It is shown that the Dirac equation is separable by variables in a five-dimensional rotating Kerr-(anti-)de Sitter black hole with two independent angular momenta. A first order symmetry operator that commutes with the Dirac operator is constructed in terms of a rank-three Killing-Yano tensor whose square is a second order symmetric Stäckel-Killing tensor admitted by the five-dimensional Kerr-(...

Spinning particles in curved space-time can have fermionic symmetries generated by the square root of bosonic constants of motion other than the Hamiltonian. We present a general analysis of the conditions under which such new supersymmetries appear, and discuss the Poisson-Dirac algebra of the resulting set of charges, including the conditions of closure of the new algebra. An example of a new...

We consider the class of graphs containing no odd hole, no odd antihole, and no configuration consisting of three paths between two nodes such that any two of the paths induce a hole, and at least two of the paths are of length 2. This class generalizes clawfree Berge graphs and square-free Berge graphs. We give a combinatorial algorithm of complexity O(n) to find a clique of maximum weight in ...

We present the first study of the dynamical evolution of a star cluster that combines a significant population of primordial binaries with the presence of a central black hole. We use direct N-body simulations, with a black hole mass of about one percent of the total mass of the cluster. The evolution of the binary population is strongly influenced by the presence of the black hole, which gives...

We argue that bound states of branes have a size that is of the same order as the horizon radius of the corresponding black hole. Thus the interior of a black hole is not ‘empty space with a central singularity’, and Hawking radiation can pick up information from the degrees of freedom of the hole. Talk given at ‘Quantum Theory and Symmetries’, Cincinnati, September 2003.

Bloom's syndrome is a recessive human genetic disorder associated with an elevated incidence of many types of cancer. The Bloom's syndrome gene product, BLM, belongs to the RecQ subfamily of DNA helicases and is required for the maintenance of genomic stability in human cells - in particular, the suppression of reciprocal exchanges between sister chromatids. We have investigated the quaternary ...

We study the gravitational collapse of a self-gravitating charged scalar-field. Starting with a regular spacetime, we follow the evolution through the formation of an apparent horizon, a Cauchy horizon and a final central singularity. We find a null, weak, mass-inflation singularity along the Cauchy horizon, which is a precursor of a strong, spacelike singularity along the r = 0 hypersurface. T...

The backreaction on black holes due to dragging heavy, rather than test, objects is discussed. As a case study, a regular black Saturn system where the central black hole has vanishing intrinsic angular momentum, J = 0, is considered. It is shown that there is a correlation between the sign of two response functions. One is interpreted as a moment of inertia of the black ring in the black Satur...