Normalizers of Irreducible Subfactors

We consider normalizers of an irreducible inclusion $N\subseteq M$ of $\mathrm{II}_1$ factors. In the infinite index setting an inclusion $uNu^*\subseteq N$ can be strict, forcing us to also investigate the semigroup of one-sided normalizers. We relate these normalizers of $N$ in $M$ to projections in the basic construction and show that every trace one projection in the relative commutant $N'\cap$ is of the form $u^*e_Nu$ for some unitary $u\in M$ with $uNu^*\subseteq N$. This enables us to identify the normalizers and the algebras they generate in several situations. In particular each normalizer of a tensor product of irreducible subfactors is a tensor product of normalizers modulo a unitary. We also examine normalizers of irreducible subfactors arising from subgroup--group inclusions $H\subseteq G$. Here the normalizers are the normalizing group elements modulo a unitary from $L(H)$. We are also able to identify the finite trace $L(H)$-bimodules in $\ell^2(G)$ as double cosets which are also finite unions of left cosets.Comment: 33 Page

Evaluation of prototype air/fluid separator for Space Station Freedom Health Maintenance Facility

A prototype air/fluid separator suction apparatus proposed as a possible design for use with the Health Maintenance Facility aboard Space Station Freedom (SSF) was evaluated. A KC-135 parabolic flight test was performed for this purpose. The flights followed the standard 40 parabola profile with 20 to 25 seconds of near-zero gravity in each parabola. A protocol was prepared to evaluate the prototype device in several regulator modes (or suction force), using three fluids of varying viscosity, and using either continuous or intermittent suction. It was felt that a matrixed approach would best approximate the range of utilization anticipated for medical suction on SSF. The protocols were performed in one-gravity in a lab setting to familiarize the team with procedures and techniques. Identical steps were performed aboard the KC-135 during parabolic flight

Strategic Alliances in U.S. Branded Beef Programs

In this paper, we combine concepts from organizational economics to examine supply chain alliances formed to market branded beef products. To illustrate application of the framework, we examine three different types of alliances. We conclude that measuring costs associated with quality attributes have an important role in alliance structure.Agribusiness,

Academic Advising Models in Faith-Based Colleges and Universities

This study examined how academic advising is conducted among private, faith-based colleges and universities. In addition to developing a profile of academic advising at these campuses, academic advising organizational models used by these institutions were examined. Academic advising responsibilities at these institutions incorporated prescriptive and developmental advising methods. Seventy percent of the institutions utilized the “Faculty-Only” advising model. Benefits of using faculty members as advisors include the emphasis that private colleges place on faculty-student contact, enabling students to have a deeper relationship with their professors. Negative implications when utilizing faculty advisors include that they have other job responsibilities and priorities that often come before academic advising

Kadison-Kastler stable factors

A conjecture of Kadison and Kastler from 1972 asks whether sufficiently close operator algebras in a natural uniform sense must be small unitary perturbations of one another. For n≥3 and a free, ergodic, probability measure-preserving action of SL<sub>n</sub>(Z) on a standard nonatomic probability space (X,μ), write M=(L<sup>∞</sup>(X,μ)⋊SL<sub>n</sub>(Z))⊗¯¯¯R, where R is the hyperfinite II1-factor. We show that whenever M is represented as a von Neumann algebra on some Hilbert space H and N⊆B(H) is sufficiently close to M, then there is a unitary u on H close to the identity operator with uMu∗=N. This provides the first nonamenable class of von Neumann algebras satisfying Kadison and Kastler’s conjecture. We also obtain stability results for crossed products L<sup>∞</sup>(X,μ)⋊Γ whenever the comparison map from the bounded to usual group cohomology vanishes in degree 2 for the module L<sup>2</sup>(X,μ). In this case, any von Neumann algebra sufficiently close to such a crossed product is necessarily isomorphic to it. In particular, this result applies when Γ is a free group

A remark on the similarity and perturbation problems

In this note we show that Kadison's similarity problem for C*-algebras is equivalent to a problem in perturbation theory: must close C*-algebras have close commutants?Comment: 6 Pages, minor typos fixed. C. R. Acad. Sci. Canada, to appea

Speedup of Optical Scanner Characterization Subsystem

Small image deformations such as those introduced by optical scanners significantly reduce the accuracy rate of optical character recognition (OCR) software. Characterization of the scanner used in the OCR process may diminish the impact on recognition rates. Theoretical methods have been developed to characterize a scanner based on the bi-level image resulting from scanning a high contrast document. Two bottlenecks in the naïve implementation of these algorithms have been identified, and techniques were developed to improve the execution time of the software. The algorithms are described and analyzed. Since approximations are used in one of the techniques, the error of the approximations is examined

Manual for Asphalt Pavement Repair and Resurfacing Preparation

Timely repairs of pavement defects are essential in protecting an important investment and asset that public agencies have. These repairs may be made as durable “stand-alone” repairs of isolated problems, or as part of preparations for a total resurfacing. This manual provides basic information on the planning, materials and construction aspects of common pavement repairs such as crack sealing, crack filling, and patching, as well as a broader look at other preparations needed for total resurfacing a pavement, whether the resurfacing is a surface treatment or a thin hot mix asphalt (HMA) overlay

X-ray Emission from SN 2012ca: A Type Ia-CSM Supernova Explosion in a Dense Surrounding Medium

X-ray emission is one of the signposts of circumstellar interaction in supernovae (SNe), but until now, it has been observed only in core-collapse SNe. The level of thermal X-ray emission is a direct measure of the density of the circumstellar medium (CSM), and the absence of X-ray emission from Type Ia SNe has been interpreted as a sign of a very low density CSM. In this paper, we report late-time (500--800 days after discovery) X-ray detections of SN 2012ca in {\it Chandra} data. The presence of hydrogen in the initial spectrum led to a classification of Type Ia-CSM, ostensibly making it the first SN~Ia detected with X-rays. Our analysis of the X-ray data favors an asymmetric medium, with a high-density component which supplies the X-ray emission. The data suggest a number density $> 10^8$ cm$^{-3}$ in the higher-density medium, which is consistent with the large observed Balmer decrement if it arises from collisional excitation. This is high compared to most core-collapse SNe, but it may be consistent with densities suggested for some Type IIn or superluminous SNe. If SN 2012ca is a thermonuclear SN, the large CSM density could imply clumps in the wind, or a dense torus or disk, consistent with the single-degenerate channel. A remote possibility for a core-degenerate channel involves a white dwarf merging with the degenerate core of an asymptotic giant branch star shortly before the explosion, leading to a common envelope around the SN.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures. Accepted to MNRA