Quadrupole collective modes in trapped finite-temperature Bose-Einstein condensates

Finite temperature simulations are used to study quadrupole excitations of a trapped Bose-Einstein condensate. We focus specifically on the m=0 mode, where a long-standing theoretical problem has been to account for an anomalous variation of the mode frequency with temperature. We explain this behavior in terms of the excitation of two separate modes, corresponding to coupled motion of the condensate and thermal cloud. The relative amplitudes of the modes depends sensitively on the temperature and on the frequency of the harmonic drive used to excite them. Good agreement with experiment is found for appropriate drive frequencies.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Electric Polarizability of Neutral Hadrons from Lattice QCD

By simulating a uniform electric field on a lattice and measuring the change in the rest mass, we calculate the electric polarizability of neutral mesons and baryons using the methods of quenched lattice QCD. Specifically, we measure the electric polarizability coefficient from the quadratic response to the electric field for 10 particles: the vector mesons $\rho^0$ and $K^{*0}$; the octet baryons n, $\Sigma^0$, $\Lambda_{o}^{0}$, $\Lambda_{s}^{0}$, and $\Xi^0$; and the decouplet baryons $\Delta^0$, $\Sigma^{*0}$, and $\Xi^{*0}$. Independent calculations using two fermion actions were done for consistency and comparison purposes. One calculation uses Wilson fermions with a lattice spacing of $a=0.10$fm. The other uses tadpole improved L\"usher-Weiss gauge fields and clover quark action with a lattice spacing $a=0.17$fm. Our results for neutron electric polarizability are compared to experiment.Comment: 25 pages, 20 figure

National First Peoples Gathering on Climate Change

Our purpose in hosting the National First Peoples Gathering on Climate Change (the Gathering) was to celebrate, learn from and enhance First Peoples-led climate action. We set out to strengthen kinships, cultural identity and well-being, and to strengthen caring for Country by using both Indigenous and scientific knowledge. The Gathering supported this overall purpose through five aims:• Bring Traditional Owners together to share with one another about climate change • Share scientific information in a form useful for Traditional Owners• Identify options for policy to respond to climate change • Provide tangible information to take back to communities• Highlight First Peoples’ climate change actions. 110 Traditional Owners from across Australia attended the Gathering

Faking like a woman? Towards an interpretative theorization of sexual pleasure.

This article explores the possibility of developing a feminist approach to gendered and sexual embodiment which is rooted in the pragmatist/interactionist tradition derived from G.H. Mead, but which in turn develops this perspective by inflecting it through more recent feminist thinking. In so doing we seek to rebalance some of the rather abstract work on gender and embodiment by focusing on an instance of 'heterosexual' everyday/night life - the production of the female orgasm. Through engaging with feminist and interactionist work, we develop an approach to embodied sexual pleasure that emphasizes the sociality of sexual practices and of reflexive sexual selves. We argue that sexual practices and experiences must be understood in social context, taking account of the situatedness of sex as well as wider socio-cultural processes the production of sexual desire and sexual pleasure (or their non-production) always entails interpretive, interactional processes

Finite-temperature simulations of the scissors mode in Bose-Einstein condensed gases

The dynamics of a trapped Bose-condensed gas at finite temperatures is described by a generalized Gross-Pitaevskii equation for the condensate order parameter and a semi-classical kinetic equation for the thermal cloud, solved using $N$-body simulations. The two components are coupled by mean fields as well as collisional processes that transfer atoms between the two. We use this scheme to investigate scissors modes in anisotropic traps as a function of temperature. Frequency shifts and damping rates of the condensate mode are extracted, and are found to be in good agreement with recent experiments.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

<i>‘What retention’ means to me</i>: the position of the adult learner in student retention

Studies of student retention and progression overwhelmingly appear adopt definitions that place the institution, rather than the student, at the centre. Retention is most often conceived in terms of linear and continuous progress between institutionally identified start and end points. This paper reports on research that considered data from 38 in-depth interviews conducted with individuals who had characteristics often associated with non-traditional engagement in higher education who between 2006 and 2010 had studied an ‘Introduction to HE’ module at one distance higher education institution, some of whom had progressed to further study at that institution, some of whom had not. The research deployed a life histories approach to seek a finer grained understanding of how individuals conceptualise their own learning journey and experience, in order to reflect on institutional conceptions of student retention. The findings highlight potential anomalies hidden within institutional retention rates – large proportions of the interview participants who were not ‘retained’ by the institution reported successful progression to and in other learning institutions and environments, both formal and informal. Nearly all described positive perspectives on lifelong learning which were either engendered or improved by the learning undertaken. This attests to the complexity of individuals’ lives and provides clear evidence that institution-centric definitions of retention and progression are insufficient to create truly meaningful understanding of successful individual learning journeys and experiences. It is argued that only through careful consideration of the lived experience of students and a re-conception of measures of retention, will we be able to offer real insight into improving student retention

What’s sex got to do with it? A family-based investigation of growing up heterosexual during the twentieth century

This paper explores findings from a cross-generational study of the making of heterosexual relationships in East Yorkshire, which has interviewed women and men within extended families. Using a feminist perspective, it examines the relationship between heterosexuality and adulthood, focussing on sexual attraction, courtship, first kisses, first love and first sex, as mediated within family relationships, and at different historical moments. In this way, the contemporary experiences of young people growing up are compared and contrasted with those of mid-lifers and older adults who formed heterosexual relationships within the context of the changing social and sexual mores of the 1960s/1970s, and the upheavals of World War Two

Solitary waves in clouds of Bose-Einstein condensed atoms

We consider the conditions under which solitary waves can exist in elongated clouds of Bose-Einstein condensed atoms. General expressions are derived for the velocity, characteristic size, and spatial profile of solitary waves, and the low- and high-density limits are examined.Comment: 6 pages, revtex, 1 ps figur

The transverse breathing mode of an elongated Bose-Einstein condensate

We study experimentally the transverse monopole mode of an elongated rubidium condensate. Due to the scaling invariance of the non-linear Schr\"odinger (Gross-Pitaevski) equation, the oscillation is monochromatic and sinusoidal at short times, even under strong excitation. For ultra-low temperatures, the quality factor $Q=\omega_0/\gamma_0$ can exceed 2000, where $\omega_0$ and $\gamma_0$ are the mode angular frequency and damping rate. This value is much larger than any previously reported for other eigenmodes of a condensate. We also present the temperature variation of $\omega_0$ and $\gamma_0$.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, submitted to PR