Is the QCD ghost dressing function finite at zero momentum ?

We show that a finite non-vanishing ghost dressing function at zero momentum satisfies the scaling properties of the ghost propagator Schwinger-Dyson equation. This kind of Schwinger-Dyson solutions may well agree with lattice data and provides an interesting alternative to the widely spread claim that the gluon dressing function behaves like the inverse squared ghost dressing function, a claim which is at odds with lattice data. We demonstrate that, if the ghost dressing function is less singular than any power of $p$, it must be finite non-vanishing at zero momentum: any logarithmic behaviour is for instance excluded. We add some remarks about coupled Schwinger-Dyson analyses.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figure

The environment, social and governance (ESG) activities and profitability under COVID-19: evidence from the global banking sector

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Electron-Positron Annihilation into Hadron-Antihadron Pairs

The reactions of electron-positron to nucleon-antinucleon pairs are studied in a non-perturbative quark model. The work suggests that the two-step process, in which the primary quark-antiquark pair forms first a vector meson which in turn decays into a hadron pair, is dominant over the one-step process in which the primary quark-antiquark pair is directly dressed by additional quark-antiquark pairs to form a hadron pair. To reproduce the experimental data of the reactions of electron-positron to proton-antiproton and electron-positron to neutron-antineutron a D-wave omega-like vector meson with a mass of around 2 GeV has to be introduced.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figure

Exploitation of endophytes for sustainable agricultural intensification

This is the final version of the article. Available from Wiley via the DOI in this record.Intensive agriculture, which depends on unsustainable levels of agrochemical inputs, is environmentally harmful, and the expansion of these practices to meet future needs is not economically feasible. Other options should be considered to meet the global food security challenge. The plant microbiome has been linked to improved plant productivity and, in this microreview, we consider the endosphere – a subdivision of the plant microbiome. We suggest a new definition of microbial endophyte status, the need for synergy between fungal and bacterial endophyte research efforts, as well as potential strategies for endophyte application to agricultural systems.Rothamsted Research receives strategic funding from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), and we acknowledge funding from the BBSRC Institute Strategic Programme Grant (ISPG), ‘Optimization of nutrients in soil–plant systems’ (BBS/E/C/0005196)

Superlubricity mechanism of diamond-like carbon with glycerol. Coupling of experimental and simulation studies

We report a unique tribological system that produces superlubricity under boundary lubrication conditions with extremely little wear. This system is a thin coating of hydrogen-free amorphous Diamond-Like-Carbon (denoted as ta-C) at 353 K in a ta-C/ta-C friction pair lubricated with pure glycerol. To understand the mechanism of friction vanishing we performed ToF-SIMS experiments using deuterated glycerol and 13C glycerol. This was complemented by first-principles-based computer simulations using the ReaxFF reactive force field to create an atomistic model of ta-C. These simulations show that DLC with the experimental density of 3.24 g/cc leads to an atomistic structure consisting of a 3D percolating network of tetrahedral (sp3) carbons accounting for 71.5% of the total, in excellent agreement with the 70% deduced from our Auger spectroscopy and XANES experiments. The simulations show that the remaining carbons (with sp2 and sp1 character) attach in short chains of length 1 to 7. In sliding simulations including glycerol molecules, the surface atoms react readily to form a very smooth carbon surface containing OH-terminated groups. This agrees with our SIMS experiments. The simulations find that the OH atoms are mostly bound to surface sp1 atoms leading to very flexible elastic response to sliding. Both simulations and experiments suggest that the origin of the superlubricity arises from the formation of this OH-terminated surface

Sampling-based reactive motion planning with temporal logic constraints and imperfect state information

© 2017, Springer International Publishing AG. This paper presents a method that allows mobile systems with uncertainty in motion and sensing to react to unknown environments while high-level specifications are satisfied. Although previous works have addressed the problem of synthesising controllers under uncertainty constraints and temporal logic specifications, reaction to dynamic environments has not been considered under this scenario. The method uses feedback-based information roadmaps (FIRMs) to break the curse of history associated with partially observable systems. A transition system is incrementally constructed based on the idea of FIRMs by adding nodes on the belief space. Then, a policy is found in the product Markov decision process created between the transition system and a Rabin automaton representing a linear temporal logic formula. The proposed solution allows the system to react to previously unknown elements in the environment. To achieve fast reaction time, a FIRM considering the probability of violating the specification in each transition is used to drive the system towards local targets or to avoid obstacles. The method is demonstrated with an illustrative example

Weak local rules for planar octagonal tilings

We provide an effective characterization of the planar octagonal tilings which admit weak local rules. As a corollary, we show that they are all based on quadratic irrationalities, as conjectured by Thang Le in the 90s.Comment: 23 pages, 6 figure