A Crucial Ingredient of Inflation

Nonminimal coupling of the inflaton field to the Ricci curvature of spacetime is generally unavoidable, and the paradigm of inflation should be generalized by including the corresponding term R²/2 in the Lagrangian of the inflationary theory. This paper reports on the status of the programme of generalizing inflation. First, the problem of finding the correct value (or set of values) of the coupling constant is analyzed; the result has important consequences for the success or failure of inflationary scenarios. Then, the slow-roll approximation to generalized inflation is studied. Both the unperturbed inflating universe models and scalar/tensor perturbations are discussed, and open problems are pointed out.     

Iron(II) promoted direct synthesis of dibenzo[b,e]oxepin-11(6H)-one derivatives with biological activity. A short synthesis of doxepin

A novel and efficient synthesis of dibenzo[b,e]oxepin-11(6H)-ones by direct intramolecular ortho-acylation from readily available 2-(phenoxymethyl)benzoic acids was developed. The method takes advantage of a newly developed cooperative system consisting of sustainable FeCl₂ and Cl₂CHOCH₃ as the key components. This methodology is compatible with a wide variety of functional groups in good to excellent yields and high regioselectivity. The synthetic application of new protocol was extended to the synthesis of known tricyclic drug doxepin as well as a small library of oxepin based derivatives. For the first time, the obtained dibenzo[b,e]oxepinone derivatives were evaluated for their biological activities on the free-living nematode Caenorhabditis elegans as an effective and cost-efficient model system for anthelmintic discovery.     

What is the fate of a black hole embedded in an expanding universe?

Within a large class of exact solutions of the Einstein equations describing a black hole embedded in a Friedmann universe it is shown that, under certain assumptions, only those with comoving Hawking–Hayward quasi-local mass are generic, in the sense that they are late-time attractors.     

CONTROLLING THE 3D NANOSCALE ORGANIZATION OF BULK HETEROJUNCTION POLYMER SOLAR CELLS

In this study,the three dimensional nanoscale organization in the photoactive layers of poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and a methanofullerene derivative (PCBM) is revealed by transmission electron tomography.After annealing treatment,either at elevated temperature or during slow solvent evaporation,nanoscale interpenetrating networks are formed with high crystalline order and favorable concentration gradients of both components through the thickness of the photoactive layer.Such a tailored morphology acco...     

Pulsation of black holes

The Hawking–Penrose singularity theorem states that a singularity forms inside a black hole in general relativity. To remove this singularity one must resort to a more fundamental theory. Using a corrected dynamical equation arising in loop quantum cosmology and braneworld models, we study the gravitational collapse of a perfect fluid sphere with a rather general equation of state. In the frame of an observer comoving with this fluid, the sphere pulsates between a maximum and a minimum size, avoiding the singularity. The exterior geometry is also constructed. There are usually an outer and an inner apparent horizon, resembling the Reissner–Nordström situation. For a distant observer the horizon crossing occurs in an infinite time and the pulsations of the black hole quantum “beating heart” are completely unobservable. However, it may be observable if the black hole is not spherical symmetric and radiates gravitational wave due to the quadrupole moment, if any.     

Black holes in scalar-tensor gravity

Hawking has proven that black holes which are stationary as the end point of gravitational collapse in Brans-Dicke theory (without a potential) are no different than in general relativity. We extend this proof to the much more general class of scalar-tensor and f(R) gravity theories, without assuming any symmetries apart from stationarity.     

Lower-dimensional theories of gravity and gravitational waves

We demonstrate that there are no gravitational waves in vacuum in 1+1 gravity, with or without a cosmological constant, and a wave-like field in regions of non-vanishing T_v is quite unlike a conventional gravitational wave in 3+1 gravity. This, and other dissimilarities, lend a word of caution to the extraction of information from lower-dimensional theories for the understanding of 3+1 gravity.