Weyl equation in some anisotropic stiff fluid universes

The Weyl equation (massless Dirac equation) is studied in a family of exact solutions of the Einstein equations whose material content is a perfect fluid with stiff equation of state (p=) and which are of Bianchi type I. The field equation is solved exactly for some members of the family.     

On the spectrum of the sum of generators for a finitely generated group

Let Γ be a finitely generated group. In the group algebra ℂ[Γ], form the averageh of a finite setS of generators of Γ. Given a unitary representation π of Γ, we relate spectral properties of the operator π(h) to properties of Γ and π. For the universal representationπ _un of Γ, we prove in particular the following results. First, the spectrum Sp(π _un (h)) contains the complex numberz of modulus one iff Sp(π _un (h)) is invariant under multiplication byz, iff there exists a character such that η(S)={z}. Second, forS ⁻¹=S, the group Γ has Kazhdan’s property (T) if and only if 1 is isolated in Sp(π _un (h)); in this case, the distance between 1 and other points of the spectrum gives a lower bound on the Kazhdan constants. Numerous examples illustrate the results.     

A condition for nonnegativity of an operator related to the Dirichlet operator

Let L₀ be a positive definite closed linear operator with domain of definition D(L₀) dense in the Hilbert space H; let(, ₁, ₂) be the positive boundary value space of the operator L₀ such that the restriction of L ₀ ^* to ker ₂ is the Friedrichs extension of the operator L₀. We establish a test for nonnegativity of an operator T of the form Ty=L ₀ ^* y+^*(₁–C)y, y D(T)= ker(₂+), where :H and C: are respectively a compact operator and a bounded nonnegative operator.Translated fromMatematicheskie Metody i Fiziko-Mekhanicheskie Polya, Issue 32, 1990, pp. 30–33.     

A model of solidification under microgravity conditions

The influence of the microgravity environment on solidification processes is discussed. A simple model of the solidification of a binary-alloy is presented with the chemical diffusion influenced by the gravitational field. Using the results of Mullins and Sekerka, we employ the linear theory of hydrodynamic stability to investigate the interfacial instability driving the pattern-forming processes in solidification. As a result, we estimate the characteristic size of the elements of the emerging pattern. We show that, in spite of good agreement of our result with the size of cellulae observed in experiments, the model cannot explain the changes in the patterns occurring in space environment. In conclusion we shortly discuss the possibility of adding realism to our simple model by including the effect of convection.