The Hitchin-Witten Connection and Complex Quantum Chern-Simons Theory

We give a direct calculation of the curvature of the Hitchin connection, in geometric quantization on a symplectic manifold, using only differential geometric techniques. In particular, we establish that the curvature acts as a first-order operator on the quantum spaces. Projective flatness follows if the K\"ahler structures do not admit holomorphic vector fields. Following Witten, we define a complex variant of the Hitchin connection on the bundle of prequantum spaces. The curvature is essentially unchanged, so projective flatness holds in the same cases. Finally, the results are applied to quantum Chern-Simons theory, both for compact and complex gauge groups

Subsidiary redefinition: Charter loss in a German-owned subsidiary in Hungary

Based on a literature review and a single case study approach, this paper provides insights into the actors, interests and dynamics of charter losses. It reports the results of interviews with 20 managers at different units of Siemens ICN (Information & Communication Network division) in Germany, Hungary and Austria, including the Hungarian subsidiary where the charter loss occurred, the German headquarters, and the main competing subsidiaries. Furthermore, the paper sheds light on the questions: to what extent and by what combination of host country, subsidiary-related and MNC structural and organizational factors do situations develop in which a subsidiary loses its charter. Our findings show that there is no single reason for a charter loss, but multiple interdependent reasons subject to divergent interpretations, reflecting the micropolitical interests of the key actors. The case study further elucidates that there is room for strategic action at the subsidiary level to avert a charter loss, whereby anticipatory adjustment of the subsidiary towards more balanced internal and external embeddedness as well as constant interpersonal networking with the headquarters office are two important prerequisites. -- Dieser Beitrag beschäftigt sich auf Basis einer Fallstudie mit der Frage, warum Tochtergesellschaften multinationaler Unternehmen Mandate verlieren. Mandate sind zeitlich und inhaltlich befristete, von der Unternehmenszentrale eines multinationalen Unternehmens verliehene oder von einzelnen Tochtergesellschaften errungene Kompetenzen bzw. Verantwortlichkeiten, die die konzerninterne Arbeitsteilung in einem multinationalen Unternehmen definieren. Es werden Ergebnisse aus Interviews mit mehr als 20 Managern der Siemens- Sparte für Vermittlungstechnik (Information and Communications Networks oder kurz ICN) in Deutschland, Ungarn und Österreich präsentiert. Der Beitrag verdeutlicht, dass es verschiedene interdependente Ursachen für Mandatsverluste gibt, die je nach den mikro-politischen Interessen der wesentlichen Akteure unterschiedlich interpretiert werden. Die Fallstudie verweist zugleich auf Spielräume für strategisches Handeln auf der Tochtergesellschaftsebene. Wesentliche Ansatzpunkte sind dabei eine strategische Ausbalancierung von interner und externer Eingebundenheit der Tochtergesellschaft sowie eine stark auf interpersonelle Kontakte abstellende Vernetzung der Tochtergesellschaftsmanager mit der Konzernzentrale.

Statistical properties of polarized CMB foreground maps

Foreground removal techniques for CMB analyses make specific assumptions about the properties of foregrounds in temperature and in polarization. By investigating the statistics of foreground components more understanding about the degree to which these assumptions are valid can be obtained. In this work we investigate $E$- and $B$-mode maps of the two strongest polarized foregrounds, synchrotron and thermal dust emission, with regards to their similarity with Gaussian processes, their spectral variations and cross-correlations. We perform tests in patches of $\sim3.7^\circ$ size collectively covering the full sky and find most of them to conform with their Gaussian expectation according to the statistics in use. Correlations exhibit distinct differences in $E$- and $B$-mode signals which point towards necessities in foreground removal methods. We discuss potential consequences and possible further directions.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures. v3: Complementary results added, esp. in Appendix. Accepted by MNRA

Evidence of Development

Development organizations work within a complex system where they have to show their expertise and ensure that their interventions have a positive impact, while simultaneously prioritize different accountabilities to both their patrons, clients and themselves. This case study of the Danish Red Cross Youth is focused on their participatory youth-leadership project in rural Zimbabwe; particularly the design and development of the project. The study is concerned with how the organization uses evidence and other types of knowledge within their work, and how their different accountabilities affect their engagement with evidence. The research shows that the organization uses not just evidence but also experience in their work. Through the monitoring and evaluation they work to create context specific evidence in order to show the impact of their work, but they also manipulate their experience to resemble evidence in order to appear evidence-based. Furthermore, the organization prioritizes their accountabilities differently at different stages of the project and for different purposes. This has a direct impact on how they use the evidence and experience they have

Simulation Techniques

In the papers surveyed in this thesis a number of simulation techniques are presented together with their applications to several examples. The papers improve upon existing techniques and introduce new techniques. The improvement of existing techniques is motivated in programming methodology: It is demonstrated that existing techniques often introduce a double proof burden whereas the improved techniques alleviate such a burden. One application is to ensure delay insensitivity in a class of self-timed circuits. A major part of the thesis is concerned with the deduction and use of two simulation techniques to prove the correctness of translations from subsets of occam-2 to transputer code

Reuse of Invariants in Proofs of Implementation

In this paper we describe a technique to inherit safety properties from abstract programs to their implementations. With this technique repetition of many proofs can be avoided. Let P be a concurrent program and P' its implementation. The basic idea is taken from L. Lamport: establish a map alpha from the state space of P' to the state space of P, and map all reachable atomic transitions (s', t') of P' to pairs of states, (alpha(s'),alpha(t')), in the state space of P; if each pair can be demonstrated to be either an atomic transition of P or the empty transition, alpha(s') = alpha(t') , then any safety property of P invariant to arbitrary repetition of states induce a similar safety property of P'. For many programs some of the unreachable transitions in P' do not map this way; hence it may be necessary to characterise the reachable states of P' in advance of the above demonstration. We prove that the properties we want to inherit can safely be used for this. The main purpose of the paper is to demonstrate the utility of such a result. The theoretical results in the paper are worked out into gradually more powerful techniques for inheriting safety properties. These proof techniques are illustrated with examples