This thesis is concerned with solitons (solutions of certain nonlinear partial differential equations) in certain cases when the underlying space is either a lattice or curved. Chapter 2 of the thesis is concerned with the outcome of collisions between a kink (a 1-dimensional soliton) and an antikink for certain topological discrete (TD) systems. The systems considered are the TD sine-Gordon and the TD ø(^4) For the TD sine-Gordon system it is found that the kink can support an internal shape mode which plays an important role during the collisions. In particular, this mode can be excited during collisions and this leads to spectacular resonance effects. The outcome of any particular collision has sensitive dependence on the initial conditions and could be either a trapped kink-antikink state, a "reflection" or a "transmission”. Such resonance effects are already known to exist for the conventional discrete ø(^4) system, and the TD ø(^4) system is no different, though the results for the two are not entirely similar. Chapter 3 considers the question of the existence of explicit travelling kink solutions for lattice systems. In particular, an expression for such a solution for the integrable lattice sine-Gordon system is derived. In Chapter 4, by reducing the Yang-Mills equations on the (2 + 2)-dimensional ultrahyperbolic space-time, an integrable Yang-Mills-Higgs system on (2 + 1) dimensional de Sitter space-time is derived. It represents the curved space-time version of the Bogomolny equations for monopoles on R(^3) . Using twister methods, various explicit solutions with gauge groups U(l) and SU(2) are constructed. A multi-solution SU(2) solution is also presented.

Nous présentons dans ce manuscrit des mesures de corrélations spatiales à un et deux corps effectuées sur un gaz de bosons unidimensionnel et ultra-froid piégé à la surface d'une microstructure. Les corrélations à deux corps sont mises en évidence par des mesures de fluctuations de densité in situ ; les corrélations à un corps sont sondées grâce à des mesures de distributions en impulsion. Nous avons observé des fluctuations de densité sub-poissoniennes dans le régime d'interactions faibles, mettant ainsi en évidence pour la première fois le sous-régime du régime de quasi-condensat dans lequel la fonction de corrélation à deux corps est dominée par les fluctuations quantiques. Nous avons également observé des fluctuations sub-poissoniennes quelle que soit la densité dans le régime d'interactions fortes ; notre mesure constitue la première observation d'un unique gaz de bosons unidimensionnel dans ce régime. Le piège magnétique que nous avons utilisé est un piège modulé qui possède la propriété remarquable de découplage entre confinements transverse et longitudinal. Cette spécificité nous a permis de façonner à volonté la forme du confinement longitudinal. En particulier, nous avons pu obtenir des pièges harmoniques et quartiques. Nous avons également utilisé les propriétés de ce piège modulé afin de réaliser une lentille magnétique longitudinale. Cette technique nous a permis de mesurer la distribution en impulsion du gaz, dans le régime d'interactions faibles. Nous présentons deux résultats, obtenus de part et d'autre de la transition molle entre les régimes de gaz de Bose idéal et de quasi-condensat. Sur le plan théorique, nous montrons qu'une théorie de champ classique ne suffit pas à décrire quantitativement cette transition molle pour les paramètres typiques de l'expérience. Nous avons donc recours à des calculs Monte-Carlo quantiques. La température extraite de l'ajustement de nos donnée par ces calculs est en bon accord avec celle obtenue en ajustant les fluctuations de densité in situ avec la thermodynamique de C. N. Yang et C. P. Yang. Enfin, nous démontrons une méthode de compensation de la gravité (piégeage harmonique résiduel) lors de la phase de lentille magnétique, qui nous permet d'améliorer considérablement la résolution en impulsion de cette technique. / In this manuscript, we present spatial one and two-body correlation measurements performed on a one-dimensional gas of ultra-cold bosons trapped at the surface of a microstructure. Two body correlations are highlighted by measurements of in situ density fluctuations and one-body correlations are probed through measurements of momentum distributions.We observed sub-Poissonian density fluctuations in the regime of weak interactions, thus demonstrating for the first time the regime of quasi-condensate in which the two-body correlation function is dominated by quantum fluctuations. We also observed sub-Poissonian fluctuations regardless of the density in the regime of strong interactions. Our measurement is the first observation of a single one-dimensional gas of bosons in this regime.The magnetic trap that we used is a modulated trap that has the remarkable property of decoupling between transverse and longitudinal confinements. This specificity has enabled us to engineer at will the shape of the longitudinal confinement. In particular, we were able to obtain harmonic and quartic traps.

The purpose of this study is to analyze how estimates of an important geomorphic parameter, effective discharge, are impacted by the choice of bed material load equations and flow duration curves (FDCs). The Yang (1979), Brownlie (1981), and Pagosa equations developed by Rosgen (2006) were compared for predicting bed material load. To calculate the bed material load using the Pagosa equations, the bedload and suspended load are calculated separately and the results are added together. To compare the effectiveness of the equations, measured bed material load data from the USGS Open-File Report 89-67 were used. Following the calculations, the equation results were compared to the measured data. It was determined that the Pagosa equations performed the best overall, followed by Brownlie and then Yang. The superior performance of the Pagosa equations is likely due to the equations being calibrated. USGS regression equations for FDCs were compared to a method developed by Dr. David Rosgen in which a dimensionless FDC (DFDC) is developed. Weminuche Creek in southwestern Colorado was used as the study site. Rosgen's DFDC method requires the selection of a streamgage for a stream that exhibits the same hydro-physiographic characteristics as the site of interest. An FDC is developed for the gaged site and made dimensionless by dividing the discharges by the bankfull discharge of the gaged site. The DFDC is then made dimensional by multiplying by the bankfull discharge of the site of interest and the resulting dimensional FDC is taken as the FDC of the ungaged site. The USGS regression equations underpredicted the discharges while Rosgen's DFDC method overpredicted them. Rosgen's DFDC method produced more accurate results than the USGS regression equations for Weminuche Creek. To calculate the effective discharge, the FDC was used to develop a flow frequency curve which was then multiplied by the sediment rating curve. Effective discharge calculations were performed for Weminuche Creek using several combinations of bed material load prediction equations and FDCs. The USGS regression equations, Rosgen's DFDC method, and streamgage data were all used in conjunction with the Yang and Pagosa equations. The Brownlie equation predicted zero bed material load for Weminuche Creek, and was thus not used to calculate the effective discharge. When the USGS regression equations were used with the Yang and Pagosa equations, the calculated effective discharge was approximately 4.5 cms for both bed material load prediction equations. When Rosgen's DFDC method and streamgage data were used with the Yang and Pagosa equations, the effective discharge was approximately 13.5 cms. From these results, it was determined that the bed material load prediction equations had little impact on the effective discharge for Weminuche Creek while the FDCs did influence the results.

Cette thèse est constituée de deux contributions scientifiques qui ont donné lieu à deux séries d'articles. On construit dans la première une symétrie vectorielle dans les théories cohomologiques via une généralisation de l'équation de Baulieu-Singer, qui définit avec l'opérateur BRST topologique un sous ensemble de générateurs de supersymétrie admettant une représentation qui détermine l'action de la théorie de manière unique.<br /><br />La seconde série propose une méthode pour renormaliser les théories supersymétriques de Yang-Mills en l'absence de schéma de régularisation préservant à la fois l'invariance de jauge et la supersymétrie. La prescription de renormalisation est obtenue en définissant deux opérateurs de Slavnov-Taylor compatibles respectivement pour l'invariance de jauge et la supersymétrie. La construction de ces derniers nécessite l'introduction de champs additionnels que nous avons appelés les champs d'ombre. Nous avons ainsi été en mesure de démontrer la renormalisabilité des théories de Yang-Mills supersymétriques et l'annulation de la fonction beta dans le cas de la supersymétrie maximale. <br /><br />Après une brève introduction, le second chapitre propose une revue de la théorie de Yang-Mills de type cohomologique en huit dimensions. Le chapitre suivant examine les réductions dimensionnelles en sept et six dimensions de cette théorie. Le dernier chapitre propose quand à lui des résultats indépendants, sur une interprétation géométrique des champs d'ombre, ainsi que des travaux non publiés sur la gravité topologique en quatre dimensions, des considérations sur la symétrie superconforme et enfin la solution des contraintes dans le super-espace twisté.

In Part I we are dealing with effective description of Yang-Mills theories based on gauge-invarint variables. For pure Yang-Mills we study the spin-charge separation varibles. The dynamics in these variables resembles the Skyrme-Faddeev model. Thus the spin-charge separation is an important intermediate step between the fundamental Yang-Mills theory and the low-energy effective models, used to model the low-energy dynamics of gluons. Similar methods may be useful for describing the Electroweak sector of the Standard Model in terms of gauge-invariant field variables called supercurrents. We study the geometric structure of spin-charge separation in 4D Euclidean space (paper III) and elaborate onconnection with gravity toy model. Such reinterpretation gives a way to see how effective flat background metric is created in toy gravity model by studying the appearance of dimension-2 condensate in the Yang-Mills (paper IV). For Electroweak theory we derive the effective gauge-invariant Lagrangian by doing the Kaluza-Klein reduction of higher-dimensional gravity with 3-brane, thus making explicit the geometric interpretation for gauge-invariant supercurrents. The analogy is then made more precise in the framework of exact supergravity solutions. Thus, we interpret the Higgs effect as spontaneous breaking of Kaluza-Klein gauge symmetry and this leads to interpretation of Higgs field as a dilaton (papers I and II). In Part II of the thesis we study rather simple field theories, called “geometric” or “instantonic”. Their defining property is exact localization on finite-dimensional spaces – the moduli spaces of instantons. These theories allow to account exactly for non-linearity of space of fields, in this respect they go beyond the standard Gaussian perturbation theory. In paper V we show how to construct a geometric theory of chiral boson by embedding it into the geometric field theory. In Paper VI we elaborate on the simplest geometric field theory – the supersymmetric Quantum Mechanics and construct new non-perturbative topological observables that have a transparent meaning both in geometric and in the Hamiltonian formalisms. In Paper VII we are motivated by making perturbations away from the simple instantonic limit. For that we need to carefully define the observables that are quadratic in momenta and develop the way to compute them in geometric framework. These correspond geometrically to bivector fields (or, in general, the polyvector fields). We investigate the local limit of polyvector fields and compare the geometric calculation with free-field approach.

This thesis is an evaluation of the extent to which theories of focalization are useful for the analysis of point of view in film. In it, I apply the small number of focalization models advanced within film studies to an analysis of the works of an internationally acclaimed Taiwanese director, Edward Yang. I reveal that Yang's films serve well to demonstrate how the conventional typologies of external and internal focalization are convenient labels that mask the considerable degree of ambiguity that is reflected by processes of focalization and narration in many films. Furthermore, I illustrate how an application of the alternative theory of auto-focalization to film analysis can generally free us from the limitations of these typologies, by drawing our attention to the iconic implications of film imagery. Finally, I determine that both models of focalization are largely useful for highlighting the degree to which the functions of character-focalizers and narrators can be indistinguishable, particularly in self-reflexive films.

Les facteurs de forme et les fonctions de corrélation déterminent les quantités dynamiques mesurables associées aux modèles de théorie des champs et de mécanique statistique. Dans le cas de modèles intégrables en dimension 2, au-delà des propriétés du spectre ou de la fonction de partition, un des grands défis actuels concerne le calcul exact des facteurs de forme et des fonctions de corrélation.Le but de cette thèse est de développer une approche permettant de résoudre ce problème dans le cadre de la méthode de séparation des variables quantique de Skyanin. Cette méthode généralise au cas quantique et pour des systèmes avec un grand nombre de degrés de liberté la méthode de Hamilton-Jacobi en mécanique analytique. Le Hamiltonien est exprimé avec des opérateurs séparés, son spectre et ses états propres caractérisés par un système d'équations de Baxter résultant des structures algébriques de Yang-Baxter, caractéristiques de l'intégrabilité de ces modèles.Cette thèse a permis, pour les modèles de sine-Gordon (théorie des champs quantique) et de Potts chiral (modèle de physique statistique), le calcul des produits scalaires entre états propres du Hamiltonien, la résolution du problème inverse, i. e. l'expression des opérateurs du modèle en termes des variables séparées, ainsi que le calcul en termes de déterminants des facteurs de forme, i. e. des éléments de matrice des opérateurs locaux du modèle dans la base propre du Hamiltonien, ce qui constitue un pas important vers le calcul des fonctions de corrélation de ces modèles.

A little over 20 years ago Drinfeld presented the quantum (or Drinfeld) double construction. This construction takes any Hopf algebra and embeds it in a larger quasi-triangular Hopf algebra, which contains an algebraic solution to the constant Yang–Baxter equation. One such class of algebras consists of the Drinfeld doubles of finite groups, which are currently of interest due to their connections with non-Abelian anyons. The smallest non-commutative Drinfeld double of a finite group algebra is the Drinfeld double of D3 , the dihedral group of order six, which was recently used to construct solutions to the Yang–Baxter equation cor- responding to 2-state and 3-state integrable spin chains with periodic boundary conditions. In this thesis we construct R-matrices from the Drinfeld double of dihedral group algebras, D(Dn) and consider their associated integrable systems. The 3-state spin chain from D(D3) is generalised to include open boundaries and it is also shown that there exists a more general R-matrix for this algebra. For general D(Dn) an R-matrix is constructed as a descendant of the zero-field six-vertex model.

A little over 20 years ago Drinfeld presented the quantum (or Drinfeld) double construction. This construction takes any Hopf algebra and embeds it in a larger quasi-triangular Hopf algebra, which contains an algebraic solution to the constant Yang–Baxter equation. One such class of algebras consists of the Drinfeld doubles of finite groups, which are currently of interest due to their connections with non-Abelian anyons. The smallest non-commutative Drinfeld double of a finite group algebra is the Drinfeld double of D3 , the dihedral group of order six, which was recently used to construct solutions to the Yang–Baxter equation cor- responding to 2-state and 3-state integrable spin chains with periodic boundary conditions. In this thesis we construct R-matrices from the Drinfeld double of dihedral group algebras, D(Dn) and consider their associated integrable systems. The 3-state spin chain from D(D3) is generalised to include open boundaries and it is also shown that there exists a more general R-matrix for this algebra. For general D(Dn) an R-matrix is constructed as a descendant of the zero-field six-vertex model.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2006. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.