Dynamical coupled-channel study of K* K*bar and omega phi states in a chiral quark model

A dynamical coupled-channel study of K* K*bar state with isospin 0 and omega phi state is performed within both the chiral SU(3) quark model and the extended chiral SU(3) quark model by solving a resonating group method (RGM) equation. The model parameters are taken from our previous work, which gave a satisfactory description of the energies of the octet and decuplet baryon ground states, the binding energy of the deuteron, the nucleon-nucleon (NN) scattering phase shifts, and the hyperon-nucleon (YN) cross sections. The results show that the interactions of K* K*bar states are attractive, which consequently result in K* K*bar bound states with the binding energies of about 10-70 MeV, and contrarily, no omega phi bound state is obtained. The channel coupling effect of K* K*bar and omega phi is found to be considerably large, which makes the binding of K* K*bar 5-45 MeV deeper. The plausible interpretation of f_0(1710) and X(1812) being K* K*bar dominated states is briefly discussed.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure

“Heaven and Earth” Samoan Indigenous Religion, Christianity, and the Relationship Between the Samoan People and the Environment

This paper examines Samoan indigenous religion and the relationship between Samoans and the environment before and after the introduction of Christianity. It looks at how Christian beliefs and the cultural perspectives of European missionaries affected Samoa’s environment. It then considers Samoan indigenous religious values that may be helpful to combat current environmental problems. Primary and secondary sources were used, including interviews with both theologians and environmentalists. Samoan indigenous religion promoted a sustainable relationship with the land but Christianity and the cultural lens through which it was delivered had negative environmental effects. Samoa retains a deep environmental knowledge in the memories of its people, but acknowledging the Samoan indigenous religious concepts causes apprehension for many Samoan Christians. Only time will tell if Samoan Christianity will choose to again incorporate Samoan indigenous religious values and revitalize a relationship based on kinship with and respect for the natural world in order to move more constructively towards the future of Samoa and its environment

Kaon-nucleon interaction in the extended chiral SU(3) quark model

The chiral SU(3) quark model is extended to include the coupling between the quark and vector chiral fields. The one-gluon exchange (OGE) which dominantly governs the short-range quark-quark interaction in the original chiral SU(3) quark model is now nearly replaced by the vector-meson exchange. Using this model, the isospin I=0 and I=1 kaon-nucleon S, P, D, F wave phase shifts are dynamically studied by solving the resonating group method (RGM) equation. Similar to those given by the original chiral SU(3) quark model, the calculated results for many partial waves are consistent with the experiment, while there is no improvement in this new approach for the P_{13} and D_{15} channels, of which the theoretical phase shifts are too much repulsive and attractive respectively when the laboratory momentum of the kaon meson is greater than 300 MeV.Comment: 19 pages, 16 figures. Accepted by Phys. Rev.

Introductory Essay: Catastrophe Thinking, Fast and Slow

We know far more about certain catastrophic risks than we have been willing to do anything serious about. This was not always the case, of course. There was a time when we could have plausibly said we had no real knowledge of a problem and therefore no possible obligation to do anything different. For climate change, the nuances of the date can be endlessly debated; the possible window puts Americans knowing somewhere between 1896, with transatlantic arrival of scientific findings from Sweden, and no later than James Hansen’s testimony before Congress in 1988. For the threats posed by a Cascadia fault megaquake, the range of possibility is smaller, with clear establishment somewhere in the early 1990s. In either case, however, no fewer than two decades have passed since a core idea was established and no powerful contrary evidence has countered it. We have moved from ignorance, to knowledge of an existential threat, to inaction at any meaningful or suitable scale. Tempting as it is to look backward and condemn inaction, the more necessary concern at present must be how to look forward and think urgently about rapid action. The complex world we have made on top of the prior world was built, we now see, on ignorant assumptions. We did not know then what we know now. Our concerns were not the concerns of the builders of the superhighways, or the coastal ports, or the downtowns, or the energy grids, or the communication networks; they could not have built or planned with knowledge we have but they did not. At all points in time, policy thinking and project planning are informed by the knowledge of that moment

A Study of the Church School Methods in the Oregon-Washington Conference of the Evangelical United Brethren Church in the Light of Modern Educational Procedure

Religion and education have been compatible down through the ages. Where there has been religion there has bee education in order to propagate the beliefs of religion. A proper system of education is necessary for the furtherance of the Gospel of Christ. It is the purpose of this study 1) to determine the teaching methods used in the Oregon-Washington Conference of the Evangelical United Brethren Church, through an investigation of the teachers, the church school superintendents and the pastors in the conference; 2) to point out a few of the basic emphases of modern educational procedure; and 3) to make an evaluation of the church school methods in the Oregon-Washington Conference in the light of these basic emphases of modern education. For a number of years the leaders of the Oregon-Washington Conference of the Evangelical United Brethren Church have wanted to know how its teachers have been teaching. This is the first study of this type; therefore, it is supplying the Conference with valuable information which it greatly needs. All Christian instruction has been well nigh ruled out of the public school systems of today. Because of this, the task of the church school is even greater. This situation demands that the methodology of the church school be the best. This study in a small ways has indicated both the weak points and the strong points of church school\u27s teaching procedure and endeavored to show how the weaknesses may be improved through proper learning situations and motivation