Asymptotic Safety, Singularities, and Gravitational Collapse

Asymptotic safety (an ultraviolet fixed point with finite-dimensional critical surface) offers the possibility that a predictive theory of quantum gravity can be obtained from the quantization of classical general relativity. However, it is unclear what becomes of the singularities of classical general relativity, which, it is hoped, might be resolved by quantum effects. We study dust collapse with a running gravitational coupling and find that a future singularity can be avoided if the coupling becomes exactly zero at some finite energy scale. The singularity can also be avoided (pushed off to infinite proper time) if the coupling approaches zero sufficiently rapidly at high energies. However, the evolution deduced from perturbation theory still implies a singularity at finite proper time.Comment: 6 pages, latex. Version to appear in Physics Letters

Policies And International Integration: Influences On Trade And Foreign Direct Investment

This paper assesses the importance of border and non-border policies for global economic integration. The focus is on four widely-advocated policies: removing explicit restrictions to trade and FDI; promoting domestic competition; improving the adaptability of labour markets; and ensuring adequate levels of infrastructure capital. The analysis covers FDI and trade in both goods and services, thus aiming to account for the most important channels of globalisation and dealing with most modes of cross-border services supply. It first describes trends in trade, FDI and the four sets of policies using a large set of structural policy indicators recently constructed by the OECD, including the new summary indicators for FDI-specific regulations described in Golub (2003). It then estimates the impact of policies on bilateral trade and bilateral and multilateral FDI. The results highlight that, despite extensive liberalisation over the past two decades, there is scope for further reducing policy barriers to integration of OECD markets. Remaining barriers have a significant impact on trade and FDI, with anticompetitive domestic regulations and restrictive labour market arrangements estimated to curb integration as much as explicit trade and FDI restrictions. Simulating the removal of such barriers suggests that the quantitative effects of further liberalisation of trade, FDI and domestic product and labour markets on global integration could be substantial

Tingkat Kedinamisan Kelompok Wanita Tani dalam Mendukung Keberlanjutan Usaha Tanaman Obat Keluarga di Kabupaten Bogor, Jawa Barat

Penelitian ini bertujuan menganalisis tingkat dinamika kelompok mendukung keberlanjutan USAha tanaman obat keluarga dan menganalisis faktor-faktor kedinamisan kelompok yang berhubungan nyata dengan keberlanjutan USAha tanaman obat keluarga. Penelitian lapang dilakukan di Kelompok wanita tani Benteng Sejahtera dan Puring Desa Benteng Kecamatan Ciampea dan Kelompok wanita tani Anggrek Desa Babakan Kecamatan Dramaga Kabupaten Bogor mulai Agustus sampai dengan Oktober 2016. Populasi penelitian yaitu 62 orang yang mengembangkan USAha tanaman obat keluarga. Hasil penelitian ini yaitu 1) kelompok dalam mendukung keberlanjutan USAha tanaman obat keluarga secara keseluruhan cukup dinamis. 2) faktor-faktor yang berhubungan dengan keberlanjutan USAha tanaman obat keluarga diantaranya tingkat pendapatan keluarga berhubungan nyata negatif dengan aspek sosial, intensitas penyuluhan berhubungan nyata negatif dengan aspek sosial, keefektifan berhubungan nyata negatif dengan aspek sosial, maksud terselubung berhubungan nyata dengan aspek ekonomi

Branched polymers, complex spins and the freezing transition

We show that by coupling complex three-state systems to branched-polymer like ensembles we can obtain models with gamma-string different from one half. It is also possible to study the interpolation between dynamical and crystalline graphs for these models; we find that only when geometry fluctuations are completely forbidden is there a crystalline phase.Comment: 14 pages plain LateX2e, 4 eps figures included using eps

Thermodynamic Geometry of the Born-Infeld-anti-de Sitter black holes

Thermodynamic geometry is applied to the Born-Infeld-anti-de Sitter black hole (BIAdS) in the four dimensions, which is a nonlinear generalization of the Reissner-Norstr\"Aom-AdS black hole (RNAdS). We compute the Weinhold as well as the Ruppeiner scalar curvature and find that the singular points are not the same with the ones obtained using the heat capacity. Legendre-invariant metric proposed by Quevedo and the metric obtained by using the free energy as the thermodynamic potential are obtained and the corresponding scalar curvatures diverge at the Davies points.Comment: Latex,19 pages,14 figure

Cancellation of soft and collinear divergences in noncommutative QED

In this paper, we investigate the behavior of non-commutative IR divergences and will also discuss their cancellation in the physical cross sections. The commutative IR (soft) divergences existing in the non-planar diagrams will be examined in order to prove an all order cancellation of these divergences using the Weinberg's method. In non-commutative QED, collinear divergences due to triple photon splitting vertex, were encountered, which are shown to be canceled out by the non-commutative version of KLN theorem. This guarantees that there is no mixing between the Collinear, soft and non-commutative IR divergences

Indonesia's exports of frogs' legs

Indonesia is one of the world’s largest exporters of frogs’ legs for consumption as food. The majority of the frogs are caught in natural habitat on the island of Java - predominantly the Crab-eating Frog Fejervarya cancrivora (75%), and the Giant Javan Frog Limnonectes macrodon (19%). While the greater number of frogs taken is for local consumption, the available data show increasing numbers of frogs’ legs have been exported from Indonesia over time - from around 28 t in 1969, rising to around 5600 t in 1992 and then declining to around 3800 t in 2002. A strong increase in exports after 1985 corresponded with the banning in that year of exports of edible frogs from India and Pakistan - formerly the principal exporters of frogs’ legs. This paper examines the trade in Indonesia based on export data covering 34 years (1969 to 2002) and market surveys and interviews conducted in 2001 to 2003. Although some concern has been raised about the trade, this paper discusses the possibility that the current level of harvest has not depleted Indonesia’s population of edible frogs. However, it is not possible at the moment to state that current harvest levels are not a problem as insufficient information is available on production for the substantial domestic market

The Study on the Acquisition Order of English Morphemes in the First Semester Students in English Education Study Program at Bandar Lampung University

The aim of this research is to find out the order of morphemes acquisition in the first semester students at English Education Study Program, Teacher Training and Education Faculty, Bandar Lampung University. The subjects of this research are twenty-one students in the first semester at English study program at Bandar Lampung University. Their ages ranged from 17-35 years old. They studied English as a subject in their schools for more than 7 years. To obtain the research data, picture based story is used and the subjects of the research are asked to write a story based on the picture given. From their writings, the acquisition of five English morphemes is analyzed. The result shows that the order of morphemes acquisition on the subjects of the research are 1) Plural (90.4%), 2) Past regular (85.7%), 3) Progressive (83.8%), 4) Past irregular (82.7%) 5) Third person singular (50%)