“An Unqualified Human Good”? On Rule of Law, Globalization, And Imperialism

Forty years ago, E. P. Thompson praised the English rule of law forged during the bloody and fractious eighteenth century, calling it not only “an unqualified human good,” but also a “cultural achievement of universal significance.” This article examines colonial rule-of-law development as another example of law and state building. Both have relevance for contemporary rule-of-law programming in the Global South where Thompson's “cultural achievement” has resisted fabrication by legal technicians. The problems faced today are not new, for colonial rulers also engaged with complex indigenous norms and forms and sought to balance universal principles with political control imperatives. Contra arguments about colonial “lawfare,” colonial rule of law often frustrated authoritarian tendencies while developing new forms of legal subjectivity and avenues for redress of grievances. Using data from the Indian province of Punjab, the article illustrates how historical case studies might aid contemporary rule-of-law programming in the Global South

Evolution of Fluctuation in relativistic heavy-ion collisions

We have studied the time evolution of the fluctuations in the net baryon number for different initial conditions and space time evolution scenarios. We observe that the fluctuations at the freeze-out depend crucially on the equation of state (EOS) of the system and for realistic EOS the initial fluctuation is substantially dissipated at the freeze-out stage. At SPS energies the fluctuations in net baryon number at the freeze-out stage for quark gluon plasma and hadronic initial state is close to the Poissonian noise for ideal as well as for EOS obtained by including heavier hadronic degrees of freedom. For EOS obtained from the parametrization of lattice QCD results the fluctuation is larger than Poissonian noise. It is also observed that at RHIC energies the fluctuations at the freeze-out point deviates from the Poissonian noise for ideal as well as realistic equation of state, indicating presence of dynamical fluctuations.Comment: 9 pages and 6 figures (Major modifications done

O-BTZ: Orientifolded BTZ Black Hole

Banados-Teitelboim-Zanelli (BTZ) black holes are constructed by orbifolding AdS3 geometry by boost transformations of its O(2,2) isometry group. Here we construct a new class of solutions to AdS3 Einstein gravity, orientifolded BTZ or O-BTZ for short, which in general, besides the usual BTZ orbifolding, involve orbifolding (orientifolding) by a Z_2 part of O(2,2) isometry group. This Z_2 is chosen such that it changes the orientation on AdS3 while keeping the orientation on its 2D conformal boundary. O-BTZ solutions exhaust all un-oriented AdS3 black hole solutions, as BTZ black holes constitute all oriented AdS3 black holes. O-BTZ, similarly to BTZ black holes, are stationary, axisymmetric asymptotically AdS3 geometries with two asymptotic charges, mass and angular momentum..Comment: RevTex file, 5 pages, 2 figures. v3: Minor improvements and correctio

Classical Boundary-value Problem in Riemannian Quantum Gravity and Taub-Bolt-anti-de Sitter Geometries

For an $SU(2)\times U(1)$-invariant $S^3$ boundary the classical Dirichlet problem of Riemannian quantum gravity is studied for positive-definite regular solutions of the Einstein equations with a negative cosmological constant within biaxial Bianchi-IX metrics containing bolts, i.e., within the family of Taub-Bolt-anti-de Sitter (Taub-Bolt-AdS) metrics. Such metrics are obtained from the two-parameter Taub-NUT-anti-de Sitter family. The condition of regularity requires them to have only one free parameter ($L$) and constrains $L$ to take values within a narrow range; the other parameter is determined as a double-valued function of $L$ and hence there is a bifurcation within the family. We found that {\it{any}} axially symmetric $S^3$-boundary can be filled in with at least one solution coming from each of these two branches despite the severe limit on the permissible values of $L$. The number of infilling solutions can be one, three or five and they appear or disappear catastrophically in pairs as the values of the two radii of $S^3$ are varied. The solutions occur simultaneously in both branches and hence the total number of independent infillings is two, six or ten. We further showed that when the two radii are of the same order and large the number of solutions is two. In the isotropic limit this holds for small radii as well. These results are to be contrasted with the one-parameter self-dual Taub-NUT-AdS infilling solutions of the same boundary-value problem studied previously.Comment: Minor changes and references added: Version in the Journa

The Christiansen Effect in Saturn's narrow dusty rings and the spectral identification of clumps in the F ring

Stellar occultations by Saturn's rings observed with the Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) onboard the Cassini spacecraft reveal that dusty features such as the F ring and the ringlets in the Encke and the Laplace Gaps have distinctive infrared transmission spectra. These spectra show a narrow optical depth minimum at wavelengths around 2.87 microns. This minimum is likely due to the Christiansen Effect, a reduction in the extinction of small particles when their (complex) refractive index is close to that of the surrounding medium. Simple Mie-scattering models demonstrate that the strength of this opacity dip is sensitive to the size distribution of particles between 1 and 100 microns across. Furthermore, the spatial resolution of the occultation data is sufficient to reveal variations in the transmission spectra within and among these rings. For example, in both the Encke Gap ringlets and F ring, the opacity dip weakens with increasing local optical depth, which is consistent with the larger particles being concentrated near the cores of these rings. The strength of the opacity dip varies most dramatically within the F ring; certain compact regions of enhanced optical depth lack an opacity dip and therefore appear to have a greatly reduced fraction of grains in the few-micron size range.Such spectrally-identifiable structures probably represent a subset of the compact optically-thick clumps observed by other Cassini instruments. These variations in the ring's particle size distribution can provide new insights into the processes of grain aggregation, disruption and transport within dusty rings. For example, the unusual spectral properties of the F-ring clumps could perhaps be ascribed to small grains adhering onto the surface of larger particles in regions of anomalously low velocity dispersion.Comment: 42 pages, 15 figures, accepted for publication in Icarus. A few small typographical errors fixed to match correction in proof

Sums over Graphs and Integration over Discrete Groupoids

We show that sums over graphs such as appear in the theory of Feynman diagrams can be seen as integrals over discrete groupoids. From this point of view, basic combinatorial formulas of the theory of Feynman diagrams can be interpreted as pull-back or push-forward formulas for integrals over suitable groupoids.Comment: 27 pages, 4 eps figures; LaTeX2e; uses Xy-Pic. Some ambiguities fixed, and several proofs simplifie

Adopting a blended approach to learning: experiences from radiography at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh

The perspective of the radiography teaching team at Queen Margaret University (QMU) was that a transmission mode of programme delivery was sub-optimal in helping students to learn and make links between theory and practice. Programme redesign adopted a blended learning approach with both face-to-face and online learning aimed at enhancing the students’ control over their own learning. Online tasks within Web Classroom Tools (WebCT) were used as an integral part of careful programme design, which resulted in a programme enabling synthesis of the skills, knowledge and competencies acquired in the academic and clinical environments. With the move towards a more learner-centred, blended educational experience for the students the lecturers’ role shifted to that of facilitator with WebCT providing the tutor with a more transparent view of student learning. Lecturers plan learning activities that build upon the skills students have developed through learning in groups, online and in class. The explicit connections that now exist between the academic programme and the opportunities for applying knowledge in practice allow students to engage more deeply in their learning

Giant gravitons in AdS/CFT (I): matrix model and back reaction

In this article we study giant gravitons in the framework of AdS/CFT correspondence. First, we show how to describe these configurations in the CFT side using a matrix model. In this picture, giant gravitons are realized as single excitations high above a Fermi sea, or as deep holes into it. Then, we give a prescription to define quasi-classical states and we recover the known classical solution associated to the CFT dual of a giant graviton that grows in AdS. Second, we use the AdS/CFT dictionary to obtain the supergravity boundary stress tensor of a general state and to holographically reconstruct the bulk metric, obtaining the back reaction of space-time. We find that the space-time response to all the supersymmetric giant graviton states is of the same form, producing the singular BPS limit of the three charge Reissner-Nordstr\"om-AdS black holes. While computing the boundary stress tensor, we comment on the finite counterterm recently introduced by Liu and Sabra, and connect it to a scheme-dependent conformal anomaly.Comment: 28 pages, JHEP3 class. v2: typos corrected and references adde