Strongly correlated systems on geometrically frustrated lattices can stabilize a large number of interesting phases that includes a wide array of novel Mott insulators in both bosonic and electronic systems. Charge fluctuations in a Mott insulator are suppressed due to strong mutual interaction among the particles. The presence of frustration is of particular importance as the physics it offers is often rich, unexpectedly complicated, and continues to raise many open questions. The thesis elucidates some of these issues on a kagome lattice where strong interactions among the particles in the Mott phase impose non-trivial local constraints depending on the filling fraction on the lattice. These Mott insulators, in addition to featuring unusual magnetic and/or charge ordering, can also harbor topologically ordered states of quantum matter, e.g., resonating valence bond liquids realized in certain quantum dimer models on non-bipartite lattices. The dimer models can be regarded as low-energy effective theories for different types of bosonic models in the strong-coupling limit. Exploring this connection is a central theme of this thesis with the aim of realizing novel strongly correlated ground states. Past studies of these models have revealed the existence of various ordered and disordered phases with distinct signatures. Among these low-energy phases, the presence of a stable topological liquid at a particular point, known as Rokhsar-Kivelson point, in the phase diagram is notable. The classical versions of the dimer model are also known to have garnered a vast interest in various fields ranging from problems of pure mathematical origin to ones in physical chemistry as well as statistical physics. Pioneered by Kasteleyn, several analytical works came forward to exactly calculate the partition function of the problem from which other physical observables can be derived. Classical numerical methods are extensively applied to these models to verify the analytical predictions. We introduce a new classical algorithm here to compute the correlation functions of a classical dimer model on a square (bipartite) and a triangular (non-bipartite) lattice based on a tensor network construction. The method, called tensor network renormalization group, turns out to be a powerful tool for simulating short-ranged gapped systems as inferred from our results benchmarked against the classical Monte-Carlo technique and compared with past analytical studies. One should note that the quantum dimer model at the Rokhsar-Kivelson point can also be described as an infinite temperature canonical ensemble of classical dimers because of the particular structure of the ground state which is an equal weight superposition in the configuration manifold. The geometry of the lattice plays a pivotal role in deciding the nature of the phases that arise in the dimer models. Many physical properties of the dimer liquid phase can be extracted in the simple classical setting which certainly allows for a deep understanding of the classical models to be developed. The liquid phase is gapped on non-bipartite lattices and gapless on bipartite lattices, which is reflected in the decay of correlation functions with spatial distances. In general on non-bipartite lattices, the topological nature of the dimer liquid is characterized by a Z2 topological order which survives even when the model is perturbed away from the Rokhsar-Kivelson point. Stability of this liquid phase not only depends on the lattice geometries but notably on dimer concentrations also. In this context, we focus on a particular variant of the dimer model on a triangular lattice which is known as the quantum fully packed loop model. The model is composed of nonintersecting closed loops made of dimers and governed by the same Hamiltonian as the quantum dimer model. The loop model provides an effective low-energy description of a strongly correlated bosonic system at 1/3 filling on the kagome lattice. The corresponding Bose-Hubbard Hamiltonian consists of nearest-neighbor hopping and all possible repulsive interactions within a hexagonal plaquette. Conspicuous features of the zero-temperature phase diagram for this model include (i) presence of a stable Z2 liquid even without any Rokhsar-Kivelson potential term (in distinction to the standard quantum dimer model), and (ii) an unconventional phase transition from the liquid phase to a novel crystalline phase that has nematic order (dubbed lattice nematic). For a deeper understanding of the physics, a mapping to an Ising gauge theory is presented. The gauge theoretic description provides a useful way to predict the nature of the quantum phase transition to lie in the O(3) universality class. Finally a fermionic model at the same 1/3 filling is considered in which the ground state exhibits a number of exotic local orderings resulting from the spin-charge interplay of electrons. The Hamiltonian comprises nearest-neighbor hopping, strong on-site Coulomb interaction, and repulsive interaction terms only between nearest-neighbors. In the strong correlation limit, this fermionic problem maps to a two-color fully packed loop model – a model in which the loop segments carry an additional quantum number as color on a honeycomb lattice. The effective theory is governed by coherent three-particle ring exchanges and nearest-neighbor antiferromagnetic spin exchanges. The competition between these two leads to a phase diagram composed of a novel plaquette ordered state (known as the plaquette phase) that undergoes phase transition to a new kind of charge ordered state which we call a short loop phase. From our numerical analysis, we conclude that the plaquette phase features an unusual antiferromagnetic order with gapless spin excitations while the charge-ordered state is subjugated by spin fluctuations of localized electrons arranged in small hexagonal loops on the kagome lattice.

Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable disease and is the cause of nearly 1 in 5 deaths in the United States. The prevalence of smoking has had a leveling off effect after many years of significant decline. Certain subgroups of the population, such as those with low income and certain illnesses, continue to smoke at disproportionately high rates. Reasons for these disparities in smoking rates are complex. Developing a better understanding of the issues related to persistent smoking particularly for those with medical illness and limited access to cessation resources can help focus interventions to help these high risk smokers quit. This dissertation includes a systematic review of the literature associated with hardcore smoking; an analysis of the reliability and validity of a self-efficacy instrument in a sample of low-SES, medically ill smokers; and the results of a cross-sectional, non-experimental study exploring the relationship between smoking-related factors and planning to quit in a sample of medically ill smokers. A sample of 70 current and recent smokers was surveyed at a free clinic. Quitting self-efficacy was measured using an instrument not previously tested in a rural, medically ill sample. Modifications to the survey were made based on qualitative interviews with smokers and a single question measuring self-efficacy was also tested. There was a high correlation among the self-efficacy measures (Spearman’s rho .99, p < .001) and between the longer instrument and the single question (Spearman’s rho .65, p < .001). Each measure demonstrated acceptable reliability and validity. In the study exploring potential factors associated with planning to quit, the number of prior quit attempts and confidence to quit explained 43% of the variance in those planning versus not planning to quit. Providing interventions focused on increasing confidence and experience with quit attempts can be effective in promoting a plan to quit in this group of smokers who, because of their medical illness, can benefit significantly from cessation. Research is needed to explore cessation outcomes when employing these targeted interventions with medically ill smokers in rural areas.

Abstract: This ethnographic study compares and contrasts performative masculinities of the overwhelmingly male heavy metal (HM) and hardcore (HC) subcultures. Conclusions derived from this research indicate the following: identities associated with HM and HC conflate masculinity with working-classness, HM and HC identities (and thus masculinities) are merging at present; participation in HM and HC enclaves can serve to symbolically marginalize constituents, and this symbolic marginalization can result in repercussions in the lived world outside of subculture; the hegemonic masculinity of HM and HC subcultures is subsidiary hegemonic masculinity, meaning that it supports the male-dominated structure of mainstream culture without empowering HM and HC males in an extra-subcultural sense; and that despite these negative ramifications, HM and HC participants still find the shared identities and community interaction of these enclaves to be empowering. Keywords: heavy metal, hardcore, subculture, masculinity, performativity, gender, class, ideology, rock music, identity

The main focus of this thesis is to understand the myriad ways in which crust punk as an expressive cultural form creates meaning, forms the basis for social formation (or music scene), and informs the ways in which its participants both interact with and understand the world around them. Fieldwork for this research was conducted during the summer of 2012 in Austin, Texas. Primary methodology included participant observation, semi-structured interviews, and online ethnography. Additional research data was collected over the last five years through my own personal involvement with the crust punk music scene. The first section examines the ways in which crust punk as a genre both continues to evolve by avoiding and disavowing genre definitions and boundaries. The second section addresses my particular experiences with the Austin, Texas crust punk scene. I separate and examine the differences within the scene among and between differing levels of participation in various scene practices. These practices include the everyday practices necessary to maintain the music scene, as well as “anarchist” practices such as squatting, train hopping, transiency, and refusal to work. In the final section, I argue that in the crust punk scene dystopian performatives enable an apocalyptic and dystopic view of the world, building upon Jill Dolan’s theory of utopian performatives. I also outline my theory on how dystopian performatives and apocalyptic rhetoric work together to inflect crust punk structures of feelings and social imaginaries.

Abstract: This ethnographic study compares and contrasts performative masculinities of the overwhelmingly male heavy metal (HM) and hardcore (HC) subcultures. Conclusions derived from this research indicate the following: identities associated with HM and HC conflate masculinity with working-classness, HM and HC identities (and thus masculinities) are merging at present; participation in HM and HC enclaves can serve to symbolically marginalize constituents, and this symbolic marginalization can result in repercussions in the lived world outside of subculture; the hegemonic masculinity of HM and HC subcultures is subsidiary hegemonic masculinity, meaning that it supports the male-dominated structure of mainstream culture without empowering HM and HC males in an extra-subcultural sense; and that despite these negative ramifications, HM and HC participants still find the shared identities and community interaction of these enclaves to be empowering. Keywords: heavy metal, hardcore, subculture, masculinity, performativity, gender, class, ideology, rock music, identity

Thesis (M.S.) in Communication--University of Maine, 2006. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 110-112).

The aim of this paper is to examine how women who mosh to hardcore music understand moshing as a meaning making activity and how they understand and negotiate body, gender and space in their relation to moshing. I have done a feminist phenomenological analysis on four deep interviews with women who mosh based on the theories of Sara Ahmed and Iris Young. I have found that my informants discuss moshing in terms of feelings of adrenaline, euphoria, strength and emotional ventilation. They break the norms of female bodily performance at the same time as they feel uncomfortable with how their bodies stand out in relation to the white and male bodies as a norm in hardcore spaces. The women then use how their own and other bodies that stand out as a way to access space and as a ground for resistance, both against the room as masculine and as white. The women show a clear feministic orientation and use a violent bodily performance as a feminist practice.

This thesis examines how select participants came to be involved in DiY punk culture, what they do in it, and how, if they do, they exit from the culture. Underpinning this will be an ethnographic examination of how the ethics of punk informs their views of remaining authentic and what they consider to be a sell out and betrayal of these values. I illustrate how such ethics have evolved and how they inform the daily practice of two chosen DiY punk communities in Leeds and Bradford. I show how these communities reciprocally relate to each other. I ask such questions as what do the participants get out of what is often experienced as hard work and toil, particularly where it is fraught with a series of dilemmas bound up in politics, ethics, identity and integrity. I offer a grounded theory of how and what ways those involved in DiY punk authenticate themselves in their actions. This will demonstrate how and, more importantly, why DiY punks distinguish their ethical version of punk over and above what are taken as less favourable forms of punk. What happens if previous passionately held DiY beliefs are surrendered? Severe consequences follow should a participant sell out. I present an account of these and suggest that what they involve is not the clear-cut question that is sometimes assumed, either sincerely or selfrighteously.

Android Play store och iOS App stores speltopplistor domineras av enkla tidsfördrivsspel, så kallade casualspel, med en klar underrepresentation av svårare hardcoretitlar. Detta kandidatarbete undersöker orsaken bakom detta fenomen med hjälp av en undersökning, där en testgrupp spelar hardcorespelet Fenix box och sedan besvarar frågor. Från undersökningens data har en bättre förståelse om detta fenomen tagits fram. En gestaltande spelproduktion har även genomförts, där hardcore element blev implementerade i ett casualspel. Gestaltningen sätts sedan i relation till undersökningen för en avslutande reflektion.

The aim of this paper is to provide a formulation of the modal cosmological argument for the existence of a necessary entity, that is more resistant to criticism than those hitherto formulated. The conclusion is that there exists a necessary entity powerful enough to causally sustain the world. It has only two substantial premises, which are very innocuous. The argument requires no assumption that contingent entities must have a cause, or even that they normally have a cause, or the impossibility of infinite regresses, or any particular theory of time, and works irrespectively of which modal framework is accepted.