Progress Toward an Unthinkable Consummation: Sin and the Evolution of Human Consciousness

Michael Polanyi has argued that tacit knowing—the consolidation and integration of earlier achievements from which to launch further advances— plays an essential role in evolution. Tacit knowledge is often transmitted by observation and imitation—what anthropologist Rene Girard calls mimesis. Girard suggests that this mimetic tendency has had both beneficial and negative effects: violent outbreaks of mimetic rivalry among early hominids necessitated the development of ritual controls, representing the beginning of culture. Beneath all culture, a universal scapegoating mechanism—humankind\'s \"original sin\"—remains hidden. Jewish and Christian scriptures present a countervailing cultural force, challenging human beings to develop in directions not dependent on rivalry and violence

Electronic theory for superconductivity in Sr2_2RuO4_4: triplet pairing due to spin-fluctuation exchange

Using a two-dimensional Hubbard Hamiltonian for the three electronic bands crossing the Fermi level in Sr$_2$RuO$_4$ we calculate the band structure and spin susceptibility $\chi({\bf q}, \omega)$ in quantitative agreement with nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and inelastic neutron scattering (INS) experiments. The susceptibility has two peaks at {\bf Q}$_i = (2\pi/3, 2\pi/3)$ due to the nesting Fermi surface properties and at {\bf q}$_i = (0.6\pi, 0)$ due to the tendency towards ferromagnetism. Applying spin-fluctuation exchange theory as in layered cuprates we determine from $\chi({\bf q}, \omega)$, electronic dispersions, and Fermi surface topology that superconductivity in Sr$_2$RuO$_4$ consists of triplet pairing. Combining the Fermi surface topology and the results for $\chi({\bf q}, \omega)$ we can exclude $s-$ and $d-$wave symmetry for the superconducting order parameter. Furthermore, within our analysis and approximations we find that $f$-wave symmetry is slightly favored over p-wave symmetry due to the nesting properties of the Fermi surface.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, misprints correcte

Spin-triplet superconductivity due to antiferromagnetic spin-fluctuation in Sr_2RuO_4

A mechanism leading to the spin-triplet superconductivity is proposed based on the antiferromagnetic spin fluctuation. The effects of anisotropy in spin fluctuation on the Cooper pairing and on the direction of d vector are examined in the one-band Hubbard model with RPA approximation. The gap equations for the anisotropic case are derived and applied to Sr_2RuO_4. It is found that a nesting property of the Fermi surface together with the anisotropy leads to the triplet superconductivity with the d=z(sin{k_x}\pm isin{k_y}), which is consistent with experiments.Comment: 4 pages, 3 eps figures, revte

Contribution of Freshwater Bivalves to Muskrat Diets in the Green River, Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky

Muskrats (Ondatra zibethicus) are known to prey on freshwater bivalves (mussels and clams) and can negatively impact imperiled mussel species. However, factors that infl uence muskrat predation on bivalves are poorly understood. We evaluated the feeding ecology of muskrats at Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky by using stable isotope analysis of muskrat hair samples and by monitoring bivalve shell deposition at muskrat middens. Bayesian mixing-model analysis of stable isotope δ15N and δ13C ratios revealed that the median muskrat biomass derived from bivalves was 51.4% (5th and 95th percentiles were 39.1 to 63.4%, respectively), a much higher dietary proportion than previously reported. Shell depositions by muskrats at middens decreased with the availability of seasonal emergent vegetation, suggesting that the consumption of animal matter is in response to a scarcity of plant foods. Our results add to the growing body of evidence that muskrats have the potential to impact mussel population growth and recovery in some environments

The evolution of galaxy formation

Our history of understanding galaxy formation could be traced through the development of individual ideas. A cynic might be tempted to suggest that new catchphrases are developed at a faster rate than genuine progress is made.Comment: 10 pages, Plain TeX, no figures. A slightly abbreviated version of this article appears in the December issue of Astronomy & Geophysic

Resource Partitioning among Young-of-year Sunfish (Lepomis Spp.), And Phenotypic Variation of Bluegills (L. Macrochirus)

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The Structure and Interpretation of Cosmology: Part I - General Relativistic Cosmology

The purpose of this work is to review, clarify, and critically analyse modern mathematical cosmology. The emphasis is upon mathematical objects and structures, rather than numerical computations. This paper concentrates on general relativistic cosmology. The opening section reviews and clarifies the Friedmann-Robertson-Walker models of general relativistic cosmology, while Section 2 deals with the spatially homogeneous models. Particular attention is paid in these opening sections to the topological and geometrical aspects of cosmological models. Section 3 explains how the mathematical formalism can be linked with astronomical observation. In particular, the informal, observational notion of the celestial sphere is given a rigorous mathematical implementation. Part II of this work will concentrate on inflationary cosmology and quantum cosmology

Clausius' Virial vs. Total Potential Energy in the dynamics of a two-component system

In a gravitational virialized bound system built up of two components, one of which is embedded in the other, the Clausius' virial energy of one subcomponent is not, in general, equal to its total potential energy, as occurs in a single system without external forces. This is the main reason for the presence, in the case of two non-coinciding concentric spheroidal subsystems, of a minimum (in absolute value) in the Clausius' virial of the inner component B, when it assumes a special configuration characterized by a value of its semi-major axis we have named "tidal radius". The physical meaning, connected with its appearance, is to introduce a scale length on the gravity field of the inner subsystem, which is induced from the outer one. Its relevance in the galaxy dynamics has been stressed by demonstrating that some of the main features of the Fundamental Plane may follow as consequence of its existence. More physical insight into the dynamics of a two component system may be got by looking at the location of this scale length inside the plots of the potential energies of each subsystem and of the whole system and by also taking into account the trend of the anti-symmetric residual-energy, that is the difference between the tidal and the interaction-energy of each component. Some thermodynamical arguments related to the inner component are also added to prove as special is the "tidal radius configuration". Moreover the role of the divergency at the center of the two subsystems in obtaining this scale length is considered. For the sake of simplicity the analysis has been performed in the case of a frozen external component even if this constraint does not appear to be too relevant in order to preserve the main results.Comment: New Astronomy, accepte