Transverse momentum broadening of heavy quark and gluon energy loss in Sakai-Sugimoto model

In this paper, we calculate the transverse momentum diffusion coefficient kappa_T of heavy quark and gluon penetration length in the deconfinement phase of Sakai-Sugimoto model, which is known as a holographic dual of large N_c QCD. We find that for the heavy quark moving through the thermal plasma with a constant velocity v<1, the transverse momentum diffusion coefficient kappa_T is proportional to lamda*gamma^{{1/3}}*T^4/T_d, and the gluon penetration length delta x is proportional to E^{{2/5}}. These results are different from those calculated in N=4 super-Yang-Mills theory, where kappa_T is proportional to lambda*gamma^{{1/2}}*T^3 and delta x is proportional to E^{{1/3}}, respectively. In the high energy limit, the difference between the two pairs of results should be evident, so we expect that the future LHC experiments can tell us which model is more closely related to the realistic strongly coupled QCD at finite temperature.Comment: 26 pages, 6 figures, contents and references adde

Oral History Interview with Pang Yang Hoong: Conceptualising SMU

This is an abridged version of the original interview. Please contact the Library at [email protected] for access to the full version of the transcript and/or audio recording.</p

The Singer of Tibet: Shabkar (1781-1851), the “Inescapable Nation,” and Buddhist Universalism

This paper examines the concept of ‘Tibet (Tib. bod)’ in the spiritual autobiography of the celebrated Tibetan Buddhist author, Shabkar Tsokdruk Rangdröl (1781–1851). I use both literal and literary modes of analysis in conjunction with Steven Grosby’s and Lama Jabb’s definitions of ‘nation’ to demonstrate how Shabkar initially builds a vivid persona— the ‘Singer of Tibet’—that is rooted in the Tibetan landscape, but then shifts to a different persona— ‘Shabkar’—that transcends Tibet altogether and embraces a sense of Buddhist universalism. Throughout the process, Shabkar evokes deities and historical figures that are fundamental to Tibetan historical, cultural, and religious memory and alludes to customs and tropes central to Tibetan culture, such as orality, song, and the bardic tradition. In addition to demonstrating the efficacy and potency of literary tropes in creating the sense of an imagined nation, this essay makes a contribution to the ‘Where is Tibet?’ debate by exploring how Tibetan identity is articulated in one of the great masterpieces of classical Tibetan Buddhist literature

Corner contributions to holographic entanglement entropy in non-conformal backgrounds

We study corner contributions to holographic entanglement entropy in non-conformal backgrounds: a kink for D2-branes as well as a cone and two different types of crease for D4-branes. Unlike 2+1-dimensional CFTs, the corner contribution to the holographic entanglement entropy of D2-branes exhibits a power law behaviour rather than a logarithmic term. However, the logarithmic term emerges in the holographic entanglement entropy of D4-branes. We identify the logarithmic term for a cone in D4-brane background as the universal contribution under appropriate limits and compare it with other physical quantities.Comment: 25 pages, 1 figure, discussions in section 5.2 improved, typos corrected and references adde

Favoritism: Ethical Dilemmas Viewed Through Multiple Paradigms

Favoritism is a controversial issue in many cultural settings. Related terms include nepotism and cronyism; all three are identified with misconduct in the merit-based business world. The flip side is ethics — the principles of conduct governing an individual or a group (Merriam-Webster, 2012). According to John Dewey (1902), “Ethics is the science that deals with conduct insofar as this is considered to be right or wrong, good or bad.” Since favoritism is perceived as being linked to workplace misconduct, it is necessary to use ethics in examining this issue. The current study applied four lenses of ethics identified by Shapiro and Stefkovich (2011) to help people deal with ethical challenges: justice, critique, care, and the profession. Findings have implications for criteria used to handle ethical challenges in the workplace