Semi-analytic calculation of the monopole order parameter in QCD

The monopole order parameter of QCD is computed in terms of gauge invariant field strength correlators. Both quantities are partially known from numerical simulations on the lattice. A new insight results on the structure of the confining vacuum.Comment: Talk presented at QCD06, Montpellier 3-7 July 2006. To appear in the proceeding

Implicit-Explicit multistep methods for hyperbolic systems with multiscale relaxation

We consider the development of high order space and time numerical methods based on Implicit-Explicit (IMEX) multistep time integrators for hyperbolic systems with relaxation. More specifically, we consider hyperbolic balance laws in which the convection and the source term may have very different time and space scales. As a consequence the nature of the asymptotic limit changes completely, passing from a hyperbolic to a parabolic system. From the computational point of view, standard numerical methods designed for the fluid-dynamic scaling of hyperbolic systems with relaxation present several drawbacks and typically lose efficiency in describing the parabolic limit regime. In this work, in the context of Implicit-Explicit linear multistep methods we construct high order space-time discretizations which are able to handle all the different scales and to capture the correct asymptotic behavior, independently from its nature, without time step restrictions imposed by the fast scales. Several numerical examples confirm the theoretical analysis

Gauge-invariant nonlocal quark condensates in QCD

We study, by numerical simulations on a lattice, the behaviour of the gauge-invariant nonlocal quark condensates in the QCD vacuum both in the quenched approximation and with four flavours of dynamical staggered fermions. The correlation length of the condensate is determined to be roughly twice as big as in the case of the gluon field strength correlators.Comment: LATTICE98(confine

't Hooft tensor for generic gauge group

We study monopoles in gauge theories with generic gauge group. Magnetic charges are in one-to-one correspondence with the second homotopy classes at spatial infinity (${\Pi}_2$), which are therefore identified by the 't Hooft tensor. We determine the 't Hooft tensor in the general case. These issues are relevant to the understanding of Color Confinement.Comment: 5 pages. Contribution to the Conference QCD08, Montpellier 7-12 July 2008 To appear in the proceeding

Biaxiality in the asymptotic analysis of a 2-D Landau-de Gennes model for liquid crystals

We consider the Landau-de Gennes variational problem on a bound\-ed, two dimensional domain, subject to Dirichlet smooth boundary conditions. We prove that minimizers are maximally biaxial near the singularities, that is, their biaxiality parameter reaches the maximum value $1$. Moreover, we discuss the convergence of minimizers in the vanishing elastic constant limit. Our asymptotic analysis is performed in a general setting, which recovers the Landau-de Gennes problem as a specific case.Comment: 34 pages, 2 figures; typos corrected, minor changes in proofs. Results are unchange

From sudden quench to adiabatic dynamics in the attractive Hubbard model

We study the crossover between the sudden quench limit and the adiabatic dynamics of superconducting states in the attractive Hubbard model. We focus on the dynamics induced by the change of the attractive interaction during a finite ramp time which is varied in order to track the evolution of the dynamical phase diagram from the sudden quench to the equilibrium limit. Two different dynamical regimes are realized for quenches towards weak and strong coupling interactions. At weak coupling the dynamics depends only on the energy injected into the system, whereas a dynamics retaining memory of the initial state takes place at strong coupling. We show that this is related to a sharp transition between a weak and a strong coupling quench dynamical regime, which defines the boundaries beyond which a dynamics independent from the initial state is recovered. Comparing the dynamics in the superconducting and non-superconducting phases we argue that this is due to the lack of an adiabatic connection to the equilibrium ground state for non-equilibrium superconducting states in the strong coupling quench regime.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figure

Recent LHCb Results

The LHCb experiment started its physics program with the 37/pb of pp collisions at 7 TeV c.m. energy delivered by the LHC during 2010. The performances and capability of the experiment, conceived for precision measurements in the heavy flavour sector, are illustrated through the first results from the experimental core program. A rich set of production studies provide precision QCD and EW tests in the unique high rapidity region covered by LHCb. Notably, results for W and Z production are very encouraging for setting constraints on the parton PDFs.Comment: Proceedings for the "XIX International Workshop on Deep-Inelastic Scattering and Related Subjects" (DIS2011), Newport News (USA), April 11th -15th 201

Imagining Village Life in Zambian Fiction

The dualism between the urban and the rural space, and between the systems of social relationships obtaining in each sphere, has proved to be an enduring source of inspiration to African fictional writers since the inception of the genre. Many studies of the genre, however, have failed to recognise the extent to which literary representations of the town and the village have changed over time. Using the case of Zambia, this paper argues that African ideas about the city and the country - and their literary expressions - are historically contingent and rooted in specific socio-economic contexts

A Paradox of Inferentialism

John McDowell articulated a radical criticism of normative inferentialism against Robert Brandom’s expressivist account of conceptual contents. One of his main concerns consists in vindicating a notion of intentionality that could not be reduced to the deontic relations that are established by discursive practitioners. Noticeably, large part of this discussion is focused on empirical knowledge and observational judgments. McDowell argues that there is no role for inference in the application of observational concepts, except the paradoxical one of justifying the content of an observational judgment in terms of itself. This paper examines the semantical consequences of the analysis of the content of empirical judgments in terms of their inferential role. These, it is suggested, are distinct from the epistemological paradoxes that McDowell charges the inferentialist approach with

Higgs and Beyond Standard Model Searches at LEP

Extensive searches for Higgs bosons and other new phenomena predicted by extensions of the Standard Model have been performed at LEP. A summary is given reviewing the principal aspects and presenting a selection of results.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures, talk presented at Hadron Structure 2004, Smolenice Castle, Slovaki