Chiral Gauge Theory on Lattice with Domain Wall Fermions

We investigate a U(1) lattice chiral gauge theory with domain wall fermions and compact gauge fixing. In the reduced model limit, our perturbative and numerical investigations show that there exist no extra mirror chiral modes. The longitudinal gauge degrees of freedom have no effect on the free domain wall fermion spectrum consisting of opposite chiral modes at the domain wall and at the anti-domain wall which have an exponentially damped overlap.Comment: 16 pages revtex, 5 postscript figures, PRD versio

Scaling behavior at the tricritical point in the fermion-gauge-scalar model

We investigate a strongly coupled U(1) gauge theory with fermions and scalars on the lattice and analyze whether the continuum limit might be a renormalizable theory with dynamical mass generation. Most attention is paid to the phase with broken chiral symmetry in the vicinity of the tricritical point found in the model. There we investigate the scaling of the masses of the composite fermion and of some bosonic bound states. As a by-product we confirm the mean-field exponents at the endpoint in the U(1)-Higgs model, by analyzing the scaling of the Fisher zeros.Comment: Talk presented at LATTICE96(other models), 4 page

The Phase Diagram and Spectrum of Gauge-Fixed Abelian Lattice Gauge Theory

We consider a lattice discretization of a covariantly gauge-fixed abelian gauge theory. The gauge fixing is part of the action defining the theory, and we study the phase diagram in detail. As there is no BRST symmetry on the lattice, counterterms are needed, and we construct those explicitly. We show that the proper adjustment of these counterterms drives the theory to a new type of phase transition, at which we recover a continuum theory of (free) photons. We present both numerical and (one-loop) perturbative results, and show that they are in good agreement near this phase transition. Since perturbation theory plays an important role, it is important to choose a discretization of the gauge-fixing action such that lattice perturbation theory is valid. Indeed, we find numerical evidence that lattice actions not satisfying this requirement do not lead to the desired continuum limit. While we do not consider fermions here, we argue that our results, in combination with previous work, provide very strong evidence that this new phase transition can be used to define abelian lattice chiral gauge theories.Comment: 42 pages, 30 figure

Herschel and SCUBA-2 imaging and spectroscopy of a bright, lensed submillimetre galaxy at z = 2.3

We present a detailed analysis of the far-infrared (-IR) properties of the bright, lensed, z = 2.3, submillimetre-selected galaxy (SMG), SMM J2135-0102 (hereafter SMM J2135), using new observations with Herschel, SCUBA-2 and the Very Large Array (VLA). These data allow us to constrain the galaxy's spectral energy distribution (SED) and show that it has an intrinsic rest-frame 8-1000-μm luminosity, L_(bol), of (2.3±0.2) × 10^(12) L_☉ and a likely star-formation rate (SFR) of ~400 yr-1. The galaxy sits on the far-IR/radio correlation for far-IR-selected galaxies. At ≳70 μm, the SED can be described adequately by dust components with dust temperatures, T_d ~ 30 and 60 k. Using SPIRE's Fourier- transform spectrometer (FTS) we report a detection of the [C ii] 158 μm cooling line. If the [C ii], CO and far-IR continuum arise in photo-dissociation regions (PDRs), we derive a characteristic gas density, n ~ 10^3 cm^(-3), and a far-ultraviolet (-UV) radiation field, G_0, 10^(3)× stronger than the Milky Way. L_[CII]/L_(bol) is significantly higher than in local ultra-luminous IR galaxies (ULIRGs) but similar to the values found in local star-forming galaxies and starburst nuclei. This is consistent with SMM J2135 being powered by starburst clumps distributed across ~2 kpc, evidence that SMGs are not simply scaled-up ULIRGs. Our results show that SPIRE's FTS has the ability to measure the redshifts of distant, obscured galaxies via the blind detection of atomic cooling lines, but it will not be competitive with ground-based CO-line searches. It will, however, allow detailed study of the integrated properties of high-redshift galaxies, as well as the chemistry of their interstellar medium (ISM), once more suitably bright candidates have been found

Low motivation and unawareness in small farmers as an obstacle for implementation of the EU pig welfare rules

Using semi-structured interviews, Croatian pig farmers and institutional stakeholders were asked about their intentions to improve pig welfare, future perspectives, opinions and communication efforts on the EU pig welfare directives. While full-time family farmers (FFF) and employees at farm enterprises (EFE) expressed interest in improving pig welfare on their farms as a prerequisite for increasing competitiveness in the future, part-time family farmers (PFF) were not interested in pig welfare because they did not want to increase productivity and feared for their existence. Communication between institutional stakeholders and FFF with more than ten sows is best stablished, whereas communication with EFE is more via private consultants and communication with PFF is lacking. As Croatia is today counting over 85% farms as production units with up to 10 sows covering 75% of whole pig production, these results represent considerably important indicators of necessity to approach this population of farmers

Harmonization of welfare standards for the protection of pigs with the EU-rules: the case of Croatia

Three quarters of Croatian pigs are produced in small production units (1-5 sows) and on family farms with mixed farming activities. Only few farms have specialized production units with up-to-date technologies and comply with EU standards. The future competitiveness of Croatian pig production is therefore questionable unless production systems are changing. Modernisation will most probably result in the expansion and intensification of larger farms and the termination of a great number of small farms. The aim of this study was to investigate how the welfare of pigs on Croatian farms would be affected by modernisation. Seventeen Croatian pig farmers were interviewed to describe the different pig production systems, while the welfare of pigs was assessed using resource-based and animal-based welfare indicators. Three production systems were distinguished: part-time family farms (PFF), full-time family farms (FFF) and farm enterprises (FE). Resources-based welfare indicators were investigated in 17 pens located on seven PFF, 25 pens distributed across six FFF and seven pens were visited at two FE. Animal-based welfare indicators were assessed on 21 pigs at PFF, 90 pigs at FFF and 18 pigs at FE. The study demonstrated that different production systems have different welfare problems. Based on resource-based indicators pig welfare was better ensured on FE, but based on animal-based indicators there was no clear difference in welfare between the three production systems. Based on these findings is it unlikely that the modernisation of current production systems in Croatia will significantly improve pig welfare. From a welfare point of view, neither the enlargement nor the termination of pig farms can be supported. However, the number of farms involved in this study was too small to allow for generalisation. The case-study does, however, point at the importance of further studies into the specific welfare problems of each of the production-systems and their different solutions. These studies should be of larger scale in order to get a representative picture of pig welfare in Croatia, and its assurance within the process of modernisation

Forcing Supreme Court Review by the Federal Circuit

From time to time, a federal court of appeals may want the Supreme Court to take a case because it is stuck: there is an unresolved issue that is important to the day-to-day administration of justice, but an en banc sitting would be futile. The Supreme Court, however, has a haystack problem: it receives several thousand certiorari petitions each year, of which approximately 1% receive plenary review. The literature suggests that the selection of the certworthy needles in this petition haystack is a black-box process affected by discretion and situational factors that make timely review unpredictable and difficult to obtain. Among the federal appellate courts, the difficulty of securing timely Supreme Court review may be the most problematic for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which was established to create and maintain a uniform, coherent body of patent law precedents. Because of its exclusive appellate jurisdiction in patent cases, if the Federal Circuit gets stuck, its impact is felt nationwide. Compared to the other circuits, the Federal Circuit might be more dependent on the Supreme Court in some ways, because there is no intercircuit percolation of patent law. Ironically, the Federal Circuit may have more difficulty signaling when review is necessary because there are no circuit splits in patent law. Accordingly, using the Federal Circuit as a case study, this Article proposes the creation of a mechanism for bypassing the Supreme Court’s certiorari haystack to secure timely review of cases that are important to the day-to-day administration of justice. Specifically, Congress should give the judges of the Federal Circuit the power to periodically invoke (e.g., once a year)—through a majority vote of its regular active judges—either mandatory appellate jurisdiction or mandatory certified question jurisdiction at the Supreme Court to secure review of a case or a discrete issue. By providing a supplemental pathway to Supreme Court review that can be invoked directly by the Federal Circuit judges themselves, the proposal effectively sets up a “hotline” between the two courts and reserves a slot on the high court’s plenary docket for a case that was selected with the benefit of the Federal Circuit’s expertise. As a result, a tighter, more robust feedback loop is created between the generalist Supreme Court that makes broad pronouncements and the specialist appellate court that is charged with operationalizing those pronouncements for day-to-day adjudication. Because all appellate courts (not just the Federal Circuit) have an interest in obtaining timely Supreme Court intervention when necessary, this Article might also be of interest to audiences beyond patent law who are seeking ideas for reforming the Supreme Court

The Federal Circuit’s Experimental Prism

Whether the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit is succeeding in its role as the steward of decisional patent law has been the subject of considerable debate and many empirical studies for the past forty years. Based on these studies, some observers have expressed skepticism of the utility of that court’s exclusive, nationwide jurisdiction over patent appeals. But the substantial body of empirical literature on the Federal Circuit has been viewed largely from a single vantage point, one that attributes any negative or undesirable outcomes to the court’s specialization. This Article argues that there is another way to look at the data: the Federal Circuit’s institutional design actually makes it easier to discern the weaknesses in the rules, practices, and conventions governing the creation of precedents in the federal appellate courts that would otherwise be obscured due to confounders and the length of time necessary to accumulate datapoints. This raises a question: to what extent are the problems with the Federal Circuit attributable to specialization as opposed to weaknesses in the day to day operational procedures commonly used throughout the federal courts of appeals? To explore this question, this Article makes the novel claim that, if there were a judicial analogue to a “lab rat” that can be used to study the operation of the federal appellate courts, the Federal Circuit may be it. Notably, the court follows many of the same rules, practices, and conventions employed in the regional circuits for creating precedents (e.g., opinion assignment rules, use of nonprecedential opinions, the “prior panel rule”) and has the same primary tools for correcting its caselaw (i.e., en banc rehearings and review by the U.S. Supreme Court), but it operates in an environment where doctrinal percolation and iteration have been sped up and where the evolution of a specific area of the law can be clearly tracked. To extend the “lab rat” analogy further, the Federal Circuit provides a convenient environment to test new rules and practices for precedent management because its jurisdictional isolation from the rest of the court system may allow it to serve as an experimental sandbox