11,865 research outputs found
Does e-learning policy drive change in Higher Education?: A case study relating models of organisational change to e-learning implementation
Due to the heightened competition introduced by the potential global market and the need for structural changes within organisations delivering e-content, e-learning policy is beginning to take on a more significant role within the context of educational policy per se. For this reason, it is becoming increasingly important to establish what effect such policies have and how they are achieved. This paper addresses this question, illustrating five ways in which change is understood (Fordist, evolutionary, ecological, community of practice and discourse-oriented) and then using this range of perspectives to explore how e-learning policy drives change (both organisational and pedagogic) within a selected higher education institution. The implications of this case are then discussed, and both methodological and pragmatic conclusions are drawn, considering the relative insights offered by the models and ways in which change around e-learning might be supported or promoted
Work statistics across a quantum phase transition
We investigate the statistics of the work performed during a quench across a
quantum phase transition using the adiabatic perturbation theory. It is shown
that all the cumulants of work exhibit universal scaling behavior analogous to
the Kibble-Zurek scaling for the average density of defects. Two kinds of
transformations are considered: quenches between two gapped phases in which a
critical point is traversed, and quenches that end near the critical point. In
contrast to the scaling behavior of the density of defects, the scaling
behavior of the work cumulants are shown to be qualitatively different for
these two kinds of quenches. However, in both cases the corresponding exponents
are fully determined by the dimension of the system and the critical exponents
of the transition, as in the traditional Kibble-Zurek mechanism (KZM). Thus,
our study deepens our understanding about the nonequilibrium dynamics of a
quantum phase transition by revealing the imprint of the KZM on the work
statistics
QCD and QED Corrections to Light-by-Light Scattering
We present the QCD and QED corrections to the fermion-loop contributions to
light-by-light scattering, gamma gamma to gamma gamma, in the ultrarelativistic
limit where the kinematic invariants are much larger than the masses of the
charged fermions.Comment: 17 pages, 3 figure files, JHEP styl
Scalar Top Quark Studies with Various Visible Energies
The precision determination of scalar top quark properties will play an
important role at a future International Linear Collider (ILC). Recent and
ongoing studies are discussed for different experimental topologies in the
detector. First results are presented for small mass differences between the
scalar top and neutralino masses. This corresponds to a small expected visible
energy in the detector. An ILC will be a unique accelerator to explore this
scenario. In addition to finding the existence of light stop quarks, the
precise measurement of their properties is crucial for testing their impact on
the dark matter relic abundance and the mechanism of electroweak baryogenesis.
Significant sensitivity for mass differences down to 5 GeV are obtained. The
simulation is based on a fast and realistic detector simulation. A vertex
detector concept of the Linear Collider Flavor Identification
(LCFI)collaboration, which studies pixel detectors for heavy quark flavour
identification, is implemented in the simulations for c-quark tagging. The
study extends simulations for large mass differences (large visible energy) for
which aspects of different detector simulations, the vertex detector design,
and different methods for the determination of the scalar top mass are
discussed. Based on the detailed simulations we study the uncertainties for the
dark matter density predictions and their estimated uncertainties from various
sources. In the region of parameters where stop-neutralino co-annihilation
leads to a value of the relic density consistent with experimental results, as
precisely determined by the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP), the
stop-neutralino mass difference is small and the ILC will be able to explore
this region efficiently.Comment: 11 pages, 11 figures, presented at SUSY'0
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