25,497 research outputs found
Representation of Quantum Mechanical Resonances in the Lax-Phillips Hilbert Space
We discuss the quantum Lax-Phillips theory of scattering and unstable
systems. In this framework, the decay of an unstable system is described by a
semigroup. The spectrum of the generator of the semigroup corresponds to the
singularities of the Lax-Phillips -matrix. In the case of discrete (complex)
spectrum of the generator of the semigroup, associated with resonances, the
decay law is exactly exponential. The states corresponding to these resonances
(eigenfunctions of the generator of the semigroup) lie in the Lax-Phillips
Hilbert space, and therefore all physical properties of the resonant states can
be computed.
We show that the Lax-Phillips -matrix is unitarily related to the
-matrix of standard scattering theory by a unitary transformation
parametrized by the spectral variable of the Lax-Phillips theory.
Analytic continuation in has some of the properties of a method
developed some time ago for application to dilation analytic potentials.
We work out an illustrative example using a Lee-Friedrichs model for the
underlying dynamical system.Comment: Plain TeX, 26 pages. Minor revision
Searching For Integrated Sachs-Wolfe Effect Beyond Temperature Anisotropies: CMB E-mode Polarization-Galaxy Cross Correlation
The cross-correlation between cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature
anisotropies and the large scale structure (LSS) traced by the galaxy
distribution, or sources at different wavelengths, is now well known. This
correlation results from the integrated Sachs-Wolfe (ISW) effect in CMB
anisotropies generated at late times due to the dark energy component of the
Universe. In a reionized universe, the ISW quadrupole rescatters and
contributes to the large-scale polarization signal. Thus, in principle, the
large-scale polarization bump in the E-mode should also be correlated with the
galaxy distribution. Unlike CMB temperature-LSS correlation that peaks for
tracers at low redshifts this correlation peaks mostly at redshifts between 1
and 3. Under certain conditions, mostly involving a low optical depth to
reionization, if the Universe reionized at a redshift around 6, the cross
polarization-source signal is marginally detectable, though challenging as it
requires all-sky maps of the large scale structure at redshifts between 1 and
3. If the Universe reionized at a redshift higher than 10, it is unlikely that
this correlation will be detectable even with no instrumental noise all-sky
maps. While our estimates do not guarantee a detection unknown physics related
to the dark energy as well as still uncertain issues related to the large
angular scale CMB and polarization anisotropies may motivate attempts to
measure this correlation using upcoming CMB polarization E-mode maps.Comment: 13 pages; 3 figure panels, JCAP submitte
Why We Read Wikipedia
Wikipedia is one of the most popular sites on the Web, with millions of users
relying on it to satisfy a broad range of information needs every day. Although
it is crucial to understand what exactly these needs are in order to be able to
meet them, little is currently known about why users visit Wikipedia. The goal
of this paper is to fill this gap by combining a survey of Wikipedia readers
with a log-based analysis of user activity. Based on an initial series of user
surveys, we build a taxonomy of Wikipedia use cases along several dimensions,
capturing users' motivations to visit Wikipedia, the depth of knowledge they
are seeking, and their knowledge of the topic of interest prior to visiting
Wikipedia. Then, we quantify the prevalence of these use cases via a
large-scale user survey conducted on live Wikipedia with almost 30,000
responses. Our analyses highlight the variety of factors driving users to
Wikipedia, such as current events, media coverage of a topic, personal
curiosity, work or school assignments, or boredom. Finally, we match survey
responses to the respondents' digital traces in Wikipedia's server logs,
enabling the discovery of behavioral patterns associated with specific use
cases. For instance, we observe long and fast-paced page sequences across
topics for users who are bored or exploring randomly, whereas those using
Wikipedia for work or school spend more time on individual articles focused on
topics such as science. Our findings advance our understanding of reader
motivations and behavior on Wikipedia and can have implications for developers
aiming to improve Wikipedia's user experience, editors striving to cater to
their readers' needs, third-party services (such as search engines) providing
access to Wikipedia content, and researchers aiming to build tools such as
recommendation engines.Comment: Published in WWW'17; v2 fixes caption of Table
Factors shaping attitudes towards UK bank brands: An exploratory analysis of social media data
Social media provides a huge amount of data and rich market insight, and has changed the way customers interact with brands. This interaction is of great concern for any organisation as it transfers the power to shape brand image from advertisers to consumers. In light of the global financial crisis and the ensuing negative attitudes towards bank brands, this study has extracted 1176 comments on bank advertisements from the verified Facebook pages of 10 UK banks. These comments have been thematically analysed to identify seven key factors that shape customer attitudes to bank brands. The study presents the power of social media as a platform for brands and customers to engage and build relationships, especially bank–customer relationships in the UK, providing managers with important insights that can guide the development and execution of their brand-relationship campaigns. The fact that this study is based on real-life advertisements and real-life responses from social media network users can be considered as one of its strengths, as it does not suffer from various issues relating to experimental studies. Nonetheless, the study’s limitations and suggestions for future research directions are provided
An exploration into the client at the heart of therapy : a qualitative perspective
Over 50 years ago Eysenck challenged the existing base of research into psychotherapy. Since that time, a large number of investigations have been conducted to verify the efficacy of therapy. Recently however, an increasing number of studies have cast new doubts on this research base. Instead of therapy being a function of the therapist, it is now becoming ever more apparent that the client plays a prime role in the therapeutic process. The qualitative studies presented in this paper provide some examples of research that demonstrates that clients are actively involved in their therapy, even making counselling work despite their counsellor. These studies suggest that clients may not experience therapy as beneficially as traditional outcome studies indicate. This raises a new challenge to researchers to more fully explore the client's experience of therapy, a challenge to which qualitative methods of inquiry would appear well suited
The -cleus experiment: A gram-scale fiducial-volume cryogenic detector for the first detection of coherent neutrino-nucleus scattering
We discuss a small-scale experiment, called -cleus, for the first
detection of coherent neutrino-nucleus scattering by probing nuclear-recoil
energies down to the 10 eV-regime. The detector consists of low-threshold
CaWO and AlO calorimeter arrays with a total mass of about 10 g and
several cryogenic veto detectors operated at millikelvin temperatures.
Realizing a fiducial volume and a multi-element target, the detector enables
active discrimination of , neutron and surface backgrounds. A first
prototype AlO device, operated above ground in a setup without
shielding, has achieved an energy threshold of eV and further
improvements are in reach. A sensitivity study for the detection of coherent
neutrino scattering at nuclear power plants shows a unique discovery potential
(5) within a measuring time of weeks. Furthermore, a site
at a thermal research reactor and the use of a radioactive neutrino source are
investigated. With this technology, real-time monitoring of nuclear power
plants is feasible.Comment: 14 pages, 19 figure
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