The ArXiv is a popular pre-print article server for physics, mathematics, and computer science (and other subjects) hosted by Cornell University. It is a fairly common practice for academics to upload a preliminary version of their articles (or other works) to the ArXiv to make them publicly available before they are formally published in a journal. (The process of publication is often lengthy, and many consider it best to make the article available in advance, even though it probably has not yet been peer-reviewed.)

Zombies are a staple of modern popular culture, and appear in a variety of forms, including the traditional slow-moving, unintelligent zombie hordes and less common fast-moving - and perhaps intelligent - zombies. The common theme in media featuring zombies is the the zombie infection, which may affect either the living or the deceased, or both. It is generally agreed that this infection is passed from zombie to non-zombie by means of a scratch or bite, and infection always leads to a transformation into a zombie. (In some more modern interpretations, this transformation may be reversible.)