Heisenberg and ferromagnetism

Heisenberg’s contributions to the understanding of ferromagnetism are reviewed. The special features of ferromagnetism, vis-a-vis dia and para magnetism, are introduced and the necessity of a Weiss molecular field is explained. It is shown how Heisenberg identified the quantum mechanical exchange interaction, which first appeared in the context of chemical bonding, to be the essential agency, contributing to the co-operative ordering process in ferromagnetism.     

Development,direction, and damage limitation: Social learning in domestic fowl

This review highlights two areas of particular interest in the study of social learning in fowl. First, the role of social learning in the development of feeding and foraging behavior in young chicks and older birds is described. The role of the hen as a demonstrator and possible teacher is considered, and the subsequent social influence of brood mates and other companions on food avoidance and food preference learning is discussed. Second, the way in which work on domestic fowl has contributed to an understanding of the importance of directed social learning is examined. The well-characterized hierarchical social organization of small chicken flocks has been used to design studies which demonstrate that the probability of social transmission is strongly influenced by social relationships between birds. The practical implications of understanding the role of social learning in the spread of injurious behaviors in this economically important species are briefly considered.     

Extinction and retraining of simultaneous and successive flavor conditioning

In three experiments, rats received pairings of flavor conditioned stimuli with polycose unconditioned stimuli, in either a simultaneous or a sequential relation. Both temporal relations produced excellent conditioned increases in consumption of the flavors. Separate presentation of the flavors resulted in extinction in both cases. However, restoring the pairing of the flavor with polycose resulted in reconditioning only with the sequential, not with the simultaneous, relation.     

Susanne von Below: Bildungssysteme und soziale Ungleichheit. Das Beispiel der neuen Bundesländer

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Dynamic Monte Carlo simulation of linear SAW polymer chain near a flat surface

Investigation of the conformational properties of a SAW polymer chain near an impenetrable, non-interacting flat surface showed that the chain at first contracted and orientated itself to slightly parallel when it pulled close to the surface and at last elongated and reoriented itself to slightly perpendicular to the surface at very small distance from the surface. Simulation showed that most of the disappeared configurations were of large size at moderate distance from the surface while they were of small size at very small distance from the surface; and that the mean-square end-to-end distance was much more prone to be influenced by the surface than the mean-square radius of gyration . The orientational correlation between the direction of the longest principal axis of the moment of inertia and end-to-end vector was also discussed.