2,548 research outputs found
Easy on that trigger dad: a study of long term family photo retrieval
We examine the effects of new technologies for digital photography on people's longer term storage and access to collections of personal photos. We report an empirical study of parents' ability to retrieve photos related to salient family events from more than a year ago. Performance was relatively poor with people failing to find almost 40% of pictures. We analyze participants' organizational and access strategies to identify reasons for this poor performance. Possible reasons for retrieval failure include: storing too many pictures, rudimentary organization, use of multiple storage systems, failure to maintain collections and participants' false beliefs about their ability to access photos. We conclude by exploring the technical and theoretical implications of these findings
Generating Complex Potentials with Real Eigenvalues in Supersymmetric Quantum Mechanics
In the framework of SUSYQM extended to deal with non-Hermitian Hamiltonians,
we analyze three sets of complex potentials with real spectra, recently derived
by a potential algebraic approach based upon the complex Lie algebra sl(2, C).
This extends to the complex domain the well-known relationship between SUSYQM
and potential algebras for Hermitian Hamiltonians, resulting from their common
link with the factorization method and Darboux transformations. In the same
framework, we also generate for the first time a pair of elliptic partner
potentials of Weierstrass type, one of them being real and the other
imaginary and PT symmetric. The latter turns out to be quasiexactly solvable
with one known eigenvalue corresponding to a bound state. When the Weierstrass
function degenerates to a hyperbolic one, the imaginary potential becomes PT
non-symmetric and its known eigenvalue corresponds to an unbound state.Comment: 20 pages, Latex 2e + amssym + graphics, 2 figures, accepted in Int.
J. Mod. Phys.
Boundary conditions associated with the Painlev\'e III' and V evaluations of some random matrix averages
In a previous work a random matrix average for the Laguerre unitary ensemble,
generalising the generating function for the probability that an interval at the hard edge contains eigenvalues, was evaluated in terms of
a Painlev\'e V transcendent in -form. However the boundary conditions
for the corresponding differential equation were not specified for the full
parameter space. Here this task is accomplished in general, and the obtained
functional form is compared against the most general small behaviour of
the Painlev\'e V equation in -form known from the work of Jimbo. An
analogous study is carried out for the the hard edge scaling limit of the
random matrix average, which we have previously evaluated in terms of a
Painlev\'e \IIId transcendent in -form. An application of the latter
result is given to the rapid evaluation of a Hankel determinant appearing in a
recent work of Conrey, Rubinstein and Snaith relating to the derivative of the
Riemann zeta function
What makes re-finding information difficult? A study of email re-finding
Re-nding information that has been seen or accessed before is a task which can be relatively straight-forward, but often it can be extremely challenging, time-consuming and frustrating. Little is known, however, about what makes one re-finding task harder or easier than another. We performed a user study to learn about the contextual factors that influence users' perception of task diculty in the context of re-finding email messages. 21 participants were issued re-nding tasks to perform on their own personal collections. The participants' responses to questions about the tasks combined with demographic data and collection statistics for the experimental population provide a rich basis to investigate the variables that can influence the perception of diculty. A logistic regression model was developed to examine the relationships be- tween variables and determine whether any factors were associated with perceived task diculty. The model reveals strong relationships between diculty and the time lapsed since a message was read, remembering when the sought-after email was sent, remembering other recipients of the email, the experience of the user and the user's ling strategy. We discuss what these findings mean for the design of re-nding interfaces and future re-finding research
Exact time correlation functions for N classical Heisenberg spins in the `squashed' equivalent neighbor model
We present exact integral representations of the time-dependent spin-spin
correlation functions for the classical Heisenberg N-spin `squashed' equivalent
neighbor model, in which one spin is coupled via the Heisenberg exchange
interaction with strength to the other N-1 spins, each of which is
coupled via the Heisenberg exchange coupling with strength to the
remaining N-2 spins. At low temperature T we find that the N spins oscillate in
four modes, one of which is a central peak for a semi-infinite range of the
values of the exchange coupling ratio. For the N=4 case of four spins on a
squashed tetrahedron, detailed numerical evaluations of these results are
presented. As , we calculate exactly the long-time asymptotic
behavior of the correlation functions for arbitrary N, and compare our results
with those obtained for three spins on an isosceles triangle.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Exact Superpotentials from Matrix Models
Dijkgraaf and Vafa (DV) have conjectured that the exact superpotential for a
large class of N=1 SUSY gauge theories can be extracted from the planar limit
of a certain holomorphic matrix integral. We test their proposal against
existing knowledge for a family of deformations of N=4 SUSY Yang-Mills theory
involving an arbitrary polynomial superpotential for one of the three adjoint
chiral superfields. Specifically, we compare the DV prediction for these models
with earlier results based on the connection between SUSY gauge theories and
integrable systems. We find complete agreement between the two approaches. In
particular we show how the DV proposal allows the extraction of the exact
eigenvalues of the adjoint scalar in the confining vacuum and hence computes
all related condensates of the finite-N gauge theory. We extend these results
to include Leigh-Strassler deformations of the N=4 theory.Comment: 28 pages, 1 figure, latex with JHEP.cls, replaced with typos
corrected and one clarifying commen
Vortices on Hyperbolic Surfaces
It is shown that abelian Higgs vortices on a hyperbolic surface can be
constructed geometrically from holomorphic maps , where is also
a hyperbolic surface. The fields depend on and on the metrics of and
. The vortex centres are the ramification points, where the derivative of
vanishes. The magnitude of the Higgs field measures the extent to which
is locally an isometry.
Witten's construction of vortices on the hyperbolic plane is rederived, and
new examples of vortices on compact surfaces and on hyperbolic surfaces of
revolution are obtained. The interpretation of these solutions as
SO(3)-invariant, self-dual SU(2) Yang--Mills fields on is also given.Comment: Revised version: new section on four-dimensional interpretation of
hyperbolic vortices added
The Phase Structure of Mass-Deformed SU(2)xSU(2) Quiver Theory
The phase structure of the finite SU(2)xSU(2) theory with N=2 supersymmetry,
broken to N=1 by mass terms for the adjoint-valued chiral multiplets, is
determined exactly by compactifying the theory on a circle of finite radius.
The exact low-energy superpotential is constructed by identifying it as a
linear combination of the Hamiltonians of a certain symplectic reduction of the
spin generalized elliptic Calogero-Moser integrable system. It is shown that
the theory has four confining, two Higgs and two massless Coulomb vacua which
agrees with a simple analysis of the tree-level superpotential of the
four-dimensional theory. In each vacuum, we calculate all the condensates of
the adjoint-valued scalars.Comment: 12 pages, JHEP.cl
World-sheet Instantons via the Myers Effect and N=1^* Quiver Superpotentials
In this note we explore the stringy interpretation of non-perturbative
effects in N=1^* deformations of the A_{k-1} quiver models. For certain types
of deformations we argue that the massive vacua are described by Nk fractional
D3-branes at the orbifold polarizing into k concentric 5-brane spheres each
carrying fractional brane charge. The polarization of the D3-branes induces a
polarization of D-instantons into string world-sheets wrapped on the Myers
spheres. We show that the superpotentials in these models are indeed generated
by these world-sheet instantons. We point out that for certain parameter values
the condensates yield the exact superpotential for a relevant deformation of
the Klebanov-Witten conifold theory.Comment: 24 pages, JHEP, some small errors and typos correcte
Forces between electric charges in motion: Rutherford scattering, circular Keplerian orbits, action-at-a-distance and Newton's third law in relativistic classical electrodynamics
Standard formulae of classical electromagnetism for the forces between
electric charges in motion derived from retarded potentials are compared with
those obtained from a recently developed relativistic classical electrodynamic
theory with an instantaneous inter-charge force. Problems discussed include
small angle Rutherford scattering, Jackson's recent `torque paradox' and
circular Keplerian orbits. Results consistent with special relativity are
obtained only with an instantaneous interaction. The impossiblity of stable
circular motion with retarded fields in either classical electromagnetism or
Newtonian gravitation is demonstrated.Comment: 26 pages, 5 figures. QED and special relativity forbid retarded
electromagnetic forces. See also physics/0501130. V2 has typos corrected,
minor text modifications and updated references. V3 has further typos removed
and added text and reference
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