Supercriticality of a Class of Critical String Cosmological Solutions

For a class of Friedmann-Robertson-Walker type string solutions with compact hyperbolic spatial slices formulated in critical dimension, we find the world sheet conformal field theory which involves the linear dilaton and Wess-Zumino-Witten type model with the compact hyperbolic target space. By analyzing the infrared spectrum, we conclude that the theory is actually supercritical due to the modular invariance of string theory. Thus, taking into account previous results, we conclude that all the simple nontrivial string cosmological solutions are supercritical. A possible explanation of why we are living in D=4 is provided. The interesting relation of this background with the Supercritical String Cosmology (SSC) is pointed out

Chaotic rotation and evolution of asteroids and small planets in high-eccentricity orbits around white dwarfs

Observed planetary debris in white dwarf atmospheres predominately originate from the destruction of small bodies on highly eccentric (>0.99) orbits. Despite their importance, these minor planets have coupled physical and orbital evolution, which has remained largely unexplored. Here, we present a novel approach for estimating the influence of fast chaotic rotation on the orbital evolution of high-eccentricity triaxial asteroids, and formally characterize the propagation of their angular rotation velocities and orbital elements as random time processes. By employing the impulse approximation, we demonstrate that the violent gravitational interactions during periastron passages transfer energy between the orbit and asteroid's rotation. If the distribution of spin impulses were symmetric around zero, then the net result would be a secular decrease of the semimajor axis and a further increase of the eccentricity. We find evidence, however, that the chaotic rotation may be self regulated in such a manner that these effects are reduced or nullified. We discover that asteroids on highly eccentric orbits can break themselves apart—in a type of YORP-less (Yarkovsky–O'Keefe–Radzievskii–Paddack) rotational fission—without actually entering the Roche radius, with potentially significant consequences for the distribution of debris and energy requirements for gravitational scattering in metal-polluted white dwarf planetary systems. This mechanism provides a steady stream of material impacting a white dwarf without rapidly depleting the number of small bodies in the stellar system

Implicit solvers for unstructured meshes

Implicit methods were developed and tested for unstructured mesh computations. The approximate system which arises from the Newton linearization of the nonlinear evolution operator is solved by using the preconditioned GMRES (Generalized Minimum Residual) technique. Three different preconditioners were studied, namely, the incomplete LU factorization (ILU), block diagonal factorization, and the symmetric successive over relaxation (SSOR). The preconditioners were optimized to have good vectorization properties. SSOR and ILU were also studied as iterative schemes. The various methods are compared over a wide range of problems. Ordering of the unknowns, which affects the convergence of these sparse matrix iterative methods, is also studied. Results are presented for inviscid and turbulent viscous calculations on single and multielement airfoil configurations using globally and adaptively generated meshes

F-enomenology

The advantages of Flipped SU(5) over conventional Supersymmetric GUTs, like SU(5), are discussed. Recent values of the strong coupling at M_Z, sin-squared theta-Weinberg, g-2 of the muon, and the lower limit on the proton lifetime for the (K+, anti-neutrino) mode point directly to Flipped SU(5) as the simplest way to avoid potential pitfalls. It is shown that "F(lipped)-enomenology" accomodates easily all presently available low-energy data, favoring a rather "light" supersymmetric spectrum while yielding the right amount of Cold Dark Matter and a proton lifetime in the ((e+/muon+), pi-zero) mode which is beyond the present experimental limit yet still possibly accessible to a further round of experiments.Comment: 22 pages; 3 figures and 2 diagrams prepared with feynmf.mf & feynmf.sty; Invited talk given at: 1st Intl. Conf. on String Phenomenology, Oxford, England, July 6-11, 2002, -and- NeSS 2002, Washington D.C., USA, September 19-21, 200

Helical Phase Inflation via Non-Geometric Flux Compactifications: from Natural to Starobinsky-like Inflation

We show that a new class of helical phase inflation models can be simply realized in minimal supergravity, wherein the inflaton is the phase component of a complex field and its potential admits a deformed helicoid structure. We find a new unique complex-valued index $\chi$ that characterizes almost the entire region of the $n_s-r$ plane favored by new Planck observations. Continuously varying the index $\chi$, predictions interpolate from quadratic/natural inflation parameterized by a phase/axion decay constant to Starobinsky-like inflation parameterized by the $\alpha$-parameter. We demonstrate that the simple supergravity construction realizing Starobinsky-like inflation can be obtained from a more microscopic model by integrating out heavy fields, and that the flat phase direction for slow-roll inflation is protected by a mildly broken global $U(1)$ symmetry. %, which is mildly broken at the inflation energy scale. We study the geometrical origin of the index $\chi$, and find that it corresponds to a linear constraint relating \kah moduli. We argue that such a linear constraint is a natural result of moduli stabilization in Type \MyRoman{2} orientifold compactifications on Calabi-Yau threefolds with geometric and non-geometric fluxes. Possible choices for the index $\chi$ are discrete points on the complex plane that relate to the distribution of supersymmetric Minkowski vacua on moduli space. More precise observations of the inflationary epoch in the future may provide a better estimation of the index $\chi$. Since $\chi$ is determined by the fluxes and vacuum expectation values of complex structure moduli, such observations would characterize the geometry of the internal space as well.Comment: 26 pages, 4 figures; 4+1 figure, discussion on several energy scales added, references added, to appear in JHE

Natural Inflation with Natural Trans-Planckian Axion Decay Constant from Anomalous U(1)XU(1)_X

We propose a natural inflation model driven by an imaginary or axionic component of a K\"ahler modulus in string-inspired supergravity. The shift symmetry of the axion is gauged under an anomalous $U(1)_X$ symmetry, which leads to a modulus-dependent Fayet-Iliopoulos (FI) term. The matter fields are stabilized by F-terms, and the real component of the modulus is stabilized by the $U(1)_X$ D-term, while its axion remains light. Therefore, the masses of real and imaginary components of the modulus are separated at different scales. The scalar potential for natural inflation is realized by the superpotential from the non-perturbative effects. The trans-Planckian axion decay constant, which is needed to fit with BICEP2 observations, can be obtained naturally in this model.Comment: 14 pages, no figure, references added, version published in JHE

Probing the No-Scale F{\cal F}-SU(5)SU(5) One-Parameter Model via Gluino Searches at the LHC2

In our recent paper entitled "The return of the King: No-Scale ${\cal F}$-$SU(5)$", we showed that the model space supporting the most favorable phenomenology should have been probed in 2016 at the LHC2, with an even further reach into this region of the model in 2017-18. This ideal realm of the one-parameter version of No-Scale ${\cal F}$-$SU(5)$ yields a 1.9-2.3 TeV gluino mass at the very same point where the light Higgs boson mass enters its rather narrow experimentally determined range of $m_h = 125.09 \pm 0.24$ GeV. Given the recent results reported at Moriond 2017 for 36 ${\rm fb}^{-1}$ of luminosity collected in 2016 at the 13 TeV LHC2, we now update the status of the No-Scale ${\cal F}$-$SU(5)$ model space in light of the gluino mass exclusion limits presented by the ATLAS and CMS Collaborations. We illustrate that a resolution could be reached soon as to whether supersymmetry lives in this most critical region of the model space.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, Physics Letters B versio

Constraining the origin of the planetary debris surrounding ZTF J0139+5245 through rotational fission of a triaxial asteroid

White dwarfs containing orbiting planetesimals or their debris represent crucial benchmarks by which theoretical investigations of post-main-sequence planetary systems may be calibrated. The photometric transit signatures of likely planetary debris in the ZTF J0139+5245 white dwarf system have an orbital period of about 110 d. An asteroid which breaks up to produce this debris may spin itself to destruction through repeated close encounters with the star without entering its Roche radius and without influence from the white dwarf’s luminosity. Here, we place coupled constraints on the orbital pericentre (q) and the ratio (β) of the middle to longest semiaxes of a triaxial asteroid which disrupts outside of this white dwarf’s Roche radius (rRoche) soon after attaining its 110-d orbit. We find that disruption within tens of years is likely when β ≲ 0.6 and q ≈ 1.0–2.0rRoche, and when β ≲ 0.2 out to q ≈ 2.5rRoche. Analysing the longer time-scale disruption of triaxial asteroids around ZTF J0139+5245 is desirable but may require either an analytical approach relying on ergodic theory or novel numerical techniques