VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Topics in Physics Beyond the Standard Model with Strong Interactions

In this thesis we study a few complementary topics related to some of the open questions in the Standard Model (SM). We first consider the scalar spectrum of gauge theories with walking dynamics. The question of whether or not a light pseudo-Nambu-Goldstone boson associated with the spontaneous breaking of approximate dilatation symmetry appears in these theories has been long withstanding. We derive an effective action for the scalars, including new terms not previously considered in the literature, and obtain solutions for the lightest scalar's momentum-dependent form factor that determines the value of its pole mass. Our results for the lowest-lying state suggest that this scalar is never expected to be light, but it can have some properties that closely resemble the SM Higgs boson. We then propose a new leptonic charge-asymmetry observable well suited for the study of some Beyond the SM (BSM) physics objects at the LHC. New resonances decaying to one or many leptons could constitute the first signs of BSM physics that we observe at the LHC; if these new objects carry QCD charge they may have an associated charge asymmetry in their daughter leptons. Our observable can be used in events with single or multiple leptons in the final state. We discuss this measurement in the context of coloured scalar diquarks, as well as that of top-antitop pairs. We argue that, although a fainter signal is expected relative to other charge asymmetry observables, the low systematic uncertainties keep this particular observable relevant, especially in cases where reconstruction of the parent particle is not a viable strategy. Finally, we propose a simple dark-sector extension to the SM that communicates with ordinary quarks and leptons only through a small kinetic mixing of the dark photon and the photon. The dark sector is assumed to undergo a series of phase transitions such that monopoles and strings arise. These objects form long-lived states that eventually decay and can account for the observed cosmic-ray positron excess observed by the PAMELA and Fermi satellites. This topological Dark Matter (DM) can account for the Universe's DM content if the coupling in the dark sector is strong.

Advisor: Holdom, Bob
In Search of Reference: The Case of the Russian Adjectival Intensifier 'samyj'

This dissertation is a multilayered exploration of the structure of the Determiner Phrase (DP) and the nature of reference in natural language. At the most basic empirical level, it is a case study of the intensifying adjective samyj ‘self’ in Russian. This phenomenon is understudied and is usually taken to be subsumed under the more general study of modification by emphatic pronouns, such as himself in English or sam in Russian. The general outcome of this case study is that intensification by samyj and sam are two di↵erent phenomena in Russian and analyzing samyj in terms of sam misses important generalizations about the structure and functioning of DPs. Three main constructions are examined,inwhichsamyj isusedwith(a)demonstratives(Dem+samyj),(b)pronouns (Pron+samyj ), and (c) gradable properties to form superlatives (self -superlatives). At the higher theoretical level, this work contributes to three domains of syntax: (i) the structure of DP, (ii) DPs as phases, and (iii) non-sentential constructions. (i) Using constructions with samyj, I argue that many cases of apparent polysemy may be explained by the merge position of a lexical item (a ‘chameleon’ e↵ect). I also show that the distribution of samyj provides support for and a way to refine the topological view of the left-periphery of DP. (ii) I present a novel observation about samyj and use it to argue that samyj is a modifier of a DP-internal propositional node - ⌃P. I also show that samyj provides evidence for re-defining the notion of phases. (iii) I show that Pron+samyj is a hybrid fragment answer as it combines the derivation of a fragment answer to wh-questions with properties specific to polarity particles like yes and no. Finally, on the semantic side, I propose that the main contribution of samyj is to add a secondary assertion of the form X = Y. This proposal explains many properties of samyj, such as the incompatibility of samyj with negation and the impossibility of using pronouns modified by samyj in argument positions.

Keywords: intensifiers
reference
self
structure of DP
syntax
Advisor: Massam, Diane
Ippolito, Michela
Policy Choices of the Post-Soviet States Regarding Foreign Direct Investment in the Key Sectors of their Economies: the Experience of Kazakhstan, Russia, and Ukraine

Why did some post-Soviet states open up their key economic sectors to Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) while others did not? This dissertation argues that the levels of FDI were a result of conscious policy choices rather than ability or inability of the post-Soviet states to create positive investment climate. It explains why Kazakhstan, Russia, and Ukraine made different policy choices regarding FDI into their oil and gas, and metallurgy and mining sectors despite similar sectoral composition of their economies and common past as part of the Soviet Union. I argue that these policy choices were political. The state officials made their policy choices under the influence of two main factors. The first factor was whether or not they believed they could develop a sector exclusively through the use of national resources, with the help of domestic state and private actors. The state of the sector's development during the Soviet era heavily influenced this perception. After the collapse of the USSR, all sectors across all republics needed capital and technologies to maintain production, yet needed them to a different extent. The second factor influencing FDI policy choices was the strategy of power maintenance that political regimes chose and, more specifically, the different political roles they ascribed to different sectors. Sectors with their assets became highly material forms of power that were used by the regimes toward attainment of these three goals.

Keywords: Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)
Kazakhstan
policy choices
Russia
Ukraine
Advisor: Handley, Antoinette
Reactive Balance Control after Stroke: Towards Enhanced Clinical Understanding and Assessment

Safe and independent mobility is a primary rehabilitation goal for those with stroke, of which balance control is a key determinant. The risk of falls post-stroke is high and fall rates rise dramatically soon after discharge from the hospital. Previous research has revealed the essential role that reactive balance control, specifically the capacity to initiate and execute a rapid step, has in preventing falls. Of concern, reactive balance control is not routinely assessed within physical therapy practice. Challenges to clinical assessment may include a lack of available methods that are safe, standardized and able to quantify and characterize balance responses. Therefore, this dissertation aimed to advance understanding of reactive stepping after stroke to inform and guide clinical assessment practices. The present findings affirmed that reactive stepping post-stroke is a significant problem not clearly revealed by commonly-used clinical measures that focus on voluntary control, thereby, supporting the need to develop targeted assessments of reactive balance control. Further, the findings revealed the potential for clinical uptake of alternate approaches, specifically the lean-and-release method, to assess reactive stepping among those in early stages of stroke rehabilitation. When paired with kinetic measurement technology, such approaches were able to quantify and reveal determinants of temporal dyscontrol of both the paretic and nonparetic lower-limbs, known to be associated with falls after stroke. Further work is warranted to evolve the lean-and-release assessment towards a more useful clinical tool, suitable for widespread clinical uptake.

Keywords: Assessment
Balance
Postural Control
Stroke
Advisor: McIlroy, William E
Essays in Financial Economics and Banking

This thesis studies the economics of changes in financial and banking rules and regulations. Chapter 1 provides an empirical investigation of the impact of a regulatory change on domestic financial markets, and potential spillovers to international markets. Chapter 2 examines sweeping reforms to international financial and banking regulations from the perspective of central banks. Chapter 3 investigates how financial markets compete, both domestically and internationally, through the introduction of new exchange specific rule changes. In Chapter 1, I study how 2010 amendments to Regulation SHO, which impose temporary constraints on short sale trades after triggering a circuit breaker, impact trading. Using matching based analysis for in period variation, and a pre-regulation placebo counter factual test I find circuit breakers have a marked impact on most market measures for firms post circuit breaker. The regulation aims to improve liquidity, as evidenced through the measure of depth. I do find that depth improves, however, this change is driven by a change in the composition of depth which suggests that real liquidity diminishes after a circuit breaker has been triggered. In collaboration with Anita Anand and Albert Yoon, Chapter 2 examines the legal mandates of central banks prior to and following the recent financial crisis. We examine the mandates of central banks of 42 countries from 2002 to 2011. Across the sample, we find that most central banks have consistent, but not identical, mandates and that most mandates create discretionary rather than affirmative responsibilities. In addition, we find that the total number of central bank mandates has increased dramatically. In Chapter 3, with Katya Malinova and Andreas Park, we investigate how securities exchanges worldwide aim to incentivize liquidity provision introducing maker-taker fee structures. We analyze the impact of maker-taker pricing on market quality, by studying the 2006 introduction of maker rebates on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX). We find that measures of quoted and effective spreads tighten, but depth declines. Benefits to liquidity providers decline while costs for liquidity demanders do not increase, even after accounting for rebates and increased fees, respectively, due to increased competition.

Advisor: Park, Andreas
Equivariant Modules

A module N over a ring A is a G -equivariant module if N is also a representation of G in a way compatible with the module structure. The lattice of an equivariant module is a convenient way to describe an equivariant module. We introduce an explicit elementary technique for understanding the lattice of equivariant modules. Then we apply this technique to two questions related to equivariant modules. In Chapter 2 we work with equivariant modules for GL(V) acting on the polynomial ring R=Sym V. We introduce for every partition λ the elementary equivariant module Mλ . Then we prove that any finitely generated equivariant module admits a filtration with associated graded being the direct sum of modules of only two kinds: either Mλ or truncations of Mλ . We use our technique to show that each Mλ has a linear resolution and describe also the resolution of its truncations. In Chapter 3 we look at a family of equivariant complexes. One can find this family in the appendix of the famous book by D. Eisenbud "Commutative Algebra with a View Towards Algebraic Geometry". This family includes the Eagon-Northcott and Buschsbaum-Rim complexes. Our objective is to study this family, and, in particular, refine the knowledge of its cohomology. First, we obtain these complexes from the derived images of twists of the Koszul complex on the projective space. This idea apparently goes back to Kempf [1970]. Taking this "geometric" point of view, we interpret the cohomology of these complexes as the cohomology of certain vector bundles on projective space, and proceed with calculations. Our technique allows us to describe the lattice of cohomology as an equivariant module. Finally, we put the above complexes in the realm of tilting theory: non-exactness of this family in certain regions can be seen as a failure of the exceptional sequence of line bundles on the projective space to lift to an exceptional sequence on a certain vector bundle. This observation creates a curious contrast with the results of Buchweitz-Leushke-Van den Bergh, stating that the exceptional sequence of twisted differential forms does lift to an exceptional sequence on the same vector bundle.

Advisor: Buchweitz, Ragnar-Olaf
Consultation, Conflict, and Collaborative Federalism: Canada-Ontario Immigration Relations, 1970-2005

The provision of immigrant settlement services has long been recognized in the social science literature as essential to the economic, social, and political integration of immigrants to Canada. The 1976 Immigration Act, enacted in 1978, was a catalyst for increased provincial involvement in immigration, a jurisdiction shared between the two governments, yet largely managed by the Canadian federal government. The new Act initiated a flurry of bilateral federal-provincial cooperation accords on immigrant settlement throughout the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s. Yet, the Canada-Ontario Immigration Agreement (COIA), signed in November 2005, was the last of ten bilateral immigration accords to be signed in Canada. While other Canadian provinces successfully leveraged their jurisdictional capacity in immigrant settlement through the successful negotiation of bilateral immigration agreements with the federal government, the finalization of a Canada-Ontario agreement on immigration and settlement remained in bureaucratic and political impasse for decades despite Ontario’s position as the province receiving the largest proportion of immigrants to Canada. The purpose of this dissertation is to explore the process by which Ontario’s first intergovernmental immigration agreement, decades in the making, was successfully concluded in 2005. Drawing on archival government documents, extensive interviews, and multiple interdisciplinary analyses, this dissertation traces the trajectory of Canada-Ontario-municipal intergovernmental negotiations in the shared jurisdiction of immigration and settlement from 1970-2005 to show how these intergovernmental relations evolved against a dynamic backdrop of demographic shifts, changing international norms, bureaucratic restructuring, and broader political agendas and economic interests. The dissertation demonstrates that while the negotiation of the 2005 Canada-Ontario Immigration Agreement marked a new leaf in intergovernmental cooperation, the Canada-Ontario immigration relationship remains wrought with complexity. Ontario’s unique approach to immigration consultation, continued disputes over devolution and federal spending power in the province, and fluid federal-provincial-municipal jurisdictional boundaries continue to pose a challenge to existing theories of collaborative federalism and multilevel governance.

Keywords: federal-provincial-municipal cooperation
History of Canadian immigration policy
immigration and settlement - Ontario
immigration federalism
intergovernmental relations
Advisor: Troper, Harold
Social Structuration in Tibetan Society: Education, Society and Religious Life

Social structure is a core concept in the field of sociology, and Anthony Giddens has extended this concept to structuration theory. This theory has multiple applications, but has never been used to analyze the structure of Tibetan society. Tibetan social structuration is an under-researched area. The lack of basic sociological understanding of Tibetan society is due to insufficient study on the question of why neither Tibetan monastic education nor the state school system have produced Tibetan sociologists and social theory able to identify the social problems in contemporary Tibetan society. This study aims to construct a theory of Tibetan sociology and, emerging from this, a preliminary Tibetan sociology of education, that sets Giddens’s theory of structuration in dialogue with Je TsongKhapa’s philosophy. Through a process of dialectical co-construction, it links Tibetan analytic approaches with international sociological perspectives. The resulting synthesis helps us to analyze social structuration in a spiritual society and how the two types of Tibetan society—oral and literate society—are situated in this dynamic context. The study extends structuration theory to several sub-divisions including personal life and education, analyzes the social relations of political and spiritual authority, and compares the two thinkers’ ontological approaches to conventional and ultimate reality. It also applies Giddens’s theory to the social tensions and realities resulting from Je TsongKhapa’s dramatic religious restructuration of Tibetan society. Education is the force of social change. Yet the uneasy co-existence of three distinct forms of education in Tibetan society—monastic, oral and state school education—challenges the practice and potential of social transformation. The study analyzes these forms of education in relation to Tibetan social structuration and argues that the current distinctions between oral and literate society need to be narrowed, that village culture and agency need to be empowered, and that the strengths of each form of education need to converge in the mutual aim of a new educational approach that is socio-culturally relevant and also critically attuned to the realities of modernization and globalization. It is hoped that this study will contribute to reinforcing Tibetan social structure and the long-term sustainability of Tibetan society and culture.

Keywords: Education
Philosophy
Social change
Spiritual Society
Structuration
Tibetan Society
Advisor: Olson, Paul
Sawchuk, Peter
DIF Analyses between Groups when Group Size and Ability Distributions Differ

Students with Learning Disabilities face numerous challenges in learning and in demonstrating their knowledge and skills. These students in theory should perform as well as other students on standardized achievement tests. However, some test items may require students to have skills or knowledge that are not the focus of the test (e.g., some math test items may require strong reading skills); students without these other skills or knowledge may not be able to demonstrate the skills and knowledge that are the intended focus of the test. Testing programs use Differential Item Functioning (DIF) analyses to identify items that may be biased in this way against some students. Differences in group size and in ability distributions may affect the accuracy of these types of analyses. In these conditions, a common DIF approach used is the Mantel-Haenszel procedure. When sample size is very large, subsampling is recommended to mediate the known sample size restrictions. This simulation study investigates the use of a bootstrap method with contingency table based DIF analyses for large samples of groups with differing size and proficiency distributions, contrasting this approach with the current recommendations in the literature. It explores the use of the bootstrap for uniform dichotomous items with the Mantel-Haenszel procedure, nonuniform dichotomous items with the Breslow-Day statistic, and polytomous items with the Differential Step Functioning procedures. The results show that this resampling method provides benefit for nonuniform dichotomous items when sample size is very large and uniform dichotomous and polytomous items when sample size is smaller.

Keywords: Bootstrap
DIF
Mantel-Haenszel
Advisor: Childs, Ruth A
The Water Provision System: Developing and Applying a Conceptual Systems Framework for Provincial and State Water Provision Dynamics

Societal systems are complex networks of actors, institutions, policies, and technologies that evolve over time to service the needs of the public. Such a system exists for the public provision of water and can be referred to as the water provision system. The ultimate goal of a given water provision system is to provide safe water to the public at an acceptable level of service in a financially sustainable manner. The failure to fulfill this mandate is a failure of the water provision system as a whole, which can threaten public health and safety, and economic and political stability. Without a shared understanding of the complex dynamic behaviour of the water provision system, uncertainty can overwhelm stakeholders and undermine the decision- making process. This can result in short-term solutions that do not take into account the long- term needs of the water provision system and can result in the failure to provide this important service in the future. This thesis demonstrates the value of creating a shared conceptual understanding of the water provision system. A conceptual model is developed to describe the water provision system in the context of Canadian and American water provision. The value of such a model is exhibited by (i) applying the model to explain systemic challenges associated with the current water provision system; (ii) proposing an alternative water provision system that can potentially address these issues; and (iii) proposing a pathway for the transition from the current to the proposed alternative water provision system. Overall, this thesis explores the systemic origin of issues that have, over decades, manifested within the water provision system and stand to ultimately threaten its existence. Therefore, the work presents a pathology of water provision system challenges in an effort to meaningfully understand and address the systemic cause of these issues.

Keywords: Innovation
Panarchy
Resilience
Systems Thinking
Transformability
Water
Advisor: Adams, Barry J
Dynamic System Modelling and Adaptation Framework for Irregular Cellular Networks

In the decades since the development of the traditional cell concept, there has been much research in the field of cellular networks for greater adaptability. In particular, networks with irregular deployment of base stations (BSs) having widely different power classes, have received much attention in industry and academia alike. In such networks, BSs of both high and low power capabilities, are deployed in broad accordance with user traffic demand. In this thesis, we consider irregular cellular networks from the viewpoint of the design, adaptability and dynamism of adaptive resource allocation. Despite extensive research in the area, to our knowledge high-level system modelling for simulation purposes did not receive attention in the literature. We consider the development of such a model in this thesis. In particular, we assume a network with universal frequency allocation and power assignment. A high-level model representation and an adaptive coordinated resource allocation strategy is developed for such a network. A modified Monte Carlo simulation is proposed as a simulation model, which includes representation of BS and terminal deployments in scenarios either with or without hotspots, as well as a set of dynamics occurring at a large time scale. A representation including such dynamics is expected to be important for the consideration of adaptive resource allocation strategies and other adaptive functions such as Self Organization (SO) that operate at an assumed large time scale. A shadowing model with spatial correlation is considered as part of the system model, and is generalized for a network with an arbitrary number of distinct BS power classes. Enhancements are then proposed to an adaptive re-configurable resource allocation framework which is based on dynamically forming scheduling cells at a large time scale. In particular, a strategy for BS power adaptation at a large time scale is proposed for improved interference mitigation. The dynamic adaptation case of BS outage compensation is additionally studied as an application of the model and adaptive resource allocation. It is believed that the high-level model with resource allocation can serve as a skeleton network model to be tailored to different purposes for more realistic network representation and design.

Advisor: Sousa, Elvino S.