Human-centred design: An emergent conceptual model

(Human-centred design: an emergent conceptual module by Zhang T and Dong H) Understanding human needs and how design responds to human needs are essential for human-centred design (HCD). By combining Maslow’s hierarchy of needs model and Küthe’s “design and society” model, this paper proposes a conceptual model of human-centred design which marries psychology and sociology in investigating the relationship between design and human needs. The study reveals a tendency that design evolution responds to the hierarchy of human needs. Nowadays design tends to care for more levels of human needs

Z-graded weak modules and regularity

It is proved that if any Z-graded weak module for vertex operator algebra V is completely reducible, then V is rational and C_2-cofinite. That is, V is regular. This gives a natural characterization of regular vertex operator algebras.Comment: 9 page

Quantum Crooks fluctuation theorem and quantum Jarzynski equality in the presence of a reservoir

We consider the quantum mechanical generalization of Crooks Fluctuation Theorem and Jarzynski Equality for an open quantum system. The explicit expression for microscopic work for an arbitrary prescribed protocol is obtained, and the relation between quantum Crooks Fluctuation Theorem, quantum Jarzynski Equality and their classical counterparts are clarified. Numerical simulations based on a two-level toy model are used to demonstrate the validity of the quantum version of the two theorems beyond linear response theory regime.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, any comments are welcom

Neutrino masses and superheavy dark matter in the 3-3-1-1 model

In this work, we interpret the 3-3-1-1 model when the B-L and 3-3-1 breaking scales behave simultaneously as the inflation scale. This setup not only realizes the previously-achieved consequences of inflation and leptogenesis, but also provides new insights in superheavy dark matter and neutrino masses. We argue that the 3-3-1-1 model can incorporate a scalar sextet, which induces both small masses for the neutrinos via a combined type I and II seesaw and large masses for the new neutral fermions. Additionally, all the new particles have the large masses in the inflation scale. The lightest particle among the W-particles that have abnormal (i.e., wrong) B-L number in comparison to those of the standard model particles may be a superheavy dark matter as it is stabilized by the W-parity. The dark matter candidate may be a Majorana fermion, a neutral scalar, or a neutral gauge boson, which was properly created in the early universe due to the gravitational effects on the vacuum or the thermal production after cosmic inflation.Comment: 34 pages, improved with discussions on inflation and reheating as well as presentation, matches published version in EPJ