Using field-theoretical methods and exploiting conformal invariance, we study Casimir forces at tricritical points exerted by long-range fluctuations of the order-parameter field. Special attention is paid to the situation where the symmetry is broken by the boundary conditions (extraordinary...

The article builds on a recent literature that has sought to underscore the relevance of Bourdieu's field theory for historical-sociological analysis. It draws attention to symbolic revolutions, a concept that has been given short shrift in this literature and even in Bourdieu's own expositions...

Family businesses are commonly addressed as two separate entities: the family and the business (Weigel, Weigel, Berger, Cook & Del Campo, 1995; Hollander & Elman, 1988; Langsberg, 1983). This approach suggests that managerial procedures and decisions typically respond to the needs of only one or the...

We present a two-dimensional theoretical model for the slow chemical corrosion of a thin film of a disordered solid by suitable etching solutions. This model explains different experimental results showing that the corrosion stops spontaneously in a situation in which the concentration of the...

Spatio-temporally chaotic dynamics of a classical field can be described by means of an infinite hierarchy of its unstable spatio-temporally periodic solutions. The periodic orbit theory yields the global averages characterizing the chaotic dynamics, as well as the starting semiclassical...

We exhibit the partition function of the zero-dimensional λϕ4 model as a simple exact expression in terms of the Macdonald function for Re(λ)0. Then by analytic continuation, we obtain an expression defined in the complex coupling constant plane λ, for |argλ|<π. Consequently, the partition function understood as an analytic continuation is defined for all values of λ, except for a branch cut along the real negative λ-axis. This shows that at least in zero dimension the partition function can be defined for negative coupling constant (where the integral is formally divergent), provided it has a non-vanishing imaginary part. We also evaluate the partition function on perturbative grounds, using the Borel summation technique and we found that in the common domain of validity, for Re(λ)>0, it coincides precisely with...</π.>

Organizations are increasingly concerned about ensuring that workers have sufficient sense of control over the information technology (IT) that they use. However, we know little about the antecedents of the end user’s perceived behavioral control (PBC) with respect to IT. Drawing on Kurt...

Continuum models with critical end points are considered whose Hamiltonian H[φ,ψ] depends on two densities φ and ψ. Field-theoretic methods are used to show the equivalence of the critical behavior on the critical line and at the critical end point and to give a systematic derivation of...

Social scientists have fiercely debated the relationship between non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the state in NGO-led development projects. However, this research often carries an implicit, and often explicit, anti-state bias, suggesting that when NGOs collaborate with states, they...

Our paper is based on the qualitative content analysis (Gläser/Laudel 2010) of expert interviews with IT managers in German speaking countries. Drawing also from organisational development processes we have been carrying out, we analyse how the tension between the service function of IT as...