Tests of QED with Multi-Photonic Final States

In the Standard Model the process e+e- -> gamma-gamma is fully described by QED. Measurements of the differential cross-sections from the four LEP experiments are compared to the QED expectation and limits are set on parameters describing physics beyond the Standard Model. Three-photon events are used for a direct search for a photonically decaying resonance produced together with a photon.Comment: Talk presented at Lake Louise Winter Institute 2001; 7 pages, 3 figure

Electric Black Holes in Type 0 String Theory

We discuss AdS_{2+1} (BTZ) black holes arising in type 0 string theory corresponding to D1-D5 and F1-NS5 bound states. In particular we describe a new family of non-dilatonic solutions with only Dp_{+}, that is ``electric'' branes. These solutions are distinguished by the absence of fermions in the world volume theory which is an interacting CFT. They can not be obtained as a projection of a type II BPS-configuration. As for previous type 0 backgrounds linear stability is guaranteed only if the curvature is of the order of the string scale where alpha' corrections cannot be excluded. Some problems concerning the counting of states are discussed.Comment: some clarifications in section

Who done it, actually? Dissociative identity disorder for the criminologist

Through the analysis of clinical examples, the paper explores how decisions are made by a person with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), the notions of choice and ‘competent reasoning’, and the practical and ethical ways for interviewing a person with DID. Abstract Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) is examined in this paper from the perspective of its relevance to the criminologist. As this psychiatric condition is linked to severe and prolonged childhood abuse, accounts of DID patients inevitably involve reports of serious crimes, in which the person was the victim, perpetrator or witness. These reports can thus contain crucial information for criminal investigations by the police or for court proceedings. However, due to the person’s dissociation, such reports are often very confusing, hard to follow, hard to believe and difficult to obtain. They also frequently state that the person had ‘no choice’, a thorny notion for the criminologist (as well as for the clinician). Through the analysis of clinical examples, the paper explores how decisions are made by a person with DID, the notions of choice and ‘competent reasoning’, and the practical and ethical ways for interviewing a person with DID

Employment in the Online Industry: Personal Reflections on a Nontraditional Library Career

published or submitted for publicatio

The Uneasy Case for the Affordable Care Act

The constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act is sometimes said to be an easy question, with the Act\u27s opponents relying more on fringe political ideology than mainstream legal arguments. This essay disagrees. While the mandate may win in the end, it won\u27t be easy, and the arguments against it sound in law rather than politics. Written to accompany and respond to Erwin Chemerinsky\u27s essay in the same symposium, this essay argues that each substantive defense of the mandate is subject to doubt. While Congress could have avoided the issue by using its taxing power, it chose not to do so. Congress has power to regulate commerce among the several States, but that might not extend to every individual decision involving economic considerations -- walking rather than taking the bus, stargazing rather than renting movies, or carrying a gun in a school zone rather than hiring private bodyguards. Even the necessary-and-proper power, the strongest ground for the mandate, may stop short of letting Congress claim extraordinary powers to fix the problems created by its exercise of ordinary ones. Because the mandate\u27s opponents can find some support in existing doctrines, a decision striking down the mandate needn\u27t be a drastic break from past practice. By contrast, a decision upholding the mandate would raise serious questions about the limits of Congress\u27s powers. To many, these questions offer good reasons for doubting whether existing doctrine gets it right -- reasons having more to do with constitutional theory than political preference

Originalism Without Text

Originalism is not about the text. Though the theory is often treated as a way to read the Constitution’s words, that conventional view is misleading. A society can be recognizably originalist without any words to interpret: without a written constitution, written statutes, or any writing at all. If texts aren’t fundamental to originalism, then originalism isn’t fundamentally about texts. Avoiding that error helps us see what originalism generally is about: namely, our present constitutional law, and its dependence on a crucial moment in the past

Greening Demand: Energy Consumption and U.S. Climate Policy

The search for greener, less polluting energy supplies has dominated discussions of u.s. climate change strategy, but we often overlook cheaper and faster greenhouse gas emissions reductions achievable through energy efficiency and conservation. In this article, I outline a decade-long greening demand agenda to reduce the amount of energy consumed in the United States. The federal government should aim to reduce U.S. energy consumption by fifteen percent by 2016 and twenty percent by 2020 to achieve needed reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. While the United States has achieved notable efficiency gains since the 1970s, several market failures and other barriers continue to serve as obstacles to energy savings. These include principal-agent divergence, high implicit discount rates used in decision making on efficiency upgrades, and outmoded forms of utility regulation. I demonstrate how a greening demand agenda, centered on price signals, performance standards, informational tools, and changes in utility regulation can be used to overcome these barriers. Many of the challenges are technical and scientific, but law will play a central role in structuring incentives and shaping national markets for efficiency innovations. I conclude with some thoughts on the technical and political feasibility of greening demand

Corruption, Clients, and Political MacHines a Response to Professor Issacharoff

Responding to Samuel Issacharoff, On Political Corruption, 124 Harv. L. Rev. 118 (2010) In his comment on political corruption, Professor Samuel Issacharoff questions traditional accounts that aim to squeeze money out of politics entirely. Instead, he focuses on the danger that political spending will promote private influence over government policy. In this response, Professor Stephen E. Sachs argues that private influence is itself too broad a category to control, and that campaign finance policy should be restricted to a more manageable scope. Professor Sachs argues that if protecting the government from private influence is too diffuse a goal, we can at least attempt to protect the government from itself, by ensuring that it does not channel public resources into self-sustaining political machines