ArXiv script

arXiv script is a program written in the python programming language that accesses information on papers from the arXiv. It can access title, author, abstract, comments and journal reference records. It can also download the paper's PDF, PS or source. Although originally written for the GNU/Linux command line, the code should be portable enough to run on any operating system with a python interpreter.

download

Download arxiv.py.

installation on a GNU/Linux system

The script requires the python interpreter to be installed on your system. This is automatically installed on most GNU/Linux distributions, but check it is there by typing

python

at the command line and see what happens.

If python is present download arxiv.py and run it by typing

python arxiv.py hep-th/9711200

usage

The only accepted inputs are the usual arXiv references

python arxiv.py hep-th/9711200
python arxiv.py 0705.0303

If no options are specified all possible outputs will be displayed

tom@fyodor:~$ python arxiv.py hep-th/9711200
tom@tarkovsky:~/programming$ python arxiv.py hep-th/9711200
The Large N Limit of Superconformal Field Theories and Supergravity
Juan M. Maldacena
We show that the large $N$ limit of certain conformal field theories in
various dimensions include in their Hilbert space a sector describing
supergravity on the product of Anti-deSitter spacetimes, spheres and other
compact manifolds. This is shown by taking some branes in the full M/string
theory and then taking a low energy limit where the field theory on the brane
decouples from the bulk. We observe that, in this limit, we can still trust the
near horizon geometry for large $N$. The enhanced supersymmetries of the near
horizon geometry correspond to the extra supersymmetry generators present in
the superconformal group (as opposed to just the super-Poincare group). The 't
Hooft limit of 4-d ${\cal N} =4$ super-Yang-Mills at the conformal point is
shown to contain strings: they are IIB strings. We conjecture that
compactifications of M/string theory on various Anti-deSitter spacetimes are
dual to various conformal field theories. This leads to a new proposal for a
definition of M-theory which could be extended to include five non-compact
dimensions.
20 pages, harvmac, v2: section on AdS_2 corrected, references added, v3: More references and a sign in eqns 2.8 and 2.9 corrected
Adv.Theor.Math.Phys. 2 (1998) 231-252; Int.J.Theor.Phys. 38 (1999) 1113-1133

To see all the options access the help page

tom@fyodor:~$ python arxiv.py -h
arXiv script
Usage:
python arxiv.py reference [ -htabcjdps ] [ --help ]
"reference" must be a standard arXiv reference, e.g. hep-th/9711200, 0705.0303.
Options:
-h, --help
displays this help message
-t
displays the title
-a
displays the author(s)
-b
displays the aBstract
-c
displays the comments
-j
displays the journal reference
-d
downloads the PDF
-p
downloads the PS
-s
downloads the source file

Each item can be specified individually with switches, e.g. -t for title, -a for authors, -b for aBstract, -c for comments. For example

tom@fyodor:~$ python arxiv.py hep-th/9711200 -ta
The Large N Limit of Superconformal Field Theories and Supergravity
Juan M. Maldacena

technical details

The code is very modular so it is easy to write your own programs using the functions defined in arxiv.py. Just import the functions in arxiv.py with import arxiv.

comments and bugs

If you have any comments or find bugs, please contact Tom.

licence

This script is Copyright 2008 Tom Brown and made available under the GNU General Public Licence.