Deconstructing Supersymmetry

Two supersymmetric classical mechanical systems are discussed. Concrete realizations are obtained by supposing that the dynamical variables take values in a Grassmann algebra with two generators. The equations of motion are explicitly solved.Comment: 19 pages, Tex fil

Deconstructing Superconductivity

We present a dimensionally deconstructed model of an s-wave holographic superconductor. The 2+1 dimensional model includes multiple charged Cooper pair fields and neutral exciton fields that have interactions governed by hidden local symmetries. We derive AdS/CFT-like relations for the current and charge density in the model, and we analyze properties of the Cooper pair condensates and the complex conductivity.Comment: 24 pages, 10 eps figures. v2: Sign conventions clarified, references adde

Deconstructing Decoherence

The study of environmentally induced superselection and of the process of decoherence was originally motivated by the search for the emergence of classical behavior out of the quantum substrate, in the macroscopic limit. This limit, and other simplifying assumptions, have allowed the derivation of several simple results characterizing the onset of environmentally induced superselection; but these results are increasingly often regarded as a complete phenomenological characterization of decoherence in any regime. This is not necessarily the case: The examples presented in this paper counteract this impression by violating several of the simple ``rules of thumb''. This is relevant because decoherence is now beginning to be tested experimentally, and one may anticipate that, in at least some of the proposed applications (e.g., quantum computers), only the basic principle of ``monitoring by the environment'' will survive. The phenomenology of decoherence may turn out to be significantly different.Comment: 13 two-column pages, 3 embedded figure

Menorah (No. 2, Winter, 1985)

Reflections On Membership -- Selma And Jacob Brown Annual Lectureship Established -- Deconstructing Jewish Consciousness -- Centaurs -- Death of a Charismatic -- Metaphysical Knot -- New VCU Course Offere

Editor’s Introduction: Deconstructing the Master Signifier of Community

Deconstructing the master signifier of community: Between the pre-modern and modern community of organic solidarity and the postmodern community of technological dissemination in cyberspace

Deconstructing Approximate Offsets

We consider the offset-deconstruction problem: Given a polygonal shape Q with n vertices, can it be expressed, up to a tolerance \eps in Hausdorff distance, as the Minkowski sum of another polygonal shape P with a disk of fixed radius? If it does, we also seek a preferably simple-looking solution P; then, P's offset constitutes an accurate, vertex-reduced, and smoothened approximation of Q. We give an O(n log n)-time exact decision algorithm that handles any polygonal shape, assuming the real-RAM model of computation. A variant of the algorithm, which we have implemented using CGAL, is based on rational arithmetic and answers the same deconstruction problem up to an uncertainty parameter \delta; its running time additionally depends on \delta. If the input shape is found to be approximable, this algorithm also computes an approximate solution for the problem. It also allows us to solve parameter-optimization problems induced by the offset-deconstruction problem. For convex shapes, the complexity of the exact decision algorithm drops to O(n), which is also the time required to compute a solution P with at most one more vertex than a vertex-minimal one.Comment: 18 pages, 11 figures, previous version accepted at SoCG 2011, submitted to DC