SIM(2) and supergraphs

We construct Feynman rules and Supergraphs in SIM(2) superspace. To test our methods we perform a one-loop calculation of the effective action of the SIM(2) supersymmetric Wess-Zumino model including a term which explicitly breaks Lorentz invariance. The renormalization of the model is also discussed.Comment: 28 page

A C.elegans inspired robotic model for pothole detection

Animals navigate complex and variable environments, but often use only limited sensory information. Here we present a simulated robot system using a C. elegans inspired sensory model and navigation strategy and demonstrate its ability to successfully identify specific, discretely located cues. We show a range of conditions under which this approach has performance benefits over other search strategies

Topological gravity on the lattice

In this paper we show that a particular twist of $\mathcal{N}=4$ super Yang-Mills in three dimensions with gauge group SU(2) possesses a set of classical vacua corresponding to the space of flat connections of the {\it complexified} gauge group $SL(2,C)$. The theory also contains a set of topological observables corresponding to Wilson loops wrapping non-trivial cycles of the base manifold. This moduli space and set of topological observables is shared with the Chern Simons formulation of three dimensional gravity and we hence conjecture that the Yang-Mills theory gives an equivalent description of the gravitational theory. Unlike the Chern Simons formulation the twisted Yang-Mills theory possesses a supersymmetric and gauge invariant lattice construction which then provides a possible non-perturbative definition of three dimensional gravity.Comment: 10 page

Baryogenesis from a right-handed neutrino condensate

We show that the baryon asymmetry of the Universe can be generated by a strongly coupled right handed neutrino condensate which also drives inflation. The resulting model has only a small number of parameters, which completely determine not only the baryon asymmetry of the Universe and the mass of the right handed neutrino but also the inflationary phase. This feature allows us to make predictions that will be tested by current and planned experiments. As compared to the usual approach our dynamical framework is both economical and predictive.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures. Typos corrected and several points clarified. Results unchanged. New references adde

Skyrmion Multi-Walls

Skyrmion walls are topologically-nontrivial solutions of the Skyrme system which are periodic in two spatial directions. We report numerical investigations which show that solutions representing parallel multi-walls exist. The most stable configuration is that of the square $N$-wall, which in the $N\to\infty$ limit becomes the cubically-symmetric Skyrme crystal. There is also a solution resembling parallel hexagonal walls, but this is less stable.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figur

Species Doublers as Super Multiplets in Lattice Supersymmetry: Exact Supersymmetry with Interactions for D=1 N=2

We propose a new lattice superfield formalism in momentum representation which accommodates species doublers of the lattice fermions and their bosonic counterparts as super multiplets. We explicitly show that one dimensional N=2 model with interactions has exact Lie algebraic supersymmetry on the lattice for all super charges. In coordinate representation the finite difference operator is made to satisfy Leibnitz rule by introducing a non local product, the ``star'' product, and the exact lattice supersymmetry is realized. The standard momentum conservation is replaced on the lattice by the conservation of the sine of the momentum, which plays a crucial role in the formulation. Half lattice spacing structure is essential for the one dimensional model and the lattice supersymmetry transformation can be identified as a half lattice spacing translation combined with alternating sign structure. Invariance under finite translations and locality in the continuum limit are explicitly investigated and shown to be recovered. Supersymmetric Ward identities are shown to be satisfied at one loop level. Lie algebraic lattice supersymmetry algebra of this model suggests a close connection with Hopf algebraic exactness of the link approach formulation of lattice supersymmetry.Comment: 34 pages, 2 figure

Managing healthcare budgets in times of austerity: the role of program budgeting and marginal analysis

Given limited resources, priority setting or choice making will remain a reality at all levels of publicly funded healthcare across countries for many years to come. The pressures may well be even more acute as the impact of the economic crisis of 2008 continues to play out but, even as economies begin to turn around, resources within healthcare will be limited, thus some form of rationing will be required. Over the last few decades, research on healthcare priority setting has focused on methods of implementation as well as on the development of approaches related to fairness and legitimacy and on more technical aspects of decision making including the use of multi-criteria decision analysis. Recently, research has led to better understanding of evaluating priority setting activity including defining ‘success’ and articulating key elements for high performance. This body of research, however, often goes untapped by those charged with making challenging decisions and as such, in line with prevailing public sector incentives, decisions are often reliant on historical allocation patterns and/or political negotiation. These archaic and ineffective approaches not only lead to poor decisions in terms of value for money but further do not reflect basic ethical conditions that can lead to fairness in the decision-making process. The purpose of this paper is to outline a comprehensive approach to priority setting and resource allocation that has been used in different contexts across countries. This will provide decision makers with a single point of access for a basic understanding of relevant tools when faced with having to make difficult decisions about what healthcare services to fund and what not to fund. The paper also addresses several key issues related to priority setting including how health technology assessments can be used, how performance can be improved at a practical level, and what ongoing resource management practice should look like. In terms of future research, one of the most important areas of priority setting that needs further attention is how best to engage public members

Culture shapes how we look at faces

Background: Face processing, amongst many basic visual skills, is thought to be invariant across all humans. From as early as 1965, studies of eye movements have consistently revealed a systematic triangular sequence of fixations over the eyes and the mouth, suggesting that faces elicit a universal, biologically-determined information extraction pattern. Methodology/Principal Findings: Here we monitored the eye movements of Western Caucasian and East Asian observers while they learned, recognized, and categorized by race Western Caucasian and East Asian faces. Western Caucasian observers reproduced a scattered triangular pattern of fixations for faces of both races and across tasks. Contrary to intuition, East Asian observers focused more on the central region of the face. Conclusions/Significance: These results demonstrate that face processing can no longer be considered as arising from a universal series of perceptual events. The strategy employed to extract visual information from faces differs across cultures

Very special relativity as relativity of dark matter: the Elko connection

In the very special relativity (VSR) proposal by Cohen and Glashow, it was pointed out that invariance under HOM(2) is both necessary and sufficient to explain the null result of the Michelson-Morely experiment. It is the quantum field theoretic demand of locality, or the requirement of P, T, CP, or CT invariance, that makes invariance under the Lorentz group a necessity. Originally it was conjectured that VSR operates at the Planck scale; we propose that the natural arena for VSR is at energies similar to the standard model, but in the dark sector. To this end we provide an ab initio spinor representation invariant under the SIM(2) avatar of VSR and construct a mass dimension one fermionic quantum field of spin one half. This field turns out to be a very close sibling of Elko and it exhibits the same striking property of intrinsic darkness with respect to the standard model fields. In the new construct, the tension between Elko and Lorentz symmetries is fully resolved. We thus entertain the possibility that the symmetries underlying the standard model matter and gauge fields are those of Lorentz, while the event space underlying the dark matter and the dark gauge fields supports the algebraic structure underlying VSR.Comment: 19 pages. Section 5 is new. Published version (modulo a footnote, and a corrected typo

Galileon Hairs of Dyson Spheres, Vainshtein's Coiffure and Hirsute Bubbles

We study the fields of spherically symmetric thin shell sources, a.k.a. Dyson spheres, in a {\it fully nonlinear covariant} theory of gravity with the simplest galileon field. We integrate exactly all the field equations once, reducing them to first order nonlinear equations. For the simplest galileon, static solutions come on {\it six} distinct branches. On one, a Dyson sphere surrounds itself with a galileon hair, which far away looks like a hair of any Brans-Dicke field. The hair changes below the Vainshtein scale, where the extra galileon terms dominate the minimal gradients of the field. Their hair looks more like a fuzz, because the galileon terms are suppressed by the derivative of the volume determinant. It shuts off the `hair bunching' over the `angular' 2-sphere. Hence the fuzz remains dilute even close to the source. This is really why the Vainshtein's suppression of the modifications of gravity works close to the source. On the other five branches, the static solutions are all {\it singular} far from the source, and shuttered off from asymptotic infinity. One of them, however, is really the self-accelerating branch, and the singularity is removed by turning on time dependence. We give examples of regulated solutions, where the Dyson sphere explodes outward, and its self-accelerating side is nonsingular. These constructions may open channels for nonperturbative transitions between branches, which need to be addressed further to determine phenomenological viability of multi-branch gravities.Comment: 29+1 pages, LaTeX, 2 .pdf figure