Berend Gemser, hoogleraar 1926-1955

Berend Gemser, professor 1926-1955Berend Gemser, who came to the University of Pretoria in 1926 to fill two chairs, those of Semitic Languages and Old Testament Studies, is acknowledged as the initiaterof the scientific study of these disciplines in South Africa. In this article special attention is given to his theology. It is shown that in his thought historical criticismwas fully integrated in a concept of Scripture, simultaneously wholly of a subserviant character and an organic unity, without denying the distance between the two Testaments. Attention is also drawn to Gemser’s dialogue with some exponents of Afrikaner thought, and to his growing concern about certain aspects of this thought

Teologie as wetenskap: Aantekeninge van buite die sistematiese Teologie

Theology as science. Remarks from outside the systematic theologyStarting with a definition of science as a critical, systematic, controllable investigation, interpretation and description of what can be known or thought, the question whether theology could be regarded as a science is treated and positively answered, with ultimate preference for the term responsible theology, and reference to the theology practised in this faculty

Die teologiese eie-aardigheid van die Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk: Vrae en nuanses

The theological distinctness of the Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk: Questions and nuancesA survey of past attempts to formulate the theological distinctness of the Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk van Afrika, with special attention to a change of mode in the face of ecumenical developments since the 1960’s. It is shown that there are several streams of theological thought, exemplified by the published work of differenttheologians. The author’s own position is that the reformed heritage compels us to be critical of church thinking and practice: Scripture keeps calling us away fromall egotism, all systematism, all overemphasis on creed, all undisciplined acts in life

Die Ou-Testamentíese Wetenskap in die Fakulteit Teologie (Afd A), Universiteit van Pretoria, 1917-1982

Old Testament Studies in the Faculty of Theology (Sec A), University of Pretoria, 1917-1982Elsewhere in this volume short treatments of the theology and work of scholars in the Department of Old Testament Studies in the Faculty can be found. This articleintends to give a brief survey of the University of Pretoria’s earliest period of Hebrew and Old Testament Studies, as well as a general history of the Department during the 75 years of its existence

Die Fakulteit Teologie (Afd A) aan die Universiteit van Pretoria; Vrae oor sy identiteit en sy problematiek

The Faculty of Theology (Sec A) at the University of Pretoria; Inquiiy into its identity and problem areasThis article is a short survey of theological viewpoints on the character and task of the church, as reflected in church literature during the past 75 years. It is shownthat political history after World War II had a marked effect on thinking in the Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk and that recent changes on the political scene posepenetrating questions to theologians. A full inquiiy into the contours of self-definition is called for and some relevant issues are indicated; an honest evaluation inrespect of the political and social context which is reflected in positions adopted, a pastoral compassion which takes note of human misery, cognisance of theecumenical character of the church, and ethical and academic responsibility

Positive Cross Correlations in a Normal-Conducting Fermionic Beam Splitter

We investigate a beam splitter experiment implemented in a normal conducting fermionic electron gas in the quantum Hall regime. The cross-correlations between the current fluctuations in the two exit leads of the three terminal device are found to be negative, zero or even positive depending on the scattering mechanism within the device. Reversal of the cross-correlations sign occurs due to interaction between different edge-states and does not reflect the statistics of the fermionic particles which `antibunch'.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Ehrenfest-time dependence of weak localization in open quantum dots

Semiclassical theory predicts that the weak localization correction to the conductance of a ballistic chaotic cavity is suppressed if the Ehrenfest time exceeds the dwell time in the cavity [I. L. Aleiner and A. I. Larkin, Phys. Rev. B {\bf 54}, 14424 (1996)]. We report numerical simulations of weak localization in the open quantum kicked rotator that confirm this prediction. Our results disagree with the `effective random matrix theory' of transport through ballistic chaotic cavities.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure

Dynamic generation of orbital quasiparticle entanglement in mesoscopic conductors

We propose a scheme for dynamically creating orbitally entangled electron-hole pairs through a time-dependent variation of the electrical potential in a mesoscopic conductor. The time-dependent potential generates a superposition of electron-hole pairs in two different orbital regions of the conductor, a Mach-Zehnder interferometer in the quantum Hall regime. The orbital entanglement is detected via violation of a Bell inequality, formulated in terms of zero-frequency current noise. Adiabatic cycling of the potential, both in the weak and strong amplitude limit, is considered.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures; references update

VOORWOORD: Hierdie Aflewering van die HTS word opgedra aan prof dr FJ van Zyl by herdenking van sy 50ste jaar as Verbi Dei Minister

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The effect of symmetry class transitions on the shot noise in chaotic quantum dots

Using the random matrix theory (RMT) approach, we calculated the weak localization correction to the shot noise power in a chaotic cavity as a function of magnetic field and spin-orbit coupling. We found a remarkably simple relation between the weak localization correction to the conductance and to the shot noise power, that depends only on the channel number asymmetry of the cavity. In the special case of an orthogonal-unitary crossover, our result coincides with the prediction of Braun et. al [J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. {\bf 39}, L159-L165 (2006)], illustrating the equivalence of the semiclassical method to RMT.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figur