The deformed Hermitian-Yang-Mills equation in geometry and physics

We provide an introduction to the mathematics and physics of the deformed Hermitian-Yang-Mills equation, a fully nonlinear geometric PDE on Kahler manifolds which plays an important role in mirror symmetry. We discuss the physical origin of the equation, and some recent progress towards its solution. In dimension 3 we prove a new Chern number inequality and discuss the relationship with algebraic stability conditions.Comment: 20 page

Rethinking Criminal Law and Family Status

In our recent book, Privilege or Punish: Criminal Justice and the Challenge of Family Ties (OUP 2009), we examined and critiqued a number of ways in which the criminal justice system uses family status to distribute benefits or burdens to defendants. In their review essays, Professors Alafair Burke, Alice Ristroph & Melissa Murray identify a series of concerns with the framework we offer policymakers to analyze these family ties benefits or burdens. We think it worthwhile not only to clarify where those challenges rest on misunderstandings or confusions about the central features of our views, but also to show the deficiencies of the proposed alternatives. While we appreciate and admire the efforts of our critics to advance this important conversation, we hope this Essay will illuminate why the normative framework of Privilege or Punish remains a more helpful structure to policymakers assessing how family status should intersect with the criminal law within a liberal democracy such as our own

Community mapping: from representation to action.

Community mapping is an approach to spatial representation that promotes a sense of agency and active engagement by encouraging “bottom-up” participation by users and community groups. Reviewing the place-based work of an earlier generation of geographers, environmental writers, and artists, the paper provides a context for understanding contemporary mapping utilizing geotechnologies such as “locative media.” The author concludes that technologically empowered artists, partnered with specialists engaged in place-based research, can translate objective representations of place into socially engaged action

Answers in Diagenesis: Assessing Mussel Shell Diagenesis in the Modern Vadose Zone at Lyon\u27s Bluff (22Ok520), Northeast Mississippi

This study considers the chemical alteration of archaeological freshwater shell above the water table at Lyon\u27s Bluff, located in east-central Mississippi, changes in trace element concentrations between unfired and fired shell, and the effect bacteria have on archaeological freshwater shell. Thin-section petrography, X-ray diffraction, cathodoluminescence, and scanning electron microscopy were conducted on archaeological shell from four layers from Unit 20N20W, with a depth of 80 cm spanning 450 years. ICP-MS analysis was also conducted on a modern freshwater shell. Results of the microscopy indicate pristine crystal structure. ICP-MS data show that certain trace elements within the shell maintain their concentration after firing at 500°C. The broader implications are: 1) that diagenetic alteration does not hinder chemical sourcing of shell at Lyon’s Bluff, and 2) that certain trace elements are more reliable than others, namely Sr2+, Al2+, Ba2+, and Mn2+, when conducting provenance studies on shell temper

New-New Trade Policy

When national competitiveness is invoked as a policy objective, trade experts have learned to retort that countries don`t trade, firms do. This focus on the importance of the firm in international trade is consistent with the most recent developments in trade theory, but policy needs to catch up. Recognizing the growing anomalies in observed trade patterns relative to traditional models of trade based on national comparative advantage, the "new trade theory" of the 1980s looked at industries not countries, leading Nobel prize-winner Paul Krugman, a pioneer in this literature, to suggest the need for a new trade policy. Recent work on what some call the "new-new trade theory" focuses on the trading behaviour of individual firms, making a tight link between trade and productivity. In this paper we demonstrate how focusing on firms should be the foundation for a new-new trade policy, one that creates exciting opportunities for trade and investment promotion strategies, along with the need for much more targeted consultation strategies. We also discuss the implications of the new-new theory for regulatory coordination, and on new ways to cooperate with interlocutors in developing countries on the evolution of 21st century trade policy.New-new Trade Theory, Trade Policy

The ‘Full Monty’: a collaborative institutional approach to student engagement

Student engagement has become a prominent focus within the higher education sector, the recent emphasis for promoting student engagement has clear links to a personalisation agenda and a culture where benchmarking across a number of measures in higher education has seen a strive to achieve an exceptional student learning experience (Little and Williams, 2010). Coates describes student engagement as “a broad construct intended to encompass salient academic as well as certain non-academic aspects of the student experience” (Coates 2007: 122). Therefore it is becoming increasingly clear that student engagement is the responsibility of all institutional staff and not just those who are ‘student facing’. Sabri (2011), identifies that academic and administrative staff are instrumental in ensuring students are engaged and motivated in order to achieve good practice within institutional practices. The University of Lincoln has taken a comprehensive approach to developing a partnership ethos between students and staff by concurrently delivering our Student as Producer initiative which embeds research-engaged-teaching and our Student Engagement Strategy which drives student engagement in quality assurance & enhancement and governance. Both strands promote a mixture of institutional change and bottom-up departmental activity to develop engagement. In essence this means that staff and students are working together in new and interesting ways right across the institution. First, we will present reflections on the development of the University’s approach to student engagement and experiences from academic and professional service departments. These experiences will be illuminated by the institutional lead for student engagement, an academic member of staff from the School of Sport & Exercise Science and a professional services colleague from the Library. Specifically, we will offer an insight into the Universities collaborative approach to student engagement, illustrated with examples of good practice and reflections on the challenges, barriers, tensions and cultural change required. Second, we will present our student-led study into the experiences of their peers who engage explores the reasons for first engaging, the highs and lows of engaging, the impact on learning, the impact on their approach to wider student life and the impact on their career ambitions. Two current undergraduate students who have worked on this study will present the findings together with their personal reflections on engaging in a variety of opportunities. They will help delegates see the experience of engaging through students’ eyes and identify the kinds of opportunities that have the greatest impact on students’ learning experience and wider outlook

A finite element conjugate gradient FFT method for scattering

Validated results are presented for the new 3D body of revolution finite element boundary integral code. A Fourier series expansion of the vector electric and mangnetic fields is employed to reduce the dimensionality of the system, and the exact boundary condition is employed to terminate the finite element mesh. The mesh termination boundary is chosen such that is leads to convolutional boundary operatores of low O(n) memory demand. Improvements of this code are discussed along with the proposed formulation for a full 3D implementation of the finite element boundary integral method in conjunction with a conjugate gradiant fast Fourier transformation (CGFFT) solution

Frio pilot in CO2 sequestration in brine-bearing sandstones: The University of Texas at Austin, Bureau of Economic Geology, report to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to accompany a class V application for an experimental technology pilot injection well.

GEOSEQ project (LBNL, LLNL, ORNL), NETL, Schlumberger–Doll Research Center, Transpetco, Sandia TechnologiesJackson School of Geoscience