Singular String Research Articles

Dirac monopole theory with and without strings

It is shown that in Dirac's formulation of the quantum-mechanical interaction of a magnetic monopole and an electric charge the singular string he attached to the monopole can be moved arbitrarily by an acceptable gauge transformation, and hence is not physically observable, and that this formulation of the theory is equivalent to the recent formulation of Wu and Yang in which the use of potentials with strings is avoided.

Correcting author, title and multiple‐term index entries in mechanized bibliography preparation

AbstractAn operational, comprehensive, economical method for changing and correcting author(s), title and multiple‐term index entries in a computerized bibliographic system is presented. The technique was developed in producing the bibliographic preparation and maintenance system for the East African Agricultural Bibliographic Project at West Virginia University. The problems encountered in the production of a 10,000 entry bibliography using records variable in length up to 7,200 characters are discussed and the method is described as it is embodied in the system master file update program. Data modification is performed at three file structure levels with equal ease: record, entry and singular character string. The operations of SEARCH, DELETE, REPLACE, INSERT and ADD are described. The record formats and sequencing schemes are also discussed as well as the limitations of the method as it was applied. The reduced cost of file creation and maintenance resulted in a financially feasible mechanized bibliography which met planned specifications. Noting that the techniques involved have universal application in computerized bibliography preparation, it is concluded that this new tool is applicable to similar projects concerning other subject materials in the biological and social sciences.