460 research outputs found
Conservatives moral foundations are more densely connected than liberalsâ moral foundations
We use network psychometrics to map a subsection of moral belief systems predicted by moral foundations theory (MFT). This approach conceptualizes moral systems as networks, with moral beliefs represented as nodes connected by direct relations. As such, it advances a novel test of MFTâs claim that liberals and conservatives have different systems of foundational moral values, which we test in three large datasets (N(Sample1) = 854; N(Sample2) = 679; N(Sample3) = 2,572), from two countries (the United States and New Zealand). Results supported our first hypothesis that liberalsâ moral systems show more segregation between individualizing and binding foundations than conservatives. Results showed only weak support for our second hypothesis, that this pattern would be more typical of higher educated than less educated liberals/conservatives. Findings support a systems approach to MFT and show the value of modeling moral belief systems as networks
Magnetized cosmological perturbations
A large-scale cosmic magnetic field affects not only the growth of density
perturbations, but also rotational instabilities and anisotropic deformation in
the density distribution. We give a fully relativistic treatment of all these
effects, incorporating the magneto-curvature coupling that arises in a
relativistic approach. We show that this coupling produces a small enhancement
of the growing mode on superhorizon scales. The magnetic field generates new
nonadiabatic constant and decaying modes, as well as nonadiabatic corrections
to the standard growing and decaying modes. Magnetized isocurvature
perturbations are purely decaying on superhorizon scales. On subhorizon scales
before recombination, magnetized density perturbations propagate as
magneto-sonic waves, leading to a small decrease in the spacing of acoustic
peaks. Fluctuations in the field direction induce scale-dependent vorticity,
and generate precession in the rotational vector. On small scales, magnetized
density vortices propagate as Alfv\'{e}n waves during the radiation era. After
recombination, they decay slower than non-magnetized vortices. Magnetic
fluctuations are also an active source of anisotropic distortion in the density
distribution. We derive the evolution equations for this distortion, and find a
particular growing solution.Comment: Revised version, typos corrected, to appear in Phys. Rev.
Singularity free dilaton-driven cosmologies and pre-little-bang
There are no reasons why the singularity in the growth of the dilaton
coupling should not be regularised, in a string cosmological context, by the
presence of classical inhomogeneities. We discuss a class of inhomogeneous
dilaton-driven models whose curvature invariants are all bounded and regular in
time and space. We prove that the non-space-like geodesics of these models are
all complete in the sense that none of them reaches infinity for a finite value
of the affine parameter. We conclude that our examples represent truly
singularity-free solutions of the low energy beta functions. We discuss some
symmetries of the obtained solutions and we clarify their physical
interpretation. We also give examples of solutions with spherical symmetry. In
our scenario each physical quantity is everywhere defined in time and space,
the big-bang singularity is replaced by a maximal curvature phase where the
dilaton kinetic energy reaches its maximum. The maximal curvature is always
smaller than one (in string units) and the coupling constant is also smaller
than one and it grows between two regimes of constant dilaton, implying,
together with the symmetries of the solutions, that higher genus and higher
curvature corrections are negligible. We argue that our examples describe, in a
string cosmological context, the occurrence of ``little bangs''(i.e. high
curvature phases which never develop physical singularities). They also suggest
the possibility of an unexplored ``pre-little-bang'' phase.Comment: 25 pages in LaTex style, 3 encapsulated figure
The Strong CP Problem and Axions
I describe how the QCD vacuum structure, necessary to resolve the
problem, predicts the presence of a P, T and CP violating term proportional to
the vacuum angle . To agree with experimental bounds, however,
this parameter must be very small ). After briefly
discussing some possible other solutions to this, so-called, strong CP problem,
I concentrate on the chiral solution proposed by Peccei and Quinn which has
associated with it a light pseudoscalar particle, the axion. I discuss in
detail the properties and dynamics of axions, focusing particularly on
invisible axion models where axions are very light, very weakly coupled and
very long-lived. Astrophysical and cosmological bounds on invisible axions are
also briefly touched upon.Comment: 14 pages, to appear in the Lecture Notes in Physics volume on Axions,
(Springer Verlag
A Behavioural Foundation for Natural Computing and a Programmability Test
What does it mean to claim that a physical or natural system computes? One
answer, endorsed here, is that computing is about programming a system to
behave in different ways. This paper offers an account of what it means for a
physical system to compute based on this notion. It proposes a behavioural
characterisation of computing in terms of a measure of programmability, which
reflects a system's ability to react to external stimuli. The proposed measure
of programmability is useful for classifying computers in terms of the apparent
algorithmic complexity of their evolution in time. I make some specific
proposals in this connection and discuss this approach in the context of other
behavioural approaches, notably Turing's test of machine intelligence. I also
anticipate possible objections and consider the applicability of these
proposals to the task of relating abstract computation to nature-like
computation.Comment: 37 pages, 4 figures. Based on an invited Talk at the Symposium on
Natural/Unconventional Computing and its Philosophical Significance, Alan
Turing World Congress 2012, Birmingham, UK.
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13347-012-0095-2 Ref. glitch fixed
in 2nd. version; Philosophy & Technology (special issue on History and
Philosophy of Computing), Springer, 201
Constraints from Inflation on Scalar-Tensor Gravity Theories
We show how observations of the perturbation spectra produced during
inflation may be used to constrain the parameters of general scalar-tensor
theories of gravity, which include both an inflaton and dilaton field. An
interesting feature of these models is the possibility that the curvature
perturbations on super-horizon scales may not be constant due to non-adiabatic
perturbations of the two fields. Within a given model, the tilt and relative
amplitude of the scalar and tensor perturbation spectra gives constraints on
the parameters of the gravity theory, which may be comparable with those from
primordial nucleosynthesis and post-Newtonian experiments.Comment: LaTeX (with RevTex) 19 pages, 8 uuencoded figures appended, also
available on WWW via http://star.maps.susx.ac.uk/index.htm
Seminal magnetic fields from Inflato-electromagnetic Inflation
We extend some previous attempts to explain the origin and evolution of
primordial magnetic fields during inflation induced from a 5D vacuum. We show
that the usual quantum fluctuations of a generalized 5D electromagnetic field
cannot provide us with the desired magnetic seeds. We show that special fields
without propagation on the extra non-compact dimension are needed to arrive to
appreciable magnetic strengths. We also identify a new magnetic tensor field
in this kind of extra dimensional theories. Our results are in very
good agreement with observational requirements, in particular from TeV Blazars
and CMB radiation limits we obtain that primordial cosmological magnetic fields
should be close scale invariance.Comment: Improved version. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1007.3891
by other author
The deep propagating gravity wave experiment (deepwave): an airborne and ground-based exploration of gravity wave propagation and effects from their sources throughout the lower and middle atmosphere
Abstract
The Deep Propagating Gravity Wave Experiment (DEEPWAVE) was designed to quantify gravity wave (GW) dynamics and effects from orographic and other sources to regions of dissipation at high altitudes. The core DEEPWAVE field phase took place from May through July 2014 using a comprehensive suite of airborne and ground-based instruments providing measurements from Earthâs surface to âŒ100 km. Austral winter was chosen to observe deep GW propagation to high altitudes. DEEPWAVE was based on South Island, New Zealand, to provide access to the New Zealand and Tasmanian âhotspotsâ of GW activity and additional GW sources over the Southern Ocean and Tasman Sea. To observe GWs up to âŒ100 km, DEEPWAVE utilized three new instruments built specifically for the National Science Foundation (NSF)/National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Gulfstream V (GV): a Rayleigh lidar, a sodium resonance lidar, and an advanced mesosphere temperature mapper. These measurements were supplemented by in situ probes, dropsondes, and a microwave temperature profiler on the GV and by in situ probes and a Doppler lidar aboard the German DLR Falcon. Extensive ground-based instrumentation and radiosondes were deployed on South Island, Tasmania, and Southern Ocean islands. Deep orographic GWs were a primary target but multiple flights also observed deep GWs arising from deep convection, jet streams, and frontal systems. Highlights include the following: 1) strong orographic GW forcing accompanying strong cross-mountain flows, 2) strong high-altitude responses even when orographic forcing was weak, 3) large-scale GWs at high altitudes arising from jet stream sources, and 4) significant flight-level energy fluxes and often very large momentum fluxes at high altitudes.David C. Fritts, Ronald B. Smith, Michael J. Taylor, James D. Doyle, Stephen D. Eckermann, Andreas Dörnbrack, Markus Rapp, Bifffford P. Williams, P.-Dominique Pautet, Katrina Bossert, Neal R. Criddddle, Carolyn A. Reynolds, P. Alex Reinecke, Michael Uddddstrom, Michael J. Revell, Richard Turner, Bernd Kaifler, Johannes S. Wagner, Tyler Mixa, Christopher G. Kruse, Alison D. Nugent, Campbell D. Watson, Sonja Gisinger, Steven M. Smith, Ruth S. Lieberman, Brian Laughman, James J. Moore, William O. Brown, Julie A. Haggerty, Alison Rockwell, Gregory J. Stossmeister, Steven F. Williams, Gonzalo Hernandez, Damian J. Murphy, Andrew R. Klekociuk, Iain M. Reid, and Jun M
Can forest management based on natural disturbances maintain ecological resilience?
Given the increasingly global stresses on forests, many ecologists argue that managers must maintain ecological resilience: the capacity of ecosystems to absorb disturbances without undergoing fundamental change. In this review we ask: Can the emerging paradigm of natural-disturbance-based management (NDBM) maintain ecological resilience in managed forests? Applying resilience theory requires careful articulation of the ecosystem state under consideration, the disturbances and stresses that affect the persistence of possible alternative states, and the spatial and temporal scales of management relevance. Implementing NDBM while maintaining resilience means recognizing that (i) biodiversity is important for long-term ecosystem persistence, (ii) natural disturbances play a critical role as a generator of structural and compositional heterogeneity at multiple scales, and (iii) traditional management tends to produce forests more homogeneous than those disturbed naturally and increases the likelihood of unexpected catastrophic change by constraining variation of key environmental processes. NDBM may maintain resilience if silvicultural strategies retain the structures and processes that perpetuate desired states while reducing those that enhance resilience of undesirable states. Such strategies require an understanding of harvesting impacts on slow ecosystem processes, such as seed-bank or nutrient dynamics, which in the long term can lead to ecological surprises by altering the forest's capacity to reorganize after disturbance
Large-scale magnetic fields from inflation due to a -even Chern-Simons-like term with Kalb-Ramond and scalar fields
We investigate the generation of large-scale magnetic fields due to the
breaking of the conformal invariance in the electromagnetic field through the
-even dimension-six Chern-Simons-like effective interaction with a fermion
current by taking account of the dynamical Kalb-Ramond and scalar fields in
inflationary cosmology. It is explicitly demonstrated that the magnetic fields
on 1Mpc scale with the field strength of G at the present time
can be induced.Comment: 18 pages, 6 figures, version accepted for publication in Eur. Phys.
J.
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