Conformal Theory Research Articles

A Qualitative Study of Drug Treatment Conformity Behavior among Young Drug Users Who Are in Recovery in China.

In response to social concerns about young drug users, this study aimed to qualitatively explore the types of drug treatment conformity behaviors and the processes of behavior formation among this population. Twenty-one young drug users were selected through purposive sampling, in-depth interviews were conducted using a semi-structured approach, and the data were then analyzed. The social conformity theory is used as the framework of the analysis, and the results indicate that drug treatment behaviors can be differentiated by the three types of motivation that produce conformity with drug treatment: the cognitive, affective, and utilitarian. These three types of motivations produce three types of conformity, respectively: drug treatment abidance, drug treatment compliance, and drug treatment obedience. They are affected by informational social influences, normative influences of significant others, and normative structural levels, respectively. We also propose a model of the information processing involved in drug treatment conformity. Based on an in-depth analysis of the characteristics and formation processes of the three different types of conformity, intervention strategies are proposed. This study has important guiding significance for helping young drug users maintain their drug rehabilitation ethics and successfully return to society.

The stranger things of symmetric product orbifold CFTs

Symmetric product orbifold theories are valuable due to their universal features at large N. Here we will demonstrate that they have features that are not as pervasive: we provide evidence of strange behaviour under deformations within their moduli space. To this end, we consider the symmetric product orbifold of tensor products of mathcal{N} = 2 super-Virasoro minimal models, and classify them according to two criteria. The first criterion is the existence of a single-trace twisted exactly marginal operator that triggers the deformation. The second criterion is a sparseness condition on the growth of light states in the elliptic genera. In this context we encounter a strange variety: theories that obey the first criterion but the second criterion falls into a Hagedorn-like growth. We explain why this may be counter-intuitive and discuss how it might be accounted for in conformal perturbation theory. We also find a new infinite class of theories that obey both criteria, which are necessary conditions for each moduli space to contain a supergravity point.

Case-Specific Focal Sensor Design for Cardiac Electrical Impedance Tomography.

Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) is a non-invasive detection technology that uses the electrical response value at the boundary of an observation field to image the conductivity changes in an area. When EIT is applied to the thoracic cavity of the human body, the conductivity change caused by the heartbeat will be concentrated in a sub-region of the thoracic cavity, that is, the heart region. In order to improve the spatial resolution of the target region, two sensor optimization methods based on conformal mapping theory were proposed in this study. The effectiveness of the proposed method was verified by simulation and phantom experiment. The qualitative analysis and quantitative index evaluation of the reconstructed image showed that the optimized model could achieve higher imaging accuracy of the heart region compared with the standard sensor. The reconstruction results could effectively reflect the periodic diastolic and systolic movements of the heart and had a better ability to recognize the position of the heart in the thoracic cavity.

Conformal metric-affine gravities

We revisit the gauge symmetry related to integrable projective transformations in metric-affine formalism, identifying the gauge field of the Weyl (conformal) symmetry as a dynamical component of the affine connection. In particular, we show how to include the local scaling symmetry as a gauge symmetry of a large class of geometric gravity theories, introducing a compensator dilaton field that naturally gives rise to a Stückelberg sector where a spontaneous breaking mechanism of the conformal symmetry is at work to generate a mass scale for the gauge field. For Ricci-based gravities that include, among others, General Relativity, f(R) and f(R, R μν R μν) theories and the EiBI model, we prove that the on-shell gauge vector associated to the scaling symmetry can be identified with the torsion vector, thus recovering and generalizing conformal invariant theories in the Riemann-Cartan formalism, already present in the literature.

Gravity, duality and conformal symmetry

The ( 4 , 0 ) supermultiplet in six dimensions contains a fourth-rank tensor gauge field with the symmetries of the Riemann tensor and is superconformal, with 32 + 32 supersymmetries. Dimensional reduction on a circle gives the five dimensions N = 8 supergravity multiplet, with the fourth-rank tensor reducing to the graviton. If there is an interacting ( 4 , 0 ) theory, it should reduce to the full N = 8 supergravity theory and so would give a conformal theory of gravity that would reduce to conventional gravity with the usual two-derivative action at low energies. This paper revisits the conjecture that a non-lagrangian interacting ( 4 , 0 ) superconformal theory arises from a strong coupling limit of five-dimensional supergravity (suitably embedded in M -theory) describing M -theory at energies beyond the Planck scale. A key test for this is identified: M -theory toroidally compactified to five dimensions should have certain BPS states carrying a singlet central charge. These 1/2 BPS states are not related to any of the standard BPS states by dualities and do not correspond to non-singular soliton solutions—they appear to correspond to singular solutions related to gravitational instantons. Such states are needed to provide the Kaluza–Klein modes for the compactified six-dimensional theory. If there are no such states, then the conjecture is false, while the presence of such states would be strong indication that the conjecture could be true.

Marginally deformed Schrödinger/dipole CFT correspondence

We construct and thoroughly study a new integrable example of the AdS/CFT correspondence with Schrödinger symmetry. On the gravity side, the supergravity solution depends on two parameters and is obtained by marginally deforming the internal space of the Schrödinger background through a series of TsT transformations. On the field theory side, we identify the dual field theory which also depends on two parameters.We find a point-like string solution and derive its dispersion relation. By using the Landau-Lifshitz coherent state Lagrangian, which originates from field theory, we reproduce the leading, in the deformation parameters, terms of the string theory prediction. This constitutes a non-trivial test of the correspondence. Then, we calculate the Wilson loop, describing the quark/anti-quark potential at strong coupling. It exhibits confining behaviour when the separation length is much less than the Schrödinger parameter. When the separation length is much greater than the Schrödinger parameter the behaviour is that of a conformal theory. Subsequently, we take the Penrose limit along a certain null geodesic of the constructed background and calculate the bosonic spectrum. Based on that spectrum, we make an educated guess for the exact, in the ’t Hooft coupling, dispersion relation of the magnon excitations in the original doubly deformed background. This provides us with an exact prediction for the dimensions of the dual field theory operators. This applies to operators of large length, for which finite size corrections are suppressed.

Transport properties of binary Lennard-Jones mixtures: Insights from entropy scaling and conformal solution theory

The relation of transport properties and the molecular interactions in binary mixtures was studied. The self-diffusion coefficient, Maxwell–Stefan as well as Fickian mutual diffusion coefficient, shear viscosity, and thermal conductivity of liquid binary simple mixtures were therefore sampled using molecular dynamics simulations. The mixtures were described by the Lennard-Jones potential. The molecular interaction parameters were chosen such that a large variety of mixture behavior was covered. The two components had the same size parameter in all cases, but different dispersion energies. Moreover, the cross-interaction parameter used in the modified Lorentz-Berthelot combination rule was varied such that the resulting mixtures showed different types of phase behavior: ideal, high- and low-boiling azeotrope. The results are discussed using conformal solution theory as a link between the molecular interactions in the mixtures and the macroscopic properties. Moreover, the applicability of Rosenfeld’s entropy scaling is tested. Despite the important differences of the studied mixtures regarding their molecular interactions and the large pressure, temperature, and composition range considered, a practically monovariate relation of these properties with respect to the configurational entropy is observed. Yet, the quality of the approximation differs for the studied properties.

On the Kähler-Hodge structure of superconformal manifolds

We show that conformal manifolds in d ≥ 3 conformal field theories with at least 4 supercharges are Kähler-Hodge, thus extending to 3d mathcal{N} = 2 and 4d mathcal{N} = 1 similar results previously derived for 4d mathcal{N} = 2 and mathcal{N} = 4 and various types of 2d SCFTs. Conformal manifolds in SCFTs are equipped with a holomorphic line bundle ℒ, which encodes the operator mixing of supercharges under marginal deformations. Using conformal perturbation theory and superconformal Ward identities, we compute the curvature of ℒ at a generic point on the conformal manifold. We show that the Kähler form of the Zamolodchikov metric is proportional to the first Chern class of ℒ, with a constant of proportionality given by the two-point function coefficient of the stress tensor, CT. In cases where certain additional conditions about the nature of singular points on the conformal manifold hold, this implies a quantization condition for the total volume of the conformal manifold.

Application of Multiple Length Cross-linkers to the Characterization of Gaseous Protein Structure.

The speed, sensitivity, and tolerance of heterogeneity, as well as the kinetic trapping of solution-like states during electrospray, make native mass spectrometry an attractive method to study protein structure. Increases in the resolution of ion mobility measurements and in mass resolving power and range are leading to the increase of the information content of intact protein measurements and an expanded role of mass spectrometry in structural biology. Herein, a suite of different length noncovalent (sulfonate to positively charged side chain) cross-linkers was introduced via gas-phase ion/ion chemistry and used to determine distance restraints of kinetically trapped gas-phase structures of native-like cytochrome c ions. Electron capture dissociation allowed for the identification of cross-linked sites. Different length linkers resulted in distinct pairs of side chains being linked, supporting the ability of gas-phase cross-linking to be structurally specific. The gas-phase lengths of the cross-linkers were determined by conformational searches and density functional theory, allowing for the interpretation of the cross-links as distance restraints. These distance restraints were used to model gas-phase structures with molecular dynamics simulations, revealing a mixture of structures with similar overall shape/size but distinct features, thereby illustrating the kinetic trapping of multiple native-like solution structures in the gas phase.

Structure of conformal gravity in the presence of a scale breaking scalar field

We revisit the structure of conformal gravity in the presence of a c-number, conformally coupled, long range, macroscopic scalar field. And in the static, spherically symmetric case discuss two classes of exact exterior solutions. In one solution the scalar field has a constant value and in the other solution, which is due to Brihaye and Verbin, it has a dependence on the radial coordinate, with the two exterior solutions being relatable by a conformal transformation. In light of these two solutions Horne and then Hobson and Lasenby raised the concern that the fitting of conformal gravity to galactic rotation curves had been misapplied and thus called the successful fitting of the conformal theory into question. In this paper we show that the analysis of Brihaye and Verbin needs to reappraised, with their reported result not being as general as they had indicated, but nonetheless being valid in the particular case that they studied. For the analyses of Horne and of Hobson and Lasenby we show that this macroscopic scalar field is not related to the mass generation that is required in a conformal theory. Rather, not just in conformal gravity, but also in standard Einstein gravity, the presence of such a long range scalar field would lead to test particles whose masses would be of the same order as the masses of the galaxies around which they orbit. Since particle masses are not at all of this form, such macroscopic fields cannot be responsible for mass generation; and the existence of any such mass-generating scalar fields can be excluded, consistent with there actually being no known massless scalar particles in nature. Instead, mass generation has to be due to c-number vacuum expectation values of q-number fields. Such expectation values are microscopic not macroscopic and only vary within particle interiors, giving particles an extended, baglike structure, as needed for localization in a conformal theory. And being purely internal they have no effect on galactic orbits, to thus leave the good conformal gravity fitting to galactic rotation curves intact.

Interaction mechanism of cholesterol/β-cyclodextrin complexation by combined experimental and computational approaches

It is crucial to accurately describe non-covalent weak interactions between the components of cholesterol/β-cyclodextrin inclusion complex in the modulation of its stability. Experimental and theoretical infrared spectra confirmed that the inclusion complex was successfully prepared. Phase solubility studies suggested the formation of 1:1 stoichiometric inclusion complex of cholesterol with β-CD. The inclusion complex showed higher decomposed temperature (327.3 °C) than physical mixture (321.6 °C), indicating improved thermal stability of inclusion complex. Conformational search and density functional theory calculations were performed to find the most stable conformation with the lowest complexation energy (−129.66 kJ/mol). Dispersion energy from van der Waals (−283.31 kJ/mol) contributed greatly on total bonding energy (−204.72 kJ/mol). The bond lengths of hydrogen bonds (O127⋅⋅⋅H221 and O220⋅⋅⋅H107) were 1.77 and 1.62 Å, respectively. Van der Waals and hydrogen bonds were necessary to drive spontaneous formation and maintain the stability of inclusion complex. This study revealed a deep insight into the formation mechanism of cholesterol/β-CD inclusion complex using computational and experimental approaches, providing theoretical basis for the removal of cholesterol from hydrocolloid-containing systems. • Mechanism of β-CD complexation with cholesterol was illustrated through experimental and computational methods. • The thermal stability of cholesterol/β-CD inclusion complex was significantly improved. • Weak interactions of the complex were shown by means of images and data. • The inclusion complex was mainly stabilized by hydrogen bonds and van der Waals forces.

The four loop QCD rapidity anomalous dimension

The rapidity anomalous dimension controls the scaling of transverse momentum dependent observables in the Sudakov region. In a conformal theory it is equivalent to the soft anomalous dimension, but in QCD this relation is broken by anomalous terms proportional to the β-function. In this paper we first give a simple proof of this relation using two different representations of the energy-energy correlator observable. We then calculate the anomalous terms to three loops by computing the three-loop fully differential soft function to \U0001d4aa(ϵ). Combined with recent perturbative data from the study of on-shell form factors and splitting functions, this allows us to derive the four loop rapidity anomalous dimension in QCD.

Exploring Conformational Preferences of Leu-enkephalin Using the Conformational Search and Double-Hybrid DFT Energy Calculations.

The conformational preferences of Leu-enkephalin (Leu-Enk) were explored by the conformational search and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. By a combination of low-energy conformers of each residue, the initial structures of the neutral Leu-Enk were generated and optimized using the ECEPP3 force field in the gas phase. These structures were reoptimized at the HF/3-21G(d) and M06-2X levels of theory with 6-31G(d) and 6-31+G(d) basis functions. We finally located the 139 structures with the relative energy <10 kcal mol–1 in the gas phase, from which the structures of the corresponding zwitterionic Leu-Enk were generated and reoptimized at the M06-2X/6-31+G(d) level of theory using the implicit solvation model based on density (SMD) in water. The conformational preferences of Leu-Enk were analyzed using Gibbs free energies corrected by single-point energies calculated at the double-hybrid DSD-PBEP86-D3BJ/def2-TZVP level of theory in the gas phase and in water. The neutral Leu-Enk dominantly adopted a folded structure in the gas phase stabilized by three H-bonds with a βII′-bend-like motif at the Gly3–Phe4 sequence and a close contact between the side chains of Phe4 and Leu5. The zwitterionic Leu-Enk exhibited a folded structure in water stabilized by three H-bonds with double β-bends such as a βII′ bend at the Gly2–Gly3 sequence and a βI bend at the Gly3–Phe4 sequence. The calculated ensemble-averaged distance between CGly2α and CLeu5α of the zwitterionic Leu-Enk in water is consistent with the value estimated from the simulated annealing using the distance constraints derived from nuclear Overhauser effect spectroscopy (NOESY) spectra in water. Interestingly, the preferred conformations of the neutral and zwitterionic Leu-Enk are new folded structures not predicted by earlier computational studies. According to the refined model of the zwitterionic Leu-Enk bound to δ-opioid receptor (δOR), there were favorable interactions of the terminal charged groups of Leu-Enk with the side chains of charged residues of δOR as well as a favorable CAryl···H interaction of the Phe4 residue of Leu-Enk with Trp284 of δOR. Hence, these favorable interactions would induce the folded structure of the zwitterionic Leu-Enk with double β-bends isolated in water into the “bioactive conformation” like an extended structure when binding to δOR.

Implementasi Program Inovasi Mitigasi Bencana Titip Bandaku di Kabupaten Klaten

This study examines the implementation process and determines the successful implementation of the disaster mitigation program conducted by Klaten district through the Titip Bandaku program. Klaten district, as a disaster-prone area that has a range of potential disasters, compels disaster risk reduction and one of which is the Titip Bandaku Program. The Titip Bandaku Program is the only public service innovation program based on disaster mitigation in Central Java created by Klaten Regency and won the Central Java’s Public Service Innovation Competition Award (KIPP). This study is carried out using the implementation theory by David C. Korten to determine the success implementation of the program. This study employs a qualitative research method with a descriptive approach by collecting data through interviews, observation, and documentation studies.. The result of the study shows that the Titip Bandaku Program is currently only being implemented in disaster prone areas of Merapi III. The program aims to be applicable in all the high risk areas in the Klaten district. The implementation of the Bandaku Titip Program has been successfully implemented in the Merapi III disaster-prone area by conforming in three aspects using David C. Korten's Conformity theory. The implementation of the Bandaku Titip Program shows the capability of the program for the rescue of important archives of the community in the disaster-prone areas.

Gravity beyond Einstein? Yes, but in which direction?

We present qualitative arguments in favour of an extension of the theory of the gravitational interaction beyond that resulting from the Hilbert–Einstein action. To this end, we consider a locally conformal invariant theory of gravity, discussed some 30 years ago by Mannheim and Kazanas. We discuss its exact solution of the static, spherically symmetric configurations and, based on these, we revisit some of the outstanding problems associated with gravity, high energy interactions and sketch potential resolutions within the conformal gravity framework.This article is part of the theme issue ‘The future of mathematical cosmology, Volume 2’.

The Wilson loop — large spin OPE dictionary

We work out the map between null polygonal hexagonal Wilson loops and spinning three point functions in large N conformal gauge theories by mapping the variables describing the two different physical quantities and by working out the precise normalization factors entering this duality. By fixing all the kinematics we open the ground for a precise study of the dynamics underlying these dualities — most notably through integrability in the case of planar maximally supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory.

Conformal Carrollian spin-3 gravity in 3D

We consider ultra-relativistic limit of the spin-2 and spin-3 conformal gravity theories in three dimensions, which leads to conformal Carrollian spin-2 gravity and its spin-3 analog. We also comment on the generalization of the result to arbitrary spin. The holographic examples show generalization in comparison with non-conformal Carrollian gravity.

Shape and topology optimization of conformal thermal control structures on free-form surfaces: A dimension reduction level set method (DR-LSM)

In this paper, the authors propose a dimension reduction level set method (DR-LSM) for shape and topology optimization of heat conduction problems on general free-form surfaces utilizing the conformal geometry theory. The original heat conduction optimization problem defined on a free-form surface embedded in the 3D space can be equivalently transferred and solved on a 2D parameter domain utilizing the conformal invariance of the Laplace equation along with the extended level set method (X-LSM). Reducing the dimension can not only significantly reduce the computational cost of finite element analysis but also overcome the hurdles of dynamic boundary evolution on free-form surfaces. The equivalence of this dimension reduction method rests on the fact that the covariant derivatives on the manifold can be represented by the Euclidean gradient operators multiplied by a scalar with the conformal mapping. The proposed method is applied to the design of conformal thermal control structures on free-form surfaces. Specifically, both the Hamilton–Jacobi equation and the heat equation, the two governing PDEs for boundary evolution and thermal conduction phenomena, are transformed from the manifold in 3D space to the 2D rectangular domain using conformal parameterization. The objective function, constraints, and the design velocity field are also computed equivalently with FEA on the 2D parameter domain with properly modified forms. The effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed method are systematically demonstrated through five numerical examples of heat conduction problems on the manifolds.

Correlation functions of determinant operators in conformal fishnet theory

We consider scalar local operators of the determinant type in the conformal “fishnet” theory that arises as a limit of gamma-deformed mathcal{N} = 4 super Yang-Mills theory. We generalise a field-theory approach to expand their correlation functions to arbitrary order in the small coupling constants and apply it to the bi-scalar reduction of the model. We explicitly analyse the two-point functions of determinants, as well as of certain deformations with the insertion of scalar fields, and describe the Feynman-graph structure of three- and four-point correlators with single-trace operators. These display the topology of globe and spiral graphs, which are known to renormalise single-trace operators, but with “alternating” boundary conditions. In the appendix material we further investigate a four-point function of two determinants and the shortest bi-local single trace. We resum the diagrams by the Bethe-Salpeter method and comment on the exchanged OPE states.

Tool-path planning method for kinematics optimization of blade machining on five-axis machine tool

Planning tool paths on free-form surfaces is a widely discussed issue. However, satisfying all the requirements of blade machining using traditional path-planning methods remains a challenge. Herein, a new iso-parametric path-planning strategy, based on a novel parameterization method and combined with conformal transformation theory, is proposed. The presented strategy adapts to the curvature of blade surfaces, improving the kinematic performance of the machining process, reducing the complexity of multi-axis coordinated motion control, and improving the machining quality. A comparison between the proposed and three traditional methods is also discussed. The influence of the tool path on the kinematic performance of the machine tool is quantitatively examined based on the kinematic models of two different machines. Finally, the results of a deep-cutting milling experiment conducted to verify the improvement of the machining quality due to kinematic optimization are described. The proposed method provides a more reasonable path-planning approach for blade machining on a five-axis machine tool, which can significantly reduce the cost of blade machining, minimize the risks of blade failure, and enhance the large-scale automated production of blades.