Astrophysics of Super-massive Black Hole Mergers

We present here an overview of recent work in the subject of astrophysical manifestations of super-massive black hole (SMBH) mergers. This is a field that has been traditionally driven by theoretical work, but in recent years has also generated a great deal of interest and excitement in the observational astronomy community. In particular, the electromagnetic (EM) counterparts to SMBH mergers provide the means to detect and characterize these highly energetic events at cosmological distances, even in the absence of a space-based gravitational-wave observatory. In addition to providing a mechanism for observing SMBH mergers, EM counterparts also give important information about the environments in which these remarkable events take place, thus teaching us about the mechanisms through which galaxies form and evolve symbiotically with their central black holes.Comment: Invited article for the focus issue on astrophysical black holes in Classical and Quantum Gravity, guest editors: D. Merritt and L. Rezzoll

Review of The Impact of a Universal Class-Size Reduction Policy: Evidence from Florida's Statewide Mandate

A new Think Twice review released today finds that a recent report on the effect of Florida's class-size reduction reform on student achievement does not actually study the impact of class-size reduction.The Impact of a Universal Class-Size Reduction Policy: Evidence from Florida's Statewide Mandate, written by Matthew M. Chingos for the Program on Education Policy and Governance at Harvard University's Kennedy School, was reviewed for the Think Twice think tank review project by Professor Jeremy Finn of the University at Buffalo-SUNY. Finn, a statistics expert, was a lead researcher of Tennessee's Project STAR, a large, randomized experiment in class-size reduction (CSR). In 2002, Florida voters passed a constitutional amendment mandating CSR throughout that state's schools.The Chingos study compares student test scores in districts that already had average class sizes smaller than required by the amendment with student scores in districts with average class sizes larger than required by the amendment. Districts that already had smaller class sizes received the same additional funding but could use the money as they saw fit, while those with larger class sizes were required to use the state CSR funds to reduce class sizes. Chingos concludes that "mandated CSR in Florida had little, if any, effect on cognitive and non-cognitive outcomes" in the students examined. Finn, however, points out that the study doesn't actually address the effect of CSR on student achievement. Instead the study compares the results of schools that reduced class size with a group of schools that received monies to use as they wished. Both sets of districts in the study had small class sizes. According to Finn, the study's finding would more accurately be stated as "administrative discretion in spending state class-size reduction funds did not affect students' academic performance."Finn's review also points out that there are other flaws in the Chingos study: It uses the broad brush of school and district averages rather than student-level information about class sizes and test scores. Also, the actual class-size differences between the two groups were too small to make an educational difference; both of the groups had small average class sizes.Finn concludes, "Despite its title, this report does not address the issue of class-size reduction. By being presented as an evaluation of Florida's mandated class size limits, it may lead parents, educators, or policy makers to draw faulty conclusions about the impact of the program.

Electromagnetic Counterparts to Black Hole Mergers

During the final moments of a binary black hole (BH) merger, the gravitational wave (GW) luminosity of the system is greater than the combined electromagnetic output of the entire observable universe. However, the extremely weak coupling between GWs and ordinary matter makes these waves very difficult to detect directly. Fortunately, the inspiraling BH system will interact strongly--on a purely Newtonian level--with any surrounding material in the host galaxy, and this matter can in turn produce unique electromagnetic (EM) signals detectable at Earth. By identifying EM counterparts to GW sources, we will be able to study the host environments of the merging BHs, in turn greatly expanding the scientific yield of a mission like LISA.Comment: 10 pages, 1 figure, submitted to Class. Quantum Grav. special issue: proceedings of 8th LISA Symposiu

Nineteenth century reflection of gender in selected songs from Frauenliebe und Leben and Dichterliebe by Robert Schumann

This paper focuses on six of the sixteen songs in Dichterliebe (A Poet’s Love) to demonstrate how Schumann has used gender and sexuality to provide a masculine perspective. As a comparative work I used examples from Schumann’s Frauenliebe und Leben (A Woman’s Love and Life) to convey the feminine perspective of love. The discussion shows musicological aspects of gender and how composers use certain techniques and structural effects to achieve and illustrate certain genders. The following movements are discussed from the Dichterliebe cycle: Im wunderschönen Monat Mai; Aus meinen Tränen spriessen; Die Rose, die Lilie, die Taube, die Sonne; Ein Jüngling liebt ein Mädchen; Am leuchtenden Sommermorgen; and Die alten, bösen Lieder. As a comparison I used the following songs from Frauenliebe und Leben: Seit ich ihn gesehen; Er, der Herrlichste von allen; Ich kann’s nicht fassen, nicht glauben; Helft mir, ihr Schwestern; and Nun hast du mir den ersten Schmerz getan. My analysis includes theoretical studies, text painting, overall form and any other musical aspect that may relate to illustrating how gender is presented in these two works.School of MusicThesis (M.M.

Medellin and Originalism

In Medellín v. Texas, the Supreme Court permitted Texas to proceed with the execution of a Mexican national who had not been given timely notice of his right of consular notification and consultation in violation of the United States’ obligations under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. It did so despite its finding that the United States had an obligation under treaty law to comply with an order of the International Court of Justice that Medellín’s case be granted review and reconsideration. The international obligation, the Court found, was not domestically enforceable because the treaties at issue were not self-executing. The five Justices who signed the Chief Justice’s Majority opinion, including the Court’s self-proclaimed originalists, thus joined an opinion that construed the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause without any serious consideration of its language or the history of its drafting, ignoring evidence of the Supremacy Clause’s original meaning cited by the dissenting Justices. This Article explores the meaning of originalism in the context of the Court’s Medellín decision and contends that the Majority’s opinion, while perhaps defensible on other grounds, cannot be reconciled with any identifiable version of originalism. Rather it is best understood as a decision reflecting the conservative Majority’s political commitment to favor principles of U.S. sovereignty and federalism over compliance with international obligations, even when the consequences of such a commitment is to enable state governments to undermine the foreign policy decisions of the political branches of the federal government. Ultimately, however, the Article concludes that Medellín’s case never should have come before the Court. The President has a duty to “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.” The Court determined that the Bush administration did not satisfy this duty by issuing an Executive Memorandum directing states to comply with the judgment of the International Court of Justice. That being the case, the President now must comply with his Take Care Clause duties by working with Congress to make certain that federal law compels compliance with the International Court of Justice’s judgment. Indeed, this Article contends that the Medellín case is emblematic of the U.S. executive branch’s broader failure to ensure that all treaties requiring domestic implementation are in fact implemented so as to avoid placing the United States in violation of its international obligations

A Path Not Taken: Hans Kelsen\u27s Pure Theory of Law in the Land of Legal Realists

This Essay is a contribution to a volume on the influence of Hans Kelsen’s legal theory in over a dozen countries. The Essay offers four explanations for the failure of Kelsen’s pure theory of law to take hold in the United States. Part I covers the argument that Kelsen’s approach failed in the United States because it is inferior to H. L. A. Hart’s brand of legal positivism. Part II discusses the historical context in which Kelsen taught and published in the United States and explores both philosophical and sociological reasons why the legal academy in the United States rejected Kelsen’s approach. Part III addresses the pedagogical obstacles to bringing Kelsen’s Pure Theory into classrooms in the United States. The final section addresses the U.S. legal academy’s continuing resistance to the pure theory of law. The vehemence with which legal scholars within the United States rejected Kelsen’s philosophy of law is best understood as a product of numerous factors, some philosophical, some political and some having to do with professional developments within the legal academy itself. Because the causal significance of philosophical and political opposition to Kelsen’s legal philosophy has been overstated, this Essay supplements those explanatory models with a sociological account of the U.S. legal academy’s rejection of Kelsen’s pure theory of law

Introduction: Targeting in an Asymmetrical World

This is the introduction to a collection of articles to be published in the Valparaiso University Law Review. The articles address the challenges presented by non-traditional warfare and non-traditional combatants in the contexts of the War on Terror and the trend toward multilateral and humanitarian interventions. Two of the contributions, those of Jonathan Hafetz and David Frakt, detail the hybrid model, part criminal law, part law of war, that the United States developed for addressing the status of detainees in the War on Terror. Two of the contributions, those of Rachel VanLandingham and Iain Pedden, propose international models for addressing the challenges of the new warfare, while Laurie Blank advocates a new focus on enforcement at both the national and international levels to address violations of the principle of distinction. Read together, the articles in this collection present a convincing argument that the United States needs to work with other states and international organizations to forge international solutions to the international problems posed by the new warfare