On the dynamical breaking of chiral symmetry: a new mechanism

We consider a U(1) gauge theory, minimally coupled to a massless Dirac field, where a higher-derivative term is added to the pure gauge sector, as in the Lee-Wick models. We find that this term can trigger chiral symmetry breaking at low energy in the weak coupling regime. Then, the fermion field acquires a mass that turns out to be a function of both the energy scale associated to the higher-derivative term and the gauge coupling. The dependence of the fermion mass on the gauge coupling is non-perturbative. Extensions to SU(N) gauge theories and fermion-scalar interactions are also analyzed, as well as to theories with massive gauge fields. A few implications of these results in the framework of quark-mass generation are discussed.Comment: 15 pages 2 figures, a few comments and 4 references added. To appear in Physical Review

Comparison of lunar rocks and meteorites: Implications to histories of the moon and parent meteorite bodies

A number of similarities between lunar and meteoritic rocks are reported and suggest that the comparison is essential for a clear understanding of meteorites as probes of the early history of the solar systems: (1) Monomict and polymict breccias occur in lunar rocks, as well as in achondritic and chondritic meteorites, having resulted from complex and repeated impact processes. (2) Chondrules are present in lunar, as well as in a few achondritic and most chondritic meteorites. It is pointed out that because chondrules may form in several different ways and in different environments, a distinction between the different modes of origin and an estimate of their relative abundance is important if their significance as sources of information on the early history of the solar system is to be clearly understood. (3) Lithic fragments are very useful in attempts to understand the pre- and post-impact history of lunar and meteoritic breccias. They vary from little modified (relative to the apparent original texture), to partly or completely melted and recrystallized lithic fragments

Spontaneous symmetry breaking in a two-doublet lattice Higgs model

An SU(2) lattice gauge theory with two doublets of complex scalar fields is considered. All continuous symmetries are identified and, using the nonperturbative methods of lattice field theory, the phase diagram is mapped out by direct numerical simulation. Two-doublet models contain phase transitions that separate qualitatively distinct regions of the parameter space. In some regions global symmetries are spontaneously broken. For some special choices of the model parameters, the symmetry-breaking order parameter is calculated. The pattern of symmetry breaking is verified further through observation of Goldstone bosons.Comment: 24 pages, 13 figures, references added, published versio

QCD matter within a quasi-particle model and the critical end point

We compare our quasi-particle model with recent lattice QCD results for the equation of state at finite temperature and baryo-chemical potential. The inclusion of the QCD critical end point into models is discussed. We propose a family of equations of state to be employed in hydrodynamical calculations of particle spectra at RHIC energies and compare with the differential azimuthal anisotropy of strange and charm hadrons.Comment: talk at Quark Matter 2005, August 4 - 9, 2005, Budapest, Hungar

Two flavor color superconductivity in nonlocal chiral quark models

We study the competence between chiral symmetry restoration and two flavor color superconductivity (2SC) using a relativistic quark model with covariant nonlocal interactions. We consider two different nonlocal regulators: a Gaussian regulator and a Lorentzian regulator. We find that although the phase diagrams are qualitative similar to those obtained using models with local interactions, in our case the superconducting gaps at medium values of the chemical potential are larger. Consequently, we obtain that in that region the critical temperatures for the disappearance of the 2SC phase might be of the order of 100-120 MeV. We also find that for ratios of the quark-quark and quark-antiquark couplings somewhat above the standard value 3/4, the end point and triple point in the $T-\mu$ phase diagram meet and a phase where both the chiral and diquark condensates are non-negligible appears.Comment: 15 pages incl. 5 Postscript figure

Speed Sensorless mixed sensitivity linear parameter variant H_inf control of the induction motor

The paper shows the design of a robust control structure for the speed sensorless vector control of the IM, based on the mixed sensitivity (MS) linear parameter variant (LPV) H8 control theory. The controller makes possible the direct control of the flux and speed of the motor with torque adaptation in noisy environment. The whole control system is tested by intensive simulations and according to the results it shows good dynamic and robust performance. Implementation issues based on a DSP TMS320F243 development platform are also presented

Cognitive Computation sans Representation

The Computational Theory of Mind (CTM) holds that cognitive processes are essentially computational, and hence computation provides the scientific key to explaining mentality. The Representational Theory of Mind (RTM) holds that representational content is the key feature in distinguishing mental from non-mental systems. I argue that there is a deep incompatibility between these two theoretical frameworks, and that the acceptance of CTM provides strong grounds for rejecting RTM. The focal point of the incompatibility is the fact that representational content is extrinsic to formal procedures as such, and the intended interpretation of syntax makes no difference to the execution of an algorithm. So the unique 'content' postulated by RTM is superfluous to the formal procedures of CTM. And once these procedures are implemented in a physical mechanism, it is exclusively the causal properties of the physical mechanism that are responsible for all aspects of the system's behaviour. So once again, postulated content is rendered superfluous. To the extent that semantic content may appear to play a role in behaviour, it must be syntactically encoded within the system, and just as in a standard computational artefact, so too with the human mind/brain - it's pure syntax all the way down to the level of physical implementation. Hence 'content' is at most a convenient meta-level gloss, projected from the outside by human theorists, which itself can play no role in cognitive processing

Thermodynamics of lattice QCD with 3 flavours of colour-sextet quarks

We have been studying QCD with 2 flavours of colour-sextet quarks to distinguish whether it is QCD-like or conformal. For comparison we are now studying QCD with 3 flavours of colour-sextet quarks, which is believed to be conformal in the chiral limit. Here we present the results of simulations of lattice QCD with 3 colour-sextet quarks at finite temperatures on lattices of temporal extent $N_t=4$ and 6, with masses small enough to yield access to the chiral limit. As for the 2-flavour case, we find well-separated deconfinement and chiral-symmetry restoration transitions, both of which move to appreciably weaker couplings as $N_t$ is increased from 4 to 6. If this theory is conformal, we would expect there to be a bulk chiral transition at a fixed coupling. For this reason we conclude that for $N_t=4$ and 6, the chiral and hence the deconfinement transitions are in the strong-coupling domain where the theory is essentially quenched. The similarity between the behaviours of the 2 and 3 flavour theories suggested that the $N_t=4$ and 6 transitions for the 2-flavour theory also lie in the strong-coupling domain. The phase structure of both theories is very similar.Comment: 17 pages Latex(Revtex), 7 postscript figure

A proper understanding of Millikan

Ruth Millikan’s teleological theory of mental content is complex and often misunderstood. This paper motivates and clarifies some of the complexities of the theory, and shows that paying careful attention to its details yields answers to a number of common objections to teleological theories, in particular, the problem of novel mental states, the problem of functionally false beliefs, and problems about indeterminacy or multiplicity of function

Thermodynamics of Two Flavor QCD to Sixth Order in Quark Chemical Potential

We present results of a simulation of 2-flavor QCD on a 4x16^3 lattice using p4-improved staggered fermions with bare quark mass m/T=0.4. Derivatives of the thermodynamic grand canonical partition function Z(V,T,mu_u,mu_d) with respect to chemical potentials mu_(u,d) for different quark flavors are calculated up to sixth order, enabling estimates of the pressure and the quark number density as well as the chiral condensate and various susceptibilities as functions of mu_q = (mu_u + mu_d)/2 via Taylor series expansion. Furthermore, we analyze baryon as well as isospin fluctuations and discuss the relation between the radius of convergence of the Taylor series and the chiral critical point in the QCD phase diagram. We argue that bulk thermodynamic observables do not, at present, provide direct evidence for the existence of a chiral critical point in the QCD phase diagram. Results are compared to high temperature perturbation theory as well as a hadron resonance gas model.Comment: 38 pages, 30 encapsulated postscript figures, typo corrected, 1 footnote adde