Vacuum polarization on the spinning circle

Vacuum polarization of a massive scalar field in the background of a two-dimensional version of a spinning cosmic string is investigated. It is shown that when the `radius of the universe' is such that spacetime is globally hyperbolic the vacuum fluctuations are well behaved, diverging though on the `chronology horizon'. Naive use of the formulae when spacetime is nonglobally hyperbolic leads to unphysical results. It is also pointed out that the set of normal modes used previously in the literature to address the problem gives rise to two-point functions which do not have a Hadamard form, and therefore are not physically acceptable. Such normal modes correspond to a locally (but not globally) Minkowski time, which appears to be at first sight a natural choice of time to implement quantization.Comment: 3 pages, no figures, REVTeX4, published versio

Euclidean thermal spinor Green's function in the spacetime of a straight cosmic string

Within the framework of the quantum field theory at finite temperature on a conical space, we determine the Euclidean thermal spinor Green's function for a massless spinor field. We then calculate the thermal average of the energy-momentum tensor of a thermal bath of massless fermions. In the high-temperature limit, we find that the straight cosmic string does not perturb the thermal bathComment: 11 pages, latex, no figure

On the scattering amplitude in the Aharonov-Bohm gauge field

A general expression for the scattering amplitude of nonrelativistic spinless particles in the Aharonov-Bohm gauge potential is obtained within the time independent formalism. The result is valid also in the backward and forward directions as well as for any choice of the boundary conditions on the wave function at the flux tube position.Comment: 18 pages, plain TE

Time-dependent quantum scattering in 2+1 dimensional gravity

The propagation of a localized wave packet in the conical space-time created by a pointlike massive source in 2+1 dimensional gravity is analyzed. The scattering amplitude is determined and shown to be finite along the classical scattering directions due to interference between the scattered and the transmitted wave functions. The analogy with diffraction theory is emphasized.Comment: 15 pages in LaTeX with 3 PostScript figure

(2+1)-Gravity Solutions with Spinning Particles

We derive, in 2+1 dimensions, classical solutions for metric and motion of two or more spinning particles, in the conformal Coulomb gauge introduced previously. The solutions are exact in the $N$-body static case, and are perturbative in the particles' velocities in the dynamic two-body case. A natural boundary for the existence of our gauge choice is provided by some ``CTC horizons'' encircling the particles, within which closed timelike curves occur.Comment: 30 pages, LaTeX, no figure

(2+1)-Gravity with Moving Particles in an Instantaneous Gauge

By defining a regular gauge which is conformal-like and provides instantaneous field propagation, we investigate classical solutions of (2+1)-Gravity coupled to arbitrarily moving point-like particles. We show how to separate field equations from self-consistent motion and we provide a solution for the metric and the motion in the two-body case with arbitrary speed, up to second order in the mass parameters.Comment: 16 pages, LaTeX, no figure

Time-Dependent Open String Solutions in 2+1 Dimensional Gravity

We find general, time-dependent solutions produced by open string sources carrying no momentum flow in 2+1 dimensional gravity. The local Poincar\'e group elements associated with these solutions and the coordinate transformations that transform these solutions into Minkowski metric are obtained. We also find the relation between these solutions and the planar wall solutions in 3+1 dimensions.Comment: CU-TP-619, 18 pages. (minor changes

Are there valid proxy measures of clinical behaviour?

Background: Accurate measures of health professionals' clinical practice are critically important to guide health policy decisions, as well as for professional self-evaluation and for research-based investigation of clinical practice and process of care. It is often not feasible or ethical to measure behaviour through direct observation, and rigorous behavioural measures are difficult and costly to use. The aim of this review was to identify the current evidence relating to the relationships between proxy measures and direct measures of clinical behaviour. In particular, the accuracy of medical record review, clinician self-reported and patient-reported behaviour was assessed relative to directly observed behaviour. Methods: We searched: PsycINFO; MEDLINE; EMBASE; CINAHL; Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials; science/social science citation index; Current contents (social & behavioural med/clinical med); ISI conference proceedings; and Index to Theses. Inclusion criteria: empirical, quantitative studies; and examining clinical behaviours. An independent, direct measure of behaviour (by standardised patient, other trained observer or by video/audio recording) was considered the 'gold standard' for comparison. Proxy measures of behaviour included: retrospective self-report; patient-report; or chart-review. All titles, abstracts, and full text articles retrieved by electronic searching were screened for inclusion and abstracted independently by two reviewers. Disagreements were resolved by discussion with a third reviewer where necessary. Results: Fifteen reports originating from 11 studies met the inclusion criteria. The method of direct measurement was by standardised patient in six reports, trained observer in three reports, and audio/video recording in six reports. Multiple proxy measures of behaviour were compared in five of 15 reports. Only four of 15 reports used appropriate statistical methods to compare measures. Some direct measures failed to meet our validity criteria. The accuracy of patient report and chart review as proxy measures varied considerably across a wide range of clinical actions. The evidence for clinician self-report was inconclusive. Conclusion: Valid measures of clinical behaviour are of fundamental importance to accurately identify gaps in care delivery, improve quality of care, and ultimately to improve patient care. However, the evidence base for three commonly used proxy measures of clinicians' behaviour is very limited. Further research is needed to better establish the methods of development, application, and analysis for a range of both direct and proxy measures of behaviour

Massive 3+1 Aharonov-Bohm fermions in an MIT cylinder

We study the effect of a background flux string on the vacuum energy of massive Dirac fermions in 3+1 dimensions confined to a finite spatial region through MIT boundary conditions. We treat two admissible self-adjoint extensions of the Hamiltonian. The external sector is also studied and unambiguous results for the Casimir energy of massive fermions in the whole space are obtained.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figures, LaTe

SO(10) Cosmic Strings and Baryon Number Violation

SO(10) cosmic strings formed during the phase transition Spin(10) $\rightarrow$ SU(5) $\times{\cal Z}_2$ are studied. Two types of strings --- one effectively Abelian and one non-Abelian --- are constructed and the string solutions are calculated numerically. The non-Abelian string can catalyze baryon number violation via the ``twisting'' of the scalar field which causes mixing of leptons and quarks in the fermion multiplet. The non-Abelian string is also found to have the lower energy possibly for the entire range of the parameters in the theory. Scattering of fermions in the fields of the strings is analyzed, and the baryon number violation cross section is calculated. The role of the self-adjoint parameters is discussed and the values are computed.Comment: LaTex (RevTex), 36 pages, 6 figures (available upon request), MIT-CTP#215