correspondence why such singularities may be physically meaningful. Our examples include thick domain walls with Minkowski, de Sitter, and anti-de Sitter geometries on the four-dimensional slice. For flat domain walls we can solve the equivalent quantum mechanics problem exactly, which provides the spectrum of graviton states. In one of the examples we discuss, the continuum states have a mass gap. We compare the graviton spectra with expectations from the $AdS$/CFT correspondence and find qualitative agreement. We also discuss unitary boundary conditions and show that they project out all continuum states.Comment: 21 pages, v2: references corrected, v3: minor corrections in sect.

Heterotic Little String Theories and Holography

It has been conjectured that Little String Theories in six dimensions are holographic to critical string theory in a linear dilaton background. We test this conjecture for theories arising on the worldvolume of heterotic fivebranes. We compute the spectrum of chiral primaries in these theories and compare with results following from Type I-heterotic duality and the AdS/CFT correspondence. We also construct holographic duals for heterotic fivebranes near orbifold singularities. Finally we find several new Little String Theories which have Spin(32)/Z_2 or E_8 \times E_8 global symmetry but do not have a simple interpretation either in heterotic or M-theory.Comment: 27 pages, LaTe

Mirror symmetry for N=1 QED in three dimensions

We construct three-dimensional N=1 QED with N_f flavors using branes of type IIB string theory. This theory has a mirror, which can be realized using the S-dual brane configuration. As in examples with more supersymmetry, the Higgs branch of the original theory gets mapped into the Coulomb branch of the mirror. We use parity invariance to argue that these branches cannot be lifted by quantum corrections.Comment: 10 pages, Latex, 1 figure, reference adde

A Simple Volcano Potential with an Analytic, Zero-Energy, Ground State

We describe a simple volcano potential, which is supersymmetric and has an analytic, zero-energy, ground state. (The KK modes are also analytic.) It is an interior harmonic oscillator potential properly matched to an exterior angular momentum-like tail. Special cases are given to elucidate the physics, which may be intuitively useful in studies of higher-dimensional gravity.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figure

Perturbative Corrections to a Sum Rule for the Heavy Quark Kinetic Energy

We calculate the perturbative corrections to order \alpha_s^2\beta_0 to the sum rule derived from the second moment of the time-ordered product of b \to c currents near zero recoil. This sum rule yields a bound on \lambda_1, the expectation value of the b quark kinetic energy operator inside the B meson. The perturbative corrections significantly weaken the bound relative to the tree level result, yielding \lambda_1 < -0.15 GeV^2.Comment: 10 pages revtex, uses FEYNMA

Moments of semileptonic B decay distributions in the 1/m_b expansion

We report the OPE-based predictions for a number of lepton energy and hadronic mass moments in the inclusive semileptonic B -> X_c \ell\nu decays with a lower cut on the charged lepton energy. We rely on the direct OPE approach where no expansion in the charm mass is employed and the theoretical input is a limited set of underlying OPE parameters including m_b and m_c. A Wilsonian treatment with a `hard' cutoff is applied using running low-scale masses m_Q(\mu) and kinetic expectation value \mu_\pi^2(\mu). This leaves for perturbative corrections only genuinely short-distance effects and makes them numerically small. Predictions are also given for the modified hadronic moments of the kinematic variable \cal N_X^2 which is a combination of M_X^2 and E_X. Measurement of such moments would allow a more reliable extraction of higher-order nonperturbative heavy quark parameters from experiment.Comment: 16 pages, LaTeX, three figure

Thick Brane Worlds Arising From Pure Geometry

We study a non-Riemannian modification of 5-dimensional Kaluza-Klein theory. In our proposal the Riemannian structure of the five-dimensional manifold is replaced by a Weyl-integrable one. In this context a 4-dimensional Poincar$\grave{e}$ invariant solution is studied. Spacetime structures with thick smooth branes separated in the extra dimension arise. We focus our attention, mainly, in a case where the massless graviton is located in one of the thick branes at the origin, meanwhile the matter degrees of freedom are confined to the other brane. Due to the small overlap of the graviton's wave-function with the second thick brane, the model accounts for a resolution of the mass hierarchy problem a la Randall-Sundrum. Although, initially, no assumptions are made about the topology of the extra dimension, the solution found yields an extra space that is effectivelly compact and respects $Z_2$ symmetry. Unlike some other models with branes, a preliminary study (not including the effect of scalar perturbations) shows that the spectrum of massive Kaluza-Klein states is quantized and free of tachyonic modes.Comment: 12 pages, latex, 7 eps figures. Some other cases of the class of solution found are shown, the introduction rewritten, section references changed, one author adde