Towards a Realization of the Condensed-Matter/Gravity Correspondence in String Theory via Consistent Abelian Truncation

We present an embedding of the 3-dimensional relativistic Landau-Ginzburg model for condensed matter systems in an $\mathcal{N}=6$, $U(N)\times U(N)$ Chern-Simons-matter theory (the ABJM model) by consistently truncating the latter to an abelian effective field theory encoding the collective dynamics of ${\cal O}(N)$ of the ${\cal O}(N^2)$ modes. In fact, depending on the VEV on one of the ABJM scalars, a mass deformation parameter $\mu$ and the Chern-Simons level number $k$, our abelianization prescription allows us to interpolate between the abelian Higgs model with its usual multi-vortex solutions and a $\phi^4$ theory. We sketch a simple condensed matter model that reproduces all the salient features of the abelianization. In this context, the abelianization can be interpreted as giving a dimensional reduction from four dimensions.Comment: 4 pages, revtex; reference added, typo corrected; added clarifying paragraphs at end of introduction and on pages 3-4. Version accepted to PR

Emergence of the fuzzy horizon through gravitational collapse

For a large enough Schwarzschild black hole, the horizon is a region of space where gravitational forces are weak; yet it is also a region leading to numerous puzzles connected to stringy physics. In this work, we analyze the process of gravitational collapse and black hole formation in the context of light-cone M theory. We find that, as a shell of matter contracts and is about to reveal a black hole horizon, it undergoes a thermodynamic phase transition. This involves the binding of D0 branes into D2's, and the new phase leads to large membranes of the size of the horizon. These in turn can sustain their large size through back-reaction and the dielectric Myers effect - realizing the fuzzball proposal of Mathur and the Matrix black hole of M(atrix) theory. The physics responsible for this phenomenon lies in strongly coupled 2+1 dimensional non-commutative dynamics. The phenomenon has a universal character and appears generic.Comment: 24 pages, 4 figures; v2: minor clarifications, citations adde

Quantifying selection in immune receptor repertoires

The efficient recognition of pathogens by the adaptive immune system relies on the diversity of receptors displayed at the surface of immune cells. T-cell receptor diversity results from an initial random DNA editing process, called VDJ recombination, followed by functional selection of cells according to the interaction of their surface receptors with self and foreign antigenic peptides. To quantify the effect of selection on the highly variable elements of the receptor, we apply a probabilistic maximum likelihood approach to the analysis of high-throughput sequence data from the $\beta$-chain of human T-cell receptors. We quantify selection factors for V and J gene choice, and for the length and amino-acid composition of the variable region. Our approach is necessary to disentangle the effects of selection from biases inherent in the recombination process. Inferred selection factors differ little between donors, or between naive and memory repertoires. The number of sequences shared between donors is well-predicted by the model, indicating a purely stochastic origin of such "public" sequences. We find a significant correlation between biases induced by VDJ recombination and our inferred selection factors, together with a reduction of diversity during selection. Both effects suggest that natural selection acting on the recombination process has anticipated the selection pressures experienced during somatic evolution

A note on dual giant gravitons in AdS4×CP3AdS_{4}\times \mathbb{CP}^{3}

We study some of the properties of dual giant gravitons - D2-branes wrapped on an $S^{2}\subset AdS_{4}$ - in type IIA string theory on $AdS_{4}\times \mathbb{CP}^{3}$. In particular we confirm that the spectrum of small fluctuations about the giant is both real and independent of the size of the graviton. We also extend previously developed techniques for attaching open strings to giants to this D2-brane giant and focus on two particular limits of the resulting string sigma model: In the pp-wave limit we quantize the string and compute the spectrum of bosonic excitations while in the semiclassical limit, we read off the fast string Polyakov action and comment on the comparison to the Landau-Lifshitz action for the dual open spin chain.Comment: v3 significantly changed: added coupling to RR 1-form and turned on worldvolume gauge field, computed gauge field fluctuation, added comments on closure of the sl(2) sector and re-written to improve clarity. This version published in JHE

Report of Acoustic Test on PSLV IS.1/2L Structure

The results of acoustic conducted on PSLV IS.1/2L at Acoustic Test Facility are briefly given. It contains test set up, Instrumentation details and tables of spectral response

Calculations of spin induced transport in ferromagnets

Based on first-principles density functional calculations, a general approach for determining and analyzing the degree of spin polarization (P) in ferromagnets is presented. The approach employs the so-called tetrahedron method to evaluate the Fermi surface integrations of P in both ballistic and diffusive regimes. The validity of the method is examined by comparing the calculated P values for Fe and Ni with the experiment. The method is shown to yield highly accurate results with minimal computational effort. Within our approach, it is also possible to systematically analyze the contributions of various types of electronic states to the spin induced transport. As a case study, the transport properties of the soft-ferromagnet CeMnNi4 are investigated in order to explain the origin of the existing difference between the experimental and theoretical values of P in this intermetallic compound.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures; to appear in Physical Review B 75 (2007

High-Q bismuth silicate nonlinear glass microsphere resonators

The fabrication and characterization of a bismuth-silicate glass microsphere resonator has been demonstrated. At wavelengths near 1550 nm, high-modes can be efficiently excited in a 179 µm diameter bismuth-silicate glass microsphere via evanescent coupling using a tapered silica fiber with a waist diameter of circa 2 µm. Resonances with Q-factors as high as were observed. The dependence of the spectral response on variations in the input power level was studied in detail to gain an insight into power-dependent thermal resonance shifts. Because of their high nonlinearity and high- factors, bismuth-silicate glass microspheres offer the potential for robustly assembled fully integrated all-optical switching devices

Transmogrifying Fuzzy Vortices

We show that the construction of vortex solitons of the noncommutative Abelian-Higgs model can be extended to a critically coupled gauged linear sigma model with Fayet-Illiopolous D-terms. Like its commutative counterpart, this fuzzy linear sigma model has a rich spectrum of BPS solutions. We offer an explicit construction of the degree$-k$ static semilocal vortex and study in some detail the infinite coupling limit in which it descends to a degree$-k$ \C\Pk^{N} instanton. This relation between the fuzzy vortex and noncommutative lump is used to suggest an interpretation of the noncommutative sigma model soliton as tilted D-strings stretched between an NS5-brane and a stack of D3-branes in type IIB superstring theory.Comment: 21 pages, 4 figures, LaTeX(JHEP3

A study on water hyacinth Eichhornia crassipes as oil sorbent

The sorption of diesel, lubricant and castor oils onto different parts (root, stem and leaf) of the dry biomass water hyacinth was studied at the laboratory scale. The parts of the aquapyte water hyacinth (Eichhornia Crassipes) were characterized by physico-chemical methods and the characteristics were used to elucidate the oil sorption process. Hydrophobicity, wettability (capillarity), buoyancy and sorption capacity of oils in the presence/absence of water were studied to evaluate the suitability of the sorbent for application. In all the three sorbents, theoil sorption capacity increases with the increase of oil film thickness. However of the three parts, the stem has a greater sorption capacity of 9.3, 7.8 and 11.08 g/g for the three oils such as diesel, lubricant and castor oils respectively, even though the root of water hyacinth showed a higher hydrophobicity and surface area. These sorption capacities are comparable with widely used commercial oil sorbent such as nonwoven polypropylene which has a sorption capacity in the range of 10-16 g/g

Entanglement entropy in lattice gauge theories

We report on the recent progress in theoretical and numerical studies of entanglement entropy in lattice gauge theories. It is shown that the concept of quantum entanglement between gauge fields in two complementary regions of space can only be introduced if the Hilbert space of physical states is extended in a certain way. In the extended Hilbert space, the entanglement entropy can be partially interpreted as the classical Shannon entropy of the flux of the gauge fields through the boundary between the two regions. Such an extension leads to a reduction procedure which can be easily implemented in lattice simulations by constructing lattices with special topology. This enables us to measure the entanglement entropy in lattice Monte-Carlo simulations. On the simplest example of Z2 lattice gauge theory in (2 + 1) dimensions we demonstrate the relation between entanglement entropy and the classical entropy of the field flux. For SU(2) lattice gauge theory in four dimensions, we find a signature of non-analytic dependence of the entanglement entropy on the size of the region. We also comment on the holographic interpretation of the entanglement entropy.Comment: Talk presented at the Confinement8 conference (Mainz, Germany, September 1 - 6, 2008) and at the conference "Liouville Field Theory and Statistical Models", dedicated to Alexey Zamolodchikov memory (Moscow, Russia, June 21 - 24, 2008