Local nonequilibrium mass transfer in a two-component system under external pulsed irradiation with energy fluxes

The nonisothermal mass transfer in metal materials under irradiation with concentrated energy fluxes is studied in the one-dimensional approximation. Local nonequilibrium equations of extended irreversible thermodynamics are used to describe the transfer phenomena. It is established that, for short times (on the order of the time required for relaxation of the diffusion flow to its local-equilibrium value), the wave mechanism for mass transfer is dominant over the diffusion one, ensuring that the impurity-concentration profiles have a nonmonotonous form. The degree of influence of the space-time nonlocality of the transfer processes on the formation of concentration profiles is estimated, and the model results are compared with the experimental data.     

Nonsingular cosmological models with torsion determined by vacuum polarization of quantum fields

Nonsingular cosmological models with reducing torsion induced by vacuum quantum effects are constructed. The metric of the models described corresponds to the inflationary universe. Moreover, anisotropic nonsingular cosmological model with constant torsion is constructed.     

Background field formalism and construction of effective action for N = 2, d = 3 supersymmetric gauge theories

We review the background field method for three-dimensional Yang-Mills and Chern-Simons models in N = 2 superspace. Superfield proper time (heat kernel) techniques are developed and exact expressions of heat kernels for constant backgrounds are presented. The background field method and heat kernel techniques are applied for evaluating the low-energy effective actions in N = 2 supersymmetric Yang-Mills and Chern-Simons models as well as in N = 4 and N = 8 SYM theories.     

Induced effective action in 6D hypermultiplet theory on a vector/tensor background

We consider the six dimensional hypermultiplet, vector and tensor multiplet models in (1,0) harmonic superspace and discuss the corresponding superfield actions. Manifestly a (1,0) supersymmetric procedure of computing the effective action is developed in the framework of the superfield proper-time technique. The leading low-energy contributions to the effective action is calculated.     

Non-Gaussianities in New Ekpyrotic Cosmology

The new ekpyrotic model is an alternative scenario of the early Universe which relies on a phase of slow contraction before the big bang. We calculate the 3-point and 4-point correlation functions of primordial density perturbations and find a generically large non-Gaussian signal, just below the current sensitivity level of cosmic microwave background experiments. This is in contrast with slow-roll inflation, which predicts negligible non-Gaussianity. The model is also distinguishable from alternative inflationary scenarios that can yield large non-Gaussianity, such as Dirac-Born-Infeld inflation and the simplest curvatonlike models, through the shape dependence of the correlation functions. Non-Gaussianity therefore provides a distinguishing and testable prediction of New Ekpyrotic Cosmology.     

Examining the role of examples in proving processes through a cognitive lens: the case of triangular numbers

In this paper, we analyze the role of examples in the proving process. The context chosen for this study was finding a general rule for triangular numbers. The aim of this paper is to show that examples are effective for the construction of a proof when they allow cognitive unity and structural continuity between argumentation and proof. Continuity in the structure is possible if the inductive argumentation is based on process pattern generalization (PPG), but this is not the case if a generalization is made on the results. Moreover, the PPG favors the development of generic examples that support cognitive unity and structural continuity between the argumentation and proof. The cognitive analysis presented in this paper is performed through Toulmin??s model.     

Superfield approach to the construction of effective action in quantum field theory with extended supersymmetry

We review the current state of research on the construction of effective actions in supersymmetric quantum field theory. Special attention is paid to gauge models with extended supersymmetry in the superfield approach. The advantages of formulation of such models in harmonic superspace for the calculation of effective action are emphasized. Manifestly supersymmetric and manifestly gauge-invariant methods for constructing the low-energy effective actions and deriving the corrections to them are considered and the possibilities to obtain the exact solutions are discussed. The calculations of one-loop effective actions in N = 2 supersymmetric Yang–Mills theory with hypermultiplets and in N = 4 supersymmetric Yang–Mills theory are analyzed in detail. The relationship between the effective action in supersymmetric quantum field theory and the low-energy limit in superstring theory is discussed.     

Discrete Symmetries as Automorphisms of the Proper Poincaré Group

We present a consistent approach to finding discrete transformations in representation spaces of the proper Poincaré group. To this end we establish a correspondence between involutory automorphisms of the group and the discrete transformations. Such a correspondence allows us to describe the action of discrete transformations on arbitrary spin-tensor fields without any use of relativistic wave equations. Extending the proper Poincaré group by the discrete transformations, we construct explicitly fields carrying corresponding irreps.