We prove some basic theorems concerning lemniscate configurations in an Euclidean space of dimension $ n geq 3$. Lemniscates are defined as follows. Given m points $w_j $ in $mathbb R^n$, consider the function $F(x)$ which is the product of the dista
nces $ |x-w_j|$: the singular level sets of the function $F$ are called lemniscates. We show via complex analysis that the critical points of $F$ have Hessian of positivity at least $(n-1)$. This implies that, if $F$ is a Morse function, then $F$ has only local minima and saddle points with negativity 1. The critical points lie in the convex span of the points $|w_j| $ (these are absolute minima): but we made also the discovery that $F$ can also have other local minima, and indeed arbitrarily many. We discuss several explicit examples. We finally prove in the appendix that all critical points are isolated.
We give two characterizations of varieties whose universal cover is a bounded symmetric domain without ball factors in terms of the existence of a holomorphic endomorphism s of the tensor product Totimes T of the tangent bundle T with the cotangent b
undle T. To such a curvature type tensor s one associates the first Mok characteristic cone S, obtained by projecting on T the intersection of ker (s) with the space of rank 1 tensors. The simpler characterization requires that the projective scheme associated to S be a finite union of projective varieties of given dimensions and codimensions in their linear spans which must be skew and generate.
A new experiment aimed to the detection of the gravito-magnetic Lense-Thirring effect at the surface of the Earth will be presented; the name of the experiment is GINGER. The proposed technique is based on the behavior of light beams in ring lasers,
also known as gyrolasers. A three-dimensional array of ringlasers will be attached to a rigid monument; each ring will have a different orientation in space. Within the space-time of a rotating mass the propagation of light is indeed anisotropic; part of the anisotropy is purely kinematical (Sagnac effect), part is due to the interaction between the gravito-electric field of the source and the kinematical motion of the observer (de Sitter effect), finally there is a contribution from the gravito-magnetic component of the Earth (gravito-magnetic frame dragging or Lense-Thirring effect). In a ring laser a light beam traveling counterclockwise is superposed to another beam traveling in the opposite sense. The anisotropy in the propagation leads to standing waves with slightly different frequencies in the two directions; the final effect is a beat frequency proportional to the size of the instrument and its effective rotation rate in space, including the gravito-magnetic drag. Current laser techniques and the performances of the best existing ring lasers allow at the moment a sensitivity within one order of magnitude of the required accuracy for the detection of gravito-magnetic effects, so that the objective of GINGER is in the range of feasibility and aims to improve the sensitivity of a couple of orders of magnitude with respect to present. The experiment will be underground, probably in the Gran Sasso National Laboratories in Italy, and is based on an international collaboration among four Italian groups, the Technische Universitaet Muenchen and the University of Canterbury in Christchurch (NZ).
Starting from the description of space-time as a curved four-dimensional manifold, null Gaussian coordinates systems as appropriate for relativistic positioning will be discussed. Different approaches and strategies will be reviewed, implementing the
null coordinates with both continuous and pulsating electromagnetic signals. In particular, methods based on purely local measurements of proper time intervals between pulses will be expounded and the various possible sources of uncertainty will be analyzed. As sources of pulses both artificial and natural emitters will be considered. The latter will concentrate on either radio- or X ray-emitting pulsars, discussing advantages and drawbacks. As for artificial emitters, various solutions will be presented, from satellites orbiting the Earth to broadcasting devices carried both by spacecrafts and celestial bodies of the solar system. In general the accuracy of the positioning is expected to be limited, besides the instabilities and drift of the sources, by the precision of the local clock, but in any case in long journeys systematic cumulated errors will tend to become dominant. The problem can be kept under control properly using a high level of redundancy in the procedure for the calculation of the coordinates of the receiver and by mixing a number of different and complementary strategies. Finally various possibilities for doing fundamental physics experiments by means of space-time topography techniques will shortly be presented and discussed.
We discuss new limits on masses and radii of compact stars and we conclude that they can be interpreted as an indication of the existence of two classes of stars: normal compact stars and ultra-compact stars. We estimate the critical mass at which the first configuration collapses into the second.
The mean-field pictures based on the standard time-dependent variational approach have widely been used in the study of nonlinear many-boson systems such as the Bose-Hubbard model. The mean-field schemes relevant to Gutzwiller-like trial states $|F>$
, number-preserving states $|xi >$ and Glauber-like trial states $|Z>$ are compared to evidence the specific properties of such schemes. After deriving the Hamiltonian picture relevant to $|Z>$ from that based on $|F>$, the latter is shown to exhibit a Poisson algebra equipped with a Weyl-Heisenberg subalgebra which preludes to the $|Z>$-based picture. Then states $|Z>$ are shown to be a superposition of $cal N$-boson states $|xi>$ and the similarities/differences of the $|Z>$-based and $|xi>$-based pictures are discussed. Finally, after proving that the simple, symmetric state $|xi>$ indeed corresponds to a SU(M) coherent state, a dual version of states $|Z>$ and $|xi>$ in terms of momentum-mode operators is discussed together with some applications.
