Magnetic Monopoles, Center Vortices, Confinement and Topology of Gauge Fields

The vortex picture of confinement is studied. The deconfinement phase transition is explained as a transition from a phase in which vortices percolate to a phase of small vortices. Lattice results are presented in support of this scenario. Furthermore the topological properties of magnetic monopoles and center vortices arising, respectively, in Abelian and center gauges are studied in continuum Yang-Mills-theory. For this purpose the continuum analog of the maximum center gauge is constructed.Comment: talk given by H. Reinhardt on the Int. Workshop ``Hadrons 1999'', Coimbra, 10.-15. Sept. 199

Magnetic Monopoles, Center Vortices and Topology of Gauge Fields

The topological properties of magnetic monopoles and center vortices arising, respectively, in Abelian and center gauges are studied in continuum Yang-Mills Theory. For this purpose the continuum analog of the maximum center gauge is constructed.Comment: talk presented at LATTICE99(topology) at Pisa, Italy, 3 page

A general solution in the Newtonian limit of f(R)- gravity

We show that any analytic $f(R)$-gravity model, in the metric approach, presents a weak field limit where the standard Newtonian potential is corrected by a Yukawa-like term. This general result has never been pointed out but often derived for some particular theories. This means that only $f(R)=R$ allows to recover the standard Newton potential while this is not the case for other relativistic theories of gravity. Some considerations on the physical consequences of such a general solution are addressed.Comment: 5 page

Energies of Quantum QED Flux Tubes

In this talk I present recent studies on vacuum polarization energies and energy densities induced by QED flux tubes. I focus on comparing three and four dimensional scenarios and the discussion of various approximation schemes in view of the exact treatment.Comment: 9 pages latex, Talk presented at the QFEXT 05 workshop in Barcelona, Sept. 2005. To appear in the proceeding

Informing or Exploiting? Public Reponses to Giuliana Rancic’s Health Narrative

Popular entertainment journalist Giuliana Rancic has shared her struggles with pregnancy loss, infertility, and breast cancer in an array of public forums. In this study, we analyzed online comments responding to public discourses surrounding Rancic’s revelations, including her miscarriage and fertility treatments, her breast cancer diagnosis, and her decision to undergo a double mastectomy. Our goal was to explore how the public framed Rancic’s health challenges. Using a narrative lens, we argue that online comments reveal the tensions that celebrities like Rancic must manage as they contend with public scrutiny of their stories. Online commenters in this study framed Rancic’s narrative as a privileged vantage point in which she exploited her health struggles for personal and financial gain. Our analysis of these comments also demonstrates how Rancic’s narrative exists in concert with other discourses that challenge and disrupt her own account of events. The examination of these mediated discourses has implications for understanding the role of celebrity experiences in personal and public conversations about health