Religious Conversion in 40 Countries

Questions about current and prior religion adherence from the International Social Survey Program and the World Values Survey allow us to calculate country-level religious-conversion rates for 40 countries. These conversion rates apply to religion adherence classified into eight major types. In a theoretical model based on rational individual choice, the frequency of religious conversion depends on factors that influence the cost of switching and the cost of having the "wrong" religion. Empirical findings for a panel of countries accord with several hypotheses: religious-conversion rates are positively related to religious pluralism, gauged by adherence shares; negatively related to government restrictions on religious conversion; positively related to levels of education; and negatively related to a history of Communism. Conversion rates are not much related to per capita GDP, the presence of state religion, and the extent of religiosity. Effects from the type of religion adherence are minor, except for a negative effect from Muslim adherence. The empirical results are robust to alternative specifications of the religion groupings used to construct the conversion rates.

Simple BRST quantization of general gauge models

It is shown that the BRST charge $Q$ for any gauge model with a Lie algebra symmetry may be decomposed as Q=\del+\del^{\dag}, \del^2=\del^{\dag 2}=0, [\del, \del^{\dag}]_+=0 provided dynamical Lagrange multipliers are used but without introducing other matter variables in \del than the gauge generators in $Q$. Furthermore, \del is shown to have the form \del=c^{\dag a}\phi_a (or $\phi'_ac^{\dag a}$) where $c^a$ are anticommuting expressions in the ghosts and Lagrange multipliers, and where the non-hermitian operators $\phi_a$ satisfy the same Lie algebra as the original gauge generators. By means of a bigrading the BRST condition reduces to \del|ph\hb=\del^{\dag}|ph\hb=0 which is naturally solved by c^a|ph\hb=\phi_a|ph\hb=0 (or c^{\dag a}|ph\hb={\phi'_a}^{\dag}|ph\hb=0). The general solutions are shown to have a very simple form.Comment: 18 pages, Late

Brain-Switches for Asynchronous Brain−Computer Interfaces: A Systematic Review

A brain–computer interface (BCI) has been extensively studied to develop a novel communication system for disabled people using their brain activities. An asynchronous BCI system is more realistic and practical than a synchronous BCI system, in that, BCI commands can be generated whenever the user wants. However, the relatively low performance of an asynchronous BCI system is problematic because redundant BCI commands are required to correct false-positive operations. To significantly reduce the number of false-positive operations of an asynchronous BCI system, a two-step approach has been proposed using a brain-switch that first determines whether the user wants to use an asynchronous BCI system before the operation of the asynchronous BCI system. This study presents a systematic review of the state-of-the-art brain-switch techniques and future research directions. To this end, we reviewed brain-switch research articles published from 2000 to 2019 in terms of their (a) neuroimaging modality, (b) paradigm, (c) operation algorithm, and (d) performance

A general BRST approach to string theories with zeta function regularizations

We propose a new general BRST approach to string and string-like theories which have a wider range of applicability than e g the conventional conformal field theory method. The method involves a simple general regularization of all basic commutators which makes all divergent sums to be expressible in terms of zeta functions from which finite values then may be extracted in a rigorous manner. The method is particular useful in order to investigate possible state space representations to a given model. The method is applied to three string models: The ordinary bosonic string, the tensionless string and the conformal tensionless string. We also investigate different state spaces for these models. The tensionless string models are treated in details. Although we mostly rederive known results they appear in a new fashion which deepens our understanding of these models. Furthermore, we believe that our treatment is more rigorous than most of the previous ones. In the case of the conformal tensionless string we find a new solution for d=4.Comment: 21 pages,Latexfile,revised presentation, previous title:"Critical dimensions and zeta regularizations in string theories

An All Linear Optical Quantum Memory Based on Quantum Error Correction

When photons are sent through a fiber as part of a quantum communication protocol, the error that is most difficult to correct is photon loss. Here, we propose and analyze a two-to-four qubit encoding scheme, which can recover the loss of one qubit in the transmission. This device acts as a repeater when it is placed in series to cover a distance larger than the attenuation length of the fiber, and it acts as an optical quantum memory when it is inserted in a fiber loop. We call this dual-purpose device a ``quantum transponder.''Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure

Discovery of X-Ray-Emitting O-Ne-Mg-Rich Ejecta in the Galactic Supernova Remnant Puppis A

We report on the discovery of X-ray--emitting O-Ne-Mg-rich ejecta in the middle-aged Galactic O-rich supernova remnant Puppis A with Chandra and XMM-Newton. We use line ratios to identify a low-ionization filament running parallel to the northeastern edge of the remnant that requires supersolar abundances, particularly for O, Ne, and Mg, which we interpret to be from O-Ne-Mg-rich ejecta. Abundance ratios of Ne/O, Mg/O, and Fe/O are measured to be ~2, ~2, and <0.3 times the solar values. Our spatially-resolved spectral analysis from the northeastern rim to the western rim otherwise reveals sub-solar abundances consistent with those in the interstellar medium. The filament is coincident with several optically emitting O-rich knots with high velocities. If these are physically related, the filament would be a peculiar fragment of ejecta. On the other hand, the morphology of the filament suggests that it may trace ejecta heated by a shock reflected strongly off the dense ambient clouds near the northeastern rim.Comment: Published onlin