Association of multiple zeta values with positive knots via Feynman diagrams up to 9 loops

It is found that the number, $M_n$, of irreducible multiple zeta values (MZVs) of weight $n$, is generated by $1-x^2-x^3=\prod_n (1-x^n)^{M_n}$. For $9\ge n\ge3$, $M_n$ enumerates positive knots with $n$ crossings. Positive knots to which field theory assigns knot-numbers that are not MZVs first appear at 10 crossings. We identify all the positive knots, up to 15 crossings, that are in correspondence with irreducible MZVs, by virtue of the connection between knots and numbers realized by Feynman diagrams with up to 9 loops.Comment: 15 pages, Latex, figures using EPSF, replaced version has references and conclusions updated, Eq.(7) revised; as to appear in Phys.Lett.

Unique factorization in perturbative QFT

We discuss factorization of the Dyson--Schwinger equations using the Lie- and Hopf algebra of graphs. The structure of those equations allows to introduce a commutative associative product on 1PI graphs. In scalar field theories, this product vanishes if and only if one of the factors vanishes. Gauge theories are more subtle: integrality relates to gauge symmetries.Comment: 5pages, Talk given at "RadCor 2002 - Loops and Legs 2002", Kloster Banz, Germany, Sep 8-13, 200

Two-Loop Gluon-Condensate Contributions To Heavy-Quark Current Correlators: Exact Results And Approximations

The coefficient functions of the gluon condensate $$, in the correlators of heavy-quark vector, axial, scalar and pseudoscalar currents, are obtained analytically, to two loops, for all values of $z=q^2/4m^2$. In the limiting cases $z\to0$, $z\to1$, and $z\to-\infty$, comparisons are made with previous partial results. Approximation methods, based on these limiting cases, are critically assessed, with a view to three-loop work. High accuracy is achieved using a few moments as input. A {\em single} moment, combined with only the {\em leading} threshold and asymptotic behaviours, gives the two-loop corrections to better than 1% in the next 10 moments. A two-loop fit to vector data yields $\approx0.021$ GeV$^4$.Comment: 9 page

Compact analytical form for non-zeta terms in critical exponents at order 1/N^3

We simplify, to a single integral of dilogarithms, the least tractable O(1/N^3) contribution to the large-N critical exponent $\eta$ of the non-linear sigma-model, and hence $\phi^4$-theory, for any spacetime dimensionality, D. It is the sole generator of irreducible multiple zeta values in epsilon-expansions with $D=2-2\epsilon$, for the sigma-model, and $D=4-2\epsilon$, for $\phi^4$-theory. In both cases we confirm results of Broadhurst, Gracey and Kreimer (BGK) that relate knots to counterterms. The new compact form is much simpler than that of BGK. It enables us to develop 8 new terms in the epsilon-expansion with $D=3-2\epsilon$. These involve alternating Euler sums, for which the basis of irreducibles is larger. We conclude that massless Feynman diagrams in odd spacetime dimensions share the greater transcendental complexity of massive diagrams in even dimensions, such as those contributing to the electron's magnetic moment and the electroweak $\rho$-parameter. Consequences for the perturbative sector of Chern-Simons theory are discussed.Comment: 9 pages, LaTe

Parental Help-Seeking and the Moral Order. Notes for Policy-Makers and Parenting Practitioners on 'the First Port of Call' and 'No One to Turn To'

The topic \'help-seeking\' is of international interest. However, there is only a very limited literature concerning help-seeking in child welfare and a distinct dearth of studies that have examined the social organisation of parents\' decisions to seek help. Recent developments in child welfare services in England and Wales have seen the introduction of a raft of initiatives that aim to deliver parenting support to a broader range of parents; however, these initiatives are not well grounded in an evidence base concerning parental help-seeking. Focusing on the organisation of talk-in-interaction in interviews and focus groups, this study examined parents\' normative and inter-subjective understandings about help-seeking. The study found that when considering the welfare problems of parenting (variously described as \'domestic\', \'normal\' or \'on the home front\'), participants routinely made relevant the binary \'inside/outside\' the family, indicating the central (normative) relevance of the category \'family\' for this kind of support. Outside (professional) help was very much a residual option, only to be considered on the basis of \'no-one to turn to\'. The findings are discussed in relation to national strategies that seek to normalise support for parenting and issues of international relevance to do with professional identification and diagnosis of need.Ethnomethodology, Membership Categorisation Analysis, Normativity/social Organisation, Parenting Support