Theories of Fairness and Reciprocity

Most economic models are based on the self-interest hypothesis that assumes that all people are exclusively motivated by their material self-interest. In recent years experimental economists have gathered overwhelming evidence that systematically refutes the self-interest hypothesis and suggests that many people are strongly motivated by concerns for fairness and reciprocity. Moreover, several theoretical papers have been written showing that the observed phenomena can be explained in a rigorous and tractable manner. These theories in turn induced a new wave of experimental research offering additional exciting insights into the nature of preferences and into the relative performance of competing theories of fairness. The purpose of this paper is to review these recent developments, to point out open questions, and to suggest avenues for future research

Phenomenology of Noncommutative Field Theories

Experimental limits on the violation of four-dimensional Lorentz invariance imply that noncommutativity among ordinary spacetime dimensions must be small. In this talk, I review the most stringent bounds on noncommutative field theories and suggest a possible means of evading them: noncommutativity may be restricted to extra, compactified spatial dimensions. Such theories have a number of interesting features, including Abelian gauge fields whose Kaluza-Klein excitations have self couplings. We consider six-dimensional QED in a noncommutative bulk, and discuss the collider signatures of the model.Comment: 7 pages RevTeX, 4 eps figures, Invited plenary talk, IX Mexican Workshop on Particles and Fields, November 17-22, 2003, Universidad de Colima, Mexic

Field theories of paramagnetic Mott insulators

This is a summary of a central argument in recent review articles by the author (cond-mat/0109419, cond-mat/0211005, and cond-mat/0211027). An effective field theory is derived for the low energy spin singlet excitations in a paramagnetic Mott insulator with collinear spin correlations.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures, Proceedings of the International Conference on Theoretical Physics, Paris, UNESCO, July 200

Qualitative properties of scalar-tensor theories of Gravity

The qualitative properties of spatially homogeneous stiff perfect fluid and minimally coupled massless scalar field models within general relativity are discussed. Consequently, by exploiting the formal equivalence under conformal transformations and field redefinitions of certain classes of theories of gravity, the asymptotic properties of spatially homogeneous models in a class of scalar-tensor theories of gravity that includes the Brans-Dicke theory can be determined. For example, exact solutions are presented, which are analogues of the general relativistic Jacobs stiff perfect fluid solutions and vacuum plane wave solutions, which act as past and future attractors in the class of spatially homogeneous models in Brans-Dicke theory.Comment: 19 page

Theories of Fairness and Reciprocity

Most economic models are based on the self-interest hypothesis that assumes that all people are exclusively motivated by their material self-interest. In recent years experimental economists have gathered overwhelming evidence that systematically refutes the self-interest hypothesis and suggests that many people are strongly motivated by concerns for fairness and reciprocity. Moreover, several theoretical papers have been written showing that the observed phenomena can be explained in a rigorous and tractable manner. These theories in turn induced a new wave of experimental research offering additional exciting insights into the nature of preferences and into the relative performance of competing theories of fairness. The purpose of this paper is to review these recent developments, to point out open questions, and to suggest avenues for future research.Behavioral Economics ; Fairness ; Reciprocity ; Altruism ; Experiments ; Incentives ; Contracts ; Competition

Spontaneous Lorentz Violation and Nonpolynomial Interactions

Gauge-noninvariant vector field theories with superficially nonrenormalizable nonpolynomial interactions are studied. We show that nontrivial relevant and stable theories have spontaneous Lorentz violation, and we present a large class of asymptotically free theories. The Nambu-Goldstone modes of these theories can be identified with the photon, with potential experimental implications.Comment: 10 pages, accepted in Physics Letters