Unregulated Desires: Anomie, the “Rainbow Underclass” and Second-generation Alevi Kurdish Gangs in London

This article offers a case study of the adaptation strategies of a section of second-generation young male Alevi Kurds in London and the social conditions which make some of them more prone to join gangs and to reject mainstream institutions in their search for instant material rewards. It is instructive to use Durkheim’s analysis of society’s integrative and regulative functions and particularly his concept of anomie to understand a situation where the legitimate means in the pursuit of material wealth and comfort are out of balance with the demand, calling into question the legitimacy of the institutions which provide these functions. Those who cannot compete through existing institutions are more likely to seek alternative means to achieve these ends. Durkheim identified youth as more vulnerable to such unregulated desires and I argue that his approach offers valuable insights into the anomic pressures confronting second-generation migrant young men in particular

Microscopic theory of absorption and emission in nanostructured solar cells: Beyond the generalized Planck formula

Absorption and emission in inorganic bipolar solar cells based on low dimensional structures exhibiting the effects of quantum confinement is investigated in the framework of a comprehensive microscopic theory of the optical and electronic degrees of freedom of the photovoltaic system. In a quantum-statistical treatment based on non-equilibrium Green's functions, the optical transition rates are related to the conservation of electronic currents, providing a quantum version of the balance equations describing the operation of a photovoltaic device. The generalized Planck law used for the determination of emission from an excited semiconductor in quasi-equilibrium is replaced by an expression of extended validity, where no assumptions on the distribution of electrons and photons are made. The theory is illustrated by the numerical simulation of single quantum well diodes at the radiative limit.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, extended LaTeX version of the EUPVSEC09 proceedings articl

On the influence of the cosmological constant on gravitational lensing in small systems

The cosmological constant Lambda affects gravitational lensing phenomena. The contribution of Lambda to the observable angular positions of multiple images and to their amplification and time delay is here computed through a study in the weak deflection limit of the equations of motion in the Schwarzschild-de Sitter metric. Due to Lambda the unresolved images are slightly demagnified, the radius of the Einstein ring decreases and the time delay increases. The effect is however negligible for near lenses. In the case of null cosmological constant, we provide some updated results on lensing by a Schwarzschild black hole.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figure; v2: extended discussion on the lens equation, references added, results unchanged, in press on PR

N=2 supersymmetric extension of l-conformal Galilei algebra

N=2 supersymmetric extension of the l-conformal Galilei algebra is constructed. A relation between its representations in flat spacetime and in Newton-Hooke spacetime is discussed. An infinite-dimensional generalization of the superalgebra is given.Comment: V4: 8 pages, references and acknowledgements adde

Supersymmetry, a Biased Review

This set of lectures contain a brief review of some basic supersymmetry and its representations, with emphasis on superspace and superfields. Starting from the Poincar\'e group, the supersymmetric extensions allowed by the Coleman-Mandula theorem and its generalisation to superalgebras, the Haag, Lopuszanski and Sohnius theorem, are discussed. Minkowski space is introduced as a quotient space and Superspace is presented as a direct generalization of this. The focus is then shifted from a general presentation to the relation between supersymmetry and complex geometry as manifested in the possible target space geometries for N=1 and N=2 supersymmetric nonlinear sigma models in four dimensions. Gauging of isometries in nonlinear sigma models is discussed for these cases, and the quotient construction is described.Comment: Latex, 28 pages, Invited Lectures at ``The 22nd Winter School Geometry and Physics, Srni, Czech Republic, January 12-19, 2002. V2: Misprints correcte