243 research outputs found
Primordialists and Constructionists: a typology of theories of religion
This article adopts categories from nationalism theory to classify theories of religion. Primordialist explanations are grounded in evolutionary psychology and emphasize the innate human demand for religion. Primordialists predict that religion does not decline in the modern era but will endure in perpetuity. Constructionist theories argue that religious demand is a human construct. Modernity initially energizes religion, but subsequently undermines it. Unpacking these ideal types is necessary in order to describe actual theorists of religion. Three distinctions within primordialism and constructionism are relevant. Namely those distinguishing: a) materialist from symbolist forms of constructionism; b) theories of origins from those pertaining to the reproduction of religion; and c) within reproduction, between theories of religious persistence and secularization. This typology helps to make sense of theories of religion by classifying them on the basis of their causal mechanisms, chronology and effects. In so doing, it opens up new sightlines for theory and research
Search for composite and exotic fermions at LEP 2
A search for unstable heavy fermions with the DELPHI detector at LEP is
reported. Sequential and non-canonical leptons, as well as excited leptons and
quarks, are considered. The data analysed correspond to an integrated
luminosity of about 48 pb^{-1} at an e^+e^- centre-of-mass energy of 183 GeV
and about 20 pb^{-1} equally shared between the centre-of-mass energies of 172
GeV and 161 GeV. The search for pair-produced new leptons establishes 95%
confidence level mass limits in the region between 70 GeV/c^2 and 90 GeV/c^2,
depending on the channel. The search for singly produced excited leptons and
quarks establishes upper limits on the ratio of the coupling of the excited
fermio
Search for lightest neutralino and stau pair production in light gravitino scenarios with stau NLSP
Promptly decaying lightest neutralinos and long-lived staus are searched for
in the context of light gravitino scenarios. It is assumed that the stau is the
next to lightest supersymmetric particle (NLSP) and that the lightest
neutralino is the next to NLSP (NNLSP). Data collected with the Delphi detector
at centre-of-mass energies from 161 to 183 \GeV are analysed. No evidence of
the production of these particles is found. Hence, lower mass limits for both
kinds of particles are set at 95% C.L.. The mass of gaugino-like neutralinos is
found to be greater than 71.5 GeV/c^2. In the search for long-lived stau,
masses less than 70.0 to 77.5 \GeVcc are excluded for gravitino masses from 10
to 150 \eVcc . Combining this search with the searches for stable heavy leptons
and Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model staus a lower limit of 68.5 \GeVcc
may be set for the stau mas
Hadronization properties of b quarks compared to light quarks in e+e- -> q qbar from 183 to 200 GeV
The DELPHI detector at LEP has collected 54 pb^{-1} of data at a
centre-of-mass energy around 183 GeV during 1997, 158 pb^{-1} around 189 GeV
during 1998, and 187 pb^{-1} between 192 and 200 GeV during 1999. These data
were used to measure the average charged particle multiplicity in e+e- -> b
bbar events, _{bb}, and the difference delta_{bl} between _{bb} and the
multiplicity, _{ll}, in generic light quark (u,d,s) events: delta_{bl}(183
GeV) = 4.55 +/- 1.31 (stat) +/- 0.73 (syst) delta_{bl}(189 GeV) = 4.43 +/- 0.85
(stat) +/- 0.61 (syst) delta_{bl}(200 GeV) = 3.39 +/- 0.89 (stat) +/- 1.01
(syst). This result is consistent with QCD predictions, while it is
inconsistent with calculations assuming that the multiplicity accompanying the
decay of a heavy quark is independent of the mass of the quark itself.Comment: 13 pages, 2 figure
- …