Phonon Squeezing in a Superconducting Molecular Transistor

Josephson transport through a single molecule or carbon nanotube is considered in the presence of a local vibrational mode coupled to the electronic charge. The ground-state solution is obtained exactly in the limit of a large superconducting gap, and is extended to the general case by variational analysis. Coherent charge fluctuations are entangled with non-classical phonon states. The Josephson current induces squeezing of the phonon mode, which is controlled by the superconducting phase difference and by the junction asymmetry. Optical probes of non-classical phonon states are briefly discussed

Theoretical Validity and Empirical Utility of a Constructionist Analytics

Wing-Chung Ho offers an extensive critique of what he calls our “radical constructionist approach to family experience,” questioning the theoretical validity and empirical utility of the research program. This article responds to the charges in the broader context of the program\u27s constructionist analytics, discussing family\u27s experiential location, organizational embeddedness, and the importance of ethnographic sensibility. A brief extract of situated talk and interaction is presented to illustrate the discursive complexity and institutional bearings of family as a category of experience. The conclusion takes up the issue of whether the program is radical in conceptualization and empirical realization

Animating Interview Narratives

This chapter discusses the implications of viewing the interview as an actively constructed conversation through which narrative data are produced. It explores the ramifications of framing the interview and resulting data as by-products of interpretive practice - the whats and hows of an animated process involving active subjects behind interview participants. Matters of reliability, validity, bias, and rigor are considered

Don\u27t Argue with the Members

Mel Pollner regularly cautioned researchers not to argue with the members of settings under consideration. He warned against substituting the researcher’s meaning for the meanings of those being studied. This article discusses facets of the caution as they relate to the research process. Seemingly simple, the tenet is nuanced in application. The article adds to the nuance by distinguishing what is called the “replacement” of meaning with the “displacement” of meaning, providing a way of understanding what members could mean if the contexts and settings of their accounts were taken into consideration

Lowest Order Effective Field Theory for the weak ΛN\Lambda N interaction

The $|\Delta S|=1$ $\Lambda N$ interaction, responsible for the decay of hypernuclei, is studied by means of an Effective Field Theory where the long range physics is described by pion and kaon exchange mechanisms, and its short range counterpart is obtained from the most general non-derivative local four-fermion interaction. We show that, including the Lowest Order Parity Conserving contact terms, allows us to reproduce the total decay rates for $^5_\Lambda {\rm He}$, $^{11}_\Lambda {\rm B}$ and $^{12}_\Lambda {\rm C}$ with a reasonable value of ${\hat \chi^2}$, while in order to get a prediction for the Parity Violating (PV) asymmetry compatible with experiments, we have to include the Lowest Order PV contact pieces.Comment: 3 pages, no figures. Contribution to the 17th International IUPAP Conference on Few-body Problems in Physics, June 5-10, 2003 Durham, North Carolina, USA. Uses espcrc1.st

Anomalies in Quantum Mechanics: the 1/r^2 Potential

An anomaly is said to occur when a symmetry that is valid classically becomes broken as a result of quantization. Although most manifestations of this phenomenon are in the context of quantum field theory, there are at least two cases in quantum mechanics--the two dimensional delta function interaction and the 1/r^2 potential. The former has been treated in this journal; in this article we discuss the physics of the latter together with experimental consequences.Comment: 16 page latex file; to be published in Am. J. Phy