Particle theory

Abstract:

We present an exhaustive, constructive, classification of the Calabi-Yau four-folds which can be described as complete intersections in products of projective spaces. A comprehensive list of 921,497 configuration matrices which represent all topologically distinct types of complete intersection Calabi-Yau four-folds is provided and can be downloaded here. The manifolds have non-negative Euler characteristics in the range 0 ≤ χ ≤ 2610. This data set will be of use in a wide range of physical and mathematical applications. Nearly all of these four-folds are elliptically fibered and are thus of interest for F-theory model building. © 2013 SISSA, Trieste, Italy.

Abstract:

We derive lower bounds on the density of sources of ultra-high energy cosmic rays from the lack of significant clustering in the arrival directions of the highest energy events detected at the Pierre Auger Observatory. The density of uniformly distributed sources of equal intrinsic intensity was found to be larger than ∼ (0.06-5) × 10-4 Mpc-3 at 95% CL, depending on the magnitude of the magnetic deflections. Similar bounds, in the range (0.2-7) × 10-4 Mpc-3, were obtained for sources following the local matter distribution. © 2013 IOP Publishing Ltd and Sissa Medialab srl.

Abstract:

We calculate, numerically, the low-lying spectrum of closed confining flux tubes that carry flux in different representations of SU(N). We do so for SU(6) at β = 171, where the calculated low-energy physics is very close to the continuum limit and, in many respects, also close to N = ∞. We focus on the adjoint, 84, 120, k = 2A, 2S and k = 3A,3M,3S representations and provide evidence that the corresponding flux tubes, albeit mostly unstable, do in fact exist. We observe that the ground state of a flux tube with momentum along its axis appears to be well defined in all cases and is well described by the Nambu-Goto spectrum (in flat space-time), all the way down to very small lengths, just as it is for flux tubes carrying fundamental flux. Excited states, however, typically show very much larger deviations from Nambu-Goto than the corresponding excitations of fundamental flux tubes and, indeed, cannot be extracted in many cases. We discuss whether what we are seeing here are separate stringy and massive modes or simply large corrections to energy levels that will become string-like at larger lengths. © 2013 SISSA, Trieste, Italy.

Abstract:

The cosmological natural selection (CNS) hypothesis holds that the fundamental constants of nature have been fine-tuned by an evolutionary process in which universes produce daughter universes via the formation of black holes. Here, we formulate the CNS hypothesis using standard mathematical tools of evolutionary biology. Specifically, we capture the dynamics of CNS using Price's equation, and we capture the adaptive purpose of the universe using an optimization program. We establish mathematical correspondences between the dynamics and optimization formalisms, confirming that CNS acts according to a formal design objective, with successive generations of universes appearing designed to produce black holes. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.