Light-Cone Quantization of Electrodynamics

Light-cone quantization of (3+1)-dimensional electrodynamics is discussed, using discretization as an infrared regulator and paying careful attention to the interplay between gauge choice and boundary conditions. In the zero longitudinal momentum sector of the theory a general gauge fixing is performed and the corresponding relations that determine the constrained modes of the gauge field are obtained. The constraints are solved perturbatively and the structure of the theory is studied to lowest nontrivial order. (Talk presented at ``Theory of Hadrons and Light-Front QCD,'' Polana Zgorzelisko, Poland, August 1994.)Comment: 6 pages, LaTeX, OSU-NT-94-0

Physical Coupling Schemes and QCD Exclusive Processes

I discuss application of the BLM method to obtain commensurate scale relations connecting QCD exclusive amplitudes to other observables, in particular the heavy quark potential.Comment: 7 pages, Latex, uses l-school.sty. Talk given at "New Nonperturbative Methods and Quantization on the Light Cone," Les Houches, France, 24 Feb.-7 March 1997. To appear in the proceeding

Light-Front QCD and the Constituent Quark Model

A general strategy is described for deriving a constituent approximation to QCD, inspired by the constituent quark model and based on light-front quantization. Some technical aspects of the approach are discussed, including a mechanism for obtaining a confining potential and ways in which spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking can be manifested. (Based on a talk presented by K.G. Wilson at ``Theory of Hadrons and Light-Front QCD,'' Polana Zgorzelisko, Poland, August 1994.)Comment: 14 pages, LaTeX, no figure

A History of Physics at Otterbein University

This is an informal history of the Physics Department at Otterbein, including the story of the natural sciences prior to the founding of the department in 1908.https://digitalcommons.otterbein.edu/fac_bk/1005/thumbnail.jp

Silver Bullets and Seed Banks: A Material Analysis of Conspiracist Millennialism

This article examines how millennial (and apocalyptic) prophecy in contemporary conspiracy theory culture is both constructed from, and in turn produces, material things. Influential radio host and filmmaker Alex Jones (b. 1974), constructs his prophecies of imminent “Fall of America,” engineered by a shadowy cabal of Satan-worshiping socialists, from material things—ammunition purchases, birth certificates, chemtrails and extreme weather. At the same time, his prophecies in turn nurture an industry producing water filters, “seed banks,” and freeze-dried food for the “preppers” who would survive—material expressions of their millenarianism. These processes illuminate how material concerns actively construct worlds of belief, whether religious or apparently secular

On Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking in Discretized Light Cone Field Theory

The problem of spontaneous symmetry breaking in scalar field theories quantized on the light cone is considered. Within the framework of discretized light-cone field theory, a constrained zero mode of the scalar field, which is necessary for obtaining a consistent dynamics, is responsible for supporting nonzero vacuum expectation values classically. This basic structure is shown to carry over to the quantum theory as well, and the consistency of the formalism is checked in an explicit perturbative calculation in (1+1)-dimensional φ4 theory

Conspiracy Theories and the Study of Alternative and Emergent Religions

This introduction addresses a number of approaches to the emerging field of the study of conspiracy theories and new and alternative religions. Scholars can examine how certain religious groups have been the subject of conspiracy narratives created by the wider culture, and how conspiracy narratives are mobilized within religious groups such as Aum Shinrikyo, Scientology or others. Moreover, we can fruitfully examine secular conspiracy theories through ideas typically applied to religions, such as theodicy, millenarianism, and esoteric claims to higher knowledge. Most studies assume that conspiracy theories indicate pathology—paranoia or simply stupidity. Increasingly however, scholars have begun to interpret the term “conspiracy theory” as operating polemically to stigmatize certain beliefs and ideas. The field therefore offers a microcosm of broader trends in the interplay of knowledge and power. The study of both new and emergent religions and conspiracy theories comes of age only when we cease to think of them as necessarily deviant and irrational

Renormalized Effective Hamiltonian Approach to QCD

Continuing our previous QCD Hamiltonian studies in the gluonic and quark sectors, we describe a new renormalization procedure which generates an effective Hamiltonian. The formulation, which is in the Coulomb gauge, provides an improved framework for investigating hadron structure

Composite Operator Renormalization and the Trace Anomaly

The general connection between the renormalization of elementary fields and couplings and of appropriate composite operators is discussed. A general method is presented for computing the anomalous dimension matrix of the lagrangian composite operators, to all orders in perturbation theory, in terms of the elementary beta functions and anomalous dimensions. The trace anomaly for a general field theory is determined