We study noncommutative geometry at the Quantum Mechanics level by means of a model where noncommutativity of both configuration and momentum spaces is considered. We analyze how this model affects the problem of the two-dimensional gravitational quantum well and use the latest experimental results for the two lowest energy states of neutrons in the Earth's gravitational field to establish an upper bound on the fundamental momentum scale introduced by noncommutativity, namely √ η 1 meV/c, a value that can be improved in the future by up to 3 orders of magnitude. We show that the configuration space noncommutativity has, in leading order, no effect on the problem. We also analyze some features introduced by the model, specially a correction to the presently accepted value of Planck's constant to 1 part in 10 24 .

We study the 3d Ising universality class using the functional renormalisation group. With the help of background fields and a derivative expansion up to fourth order we compute the leading index, the subleading symmetric and anti-symmetric corrections to scaling, the anomalous dimension, the scaling solution, and the eigenperturbations at criticality. We also study the cross-correlations of scaling exponents, and their dependence on dimensionality. We find a very good numerical convergence of the derivative expansion, also in comparison with earlier findings. Evaluating the data from all functional renormalisation group studies to date, we estimate the systematic error which is found to be small and in good agreement with findings from Monte Carlo simulations, ǫ-expansion techniques, and resummed perturbation theory.

We discuss the "constant speed of sound" (CSS) parameterization of the equation of state of high density matter and its application to the Field Correlator Method (FCM) model of quark matter. We show how observational constraints on the maximum mass and typical radius of neutron stars are expressed as constraints on the CSS parameters. We find that the observation of a 2 M star already severely constrains the CSS parameters, and is particularly difficult to accommodate if the squared speed of sound in the high density phase is assumed to be around 1/3 or less.We show that the FCM equation of state can be accurately represented by the CSS parameterization, which assumes a sharp transition to a high-density phase with density-independent speed of sound. We display the mapping between the FCM and CSS parameters, and see that FCM only allows equations of state in a restricted subspace of the CSS parameters.

We study the derivative expansion for the effective action in the framework of the Exact Renormalization Group for a single component scalar theory. By truncating the expansion to the first two terms, the potential $U_k$ and the kinetic coefficient $Z_k$, our analysis suggests that a set of coupled differential equations for these two functions can be established under certain smoothness conditions for the background field and that sharp and smooth cut-off give the same result. In addition we find that, differently from the case of the potential, a further expansion is needed to obtain the differential equation for $Z_k$, according to the relative weight between the kinetic and the potential terms. As a result, two different approximations to the $Z_k$ equation are obtained. Finally a numerical analysis of the coupled equations for $U_k$ and $Z_k$ is performed at the non-gaussian fixed point in $D<4$ dimensions to determine the anomalous dimension of the field.Comment: 15 pages, 3 figure