On the Connection Between Momentum Cutoff and Operator Cutoff Regularizations

Operator cutoff regularization based on the original Schwinger's proper-time formalism is examined. By constructing a regulating smearing function for the proper-time integration, we show how this regularization scheme simulates the usual momentum cutoff prescription yet preserves gauge symmetry even in the presence of the cutoff scales. Similarity between the operator cutoff regularization and the method of higher (covariant) derivatives is also observed. The invariant nature of the operator cutoff regularization makes it a promising tool for exploring the renormalization group flow of gauge theories in the spirit of Wilson-Kadanoff blocking transformation.Comment: 28 pages in plain TeX, no figures. revised and expande

Male water striders attract predators to intimidate females into copulation

Despite recent advances in our understanding of sexual conflict and antagonistic coevolution between sexes, the role of interspecific interactions, such as predation, in these evolutionary processes remains unclear. In this paper, we present a new male mating strategy whereby a male water strider Gerris gracilicornis intimidates a female by directly attracting predators as long as she does not accept the male's coercive copulation attempt. We argue that this male strategy is a counteradaptation to the evolution of the female morphological shield protecting her genitalia from coercive intromission by water strider males. The G. gracilicornis mating system clearly represents an effect expected from models of the coevolutionary arms race between sexes, whereby one sex causes a decrease in the fitness component of the other sex. Moreover, our study demonstrates a crucial role that interspecific interactions such as predation can have in the antagonistic coevolution between sexes

Lorentz and CPT symmetries in commutative and noncommutative spacetime

We investigate the fermionic sector of a given theory, in which massive and charged Dirac fermions interact with an Abelian gauge field, including a non standard contribution that violates both Lorentz and CPT symmetries. We offer an explicit calculation in which the radiative corrections due to the fermions seem to generate a Chern-Simons-like effective action. Our results are obtained under the general guidance of dimensional regularization, and they show that there is no room for Lorentz and CPT violation in both commutative and noncommutative spacetime.Comment: RevTex4, 7 pages, to be published in J. Phys.

Response of nucleons to external probes in hedgehog models: II. General formalism

Linear response theory for SU(2) hedgehog soliton models is developed.Comment: 25 pages, DOE/ER/40322-163, U. of MD PP \#92-225, (ReVTeX

Gluon Condensation in Nonperturbative Flow Equations

We employ nonperturbative flow equations for an investigation of the effective action in Yang-Mills theories. We compute the effective action $\Gamma[B]$ for constant color magnetic fields $B$ and examine Savvidy's conjecture of an unstable perturbative vacuum. Our results indicate that the absolute minimum of $\Gamma[B]$ occurs for B=0. Gluon condensation is described by a nonvanishing expectation value of the regularized composite operator $F_{\mu\nu}F^{\mu\nu}$ which agrees with phenomenological estimates.Comment: 64 pages, late

Inhomogeneous Field Configurations and the Electroweak Phase Transition

We investigate the effects of inhomogeneous scalar field configurations on the electroweak phase transition. For this purpose we calculate the leading perturbative correction to the wave function correction term Z(\vph,T), i.e., the kinetic term in the effective action, for the electroweak Standard Model at finite temperature and the top quark self--mass. Our finding for the fermionic contribution to Z(\vph,T) is infra--red finite and disagrees with other recent results. In general, neither the order of the phase transition nor the temperature at which it occurs change, once Z(\vph,T) is included. But a non--vanishing, positive (negative) Z(\vph,T) enhances (decreases) the critical droplet surface tension and the strength of the phase transition. We find that in the range of parameter space, which allows for a first--order phase transition, the wave function correction term is negative --- indicating a weaker phase transition --- and especially for small field values so large that perturbation theory becomes unreliable.Comment: 23 pages of LaTeX + 3 PostScript figures included in uuencoded form, FERMI-PUB-93/253-

Lorentz and CPT Violating Chern-Simons Term in the Derivative Expansion of QED

We calculate by the method of dimensional regularization and derivative expansion the one-loop effective action for a Dirac fermion with a Lorentz-violating and CPT-odd kinetic term in the background of a gauge field. We show that this term induces a Chern-Simons modification to Maxwell theory. Some related issues are also discussed.Comment: 6 pages, no figure, RevTex, A revised versio

Vestigial singing behaviour persists after the evolutionary loss of song in crickets

This researchwas supported by Natural Environment Research Council grants to N.W.B. (NE/L011255/1 and NE/I027800/1).The evolutionary loss of sexual traits is widely predicted. Because sexual signals can arise from the coupling of specialized motor activity with morphological structures, disruption to a single component could lead to overall loss of function. Opportunities to observe this process and characterize any remaining signal components are rare, but could provide insight into the mechanisms, indirect costs and evolutionary consequences of signal loss. We investigated the recent evolutionary loss of a long-range acoustic sexual signal in the Hawaiian field cricket Teleogryllus oceanicus. Flatwing males carry mutations that remove sound-producing wing structures, eliminating all acoustic signalling and affording protection against an acoustically-orientating parasitoid fly. We show that flatwing males produce wing movement patterns indistinguishable from those that generate sonorous calling song in normal-wing males. Evolutionary song loss caused by the disappearance of structural components of the sound-producing apparatus has left behind the energetically costly motor behaviour underlying normal singing. These results provide a rare example of a vestigial behaviour and raise the possibility that such traits could be co-opted for novel functions.PostprintPeer reviewe

Immunological Sex Differences in Socially Promiscuous African Ground Squirrels

Differences in how males and females respond to foreign antigens are common across taxa. Such sexual differences in the immune system are predicted to be greater in species with high promiscuity and sociality as these factors increase the likelihood of disease transmission. Intense sperm competition is thought to further this sexual dichotomy as increased investment in spermatogenesis likely incurs additional immunological costs. Xerus inauris, a ground squirrel found throughout southern Africa, is extremely social and promiscuous with one of the highest male reproductive investments among rodents. These life-history attributes suggest males and females should demonstrate a large dichotomy in immunity. Contrary to our prediction, we found no difference in spleen mass between the sexes. However, we did find significant biases in leukocyte types and red blood cell counts, possibly reflecting responses to parasite types. Among males, we predicted greater investments in spermatogenesis would result in reduced immunological investments. We found a negative association between testes and spleen size and a positive relationship between testes and number of lice suggesting trade-offs in reproductive investment possibly due to the costs associated with spermatogenesis and immunity. We suggest when measuring sexual differences in immunity it is important to consider the effects of reproductive pressures, parasite types, and life history costs

Quantum Kinks: Solitons at Strong Coupling

We examine solitons in theories with heavy fermions. These ``quantum'' solitons differ dramatically from semi-classical (perturbative) solitons because fermion loop effects are important when the Yukawa coupling is strong. We focus on kinks in a $(1+1)$--dimensional $\phi^4$ theory coupled to fermions; a large-$N$ expansion is employed to treat the Yukawa coupling $g$ nonperturbatively. A local expression for the fermion vacuum energy is derived using the WKB approximation for the Dirac eigenvalues. We find that fermion loop corrections increase the energy of the kink and (for large $g$) decrease its size. For large $g$, the energy of the quantum kink is proportional to $g$, and its size scales as $1/g$, unlike the classical kink; we argue that these features are generic to quantum solitons in theories with strong Yukawa couplings. We also discuss the possible instability of fermions to solitons.Comment: 21 pp. + 2 figs., phyzzx, JHU-TIPAC-92001