LHCb prospects for full energy and beyond (incl. upgrades)

The LHCb experiment is running at the Large Hadron Collider to study CP violation and rare decays in the beauty and charm sectors. The physics potential is given for five key observables sensitive to new physics in nominal conditions. The motivation and the strategy of the upgrade envisaged for 2016 is presented with the expected performance for an integrated luminosity of 50 1/fb.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, Proceeding of the HCP2010 conferenc

Thermooxidative aging of polydicyclopentadiene in glassy state

Thermal aging of thin films of unstabilized polydicyclopentadiene (pDCPD) at several temperatures ranging from 120 to 30 C was investigated by means of carbonyl build up by FTIR with ammonia derivatization, double bond titration, mass uptake measurement, hydroperoxides titration by iodometry and DSC coupled with sulfur dioxide treatment. In the temperature range under investigation, pDCPD is in glassy state and it oxidizes faster than common polymers oxidized at rubbery state (e.g. polydienic elastomers). Using the kinetic analysis, these results were ascribed to increased initiation rate due to catalyst residues, some possible intramolecular processes favoring propagation, or a very low termination rate of oxidation radical chains because of the control of termination reactions by macroradical diffusion

Controlled Cavitation in Microfluidic Systems

We report on cavitation in confined microscopic environments which are commonly called microfluidic or lab-on-a-chip systems. The cavitation bubble is created by focusing a pulsed laser into these structures filled with a light-absorbing liquid. At the center of a 20 µm thick and 1 mm wide channel, pancake-shaped bubbles expand and collapse radially. The bubble dynamics compares with a two-dimensional Rayleigh model and a planar flow field during the bubble collapse is measured. When the bubble is created close to a wall a liquid jet is focused towards the wall, resembling the jetting phenomenon in axisymmetry. The jet flow creates two counter-rotating vortices which stir the liquid at high velocities. For more complex geometries, e.g., triangle- and square-shaped structures, the number of liquid jets recorded correlates with the number of boundaries close t

Le complexe dénotant défini de Russell

With " On Denoting " (OD, 1905), the philosophy of Russell takes a dramatic turn. Russell contends that the conception of a " denoting concept " he introduced in Principles of Mathem- atics (PoM, 1903) is wrong: the noun phrase has no correlate on the logical level and, if it is to reflect the logical structure, it should be broken up into quantification, variable et predicate. Russell's semantic arguments relevant to the definite descriptions, especially those linked to the Gray's Elegy passage, will be thoroughly investigated. The fallacy lies, as one could have expected, in his confusing use and mention... Once clarified and amended, it appears that the conception is, at least on this point, no longer aporetic: the (used) denoting complex, properly distinguished from the (mentioned) denoting concept, is really the source of no specific diffi- culty. It turns out that Russell discarded his first model quite hastily.La philosophie de Russell connaît un tournant décisif en 1905 avec la publication de " On Denoting " (OD). Russell prétend y réfuter un élément important de Principles of Mathematics (PoM) publié deux ans plus tôt, le " concept dénotatif " : ainsi, le groupe nominal ne corres- pondrait à aucun objet sur le plan logique mais devrait être éclaté entre quantification, variable et prédicat. On examinera ici les arguments sémantiques de Russell concernant les descriptions définies, et particulièrement ceux du passage de " l'Élégie de Gray ". Comme on pouvait s'y attendre, l'erreur réside dans une confusion entre usage et mention... La conception une fois précisée et un rien rectifiée n'est plus aporétique, au moins sur le plan sémantique : le complexe dénotant (utilisé), bien distingué du concept dénotatif (mentionné), ne pose en fait pas de difficulté spécifique. Il s'avère que ce premier modèle a été condamné bien hâtivement. Il sera commode et utile de présenter les notions de Russell en les mettant en contraste avec celles de Frege (§1). Ensuite seront exposées les raisons d'être de la signification et de la dénota- tion, et la dualité des deux notions avec le " complexe dénotant " (§2). On abordera alors les difficultés que Russell soulève dans le passage de l'Élégie de Gray de " On Denoting " (§3), on proposera une construction alternative (§4), on montrera que l'aporie est due à la confusion, à deux reprises, entre usage et mention (§5) puis on rapportera les difficultés à celles qu'amène le concept distinctif (§6). La relecture minutieuse du texte de Russell permettra de préciser la cons- truction présentée (§7). Enfin, on examinera l'apport de " On Denoting " sur le plan sémantique (§8) et on dressera un bilan clarifié de cette révolution de 1905 (§9)

Chose, concept et molécularisme autour de la proposition des Principles de Russell

à paraître dans Soyons logiques (ed. Moktefi)The early Russell (Principles of Mathematics, 1903) believed there is nothing essentially linguistic about propositions and viewed language as a mere psychological contingency. Then it should be possible to conceive of propositions in such a way that logical relationships are not dependent on linguistic forms. Here we examine such a contention for simple propositions, i.e. that do not involve embedded propositions or their nominalized counterparts. We discuss the construction of such a proposition from its building blocks: things, concepts and predicates or relations. Many problems already occur and the semantic chemistry is fraught with specific difficulties.Sur les difficultés fondamentales et les fondements mal assurés d'un molécularisme de la proposition platonicienne des Principles de Russell, avant même d'en venir à des considérations plus élaborées comme celles liées aux paradoxes, qui concernent le modèle dans la nature même de ses objets et non dans leur utilisation mal régulée. Russell en était certes conscient : "les propositions sont des complexes d'une certaine sorte mais je ne sais pas décrire cette sorte de complexité que les propositions ont et que les autres complexes n'ont pas". Sa construction ne permettait pas davantage d'expliquer les propriétés des propositions, dont leur vérité ou (plus encore) leur fausseté. La construction de la molécule sémantique pose des problèmes spécifiques, différant fondamentalement de ceux de la chimie sur deux points au moins : l'absence de substrat géométrique et le caractère orienté de l'assemblage

Ring Shout, Wheel About: The Racial Politics of Music and Dance in North American Slavery

Performance and Race in American Slavery Ring Shout, Wheel About presents a vivid reconceptualization of the origins of American entertainment. In five short chapters—Script, Casting, Backstage, Advertisement, and Same Script, Different Actors—, Thompson draws readers’ attention to...

The Banjo: America\\u27s African Instrument

A Transnational Look at the Banjo A national music is the spontaneous growth of ages of insulated life and feeling, said Christopher Pearce Cranch to the Harvard Music Association in 1846. It is impossible that American music can do more than reproduce the music of other ages We are too much a ...

Maritime Safety of NATO Borders in the Baltic Sea Region

The Baltic Sea Region (BSR) is a specific area lying between the areas of conflicting political interests of the East and West, making it an object of particular interest of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and the Russian Federation. The current situation is characterized by the high militarization of the region, mainly related to the use of the Russian power sector, with the anti-access capabilities in the Kaliningrad District in particular. Changes in the security environment in this area have resulted in the increased capabilities to deter and the collective defence capabilities of all NATO members, as part of strengthening the Alliance’s eastern flank

Reflections: Was the Civil War a Mistake? Fifty Years of Edmund Wilson’s Patriotic Gore [post-print]

From the introduction: In 2012, the American Civil War sesquicentennial continued. We were prepared for the panels on secession, Sumter, and Shiloh, and of course the books in preparation for the 2013 salute to the Emancipation Proclamation. Perhaps the film Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Slayer caught a few off guard, but it too had precedent: in the centennial, moviegoers watched Two Thousand Maniacs (1964), a horror-filled Confederate revival where Yankees were “gruesomely stained in gushing blood color.” In April 2012, though, an important anniversary passed nearly unnoticed: Edmund Wilson’s Patriotic Gore: Studies in the Literature of the American Civil War turned fifty. Since 1962, scholars have grappled with this epic. Wilson put a question mark where, today, few believe there is a question—Was the Civil War a mistake