HOW TO AVOID SOLIPSISM WHILE REMAINING AN IDEALIST: LESSONS FROM BERKELEY AND DHARMAKIRTI

This essay examines the strategies that Berkeley and Dharmakirti utilize to deny that idealism entails solipsism. Beginning from similar arguments for the non-existence of matter, the two philosophers employ markedly different strategies for establishing the existence of other minds. This difference stems from their responses to the problem of intersubjective agreement. While Berkeley\u27s reliance on his Cartesian inheritance does allow him to account for intersubjective agreement without descending into solipsism, it nevertheless prevents him from establishing the existence of other finite minds. I argue that Dharmakirti, in accounting for intersubjective agreement causally, is able to avoid Berkeley\u27s shortcoming. I conclude by considering a challenge to Dharmakirti\u27s use of inference that Ratnakirti, a Buddhist successor of Dharmakirti, advances in his Disproof of the Existence of Other Minds and briefly exploring a possible response that someone who wants to advocate an idealist position could give

Two-time autocorrelation function in phase-ordering kinetics from local scale-invariance

The time-dependent scaling of the two-time autocorrelation function of spin systems without disorder undergoing phase-ordering kinetics is considered. Its form is shown to be determined by an extension of dynamical scaling to a local scale-invariance which turns out to be a new version of conformal invariance. The predicted autocorrelator is in agreement with Monte-Carlo data on the autocorrelation function of the 2D kinetic Ising model with Glauber dynamics quenched to a temperature below criticality.Comment: Latex2e, 7 pages with 2 figures, with epl macro, final from, to appear in EP

On the spectral distribution of photons between planar interfaces

Using a phenomenological approach to field quantization, an expression for the Keldysh function of photons between two planar interfaces (Casimir geometry) is found for any stationary quantum state of the two bodies. The case of one interface sliding against the other is considered in detail

On the feasibility of studying vortex noise in 2D superconductors with cold atoms

We investigate the feasibility of using ultracold neutral atoms trapped near a thin superconductor to study vortex noise close to the Kosterlitz-Thouless-Berezinskii transition temperature. Alkali atoms such as rubidium probe the magnetic field produced by the vortices. We show that the relaxation time $T_1$ of the Zeeman sublevel populations can be conveniently adjusted to provide long observation times. We also show that the transverse relaxation times $T_2$ for Zeeman coherences are ideal for studying the vortex noise. We briefly consider the motion of atom clouds held close to the surface as a method for monitoring the vortex motion.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figur

On the predictive power of Local Scale Invariance

Local Scale Invariance (LSI) is a theory for anisotropic critical phenomena designed in the spirit of conformal invariance. For a given representation of its generators it makes non-trivial predictions about the form of universal scaling functions. In the past decade several representations have been identified and the corresponding predictions were confirmed for various anisotropic critical systems. Such tests are usually based on a comparison of two-point quantities such as autocorrelation and response functions. The present work highlights a potential problem of the theory in the sense that it may predict any type of two-point function. More specifically, it is argued that for a given two-point correlator it is possible to construct a representation of the generators which exactly reproduces this particular correlator. This observation calls for a critical examination of the predictive content of the theory.Comment: 17 pages, 2 eps figure

Nonequilibrium Phase Transitions and a Nonequilibrium Critical Point from Anti-de Sitter Space and Conformal Field Theory Correspondence

We find novel phase transitions and critical phenomena that occur only outside the linear-response regime of current-driven nonequilibrium states. We consider the strongly-interacting (3+1)-dimensional N=4 large-Nc SU(Nc) supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory with a single flavor of fundamental N=2 hypermultiplet as a microscopic theory. We compute its nonlinear non-ballistic quark-charge conductivity by using the AdS/CFT correspondence. We find that the system exhibits a novel nonequilibrium first-order phase transition where the conductivity jumps and the sign of the differential conductivity flips at finite current density. A nonequilibrium critical point is discovered at the end point of the first-order regime. We propose a nonequilibrium steady-state analogue of thermodynamic potential in terms of the gravity-dual theory in order to define the transition point. Nonequilibrium analogues of critical exponents are proposed as well. The critical behavior of the conductivity is numerically confirmed on the basis of these proposals. The present work provides a new example of nonequilibrium phase transitions and nonequilibrium critical points.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures; v2: slightly short version is published in PRL. The title is changed in the PRL forma

Research in the development of an improved multiplier phototube

Parameters in analog /dc/ and digital /single electron pulse count/ modes of processing data from photomultiplier tube

Ageing in disordered magnets and local scale-invariance

The ageing of the bond-disordered two-dimensional Ising model quenched to below its critical point is studied through the two-time autocorrelator and thermoremanent magnetization (TRM). The corresponding ageing exponents are determined. The form of the scaling function of the TRM is well described by the theory of local scale-invariance.Comment: Latex2e, with epl macros, 7 pages, final for