Gluck twist on a certain family of 2-knots

We show that by performing the Gluck twist along the 2-knot $K^2_{pq}$ derived from two ribbon presentations of the ribbon 1-knot $K(p,q)$ we get the standard 4-sphere $S^4$. In the proof we apply Kirby calculus.Comment: 11 pages, 12 figure

The twistor geometry of three-qubit entanglement

A geometrical description of three qubit entanglement is given. A part of the transformations corresponding to stochastic local operations and classical communication on the qubits is regarded as a gauge degree of freedom. Entangled states can be represented by the points of the Klein quadric ${\cal Q}$ a space known from twistor theory. It is shown that three-qubit invariants are vanishing on special subspaces of ${\cal Q}$. An invariant vanishing for the $GHZ$ class is proposed. A geometric interpretation of the canonical decomposition and the inequality for distributed entanglement is also given.Comment: 4 pages RevTeX

Richard Hakluyt: Elizabethan Propaganda, English Identity, and the ‘Black Legend’

During the early modern period (late 16th, early 17th century), England embroiled itself in conflict with Spain, contesting against each other through direct competition and expanding their territories elsewhere. The topic of this thesis is an analysis of Richard Hakluyt, a writer and geographer during Queen Elizabeth I’s reign, and his role as a proponent of English expansionism in addition to the themes present within his works. This analysis focuses on how the themes present connected Hakluyt to a broader movement for English mercantile expansion and colonization towards the New World and Old. As Hakluyt wrote and collected the works of other explorers, he sought out the likes of Sir Walter Raleigh, supporting Raleigh’s endeavors in the New World and advocating for colonization. Not only did this advocation help Raleigh, but it also helped other future settlers become motivated to settle in the New World because of the themes presented throughout Hakluyt’s works. The findings of this research done by James Nash mentored by Dr. David Coleman highlight Hakluyt’s pivotal role in the advocation for colonization and disseminate the negative portrayals of the Spanish. As a spreader of this rhetoric, Hakluyt actively contributed to the broader English rhetoric against Spain called the Black Legend. By contextualizing Hakluyt’s works to the rhetoric about English colonization and the Black Legend, this research gives a deeper insight into understanding Hakluyt’s motivations and contributions to the broader narrative in early modern England

Preliminary Results from a Survey of Present and Past Rail Commuters in the Hertfordshire Area.

This note describes and provides initial results from a survey of existing and past rail commuters from the Hertfordshire area to London undertaken as part of an SSRC financed project on Location and Commuting. It discusses the coverage and characteristics of respondents, availability of travel and housing assistance, reasons why people cease to be season-ticket holders, home and job mobility and the degree of railheading. It is concluded that the principal reason why people cease to commute by rail is that they obtain jobs outside Greater London, although a small but significant minority commute to London by car. Railheading is rare within this sample

An Empirical Investigation into Appellate Structure and the Perceived Quality of Appellate Review

What is the ideal structure for appellate review? Without providing a definitive answer to the question, commentators have suggested several factors that may improve the process, and thus perhaps the accuracy, of appellate review. First, it is said that panels of judges are preferable to review by a single judge. Second, expertise in the relevant area of law is a benefit. Third, other indicia of lawfinding ability-such as the ability of lawyers and judges to focus on legal issues without the distraction of factual conflicts and the amenability of judges\u27 schedules to careful contemplation and reflection-contribute to the quality of appellate review. Fourth, a court\u27s adherence to traditional notions of appellate hierarchy, as exemplified by following its earlier precedents, has been deemed to produce better results. Finally, it is said that the independence of appellate judges-that is, the extent to which job features such as life tenure and a guaranteed salary tend to insulate judges from pressures to decide cases or issues one way or another-is of value. In this Article, we endeavor to evaluate empirically the relative quality of appellate review. To do this, we rely upon data obtained from the appellate review of bankruptcy matters. The current federal bankruptcy appellate structure provides an excellent setting in which to study appellate review because it offers litigants two paths for obtaining appellate review. First, after the bankruptcy judge issues a ruling, litigants may have the district court-in the person of a single district judge-review that ruling. Alternatively, the parties may agree (in circuits that have them) to have the bankruptcy judge\u27s ruling reviewed by a panel of bankruptcy judges-a so-called bankruptcy appellate panel or BAP. Further appeal in both cases- whether from the district court or the bankruptcy appellate panel- lies with the proper federal circuit court of appeals. We have collected data on affirmance rates in and citation rates to appellate bankruptcy opinions. Analyses of the data generally-and analyses of the citation data in particular-support the notion that BAP decisions in our study are perceived to be of greater quality than are district court decisions. First, we find support for the proposition that courts of appeals are more likely to uphold upon review the conclusions of BAPs than district courts. Second, BAP decisions are, with statistical significance, cited more frequently by bankruptcy courts, BAPs, federal courts of appeals, and courts in other circuits than are district court decisions. Only district courts are not more likely .to cite BAP decisions than decisions rendered by district courts

Does Ideology Matter in Bankruptcy? Voting Behavior on the Courts of Appeals

This Article empirically examines whether courts of appeals judges cast ideological votes in the bankruptcy context. The empirical study is unique insofar as it is the first to examine the voting behavior of circuit court judges in bankruptcy cases. More importantly, it focuses on a particular type of dispute that arises in bankruptcy: debt-dischargeability determinations. The study implements this focused approach in order to reduce heterogeneity in result. We find, contrary to our hypotheses, no evidence that circuit court judges engage in ideological voting in bankruptcy cases. We also find, however, non-ideological factors—including the race of the judge and the disposition of the case by lower courts—that substantially influence the voting pattern of the judges in our study. The Article makes three broad contributions. First, it indicates that bankruptcy voting is comparatively non-ideological, at least at the level of the courts of appeals. Second, by identifying the influence of certain non-ideological factors on voting behavior, the Article suggests avenues for profitable future research. And third, the Article makes a methodological contribution through its fine-grained approach, which demonstrates the importance of focusing on particular legal issues in order to reduce heterogeneity in, and bolster the reliability of, findings from empirical legal studies

An Empirical Investigation into Appellate Structure and the Perceived Quality of Appellate Review

Commentators have theorized that several factors may improve the process, and thus perhaps the accuracy, of appellate review: (1) review by a panel of judges, (2) subject-matter expertise in the area of the appeal, (3) other lawfinding ability, (4) adherence to traditional notions of appellate hierarchy, and (5) the judicial independence of appellate judges. The considerable discussion that has expounded upon these theories has occurred in a vacuum of abstract generalization. This Article adds a new dimension by presenting the results of an empirical study of bankruptcy appellate opinions issued over a three-year period. The federal bankruptcy appellate structure provides certain litigants the choice to appeal, in the first instance, to one of two distinct appellate tribunals—district courts and bankruptcy appellate panels (BAPs)—whose structural features relating to the theorized qualities of appellate review differ. As BAPs appear to have more of the features identified as improving the quality of appellate review, the study tests the theory through various hypotheses that focus on the perception held by other federal courts within the bankruptcy appellate structure of the quality of appellate review provided by these distinct appellate tribunals. The data show that, as measured by (1) the subsequent disposition rendered by courts of appeals and (2) the citation practices of other federal courts to the appellate opinions issued by BAPs and district courts, BAPs have been perceived to provide a better quality of appellate review. Having unearthed some evidence that supports the theoretical notions underlying the quality of appellate review, this Article concludes that commentators and policymakers ought to be encouraged to explore further, in a more detailed manner, the question of how appellate structure can be designed to produce better results

Gate Tunable Graphene-integrated Metasurface Modulator for Mid-Infrared Beam Steering (article)

This is the final version. Available on open access from Optical Society of America via the DOI in this recordThe data associated with this article is available in ORE at: https://doi.org/10.24378/exe.1304The ability to integrate graphene into metasurface devices has attracted enormous interest as a means of achieving dynamic electrical control of their electromagnetic response. In this manuscript, we experimentally demonstrate a graphene-integrated metasurface modulator that establishes the potential to actively control the amplitude and phase of mid-infrared light with high modulation depth and speed, in good agreement with simulation results. Our simulations also show it is possible to construct a reconfigurable surface with tunable phase profile by incorporating graphene-integrated metasurface modulators with specific geometric parameters. This reconfigurable surface is able to manipulate the orientation of the wave reflected from it, achieving a high-speed, switchable beam steering reflective interface. The results here could inspire research on dynamic reflective display and holograms.Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC

An Empirical Investigation into Appellate Structure and the Perceived Quality of Appellate Review

What is the ideal structure for appellate review? Without providing a definitive answer to the question, commentators have suggested several factors that may improve the process, and thus perhaps the accuracy, of appellate review. First, it is said that panels of judges are preferable to review by a single judge. Second, expertise in the relevant area of law is a benefit. Third, other indicia of lawfinding ability-such as the ability of lawyers and judges to focus on legal issues without the distraction of factual conflicts and the amenability of judges\u27 schedules to careful contemplation and reflection-contribute to the quality of appellate review. Fourth, a court\u27s adherence to traditional notions of appellate hierarchy, as exemplified by following its earlier precedents, has been deemed to produce better results. Finally, it is said that the independence of appellate judges-that is, the extent to which job features such as life tenure and a guaranteed salary tend to insulate judges from pressures to decide cases or issues one way or another-is of value. In this Article, we endeavor to evaluate empirically the relative quality of appellate review. To do this, we rely upon data obtained from the appellate review of bankruptcy matters. The current federal bankruptcy appellate structure provides an excellent setting in which to study appellate review because it offers litigants two paths for obtaining appellate review. First, after the bankruptcy judge issues a ruling, litigants may have the district court-in the person of a single district judge-review that ruling. Alternatively, the parties may agree (in circuits that have them) to have the bankruptcy judge\u27s ruling reviewed by a panel of bankruptcy judges-a so-called bankruptcy appellate panel or BAP. Further appeal in both cases- whether from the district court or the bankruptcy appellate panel- lies with the proper federal circuit court of appeals. We have collected data on affirmance rates in and citation rates to appellate bankruptcy opinions. Analyses of the data generally-and analyses of the citation data in particular-support the notion that BAP decisions in our study are perceived to be of greater quality than are district court decisions. First, we find support for the proposition that courts of appeals are more likely to uphold upon review the conclusions of BAPs than district courts. Second, BAP decisions are, with statistical significance, cited more frequently by bankruptcy courts, BAPs, federal courts of appeals, and courts in other circuits than are district court decisions. Only district courts are not more likely .to cite BAP decisions than decisions rendered by district courts