Stable blow up dynamics for the critical co-rotational Wave Maps and equivariant Yang-Mills problems

We exhibit stable finite time blow up regimes for the energy critical co-rotational Wave Map with the S^2 target in all homotopy classes and for the critical equivariant SO(4) Yang-Mills problem. We derive sharp asymptotics on the dynamics at the blow up time and prove quantization of the energy focused at the singularity

Landscape Predictions from Cosmological Vacuum Selection

In BP models with hundreds of fluxes, we compute the effects of cosmological dynamics on the probability distribution of landscape vacua. Starting from generic initial conditions, we find that most fluxes are dynamically driven into a different and much narrower range of values than expected from landscape statistics alone. Hence, cosmological evolution will access only a tiny fraction of the vacua with small cosmological constant. This leads to a host of sharp predictions. Unlike other approaches to eternal inflation, the holographic measure employed here does not lead to "staggering", an excessive spread of probabilities that would doom the string landscape as a solution to the cosmological constant problem.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures, v4 prd format, minor editin

Tensor Microwave Background Fluctuations for Large Multipole Order

We present approximate formulas for the tensor BB, EE, TT, and TE multipole coefficients for large multipole order l. The error in using the approximate formula for the BB multipole coefficients is less than cosmic variance for l>10. These approximate formulas make various qualitative properties of the calculated multipole coefficients transparent: specifically, they show that, whatever values are chosen for cosmological parameters, the tensor EE multipole coefficients will always be larger than the BB coefficients for all l>15, and that these coefficients will approach each other for l<<100. These approximations also make clear how these multipole coefficients depend on cosmological parameters.Comment: 19 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. D, references and comments on earlier work on the subject added, cosmetic modification of figure

Dating Violence among University Students: The Role of Gender and Age

In this study, the influences of gender and age on attitude to dating violence among students were examined. 1362 students from Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka were used. 620 (45.5%) were males while 742(54.5%) were females. The ages of the participants ranged between 19 and 35 years with a mean age of 23.91 years and standard deviation of 5.76. A-25 item scale on dating violence was validated and used in the study. Two way analysis of variance was used to test two hypotheses in the study. The findings indicated that the first hypothesis which stated that there will be no significant difference between male and female students on attitude to dating violence was confirmed. The result also indicated that the second hypothesis which stated that there will be no significant difference between older and younger students on attitude to dating violence was confirmed. Keywords: Age, Dating violence, Gender

The Medium of Theatre as an Alternative Conflict Resolution Mechanism: A Case for the Niger Delta

One of the major problems facing Nigeria and indeed, Africa is intra and inter-ethnic conflicts. The conflicts in some of these nations have, in very recent times degenerated into serious violence, a number of which have developed into intractable armed struggle. These situations have, to a large extent threatened the corporate existence of many African states, especially against the backdrop of the divergent cultures of the various ethnic nationalities; Rwanda, Congo Democratic Republic, Sudan and Somalia to mention some of them. And the Niger Delta question in Nigeria is one that has remained a vexed area for which no answer seems to be sufficient. What therefore, is the way forward? It is in line with the various attempts in the past that this essay proposes the theatrical approach

Sensitivity derivatives and optimization of nodal point locations for vibration reduction

A method is developed for sensitivity analysis and optimization of nodal point locations in connection with vibration reduction. A straightforward derivation of the expression for the derivative of nodal locations is given, and the role of the derivative in assessing design trends is demonstrated. An optimization process is developed which uses added lumped masses on the structure as design variables to move the node to a preselected location; for example, where low response amplitude is required or to a point which makes the mode shape nearly orthogonal to the force distribution, thereby minimizing the generalized force. The optimization formulation leads to values for added masses that adjust a nodal location while minimizing the total amount of added mass required to do so. As an example, the node of the second mode of a cantilever box beam is relocated to coincide with the centroid of a prescribed force distribution, thereby reducing the generalized force substantially without adding excessive mass. A comparison with an optimization formulation that directly minimizes the generalized force indicates that nodal placement gives essentially a minimum generalized force when the node is appropriately placed