Uhlenbeck compactness for Yang-Mills flow in higher dimensions

This paper proves a general Uhlenbeck compactness theorem for sequences of solutions of Yang-Mills flow on Riemannian manifolds of dimension $n \geq 4,$ including rectifiability of the singular set.Comment: Introduction added, small edits, submitted. 27 page

The Notebook: An Accidental Alzheimer\u27s Awareness Campaign

My paper examines and critiques the portrayal of Alzheimer¹s disease in the popular film, The Notebook. Based off of a Nicholas Sparks novel, The Notebook uses Alzheimer¹s disease as a vehicle to relay a love story, but in doing so, presents a distorted picture of Alzheimer¹s disease to its audience. My paper compares the responsibilities of family caregivers of Alzheimer¹s patients in today¹s world with the unrealistic family caregiver, Noah, depicted on screen. My paper also explores and exposes inconsistencies between the attractive nursing home experience presented on screen and the less than ideal treatment patients experience in long term care facilities in America today. In addition, my paper uses several other films to examine and compare the emotional distress Alzheimer¹s disease patients and their families face when confronted with the condition: further underlining the idealized familial encounter with the disease depicted in The Notebook. My paper also examines the glamorized representation of Alzheimer¹s disease symptoms in the film. The misrepresentation and glamorization of Alzheimer¹s disease in The Notebook elicit serious implications in today¹s society. My paper describes how Alzheimer¹s awareness groups and other organizations utilize The Notebook as an educational tool to raise awareness for the condition, despite its imperfections. For better or worse, in today¹s society, people absorb a myriad of information from film and pop culture, leaving filmmakers with the difficult task of balancing entertainment and medicine in their films. Ultimately, my paper highlights this imbalance in The Notebook and describes its resulting accidental Alzheimer¹s awareness campaign

Instantons and singularities in the Yang-Mills flow

Several results on existence and convergence of the Yang-Mills flow in dimension four are given. We show that a singularity modeled on an instanton cannot form within finite time. Given low initial self-dual energy, we then study convergence of the flow at infinite time. If an Uhlenbeck limit is anti-self-dual and has vanishing self-dual second cohomology, then no bubbling occurs and the flow converges exponentially. We also recover Taubes's existence theorem, and prove asymptotic stability in the appropriate sense.Comment: Published version including extended background section, minor corrections, and many small changes, none affecting main theorems or proof

A psychological study of the relationship between personality assessment for selection and change in self-perception : a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology at Massey University, Manawatū, New Zealand

The use of personality assessments in employee selection is a growing global trend. However, there are numerous controversies in the literature regarding its utility and potential impacts. In addition, many of the ways in which personality assessments are being used in selection are neither aligned with research evidence, nor constrained by a code of ethics or extensive training. The selection process itself is not focused on the wellbeing on job applicants. This is one possible reason why little to no research has investigated the potential effects of personality assessment for selection on job applicants’ self-perception. A review of the literature reveals several possible mechanisms for occupational personality assessment as an antecedent to change in self-perception, including positive and negative events, induced behaviour and biased scanning, and response construction. This thesis investigates the relationship between the assessment of an individual’s personality, and change to that individual’s self-perception, across two independent sub-projects. In Sub-project A, self-perception was assessed for a group of job applicants before and after completion of a personality assessment within a selection process. In Sub-project B, self-perception was assessed for a group of students before and after completion of a personality assessment and receipt of a written results/feedback report. The findings for both sub-projects demonstrate evidence of change to self-perception and support for personality assessment for selection as an antecedent to change in self-perception. Possible explanations for these results are examined in relation to the mechanisms listed above. The limitations of the current studies are discussed and avenues for future research are recommended. Sub-projects A and B represent a unique contribution to the literature in relation to both personality assessment in organisational settings, and self-perception change

The Importance of XUV Radiation as a Solution to the P V Mass Loss Rate Discrepancy in O-Stars

A controversy has developed regarding the stellar wind mass loss rates in O-stars. The current consensus is that these winds may be clumped which implies that all previously derived mass loss rates using density-squared diagnostics are overestimated by a factor of ~ 2. However, arguments based on FUSE observations of the P V resonance line doublet suggest that these rates should be smaller by another order of magnitude, provided that P V is the dominant phosphorous ion among these stars. Although a large mass loss rate reduction would have a range of undesirable consequences, it does provide a straightforward explanation of the unexpected symmetric and un-shifted X-ray emission line profiles observed in high energy resolution spectra. But acceptance of such a large reduction then leads to a contradiction with an important observed X-ray property: the correlation between He-like ion source radii and their equivalent X-ray continuum optical depth unity radii. Here we examine the phosphorous ionization balance since the P V fractional abundance, q(P V), is fundamental to understanding the magnitude of this mass loss reduction. We find that strong "XUV" emission lines in the He II Lyman continuum can significantly reduce q(P V). Furthermore, owing to the unique energy distribution of these XUV lines, there is a negligible impact on the S V fractional abundance (a key component in the FUSE mass loss argument). We conclude that large reductions in O-star mass loss rates are not required, and the X-ray optical depth unity relation remains valid.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ Letters, 15 pages, 5 color figure

Long-time existence for Yang-Mills flow

We establish that finite-time singularities do not occur in four-dimensional Yang-Mills flow, confirming the conjecture of Schlatter, Struwe, and Tahvildar-Zadeh. The proof relies on a weighted energy identity and sharp decay estimates in the neck region.Comment: Final version accepted in Inventiones. 56p