25,985 research outputs found
Mathematical models of games of chance: Epistemological taxonomy and potential in problem-gambling research
Games of chance are developed in their physical consumer-ready form on the basis of mathematical models, which stand as the premises of their existence and represent their physical processes. There is a prevalence of statistical and probabilistic models in the interest of all parties involved in the study of gambling – researchers, game producers and operators, and players – while functional models are of interest more to math-inclined players than problem-gambling researchers. In this paper I present a structural analysis of the knowledge attached to mathematical models of games of chance and the act of modeling, arguing that such knowledge holds potential in the prevention and cognitive treatment of excessive gambling, and I propose further research in this direction
Perturbative calculation of quasi-potential in non-equilibrium diffusions: a mean-field example
In stochastic systems with weak noise, the logarithm of the stationary
distribution becomes proportional to a large deviation rate function called the
quasi-potential. The quasi-potential, and its characterization through a
variational problem, lies at the core of the Freidlin-Wentzell large deviations
theory%.~\cite{freidlin1984}.In many interacting particle systems, the particle
density is described by fluctuating hydrodynamics governed by Macroscopic
Fluctuation Theory%, ~\cite{bertini2014},which formally fits within
Freidlin-Wentzell's framework with a weak noise proportional to ,
where is the number of particles. The quasi-potential then appears as a
natural generalization of the equilibrium free energy to non-equilibrium
particle systems. A key physical and practical issue is to actually compute
quasi-potentials from their variational characterization for non-equilibrium
systems for which detailed balance does not hold. We discuss how to perform
such a computation perturbatively in an external parameter , starting
from a known quasi-potential for . In a general setup, explicit
iterative formulae for all terms of the power-series expansion of the
quasi-potential are given for the first time. The key point is a proof of
solvability conditions that assure the existence of the perturbation expansion
to all orders. We apply the perturbative approach to diffusive particles
interacting through a mean-field potential. For such systems, the variational
characterization of the quasi-potential was proven by Dawson and Gartner%.
~\cite{dawson1987,dawson1987b}. Our perturbative analysis provides new explicit
results about the quasi-potential and about fluctuations of one-particle
observables in a simple example of mean field diffusions: the
Shinomoto-Kuramoto model of coupled rotators%. ~\cite{shinomoto1986}. This is
one of few systems for which non-equilibrium free energies can be computed and
analyzed in an effective way, at least perturbatively
The Onset of Synchronization in Systems of Globally Coupled Chaotic and Periodic Oscillators
A general stability analysis is presented for the determination of the
transition from incoherent to coherent behavior in an ensemble of globally
coupled, heterogeneous, continuous-time dynamical systems. The formalism allows
for the simultaneous presence of ensemble members exhibiting chaotic and
periodic behavior, and, in a special case, yields the Kuramoto model for
globally coupled periodic oscillators described by a phase. Numerical
experiments using different types of ensembles of Lorenz equations with a
distribution of parameters are presented.Comment: 26 pages and 26 figure
Linking Research and Policy: Assessing a Framework for Organic Agricultural Support in Ireland
This paper links social science research and agricultural policy through an analysis of support for organic agriculture and food. Globally, sales of organic food have experienced 20% annual increases for the past two decades, and represent the fastest growing segment of the grocery market. Although consumer interest has increased, farmers are not keeping up with demand. This is partly due to a lack of political support provided to farmers in their transition from conventional to organic production. Support policies vary by country and in some nations, such as the US, vary by state/province. There have been few attempts to document the types of support currently in place. This research draws on an existing Framework tool to investigate regionally specific and relevant policy support available to organic farmers in Ireland. This exploratory study develops a case study of Ireland within the framework of ten key categories of organic agricultural support: leadership, policy, research, technical support, financial support, marketing and promotion, education and information, consumer issues, inter-agency activities, and future developments. Data from the Irish Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, the Irish Agriculture and Food Development Authority (Teagasc), and other governmental and semi-governmental agencies provide the basis for an assessment of support in each category. Assessments are based on the number of activities, availability of information to farmers, and attention from governmental personnel for each of the ten categories. This policy framework is a valuable tool for farmers, researchers, state agencies, and citizen groups seeking to document existing types of organic agricultural support and discover policy areas which deserve more attention
Violation of Finite-Size Scaling in Three Dimensions
We reexamine the range of validity of finite-size scaling in the
lattice model and the field theory below four dimensions. We show that
general renormalization-group arguments based on the renormalizability of the
theory do not rule out the possibility of a violation of finite-size
scaling due to a finite lattice constant and a finite cutoff. For a confined
geometry of linear size with periodic boundary conditions we analyze the
approach towards bulk critical behavior as at fixed for where is the bulk correlation length. We show that for this
analysis ordinary renormalized perturbation theory is sufficient. On the basis
of one-loop results and of exact results in the spherical limit we find that
finite-size scaling is violated for both the lattice model and the
field theory in the region . The non-scaling effects in the
field theory and in the lattice model differ significantly from each other.Comment: LaTex, 51 page
On dynamical systems approaches and methods in cosmology
We discuss dynamical systems approaches and methods applied to flat
Robertson-Walker models in -gravity. We argue that a complete description
of the solution space of a model requires a global state space analysis that
motivates globally covering state space adapted variables. This is shown
explicitly by an illustrative example, , ,
for which we introduce new regular dynamical systems on global compactly
extended state spaces for the Jordan and Einstein frames. This example also
allows us to illustrate several local and global dynamical systems techniques
involving, e.g., blow ups of nilpotent fixed points, center manifold analysis,
averaging, and use of monotone functions. As a result of applying dynamical
systems methods to globally state space adapted dynamical systems formulations,
we obtain pictures of the entire solution spaces in both the Jordan and the
Einstein frames. This shows, e.g., that due to the domain of the conformal
transformation between the Jordan and Einstein frames, not all the solutions in
the Jordan frame are completely contained in the Einstein frame. We also make
comparisons with previous dynamical systems approaches to cosmology and
discuss their advantages and disadvantages.Comment: 36 pages, 7 figures. v2: references added, matches published versio
Coherent and semiclassical states in magnetic field in the presence of the Aharonov-Bohm solenoid
A new approach to constructing coherent states (CS) and semiclassical states
(SS) in magnetic-solenoid field is proposed. The main idea is based on the fact
that the AB solenoid breaks the translational symmetry in the xy-plane, this
has a topological effect such that there appear two types of trajectories which
embrace and do not embrace the solenoid. Due to this fact, one has to construct
two different kinds of CS/SS, which correspond to such trajectories in the
semiclassical limit. Following this idea, we construct CS in two steps, first
the instantaneous CS (ICS) and the time dependent CS/SS as an evolution of the
ICS. The construction is realized for nonrelativistic and relativistic spinning
particles both in (2+1)- and (3+1)- dimensions and gives a non-trivial example
of SS/CS for systems with a nonquadratic Hamiltonian. It is stressed that CS
depending on their parameters (quantum numbers) describe both pure quantum and
semiclassical states. An analysis is represented that classifies parameters of
the CS in such respect. Such a classification is used for the semiclassical
decompositions of various physical quantities.Comment: 35 pages, 2 figures. Some typos in (77), (101), and (135) corrected
with respect to the published version. Results unchange
Quantum Theory of Gravity I: Area Operators
A new functional calculus, developed recently for a fully non-perturbative
treatment of quantum gravity, is used to begin a systematic construction of a
quantum theory of geometry. Regulated operators corresponding to areas of
2-surfaces are introduced and shown to be self-adjoint on the underlying
(kinematical) Hilbert space of states. It is shown that their spectra are {\it
purely} discrete indicating that the underlying quantum geometry is far from
what the continuum picture might suggest. Indeed, the fundamental excitations
of quantum geometry are 1-dimensional, rather like polymers, and the
3-dimensional continuum geometry emerges only on coarse graining. The full
Hilbert space admits an orthonormal decomposition into finite dimensional
sub-spaces which can be interpreted as the spaces of states of spin systems.
Using this property, the complete spectrum of the area operators is evaluated.
The general framework constructed here will be used in a subsequent paper to
discuss 3-dimensional geometric operators, e.g., the ones corresponding to
volumes of regions.Comment: 33 pages, ReVTeX, Section 4 Revised: New results on the effect of
topology of a surface on the eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of its area
operator included. The proof of the bound on the level spacing of eigenvalues
(for large areas) simplified and its ramification to the Bekenstein-Mukhanov
analysis of black-hole evaporation made more explicit. To appear in CQ
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