MIA HALL’S BEHAVIOUR CHANGE IN GAYLE FORMAN’S IF I STAY

This final project analysis Gayle Forman’s novel entitled: If I Stay. The purpose of this final project is to analysis the behaviour change of the main character, Mia Hall. The study uses psychological approach and library research to analyse the behaviour change of the main character. Mia experiences three phases of behaviour change: unfreezing phase, movement phase and refreezing phase of Mia. Mia changes her behaviour and the social environment affect Mia’s behaviour change. Mia’s change is planned change. However, Mia decides not to change her behaviour permanentl

How Phase Transitions induce classical behaviour

We continue the analysis of the onset of classical behaviour in a scalar field after a continuous phase transition, in which the system-field, the long wavelength order parameter of the model, interacts with an environment, of its own short-wavelength modes and other fields, neutral and charged, with which it is expected to interact. We compute the decoherence time for the system-field modes from the master equation and directly from the decoherence functional (with identical results). In simple circumstances the order parameter field is classical by the time the transition is complete.Comment: 10 pages, 1 figure: To be published in the International Journal of Theoretical Physics (2005) as part of the Proceedings of the "Peyresq Physics 9" meeting (2004) on "Micro and Macro structures of spacetime",ed. E. Verdague

Phase transitions of geometrically frustrated mixed spin-1/2 and spin-1 Ising-Heisenberg model on diamond-like decorated planar lattices

Phase transitions of the mixed spin-1/2 and spin-1 Ising-Heisenberg model on several decorated planar lattices consisting of interconnected diamonds are investigated within the framework of the generalized decoration-iteration transformation. The main attention is paid to the systematic study of the finite-temperature phase diagrams in dependence on the lattice topology. The critical behaviour of the hybrid quantum-classical Ising-Heisenberg model is compared with the relevant behaviour of its semi-classical Ising analogue. It is shown that both models on diamond-like decorated planar lattices exhibit a striking critical behaviour including reentrant phase transitions. The higher the lattice coordination number is, the more pronounced reentrance may be detected.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figure

Network traffic behaviour near phase transition point

We explore packet traffic dynamics in a data network model near phase transition point from free flow to congestion. The model of data network is an abstraction of the Network Layer of the OSI (Open Systems Interconnection) Reference Model of packet switching networks. The Network Layer is responsible for routing packets across the network from their sources to their destinations and for control of congestion in data networks. Using the model we investigate spatio-temporal packets traffic dynamics near the phase transition point for various network connection topologies, and static and adaptive routing algorithms. We present selected simulation results and analyze them

Development of theory-based health messages: three-phase programme of formative research

Online health behaviour interventions have great potential but their effectiveness may be hindered by a lack of formative and theoretical work. This paper describes the process of formative research to develop theoretically and empirically based health messages that are culturally relevant and can be used in an online intervention to promote healthy lifestyle behaviours among new university students. Drawing on the Theory of Planned Behaviour, a three-phase programme of formative research was conducted with prospective and current undergraduate students to identify (i) modal salient beliefs (the most commonly held beliefs) about fruit and vegetable intake, physical activity, binge drinking and smoking, (ii) which beliefs predicted intentions/behaviour and (iii) reasons underlying each of the beliefs that could be targeted in health messages. Phase 1, conducted with 96 pre-university college students, elicited 56 beliefs about the behaviours. Phase 2, conducted with 3026 incoming university students, identified 32 of these beliefs that predicted intentions/behaviour. Phase 3, conducted with 627 current university students, elicited 102 reasons underlying the 32 beliefs to be used to construct health messages to bolster or challenge these beliefs. The three-phase programme of formative research provides researchers with an example of how to develop health messages with a strong theoretical- and empirical base for use in health behaviour change interventions

Geometric Phases for Mixed States of the Kitaev Chain

The Berry phase has found applications in building topological order parameters for certain condensed matter systems. The question whether some geometric phase for mixed states can serve the same purpose has been raised, and proposals are on the table. We analyze the intricate behaviour of Uhlmann's geometric phase in the Kitaev chain at finite temperature, and then argue that it captures quite different physics from that intended. We also analyze the behaviour of a geometric phase introduced in the context of interferometry. For the Kitaev chain, this phase closely mirrors that of the Berry phase, and we argue that it merits further investigation.Comment: Minor corrections; journal reference adde

The order parameter-entropy relation in some universal classes: experimental evidence

The asymptotic behaviour near phase transitions can be suitably characterized by the scaling of $\Delta s/Q^2$ with $\epsilon=1-T/T_c$, where $\Delta s$ is the excess entropy and $Q$ is the order parameter. As $\Delta s$ is obtained by integration of the experimental excess specific heat of the transition $\Delta c$, it displays little experimental noise so that the curve $\log(\Delta s/Q^2)$ versus $\log\epsilon$ is better constrained than, say, $\log\Delta c$ versus $\log\epsilon$. The behaviour of $\Delta s/Q^2$ for different universality classes is presented and compared. In all cases, it clearly deviates from being a constant. The determination of this function can then be an effective method to distinguish asymptotic critical behaviour. For comparison, experimental data for three very different systems, Rb2CoF4, Rb2ZnCl4 and SrTiO3, are analysed under this approach. In SrTiO3, the function $\Delta s/Q^2$ does not deviate within experimental resolution from a straight line so that, although Q can be fitted with a non mean-field exponent, the data can be explained by a classical Landau mean-field behaviour. In contrast, the behaviour of $\Delta s/Q^2$ for the antiferromagnetic transition in Rb2CoF4 and the normal-incommensurate phase transition in Rb2ZCl4 is fully consistent with the asymptotic critical behaviour of the universality class corresponding to each case. This analysis supports, therefore, the claim that incommensurate phase transitions in general, and the A$_2$BX$_4$ compounds in particular, in contrast with most structural phase transitions, have critical regions large enough to be observable.Comment: 13 pp. 9 ff. 2 tab. RevTeX. Submitted to J. Phys.: Cond. Matte