Relationship between Fujikawa's Method and the Background Field Method for the Scale Anomaly

We show the equivalence between Fujikawa's method for calculating the scale anomaly and the diagrammatic approach to calculating the effective potential via the background field method, for an $O(N)$ symmetric scalar field theory. Fujikawa's method leads to a sum of terms, each one superficially in one-to-one correspondence with a vacuum diagram of the 1-loop expansion. From the viewpoint of the classical action, the anomaly results in a breakdown of the Ward identities due to a scale-dependence of the couplings, whereas in terms of the effective action, the anomaly is the result of the breakdown of Noether's theorem due to explicit symmetry breaking terms of the effective potential.Comment: 9 pages (this version is the published version

Shear and fracture behavior of high-volume fly ash reinforced concrete for sustainable construction

Concrete is the most widely used man-made material on the planet. Unfortunately, producing Portland cement generates carbon dioxide (a greenhouse gas) at roughly a pound for pound ratio. High-volume fly ash (HVFA) concrete- concrete with at least 50% of the cement replaced with fly ash - offers a potential green solution. However, because it is still relatively new and has some disadvantages, there are still many questions that need to be answered. Most research to date has consisted only of the evaluation of the strength and durability of HVFA concrete mixtures, while only a limited number of studies have implemented full-scale testing of specimens constructed with HVFA concrete to determine its potential use in the industry. For this research, a laboratory testing program was developed to investigate the shear performance of reinforced concrete (RC) beams constructed with HVFA concrete. The experimental program consisted of 36 tests performed on full-scale RC beams. The principal parameters investigated were: (1) concrete type (HVFA or conventional concrete), (2) amount of shear reinforcement, and (3) amount of longitudinal (flexural) reinforcement. The full-scale beams in this study were analyzed using several different approaches, including the standard truss model, modified compression field theory, and fracture mechanics formulations. The full-scale test results were compared to the theoretical results using design approaches contained in several codes common to North America and Europe. The results indicate that existing design code provisions for conventional concrete are equally applicable to the design of HVFA concrete --Abstract, page iii

Unemployment and common smooth transition trends in central and eastern european countries

In this paper we analyse whether the apparent comovement of unemployment rates for some of the Central and Eastern EU new members can be explained by a common force, possibly linked to the process of economic integration. For this purpose we test for nonlinear unit roots as a first step to testing for common nonlinearities. Our results show that for five countries, out of eight, unemployment dynamics appear to be well described as a stationary process around highly persistent structural changes. Furthermore, we find evidence of a common nonlinear component driving the unemployment rates