Exact O(g^2 alpha_s) top decay width from general massive two-loop integrals

We calculate the b-dependent self-energy of the top quark at O(g^2 \alpha_s) by using a general massive two-loop algorithm proposed in a previous article. From this we derive by unitarity the O(\alpha_s) radiative corrections to the decay width of the top quark, where all effects associated with the $b$ quark mass are included without resorting to a mass expansion. Our results agree with the analytical results available for the O(\alpha_s) correction to the top quark width

The Withering of Community Life and the Growth of Emotional Disorders

The architecture of this essay is as follows: I begin by assaying the communitarian crisis of the modern western world. Second, I offer a brief narrative of the social and cultural variables that foster rootlessness and social disintegration in much of urban industrial life. Third, I state a strong case for how this same process may be systematically undermining the nuclear family as a life-long community, threatening the dependence of children on care-giving adults, and, thereafter, the psychological development of children

Three Essays on Environmental and Energy Economics

In this dissertation, three related topics are investigated about environmental and energy economics. The research in these essays utilize panel data and regression models. The overall theme of these essays is to explore the relationships between energy and the environment in the United States (U.S.). In the first essay, using data from fifty U.S. states between 2012 and 2020, the impacts of three types of state level policies on electric vehicles (EV) adoption are examined: 1) policies that mitigate the environmental impacts from energy production, 2) policies that provide financial incentives to consumers for EV purchase, and 3) policies that provide publicly available EV charging infrastructure. With a dependent variable of EV registration per 100,000 population, impacts are assessed with a panel data, fixed effects model. Evidence is found that policies which either increase low greenhouse gas (GHG) energy through increasing the renewable and nuclear energy sources in the energy mix or reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from electricity generation by reducing the reliance on fossil fuels in the electric sector result in statistically significant increases in EV adoption rate. Financial incentives are important as the presence of a state income tax credit positively impacts EV adoption rate. Comparable elasticities on EV adoption rate from statistically significant coefficients show that per capita income has the largest effect on adoption (+10.1), while impacts of low GHG energy and per capita CO2 emissions elasticities are much smaller at + 0.64 and -1.0, respectively. Since state policies that enhance low GHG and provide tax credits positively impact EV adoption rates, our research demonstrates the need to nationalize both types of policies in order to uniformly improve adoption across all states. In the second essay, the impact of climate change on U.S. electricity consumption, production, and efficiency is examined using annual state-level data for 48 states over 30 years (1990 – 2019). Research results show that an increase in averaged maximum ambient air temperatures increases electricity demand and decreases generation efficiency. The electric sector in the U.S. is found to be vulnerable to climate change, such that a rise in the ambient temperature increases demand for electricity and decreases supply and efficiency of power plants. On the demand side, the per capita electricity consumption at the state level is responsive to the climate change, such that when the averaged maximum ambient temperature increases by 1 ͦ F (0.56 ͦ C), the per capita electricity consumption increases by a 0.52%. However, the most powerful impact on the per capita electricity consumption was found to be from the electricity retail prices such that a one cent increase in average per kilowatt-hours (kWh) price will result in a decrease of 7.1% in the per capita electricity consumption. On the supply side, power generation is also responsive to climate change such that increasing the average maximum temperature by 1 ͦ F (0.56 ͦ C) results in a reduction of 3.9% in the total electricity generation at the state level. Estimates for fossil fuels weighted average price consistently agree with law of demand as increasing fossil fuels weighted average price by $1 per million British Thermal Unit (MMBtu)[1] results in reduction of demand for fossil fuels and accordingly will result in a reduction of electricity supply by 10.2In the third essay, the existence of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) in the presence of low GHG energy consumption is empirically examined using state level data in the U.S. This research explores whether the per capita income still retains an inverted U shape impact on per capita CO2 emissions in the presence of state level environmental and energy policies which promote reduced fossil fuel use in the electricity sector. An Autoregressive Distributive Lag (ARDL) econometric model is employed using panel data for 50 U.S. states during the period of 1990 to 2018. The findings provide statistically significant evidence for the presence of the EKC for CO2 emissions at the state level. Regression estimates find a turning point of$50,766.5 in the relationship between per capita income and CO2 emissions. For the Low GHG energy variable, increased primary energy consumption for electricity from renewable and nuclear energy sources has a negative impact on per capita CO2 emissions. When the per capita average low GHG energy consumption increases by one MMBtu[2], per capita CO2 emissions reduces by 0.05%. With these findings, the existence of the EKC hypothesis for CO2 emissions at the state level is supported. The conclusion from essay three is that implementation of new energy technologies serves to reduce CO2 emissions. However, these technologies do not diminish the entire impact of increasing per capita income on reducing these emissions. Other factors, in addition to new energy technologies, are at work in reducing CO2 emissions with increasing per capita income past the turning point. These factors may include changes associated with higher levels of per capita income including an economic structure more heavily dependent upon services involving renewable energy source and increasing the adoption of green technologies such as EV, movement of production locations to other locations with lower income in helps stimulating the economic growth which in turn has a positive impact on the reduction of CO2, and enhanced consumer awareness about climate change and behavioral changes related fossil fuel consumption. [1] In average, this increase is equal to an increase of 2 cents per short ton of coal, $1.02 per 1000 CF of natural gas, or 12 cents per gallon of petroleum. [2] One million Btu is equal to 293 kWh

On the Experimental Estimation of Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) Cross Sections by Vibrational Pumping

We present an in-depth analysis of the experimental estimation of cross sections in Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) by vibrational pumping. The paper highlights the advantages and disadvantages of the technique, pinpoints the main aspects and limitations, and provides the underlying physical concepts to interpret the experimental results. Examples for several commonly used SERS probes are given, and a discussion on future possible developments is also presented.Comment: To be submitted to J. Phys. Chem.

Digitally Mapping the Buddhist Holy Land: Intercultural Communication, Religious History, and Networked Rhetoric

Intercultural communication presents an array of well-known and much-discussed challenges, including the difficulties of engaging in productive dialogues regarding cultural assumptions, the problems of translation, tensions between macro-level value systems and the uniqueness of individual cultures, and challenges to developing communication technologies that are culturally appropriate (Kostelnick, 1995; Maylath, 1997; Thatcher, 2006; Sun, 2012). When addressing the diverse dimensions of religious culture, there is the added obstacle that understanding another’s religion can sometimes become entwined with how people feel about their own deeply held religious values and assumptions (Jackson, 2004). Special obstacles to understanding can arise in relation to religion because an individual’s own religious truth claims may prevent them from coming to terms with how another religion orders the world. For this reason, faculty members teaching American university students about less familiar religions frequently find they need to attend to sophisticated methodological and epistemological considerations in the instructional context, even from an introductory level. Special efforts are needed to help students learn to engage diverse perspectives, especially when they are quite different from their own

Recoverable robust single day aircraft maintenance routing problem

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Elsevier via the DOI in this record Aircraft maintenance planning is of critical importance to the safe and efficient operations of an airline. It is common to solve the aircraft routing and maintenance planning problems many months in advance, with the solution spanning multiple days. An unfortunate consequence of this approach is the possible infeasibility of the maintenance plan due to frequent perturbations occurring in operations. There is an emerging concept that focuses on the generation of aircraft routes for a single day to ensure maintenance coverage that night, alleviating the effects of schedule perturbations from preceding days. In this paper, we present a novel approach to ensure that a sufficient number of aircraft routes are provided each day so maintenance critical aircraft receive maintenance that night. By penalising the under supply of routes terminating at maintenance stations from each overnight airport, we construct a single day routing to provide the best possible maintenance plan. This single day aircraft maintenance routing problem (SDAMRP) is further protected from disruptions by applying the recoverable robustness framework. To efficiently solve the recoverable robust SDAMRP acceleration techniques, such as identifying Pareto-optimal cuts and a trust region approach, have been applied. The SDAMRP is evaluated against a set of flight schedules and the results demonstrate a significantly improved aircraft maintenance plan. Further, the results demonstrate the magnitude of recoverability improvement that is achieved by employing recoverable robustness to the SDAMRP.Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Mathematics and Statistics of Complex SystemsNatural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada

Method of Reducing Internal Stress in Materials

Methods are provided for adjusting and controlling the stress between layers of material in a multilayer structure. A first stress is configured in a region of stress on the substrate material. A second material is then deposited over the substrate. A second stress results between the substrate and the second material such that a net stress results where the net stress is a function of said first and second stresses. As such, the first stress can be configured to achieve a predetermined, desired net stress. For example, the first stress can be configured to cancel out the second stress such that the net stress is substantially zero