Sensitivities of one-prong tau branching fractions to tau neutrino mass, mixing, and anomalous charged current couplings

We analyse the sensitivities of exclusive one-prong tau branching fractions to: the tau neutrino mass; its mixing with a fourth generation neutrino; the weak charged current magnetic and electric dipole moments of the tau; and the Michel parameter $\eta$. Quantitative constraints are derived from current experimental data and the future constraints derivable from tau-charm factory measurements are estimated. The anomalous coupling constraints are used to constrain the tau compositeness scale and the allowed parameter space for Higgs doublet models.Comment: Invited talk at the Tau-Charm Workshop, 6-9 March 1999, SLAC, US

Random matrix ensembles for PTPT-symmetric systems

Recently much effort has been made towards the introduction of non-Hermitian random matrix models respecting $PT$-symmetry. Here we show that there is a one-to-one correspondence between complex $PT$-symmetric matrices and split-complex and split-quaternionic versions of Hermitian matrices. We introduce two new random matrix ensembles of (a) Gaussian split-complex Hermitian, and (b) Gaussian split-quaternionic Hermitian matrices, of arbitrary sizes. They are related to the split signature versions of the complex and the quaternionic numbers, respectively. We conjecture that these ensembles represent universality classes for $PT$-symmetric matrices. For the case of $2\times2$ matrices we derive analytic expressions for the joint probability distributions of the eigenvalues, the one-level densities and the level spacings in the case of real eigenvalues.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures, typos corrected, small changes, accepted for publication in Journal of Physics

Americanization now and then: the 'nation of immigrants' in the early twentieth and twenty-first centuries

In an analysis of contemporary attempts at US immigration reform in the context of its legal history (especially John F. Kennedy's 1964 Immigration and Nationality Act) this article explores a fundamental paradox in American political thought and practice as regards immigration. It examines the tension between the US's insistence, on one hand, upon immigrants' swift and wholesale integration into American life (as exemplified in the early 20th C Americanization programme, echoed in a 2007 call for a renewed Americanization initiative under President George W. Bush) and its self- definition as a proud 'nation of immigrants' on the other. In so doing, the essay critiques the 'nation of immigrants' shibboleth for its implicit racist bias and introduces the concept of 'ethnic shame,' prevalent for most of the 20th C, to complement today's much more familiar (but also much more recent) notion of Americans' ethnic pride in their immigrant roots. The article concludes that the ostensible paradox of a 'nation of immigrants' insisting on Americanization is best understood within the framework of what is theorised here for the first time as the 'gratitude paradigm,' which governs the granting and the possession of American citizenship to immigrants not just of the first, but of many generations thereafter

Automatic Compositor Attribution in the First Folio of Shakespeare

Compositor attribution, the clustering of pages in a historical printed document by the individual who set the type, is a bibliographic task that relies on analysis of orthographic variation and inspection of visual details of the printed page. In this paper, we introduce a novel unsupervised model that jointly describes the textual and visual features needed to distinguish compositors. Applied to images of Shakespeare's First Folio, our model predicts attributions that agree with the manual judgements of bibliographers with an accuracy of 87%, even on text that is the output of OCR.Comment: Short paper (6 pages) accepted at ACL 201

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Loading the dice : perspectives on climate change communication in Australia 1987-2001

For almost 40 years I had the naive view that if we simply obtain more physical understanding of the issue, we could provide "the" answers and responses would be rational. I now see that there is absolutely no guarantee of this. It is ourselves we do not understand. Atmospheric scientist Graeme Pearman, personal communication, February 17, 2009 The broad theme of this "science and society" study is the communication of anthropogenic climate change over the period 1987-2001 in Australia. Adding a novel science communication analysis to existing studies of policy and media presented the opportunity to broaden understanding of how this society engaged with a unique environmental issue. Relying on the public documentary record, supported by interviews, the investigation found and analysed dramatic changes to communication in correlation with changing public policy and evidence of public knowledge during the course of the study period. Against expectation, the changes went from a high level of early good understanding of climate change risk and response to a high level of confusion and conflict by the end of the study period, while the basic science messages remained consistent throughout. A framing lens was developed to study public language in the documentary record. Major social and cultural influences on the framing were identified and analysed, combining insights from other research fields with original evidence from the thesis research. This study thereby contributes some new insights for communication of environmental science, specifically climate change. It also offers a novel case study in Australian science history

James I: Monarchial Representation and English Identity

This work unpacks James’s representational performance and the issues he faced in assimilating himself into English identity during him time on the English throne. He implemented tropes he previously utilized in Scotland, presenting himself as Solomon, David, Constantine, a philosopher-king, and Rex Pacificus. James relied upon print for his public representation, he was an avid writer and seems to have thought of himself as something of a theologian, for he frequently commented upon religious doctrine and paid acute attention to sermons. This dissertation explores his entrance to England, the union debates, the Gunpowder Plot and its remembrance, James’s religious representation, his struggles with Parliament over prerogative, the Thirty Years War, and the representation of his first-born son, Henry Frederick. This project addresses a gap in historiography, as James’s reign often falls into the shadow of the English Civil War, and his reign is frequently depicted as failing to live up to the standard that Elizabeth left behind, as in her death remembrance of her was mythologized. There has been little done which addresses James’s struggle to make himself more English and his representational performance in the manner which is done so here. The contours of Englishness explored in this work are patriotism, providence, and identity. This work argues the English Reformations and proceeding years heavily influenced English conceptions of who they were as a country and popular consciousness as it expressed itself through a variety of print mediums, plays, songs, essays, and other forms of cultural expressions. In addressing these issues, we gain a further sense of how the English conceptualized of themselves, and what they wished to see from their king. This work addresses how successful James was at making himself English, and the tactics he deployed in his quest to do so