Effective interactions in medium heavy nuclei

We present a brief overview of microscopic nuclear structure approaches to nuclei with mass number from 100 to 132. The emphasis is on the shell model and theories for deriving effective interactions starting from the free interactions between nucleons. New results for (105,106,107)Sb are presented.Comment: Proceedings of RNB5, 3-8 April 2000, Divonne, France. 6 pages, Elsevier latex style. To appear in Nucl. Phys.

Effective interactions and the nuclear shell-model

This review aims at a critical discussion of the interplay between effective interactions derived from various many-body approaches and spectroscopic data extracted from large scale shell-model studies. To achieve this, our many-body scheme starts with the free nucleon-nucleon (NN) interaction, typically modelled on various meson exchanges. The NN interaction is in turn renormalized in order to derive an effective medium dependent interaction. The latter is in turn used in shell-model calculations of selected nuclei. We also describe how to sum up the parquet class of diagrams and present initial uses of the effective interactions in coupled cluster many-body theory.Comment: 61 pages, submitted to Prog. Part. Nucl. Phy

Contextualisation of humanitarian assistance and its shortcomings in International Human Rights Law

This article challenges the idea that contextualisation of humanitarian aid affects the principle of universality of human rights as well as the principles of neutrality and impartiality. It seeks to demonstrate that contextualisation will not only improve access, delivery and protection: contextualising a mission also enables aid workers to respect the local context without impacting negatively upon universal human rights. The author argues that affecting the societies in which aid is delivered is inevitable. The key then becomes to avoid endorsing indirect cultural relativism. This is why the article puts forward the idea of creating a yardstick or a test that would help in deciding which beliefs and values are to be included when considering the context, and which should be excluded. The process of selection of values and beliefs is to be operated by an empowered local population. The filter suggested in the case at hand is the Muslim legal instrument of maslaha, which protects the public interest. The use of this filter can be efficient only if Islamic authoritative sources are interpreted differently, in a reformist fashion, to try and match universal human rights law. This is possible through the Muslim theories advocating change. Muslim beneficiaries who are vulnerable as a result of a disaster or during a conflict provide an opportunity to test the filter of maslaha, looking at how an empowered community can change and influence the agendas of aid agencies

Testing of methods to isolate live-infectious viruses from seawater

Masteroppgave i fiskehelseFISK399MAMN-FIS

Realistic shell-model calculations for neutron-rich calcium isotopes

We study the neutron-rich calcium isotopes performing shell-model calculations with a realistic effective interaction. This is derived from the CD-Bonn nucleon-nucleon potential renormalized by way of the V-low-k approach, considering 48Ca as an inert core and including the neutron 0g9/2 orbital. We compare our results with experiment and with the results of a previous study where 40Ca was assumed as a closed core and the standard 1p0f model space was employed. The calculated spectroscopic properties are in both cases in very good agreement with the available experimental data and enable a discussion on the role of the g9/2 single-particle state in the heavy-mass Ca isotopes.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure, 4 tables, talk presented at 10th International Spring Seminar on Nuclear Physics "New Quests in Nuclear Structure", Vietri sul Mare, may 21-25, 2010. To be published on Journal of Physics Conference Serie

What if? An experiment to include a religious narrative in the approach of the European Court of Human Rights

According to some interpretations of Islam supported by gender activists, the veil can be perceived as a passport that enables women to participate in public affairs. This argument has been overlooked by the courts, including the European Court of Human Rights. The latter has adopted a discourse that considers the veil to be a threat to public order and gender equality, and more recently, an obstacle to social cohesion. By doing so, the Court has excluded veiled European Muslim women from the public sphere. The Court has justified curbing freedom of religion by granting states a wide margin of appreciation on the basis of the concept of “living together.” I argue that the Court needs to take the “passport veil” into account to be consistent with its argument on living together. A shift of approach and discourse would constitute a new way of understanding integration through the veil