Stretched Exponential Relaxation in the Biased Random Voter Model

We study the relaxation properties of the voter model with i.i.d. random bias. We prove under mild condions that the disorder-averaged relaxation of this biased random voter model is faster than a stretched exponential with exponent $d/(d+\alpha)$, where $0<\alpha\le 2$ depends on the transition rates of the non-biased voter model. Under an additional assumption, we show that the above upper bound is optimal. The main ingredient of our proof is a result of Donsker and Varadhan (1979).Comment: 14 pages, AMS-LaTe

Laboratory Investigations of the Mechanism of Cavitation

The paper describes some experimental investigations of the formation and collapse of cavitation bubbles. The experiments were carried on in the high-speed water tunnel of the Hydrodynamics Laboratory of the California Institute of Technology under the sponsorship of the Research and Development Division of the Bureau of Ordnance of the U. S. Navy and the Fluid Mechanics Section of the Office of Naval Research. A detailed study of the formation and collapse of the individual bubbles has been carried on by the use of high-speed motion pictures taken at rates up to 20,000 per sec. From these records calculations have been made of rate of formation and collapse of the bubbles. Deductions have been drawn from these results concerning the physical mechanism of the cavitation phenomenon

The development of structural adhesive systems suitable for use with liquid oxygen Annual summary report, 1 Jul. 1964 - 30 Jun. 1965

Preparation and testing of adhesive polyurethanes, polycarbonates, and other highy halogenated polymers for liquid oxygen compatibilit

The Effects of Jury Ignorance About Damage Caps: The Case of the 1991 Civil Rights Act

The 1991 Civil Rights Act revolutionized employment discrimination litigation by allowing for compensatory and punitive damages. At the same time, however, the Act capped those damages and forbade courts from informing jurors about the cap. This Article explores the effects of this imposed secrecy on the jury deliberation process and on the jury system itself. First, our article delves into the wealth of psychological literature about jury decision-making to determine how disclosing or hiding the caps might affect the jury\u27s damage calculations. We explore decision-making biases and heuristics that might systematically affect the jurors\u27 judgment about damage awards, and discuss how those awards might be changed if jurors were informed of the caps. Second, we discuss the potential effects that such secrecy has on perceptions of the legitimacy and fairness of the jury system, through its impact on parties, attorneys, and jurors. We conclude, in light of relevant psychological literature, that disclosure of the caps is likely to affect the jury\u27s decision-making process, but that non-disclosure has the potential to threaten the integrity of the jury system more broadly, because hiding the caps could result in a failure of procedural justice that would affect the integrity of the judicial process. Ultimately, we argue that disclosing the caps, particularly if included within a framework of additional information about the purpose of compensatory and punitive damages, would result in better jury awards and more public satisfaction with the judicial system

The Effects of Jury Ignorance About Damage Caps: The Case of the 1991 Civil Rights Act

The 1991 Civil Rights Act revolutionized employment discrimination litigation by allowing for compensatory and punitive damages. At the same time, however, the Act capped those damages and forbade courts from informing jurors about the cap. This Article explores the effects of this imposed secrecy on the jury deliberation process and on the jury system itself. First, our article delves into the wealth of psychological literature about jury decision-making to determine how disclosing or hiding the caps might affect the jury\u27s damage calculations. We explore decision-making biases and heuristics that might systematically affect the jurors\u27 judgment about damage awards, and discuss how those awards might be changed if jurors were informed of the caps. Second, we discuss the potential effects that such secrecy has on perceptions of the legitimacy and fairness of the jury system, through its impact on parties, attorneys, and jurors. We conclude, in light of relevant psychological literature, that disclosure of the caps is likely to affect the jury\u27s decision-making process, but that non-disclosure has the potential to threaten the integrity of the jury system more broadly, because hiding the caps could result in a failure of procedural justice that would affect the integrity of the judicial process. Ultimately, we argue that disclosing the caps, particularly if included within a framework of additional information about the purpose of compensatory and punitive damages, would result in better jury awards and more public satisfaction with the judicial system

Binary data corruption due to a Brownian agent

We introduce a model of binary data corruption induced by a Brownian agent (active random walker) on a d-dimensional lattice. A continuum formulation allows the exact calculation of several quantities related to the density of corrupted bits \rho; for example the mean of \rho, and the density-density correlation function. Excellent agreement is found with the results from numerical simulations. We also calculate the probability distribution of \rho in d=1, which is found to be log-normal, indicating that the system is governed by extreme fluctuations.Comment: 39 pages, 10 figures, RevTe

Laboratory Developments for Study of Flow in Rotating Channels

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Firm-Level Exposure to Epidemic Diseases: Covid-19, SARS, and H1N1

Using tools described in our earlier work (Hassan et al., 2019, 2020), we develop text-based measures of the costs, benefits, and risks listed firms in the US and over 80 other countries associate with the spread of Covid-19 and other epidemic diseases. We identify which firms expect to gain or lose from an epidemic disease and which are most affected by the associated uncertainty as a disease spreads in a region or around the world. As Covid-19 spreads globally in the first quarter of 2020, we find that firms’ primary concerns relate to the collapse of demand, increased uncertainty, and disruption in supply chains. Other important concerns relate to capacity reductions, closures, and employee welfare. By contrast, financing concerns are mentioned relatively rarely. We also identify some firms that foresee opportunities in new or disrupted markets due to the spread of the disease. Finally, we find some evidence that firms that have experience with SARS or H1N1 have more positive expectations about their ability to deal with the coronavirus outbreak