Simplified Vacuum Energy Expressions for Radial Backgrounds and Domain Walls

We extend our previous results of simplified expressions for functional determinants for radial Schr\"odinger operators to the computation of vacuum energy, or mass corrections, for static but spatially radial backgrounds, and for domain wall configurations. Our method is based on the zeta function approach to the Gel'fand-Yaglom theorem, suitably extended to higher dimensional systems on separable manifolds. We find new expressions that are easy to implement numerically, for both zero and nonzero temperature.Comment: 30 page

Original and Derived Judgment An Entrepreneurial Theory of Economic Organization

Recent work links entrepreneurship to the economic theory of firm using the Knightian concept of entrepreneurship as judgment. When judgment is complementary to other assets, and these assets or their services are traded in well-functioning markets, it makes sense for entrepreneurs to hire labor and own assets. The entrepreneur’s role, then, is to arrange or organize the human and capital assets under his control. We extend this Knightian concept of the firm by developing a theory of delegation under Knightian uncertainty. What we call original judgment belongs exclusively to owners, but owners may delegate a wide range of decision rights to subordinates, who exercise derived judgment. We call these employees “proxy-entrepreneurs,” and ask how the firm’s organizational structure — its formal and informal systems of rewards and punishments, rules for settling disputes and renegotiating agreements, means of evaluating performance, and so on — can be designed to encourage forms of proxy-entrepreneurship that increase firm value while discouraging actions that destroy value. Building on key ideas from the entrepreneurship literature, Austrian economics, and the economic theory of the firm we develop a framework for analyzing the tradeoff between productive and destructive proxy-entrepreneurship. We link this analysis to the employment relation and ownership structure, providing new insights into these and related issues in the economic theory of the firm.Judgment, entrepreneur, delegation, employment relation, ownership

The Spectral Zeta Function for Laplace Operators on Warped Product Manifolds of the type I×fNI\times_{f} N

In this work we study the spectral zeta function associated with the Laplace operator acting on scalar functions defined on a warped product of manifolds of the type $I\times_{f} N$ where $I$ is an interval of the real line and $N$ is a compact, $d$-dimensional Riemannian manifold either with or without boundary. Starting from an integral representation of the spectral zeta function, we find its analytic continuation by exploiting the WKB asymptotic expansion of the eigenfunctions of the Laplace operator on $M$ for which a detailed analysis is presented. We apply the obtained results to the explicit computation of the zeta regularized functional determinant and the coefficients of the heat kernel asymptotic expansion.Comment: 29 pages, LaTe

Alcohol consumption in heroin users, methadone-substituted and codeine-substituted patients - Frequency and correlates of use

This retrospective study aims to determine whether there is a difference in the additional consumption of alcohol between addicts treated with methadone or dihydrocodeine (DHC) and untreated addicts injecting heroin. 1,685 patients admitted for opioid withdrawal between 1991 and 1997 were reviewed. Cross-reference tables and multiple logistic regression analyses were carried out. 28% of patients take more than 40 g of alcohol daily (on average 176 g). We found that patients who are treated with methadone or DHC drink alcohol significantly more often daily than the heroin-dependent patients (p<0.01). Using multiple regression analyses, the results were confirmed. Additionally, we found that co-abuse of alcohol was predicted by male gender, longer duration of drug use, additional daily consumption of tetrahydrocannabinol and daily consumption of benzodiazepines. Alcohol consumption by opioid-addicted patients treated with methadone or DHC presents a serious medical problem. Co-abuse of alcohol will receive more attention Copyright (C) 2003 S. Karger AG, Basel

Tunneling of Born-Infeld Strings to D2-Branes

A Born-Infeld theory describing a D2-brane coupled to a 4-form RR field strength is considered, and the general solutions of the static and Euclidean time equations are derived and discussed. The period of the bounce solutions is shown to allow a consideration of tunneling and quantum-classical transitions in the sphaleron region. The order of such transitions, depending on the strength of the RR field strength, is determined. A criterion is then derived to confirm these findings.Comment: 20 pages, 7 postscript figures, will appear in NP

The Horse and the Heroic Quest: Equestrian Indicators of Morality in Lancelot, Don Quixote, and Tolkien

There is a strong connection in Don Quixote and the works of Chretièn de Troyes and J.R.R. Tolkien between a character’s moral decisions and the way that said character treats his horse or horses. The Horse and the Heroic Quest: Equestrian Indicators of Morality in Lancelot, Don Quixote, and Tolkien studies the moral factors that affect the way heroic characters are revealed to readers and how these morals relate to the ways in which characters interact with horses. This ecocritical study focuses on the protagonists in Chretièn’s Lancelot, Cervantes’s Don Quixote, and Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. It is revealed that characters who treat their horses badly, such as Chretièn’s Lancelot, lack society’s definition of moral characteristics. Characters who treat their horses well, however, such as Chretièn’s Gawain, Cervantes’s Don Quixote, and Tolkien’s many horse-loving protagonists are more likely to meet society’s understanding of morality. This theory can be applied to modern heroic works as well as medieval and Renaissance works; “Xena: Warrior Princess,” The Princess Bride by William Goldman, and the works of Mercedes Lackey all exhibit positive interactions between their heroic protagonists and the horses they ride. The connection between a horse’s treatment and the protagonist’s moral character makes equines more important to the plot and purpose of these stories than previous scholars have noticed. As ecocriticism becomes a more prevalent genre, it is increasingly important to study aspects of stories that involve animals, such as horses