Reduced dimensionality and spatial entanglement in highly anisotropic Bose-Einstein condensates

We investigate the reduced dimensionality of highly anisotropic Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) in connection to the entanglement between its spatial degrees of freedom. We argue that the reduced-dimensionality of the BEC is physically meaningful in a regime where spatial correlations are negligible. We handle the problem analytically within the mean-field approximation for general quasi-one-dimensional and -two-dimensional geometries, and obtain the optimal reduced-dimension, pure-state description of the condensate mean field. We give explicit solutions to the case of harmonic potentials, which we compare against exact numerical integration of the three-dimensional Gross-Pitaevskii equation.Comment: 15 pages, 3 figures. Minor changes in text to be in agreement with published versio

International Odyssey

A Furman freshman emerges from her visit to China with new perspectives on life, education and the world

Assessing communicative intents in maltreated toddlers

There is evidence that maltreated school-aged children have an elevated incidence of expressive language delay, which is often attributed to the cumulative effects of maltreatment. Younger children and toddlers do not consistently demonstrate this delay. There is some ambiguity whether language delays can be observed in toddlers since language is not well developed at this age. However, if gestural communication is also studied as part of language development, a broader sample of behavior becomes available. Intentional communication includes the use of words and gestures to express a child\u27s intent or desire. Examining maltreated toddlers\u27 intentional communication provides an opportunity to study how language develops under less than optimal conditions. This study examines communicative intents in maltreated and nonmaltreated toddlers (ages 22 to 31 months) and the caregiving interactions of their mothers. The sample is composed of thirty-nine mother-toddler dyads from a Mid-Western city. Maternal maltreatment was documented on thirteen lower class toddlers, who were matched on sex, age, race and SES. Ten middle class dyads composed another comparison group. The lower class toddlers were given the Bayley Scales of Infant Development (BSID) as part of a larger study. Videotapes of a play session between mother-toddler dyads were coded using The Parent/Caregiver Interaction Scale to rate maternal behaviors plus two child communication inventories to code Intentional Communication and Negotiation of Failed Messages. Competency scores were computed for all toddlers on Intentional Communication and Developmental Competence was compared on the lower class toddlers. Two scores compared maternal appropriateness to toddler reactivity and communication competence. Results showed that maltreatment was not related to child Intentional Communication, except that maltreated toddlers acknowledged their mothers\u27 messages more frequently. Social class accounted for differences on most maternal and some toddler variables. Developmental Competence accounted for significant differences in lower class toddlers\u27 Intentional Communication and Social Competence. Patterns of high maternal verbal interaction and control over child\u27s activities were related to toddler\u27s competence in Intentional Communication, suggesting that mothers who are more verbal and appropriate in their control have more competent toddlers

The Egghead: Past, Present and Future

I hold true scholarship to be the most worthwhile and honorable of callings. It not only provides the scholar with the tools he needs for tangible accomplishment, but also, if pursued properly and in depth, engenders a sort of humility and personal awareness that make for generous and just appraisal of one\u27s fellow men and of oneself. I dare say most of you share this view in some measure but if you believe that such a view is the prevailing American estimate, I think you deceive yourselves. There are numerous indications that in the majority American opinion, scholarship in depth is not very important and, in fact, a bit ridiculous. And if some undergraduate student is hopeful that a sterling academic record in college will guarantee for him an estimable station in American society, he may be in for a rude awakening. Now, lest you find these observations too gloomy and pessimistic, let me interject that the intellectual climate of the country seems to be improving slowly, so that the scholar\u27s position in American society is a little better than it was a decade ago. But scholars and scholarship still aren\u27t very influential in this country, and, in my opinion, their relative unimportance constitutes a definite danger to our future