Geometric RSK and the Toda lattice

We relate a continuous-time version of the geometric RSK correspondence to the Toda lattice, in a way which can be viewed as a semi-classical limit of a recent result by the author which relates the continuous-time geometric RSK mapping, with Brownian motion as input, to the quantum Toda lattice.Comment: v2: minor correction

What Influences Open Defecation and Latrine Ownership in Rural Households?: Findings from a Global Review

In this review, the Water and Sanitation Program of the World Bank identifies commonalities and differences across sanitation market research studies it has conducted in eight countries since 2006 to determine factors that affect sanitation behaviors. Three specific behaviors -- open defecation, acquisition of toilets, and improvement of latrines -- are covered

Litigating reproductive health rights in the inter-American system: what does a winning case look like?

Remedies and reparation measures emerging from the Inter-American System of Human Rights in reproductive health cases have consistently highlighted the need to develop and subsequently implement, non-repetition remedies that protect, promote and fulfill women’s reproductive health rights. Litigation outcomes that result in violations of reproductive rights are a “win” for health rights litigation, but when implementation fails, is a “win” still a win? Although there has been considerable success in litigating reproductive health rights cases, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights are not adequately equipped to follow-up on cases after they have been won. Successful and sustainable implementation of reproductive health rights law requires incorporation of non-repetition remedies in the form of legislation, education, and training that seeks to remodel existing social and cultural practices that hinder women’s enjoyment of their reproductive rights. In order for a reproductive health rights case to ultimately be a “winner,” case recommendations and decisions emerging from the Commission and Court must incorporate perspectives provided by members of civil society, with the ultimate goal of developing measurable remedies that address underlying obstacles to domestic implementation

Random matrices, non-colliding processes and queues

This is survey of some recent results connecting random matrices, non-colliding processes and queues.Comment: To appear in Seminaire de Probabilites XXXV

Proposed New Test of Spin Effects in General Relativity

The recent discovery of a double-pulsar PSR J0737-3039A/B provides an opportunity of unequivocally observing, for the first time, spin effects in general relativity. Existing efforts involve detection of the precession of the spinning body itself. However, for a close binary system, spin effects on the orbit may also be discernable. Not only do they add to the advance of the periastron (by an amount which is small compared to the conventional contribution) but they also give rise to a precession of the orbit about the spin direction. The measurement of such an effect would also give information on the moment of inertia of pulsars

Fluctuations and Noise: A General Model with Applications

A wide variety of dissipative and fluctuation problems involving a quantum system in a heat bath can be described by the independent-oscillator (IO) model Hamiltonian. Using Heisenberg equations of motion, this leads to a generalized quantum Langevin equation (QLE) for the quantum system involving two quantities which encapsulate the properties of the heat bath. Applications include: atomic energy shifts in a blackbody radiation heat bath; solution of the problem of runaway solutions in QED; electrical circuits (resistively shunted Josephson barrier, microscopic tunnel junction, etc.); conductivity calculations (since the QLE gives a natural separation between dissipative and fluctuation forces); dissipative quantum tunneling; noise effects in gravitational wave detectors; anomalous diffusion; strongly driven quantum systems; decoherence phenomena; analysis of Unruh radiation and entropy for a dissipative system.Comment: Presented at the SPIE International Symposium on Fluctuations and Noise in Photonics and Quantum Optics (Austin, May 2005

The Equation of Motion of an Electron

The claim by Rohrlich that the Abraham-Lorentz-Dirac equation is not the correct equation for a classical point charge is shown to be incorrect and it is pointed out that the equation which he proposes is the equation {\underline{derived}} by Ford and O'Connell for a charge with structure. The quantum-mechanical case is also discussed

Stochastic Methods in Atomic Systems and QED

We show that treating the blackbody radiation field as a heat bath enables one to utilize powerful techniques from the realm of stochastic physics (such as the fluctuation-dissipation theorem and the related radiation damping) in order to treat problems that could not be treated rigorously by conventional methods. We illustrate our remarks by discussing specifically the effect of temperature on atomic spectral lines, and the solution to the problem of runaway solutions in the equation of motion of a radiating electron. We also present brief discussions relating to anomalous diffusion and wave packet spreading in a radiation field and the influence of quantum effects on the laws of thermodynamics.Comment: Contribution to the Festschrift in honor of Professor Walter R. Johnson on the occasion of his retirement after 50 years at the University of Notre Dam

The Ultraviolet Morphology of Galaxies

The vacuum ultraviolet offers a unique perspective on galaxy morphology, stellar populations, and interstellar material which is of particular relevance to interpreting high redshift galaxies and the history of cosmic star formation. Here we review UV imaging studies of galaxies since 1990.Comment: 10 pages; tar.gz file includes LaTeX text file, 6 low-resolution PostScript figures, and 3 style files. For *.ps.gz file with full res figures, see http://www.astro.virginia.edu/~rwo/ Paper to be published in "The Ultraviolet Universe at Low and High Redshift" ed. W. H. Waller (AIP Press) 199

Decoherence in Quantum Systems

We discuss various definitions of decoherence and how it can be measured. We compare and contrast decoherence in quantum systems with an infinite number of eigenstates (such as the free particle and the oscillator) and spin systems. In the former case, we point out the essential difference between assuming "entanglement at all times" and entanglement with the reservoir occuring at some initial time. We also discuss optimum calculational techniques in both arenas.Comment: To be published in Proceedings of the 2004 IEEE NTC Quantum Device Technology Workshop, IEEE Transactions on Nanotechnology, 4, 77, 200