A grid-based infrastructure for distributed retrieval

In large-scale distributed retrieval, challenges of latency, heterogeneity, and dynamicity emphasise the importance of infrastructural support in reducing the development costs of state-of-the-art solutions. We present a service-based infrastructure for distributed retrieval which blends middleware facilities and a design framework to ‘lift’ the resource sharing approach and the computational services of a European Grid platform into the domain of e-Science applications. In this paper, we give an overview of the DILIGENT Search Framework and illustrate its exploitation in the field of Earth Science

Exact C=1 Boundary Conformal Field Theories

We present a solution of the problem of a free massless scalar field on the half line interacting through a periodic potential on the boundary. For a critical value of the period, this system is a conformal field theory with a non-trivial and explicitly calculable S-matrix for scattering from the boundary. Unlike all other exactly solvable conformal field theories, it is non-rational ({\it i.e.} has infinitely many primary fields). It describes the critical behavior of a number of condensed matter systems, including dissipative quantum mechanics and of barriers in ``quantum wires''.Comment: harvmac, 10 pages, PUPT-1432/IASSNS-HEP-93/7

Gravitational Radiation from Travelling Waves on D-Strings

Boundary states that preserve supersymmetry are constructed for fractional D-strings with travelling waves on a ${\bf C}^3/ {{\bf Z}_2\times {\bf Z}_2}$ orbifold. The gravitational radiation emitted between two D-strings with antiparallel travelling waves is calculated.Comment: improvements and correction

Information Loss and Anomalous Scattering

The approach of 't Hooft to the puzzles of black hole evaporation can be applied to a simpler system with analogous features. The system is $1+1$ dimensional electrodynamics in a linear dilaton background. Analogues of black holes, Hawking radiation and evaporation exist in this system. In perturbation theory there appears to be an information paradox but this gets resolved in the full quantum theory and there exists an exact $S$-matrix, which is fully unitary and information conserving. 't Hooft's method gives the leading terms in a systematic approximation to the exact result.Comment: 18 pages, 3 figures (postscript files available soon on request), (earlier version got corrupted by mail system

The Effects of Offering Hay, Pit-Stored Grass Silage or Big-Bale Silage to Pregnant Ewes on Ewe and Lamb Performance

Hay and pit silage have been used extensively for feeding sheep over the winter period, but in recent years, especially on smaller farms, big-bale silage has become increasingly popular. However, there is limited comparative information on the use of big-bale silage for sheep, especially in relation to the effects of chopping and growth stage at harvest. This study compared the performance of ewes offered hay, pit silage, or big-bale grass silage made from either chopped or unchopped grass and cut from the same field at the same time

Entanglement of two blocks of spins in the critical Ising model

We compute the entropy of entanglement of two blocks of L spins at a distance d in the ground state of an Ising chain in an external transverse magnetic field. We numerically study the von Neumann entropy for different values of the transverse field. At the critical point we obtain analytical results for blocks of size L=1 and L=2. In the general case, the critical entropy is shown to be additive when d goes to infinity. Finally, based on simple arguments, we derive an expression for the entropy at the critical point as a function of both L and d. This formula is in excellent agreement with numerical results.Comment: published versio

Classroom Demonstrations: Learning Tools Or Entertainment?

We compared student learning from different modes of presenting classroom demonstrations to determine how much students learn from traditionally presented demonstrations, and whether learning can be enhanced by simply changing the mode of presentation to increase student engagement. We find that students who passively observe demonstrations understand the underlying concepts no better than students who do not see the demonstration at all, in agreement with previous studies. Learning is enhanced, however, by increasing student engagement; students who predict the demonstration outcome before seeing it, however, display significantly greater understanding

SO(10) Cosmic Strings and Baryon Number Violation

SO(10) cosmic strings formed during the phase transition Spin(10) $\rightarrow$ SU(5) $\times{\cal Z}_2$ are studied. Two types of strings --- one effectively Abelian and one non-Abelian --- are constructed and the string solutions are calculated numerically. The non-Abelian string can catalyze baryon number violation via the ``twisting'' of the scalar field which causes mixing of leptons and quarks in the fermion multiplet. The non-Abelian string is also found to have the lower energy possibly for the entire range of the parameters in the theory. Scattering of fermions in the fields of the strings is analyzed, and the baryon number violation cross section is calculated. The role of the self-adjoint parameters is discussed and the values are computed.Comment: LaTex (RevTex), 36 pages, 6 figures (available upon request), MIT-CTP#215

Integrable models, degenerate horizons and AdS_2 black holes

The near extremal Reissner-Nordstrom black holes in arbitrary dimensions ca be modeled by the Jackiw-Teitelboim (JT) theory. The asymptotic Virasoro symmetry of the corresponding JT model exactly reproduces, via Cardy's formula, the deviation of the Bekenstein-Hawking entropy of the Reissner-Nordstrom black holes from extremality. We also comment how can we extend this approach to investigate the evaporation process.Comment: 4 pages, LaTeX file, uses espcrc2.sty. Talk given at the Third Conference on Constrained Dynamics and Quantum Gravit