1,095 research outputs found
Biased Information Search in Homogeneous Groups: Confidence as a Moderator for the Effect of Anticipated Task Requirements
When searching for information, groups that are homogeneous regarding their membersâ prediscussion decision preferences show a strong bias for information that supports rather than conflicts with the prevailing opinion (confirmation bias). The present research examined whether homogeneous groups blindly search for information confirming their beliefs irrespective of the anticipated task or whether they are sensitive to the usefulness of new information for this forthcoming task. Results of three experiments show that task sensitivity depends on the groupsâ confidence in the correctness of their decision: Moderately confident groups displayed a strong confirmation bias when they anticipated having to give reasons for their decision but showed a balanced information search or even a disconfirmation bias (i.e., predominately seeking conflicting information) when they anticipated having to refute unterarguments. In contrast, highly confident groups demonstrated a strong confirmation bias independent of the anticipated task requirements
Phonon Thermal Transport of URu2Si2: Broken Translational Symmetry and Strong-Coupling of the Hidden Order to the Lattice
A dramatic increase in the total thermal conductivity (k) is observed in the
Hidden Order (HO) state of single crystal URu2Si2. Through measurements of the
thermal Hall conductivity, we explicitly show that the electronic contribution
to k is extremely small, so that this large increase in k is dominated by
phonon conduction. An itinerant BCS/mean-field model describes this behavior
well: the increase in kappa is associated with the opening of a large energy
gap at the Fermi Surface, thereby decreasing electron-phonon scattering. Our
analysis implies that the Hidden Order parameter is strongly coupled to the
lattice, suggestive of a broken symmetry involving charge degrees of freedom.Comment: 17 pages including figures, updated author institutions and
acknowledgement
Exchange Anisotropy in Epitaxial and Polycrystalline NiO/NiFe Bilayers
(001) oriented NiO/NiFe bilayers were grown on single crystal MgO (001)
substrates by ion beam sputtering in order to determine the effect that the
crystalline orientation of the NiO antiferromagnetic layer has on the
magnetization curve of the NiFe ferromagnetic layer. Simple models predict no
exchange anisotropy for the (001)-oriented surface, which in its bulk
termination is magnetically compensated. Nonetheless exchange anisotropy is
present in the epitaxial films, although it is approximately half as large as
in polycrystalline films that were grown simultaneously. Experiments show that
differences in exchange field and coercivity between polycrystalline and
epitaxial NiFe/NiO bilayers couples arise due to variations in induced surface
anisotropy and not from differences in the degree of compensation of the
terminating NiO plane. Implications of these observations for models of induced
exchange anisotropy in NiO/NiFe bilayer couples will be discussed.Comment: 23 pages in RevTex format, submitted to Phys Rev B
Nonattacking Queens in a Rectangular Strip
The function that counts the number of ways to place nonattacking identical
chess or fairy chess pieces in a rectangular strip of fixed height and variable
width, as a function of the width, is a piecewise polynomial which is
eventually a polynomial and whose behavior can be described in some detail. We
deduce this by converting the problem to one of counting lattice points outside
an affinographic hyperplane arrangement, which Forge and Zaslavsky solved by
means of weighted integral gain graphs.
We extend their work by developing both generating functions and a detailed
analysis of deletion and contraction for weighted integral gain graphs.
For chess pieces we find the asymptotic probability that a random
configuration is nonattacking, and we obtain exact counts of nonattacking
configurations of small numbers of queens, bishops, knights, and nightriders.Comment: 21 pages, 3 figures, preprint of published version copyright Springer
Basel AG 2011, Published online February 15, 2011, submitted March 15, 200
Membrane geometry with auxiliary variables and quadratic constraints
Consider a surface described by a Hamiltonian which depends only on the
metric and extrinsic curvature induced on the surface. The metric and the
curvature, along with the basis vectors which connect them to the embedding
functions defining the surface, are introduced as auxiliary variables by adding
appropriate constraints, all of them quadratic. The response of the Hamiltonian
to a deformation in each of the variables is examined and the relationship
between the multipliers implementing the constraints and the conserved stress
tensor of the theory established.Comment: 8 page
Indication of Superconductivity at 35 K in Graphite-Sulfur Composites
We report magnetization measurements performed on graphite--sulfur composites
which demonstrate a clear superconducting behavior below the critical
temperature T = 35 K. The Meissner-Ochsenfeld effect, screening
supercurrents, and magnetization hysteresis loops characteristic of type-II
superconductors were measured. The results indicate that the superconductivity
occurs in a small sample fraction, possibly related to the sample surface.Comment: published versio
Forming Judgments of Attitude Certainty, Intensity, and Importance: The Role of Subjective Experiences
Two studies examined the impact of subjective experiences on reports of attitude certainty, intensity, and importance. In Study 1, participants with moderate or extreme attitudes toward doctor-assisted suicide generated three (easy) or seven (hard) arguments that either supported or countered their opinion toward the issue prior to indicating the strength of their attitude. Participants with moderate attitudes rated their opinions as more intense, personally important, and held with greater certainty when they had generated either a small number of supporting arguments or a large number of opposing arguments. Ratings provided by individuals with extreme attitudes were unaffected by the argument generation task. In Study 2, the impact of ease of recall on strength-related judgments was eliminated when it was rendered nondiagnostic by a misattribution manipulation. Implications of these findings for attitude strength and other judgmental phenomena are discussed.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/68385/2/10.1177_0146167299025007001.pd
Nonequilibrium stationary states and equilibrium models with long range interactions
It was recently suggested by Blythe and Evans that a properly defined steady
state normalisation factor can be seen as a partition function of a fictitious
statistical ensemble in which the transition rates of the stochastic process
play the role of fugacities. In analogy with the Lee-Yang description of phase
transition of equilibrium systems, they studied the zeroes in the complex plane
of the normalisation factor in order to find phase transitions in
nonequilibrium steady states. We show that like for equilibrium systems, the
``densities'' associated to the rates are non-decreasing functions of the rates
and therefore one can obtain the location and nature of phase transitions
directly from the analytical properties of the ``densities''. We illustrate
this phenomenon for the asymmetric exclusion process. We actually show that its
normalisation factor coincides with an equilibrium partition function of a walk
model in which the ``densities'' have a simple physical interpretation.Comment: LaTeX, 23 pages, 3 EPS figure
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