A numerical finite size scaling approach to many-body localization

We develop a numerical technique to study Anderson localization in interacting electronic systems. The ground state of the disordered system is calculated with quantum Monte-Carlo simulations while the localization properties are extracted from the ``Thouless conductance'' $g$, i.e. the curvature of the energy with respect to an Aharonov-Bohm flux. We apply our method to polarized electrons in a two dimensional system of size $L$. We recover the well known universal $\beta(g)=\rm{d}\log g/\rm{d}\log L$ one parameter scaling function without interaction. Upon switching on the interaction, we find that $\beta(g)$ is unchanged while the system flows toward the insulating limit. We conclude that polarized electrons in two dimensions stay in an insulating state in the presence of weak to moderate electron-electron correlations.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Fractional Supersymmetry and Fth-Roots of Representations

A generalization of super-Lie algebras is presented. It is then shown that all known examples of fractional supersymmetry can be understood in this formulation. However, the incorporation of three dimensional fractional supersymmetry in this framework needs some care. The proposed solutions lead naturally to a formulation of a fractional supersymmetry starting from any representation D of any Lie algebra g. This involves taking the Fth-roots of D in an appropriate sense. A fractional supersymmetry in any space-time dimension is then possible. This formalism finally leads to an infinite dimensional extension of g, reducing to the centerless Virasoro algebra when g=sl(2,R).Comment: 23 pages, 1 figure, LaTex file with epsf.st

Improving health and well-being through community health champions: a thematic evaluation of a programme in Yorkshire and Humber.

AIMS: The contribution that lay people can make to the public health agenda is being increasingly recognised in research and policy literature. This paper examines the role of lay workers (referred to as 'community health champions') involved in community projects delivered by Altogether Better across Yorkshire and Humber. The aim of the paper is to describe key features of the community health champion approach and to examine the evidence that this type of intervention can have an impact on health. METHODS: A qualitative approach was taken to the evaluation, with two strands to gathering evidence: interviews conducted with different stakeholder groups including project leads, key partners from community and statutory sectors and community workers, plus two participatory workshops to gather the views of community health champions. Seven projects (from a possible 12) were identified to be involved in the evaluation. Those projects that allowed the evaluation team to explore fully the champion role (training, infrastructure, etc.) and how that works in practice as a mechanism for empowerment were selected. In total, 29 semi-structured interviews were conducted with project staff and partners, and 30 champions, varying in terms of age, gender, ethnicity and disability, took part in the workshops. RESULTS: Becoming a community health champion has health benefits such as increased self-esteem and confidence and improved well-being. For some champions, this was the start of a journey to other opportunities such as education or paid employment. There were many examples of the influence of champions extending to the wider community of family, friends and neighbours, including helping to support people to take part in community life. Champions recognised the value of connecting people through social networks, group activities, and linking people into services and the impact that that had on health and well-being. Project staff and partners also recognised that champions were promoting social cohesiveness and helping to integrate people into their community. CONCLUSIONS: The recent public health White Paper suggested that the Altogether Better programme is improving individual and community health as well as increasing social capital, voluntary activity and wider civic participation. This evaluation supports this statement and suggests that the community health champion role can be a catalyst for change for both individuals and communities

Packet loss visibility across SD, HD, 3D, and UHD video streams

The trend towards video streaming with increased spatial resolutions and dimensions, SD, HD, 3D, and 4kUHD, even for portable devices has important implications for displayed video quality. There is an interplay between packetization, packet loss visibility, choice of codec, and viewing conditions, which implies that prior studies at lower resolutions may not be as relevant. This paper presents two sets of experiments, the one at a Variable BitRate (VBR) and the other at a Constant BitRate (CBR), which highlight different aspects of the interpretation. The latter experiments also compare and contrast encoding with either an H.264 or an High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) codec, with all results recorded as objective Mean Opinion Score (MOS). The video quality assessments will be of interest to those considering: the bitrates and expected quality in error-prone environments; or, in fact, whether to use a reliable transport protocol to prevent all errors, at a cost in jitter and latency, rather than tolerate low levels of packet errors

Strong disorder renormalization group study of aperiodic quantum Ising chains

We employ an adaptation of a strong-disorder renormalization-group technique in order to analyze the ferro-paramagnetic quantum phase transition of Ising chains with aperiodic but deterministic couplings under the action of a transverse field. In the presence of marginal or relevant geometric fluctuations induced by aperiodicity, for which the critical behavior is expected to depart from the Onsager universality class, we derive analytical and asymptotically exact expressions for various critical exponents (including the correlation-length and the magnetization exponents, which are not easily obtainable by other methods), and shed light onto the nature of the ground state structures in the neighborhood of the critical point. The main results obtained by this approach are confirmed by finite-size scaling analyses of numerical calculations based on the free-fermion method

IEEE 802.11ac wireless delivery of 4kUHD video: The impact of packet loss

This paper examines the 4kUHD video quality from streaming over an IEEE 802.11ac wireless channel, given measured levels of packet loss. Findings suggest that there is a strong content dependency to loss impact upon video quality but that, for short-range transmission, the quality is acceptable, making 4kUHD feasible on head-mounted displays

Early stages of ramified growth in quasi-two-dimensional electrochemical deposition

I have measured the early stages of the growth of branched metal aggregates formed by electrochemical deposition in very thin layers. The growth rate of spatial Fourier modes is described qualitatively by the results of a linear stability analysis [D.P. Barkey, R.H. Muller, and C.W. Tobias, J. Electrochem. Soc. {\bf 136}, 2207 (1989)]. The maximum growth rate is proportional to $(I/c)^\delta$ where $I$ is the current through the electrochemical cell, $c$ the electrolyte concentration, and $\delta = 1.37 \pm 0.08$. Differences between my results and the theoretical predictions suggest that electroconvection in the electrolyte has a large influence on the instability leading to ramified growth.Comment: REVTeX, four ps figure

Does ohmic heating influence the flow field in thin-layer electrodeposition?

In thin-layer electrodeposition the dissipated electrical energy leads to a substantial heating of the ion solution. We measured the resulting temperature field by means of an infrared camera. The properties of the temperature field correspond closely with the development of the concentration field. In particular we find, that the thermal gradients at the electrodes act like a weak additional driving force to the convection rolls driven by concentration gradients.Comment: minor changes: correct estimation of concentration at the anode, added Journal-re

Low-energy excitations in NaV2O5

In the (ab) polarized Raman scattering spectra of NaV2O5 single crystals, measured with 647.1 nm laser line at T < Tc, we found two modes at 86, and 126 cm-1 not previously reported. These two modes, together with 66, and 106 cm-1 modes, make an array of four low-energy equidistant modes below the energy onset of the continuum at about 132 cm-1. All four modes are strongly suppressed by increasing Na deficiency, indicating their nonvibrational origin and the existence of a quantum phase transition at critical Na deficiency between 3 and 4%. These results question current understanding of NaV2O5 as quasi one-dimensional Heisenberg antiferromagnet.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure