Existence and uniqueness of mild solutions of nonlinear difference-integrodifferential equation with nonlocal condition

In this paper we investigate the existence, uniqueness and continuous dependence of solutions of the difference-integrodifferential equations. The results are obtained by using the well known Banach fixed point theorem, the theory of semigroups and the inequality established by B. G. Pachpatte

Lensed quasar search via time variability with the HSC transient survey

Gravitationally lensed quasars are useful for studying astrophysics and cosmology, and enlarging the sample size of lensed quasars is important for multiple studies. In this work, we develop a lens search algorithm for four-image (quad) lensed quasars based on their time variability. In the development of the lens search algorithm, we constructed a pipeline simulating multi-epoch images of lensed quasars in cadenced surveys, accounting for quasar variabilities, quasar hosts, lens galaxies, and the PSF variation. Applying the simulation pipeline to the Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC) transient survey, we generated HSC-like difference images of the mock lensed quasars from Oguri & Marshall's lens catalog. We further developed a lens search algorithm that picks out variable objects as lensed quasar candidates based on their spatial extent in the difference images. We tested our lens search algorithm with the mock lensed quasars and variable objects from the HSC transient survey. Using difference images from multiple epochs, our lens search algorithm achieves a high true-positive rate (TPR) of 90.1% and a low false-positive rate (FPR) of 2.3% for the bright quads with wide separation. With a preselection of the number of blobs in the difference image, we obtain a TPR of 97.6% and a FPR of 2.6% for the bright quads with wide separation. Even when difference images are only available in one single epoch, our lens search algorithm can still detect the bright quads with wide separation at high TPR of 97.6% and low FPR of 2.4% in the optimal seeing scenario, and at TPR of $\sim94$ and FPR of $\sim5$ in typical scenarios. Therefore, our lens search algorithm is promising and is applicable to ongoing and upcoming cadenced surveys, particularly the HSC transient survey and the Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time, for finding new lensed quasar systems. [abridged]Comment: 15 pages, 11 figure

Kinetically driven glassy transition in an exactly solvable toy model with reversible mode coupling mechanism and trivial statics

We propose a toy model with reversible mode coupling mechanism and with trivial Hamiltonian (and hence trivial statics). The model can be analyzed exactly without relying upon uncontrolled approximation such as the factorization approximation employed in the current MCT. We show that the model exhibits a kinetically driven transition from an ergodic phase to nonergodic phase. The nonergodic state is the nonequilibrium stationary solution of the Fokker-Planck equation for the distribution function of the modelComment: 10 pages, 1 figure, contribution to the Proceedings of the Barcelona Workshop 'Glassy Behavior of Kinetically Constrained Models'. To appear in J. Phys. Condens. Matte

The structural invisibility of outsiders: the role of migrant labour in the meat-processing industry

This article examines the role of migrant workers in meat-processing factories in the UK. Drawing on materials from mixed methods research in a number of case study towns across Wales, we explore the structural and spatial processes that position migrant workers as outsiders. While state policy and immigration controls are often presented as a way of protecting migrant workers from work-based exploitation and ensuring jobs for British workers, our research highlights that the situation ‘on the ground’ is more complex. We argue that ‘self-exploitation’ among the migrant workforce is linked to the strategies of employers and the organisation of work, and that hyper-flexible work patterns have reinforced the spatial and social invisibilities of migrant workers in this sector. While this creates problems for migrant workers, we conclude that it is beneficial to supermarkets looking to supply consumers with the regular supply of cheap food to which they have become accustomed

On the Thermodynamic Geometry of BTZ Black Holes

We investigate the Ruppeiner geometry of the thermodynamic state space of a general class of BTZ black holes. It is shown that the thermodynamic geometry is flat for both the rotating BTZ and the BTZ Chern Simons black holes in the canonical ensemble. We further investigate the inclusion of thermal fluctuations to the canonical entropy of the BTZ Chern Simons black holes and show that the leading logartithmic correction due to Carlip is reproduced. We establish that the inclusion of thermal fluctuations induces a non zero scalar curvature to the thermodynamic geometry.Comment: 1+17 pages, LaTeX, 4 eps figure

Correlation functions of eigenvalues of multi-matrix models, and the limit of a time dependent matrix

We consider the correlation functions of eigenvalues of a unidimensional chain of large random hermitian matrices. An asymptotic expression of the orthogonal polynomials allows to find new results for the correlations of eigenvalues of different matrices of the chain. Eventually, we consider the limit of the infinite chain of matrices, which can be interpreted as a time dependent one-matrix model, and give the correlation functions of eigenvalues at different times.Comment: Tex-Harvmac, 27 pages, submitted to Journ. Phys.

Nucleus-Electron Model for States Changing from a Liquid Metal to a Plasma and the Saha Equation

We extend the quantal hypernetted-chain (QHNC) method, which has been proved to yield accurate results for liquid metals, to treat a partially ionized plasma. In a plasma, the electrons change from a quantum to a classical fluid gradually with increasing temperature; the QHNC method applied to the electron gas is in fact able to provide the electron-electron correlation at arbitrary temperature. As an illustrating example of this approach, we investigate how liquid rubidium becomes a plasma by increasing the temperature from 0 to 30 eV at a fixed normal ion-density $1.03 \times 10^{22}/cm^3$. The electron-ion radial distribution function (RDF) in liquid Rb has distinct inner-core and outer-core parts. Even at a temperature of 1 eV, this clear distinction remains as a characteristic of a liquid metal. At a temperature of 3 eV, this distinction disappears, and rubidium becomes a plasma with the ionization 1.21. The temperature variations of bound levels in each ion and the average ionization are calculated in Rb plasmas at the same time. Using the density-functional theory, we also derive the Saha equation applicable even to a high-density plasma at low temperatures. The QHNC method provides a procedure to solve this Saha equation with ease by using a recursive formula; the charge population of differently ionized species are obtained in Rb plasmas at several temperatures. In this way, it is shown that, with the atomic number as the only input, the QHNC method produces the average ionization, the electron-ion and ion-ion RDF's, and the charge population which are consistent with the atomic structure of each ion for a partially ionized plasma.Comment: 28 pages(TeX) and 11 figures (PS

Pressure formulas for liquid metals and plasmas based on the density-functional theory

At first, pressure formulas for the electrons under the external potential produced by fixed nuclei are derived both in the surface integral and volume integral forms concerning an arbitrary volume chosen in the system; the surface integral form is described by a pressure tensor consisting of a sum of the kinetic and exchange-correlation parts in the density-functional theory, and the volume integral form represents the virial theorem with subtraction of the nuclear virial. Secondly on the basis of these formulas, the thermodynamical pressure of liquid metals and plasmas is represented in the forms of the surface integral and the volume integral including the nuclear contribution. From these results, we obtain a virial pressure formula for liquid metals, which is more accurate and simpler than the standard representation. From the view point of our formulation, some comments are made on pressure formulas derived previously and on a definition of pressure widely used.Comment: 18 pages, no figur

Using assignment data to analyse a blended information literacy intervention: a quantitative approach

This research sought to determine whether a blended information literacy learning and teaching intervention could statistically significantly enhance undergraduates’ information discernment compared to standard face-to-face delivery. A mixture of face-to-face and online activities, including online social media learning, was used. Three interventions were designed to develop the information literacies of first-year undergraduates studying Sport and Exercise at Staffordshire University and focused on one aspect of information literacy: the ability to evaluate source material effectively. An analysis was devised where written evaluations of found information for an assessment were converted into numerical scores and then measured statistically. This helped to evaluate the efficacy of the interventions and provided data for further analysis. An insight into how the information literacy pedagogical intervention and the cognitive processes involved in enabling participants to interact critically with information is provided. The intervention which incorporated social media learning proved to be the most successful learning and teaching approach. The data indicated that undergraduate students’ information literacy can be developed. However, additional long-term data is required to establish whether this intervention would have a lasting impact