Multilingualism and the Brexit referendum

This chapter argues that the (lack of) foreign language skills has contributed to the outcome of the Brexit referendum. Theory suggests that speaking foreign languages reduces perceptions of cultural distance and contributes to the formation of transnational identities. Research also shows a link between language skills and European identity (Kuhn 2015; Díez Medrano 2018). Did Britons’ relative lack of foreign language skills play a role in the Brexit decision? Using matching methods and data from the referendum wave of the British Election Study, it is possible to estimate the effect of foreign language skills on the referendum vote. The results suggest that a significant effect of foreign language skills remains, even when taking into account education, age, gender, income, and region, party preference, and personality differences

A perspective on SIDS pathogenesis. The hypotheses: plausibility and evidence

Several theories of the underlying mechanisms of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) have been proposed. These theories have born relatively narrow beach-head research programs attracting generous research funding sustained for many years at expense to the public purse. This perspective endeavors to critically examine the evidence and bases of these theories and determine their plausibility; and questions whether or not a safe and reasoned hypothesis lies at their foundation. The Opinion sets specific criteria by asking the following questions: 1. Does the hypothesis take into account the key pathological findings in SIDS? 2. Is the hypothesis congruent with the key epidemiological risk factors? 3. Does it link 1 and 2? Falling short of any one of these answers, by inference, would imply insufficient grounds for a sustainable hypothesis. Some of the hypotheses overlap, for instance, notional respiratory failure may encompass apnea, prone sleep position, and asphyxia which may be seen to be linked to co-sleeping. For the purposes of this paper, each element will be assessed on the above criteria

Arrival Directions of Cosmic Rays above 32 EeV from Phase One of the Pierre Auger Observatory

A promising energy range to look for angular correlations between cosmic rays of extragalactic origin and their sources is at the highest energies, above a few tens of EeV (1 EeV equivalent to 10^(18) eV). Despite the flux of these particles being extremely low, the area of similar to 3000 km^(2) covered at the Pierre Auger Observatory, and the 17 yr data-taking period of the Phase 1 of its operations, have enabled us to measure the arrival directions of more than 2600 ultra-high-energy cosmic rays above 32 EeV. We publish this data set, the largest available at such energies from an integrated exposure of 122,000 km^(2) sr yr, and search it for anisotropies over the 3.4 pi steradians covered with the Observatory. Evidence for a deviation in excess of isotropy at intermediate angular scales, with similar to 15 degrees Gaussian spread or similar to 25 degrees top-hat radius, is obtained at the 4 sigma significance level for cosmic-ray energies above similar to 40 EeV

Search for Ultra-high-energy Photons from Gravitational Wave Sources with the Pierre Auger Observatory

A search for time-directional coincidences of ultra-high-energy (UHE) photons above 10 EeV with gravitational wave (GW) events from the LIGO/Virgo runs O1 to O3 is conducted with the Pierre Auger Observatory. Due to the distinctive properties of photon interactions and to the background expected from hadronic showers, a subset of the most interesting GW events is selected based on their localization quality and distance. Time periods of 1000 s around and 1 day after the GW events are analyzed. No coincidences are observed. Upper limits on the UHE photon fluence from a GW event are derived that are typically at & SIM;7 MeV cm(-2) (time period 1000 s) and & SIM;35 MeV cm(-2) (time period 1 day). Due to the proximity of the binary neutron star merger GW170817, the energy of the source transferred into UHE photons above 40 EeV is constrained to be less than 20% of its total GW energy. These are the first limits on UHE photons from GW sources

Searches for Ultra-High-Energy Photons at the Pierre Auger Observatory

The Pierre Auger Observatory, which is the largest air-shower experiment in the world, offers unprecedented exposure to neutral particles at the highest energies. Since the start of data collection more than 18 years ago, various searches for ultra-high-energy (UHE, E greater than or similar to 10^(17) eV) photons have been performed, either for a diffuse flux of UHE photons, for point sources of UHE photons or for UHE photons associated with transient events such as gravitational wave events. In the present paper, we summarize these searches and review the current results obtained using the wealth of data collected by the Pierre Auger Observatory

Quantum Spacetime Phenomenology

I review the current status of phenomenological programs inspired by quantum-spacetime research. I stress in particular the significance of results establishing that certain data analyses provide sensitivity to effects introduced genuinely at the Planck scale. And my main focus is on phenomenological programs that managed to affect the directions taken by studies of quantum-spacetime theories.Comment: 125 pages, LaTex. This V2 is updated and more detailed than the V1, particularly for quantum-spacetime phenomenology. The main text of this V2 is about 25% more than the main text of the V1. Reference list roughly double

Multi-messenger observations of a binary neutron star merger

On 2017 August 17 a binary neutron star coalescence candidate (later designated GW170817) with merger time 12:41:04 UTC was observed through gravitational waves by the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo detectors. The Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor independently detected a gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) with a time delay of ~1.7 s with respect to the merger time. From the gravitational-wave signal, the source was initially localized to a sky region of 31 deg2 at a luminosity distance of 40+8-8 Mpc and with component masses consistent with neutron stars. The component masses were later measured to be in the range 0.86 to 2.26 Mo. An extensive observing campaign was launched across the electromagnetic spectrum leading to the discovery of a bright optical transient (SSS17a, now with the IAU identification of AT 2017gfo) in NGC 4993 (at ~40 Mpc) less than 11 hours after the merger by the One- Meter, Two Hemisphere (1M2H) team using the 1 m Swope Telescope. The optical transient was independently detected by multiple teams within an hour. Subsequent observations targeted the object and its environment. Early ultraviolet observations revealed a blue transient that faded within 48 hours. Optical and infrared observations showed a redward evolution over ~10 days. Following early non-detections, X-ray and radio emission were discovered at the transient’s position ~9 and ~16 days, respectively, after the merger. Both the X-ray and radio emission likely arise from a physical process that is distinct from the one that generates the UV/optical/near-infrared emission. No ultra-high-energy gamma-rays and no neutrino candidates consistent with the source were found in follow-up searches. These observations support the hypothesis that GW170817 was produced by the merger of two neutron stars in NGC4993 followed by a short gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) and a kilonova/macronova powered by the radioactive decay of r-process nuclei synthesized in the ejecta