Whenever I read a physics paper and the word "Ansatz" appears, I get queasy. Depending upon the Teutonic God being summoned in the mind of the scientist, it seems to variously mean "hypothesis", "starting point", "guess", "unproven theorem", or maybe sometimes something else. It also has an annoying way of always appearing early in the paper, too, just when I'm full of enthusiasm and hoping I'll be able to actually understand the paper. I just looked it up in my Langenscheidt. Ansatz can also mean extension, shoulder, neck, appendage, peg, mouthpiece, deposit, sediment, crust, disposition, start, (math) statement, rate, charge, appropriation, attachment, .... (i got tired of typing these words end so I'll stop here). -- Thane Plambeck tplambeck@gmail.com http://counterwave.com/