Normal Mode Spectrum of the Deuteron in the Skyrme Model

The normal mode spectrum of the deuteron in the Skyrme model is computed. We find a bound doublet mode below the pion mass, which can be related to the well-known $90^{\circ}$ scattering of two skyrmions. We also find a singlet `breather' mode and another doublet above the pion mass. The qualitative pattern of the spectrum is similar to that recently found for the B=4 multiskyrmion. The symmetries of all the vibrational modes are presented.Comment: LaTeX, 10 pages, 3 figure

Through Their Eyes: Exploring Severe Mental Illness through Short Stories

This process statement describes my Honors thesis, which consists of three short stories with characters who each deal with severe mental illness, along with this process statement. Mental illness affects one in every five people in the United States at any given time (NAMI, n.d.). While mental illness is extremely prevalent, there is stigma against it, which has dramatic implications on quality of life for those with mental illness. Research has shown, however, that media can serve as an active intervention in decreasing that stigma. The purpose of this project is that my short stories may lead to decreased stigma among their audience. Severe mental illness includes an additional component of functional impairment, which I wanted to incorporate into my project, as it is highly stigmatized and misunderstood. Each story deals with a different severe mental illness (peripartum depression with psychotic features in “In Heat,” bipolar I disorder in “Tabula Rasa,” and panic disorder in “Outside”). The characters within these stories are sympathetic, complex, rounded portrayals of people who struggle with mental illnesses. I describe the premise of each story, the mental illness each character deals with and how it impacts her life, and describe my revision process for each story. I also discuss implications and future directions for this project

The effect of silver nanoparticles on synaptic responses in the lateral giant escape circuit of the crayfish

The lateral giant neuron in the crayfish is a neuron that controls the reflexive escape response; the context and experience-dependent tuning of this response is critical for survival. Serotonin modulates synaptic responses in this neuron, and social experiences (stress) changes the modulatory role of serotonin. I investigated the mechanisms of induced synaptic response changes and serotonergic modulatory changes after silver nanoparticle exposure to ask if 1) contaminant induced stress changes serotonergic modulation in a manner consistent with social stress and 2) shed light on potential neurotoxic effects of widely used, but poorly understood nanomaterials. Our data show that stress induced by exposure to silver nanoparticles changes excitability of this neuron. Integrating these data concerning environmental stress with prior knowledge of behavioral and electrophysiological correlates of social stress we can ask if changes induced in synaptic responses and modulation induced by stressors of different kinds are generalizable

Two-loop corrections to the decay rate of parapositronium

Order $\alpha^2$ corrections to the decay rate of parapositronium are calculated. A QED scattering calculation of the amplitude for electron-positron annihilation into two photons at threshold is combined with the technique of effective field theory to determine an NRQED Hamiltonian, which is then used in a bound state calculation to determine the decay rate. Our result for the two-loop correction is $5.1243(33)$ in units of $(\alpha/\pi)^2$ times the lowest order rate. This is consistent with but more precise than the result $5.1(3)$ of a previous calculation.Comment: 26 pages, 7 figure

The Importance of Culture-Fit for Remembering Church Sermons

This experiment tested the degree to which culture-fit influences memory for the content of a sermon. We hypothesized that people who read a sermon emphasizing the infallibility of Christian scriptures will remember it more accurately if they have collectivistic rather than individualistic values. In contrast, we hypothesized that people who read a sermon emphasizing the subjectivity of Christian scriptures will remember it more accurately if they have individualistic rather than collectivistic values. Participants (n = 270) were randomly assigned to read either an orthodox- or quest-oriented sermon regarding Peter 1:20-21. They then completed a true-false memory test as to whether or not statements were in the sermon they read. Later, they completed an online survey of their cultural values and beliefs. Results indicated that highly collectivistic individuals’ memories were negatively affected in the Quest Condition, but not in the Orthodox Condition. Implications for the culture-fit of religious information are discussed

alpha^2 corrections to parapositronium decay: a detailed description

We present details of our recent calculation of alpha^2 corrections to the parapositronium decay into two photons. These corrections are rather small and our final result for the parapositronium lifetime agrees well with the most recent measurement. Implications for orthopositronium decays are briefly discussed.Comment: 18 pages, late

Dibaryons as axially symmetric skyrmions

Dibaryons configurations are studied in the framework of the bound state soliton model. A generalized axially symmetric ansatz is used to determine the soliton background. We show that once the constraints imposed by the symmetries of the lowest energy torus configuration are satisfied all spurious states are removed from the dibaryon spectrum. In particular, we show that the lowest allowed state in the $S=-2$ channel carries the quantum numbers of the H particle. We find that, within our approximations, this particle is slightly bound in the model. We discuss, however, that vacuum effects neglected in the present calculation are very likely to unbind the H.Comment: 24 pages, LaTeX, TAN-FNT-93-12 (it replaces old version which was truncated