Concisely specifying choices in an outcome-set form

Von Neumann and Morgenstern (1944) specify both nodes and choices as sets of outcomes. This outcome-set formulation is extended to the infinite horizon by the discrete extensive forms of Alós-Ferrer and Ritzberger (2013). I propose to restrict such outcome-set forms with a new assumption called "conciseness". Conciseness requires that choices be defined in an economical fashion. I find broad classes of infinite horizon forms that violate conciseness. Yet, I show that every outcome-set form can be equivalently re-defined so as to satisfy conciseness. Thus the assumption of conciseness can increase mathematical tractability at no cost to game theorists

String Theory and Quantum Chromodynamics

I review recent progress on the connection between string theory and quantum chromodynamics in the context of the gauge/gravity duality. Emphasis is placed on conciseness and conceptual aspects rather than on technical details. Topics covered include the large-Nc limit of gauge theories, the gravitational description of gauge theory thermodynamics and hydrodynamics, and confinement/deconfinement thermal phase transitions.Comment: 38 pages, 24 figures. Lectures given at the RTN Winter School on "Strings, Supergravity and Gauge Theories" at CERN on January 15-19, 200

The Inside Scoop: What Federal Judges Really Think about the Way Lawyers Write

A recent survey indicates that what troubles federal judges most is not what lawyers say but what they fail to say when writing briefs. Although lawyers do a good job articulating legal issues and citing controlling, relevant legal authority, they are not doing enough with the law itself. Only fifty-six percent of the judges surveyed said that lawyers “always” or “usually” make their client’s best arguments. Fifty-eight percent of the judges rated the quality of the legal analysis as just “good,” as opposed to “excellent” or “very good.” The problem seems to be that briefs lack rigorous analysis, and the bulk of the work is left to busy judges. Many judges also indicated that lawyers often make redundant or weak arguments that detract from the good ones. What judges really want is shorter, harder hitting briefs

Osculating Keplerian Elements for Highly Non-Keplerian Orbits

This paper presents a mapping between the elements of highly non-Keplerian orbits and classical orbital elements. Three sets of elements are discussed and mappings are derived in closed, analytical form for both the direct and inverse problem. Advantages and drawbacks of the use of each set of elements are dis-cussed. The spacecraft thrust-induced acceleration used to generate families of highly non-Keplerian orbits is extracted from the inverse mapping from the os-culating orbital elements. The key signatures of highly non-Keplerian orbits in Keplerian elements tracking data are determined through a set of representative test cases

Coarse-Graining and Self-Dissimilarity of Complex Networks

Can complex engineered and biological networks be coarse-grained into smaller and more understandable versions in which each node represents an entire pattern in the original network? To address this, we define coarse-graining units (CGU) as connectivity patterns which can serve as the nodes of a coarse-grained network, and present algorithms to detect them. We use this approach to systematically reverse-engineer electronic circuits, forming understandable high-level maps from incomprehensible transistor wiring: first, a coarse-grained version in which each node is a gate made of several transistors is established. Then, the coarse-grained network is itself coarse-grained, resulting in a high-level blueprint in which each node is a circuit-module made of multiple gates. We apply our approach also to a mammalian protein-signaling network, to find a simplified coarse-grained network with three main signaling channels that correspond to cross-interacting MAP-kinase cascades. We find that both biological and electronic networks are 'self-dissimilar', with different network motifs found at each level. The present approach can be used to simplify a wide variety of directed and nondirected, natural and designed networks.Comment: 11 pages, 11 figure