31 research outputs found
Classical and quantum properties of a 2-sphere singularity
Recently Boehmer and Lobo have shown that a metric due to Florides, which has
been used as an interior Schwarzschild solution, can be extended to reveal a
classical singularity that has the form of a two-sphere. Here the singularity
is shown to be a scalar curvature singularity that is both timelike and
gravitationally weak. It is also shown to be a quantum singularity because the
Klein-Gordon operator associated with quantum mechanical particles approaching
the singularity is not essentially self-adjoint.Comment: 10 pages, 1 figure, minor corrections, final versio
Mining metrics for buried treasure
The same but different: That might describe two metrics. On the surface
CLASSI may show two metrics are locally equivalent, but buried beneath one may
be a wealth of further structure. This was beautifully described in a paper by
M.A.H. MacCallum in 1998. Here I will illustrate the effect with two flat
metrics -- one describing ordinary Minkowski spacetime and the other describing
a three-parameter family of Gal'tsov-Letelier-Tod spacetimes. I will dig out
the beautiful hidden classical singularity structure of the latter (a structure
first noticed by Tod in 1994) and then show how quantum considerations can
illuminate the riches. I will then discuss how quantum structure can help us
understand classical singularities and metric parameters in a variety of exact
solutions mined from the Exact Solutions book.Comment: 16 pages, no figures, minor grammatical changes, submitted to
Proceedings of the Malcolm@60 Conference (London, July 2004
Fermionic Casimir effect with helix boundary condition
In this paper, we consider the fermionic Casimir effect under a new type of
space-time topology using the concept of quotient topology. The relation
between the new topology and that in Ref. \cite{Feng,Zhai3} is something like
that between a M\"obius strip and a cylindric. We obtain the exact results of
the Casimir energy and force for the massless and massive Dirac fields in the
()-dimensional space-time. For both massless and massive cases, there is a
symmetry for the Casimir energy. To see the effect of the mass, we
compare the result with that of the massless one and we found that the Casimir
force approaches the result of the force in the massless case when the mass
tends to zero and vanishes when the mass tends to infinity.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, published in Eur. Phys. J.
Quantum singularities in a model of f(R) Gravity
The formation of a naked singularity in a model of f(R) gravity having as
source a linear electromagnetic field is considered in view of quantum
mechanics. Quantum test fields obeying the Klein-Gordon, Dirac and Maxwell
equations are used to probe the classical timelike naked singularity developed
at r=0. We prove that the spatial derivative operator of the fields fails to be
essentially self-adjoint. As a result, the classical timelike naked singularity
remains quantum mechanically singular when it is probed with quantum fields
having different spin structures.Comment: 12 pages, final version. Accepted for publication in EPJ
The physiology of locust hindgut muscle with reference to the possible effects of azadirachtin
SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:DX97807 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo
Social capital and the status externality
This paper investigates how the presence of social capital affects the externality arising from status-seeking preference as a parable for inefficient antagonistic behavior. It is assumed that the stock of social capital accumulates through the strategic interaction among rational, infinitely-lived, individuals of a finite number. Using a differential game, we show that there are two types of Markov perfect equilibrium strategies, of which one leads a society to zero social capital, while the other leads to the satiation level of social capital. When there is an unstable interior steady state, there is a threshold: with any initial stock of social capital above (below) that, society is able to build social capital (correspondingly, get stuck in a poverty trap of null social capital). In the latter case, the intervention of governments is called upon, because social welfare in the poverty trap is less than that in the social capital-rich society. JEL classification: C72; D91; Z1
Ixekizumab treatment of biologic-naive patients with active psoriatic arthritis: 3-year results from a phase III clinical trial (SPIRIT-P1)
Objective. The aim was to assess the safety and efficacy of up to 156 weeks of ixekizumab (an IL-17A antagonist) treatment in PsA patients.Methods. In a phase III study, patients naive to biologic treatment were randomized to placebo, adalimumab 40 mg every 2 weeks (ADA; active reference) or ixekizumab 80 mg every 2 weeks (IXEQ2W) or every 4 weeks (IXEQ4W) after an initial dose of 160 mg. At week 24 (week 16 for inadequate responders), ADA (after 8-week washout) and placebo patients were re-randomized to IXEQ2W or IXEQ4W. Outcomes were evaluated using a modified non-responder imputation [linear extrapolation for radiographic progression (modified total Sharp score = 0)] during extended treatment until week 156.Results. Of 417 patients, 381 entered the extension, and 243 of 381 (63.8%) completed the 156-week study. Incidence rates of treatment-emergent and serious adverse events, respectively, were 38.0 and 5.2 with IXEQ2W (n =189) and 38.1 and 8.0 with IXEQ4W (n =197). One death occurred (IXEQ4W). With IXEQ2W and IXEQ4W, respectively, the response rates persisted to week 156 as measured by the ACR response >= 20% (62.5 and 69.8%), >= 50% (56.1 and 51.8%) and >= 70% (43.8 and 33.4%), psoriasis area and severity index (PASI) 75 (69.1 and 63.5%), PASI 90 (64.5 and 51.2%) and PASI 100 (60.5 and 43.6%). Inhibition of radiographic progression also persisted to week 156 in 61% of IXEQ2W and 71% of IXEQ4W patients.Conclusion. In this 156-week study of ixekizumab, the safety profile remained consistent with previous reports, and improvements in signs and symptoms of PsA were observed, including persistent low rates of radiographic progression
Essential self-adjointness: implications for determinism and the classicalâquantum correspondence
It is argued that seemingly âmerely technicalâ issues about the existence and uniqueness of self-adjoint extensions of symmetric operators in quantum mechanics have interesting implications for foundations problems in classical and quantum physics. For example, pursuing these technical issues reveals a sense in which quantum mechanics can cure some of the forms of indeterminism that crop up in classical mechanics; and at the same time it reveals the possibility of a form of indeterminism in quantum mechanics that is quite distinct from the indeterminism of state vector collapse. More generally, the examples considered indicate that the classicalâquantum correspondence is more intricate and delicate than is generally appreciated. The aim of the article is to give a series of examples that reveal why the technical issues about self-adjointness are relevant to the philosophy of science and that help to make the issues accessible to philosophers of science