929 research outputs found
Education in the U.S. and the Netherlands: An equity comparison and a few big questions
Using an equity perspective, this article compares the education systems of the United States and the Netherlands. Existing data examining student demographics, the organizational structures, curricula, funding, and student outcomes are examined. The Netherlands appears to be getting a âbigger bang for their buck.â We make the case that since the 10th Amendment to the Constitution makes U.S. education a state function, 50 states can have significant variance in their instructional standards, funding, and outcomes. At the secondary level, these differences may partially explain U.S. studentsâ lagging achievement as measured by international tests. Fundamental questions about the U.S. education system are posed for a broader discussion
Vibrational properties of phonons in random binary alloys: An augmented space recursive technique in the k-representation
We present here an augmented space recursive technique in the
k-representation which include diagonal, off-diagonal and the environmental
disorder explicitly : an analytic, translationally invariant, multiple
scattering theory for phonons in random binary alloys.We propose the augmented
space recursion (ASR) as a computationally fast and accurate technique which
will incorporate configuration fluctuations over a large local environment. We
apply the formalism to , Ni_{88}Cr_12} and
alloys which is not a random choice. Numerical results on spectral functions,
coherent structure factors, dispersion curves and disordered induced FWHM's are
presented. Finally the results are compared with the recent itinerant coherent
potential approximation (ICPA) and also with experiments.Comment: 20 pages, LaTeX, 23 figure
The Strong CP Problem and Axions
I describe how the QCD vacuum structure, necessary to resolve the
problem, predicts the presence of a P, T and CP violating term proportional to
the vacuum angle . To agree with experimental bounds, however,
this parameter must be very small ). After briefly
discussing some possible other solutions to this, so-called, strong CP problem,
I concentrate on the chiral solution proposed by Peccei and Quinn which has
associated with it a light pseudoscalar particle, the axion. I discuss in
detail the properties and dynamics of axions, focusing particularly on
invisible axion models where axions are very light, very weakly coupled and
very long-lived. Astrophysical and cosmological bounds on invisible axions are
also briefly touched upon.Comment: 14 pages, to appear in the Lecture Notes in Physics volume on Axions,
(Springer Verlag
Synthesis and characterization of atomically-thin graphite films on a silicon carbide substrate
This paper reports the synthesis and detailed characterization of graphite
thin films produced by thermal decomposition of the (0001) face of a 6H-SiC
wafer, demonstrating the successful growth of single crystalline films down to
approximately one graphene layer. The growth and characterization were carried
out in ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) conditions. The growth process and sample quality
were monitored by low-energy electron diffraction, and the thickness of the
sample was determined by core level x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.
High-resolution angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy shows constant energy
map patterns, which are very sharp and fully momentum-resolved, but nonetheless
not resolution limited. We discuss the implications of this observation in
connection with scanning electron microscopy data, as well as with previous
studies
Axion-photon Couplings in Invisible Axion Models
We reexamine the axion-photon couplings in various invisible axion models
motivated by the recent proposal of using optical interferometry at the ASST
facility in the SSCL to search for axion. We illustrate that the assignment of
charges for the fermion fields plays an important role in
determining the couplings. Several simple non-minimal invisible axion models
with suppressed and enhanced axion-photon couplings are constructed,
respectively. We also discuss the implications of possible new experiments to
detect solar axions by conversion to -rays in a static magnetic apparatus
tracking the sun.Comment: 14 pages, LaTeX fil
Minimal Composite Higgs Model with Light Bosons
We analyze a composite Higgs model with the minimal content that allows a
light Standard-Model-like Higgs boson, potentially just above the current LEP
limit. The Higgs boson is a bound state made up of the top quark and a heavy
vector-like quark. The model predicts that only one other bound state may be
lighter than the electroweak scale, namely a CP-odd neutral scalar. Several
other composite scalars are expected to have masses in the TeV range. If the
Higgs decay into a pair of CP-odd scalars is kinematically open, then this
decay mode is dominant, with important implications for Higgs searches. The
lower bound on the CP-odd scalar mass is loose, in some cases as low as
100 MeV, being set only by astrophysical constraints.Comment: 33 pages, latex. Corrections in eqs. 3.21, 3.23, 4.1, 4.5-10. One
figure adde
Integrable Spin Chains on the Conformal Moose
We consider N=1, D=4 superconformal U(N)^{pq} Yang-Mills theories dual to
AdS_5xS^5/Z_pxZ_q orbifolds. We construct the dilatation operator of this
superconformal gauge theory at one-loop planar level. We demonstrate that a
specific sector of this dilatation operator can be thought of as the transfer
matrix for a two-dimensional statistical mechanical system, related to an
integrable SU(3) anti-ferromagnetic spin chain system, which in turn is
equivalent to a 2+1-dimensional string theory where the spatial slices are
discretized on a triangular lattice. This is an extension of the SO(6) spin
chain picture of N=4 super Yang-Mills theory. We comment on the integrability
of this N=1 gauge theory and hence the corresponding three-dimensional
statistical mechanical system, its connection to three-dimensional lattice
gauge theories, extensions to six-dimensional string theories, AdS/CFT type
dualities and finally their construction via orbifolds and brane-box models. In
the process we discover a new class of almost-BPS BMN type operators with large
engineering dimensions but controllably small anomalous corrections.Comment: 53 pages, 14 eps figures; Added reference
Moduli and (un)attractor black hole thermodynamics
We investigate four-dimensional spherically symmetric black hole solutions in
gravity theories with massless, neutral scalars non-minimally coupled to gauge
fields. In the non-extremal case, we explicitly show that, under the variation
of the moduli, the scalar charges appear in the first law of black hole
thermodynamics. In the extremal limit, the near horizon geometry is
and the entropy does not depend on the values of moduli at
infinity. We discuss the attractor behaviour by using Sen's entropy function
formalism as well as the effective potential approach and their relation with
the results previously obtained through special geometry method. We also argue
that the attractor mechanism is at the basis of the matching between the
microscopic and macroscopic entropies for the extremal non-BPS Kaluza-Klein
black hole.Comment: 36 pages, no figures, V2: minor changes, misprints corrected,
expanded references; V3: sections 4.3 and 4.5 added; V4: minor changes,
matches the published versio
A lattice formulation of chiral gauge theories
We present a method for implementing gauge theories of chiral fermions on the
lattice.Comment: 3 pages LaTeX, espcrc2 style file. Talk presented at LATTICE96(chiral
gauge
Fermion Masses, Mixing Angles and Supersymmetric SO(10) Unification
We reanalyse the problem of fermion masses in supersymmetric SO(10) grand
unified models. In the minimal model, both low energy Higgs doublets belong to
the same {\bf{10}} representation of SO(10) implying the unification not only
of the gauge but also of the third generation Yukawa couplings. These models
predict large values of . In this paper we study the effects
of departing from the minimal conditions in order to see if we can find models
with a reduced value of . In order to maintain predictability,
however, we try to do this with the addition of only one new parameter. We
still assume that the fermion masses arise from interactions of the spinor
representations with a single representation, but this
now only contains a part of the two light Higgs doublets. This enables us to
introduce one new parameter . For values of we can in principle reduce the value of . In fact,
is an overall factor which multiplies the down quark and charged lepton Yukawa
matrices. Thus the theory is still highly constrained. We show that the first
generation quark masses and the CP-violation parameter yield
strong constraints on the phenomenologically allowed models. In the end, we
find that large values of are still preferred.Comment: 15 pages, latex, 6 uuencoded figure
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