arXiv subjects

Alfred D. Shapere

Publications and source records attributed to Alfred D. Shapere.

25 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2001

Black Hole Production by Cosmic Rays

Ultra-high energy cosmic rays create black holes in scenarios with extra dimensions and TeV-scale gravity. In particular, cosmic neutrinos will produce black holes deep in the atmosphere, initiating quasi-horizontal showers far above the standard model rate. At the Auger Observatory, hundreds of black hole events may be observed, providing evidence for extra dimensions and the first opportunity for experimental study of microscopic black holes. If no black holes are found, the fundamental Planck scale must be above 2 TeV for any number of extra dimensions.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2001

BPS Equations, BPS States, and Central Charge of N=2 Supersymmetric Gauge Theories

We derive the central charge and BPS equations from the low-energy effective action for N=2 SU(2) Yang-Mills theory in the Coulomb phase, using a systematic, canonical procedure. We then obtain solutions for monopole and dyon BPS states, whose core structure is described by a dual Lagrangian containing the monopole or dyon as a fundamental field. Spherically symmetric states possess a shell of charge at a characteristic radius.

hep-th↗

arXiv1999

BPS Structure of Argyres-Douglas Superconformal Theories

We study geometric engineering of Argyres-Douglas superconformal theories realized by type IIB strings propagating in singular Calabi-Yau threefolds. We use this construction to count the degeneracy of light BPS states under small perturbations away from the conformal point, by computing the degeneracy of D3-branes wrapped around supersymmetric 3-cycles in the Calabi-Yau. We find finitely many BPS states, the number of which depends on how this deformation is done, similarly to the degeneracy of kink solutions for the deformation of N=2 Landau-Ginzburg superconformal theories in two dimensions. Also, some aspects of worldsheet theories near general Calabi-Yau singularities are discussed.

hep-th↗

arXiv1997

Orientifolds, Branes, and Duality of 4D Gauge Theories

Recently, a D-brane construction in type IIA string theory was shown to yield the electric/magnetic duality of four dimensional N=1 supersymmetric U(N_c) gauge theories with N_f flavours of quark. We present here an extension of that construction which yields the electric/magnetic duality for the SO(N_c) and USp(N_c) gauge theories with N_f quarks, by adding an orientifold plane which is consistent with the supersymmetry. Due to the intersection of the orientifold plane with the NS-NS fivebranes already present, new features arise which are crucial in determining the correct final structure of the dualities.

hep-th↗

arXiv1996

N=2 Moduli Spaces and N=1 Dualities for SO(n_c) and USp(2n_c) SuperQCD

We determine the exact global structure of the moduli space of $N{=}2$ supersymmetric $SO(n)$ and $\USp(2n)$ gauge theories with matter hypermultiplets in the fundamental representations, using the non-renormalization theorem for the Higgs branches and the exact solutions for the Coulomb branches. By adding an $(N{=}2)$--breaking mass term for the adjoint chiral field and varying the mass, the $N{=}2$ theories can be made to flow to either an ``electric'' $N{=}1$ supersymmetric QCD or its $N{=}1$ dual ``magnetic'' version. We thus obtain a derivation of the $N{=}1$ dualities of Seiberg.

hep-th↗

arXiv1995

The Vacuum Structure of N=2 SuperQCD with Classical Gauge Groups

We determine the vacuum structure of N=2 supersymmetric QCD with fundamental quarks for gauge groups SO(n) and Sp(2n), extending prior results for SU(n). The solutions are all given in terms of families of hyperelliptic Riemann surfaces of genus equal to the rank of the gauge group. In the scale invariant cases, the solutions all have exact S-dualities which act on the couplings by subgroups of PSL(2,Z) and on the masses by outer automorphisms of the flavor symmetry. They are shown to reproduce the complete pattern of symmetry breaking on the Coulomb branch and predict the correct weak--coupling monodromies. Simple breakings with squark vevs provide further consistency checks involving strong--coupling physics.

hep-th↗

arXiv1995

Curves of Marginal Stability in N=2 Super-QCD

We present a simple argument determining the shape of the curves of marginal stability in the N=2 supersymmetric SU(2) QCD with less than 4 massless flavors. The argument relies only on the modular properties of $a_D/a$ and its weak-coupling behavior.

hep-th↗