On Representations of Conformal Field Theories and the Construction of Orbifolds

We consider representations of meromorphic bosonic chiral conformal field theories, and demonstrate that such a representation is completely specified by a state within the theory. The necessary and sufficient conditions upon this state are derived, and, because of their form, we show that we may extend the representation to a representation of a suitable larger conformal field theory. In particular, we apply this procedure to the lattice (FKS) conformal field theories, and deduce that Dong's proof of the uniqueness of the twisted representation for the reflection-twisted projection of the Leech lattice conformal field theory generalises to an arbitrary even (self-dual) lattice. As a consequence, we see that the reflection-twisted lattice theories of Dolan et al are truly self-dual, extending the analogies with the theories of lattices and codes which were being pursued. Some comments are also made on the general concept of the definition of an orbifold of a conformal field theory in relation to this point of view.Comment: 11 pages, LaTeX. Updated references and added preprint n

Psychopathic Personality Traits and Iowa Gambling Task Performance in Incarcerated Offenders

There is a paucity of research on how psychopathy relates to decision-making. In this study, we assessed the relationship between affective decision-making and psychopathic personality. A sample of prisoners (n D 49) was characterized in terms of psychopathic traits using the Psychopathic Checklist: Screening Version (PCL:SV). Decision-making was assessed using the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT). Higher levels of psychopathy related to more advantageous choices (p D .003). Also counter-intuitively, higher levels of antisocial traits (facet 4) predicted advantageous choices during the learning phase of the task (p D .004). Our findings suggest that some psychopathic facets may be more relevant to decisionmaking under risk, and highlight the importance of further investigations considering facet and trait-level relationships with decision-making

Attentional load and sensory competition in human vision: Modulation of fMRI responses by load fixation during task-irrelevant stimulation in the peripheral visual field.

Perceptual suppression of distractors may depend on both endogenous and exogenous factors, such as attentional load of the current task and sensory competition among simultaneous stimuli, respectively. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to compare these two types of attentional effects and examine how they may interact in the human brain. We varied the attentional load of a visual monitoring task performed on a rapid stream at central fixation without altering the central stimuli themselves, while measuring the impact on fMRI responses to task-irrelevant peripheral checkerboards presented either unilaterally or bilaterally. Activations in visual cortex for irrelevant peripheral stimulation decreased with increasing attentional load at fixation. This relative decrease was present even in V1, but became larger for successive visual areas through to V4. Decreases in activation for contralateral peripheral checkerboards due to higher central load were more pronounced within retinotopic cortex corresponding to 'inner' peripheral locations relatively near the central targets than for more eccentric 'outer' locations, demonstrating a predominant suppression of nearby surround rather than strict 'tunnel vision' during higher task load at central fixation. Contralateral activations for peripheral stimulation in one hemifield were reduced by competition with concurrent stimulation in the other hemifield only in inferior parietal cortex, not in retinotopic areas of occipital visual cortex. In addition, central attentional load interacted with competition due to bilateral versus unilateral peripheral stimuli specifically in posterior parietal and fusiform regions. These results reveal that task-dependent attentional load, and interhemifield stimulus-competition, can produce distinct influences on the neural responses to peripheral visual stimuli within the human visual system. These distinct mechanisms in selective visual processing may be integrated within posterior parietal areas, rather than earlier occipital cortex

The Information Geometry of the One-Dimensional Potts Model

In various statistical-mechanical models the introduction of a metric onto the space of parameters (e.g. the temperature variable, $\beta$, and the external field variable, $h$, in the case of spin models) gives an alternative perspective on the phase structure. For the one-dimensional Ising model the scalar curvature, ${\cal R}$, of this metric can be calculated explicitly in the thermodynamic limit and is found to be ${\cal R} = 1 + \cosh (h) / \sqrt{\sinh^2 (h) + \exp (- 4 \beta)}$. This is positive definite and, for physical fields and temperatures, diverges only at the zero-temperature, zero-field ``critical point'' of the model. In this note we calculate ${\cal R}$ for the one-dimensional $q$-state Potts model, finding an expression of the form ${\cal R} = A(q,\beta,h) + B (q,\beta,h)/\sqrt{\eta(q,\beta,h)}$, where $\eta(q,\beta,h)$ is the Potts analogue of $\sinh^2 (h) + \exp (- 4 \beta)$. This is no longer positive definite, but once again it diverges only at the critical point in the space of real parameters. We remark, however, that a naive analytic continuation to complex field reveals a further divergence in the Ising and Potts curvatures at the Lee-Yang edge.Comment: 9 pages + 4 eps figure

Study of thermal protection requirements for a lifting body entry vehicle suitable for near-earth missions Final report

Reentry and abort trajectory analyses, and thermal protection requirements for lifting body entry vehicle

Fuzzy Scalar Field Theory as a Multitrace Matrix Model

We develop an analytical approach to scalar field theory on the fuzzy sphere based on considering a perturbative expansion of the kinetic term. This expansion allows us to integrate out the angular degrees of freedom in the hermitian matrices encoding the scalar field. The remaining model depends only on the eigenvalues of the matrices and corresponds to a multitrace hermitian matrix model. Such a model can be solved by standard techniques as e.g. the saddle-point approximation. We evaluate the perturbative expansion up to second order and present the one-cut solution of the saddle-point approximation in the large N limit. We apply our approach to a model which has been proposed as an appropriate regularization of scalar field theory on the plane within the framework of fuzzy geometry.Comment: 1+25 pages, replaced with published version, minor improvement

Moral/conventional transgression distinction and psychopathy in conduct disordered adolescent offenders

To date there are no studies examining the ability to make a moral/conventional transgression distinction in adolescent offenders with psychopathic traits. Based on the Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version, we compared males with high (HP, n = 45), medium (MP, n = 31) and low psychopathy scores (LP, n = 39) on the moral convention distinction task. Under normal rule conditions the psychopathy groups did not differ in their ability to make a moral/conventional distinction. The HP group tended to view both transgression types as more permissible and conventional transgressions as less serious, than the LP group. Under modified rule conditions, the HP group exhibited reduced moral/conventional distinction scores com- pared to the MP group. The findings only partially replicate findings from previous M/C studies in children and adults with psychopathic traits. The work fits with more recent reports suggesting that psychopathy is not strongly associated with marked difficulties in cognitive theory of mind, perspective taking and moral judgements. Future studies should focus on the affective aspects of moral reasoning in offender samples