286 results on '"Pesando, P"'
Search Results
2. The Reggeon Vertex for DDF States
- Author
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Biswas, Dripto, Marotta, Raffaele, and Pesando, Igor
- Subjects
High Energy Physics - Theory - Abstract
We provide a compact expression for the generating function of correlators involving an arbitrary number of bosonic open string DDF states. The explicit correlators for $M$ DDF states can then be obtained by differentiating this generating function with respect to the DDF polarization tensors. The generating function depends on single and double complex integrals centred around the punctures corresponding to the insertion points of the DDF vertices on the real axis in the upper half-plane. We have explicitly evaluated these integrals for an arbitrary number of DDF states. To check our results, we computed some massive scalars and spin-2 amplitudes for $M=3$ and $M=4$, verifying that these amplitudes have the form expected from Lorentz invariance. Moreover, for the first excited levels, we also show that the DDF amplitudes with generic polarizations can be reassembled into Lorentz-covariant amplitudes, with emergent covariant polarizations that match the expressions obtained by comparing the string states in both the DDF and covariant formalisms., Comment: Latex, 83 pages
- Published
- 2024
3. Implementing New Technology in Educational Systems
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Allen, Scott, Bardach, Lisa, Jirout, Jamie, Mackey, Allyson, McCoy, Dana, Pesando, Luca Maria, and Kizilcec, René
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Physics - Physics Education - Abstract
Educators are more than workers within educational systems; they are stewards of educational systems. They must analyze student performance data, identify patterns that inform targeted interventions and personalized learning plans, continuously develop the curriculum, set ambitious learning goals and use up-to-date pedagogical theory to adapt instructional strategies, act as advocates for educational policies that promote inclusivity and equity, and much more. Most educators deeply care about the learning and wellbeing of their students and colleagues. Given the chance, they will do whatever they can to make improvements to these ends. In this role as architects of change, educators deal with conflicting definitions of success, multiple stakeholders, complex causal relationships, ambiguous data, and intricate human factors. Amid all this, most educators and the educational systems around them are strained to the capacity of what their time, training, and budgets allow. The problem is not merely that they must perform demanding tasks, but more so that they must constantly implement improvements and interventions amid the complex challenges of the organizations in which they work. These challenges can be especially difficult in implementation of related education technology, which is continuously developing at sometimes rapid pace. Whether the context is an individual classroom, a school district, or a postsecondary institution, implementing beneficial human-technology partnerships requires attending to the needs and constraints of these classrooms, districts, institutions, and so forth as organizations and engaging in this work as a partnership with educators. This chapter lays out the principles and processes of developing successful educator-technology partnerships including key considerations for each step and an example protocol for engaging in this endeavor., Comment: Book Chapter, 24 pages, 6 tables, 1 figure
- Published
- 2024
4. The bosonic string spectrum and the explicit states up to level $10$ from the lightcone and the chaotic behavior of certain string amplitudes
- Author
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Pesando, Igor
- Subjects
High Energy Physics - Theory - Abstract
We compute the irreps and their multiplicities of bosonic string spectrum up to level 10 and we give explicitly the on shell lightcone states which make the irreps. For scalars and vectors we compute the multiplicity up to level 22 and 19 respectively. The first scalar at odd level appears at level 11. For the bosonic string in non critical dimensions we argue that at level $N$ there are always states transforming as tensors with $ s\ge N/2$ indices. Only in critical dimensions there are states with $s\le N/2$. Looking at the explicit coefficients of the combinations needed to make the irreps from the lightcone states we trace the origin of the chaotic behavior of certain cubic amplitudes considered in literature to the extremely precise and sensitive mixtures of states. For example the vectors at level $N=19$ are a linear combinations of states and when the coefficients are normalized to be integer some of them have more than 1200 figures., Comment: In ancillary files there are the data in lisp files (which can be loaded in the CAS maxima) and the explicit results of the analysis in separated tex and pdf for levels from 3 to 10
- Published
- 2024
5. Framed DDF operators and the general solution to Virasoro constraints
- Author
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Biswas, Dripto and Pesando, Igor
- Subjects
High Energy Physics - Theory - Abstract
We define the framed DDF operators by introducing the concept of local frames in the usual formulation of DDF operators. In doing so it is possible to completely decouple the DDF operators from the associated tachyon and show that they are good zero-dimensional conformal operators. This allows for an explicit formulation of the general solution of the Virasoro constraints both on-shell and off-shell. We then make precise the realization of the intuitive idea that DDF operators can be used to embed light-cone states in the covariant formulation. This embedding is not unique, but depends on a coset. This coset is the little group of the embedding of the light-cone and is associated with a frame. The frame allows us to embed the $SO(D-2)$ light-cone physical polarizations into the $SO(1,D-1)$ covariant ones in the most general way. The solution to the Virasoro constraints is not in the gauge that is usually used. This happens since the states obtained from DDF operators are generically the sum of terms which are partially transverse due to the presence of a projector but not traceless and terms which are partially traceless but not transverse. To check the identification, we verify the matching of the expectation value of the second Casimir of the Poincar'e group for some light-cone states with the corresponding covariant states built using the framed DDFs., Comment: 37 pages (main) + 21 pages (appendix)
- Published
- 2024
6. Parental separation penalties among university students in Italy
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Pesando, Luca Maria and Stranges, Manuela
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- 2024
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7. Educational boundaries explain strength and variation in global fertility convergence
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Wu, Hanbo and Pesando, Luca Maria
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- 2024
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8. Parental separation penalties among university students in Italy
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Luca Maria Pesando and Manuela Stranges
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Union dissolution ,School performance ,Penalty ,Inequality ,Italy ,Demography. Population. Vital events ,HB848-3697 - Abstract
Abstract This paper addresses the long-standing question of whether parental separation shapes offspring school performance drawing on retrospective data from a group of university students in Italy, a country that has historically had very low separation rates yet has experienced an important rise in family dissolution over the last two decades. Using survey data from 1st-year enrollees in undergraduate courses in Economics and Statistics at two points in time (2000 and 2017), we explore whether the association between parental separation and children’s school performance (i) is observed both at the level of middle school (MS) and high school (HS); (ii) varies according to the age at which students experienced separation, and (iii) varies by parental socio-economic status (SES). Our results suggest that students whose parents separated before MS completion score on average 2 points less on the end-of-middle-school exam relative to students whose parents did not separate or separated after MS completion. Similarly, students whose parents separated before HS completion score 1 point less on the end-of-high-school exam relative to their counterpart. As such, we document a parental separation penalty both at the level of MS and HS, yet lower by half when separation occurs later in students’ life course. Moreover, for HS grade parental separation is associated with more negative consequences when students experience it at very young ages (0–5), while for MS grade heterogeneity by age is less clear-cut. Such penalties are concentrated among children of low-educated mothers, particularly for HS, providing support to the “compensatory advantage” hypothesis predicting smaller penalties for children of high-SES parents. Overall, findings from this study corroborate existing evidence suggesting that the consequences of parental separation vary depending on a combination of social background and the “selectivity” of the educational outcome considered.
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- 2024
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9. Educational boundaries explain strength and variation in global fertility convergence
- Author
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Hanbo Wu and Luca Maria Pesando
- Subjects
Fertility ,Convergence ,Educational gradients ,Medicine ,Science - Abstract
Abstract This paper shows that the level and timing of fertility are converging strongly over different measures of educational attainment using 65 years of data from 146 countries. Global convergence patterns are primarily driven by high-income societies, while sub-Saharan Africa is the world region that is converging most slowly, if not converging at all. Most importantly, levels of education matter heavily for explaining strength and variation in global fertility convergence, with two intersecting educational gradients suggesting: (i) stronger convergence over tertiary education followed, in turn, by secondary and primary; (ii) stronger convergence over education completed relative to education attended. Our findings provide important insights for addressing key challenges in global development and demography, and for informing policymakers as they evaluate the suitability of specific educational policies aimed at further narrowing inequalities between societies—such as supporting higher education as well as the successful completion of targeted educational cycles.
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- 2024
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10. Framed DDF operators and the general solution to Virasoro constraints
- Author
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Dripto Biswas and Igor Pesando
- Subjects
Astrophysics ,QB460-466 ,Nuclear and particle physics. Atomic energy. Radioactivity ,QC770-798 - Abstract
Abstract We define the framed DDF operators by introducing the concept of local frames in the usual formulation of DDF operators. In doing so it is possible to completely decouple the DDF operators from the associated tachyon and show that they are good zero-dimensional conformal operators. These framed DDFs allow for an explicit covariant formulation of the general solution of the Virasoro constraints both on-shell and off-shell which depends on a unique set of tangent space lightcone polarizations. This is possible since the frame allows us to embed the $$SO(D-2)$$ S O ( D - 2 ) lightcone physical polarizations into the $$SO(1,D-1)$$ S O ( 1 , D - 1 ) covariant ones in the most general way. The solution to the Virasoro constraints is not in the gauge that is usually used since the states obtained from DDF operators are generically the sum of terms which are partially transverse due to the presence of a projector but not traceless and terms which are partially traceless but not transverse. We then show that different embeddings are connected by states generated by improved Brower operators both on shell and off shell. Brower states are null on-shell and equivalent to BRST exact states. Therefore on shell one embedding is sufficient to compute all amplitudes except the ones with vanishing momentum. Off-shell a change of frame cannot be obtained by null states but only by Brower states. Improved Brower operators generate a gauge invariance associated with local frame rotations, which replaces the usual gauge invariance generated by Virasoro operators or BRST. To check the identification, we verify the matching of the expectation value of the second Casimir of the Poincaré group for some lightcone states with the corresponding covariant states built using the framed DDFs.
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- 2024
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11. Marrying across Borders in Latin America: Visualizing Intermarriage Flows
- Author
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Adriana Robles, Luca Maria Pesando, Alejandra Abufhele, Mauricio Bucca, and Daniela R. Urbina
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Social Sciences ,Sociology (General) ,HM401-1281 - Abstract
The authors propose an adaptation of the well-known “circular plot,” traditionally used to quantify international migration flows, to visualize patterns of intermarriage within Latin American countries. The authors present data on intermarriage flows between partners’ countries of origin using data from recent household surveys from five Latin American countries. The visualization allows an easy-to-grasp snapshot of marital pairings considering partners born in different countries, as well as the identification of their spatial patterns. In some countries, such as Colombia and Peru, most intermarriage occurs between natives and Venezuelans. Conversely, in Chile, Ecuador, and Uruguay, there is much wider heterogeneity in country-pair combinations. In Chile, no country-pair combination dominates, reflecting the more balanced nature of migration flows from a broader set of countries. Overall, the results aid the interpretation of trends and patterns in marriage across country lines by placing them within a comparative regional context. This is a flexible tool that could be easily adapted to multiple other countries within or outside of the region, to analyses over time, and to a heterogeneous array of couple-level characteristics.
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- 2024
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12. On the breakdown of the perturbative interaction picture in Big Crunch/Big Bang or the true reason why perturbative string amplitudes on temporal orbifolds diverge
- Author
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Pesando, Igor
- Subjects
High Energy Physics - Theory ,General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology - Abstract
We discuss how the perturbative particle paradigm fails in certain background with space-like singularity but asymptotically flat which should admit a S-matrix. The Feynman approach relies on the interaction picture. This approach means that we can interpret interactions as exchanges of particles. Particles are the modes of the quadratic part of the Lagrangian. In certain backgrounds with space-like singularity the interaction Hamiltonian is well defined but the perturbative expansion of the evolution operator through the singularity and the perturbative $S$ matrix do not exist. On the other hand, relying on minisuperspace approximation we argue that the non perturbative evolution operator does exist. The complete breakdown of the perturbative expansion explains why the perturbative computations in the covariant formalism in string theory in temporal orbifold fail, at least at the tree level., Comment: 38 pages, 5 double figures
- Published
- 2022
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13. Light-Cone Quantization a of Scalar Field on Time-Dependent Backgrounds
- Author
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Arduino, Andrea and Pesando, Igor
- Subjects
High Energy Physics - Theory ,General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology - Abstract
We discuss what is light-cone quantization on a curved spacetime also without a null Killing vector. Then we consider as an example the light-cone quantization of a scalar field on a background with a Killing vector and the connection with the second quantization of the particle in the same background. It turns out that the proper way to define the light-cone quantization is to require that the constant light-cone time hypersurface is null or, equivalently, that the particle Hamiltonian is free of square roots. Moreover, in order to quantize the scalar theory it is necessary to use not the original scalar rather a scalar field density, i.e. the Schr\"odinger wave functional depends on a scalar density and not on the original field. Finally we recover this result as the second quantization of a particle on the same background, where it is necessary to add as input the fact that we are dealing with a scalar density., Comment: 25+1 pages
- Published
- 2022
- Full Text
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14. A streamlined workflow for a fast and cost-effective count of tyndallized probiotics using flow cytometry
- Author
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Veronica Bolzon, Michela Bulfoni, Massimo Pesando, Alessandro Nencioni, and Emanuele Nencioni
- Subjects
flow cytometry ,tyndallized probiotics ,quality control ,dead microorganisms ,bacterial lysates ,health benefits ,Microbiology ,QR1-502 - Abstract
The use of dead probiotics and their cellular metabolites seems to exhibit immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory properties, providing protection against pathogens. These inanimate microorganisms, often referred to as tyndallized or heat-killed bacteria, are a new class of probiotics employed in clinical practice. Safety concerns regarding the extensive use of live microbial cells have increased interest in inactivated bacteria, as they could eliminate shelf-life problems and reduce the risks of microbial translocation and infection. Culture-dependent methods are not suitable for the quality assessment of these products, and alternative methods are needed for their quantification. To date, bacterial counting chambers and microscopy have been used for tyndallized bacteria enumeration, but no alternative validated methods are now available for commercial release. The aim of the present study is to design a new method for the qualitative and quantitative determination of tyndallized bacterial cells using flow cytometric technology. Using a live/dead viability assay based on two nucleic acid stains, thiazole orange (TO) and propidium iodide (PI), we optimized a workflow to evaluate bacterial viability beyond the reproduction capacity that provides information about the structural properties and metabolic activities of probiotics on FACSVerse without using beads as a reference. The data obtained in this study represent the first analytical application that works effectively both on viable and non-viable cells. The results provided consistent evidence, and different samples were analyzed using the same staining protocol and acquisition settings. No significant discrepancies were highlighted between the declared specification of commercial strain and the analytical data obtained. For the first time, flow cytometry was used for counting tyndallized bacterial cells as a quality control assessment in probiotic production. This aspect becomes important if applied to medical devices where we cannot boast metabolic but only mechanical activities.
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- 2024
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15. Transcriptional profile of selected flavescence dorée phytoplasma genes during infection of insect vectors and host plants
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Galetto, Luciana, Pesando, Massimo, Abbà, Simona, Bodino, Nicola, and Marzachì, Cristina
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- 2023
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16. On the Origin of Divergences in Time-Dependent Orbifolds
- Author
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Arduino, Andrea, Finotello, Riccardo, and Pesando, Igor
- Subjects
High Energy Physics - Theory ,General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology - Abstract
We consider time-dependent orbifolds in String Theory and we show that divergences are not associated with a gravitational backreaction since they appear in the open string sector too. They are related to the non existence of the underlying effective field theory as in several cases fourth and higher order contact terms do not exist. Since contact terms may arise from the exchange of string massive states, we investigate and show that some three points amplitudes with one massive state in the open string sector are divergent on the time-dependent orbifolds. To check that divergences are associated with the existence of a discrete zero eigenvalue of the Laplacian of the subspace with vanishing volume, we construct the Generalized Null Boost Orbifold where this phenomenon can be turned on and off., Comment: 43 pages
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- 2020
- Full Text
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17. 2D Fermion on the Strip with Boundary Defects as a CFT with Excited Spin Fields
- Author
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Finotello, Riccardo and Pesando, Igor
- Subjects
High Energy Physics - Theory - Abstract
We consider a two-dimensional fermion on the strip in the presence of an arbitrary number of zero-dimensional boundary changing defects. We show that the theory is still conformal with time dependent stress-energy tensor and that the allowed defects can be understood as excited spin fields. Finally we compute correlation functions involving these excited spin fields without using bosonization., Comment: 40 pages, 4 figures
- Published
- 2019
- Full Text
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18. Demography as a Field: Where We Came From and Where We Are Headed
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Pesando, Luca Maria, Dorélien, Audrey, St-Denis, Xavier, and Santos, Alexis
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- 2023
- Full Text
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19. On the breakdown of the perturbative interaction picture in Big Crunch/Big Bang or the true reason why perturbative string amplitudes on temporal orbifolds diverge
- Author
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Igor Pesando
- Subjects
Astrophysics ,QB460-466 ,Nuclear and particle physics. Atomic energy. Radioactivity ,QC770-798 - Abstract
Abstract We discuss how the perturbative particle paradigm fails in certain background with space-like singularity but asymptotically flat which should admit a S-matrix. The Feynman approach relies on the interaction picture. This approach means that we can interpret interactions as exchanges of particles. Particles are the modes of the quadratic part of the Lagrangian. In certain backgrounds with space-like singularity the interaction Hamiltonian is well defined but the perturbative expansion of the evolution operator through the singularity and the perturbative S matrix do not exist. On the other hand, relying on minisuperspace approximation we argue that the non perturbative evolution operator does exist. The complete breakdown of the perturbative expansion explains why the perturbative computations in the covariant formalism in string theory in temporal orbifold fail, at least at the tree level.
- Published
- 2022
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
20. Communication with Kin in the Wake of the COVID-19 Pandemic
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Megan N. Reed, Linda Li, Luca Maria Pesando, Lauren E. Harris, Frank F. Furstenberg, and Julien O. Teitler
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Social Sciences ,Sociology (General) ,HM401-1281 - Abstract
This study investigates patterns of communication among non-coresident kin in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic using data from the New York City Robin Hood Poverty Tracker. Over half of New Yorkers spoke to their non-coresident family members several times a week during the pandemic, and nearly half increased their communication with non-coresident kin since March 2020. Siblings and extended kin proved to be especially important ties activated during the pandemic. New Yorkers were most likely to report increased communication with siblings. A quarter of respondents reported that they increased communication with at least one aunt, uncle, cousin, or other extended family member. Although non-Hispanic White respondents reported the highest frequency of communication with kin, it was those groups most impacted by COVID-19—foreign-born, Black, and Hispanic New Yorkers—who were most likely to report that they increased communication with kin in the wake of the pandemic.
- Published
- 2023
- Full Text
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21. Verification of a Rapid Analytical Method for the Qualitative Detection of Listeria spp. and Listeria monocytogenes by a Real-Time PCR Assay according to EN UNI ISO 16140-3:2021
- Author
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Veronica Bolzon, Michela Bulfoni, Massimo Pesando, Alessandro Nencioni, and Emanuele Nencioni
- Subjects
listeria monocytogenes ,quality control assessment ,real time PCR ,International Organization for Standardization (ISO) ,microbial contamination ,food industry ,Medicine - Abstract
Microbial contamination and foodborne infections are a significant global public health concern. For this reason, the detection, monitoring, and characterization of pathogens represent a significant challenge in quality control settings. Standard approaches, such as culture methods and biochemical tests, are known to be very time-consuming and intensive. Conversely, molecular technologies based on the genomic identification of bacteria are quick and low-cost. Listeria monocytogenes is an opportunistic pathogen and a major concern especially in food industries. It is important to understand and implement multiple quality control measures to control Listeria infection risk and prevent the contamination of products. Standardized detection and confirmation tests such as the API Listeria test, MALDI-TOF MS, and PCR analysis are available. The aim of our work is to provide a specific molecular method, designed according to the EN UNI ISO 16140-3:2021, for the specific detection, monitoring, and characterization of Listeria spp. and Listeria monocytogenes contamination. The verification of this new rapid approach by real-time PCR (qPCR) overcomes the limitations of culture-based techniques, meeting all the verification criteria required by ISO guidelines, including implementation and item confirmation. This system offers a powerful approach to the real-time assessment of food safety, useful for industry self-monitoring and regulatory inspection.
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- 2024
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22. Harnessing the Potential of Google Searches for Understanding Dynamics of Intimate Partner Violence Before and After the COVID-19 Outbreak
- Author
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Köksal, Selin, Pesando, Luca Maria, Rotondi, Valentina, and Şanlıtürk, Ebru
- Published
- 2022
- Full Text
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23. The Classical Solution for the Bosonic String in the Presence of Three D-branes Rotated by Arbitrary SO(4) Elements
- Author
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Finotello, Riccardo and Pesando, Igor
- Subjects
High Energy Physics - Theory - Abstract
We consider the classical instantonic contribution to the open string configuration associated with three D-branes with relative rotation matrices in SO(4) which corresponds to the computation of the classical part of the correlator of three non Abelian twist fields. We write the classical solution as a sum of a product of two hypergeometric functions. Differently from all the previous cases with three D-branes, the solution is not holomorphic and suggests that the classical bosonic string knows when the configuration may be supersymmetric. We show how this configuration reduces to the standard Abelian twist field computation. From the phenomenological point of view, the Yukawa couplings between chiral matter at the intersection in this configuration are more suppressed with respect to the factorized case in the literature., Comment: 41 pages, 8 figures
- Published
- 2018
- Full Text
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24. Light-cone quantization of scalar field on time-dependent backgrounds
- Author
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Andrea Arduino and Igor Pesando
- Subjects
Astrophysics ,QB460-466 ,Nuclear and particle physics. Atomic energy. Radioactivity ,QC770-798 - Abstract
Abstract We discuss what is light-cone quantization on a curved spacetime also without a null Killing vector. Then we consider as an example the light-cone quantization of a scalar field on a background with a Killing vector and the connection with the second quantization of the particle in the same background. It turns out that the proper way to define the light-cone quantization is to require that the constant light-cone time hypersurface is null or, equivalently, that the particle Hamiltonian is free of square roots. Moreover, in order to quantize the scalar theory it is necessary to use not the original scalar rather a scalar field density, i.e. the Schrödinger wave functional depends on a scalar density and not on the original field. Finally we recover this result as the second quantization of a particle on the same background, where it is necessary to add as input the fact that we are dealing with a scalar density.
- Published
- 2022
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
25. On the gauge chosen by the bosonic open string
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Pesando, Igor
- Subjects
High Energy Physics - Theory - Abstract
String theory gives S matrix elements om which is not possible to read any gauge information. Using factorization we go off shell in the simplest and most naive way and we read which are the vertices suggested by string. To compare with the associated Effective Field Theory it is natural to use color ordered vertices. The alpha'=0 color ordered vertices suggested by string theory are more efficient than the usual ones since the three gluon color ordered vertex has three terms instead of six and the four gluon one has one term instead of three. They are written in the so called Gervais-Neveu gauge. The full Effective Field Theory is in a generalization of the Gervais-Neveu gauge with alpha') corrections. Moreover a field redefinition is required to be mapped to the field used by string theory. We also give an intuitive way of understanding why string choose this gauge in terms of the minimal number of couplings necessary to reproduce the non abelian amplitudes starting from color ordered ones., Comment: 37 pages, 9 figures
- Published
- 2017
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26. Are Private Kindergartens Really Better? Examining Preschool Choices, Parental Resources, and Children's School Readiness in Ghana
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Pesando, Luca Maria, Wolf, Sharon, Behrman, Jere R., and Tsinigo, Edward
- Abstract
Low-cost private schools are expanding across sub-Saharan Africa and are often perceived by parents to be of better quality than public schools. This article assesses the interplay between kindergarten (or preschool) choice, household resources, and children's school readiness in Ghana. We examine how child, household, and school characteristics predict private versus public kindergarten attendance and whether household characteristics are associated with school readiness beyond preschool selection. Using a geospatial-identification strategy to account for observed and unobserved determinants of preschool choice, we find that parental investments--including number of books at home and caregiver help with homework--predict both private-preschool selection and start-of-year child outcomes beyond their influence on preschool choice. We take this evidence as suggesting that investments in children support learning beyond simply selecting the presumed best preschool type. We also find independent associations between attending private preschool and one-year changes in early literacy scores. The findings contribute knowledge to the literature on the recent expansion of preschool education in sub-Saharan Africa and globally and shed new light on the role of private-preschool attendance in early academic skill development.
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- 2020
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27. A Four-Country Study on the Relationship Between Parental Educational Homogamy and Children’s Health from Infancy to Adolescence
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Pesando, Luca Maria
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- 2022
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28. La cosa pubblica. Salute, Lavoro, Società nelle collezioni storiche dell’Università e del Politecnico di Torino
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Margherita Bongiovanni, Gianluca Cuniberti, Elena Dellapiana, Mara Fausone, Francesca Gervasio, and Annalisa Barbara Pesando
- Subjects
Turin ,University ,Polytechnic ,Historical collections ,19th-century science ,History of education ,LA5-2396 - Abstract
The paper is inspired by the eponymous exhibition held at the Castello del Valentino from November 10th to December 3rd, 2022, which was later extended until January 5th, 2023. A dedicated catalog is planned to be published for the event. The exhibition is part of "VICINI. Science for the City at Valentino" (November 10th-20th, 2022), a project aimed at promoting awareness of nineteenth-century scientific venues and past and current research challenges. The project, funded by the University of Turin and led by the Department of Clinical and Biological Sciences with Stefania Pizzimenti as scientific head, involved the participation of 18 departments of UniTo, the Polytechnic of Turin's Department of Architecture and Design, Biennale Tecnologia, and 19 local and cultural organizations. Keywords: Turin, University, Polytechnic, historical collections, 19th-century science.
- Published
- 2023
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29. Mobile phones and infant health at birth.
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Luca Maria Pesando and Komin Qiyomiddin
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Medicine ,Science - Abstract
There is increasing evidence that digital technologies such as mobile phones have the potential to shape some of the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) such as health, education, and nutrition, even among the most resource-deprived countries and communities in the world. Nonetheless, little research has focused on the intergenerational implications of digital technologies for infant health and wellbeing. This study leverages Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data from 29 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) to explore associations between mothers' ownership of mobile phones and their children's health at birth, as measured by birth weight and low birth weight (LBW), i.e., weight lower than 2,500 grams. Infants born to women owning mobile phones fare consistently better in terms of birth weight, even after accounting for potential socioeconomic confounders and other sources of media or information in the household. Partly, mechanisms are consistent with the idea of broader knowledge and access to healthcare services, as associations are mediated by a higher number of antenatal visits, higher likelihood of having a birth assisted by a health professional, and by the extent to which mothers hear about family planning by text message. Associations are strongest among low-educated mothers. Also, associations are stronger in countries where infant health is poorer yet mobile-phone diffusion is higher, highlighting the comparatively higher potential of the diffusion of mobile phones for global development in poorest contexts. Our findings may be of interest to scholars and policymakers concerned with identifying relatively cheap policy levers to promote global health and wellbeing in disadvantaged contexts, particularly among women.
- Published
- 2023
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30. Towards a fully stringy computation of Yukawa couplings on non factorized tori and non abelian twist correlators (I): the classical solution and action
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Pesando, Igor
- Subjects
High Energy Physics - Theory - Abstract
We consider the simplest possible setting of non abelian twist fields which corresponds to $SU(2)$ monodromies. We first review the theory of hypergeometric function and of the solutions of the most general Fuchsian second order equation with three singularities. Then we solve the problem of writing the general solution with prescribed $U(2)$ monodromies. We use this result to compute the classical string solution corresponding to three $D2$ branes in $R^4$. Despite the fact the configuration is supersymmetric the classical string solution is not holomorphic. Using the equation of motion and not the KLT approach we give a very simple expression for the classical action of the string. We find that the classical action is not proportional to the area of the triangle determined by the branes intersection points since the solution is not holomorphic. Phenomenologically this means that the Yukawa couplings for these supersymmetric configurations on non factorized tori are suppressed with respect to the factorized case., Comment: 51 pages, 16 figures
- Published
- 2015
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31. Canonical quantization of a string describing $N$ branes at angles
- Author
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Pesando, Igor
- Subjects
High Energy Physics - Theory - Abstract
We study the canonical quantization of a bosonic string in presence of N twist fields. This generalizes the quantization of the twisted string in two ways: the in and out states are not necessarily twisted and the number of twist fields N can be bigger than 2. In order to quantize the theory we need to find the normal modes. Then we need to define a product between two modes which is conserved. Because of this we need to use the Klein-Gordon product and to separate the string coordinate into the classical and the quantum part. The quantum part has different boundary conditions than the original string coordinates but these boundary conditions are precisely those which make the operator describing the equation of motion self adjoint. The splitting of the string coordinates into a classical and quantum part allows the formulation of an improved overlap principle. Using this approach we then proceed in computing the generating function for the generic correlator with L untwisted operators and N (excited) twist fields for branes at angles. We recover as expected the results previously obtained using the path integral. This construction explains why these correlators, Comment: 41 pages, 8 figures
- Published
- 2014
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32. Correlators of arbitrary untwisted operators and excited twist operators for N branes at angles
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Pesando, Igor
- Subjects
High Energy Physics - Theory - Abstract
We compute the generic correlator with L untwisted operators and N (excited) twist fields for branes at angles on T^2 and show that it is given by a generalization of the Wick theorem. We give also the recipe to compute efficiently the generic OPE between an untwisted operator and an excited twisted state., Comment: 49 pages, 6 figures
- Published
- 2014
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
33. On the origin of divergences in time-dependent orbifolds
- Author
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Andrea Arduino, Riccardo Finotello, and Igor Pesando
- Subjects
Astrophysics ,QB460-466 ,Nuclear and particle physics. Atomic energy. Radioactivity ,QC770-798 - Abstract
Abstract We consider time-dependent orbifolds in String Theory and we show that divergences are not associated with a gravitational backreaction since they appear in the open string sector too. They are related to the non existence of the underlying effective field theory as in several cases fourth and higher order contact terms do not exist. Since contact terms may arise from the exchange of string massive states, we investigate and show that some three points amplitudes with one massive state in the open string sector are divergent on the time-dependent orbifolds. To check that divergences are associated with the existence of a discrete zero eigenvalue of the Laplacian of the subspace with vanishing volume, we construct the Generalized Null Boost Orbifold where this phenomenon can be turned on and off.
- Published
- 2020
- Full Text
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34. Modular anomaly equation, heat kernel and S-duality in N=2 theories
- Author
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Billó, M., Frau, M., Gallot, L., Lerda, A., and Pesando, I.
- Subjects
High Energy Physics - Theory - Abstract
We investigate epsilon-deformed N=2 superconformal gauge theories in four dimensions, focusing on the N=2* and Nf=4 SU(2) cases. We show how the modular anomaly equation obeyed by the deformed prepotential can be efficiently used to derive its non-perturbative expression starting from the perturbative one. We also show that the modular anomaly equation implies that S-duality is implemented by means of an exact Fourier transform even for arbitrary values of the deformation parameters, and then we argue that it is possible, perturbatively in the deformation, to choose appropriate variables such that it reduces to a Legendre transform., Comment: 30 pages, LeTeX2e. V2: references added, appendix B expanded, a few typos corrected
- Published
- 2013
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
35. Light cone quantization and interactions of a new closed bosonic string inspired to D1 string
- Author
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Pesando, Igor
- Subjects
High Energy Physics - Theory - Abstract
We quantize the bosonic part of the D1 string with closed boundary conditions on the light cone and we consider the U(1) worldsheet gauge field a dynamical variable. We compute also 3-Reggeon vertex by the overlapping technique. We find that the Fock space is the sum of sectors characterized by the momentum of the U(1) Wilson line and that these sectors do not interact among them. Each sector has exactly the same spectrum of the usual bosonic string when expressed in properly sector dependent rescaled variables. Rescaling is forced by factorization of the string amplitudes. We are also able to determine the relative string coupling constant of the different sectors. It follows a somewhat unexpected picture in which the effective action is always the same independently on the sector but string amplitudes are only the same when expressed in sector dependent rescaled variables., Comment: 17 pages, 2 figures
- Published
- 2013
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
36. Deformed N=2 theories, generalized recursion relations and S-duality
- Author
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Billo, Marco, Frau, Marialuisa, Gallot, Laurent, Lerda, Alberto, and Pesando, Igor
- Subjects
High Energy Physics - Theory - Abstract
We study the non-perturbative properties of N=2 super conformal field theories in four dimensions using localization techniques. In particular we consider SU(2) gauge theories, deformed by a generic epsilon-background, with four fundamental flavors or with one adjoint hypermultiplet. In both cases we explicitly compute the first few instanton corrections to the partition function and the prepotential using Nekrasov's approach. These results allow to reconstruct exact expressions involving quasi-modular functions of the bare gauge coupling constant and to show that the prepotential terms satisfy a modular anomaly equation that takes the form of a recursion relation with an explicitly epsilon-dependent term. We then investigate the implications of this recursion relation on the modular properties of the effective theory and find that with a suitable redefinition of the prepotential and of the effective coupling it is possible, at least up to the third order in the deformation parameters, to cast the S-duality relations in the same form as they appear in the Seiberg-Witten solution of the undeformed theory., Comment: 33 pages, no figures, LaTeX2e
- Published
- 2013
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
37. Does Financial Literacy Increase Students' Perceived Value of Schooling?
- Author
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Pesando, Luca Maria
- Abstract
Using data from the 2012 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) for Italy, this paper investigates whether financial literacy skills play a role in shaping the value that high school students place on schooling. I hypothesize that higher financial literacy may foster students' awareness of the financial and non-financial benefits of gaining additional education, together with the costs associated with poor school outcomes. Results from OLS and IV estimates suggest that higher financial literacy increases students' perceived value of schooling by boosting their time commitment to education. Conversely, there is no evidence that financial literacy shapes students' attitudes towards school.
- Published
- 2018
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
38. Green functions and twist correlators for $N$ branes at angles
- Author
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Pesando, Igor
- Subjects
High Energy Physics - Theory - Abstract
We compute the Green functions and correlator functions for N twist fields for branes at angles on T^2 and we show that there are N-2 different configurations labeled by an integer M which is roughly associated with the number of obtuse angles of the configuration. In order to perform this computation we use a SL(2,R) invariant formulation and geometric constraints instead of Pochammer contours. In particular the M=1 or M=N-1 amplitude can be expressed without using transcendental functions. We determine the amplitudes normalization from N -> N-1 reduction without using the factorization into the untwisted sector. Both the amplitudes normalization and the OPE of two twist fields are unique (up to one constant) when the \epsilon <-> 1-\epsilon symmetry is imposed. For consistency we find also an infinite number of relations among Lauricella hypergeometric functions., Comment: 40 pages, 13 figures; V2 published version with misprints and a minor error corrected
- Published
- 2012
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
39. The generating function of amplitudes with N twisted and M untwisted states
- Author
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Pesando, Igor
- Subjects
High Energy Physics - Theory - Abstract
We show that the generating function of all amplitudes with N twisted and M untwisted states, i.e. the Reggeon vertex for magnetized branes on R^2 can be computed once the correlator of N non excited twisted states and the corresponding Green function are known and we give an explicit expression as a functional of the these objects, Comment: 26 pages
- Published
- 2011
40. Strings in an arbitrary constant magnetic field with arbitrary constant metric and stringy form factors
- Author
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Pesando, Igor
- Subjects
High Energy Physics - Theory - Abstract
We quantize the open string in an arbitrary constant magnetic field with a non factorized metric on a torus. We then discuss carefully the vertexes which describe the emission of dipole open strings and closed strings in the non compact limit. Finally we compute various stringy form factors which in the compact case induces a Kaehler and complex structure dependence and suppression of some amplitudes with KK states., Comment: 45 pages
- Published
- 2011
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- View/download PDF
41. 2D fermion on the strip with boundary defects as a CFT with excited spin fields
- Author
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Riccardo Finotello and Igor Pesando
- Subjects
Nuclear and particle physics. Atomic energy. Radioactivity ,QC770-798 - Abstract
We consider a two-dimensional fermion on the strip in the presence of an arbitrary number of zero-dimensional boundary changing defects. We show that the theory is still conformal with time dependent stress-energy tensor and that the allowed defects can be understood as excited spin fields. Finally we compute correlation functions involving these excited spin fields without using bosonization.
- Published
- 2021
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
42. Open strings in the system D5/D9
- Author
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Di Vecchia, P., Marotta, R., Pesando, I., and Pezzella, F.
- Subjects
High Energy Physics - Theory - Abstract
We construct the six-dimensional Lagrangian for the massless twisted open strings with one end-point ending on a stack of D5 and the other on a stack of D9 branes, interacting with the gauge multiplets living respectively on the D5 and D9 branes. It is first obtained by uplifting to six dimensions the four-dimensional Lagrangian of the N=2 hypermultiplet and manifestly exhibits an SU(2) symmetry. We show by an explicit calculation that it is N=1 supersymmetric in six dimensions and then we check various terms of this Lagrangian by computing string amplitudes on the disk. Finally, starting from this Lagrangian and assuming the presence of non-zero magnetic fluxes along the extra compact dimensions, we determine the spectrum of the Kaluza-Klein states which agrees with the corresponding one obtained from string theory in the field theory limit., Comment: 54 pages, Latex
- Published
- 2010
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
43. F-theoretic vs microscopic description of a conformal N=2 SYM theory
- Author
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Billò, Marco, Gallot, Laurent, Lerda, Alberto, and Pesando, Igor
- Subjects
High Energy Physics - Theory - Abstract
The F-theory background of four D7 branes in a type I' orientifold was conjectured to be described by the Seiberg-Witten curve for the superconformal SU(2) gauge theory with four flavors. This relation was explained by considering in this background a probe D3 brane, which supports this theory with SU(2) realized as Sp(1). Here we explicitly compute the non-perturbative corrections to the D7/D3 system in type I' due to D-instantons. This computation provides both the quartic effective action on the D7 branes and the quadratic effective action on the D3 brane; the latter agrees with the F-theoretic prediction. The action obtained in this way is related to the one derived from the usual instanton calculus \`a la Nekrasov (or from its AGT realization in terms of Liouville conformal blocks) by means of a non-perturbative redefinition of the coupling constant. We also point out an intriguing relation between the four-dimensional theory on the probe D3 brane, which has a SO(8) flavor symmetry, and the eight-dimensional dynamics on the D7 branes. On the latter, SO(8) represents a gauge group and the flavor masses correspond to the vacuum expectation values of an adjoint scalar field m: what we find is that the exact effective coupling in four dimensions is obtained from its perturbative part by taking into account in its mass dependence the full quantum dynamics of the field m in eight dimensions., Comment: 44 pages, 2 figures, PdfLaTeX. V2: Typos fixed, a few references added, Eq. (2.28) corrected, improved discussion in Section 3.4, a couple of sentences reformulated in section 7. Version published on JHEP
- Published
- 2010
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
44. Open and Closed String Vertices for branes with magnetic field and T-duality
- Author
-
Pesando, I.
- Subjects
High Energy Physics - Theory - Abstract
We discuss carefully the vertices which describe the dipole open strings and closed strings on a D-brane with magnetic flux on a torus. Translation invariance along closed cycles forces surprisingly closed string vertices written in open string formalism to acquire Chan-Paton like matrices. Moreover the one loop amplitudes have a single trace for the part of gauge group with the magnetic flux. These peculiarities are also required by consistency of the action of T-duality in the open string sector. In this way we can show to all orders in perturbation theory the equivalence of the T-dual open string theories, gravitational interactions included. We provide also a new and direct derivation of the bosonic boundary state in presence of constant magnetic and Kalb-Ramond background based on Sciuto-Della Selva-Saito vertex formalism., Comment: 63 pages, 7 figures
- Published
- 2009
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
45. Exotic instanton counting and heterotic/type I' duality
- Author
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Billo', Marco, Ferro, Livia, Frau, Marialuisa, Gallot, Laurent, Lerda, Alberto, and Pesando, Igor
- Subjects
High Energy Physics - Theory - Abstract
We compute the partition function for the exotic instanton system corresponding to D-instantons on D7 branes in Type I' theory. We exploit the BRST structure of the moduli action and its deformation by RR background to fully localize the integration. The resulting prepotential describes non-perturbative corrections to the quartic couplings of the gauge field F living on the D7's. The results match perfectly those obtained in the dual heterotic theory from a protected 1-loop computation, thus providing a non-trivial test of the duality itself., Comment: 42 pages, 3 figures
- Published
- 2009
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
46. Classical solutions for exotic instantons?
- Author
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Billo', Marco, Frau, Marialuisa, Gallot, Laurent, Lerda, Alberto, and Pesando, Igor
- Subjects
High Energy Physics - Theory - Abstract
We consider the D7/D(--1) system in Type I' as a prototypical "exotic" brane instanton. With respect to systems such as the D3/D(-1) ones, which correspond to gauge instantons in four dimensions, exotic systems lack the bosonic mixed moduli w of the ADHM construction, related to the instanton size, and their possible field-theoretical interpretation as classical solutions is an important open question. For the system at hand, we propose that it corresponds to the point-like limit of the eight-dimensional so-called SO(8) instanton solution. This configuration is a solution of the quartic term of the non-abelian D7 action, i.e., the term which stays finite in the limit in which alpha' goes to zero with the string coupling fixed that preserves the D(-1) effects. As a necessary consistency condition, we check that the next order term in the non-abelian effective action vanishes on the SO(8) solution so that the limit we take is well-defined., Comment: 39 pages, 3 figures. Some references added, and minor corrections: a more precise statement of eq. (3.18) and a few coefficients in eq. (3.10)
- Published
- 2009
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
47. The classical solution for the Bosonic string in the presence of three D-branes rotated by arbitrary SO(4) elements
- Author
-
Riccardo Finotello and Igor Pesando
- Subjects
Nuclear and particle physics. Atomic energy. Radioactivity ,QC770-798 - Abstract
We consider the classical instantonic contribution to the open string configuration associated with three D-branes with relative rotation matrices in SO(4) which corresponds to the computation of the classical part of the correlator of three non Abelian twist fields. We write the classical solution as a sum of a product of two hypergeometric functions. Differently from all the previous cases with three D-branes, the solution is not holomorphic and suggests that the classical bosonic string knows when the configuration may be supersymmetric. We show how this configuration reduces to the standard Abelian twist field computation. From the phenomenological point of view, the Yukawa couplings between chiral matter at the intersection in this configuration are more suppressed with respect to the factorized case in the literature.
- Published
- 2019
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
48. A comment on discrete Kalb-Ramond field on orientifold and rank reduction
- Author
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Pesando, I.
- Subjects
High Energy Physics - Theory - Abstract
We show that the rank reduction of the gauge group on orientifolds in presence of non vanishing discrete Kalb-Ramond field can be explained by the presence of an induced field strength in a non trivial bundle on the branes. This field strength is also necessary for the tadpole cancellation and the number of branes is left unchanged by the presence of the discrete Kalb-Ramond background., Comment: v2: added references, improved introduction and corrected misprints; 15 pages
- Published
- 2008
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
49. Wrapped Magnetized Branes: Two Alternative Descriptions?
- Author
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Di Vecchia, P., Liccardo, A., Marotta, R., Pesando, I., and Pezzella, F.
- Subjects
High Energy Physics - Theory - Abstract
We discuss two inequivalent ways for describing magnetized D-branes wrapped N times on a torus T^2. The first one is based on a non-abelian gauge bundle U(N), while the second one is obtained by means of a Narain T-duality transformation acting on a theory with non-magnetized branes. We construct in both descriptions the boundary state and the open string vertices and show that they give rise to different string amplitudes. In particular, the description based on the gauge bundle has open string vertex operators with momentum dependent Chan-Paton factors., Comment: 60 pages, LaTeX
- Published
- 2007
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
50. Instanton effects in N=1 brane models and the Kahler metric of twisted matter
- Author
-
Billo, Marco, Di Vecchia, Paolo, Frau, Marialuisa, Lerda, Alberto, Marotta, Raffaele, and Pesando, Igor
- Subjects
High Energy Physics - Theory - Abstract
We consider locally consistent systems of magnetized D9 branes on an orbifolded six-torus which support N=1 gauge theories. In such realizations, the matter multiplets arise from "twisted" strings connecting different stacks of branes. The introduction of Euclidean 5 branes (E5) wrapped on the six-dimensional compact space leads to instanton effects. For instance, if the system is engineered so as to yield SQCD, a single E5 brane may account for the ADS/TVY superpotential. We discuss the subtle interplay that exists between the annuli diagrams with an E5 boundary and the holomorphicity properties of the effective low-energy action of the N=1 theory. The consistency of this picture allows to obtain information on the Kahler metric of the chiral matter multiplets arising from twisted strings., Comment: 33 pages, 4 figures. V2: improved discussion, clarifyng comments and references added. Version to be published in JHEP
- Published
- 2007
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
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