On Superspace Chern-Simons-like Terms

We search for superspace Chern-Simons-like higher-derivative terms in the low energy effective actions of supersymmetric theories in four dimensions. Superspace Chern-Simons-like terms are those gauge-invariant terms which cannot be written solely in terms of field strength superfields and covariant derivatives, but in which a gauge potential superfield appears explicitly. We find one class of such four-derivative terms with N=2 supersymmetry which, though locally on the Coulomb branch can be written solely in terms of field strengths, globally cannot be. These terms are classified by certain Dolbeault cohomology classes on the moduli space. We include a discussion of other examples of terms in the effective action involving global obstructions on the Coulomb branch.Comment: 23 pages; a reference and an author email correcte

Ranking factors affecting emissions of GHG from incubated agricultural soils

Agriculture significantly contributes to global greenhouse gas (GHG) missions and there is a need to develop effective mitigation strategies. The efficacy of methods to reduce GHG fluxes from agricultural soils can be affected by a range of interacting management and environmental factors. Uniquely, we used the Taguchi experimental design methodology to rank the relative importance of six factors known to affect the emission of GHG from soil: nitrate (NO3?) addition, carbon quality (labile and non-labile C), soil temperature, water-filled pore space (WFPS) and extent of soil compaction. Grassland soil was incubated in jars where selected factors, considered at two or three amounts within the experimental range, were combined in an orthogonal array to determine the importance and interactions between factors with a L16 design, comprising 16 experimental units. Within this L16 design, 216 combinations of the full factorial experimental design were represented. Headspace nitrous oxide (N2O), methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations were measured and used to calculate fluxes. Results found for the relative influence of factors (WFPS and NO3? addition were the main factors affecting N2O fluxes, whilst glucose, NO3? and soil temperature were the main factors affecting CO2 and CH4 fluxes) were consistent with those already well documented. Interactions between factors were also studied and results showed that factors with Little individual influence became more influential in combination. The proposed methodology offers new possibilities for GHG researchers to study interactions between influential factors and address the optimized sets of conditions to reduce GHG emissions in agro-ecosystems, while reducing the number of experimental units required compared with conventional experimental procedures that adjust one variable at a time

Higher-Derivative Terms in N=2 Supersymmetric Effective Actions

We show how to systematically construct higher-derivative terms in effective actions in harmonic superspace despite the infinite redundancy in their description due to the infinite number of auxiliary fields. Making an assumption about the absence of certain superspace Chern-Simons-like terms involving vector multiplets, we write all 3- and 4-derivative terms on Higgs, Coulomb, and mixed branches. Among these terms are several with only holomorphic dependence on fields, and at least one satisfies a non-renormalization theorem. These holomorphic terms include a novel 3-derivative term on mixed branches given as an integral over 3/4 of superspace. As an illustration of our method, we search for Wess-Zumino terms in the low energy effective action of N=2 supersymmetric QCD. We show that such terms occur only on mixed branches. We also present an argument showing that the combination of space-time locality with supersymmetry implies locality in the anticommuting superspace coordinates of for unconstrained superfields.Comment: 30 pages. Added references and simplified final form of WZ ter

Semileptonic D->pi/K and B->pi/D decays in 2+1 flavor lattice QCD

We present results for form factors of semileptonic decays of $D$ and $B$ mesons in 2+1 flavor lattice QCD using the MILC gauge configurations. With an improved staggered action for light quarks, we successfully reduce the systematic error from the chiral extrapolation. The results for $D$ decays are in agreement with experimental ones. The results for B decays are preliminary. Combining our results with experimental branching ratios, we then obtain the CKM matrix elements $|V_{cd}|$, $|V_{cs}|$, $|V_{cb}|$ and $|V_{ub}|$. We also check CKM unitarity, for the first time, using only lattice QCD as the theoretical input.Comment: Talk presented at Lattice2004(heavy); 3 pages, 3 figure

Leptonic decay constants f_Ds and f_D in three flavor lattice QCD

We determine the leptonic decay constants in three flavor unquenched lattice QCD. We use O(a^2)-improved staggered light quarks and O(a)-improved charm quarks in the Fermilab heavy quark formalism. Our preliminary results, based upon an analysis at a single lattice spacing, are f_Ds = 263(+5-9)(+/-24) MeV and f_D = 225(+11-13)(+/-21) MeV. In each case, the first reported error is statistical while the is the combined systematic uncertainty.Comment: Talk presented at Lattice2004(heavy), Fermilab, June 21-26, 2004. 3 pages, 2 figure

Bulk scalar field in brane-worlds with induced gravity inspired by the L(R){\cal L}(R) term

We obtain the effective field equations in a brane-world scenario within the framework of a DGP model where the action on the brane is an arbitrary function of the Ricci scalar, ${\cal L}(R)$, and the bulk action includes a scalar field in the matter Lagrangian. We obtain the Friedmann equations and acceleration conditions in the presence of the bulk scalar field for the $R^n$ term in four-dimensional gravity.Comment: 9 pages, to appear in JCA

Langevin Simulation of Thermally Activated Magnetization Reversal in Nanoscale Pillars

Numerical solutions of the Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert micromagnetic model incorporating thermal fluctuations and dipole-dipole interactions (calculated by the Fast Multipole Method) are presented for systems composed of nanoscale iron pillars of dimension 9 nm x 9 nm x 150 nm. Hysteresis loops generated under sinusoidally varying fields are obtained, while the coercive field is estimated to be 1979 $\pm$ 14 Oe using linear field sweeps at T=0 K. Thermal effects are essential to the relaxation of magnetization trapped in a metastable orientation, such as happens after a rapid reversal of an external magnetic field less than the coercive value. The distribution of switching times is compared to a simple analytic theory that describes reversal with nucleation at the ends of the nanomagnets. Results are also presented for arrays of nanomagnets oriented perpendicular to a flat substrate. Even at a separation of 300 nm, where the field from neighboring pillars is only $\sim$ 1 Oe, the interactions have a significant effect on the switching of the magnets.Comment: 19 pages RevTeX, including 12 figures, clarified discussion of numerical technique

Topological susceptibility with the improved Asqtad action

As a test of the chiral properties of the improved Asqtad (staggered fermion) action, we have been measuring the topological susceptibility as a function of quark masses for 2 + 1 dynamical flavors. We report preliminary results, which show reasonable agreement with leading order chiral perturbation theory for lattice spacing less than 0.1 fm. The total topological charge, however, shows strong persistence over Monte Carlo time.Comment: Lattice2002(algor

Bilingual Learning for Second and Third Generation Children

Throughout the English-speaking world, children from bilingual backgrounds are being educated in mainstream classrooms where they have little or no opportunity to use their mother tongue. Second and third generation children, in particular, are assumed to be learning sufficiently through English only. This study investigated how British Bangladeshi children, learning Bengali in after-school classes but mostly more fluent in English than in their mother tongue, responded when able to use their full language repertoire within the mainstream curriculum. Through action research with mainstream and community language class teachers, bilingual literacy and numeracy tasks were devised and carried out with pupils aged seven to eleven in two East London primary schools. The bilingual activities were videorecorded and analysed qualitatively to identify the strategies used. The following cognitive and cultural benefits of bilingual learning discovered by researchers in other contexts were also found to apply in this particular setting: conceptual transfer, enriched understanding through translation, metalinguistic awareness, bicultural knowledge and building bilingual learner identities. The findings suggest that second and third generation children should be enabled to learn bilingually, and appropriate strategies are put forward for use in the mainstream classroom