Geometry of contours and Peierls estimates in d=1 Ising models

Following Fr\"ohlich and Spencer, we study one dimensional Ising spin systems with ferromagnetic, long range interactions which decay as $|x-y|^{-2+\alpha}$, $0\leq \alpha\leq 1/2$. We introduce a geometric description of the spin configurations in terms of triangles which play the role of contours and for which we establish Peierls bounds. This in particular yields a direct proof of the well known result by Dyson about phase transitions at low temperatures.Comment: 28 pages, 3 figure

Study of the single top production in the t-channel with the CMS experiment at the LHC

We present a measurement of the inclusive single top t-channel production cross section in proton-proton collisions at the LHC, using data collected with the CMS experiment in 2011 and 2012 at a centre-of-mass energy of 7TeV and 8TeV, respectively. The 7TeV analysis makes use of two different and complementary approaches. The first is a template fit analysis using background estimates determined from control samples in data. The second is based on multivariate techniques that probe the compatibility of the candidate events with the signal. The update of the template fit analysis with 8TeV data is also presented together with the measurement of the t-channel single top quark and anti-quark production ratio. The cross section measurements are also used to determine the CKM matrix element |Vtb|

"For terror of the deadness beyond": arctic environments and inhuman ecologies in Michelle Paver’s "Dark matter"

In this essay I examine Michelle Paver’s 2010 novel "Dark Matter", a ghost story, for how her use of \ud the gothic and horror contributes to undermining pastoral and romantic fantasies about the Arctic. \ud Drawing on the history of whale, walrus, and seal hunting in Svalbard, the site of the novel’s 1937 \ud scientific expedition, and my own experience there, I look at the tension Paver creates between the beauty \ud of the Svalbard environment and its long history as a location for human violence against nonhuman \ud animals. I suggest that, through the figure of the "gengånger", or “one who walks again,” and the built \ud environment and relics in Svalbard, Paver works to transmit both the violence of harvesting marine \ud mammals and the violence men perpetrate against each other in the name of resource extraction. In this \ud essay I engage in dialogue with recent environmental humanities work on ecophobia, dark ecologies, and \ud the ecocritical uses of fear, and argue for the consideration of the ghost story, a genre little studied by \ud ecocritics. Through highlighting the novel’s focus on violence linked to extractive practices, I suggest, \ud finally, that "Dark Matter" performs two important functions: it records past inhuman ecologies and it opens \ud out onto a reading of contemporary Arctic geopolitics.Este ensayo analiza cómo el uso de narrativas góticas y de terror en la novela de Michelle Paver \ud "Dark Matter" (La materia oscura, 2010), un cuento de fantasmas, debilita las fantasías bucólicas y \ud románticas del Ártico. Recurriendo a la historia de la caza de ballenas, morsas y focas en Svalbard, el \ud emplazamiento de la expedición científica de 1937 de la novela, así como mi propia experiencia allí, \ud analizo la tensión creada por Paver entre la belleza del medio ambiente de Svalbard y su larga historia \ud como lugar de violencia humana contra animales no-humano. Sugiero que, a través de la figura del \ud "gengänger", o “el que anda otra vez,” las reliquias y el medio ambiente construido de Svalbard, Paver \ud intenta transmitir tanto la violencia de la cosecha y comercio de mamíferos marinos como la que \ud perpetúan los hombres contra sí mismos en nombre de la extracción de recursos. En este ensayo entro en \ud dialogo con el trabajo reciente de las humanidades medioambientales sobre la ecofobia, las ecologías \ud oscuras, y el uso del miedo en la ecocrítica, y propongo el estudio del cuento de fantasmas, un género que \ud ha recibido poca atención de los ecocríticos. Al destacar el foco de la novela sobre la violencia relacionada \ud con las prácticas de extracción, sugiero, finalmente, que "Dark Matter", tiene dos funciones importantes: \ud graba ecologías inhumanas del pasado y abre una lectura de la geopolítica del Ártico contemporánea

Judicial Review of State Legislation: An Ironic Return to Lochnerian Ideology When Public Sector Labor Contracts Are Impaired

(Excerpt) This Note argues that, despite its notorious reputation as the case that permitted and encouraged judicial usurpation of the states’ inherent police powers, a return to a Lochnerian level of review of economic legislation is appropriate when state or local legislatures pass laws that substantially impair public sector labor contracts. Part I briefly recaps the Lochner era, beginning with an overview of Lochner itself and culminating in a brief discussion of the criticisms of Lochner. Part II introduces the Contract Clause and demonstrates that the contemporary test for determining whether there has been a Contract Clause violation is similar to the Lochner Court’s analysis for whether the Fourteenth Amendment’s substantive due process guarantee of liberty of contract had been violated. Part III reveals that Lochner’s legacy may positively live on by protecting public sector employees from substantial contractual impairments, despite the nefarious connotation of the “Lochner” name. First, through an in-depth review of two cases, Fraternal Order of Police v. Prince George’s County and Buffalo Teachers Federation v. Tobe, Part III shows that courts struggle and vary with the amount of deference owed and given to state legislatures. Additionally, Part III illustrates that, without strict scrutiny, courts may be reluctant to find contract-impairing laws in violation of the Contract Clause, leaving public sector employees unprotected from unconstitutional state legislation. In light of the tumultuous economy and the states’ increasing resort to furloughs and wage freezes to close budget gaps, Part III concludes with a call to the courts to responsibly use the power that they wield and place a limit on the states’ “unbounded power . . . where legislation of this character is concerned, and where the protection of the Federal Constitution is sought.

"For terror of the deadness beyond": arctic environments and inhuman ecologies in Michelle Paver’s "Dark matter"

In this essay I examine Michelle Paver’s 2010 novel "Dark Matter", a ghost story, for how her use of the gothic and horror contributes to undermining pastoral and romantic fantasies about the Arctic. Drawing on the history of whale, walrus, and seal hunting in Svalbard, the site of the novel’s 1937 scientific expedition, and my own experience there, I look at the tension Paver creates between the beauty of the Svalbard environment and its long history as a location for human violence against nonhuman animals. I suggest that, through the figure of the "gengånger", or “one who walks again,” and the built environment and relics in Svalbard, Paver works to transmit both the violence of harvesting marine mammals and the violence men perpetrate against each other in the name of resource extraction. In this essay I engage in dialogue with recent environmental humanities work on ecophobia, dark ecologies, and the ecocritical uses of fear, and argue for the consideration of the ghost story, a genre little studied by ecocritics. Through highlighting the novel’s focus on violence linked to extractive practices, I suggest, finally, that "Dark Matter" performs two important functions: it records past inhuman ecologies and it opens out onto a reading of contemporary Arctic geopolitics.Este ensayo analiza cómo el uso de narrativas góticas y de terror en la novela de Michelle Paver "Dark Matter" (La materia oscura, 2010), un cuento de fantasmas, debilita las fantasías bucólicas y románticas del Ártico. Recurriendo a la historia de la caza de ballenas, morsas y focas en Svalbard, el emplazamiento de la expedición científica de 1937 de la novela, así como mi propia experiencia allí, analizo la tensión creada por Paver entre la belleza del medio ambiente de Svalbard y su larga historia como lugar de violencia humana contra animales no-humano. Sugiero que, a través de la figura del "gengänger", o “el que anda otra vez,” las reliquias y el medio ambiente construido de Svalbard, Paver intenta transmitir tanto la violencia de la cosecha y comercio de mamíferos marinos como la que perpetúan los hombres contra sí mismos en nombre de la extracción de recursos. En este ensayo entro en dialogo con el trabajo reciente de las humanidades medioambientales sobre la ecofobia, las ecologías oscuras, y el uso del miedo en la ecocrítica, y propongo el estudio del cuento de fantasmas, un género que ha recibido poca atención de los ecocríticos. Al destacar el foco de la novela sobre la violencia relacionada con las prácticas de extracción, sugiero, finalmente, que "Dark Matter", tiene dos funciones importantes: graba ecologías inhumanas del pasado y abre una lectura de la geopolítica del Ártico contemporánea

Detecting agricultural to urban land use change from multi-temporal MSS digital data

Conversion of agricultural land to a variety of urban uses is a major problem along the Wasatch Front, Utah. Although LANDSAT MSS data is a relatively coarse tool for discriminating categories of change in urban-size plots, its availability prompts a thorough test of its power to detect change. The procedures being applied to a test area in Salt Lake County, Utah, where the land conversion problem is acute are presented. The identity of land uses before and after conversion was determined and digital procedures for doing so were compared. Several algorithms were compared, utilizing both raw data and preprocessed data. Verification of results involved high quality color infrared photography and field observation. Two data sets were digitally registered, specific change categories internally identified in the software, results tabulated by computer, and change maps printed at 1:24,000 scale

An integrated LANDSAT/ancillary data classification of desert rangeland

Range inventorying methods using LANDSAT MSS data, coupled with ancillary data were examined. The study area encompassed nearly 20,000 acres in Rush Valley, Utah. The vegetation is predominately desert shrub and annual grasses, with some annual forbs. Three LANDSAT scenes were evaluated using a Kauth-Thomas brightness/greenness data transformation (May, June, and August dates). The data was classified using a four-band maximum-likelihood classifier. A print map was taken into the field to determine the relationship between print symbols and vegetation. It was determined that classification confusion could be greatly reduced by incorporating geomorphic units and soil texture (coarse vs fine) into the classification. Spectral data, geomorphic units, and soil texture were combined in a GIS format to produce a final vegetation map identifying 12 vegetation types

ENG 5000-001: Intro to Methods in English Studies

The rheological behavior of a non-Brownian Newtonian concentrated suspension is investigated under oscillatory shear at different strain amplitudes and at two frequencies. The data are in agreement with the literature showing that the complex viscosity varies both with the number of oscillations imposed to the material and with the strain amplitude. We here also show that the response to the oscillatory shear depends on the applied frequency. This result is unexpected for a Newtonian suspension and implies the existence of some mechanism able to introduce a characteristic time into the system. Can it be cage elasticity