Hawking radiation from not-extremal and extremal Reissner-Nordstrom black holes

We consider the non-extremal Reissner-Nordstrom black hole and construct a wave packet that exhibits the Hawking radiation. We find the average of the number of the created particles with respect to the $|0\rangle$ vacuum state and with respect to Unruh type vacuum state. The average of the number operator in the $|0\rangle$ vacuum state consists of two terms: one is related to the Hawking radiation and the second is not related. We use the same construction for the extremal RN black hole and get that the average of the number operator with respect to the $|0\rangle$ vacuum state is also a sum of two term, where the one related to the Hawking radiation is equal to zero. This result is consistent with other works on the Hawking radiation for the extremal RN black hole

The three burials of Melquiades DGP

In this talk I review three fatal flaws of the DGP braneworld model, which has been put forward as a possible model for late time acceleration without a cosmological constant: Ghosts, Cosmological Crashes, and Instability of the 5D vacuum. The talk is based on work in collaboration with Charmousis, Kaloper, Myers and Padilla.Comment: Write up of a talk given at the 8th Asia-Pacific International Conference on Gravitation and Astrophysics. 10 pages PTPTex style, 3 figure

Intent to Contract

There is a remarkable difference between black-letter contract laws of the United States and England. In England, the existence of a contract is supposedly conditioned on the parties\u27 intent to be legally bound, while section 21 of the Second Restatement of Contracts states that [n]either real nor apparent intention that a promise be legally binding is essential to the formation of a contract. There are also differences within U.S. law on the issue. While section 21 describes courts\u27 approach to most contracts, the parties\u27 intent to contact can be a condition of validity of preliminary agreements, domestic agreements and social arrangements, reporters’ promises of confidentiality to sources, and gratuitous promises. This Article develops an analytic framework for evaluating these rules and examines their relationship to the broader principles that animate contract law. Rules that condition contractual liability on proof of contractual intent must include rules for interpreting that intent. Those interpretive rules will include both interpretive defaults and rules for what it takes to opt-out of the default. By adjusting these default and opt-out rules, the law can achieve different balances between the duty-imposing and power-conferring functions of contract law, or among the various reasons for enforcement. This is demonstrated by an analysis of the rules for gratuitous promises, preliminary agreements, spousal agreements and reporters\u27 confidentiality promises. The results of that analysis include a new argument for the Model Written Obligations Act; a critique of Alan Schwartz and Robert Scott\u27s proposal preliminary agreements and a recommended alternative to it; and recommended changes to the rules for agreements between spouses. Attention to intent to contract requirements also indicates an overlooked aspect of how the enforcement of contracts affects extralegal norms and relationships of trust. Interpretive rules that require parties who want, or who do not want, legal liability expressly to say so are particularly likely to interfere with or erode extralegal forms trust that otherwise create value in transactions

What If Fiduciary Obligations Are Like Contractual Ones?

This essay, to appear in Contract, Status, and Fiduciary Law (Miller & Gold, 2016), explores three ways fiduciary obligations might be like contractual ones: in the methods lawmakers use or should use to determine the content of the obligation; in the private voluntary acts that generate the obligation; and in the fact that the obligation is a default that parties have the power to alter. The thesis is that to the extent that these similarities exist, they are not especially revealing. Theorists who emphasize the similarities commonly treat contract law as a private power-conferring rule, then analogize the law of fiduciary obligations to it. In fact, the law of contract is more complex and serves a broader range of purposes than just giving private parties the ability to undertake legal obligations when they choose. Contract obligations are sometimes imposed for reasons other than party choice, and contract defaults and altering rules can be designed to serve other social purposes. A more nuanced understanding of the functions and design of contract law suggests that structural similarities between fiduciary obligations and contractual ones tell us less about the fiduciary obligations than we might have hoped. The explanation of why that is so, however, reveals important features both of contract law and of the law of fiduciary obligations

The Pending Determination of the Legality of Internet Gambling in the United States

Internet gambling has been targeted on many fronts in the United States, including Congress, the courts, the Bush Administration and credit card agencies. This iBrief details recent trends in the regulation of online gaming, and concludes that while absolute prohibitions may be ineffective, the combined resistance of these institutions will prevent the industry from expanding its customer base