Representing the Future: The Interests of Future Persons in Representative Democracy

UIDB/00183/2020 UIDP/00183/2020As a reaction against contemporary democracy's inherent short-sightedness in solving problems that are likely to affect distant future generations, there has been a recent increase in proposals for different kinds of democratic representation of future persons. This article shows that even though there can be no such thing as political representation of future persons, the relevant affected interests of the as-yet unborn can still be taken into consideration in political decision making. This aim is achieved by focusing on the political representation of children as special cases of semi-future members of the class of the represented.publishersversionpublishe

Responsibility and Justice in Aristotle’s Non-Voluntary and Mixed Actions

Aristotle develops his theory of moral responsibility mainly in part III of the Nicomachean Ethics, where he claims we are held responsible for our voluntary actions and thus liable to either praise or blame, whereas for our involuntary actions we may be liable to either pardon or pity. However, he recognizes how difficult it is to present general criteria allowing a clear-cut distinction between voluntary and involuntary actions. That is why he presents two other types of action that are somehow in-between voluntariness and involuntariness: non-voluntary and mixed actions. Notwithstanding, he fails to state exactly what should be the appropriate response to such moral actions. In this article, the author tries to show that the only way to effectively make sense of moral responsibility in non-voluntary and in mixed actions is to consider the ensemble of praise, blame, pardon and pity as constituting not two pairs of alternative responses to voluntary and involuntary actions, respectively, but rather one single scale in different degrees of the same kind of moral responsibility – with praise at the top, pity at the bottom, and several grey areas in-between. Moral responsibility in non-voluntary and mixed actions is set in those grey areas.

Making Distinct Dynamical Systems Appear Spectrally Identical

We show that a laser pulse can always be found that induces a desired optical response from an arbitrary dynamical system. As illustrations, driving fields are computed to induce the same optical response from a variety of distinct systems (open and closed, quantum and classical). As a result, the observed induced dipolar spectra without detailed information on the driving field is not sufficient to characterize atomic and molecular systems. The formulation may also be applied to design materials with specified optical characteristics. These findings reveal unexplored flexibilities of nonlinear optics.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figure

Analytic Solutions to Coherent Control of the Dirac Equation

A simple framework for Dirac spinors is developed that parametrizes admissible quantum dynamics and also analytically constructs electromagnetic fields, obeying Maxwell's equations, which yield a desired evolution. In particular, we show how to achieve dispersionless rotation and translation of wave packets. Additionally, this formalism can handle control interactions beyond electromagnetic. This work reveals unexpected flexibility of the Dirac equation for control applications, which may open new prospects for quantum technologies

Choros N. 10 by Heitor Villa-Lobos: Analyzing the Themes and Compositional Techniques of Brazilian Modernism

Heitor Villa-Lobos (b. March 5, 1887 - d. November 17, 1959) can be considered the most important composer in Brazilian music history. Although the composer is listed as one of the most influential composers in the history of the guitar, he reached his peak in his works for piano and symphonic groups. Works such as A Prole do Bebê (1 and 2), and the series of Chôros, came out during an extremely convoluted time, where Brazilian artists engaged in seeking an artistic representation of a unique Brazilian identity. Those works not only satisfied the hunger, but pushed the movement to a new level, which, some would argue, has never been surpassed by any other composer. Unlike his work for the guitar, on which hundreds of analyses and articles can easily be found, Chôros No 10 has had little to no attention from a theoretical viewpoint. Being considered perhaps Villa-Lobos’ masterpiece, this piece brought what is most Brazilian into classical music, with a calculated European influence among genuine Brazilian characteristics made into music. To date, there have been many writings about Chôros No 10 from a historical perspective. The theoretical writings about this piece are few, and in my research I was not able to find any such writings that were exhaustive or very in depth. This thesis analyzes the elements in Chôros No 10, such as themes and harmonic implications, linked to the historical background of the Brazilian Modernism in music

Dirac open quantum system dynamics: formulations and simulations

We present an open system interaction formalism for the Dirac equation. Overcoming a complexity bottleneck of alternative formulations, our framework enables efficient numerical simulations (utilizing a typical desktop) of relativistic dynamics within the von Neumann density matrix and Wigner phase space descriptions. Employing these instruments, we gain important insights into the effect of quantum dephasing for relativistic systems in many branches of physics. In particular, the conditions for robustness of Majorana spinors against dephasing are established. Using the Klein paradox and tunneling as examples, we show that quantum dephasing does not suppress negative energy particle generation. Hence, the Klein dynamics is also robust to dephasing

Case-study: CTT, the mail going public

The main purpose of this case-study is to analyse CTT’s privatisation process, a previously Government-owned firm, which went public in 2013, under the terms of the adjustment program agreed between Portugal, the European institutions (ECB and European Commission) and the IMF. The emphasis will be placed on the IPO process, but also on the company itself (its history, current situation and prospects for its new phase, as a publicly listed company). This piece of work aims to evaluate the different alternatives for the privatisation of the company along with the respective implications, as well as the outcome of the actual decision taken by the Portuguese Government. One key aspect of the case is also to understand the importance that the privatisation of the Royal Mail, which can be seen as a peer of the Portuguese company, in the unfolding of the process and in the choice of the privatisation model. The case intends to show how the British process influenced the subsequent option of the Portuguese entities to sell CTT through an IPO, instead of a trade sale. All in all, the overall objective of this case-study is to analyse CTT’s successful sale process, which created the first Portuguese company with 100% free-float. 3 On the last days of November 2013, Steven Bernstein was staring at the window of his office overlooking downtown Manhattan, not even noticing the intense rain that was pouring down. As senior manager at ABC Fund, a pension fund responsible for managing more than 800 million dollars, his thoughts were focused on a very important decision that ABC Fund would have to make in just a matter of days. The American pension fund was considering whether or not to invest in the upcoming Initial Public Offering of CTT- Correios de Portugal, the Government-owned Portuguese mail company. Is this investment opportunity in accordance with the risk profile of a pension fund? Is it a wise decision to acquire shares in a Portuguese company when the country is at the centre of the European Sovereign debt crisis, going through a very demanding economic adjustment program imposed by its bail-out creditors? Would the creation of Portugal's Postal Bank make CTT a sure bet today when its price does not fully reflect the future benefits from entering financial services? Those were some of the questions that were constantly in Mr. Bernstein’s mind over the last couple of days and he was struggling to find the answers

Studies in the Steroid Series

Abstract not provided

A synopsis of knowledge, zoogeography and an online interactive map of Brazilian marine gastrotrichs

Information regarding the records of Brazilian marine gastrotrichs is presented. We systematized and organized the existing information associated with approximately 23 species (belonging to the genera Aspidiophorus, Chaetonotus, Crasiella, Dactylopodola, Dendrodasys, Draculiciteria, Halichaetonotus, Heteroxenotrichula, Kryptodasys, Macrodasys, Pseudostomella, Ptychostomella, Urodasys and Xenotrichula) from the Brazilian coast (eight endemic) and their 1,581 records from 36 marine ecoregions of the world. A link is provided to an on-line interactive map where all occurrences for each species are shown, accompanied by geographic coordinates, oceans, countries, cities, granulometric characteristics and ecoregions. Furthermore, a critical analysis of the geographical distribution of Brazilian marine gastrotrichs, an estimate of the number of undescribed species, a summary of the existence and status of taxonomical collections are also presented.7CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICO - CNPQCOORDENAÇÃO DE APERFEIÇOAMENTO DE PESSOAL DE NÍVEL SUPERIOR - CAPESFUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULO - FAPESP306558/2010-6; 478825/2013-7Sem informação2014/23856-