First INTEGRAL observations of eight persistent neutron star low mass X-ray binaries
Early results from the INTEGRAL Core Program, for a sample of eight persistently bright neutron star low mass X-ray binaries in the energy range from 5 keV to 200 keV, are presented. It is shown that INTEGRAL efficiently detects sources and that spectra may be obtained up to several hundreds of keV by combining data from three of the four INTEGRAL instruments: JEM-X, IBIS and SPI. For the source GX 17+2 it is shown that the spectrum extends well above 100 keV with a flattening above 30 keV. This might suggest a non-thermal comptonisation emission, but uncertainties in the current data reduction and background determination do not allow firm conclusions to be drawn yet.

title: First Results from a XMM-Newton Survey of a Distance-Limited (D<22 Mpc) Sample of Seyfert Galaxies: I- the Agns
abstract: We report here preliminary results from a survey of nearby Seyfert galaxies using the EPIC CCDs on board XMM-Newton. The total sample consists of 28 Seyfert galaxies, and constitute a well-defined, complete (B 0 deg.) hemisphere. The survey has been initiated in June, 2001, and we report here the results for the 6 objects analyzed so far, namely: NGC3185, NGC3486, NGC3941, NGC4138, NGC4565, and NGC5033. The main goal of this survey is to obtain a better and unbiased understanding of the ``typical'' Seyfert X-ray spectrum (e.g. the distribution of their absorption column density) in the local Universe. This is crucial to verify the predictions and, thus, to validate unified models, and is a fundamental parameter of synthesis models for the X-ray background. A companion poster (paper II: L. Foschini et al., these proceedings) illustrates how this survey will also allow a comprehensive spectral study of the brightest (highest-luminosity) off-nuclear sources in the galaxies.

title: The INTEGRAL mission
abstract: INTEGRAL, the International Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory, to be launched in 2001, is the second medium-size scientific mission (M2) of the ESA long term programme “Horizon 2000”. INTEGRAL addresses the fine spectroscopy and accurate positioning of celestial gamma-ray sources in the energy range 10 keV to 10 MeV. The observational requirements will be met by a payload utilising coded mask imaging in combination with detector pixel arrays (Imaging) and cooled Germanium detectors (Spectroscopy). INTEGRAL is an ESA led mission in collaboration with Russia and USA. Most of the observing time will be made available to the general scientific community.

title: Probing the Hard X-Ray Properties of High-Redshift Radio-Quiet Quasars with ASCA
abstract: This paper reports the X-ray spectral analysis of five high-redshift (z≥2), radio-quiet quasars observed by ASCA. A simple power-law continuum plus cold Galactic absorption model well fits all the spectra (typically between ~2 and 30 keV in the sources frame). Neither the X-ray spectral hardening, which is attributed to a reflection component and observed in Seyfert galaxies, nor the excess absorption previously detected in high-redshift, radio-loud quasars have been revealed. Only marginal evidence of a neutral or mildly ionized FeKα line is found in one of the quasars. The average spectral slope in the observed 0.7-10 keV energy range, Γ=1.67 ± 0.11 (dispersion σ ~0.07), appears to be flatter than that of low-z, radio-quiet quasars (Γ 1.9-2) and slightly steeper but consistent with Γ=1.61 ± 0.04 (σ ~0.10) of high-z, radio-loud quasars.

title: MOLECULAR LINES IN BOK GLOBULES AND AROUND HERBIG AE/BE STARS
abstract: We have studied a sample of seven small dark clouds (Bok globules) and eight Herbig Ae/Be stars in the J=1->0 transition of HCO$^{+}$, H$^{13}$CO$^{+}$, HCN and H$^{13}$CN. The choice of these molecules is determined by the simple chemistry and the predicted high abundance of the reactants leading to their formation. The isotopically substituted species (isotopomers), H$^{13}$CO$^{+}$ and H$^{13}$CN, were observed in order to determine, whenever possible, the optical thickness of the main species. The most abundant isotopomers were found in almost all the sources (detection rate 70-90\%). Those sources which exhibited the strongest signals were also searched for the $^{13}$C isotopomers. H$^{13}$CO$^{+}$ was found in one dark cloud and around three Herbig Ae/Be stars, while H$^{13}$CN around only one star. The column densities for each species and the physical conditions of the objects were derived whenever the observational data allowed it.

title: ASCA view on high-redshift radio-quiet quasars
abstract: We briefly discuss the latest ASCA results on the X-ray spectral properties of high-redshift radio-quiet quasars.

title: Topological effective field theories for Dirac fermions from index theorem
abstract: Dirac fermions have a central role in high energy physics but it is well known that they emerge also as quasiparticles in several condensed matter systems supporting topological order. We present a general method for deriving the topological effective actions of (3+1) massless Dirac fermions living on general backgrounds and coupled with vector and axial-vector gauge fields. The first step of our strategy is standard (in the Hermitian case) and consists in connecting the determinants of Dirac operators with the corresponding analytical indices through the zeta-function regularization. Then, we introduce a suitable splitting of the heat kernel that naturally selects the purely topological part of the determinant (i.e. the topological effective action). This topological effective action is expressed in terms of gauge fields using the Atiyah-Singer index theorem which computes the analytical index in topological terms. The main new result of this paper is to provide a consistent extension of this method to the non Hermitian case where a well-defined determinant does not exist. Quantum systems supporting relativistic fermions can thus be topologically classified on the basis of their response to the presence of (external or emergent) gauge fields through the corresponding topological effective field theories.

title: Non-Abelian Chern-Simons Theory from a Hubbard-like Model
abstract: Here, we provide a simple Hubbard-like model of spin-1/2 fermions that gives rise to the SU(2)-symmetric Thirring model that is equivalent, in the low-energy limit, to the Yang-Mills-Chern-Simons model. First, we identify the regime that simulates the SU(2) Yang-Mills theory. Then, we suitably extend this model so that it gives rise to the SU(2) Chern-Simons theory with level k≥2 that can support non-Abelian anyons. This is achieved by introducing multiple fermionic species and modifying the Thirring interactions, while preserving the SU(2) symmetry. Our proposal provides the means to theoretically and experimentally probe non-Abelian SU(2) level k topological phases.

title: Abelian Chern-Simons-Maxwell theory from a tight-binding model of spinless fermions.
abstract: Abelian Chern-Simons-Maxwell theory can emerge from the bosonization of the (2+1)-dimensional Thirring model that describes interacting Dirac fermions. Here we show how the Thirring model manifests itself in the low energy limit of a two-dimensional tight-binding model of spinless fermions. To establish that, we employ a modification of Haldane's model, where the "doubling" of fermions is rectified by adiabatic elimination. Subsequently, fermionic interactions are introduced that lead to the analytically tractable Thirring model. By local density measurements of the lattice fermions we can establish that for specific values of the couplings the model exhibits the confining (2+1)-dimensional QED phase or a topological ordered phase that corresponds to the Chern-Simons theory. The implementation of the model as well as the measurement protocol are accessible with the current technology of cold atoms in optical lattices.

title: A crucial hypothesis for Inflation
abstract: As is well known there are many different inflationary models that can explain the accelerated expansion occurred in the early Universe. It is possible that there exists a fundamental property of this period that could provide the corresponding field theory. Our hypothesis is that the Ricci scalar should assume a positive constant value during Inflation. Considering a single scalar field that drives the inflationary phase, we obtain uniquely the scalar potential and the coupling term between the scalar field and spacetime geometry. For this potential, that is well known in the inflationary scenario, the theoretical prediction of the spectral index ns is in perfect agreement with the experimental data. Interestingly in two dimensions, our model is equivalent to Liouville gravity.

title: Induced topological phases at the boundary of 3D topological superconductors.
abstract: We present tight-binding models of 3D topological superconductors in class DIII that support a variety of winding numbers. We show that gapless Majorana surface states emerge at their boundary in agreement with the bulk-boundary correspondence. At the presence of a Zeeman field, the surface states become gapped and the boundary behaves as a 2D superconductor in class D. Importantly, the 2D and 3D winding numbers are in agreement, signifying that the topological phase of the boundary is induced by the phase of the 3D bulk. Hence, the boundary of a 3D topological superconductor in class DIII can be used for the robust realization of localized Majorana zero modes.