Neutron star's initial spin period distribution
We analyze different possibilities to explain the wide initial spin period distribution of radio pulsars presented by Noutsos et al. (2013). With a population synthesis modeling we demonstrate that magnetic field decay can be used to interpret the d ifference between the recent results by Noutsos et al. (2013) and those by Popov & Turolla (2012), where a much younger population of NSs associated with supernova remnants with known ages has been studied. In particular, an exponential field decay with τmag = 5 Myrs can produce a “tail” in the reconstructed initial spin period distribution (as obtained by N outsos et al. 2013) up to P0 > 1 s starting with a standard gaussian withh P0i= 0.3 s andσP = 0.15 s. Another option to explain the difference between initial spin period distributions from Noutsos et al. (2013) and Popov & Turolla (2012) — the emerging magnetic field — is also b riefly discussed.

title: Initial parameters of neutron stars
abstract: A subpopulation of neutron stars (NSs), known as central compact objects (CCOs) in supernova remnants, are suspected to be low-field objects basing on $P$-$\dot P$ measurements for three of them. The birth rate of low-field NSs is probably comparable with the birth rate of normal radio pulsars. However, among compact objects in High-Mass X-ray Binaries (HMXBs) we do not see robust candidates for low-field NSs. We propose that this contradiction can be solved if magnetic fields of CCOs was buried due to strong fall-back, and then the field emerges on the time scale $10^4$-$10^5$ yrs.

title: Young Close-By Neutron Stars: The Gould Belt Vs. The Galactic Disc
abstract: We present new population synthesis calculations of close young neutron stars. In comparison with our previous investigation we use a different neutron star mass spectrum and different initial spatial and velocity distributions. The results confirm that most of ROSAT dim radioquiet isolated neutron stars had their origin in the Gould Belt. We predict that about several tens of young neutron stars can be identified in ROSAT All Sky Survey data at low galactic latitudes. Some of these sources also can have counterparts among EGRET unidentified sources.

title: Close by Compact Objects and Recent Supernovae in the Solar Vicinity
abstract: I discuss young close-by compact objects, recent supernovae in the solar neighbourhood, and point to their connection with cosmic ray studies. Especially the role of the Gould Belt is underlined.

title: Be–X-ray binaries and candidates
abstract: We present a compilative catalogue of Be–X-ray binaries and candidates in the Galaxy and in the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds. This catalogue contains 130 sources and provides information on names and spectral types of optical components, distances, on spin characteristics of neutron stars and on orbital and X-ray properties of binary systems. We give brief comments on each object and provide necessary references to original data.

title: Soft gamma repeaters activity in time
abstract: In this short note I discuss the hypothesis that bursting activity of magnetars evolves in time analogously to the glitching activity of normal radio pulsars (i.e. sources are more active at smaller ages), and that the increase of the burst rate follows one of the laws established for glitching radio pulsars. If the activity of soft gamma repeaters decreases in time in the way similar to the evolution of core-quake glitches (∝t5/2), then it is more probable to find the youngest soft gamma repeaters, but the energy of giant flares from these sources should be smaller than observed 1044–1046 erg as the total energy stored in a magnetar's magnetic field is not enough to support thousands of bursts similar to the prototype 1979 March 5 flare.

title: Vortices, strings, and pseudoinstantons

title: Searches for new physics at Tevatron: Most recent results
abstract: The most recent results obtained from searches of particles and phenomena beyond the Standard Model (new physics) in the D0 and CDF experiments at the Tevatron accelerator (FNAL, USA) on the basis of statistics corresponding to the integrated luminosity of up to 4 fb−1 in 2009 are considered. Particular attention is given to the most recent results on searches for a supersymmetric Higgs boson.

title: On nonperturbative solutions of superstring field theory
abstract: Nonperturbative solutions to the nonlinear field equations in the NS sector of cubic as well as nonpolynomial superstring field theory can be obtained from a linear equation which includes a “spectral” parameter λ and a coboundary operator Q ( λ ). We borrow a simple ansatz from the dressing method (for generating solitons in integrable field theories) and show that classical superstring fields can be constructed from any string field  T subject merely to Q ( λ ) T =0. Following the decay of the non-BPS D9 brane in IIA theory and shifting the background to the tachyon vacuum, we repeat the arguments in vacuum superstring field theory and outline how to compute classical solutions explicitly.

title: Non-Abelian Vortices, Super Yang–Mills Theory and Spin(7)-Instantons
abstract: We consider a complex vector bundle $${\mathcal{E}}$$ endowed with a connection $${\mathcal{A}}$$ over the eight-dimensional manifold $${\mathbb{R}^2\times G/H}$$, where G/H = SU(3)/U(1) × U(1) is a homogeneous space provided with a never-integrable almost-complex structure and a family of SU(3)-structures. We establish an equivalence between G-invariant solutions $${\mathcal{A}}$$ of the Spin(7)-instanton equations on $${\mathbb{R}^2\times G/H}$$ and general solutions of non-Abelian coupled vortex equations on $${\mathbb{R}^2}$$. These vortices are BPS solitons in a d = 4 gauge theory obtained from $${\mathcal{N} =1}$$ supersymmetric Yang–Mills theory in ten dimensions compactified on the coset space G/H with an SU(3)-structure. The novelty of the obtained vortex equations lies in the fact that Higgs fields, defining morphisms of vector bundles over $${\mathbb{R}^2}$$, are not holomorphic in the generic case. Finally, we introduce BPS vortex equations in $${\mathcal{N} =4}$$ super Yang–Mills theory and show that they have the same feature.

title: A cylindrical drift chamber with azimuthal and axial position readout
abstract: A cylindrical multiwire drift chamber with axial charge-division has been constructed and used in experiment E852 at Brookhaven National Laboratory. It serves as a trigger element and as a tracking device for recoil protons in π p interactions. We describe the chamber's design considerations, details of its construction, electronics, and performance characteristics.