2,014 research outputs found
A Maximum Entropy Method of Obtaining Thermodynamic Properties from Quantum Monte Carlo Simulations
We describe a novel method to obtain thermodynamic properties of quantum
systems using Baysian Inference -- Maximum Entropy techniques. The method is
applicable to energy values sampled at a discrete set of temperatures from
Quantum Monte Carlo Simulations. The internal energy and the specific heat of
the system are easily obtained as are errorbars on these quantities. The
entropy and the free energy are also obtainable. No assumptions as to the
specific functional form of the energy are made. The use of a priori
information, such as a sum rule on the entropy, is built into the method. As a
non-trivial example of the method, we obtain the specific heat of the
three-dimensional Periodic Anderson Model.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figure
Circle talks as situated experiential learning: Context, identity, and knowledgeability in \u27learning from reflection\u27
This article presents research that used ethnographic and sociolinguistic methods to study ways participants learn through reflection when carried out as a âcircle talk.â The data indicate that participants in the event (a) invoked different contextual frames that (b) implicated them in various identity positions, which (c) affected how they could express their knowledge. These features worked together to generate socially shared meanings that enabled participants to jointly achieve conceptualizationâthe ideational role âreflectionâ is presumed to play in the experiential learning process. The analysis supports the claim that participants generate new knowledge in reflection, but challenges individualistic and cognitive assumptions regarding how this occurs. The article builds on situated views of experiential learning by showing how knowledge can be understood as socially shared and how learning and identity formation are mutually entailing processes
Tunable dipolar magnetism in high-spin molecular clusters
We report on the Fe17 high-spin molecular cluster and show that this system
is an exemplification of nanostructured dipolar magnetism. Each Fe17 molecule,
with spin S=35/2 and axial anisotropy as small as D=-0.02K, is the magnetic
unit that can be chemically arranged in different packing crystals whilst
preserving both spin ground-state and anisotropy. For every configuration,
molecular spins are correlated only by dipolar interactions. The ensuing
interplay between dipolar energy and anisotropy gives rise to macroscopic
behaviors ranging from superparamagnetism to long-range magnetic order at
temperatures below 1K.Comment: Replaced with version accepted for publication in Physical Review
Letter
STELAR: An experiment in the electronic distribution of astronomical literature
STELAR (Study of Electronic Literature for Astronomical Research) is a Goddard-based project designed to test methods of delivering technical literature in machine readable form. To that end, we have scanned a five year span of the ApJ, ApJ Supp, AJ and PASP, and have obtained abstracts for eight leading academic journals from NASA/STI CASI, which also makes these abstracts available through the NASA RECON system. We have also obtained machine readable versions of some journal volumes from the publishers, although in many instances, the final typeset versions are no longer available. The fundamental data object for the STELAR database is the article, a collection of items associated with a scientific paper - abstract, scanned pages (in a variety of formats), figures, OCR extractions, forward and backward references, errata and versions of the paper in various formats (e.g., TEX, SGML, PostScript, DVI). Articles are uniquely referenced in the database by journal name, volume number and page number. The selection and delivery of articles is accomplished through the WAIS (Wide Area Information Server) client/server models requiring only an Internet connection. Modest modifications to the server code have made it capable of delivering the multiple data types required by STELAR. WAIS is a platform independent and fully open multi-disciplinary delivery system, originally developed by Thinking Machines Corp. and made available free of charge. It is based on the ISO Z39.50 standard communications protocol. WAIS servers run under both UNIX and VMS. WAIS clients run on a wide variety of machines, from UNIX-based Xwindows systems to MS-DOS and macintosh microcomputers. The WAIS system includes full-test indexing and searching of documents, network interface and easy access to a variety of document viewers. ASCII versions of the CASI abstracts have been formatted for display and the full test of the abstracts has been indexed. The entire WAIS database of abstracts is now available for use by the astronomical community. Enhancements of the search and retrieval system are under investigation to include specialized searches (by reference, author or keyword, as opposed to full test searches), improved handling of word stems, improvements in relevancy criteria and other retrieval techniques, such as factor spaces. The STELAR project has been assisted by the full cooperation of the AAS, the ASP, the publishers of the academic journals, librarians from GSFC, NRAO and STScI, the Library of Congress, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Paraphrases and summaries: A means of clarification or a vehicle for articulating a preferred version of student accounts?
The use of group discussions as a means to facilitate learning from experiences is well documented in adventure education literature. Priest and Naismith (1993) assert that the use of the circular discussion method, where the leader poses questions to the participants, is the most common form of facilitation in adventure education. This paper draws on transcripts of facilitation sessions to argue that the widely advocated practice of leader summaries or paraphrases of student responses in these sessions functions as a potential mechanism to control and sponsor particular knowledge(s). Using transcripts from recorded facilitation sessions the analysis focuses on how the leader paraphrases the studentsâ responses and how these paraphrases or âformulationsâ function to modify or exclude particular aspects of the studentsâ responses. I assert that paraphrasing is not simply a neutral activity that merely functions to clarify a student response, it is a subtle means by which the leader of the session can, often inadvertently or unknowingly, alter the studentâs reply with the consequence of favouring particular knowledge(s). Revealing the subtle work that leader paraphrases perform is of importance for educators who claim to provide genuine opportunities for students to learn from their experience
Massive Schwinger model and its confining aspects on curved space-time
Using a covariant method to regularize the composite operators, we obtain the
bosonized action of the massive Schwinger model on a classical curved
background. Using the solution of the bosonic effective action, the energy of
two static external charges with finite and large distance separation on a
static curved space-time is obtained. The confining behavior of this model is
also explicitly discussed.Comment: A disscussion about the infrared regularization and also two
references are added. Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. D (2001
Transport Coefficients for Granular Media from Molecular Dynamics Simulations
Under many conditions, macroscopic grains flow like a fluid; kinetic theory
pred icts continuum equations of motion for this granular fluid. In order to
test the theory, we perform event driven molecular simulations of a
two-dimensional gas of inelastic hard disks, driven by contact with a heat
bath. Even for strong dissipation, high densities, and small numbers of
particles, we find that continuum theory describes the system well. With a bath
that heats the gas homogeneously, strong velocity correlations produce a
slightly smaller energy loss due to inelastic collisions than that predicted by
kinetic theory. With an inhomogeneous heat bath, thermal or velocity gradients
are induced. Determination of the resulting fluxes allows calculation of the
thermal conductivity and shear viscosity, which are compared to the predictions
of granular kinetic theory, and which can be used in continuum modeling of
granular flows. The shear viscosity is close to the prediction of kinetic
theory, while the thermal conductivity can be overestimated by a factor of 2;
in each case, transport is lowered with increasing inelasticity.Comment: 14 pages, 17 figures, 39 references, submitted to PRE feb 199
Submerged in the mainstream? A case study of an immigrant learner in a New Zealand primary classroom
Immigrant children from diverse language backgrounds face not only linguistic challenges when enrolled in mainstream English-medium classrooms, but also difficulties adjusting to an unfamiliar learning community. The culture of primary school classrooms in New Zealand typically reflects conventions across three dimensions: interactional, instructional task performance and cognitive-academic development. All three dimensions are underpinned by the culturally specific discourse conventions involved in language socialisation. New learners may be helped by classmates or their teacher to understand and successfully use these conventions, but left on their own they may sink rather than swim. This is a case study of one Taiwanese 11-year old boy, 'John', who entered a New Zealand primary classroom midway through the school year. John's basic conversational ability was sound, but he did not possess the interactive classroom skills needed to operate in the new culture of learning. Selected from a wider study of the classroom, transcript data from audio-recorded excerpts of John's interactions over several months with his teacher and classmates are interpreted from perspectives derived from sociocultural and language socialisation theories. The article concludes with a brief consideration of the extent to which John constructed, or was constrained from constructing meaningful learning experiences, and suggestions for further research and reflection
Co-occurrence of a novel PDGFRB variant and likely pathogenic variant in CASR in an individual with extensive intracranial calcifications and hypocalcaemia
No abstract available
Principles for language tests within the 'discourse domains' theory of interlanguage: research, test construction and interpretation
This article considers an alternative framework for handling the language testing enterprise and proposes some tentative theoretical hypotheses concerning principles of language testing. It is the writers' view that taking account of the perspective of interlanguage domain engagement and contextualization in testing research, production and interpretation allows for a richer conceptualization of the language testing process.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/69012/2/10.1177_026553228500200208.pd
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