2,543 research outputs found
'Islamic fatalism': life and suffering among Bangladeshi psychiatric patients and their families in London--an interview study 2
An interview study of 44 Bangladeshi patients and relatives in eastern London demonstrated frequent appeals to God and deprecation of personal agency. This paper offers an interpretation of this apparent 'fatalism', which argues for the logical downplaying of human agency and ambition in archaic Arabia, contemporary rural Sylhet and among first generation Sylheti migrants in London
Did Christianity lead to schizophrenia? Psychosis, psychology and self reference.
Both geographically and historically, schizophrenia may have emerged from a psychosis that was more florid, affective, labile, shorter lived and with a better prognosis. It is conjectured that this has occurred with a reflexive self-consciousness in Western and globalising societies, a development whose roots lie in Christianity. Every theology also presents a psychology. Six novel aspects of Christianity may be significant for the emergence of schizophrenia-an omniscient deity, a decontexualised self, ambiguous agency, a downplaying of immediate sensory data, and a scrutiny of the self and its reconstitution in conversion
Variational discrete variable representation for excitons on a lattice
We construct numerical basis function sets on a lattice, whose spatial
extension is scalable from single lattice sites to the continuum limit. They
allow us to compute small and large bound states with comparable, moderate
effort. Adopting concepts of discrete variable representations, a diagonal form
of the potential term is achieved through a unitary transformation to Gaussian
quadrature points. Thereby the computational effort in three dimensions scales
as the fourth instead of the sixth power of the number of basis functions along
each axis, such that it is reduced by two orders of magnitude in realistic
examples. As an improvement over standard discrete variable representations,
our construction preserves the variational principle. It allows for the
calculation of binding energies, wave functions, and excitation spectra. We use
this technique to study central-cell corrections for excitons beyond the
continuum approximation. A discussion of the mass and spectrum of the yellow
exciton series in the cuprous oxide, which does not follow the hydrogenic
Rydberg series of Mott-Wannier excitons, is given on the basis of a simple
lattice model.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures. Final version as publishe
Sliding Density-Wave in Sr_{14}Cu_{24}O_{41} Ladder Compounds
We used transport and Raman scattering measurements to identify the
insulating state of self-doped spin 1/2 two-leg ladders of Sr_{14}Cu_{24}O_{41}
as a weakly pinned, sliding density wave with non-linear conductivity and a
giant dielectric response that persists to remarkably high temperatures
Thermal Rounding of the Charge Density Wave Depinning Transition
The rounding of the charge density wave depinning transition by thermal noise
is examined. Hops by localized modes over small barriers trigger
``avalanches'', resulting in a creep velocity much larger than that expected
from comparing thermal energies with typical barriers. For a field equal to the
depinning field, the creep velocity is predicted to have a {\em
power-law} dependence on the temperature ; numerical computations confirm
this result. The predicted order of magnitude of the thermal rounding of the
depinning transition is consistent with rounding seen in experiment.Comment: 12 pages + 3 Postscript figure
Electron-phonon coupling in semimetals in a high magnetic field
We consider the effect of electron-phonon coupling in semimetals in high
magnetic fields, with regard to elastic modes that can lead to a redistribution
of carriers between pockets. We show that in a clean three dimensional system,
at each Landau level crossing, this leads to a discontinuity in the
magnetostriction, and a divergent contribution to the elastic modulus. We
estimate the magnitude of this effect in the group V semimetal Bismuth.Comment: 2 figure
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