11,906 research outputs found
Young people's attitudes to religious diversity : quantitative approaches from social psychology and empirical theology
This essay discusses the design of the quantitative component of the ‘Young People’s Attitudes to Religious Diversity’ project, conceived by Professor Robert Jackson within the Warwick Religions and Education Research Unit, and presents some preliminary findings from the data. The quantitative component followed and built on the qualitative component within a mixed method design. The argument is advanced in seven steps: introducing the major sources of theory on which the quantitative approach builds from the psychology of religion and from empirical theology; locating the empirical traditions of research among young people that have shaped the study; clarifying the notions and levels of measurement employed in the study anticipating the potential for various forms of data analysis; discussing some of the established measures incorporated in the survey; defining the ways in which the sample was structured to reflect the four nations of the UK, and London; illustrating the potential within largely descriptive cross-tabulation forms of analysis; and illustrating the potential within more sophisticated multivariate analytic models
Model-independent study of the QCD sum rule for the pi NN coupling constant
We reinvestigate the QCD sum rule for the pi NN coupling constant, g,
starting from the vacuum-to-pion matrix element of the correlation function of
the interpolating fields of two nucleons. We study in detail the physical
content of the correlation function without referring to the effective theory.
We consider the invariant correlation functions by splitting the correlation
function into different Dirac structures. We show that the coefficients of the
double-pole terms are proportional to g but that the coefficients of the
single-pole terms are not determined by g. In the chiral limit the single-pole
terms as well as the continuum terms are ill defined in the dispersion
integral. Therefore, the use of naive QCD sum rules obtained from the invariant
correlation functions is not justified. A possible procedure to avoid this
difficulty is discussed.Comment: 20 pages, 2 figure
Localized Tachyons and the g_cl conjecture
We consider C/Z_N and C^2/Z_N orbifolds of heterotic string theories and Z_N
orbifolds of AdS_3. We study theories with N=2 worldsheet superconformal
invariance and construct RG flows. Following Harvey, Kutasov, Martinec and
Moore, we compute g_cl and show that it decreases monotonically along RG flows-
as conjectured by them. For the heterotic string theories, the gauge degrees of
freedom do not contribute to the computation of g_cl.Comment: Corrections and clarifications made, 19 page
Nitrification and Nitrifying Bacteria in a Coastal Microbial Mat
The first step of nitrification, the oxidation of ammonia to nitrite, can be performed by ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) or ammonium-oxidizing bacteria (AOB). We investigated the presence of these two groups in three structurally different types of coastal microbial mats that develop along the tidal gradient on the North Sea beach of the Dutch barrier island Schiermonnikoog. The abundance and transcription of amoA, a gene encoding for the alpha subunit of ammonia monooxygenase that is present in both AOA and AOB, were assessed and the potential nitrification rates in these mats were measured. The potential nitrification rates in the three mat types were highest in autumn and lowest in summer. AOB and AOA arnoA genes were present in all three mat types. The composition of the AOA and AOB communities in the mats of the tidal and intertidal stations, based on the diversity of arnoA, were similar and clustered separately from the supratidal microbial mat. In all three mats AOB amoA genes were significantly more abundant than AOA amoA genes. The abundance of neither AOB nor AOA amoA genes correlated with the potential nitrification rates, but AOB amoA transcripts were positively correlated with the potential nitrification rate. The composition and abundance of amoA genes seemed to be partly driven by salinity, ammonium, temperature, and the nitrate/nitrite concentration. We conclude that AOB are responsible for the bulk of the ammonium oxidation in these coastal microbial mat
Denitrification and the denitrifier community in coastal microbial mats
Denitrification was measured in three structurally different coastal microbial mats by using the stable isotope technique. The composition of the denitrifying community was determined by analyzing the nitrite reductase (nirS and nirK) genes using clone libraries and the GeoChip. The highest potential rate of denitrification (7.0 ± 1.0 mmol N m-2 d-1) was observed during summer at station 1 (supra-littoral). The rates of denitrification were much lower in the stations 2 (marine) and 3 (intermediate) (respectively 0.1 ± 0.05 and 0.7 ± 0.2 mmol N m-2 d-1) and showed less seasonality when compared to station 1. The denitrifying community at station 1 was also more diverse than that at station 2 and 3, which were more similar to each other than either of these stations to station 1. In all three stations, the diversity of both nirS and nirK denitrifiers was higher in summer when compared to winter. The location along the tidal gradient seems to determine the composition, diversity and activity of the denitrifier community, which may be driven by salinity, nitrate/nitrite and organic carbon. Both nirS and nirK denitrifiers are equally present and therefore they are likely to play a role in the denitrification of the microbial mats studied
A hierarchy of compatibility and comeasurability levels in quantum logics with unique conditional probabilities
In the quantum mechanical Hilbert space formalism, the probabilistic
interpretation is a later ad-hoc add-on, more or less enforced by the
experimental evidence, but not motivated by the mathematical model itself. A
model involving a clear probabilistic interpretation from the very beginning is
provided by the quantum logics with unique conditional probabilities. It
includes the projection lattices in von Neumann algebras and here probability
conditionalization becomes identical with the state transition of the Lueders -
von Neumann measurement process. This motivates the definition of a hierarchy
of five compatibility and comeasurability levels in the abstract setting of the
quantum logics with unique conditional probabilities. Their meanings are: the
absence of quantum interference or influence, the existence of a joint
distribution, simultaneous measurability, and the independence of the final
state after two successive measurements from the sequential order of these two
measurements. A further level means that two elements of the quantum logic
(events) belong to the same Boolean subalgebra. In the general case, the five
compatibility and comeasurability levels appear to differ, but they all
coincide in the common Hilbert space formalism of quantum mechanics, in von
Neumann algebras, and in some other cases.Comment: 12 page
A classification of higher-order strain gradient models - linear analysis
The use of higher-order strain-gradient models in mechanics is studied. First, existing second-gradient models from the literature are investigated analytically. In general, two classes of second-order strain-gradient models can be distinguished: one class of models has a direct link with the underlying microstructure, but reveals instability for deformation patterns of a relatively short wave length, while the other class of models does not have a direct link with the microstructure, but stability is unconditionally guaranteed. To combine the advantageous properties of the two classes of second-gradient models, a new, fourth-order strain-gradient model, which is unconditionally stable, is derived from a discrete microstructure. The fourth-gradient model and the second-gradient models are compared under static and dynamic loading conditions. A numerical approach is followed, whereby the element-free Galerkin method is used. For the second-gradient model that has been derived from the microstructure, it is found that the model becomes unstable for a limited number of wave lengths, while in dynamics, instabilities are encountered for all shorter wave lengths. Contrarily, the second-gradient model without a direct link to the microstructure behaves in a stable manner, although physically unrealistic results are obtained in dynamics. The fourth-gradient model, with a microstructural basis, gives stable and realistic results in statics as well as in dynamics
Ghost field realizations of the spinor strings based on the linear W(1,2,s) algebras
It has been shown that certain W algebras can be linearized by the inclusion
of a spin-1 current. This Provides a way of obtaining new realizations of the W
algebras. In this paper, we investigate the new ghost field realizations of the
W(2,s)(s=3,4) algebras, making use of the fact that these two algebras can be
linearized. We then construct the nilpotent BRST charges of the spinor
non-critical W(2,s) strings with these new realizations.Comment: 10 pages, no figure
Gauge Coupling Unification from Unified Theories in Higher Dimensions
Higher dimensional grand unified theories, with gauge symmetry breaking by
orbifold compactification, possess SU(5) breaking at fixed points, and do not
automatically lead to tree-level gauge coupling unification. A new framework is
introduced that guarantees precise unification -- even the leading loop
threshold corrections are predicted, although they are model dependent. Precise
agreement with the experimental result, \alpha_s^{exp} = 0.117 \pm 0.002,
occurs only for a unique theory, and gives \alpha_s^{KK} = 0.118 \pm 0.004 \pm
0.003. Remarkably, this unique theory is also the simplest, with SU(5) gauge
interactions and two Higgs hypermultiplets propagating in a single extra
dimension. This result is more successful and precise than that obtained from
conventional supersymmetric grand unification, \alpha_s^{SGUT} = 0.130 \pm
0.004 \pm \Delta_{SGUT}. There is a simultaneous solution to the three
outstanding problems of 4D supersymmetric grand unified theories: a large mass
splitting between Higgs doublets and their color triplet partners is forced,
proton decay via dimension five operators is automatically forbidden, and the
absence of fermion mass relations amongst light quarks and leptons is
guaranteed, while preserving the successful m_b/m_\tau relation. The theory
necessarily has a strongly coupled top quark located on a fixed point and part
of the lightest generation propagating in the bulk. The string and
compactification scales are determined to be around 10^{17} GeV and 10^{15}
GeV, respectively.Comment: 29 pages, LaTe
Spinor field realizations of the non-critical string based on the linear algebra
In this paper, we investigate the spinor field realizations of the
algebra, making use of the fact that the algebra can be linearized
through the addition of a spin-1 current. And then the nilpotent BRST charges
of the spinor non-critical string were built with these realizations.Comment: 10 pages, no figures, revtex4 style, accepted by Commun.Theor.Phy
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