We examine the formation of giant elliptical galaxies using their globular cluster (GC) systems as probes of their evolutionary history. The bimodal distributions of GC metallicities in such galaxies are often cited as evidence for the formation of giant elliptical galaxies through mergers involving gas-rich spirals, with the metal-rich GCs forming during the merger process. We explore an alter...

We study the stability of the giant gravitons in the string theory background with NSNS B field. We consider the perturbation of giant gravitons formed by a probe D(8− p) brane in the background generated by D(p− 2)D(p) branes for 2 ≤ p ≤ 5. We use the quadratic approximation to the brane action to find the equations of motion. The vibration modes for ρ , φ and r are coupled, while those of xk’...

Paying off the mortgage, once a widespread rite of passage for homeowners approaching retirement, has become less common in recent years. Concerns are mounting that the increased prevalence of housing debt among older homeowners could compromise financial security in retirement by expanding housing affordability problems, crimping essential nonhousing spending, increasing vulnerability to home ...

We apply the dressing method to a string solution given by a static string wrapped around the equator of a three-sphere and find that the result is the single spike solution recently discussed in the literature. Further application of the method allows the construction of solutions with multiple spikes. In particular we construct the solution describing the scattering of two single spikes and c...