2,543 research outputs found
Chasing the Chatbots: Directions for Interaction and Design Research
Big tech-players have been successful in pushing the chatbots forward. Investments in the technology are growing fast, as well as the number of users and applications available. Instead of driving investments towards a successful diffusion of the technology, user-centred studies are currently chasing the popularity of chatbots. A literature analysis evidences how recent this research topic is, and the predominance of technical challenges rather than understanding users’ perceptions, expectations and contexts of use. Looking for answers to interaction and design questions raised in 2007, when the presence of clever computers in everyday life had been predicted for the year 2020, this paper presents a panorama of the recent literature, revealing gaps and pointing directions for further user-centred research
The Sphaleron Rate in SU(N) Gauge Theory
The sphaleron rate is defined as the diffusion constant for topological
number NCS = int g^2 F Fdual/32 pi^2. It establishes the rate of equilibration
of axial light quark number in QCD and is of interest both in electroweak
baryogenesis and possibly in heavy ion collisions. We calculate the
weak-coupling behavior of the SU(3) sphaleron rate, as well as making the most
sensible extrapolation towards intermediate coupling which we can. We also
study the behavior of the sphaleron rate at weak coupling at large Nc.Comment: 18 pages with 3 figure
Bjorken Flow, Plasma Instabilities, and Thermalization
At asymptotically high energies, thermalization in heavy ion collisions can
be described via weak-coupling QCD. We present a complete treatment of how
thermalization proceeds, at the parametric weak-coupling level. We show that
plasma instabilities dominate the dynamics, from immediately after the
collision until well after the plasma becomes nearly in equilibrium. Initially
they drive the system close to isotropy, but Bjorken expansion and increasing
diluteness makes the system again become more anisotropic. At time \tau ~
\alpha^(-12/5) Q^(-1) the dynamics become dominated by a nearly-thermal bath;
and at time \tau ~ \alpha^(-5/2) Q^(-1)$ the bath comes to dominate the energy
density, completing thermalization. After this time there is a nearly isotropic
and thermal Quark-Gluon Plasma.Comment: 22 pages, 5 figure
Thermalization in Weakly Coupled Nonabelian Plasmas
We investigate how relativistic, nonabelian plasmas approach equilibrium in a
general context. Our treatment is entirely parametric and for small Yang-Mills
coupling . First we study isotropic systems with an initially
nonequilibrium momentum distribution. We consider both the case of initially
very high occupancy and initially very low occupancy. Then we consider systems
which are anisotropic. We consider both weak anisotropy and large anisotropy,
and allow the occupancy to be parametrically large or small. Writing the
typical momentum of an initial excitation as Q and the final temperature as T,
full equilibration occurs in a time t ~ \alpha^{-2}/T for T > Q, and t ~
\alpha^{-2} Q^{1/2} T^{-3/2} for T < Q, unless the initial system is
sufficiently anisotropic and T > \alpha^{2/3} Q, in which case equilibration
occurs somewhat faster, t ~ \alpha^{-13/7} Q^{5/7} T^{-12/7} (or \alpha^{-2}/T
if that is longer).Comment: 55 pages including many figures, but with a comprehensive review of
results in the first 6 pages
Sphalerons and the Electroweak Phase Transition in Models with Higher Scalar Representations
In this work we investigate the sphaleron solution in a
gauge theory, which also encompasses the Standard Model, with higher scalar
representation(s) (). We show that the field profiles
describing the sphaleron in higher scalar multiplet, have similar trends like
the doublet case with respect to the radial distance. We compute the sphaleron
energy and find that it scales linearly with the vacuum expectation value of
the scalar field and its slope depends on the representation. We also
investigate the effect of gauge field and find that it is small for the
physical value of the mixing angle, and resembles the case for the
doublet. For higher representations, we show that the criterion for strong
first order phase transition, , is relaxed with respect to
the doublet case, i.e. .Comment: 20 pages, 5 figures & 1 table, published versio
Ultraviolet asymptotics of scalar and pseudoscalar correlators in hot Yang-Mills theory
Inspired by recent lattice measurements, we determine the short-distance (a
> omega >> pi T) asymptotics
of scalar (trace anomaly) and pseudoscalar (topological charge density)
correlators at 2-loop order in hot Yang-Mills theory. The results are expressed
in the form of an Operator Product Expansion. We confirm and refine the
determination of a number of Wilson coefficients; however some discrepancies
with recent literature are detected as well, and employing the correct values
might help, on the qualitative level, to understand some of the features
observed in the lattice measurements. On the other hand, the Wilson
coefficients show slow convergence and it appears uncertain whether this
approach can lead to quantitative comparisons with lattice data. Nevertheless,
as we outline, our general results might serve as theoretical starting points
for a number of perhaps phenomenologically more successful lines of
investigation.Comment: 27 pages. v2: minor improvements, published versio
Investigation into Adaptation in Genes Associated with Response to Estrogenic Pollution in Populations of Roach (Rutilus rutilus) Living in English Rivers
UK Natural Environmental Research Council (NERC; NE/K004263/1); NERC Biomolecular Analysis Facility for funding (NBAF866); Medical Research Council Clinical Infrastructure award (MR/M008924/1); Wellcome Trust Institutional Strategic Support Fund (WT097835MF); Wellcome Trust Multi User Equipment Award (WT101650MA); BBSRC LOLA award (BB/ K003240/1)
Baryon Washout, Electroweak Phase Transition, and Perturbation Theory
We analyze the conventional perturbative treatment of sphaleron-induced
baryon number washout relevant for electroweak baryogenesis and show that it is
not gauge-independent due to the failure of consistently implementing the
Nielsen identities order-by-order in perturbation theory. We provide a
gauge-independent criterion for baryon number preservation in place of the
conventional (gauge-dependent) criterion needed for successful electroweak
baryogenesis. We also review the arguments leading to the preservation
criterion and analyze several sources of theoretical uncertainties in obtaining
a numerical bound. In various beyond the standard model scenarios, a realistic
perturbative treatment will likely require knowledge of the complete two-loop
finite temperature effective potential and the one-loop sphaleron rate.Comment: 25 pages, 9 figures; v2 minor typos correcte
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