8,166 research outputs found
Teleological Essentialism
Placeholder essentialism is the view that there is a causal essence that holds category members together, though we may not know what the essence is. Sometimes the placeholder can be filled in by scientific essences, such as when we acquire scientific knowledge that the atomic weight of gold is 79. We challenge the view that placeholders are elaborated by scientific essences. On our view, if placeholders are elaborated, they are elaborated Aristotelian essences, a telos. Utilizing the same kinds of experiments used by traditional essentialistsâinvolving superficial change (study 1), transformation of insides (study 2), acquired traits (study 3) and inferences about offspring (study 4)âwe find support for the view that essences are elaborated by a telos. And we find evidence (study 5) that teleological essences may generate category judgments
First On-Sky High Contrast Imaging with an Apodizing Phase Plate
We present the first astronomical observations obtained with an Apodizing
Phase Plate (APP). The plate is designed to suppress the stellar diffraction
pattern by 5 magnitudes from 2-9 lambda/D over a 180 degree region. Stellar
images were obtained in the M' band (4.85 microns) at the MMTO 6.5m telescope,
with adaptive wavefront correction made with a deformable secondary mirror
designed for low thermal background observations. The measured PSF shows a halo
intensity of 0.1% of the stellar peak at 2 lambda/D (0.36 arcsec), tapering off
as r^{-5/3} out to radius 9 lambda/D. Such a profile is consistent with
residual errors predicted for servo lag in the AO system.
We project a 5 sigma contrast limit, set by residual atmospheric
fluctuations, of 10.2 magnitudes at 0.36 arcsec separation for a one hour
exposure. This can be realised if static and quasi-static aberrations are
removed by differential imaging, and is close to the sensitivity level set by
thermal background photon noise for target stars with M'>3. The advantage of
using the phase plate is the removal of speckle noise caused by the residuals
in the diffraction pattern that remain after PSF subtraction. The APP gives
higher sensitivity over the range 2-5 lambda/D compared to direct imaging
techniques.Comment: 22 pages, 5 figures, 1 table, ApJ accepte
The AF structure of non commutative toroidal Z/4Z orbifolds
For any irrational theta and rational number p/q such that q|qtheta-p|<1, a
projection e of trace q|qtheta-p| is constructed in the the irrational rotation
algebra A_theta that is invariant under the Fourier transform. (The latter is
the order four automorphism U mapped to V, V mapped to U^{-1}, where U, V are
the canonical unitaries generating A_theta.) Further, the projection e is
approximately central, the cut down algebra eA_theta e contains a Fourier
invariant q x q matrix algebra whose unit is e, and the cut downs eUe, eVe are
approximately inside the matrix algebra. (In particular, there are Fourier
invariant projections of trace k|qtheta-p| for k=1,...,q.) It is also shown
that for all theta the crossed product A_theta rtimes Z_4 satisfies the
Universal Coefficient Theorem. (Z_4 := Z/4Z.) As a consequence, using the
Classification Theorem of G. Elliott and G. Gong for AH-algebras, a theorem of
M. Rieffel, and by recent results of H. Lin, we show that A_theta rtimes Z_4 is
an AF-algebra for all irrational theta in a dense G_delta.Comment: 35 page
Capitals and commitment. The case of a local learning and employment network.
This article draws on research undertaken with a Local Learning and Employment Network (LLEN) in the state of Victoria, Australia. LLEN are networks that were implemented by the state government in 2001 to undertake community capacity building through which the outcomes of young people aged 15-19 in education, training and employment would be enhanced. In 2008, in the context
of an enhanced federal commitment to social inclusion through âjoining-upâ, the Victorian experience provides insights on the implications of such policy initiatives. Drawing on Bourdieuâs discussion of the forms of capital and
Granovetterâs notion of the strength of weak ties, I argue that stores of economic, cultural and social capital as outlined by Bourdieu were necessary, but insufficient, for LLEN to achieve the objectives with which they were charged
given the failure of government to follow through on the implications of its policies. I argue for a commitment on the part of all stakeholders to realise the potential of âjoining-upâ
q-Supersymmetric Generalization of von Neumann's Theorem
Assuming that there exist operators which form an irreducible representation
of the q-superoscillator algebra, it is proved that any two such
representations are equivalent, related by a uniquely determined superunitary
transformation. This provides with a q-supersymmetric generalization of the
well-known uniqueness theorem of von Neumann for any finite number of degrees
of freedom.Comment: 10 pages, Latex, HU-TFT-93-2
Realism and the wave-function
Realism -- the idea that the concepts in physical theories refer to 'things'
existing in the real world -- is introduced as a tool to analyze the status of
the wave-function. Although the physical entities are recognized by the
existence of invariant quantities, examples from classical and quantum physics
suggest that not all the theoretical terms refer to the entities: some terms
refer to properties of the entities, and some terms have only an epistemic
function. In particular, it is argued that the wave-function may be written in
terms of classical non-referring and epistemic terms. The implications for
realist interpretations of quantum mechanics and on the teaching of quantum
physics are examined.Comment: No figure
Theories of Reference: What Was the Question?
The new theory of reference has won popularity. However, a number of noted philosophers have also attempted to reply to the critical arguments of Kripke and others, and aimed to vindicate the description theory of reference. Such responses are often based on ingenious novel kinds of descriptions, such as rigidified descriptions, causal descriptions, and metalinguistic descriptions. This prolonged debate raises the doubt whether different parties really have any shared understanding of what the central question of the philosophical theory of reference is: what is the main question to which descriptivism and the causal-historical theory have presented competing answers. One aim of the paper is to clarify this issue. The most influential objections to the new theory of reference are critically reviewed. Special attention is also paid to certain important later advances in the new theory of reference, due to Devitt and others
How Events Come Into Being: EEQT, Particle Tracks, Quantum Chaos, and Tunneling Time
In sections 1 and 2 we review Event Enhanced Quantum Theory (EEQT). In
section 3 we discuss applications of EEQT to tunneling time, and compare its
quantitative predictions with other approaches, in particular with
B\"uttiker-Larmor and Bohm trajectory approach. In section 4 we discuss quantum
chaos and quantum fractals resulting from simultaneous continuous monitoring of
several non-commuting observables. In particular we show self-similar,
non-linear, iterated function system-type, patterns arising from quantum jumps
and from the associated Markov operator. Concluding remarks pointing to
possible future development of EEQT are given in section 5.Comment: latex, 27 pages, 7 postscript figures. Paper submitted to Proc.
Conference "Mysteries, Puzzles And Paradoxes In Quantum Mechanics, Workshop
on Entanglement And Decoherence, Palazzo Feltrinelli, Gargnano, Garda Lake,
Italy, 20-25 September, 199
Unitary Representations of Unitary Groups
In this paper we review and streamline some results of Kirillov, Olshanski
and Pickrell on unitary representations of the unitary group \U(\cH) of a
real, complex or quaternionic separable Hilbert space and the subgroup
\U_\infty(\cH), consisting of those unitary operators for which g - \1
is compact. The Kirillov--Olshanski theorem on the continuous unitary
representations of the identity component \U_\infty(\cH)_0 asserts that they
are direct sums of irreducible ones which can be realized in finite tensor
products of a suitable complex Hilbert space. This is proved and generalized to
inseparable spaces. These results are carried over to the full unitary group by
Pickrell's Theorem, asserting that the separable unitary representations of
\U(\cH), for a separable Hilbert space \cH, are uniquely determined by
their restriction to \U_\infty(\cH)_0. For the classical infinite rank
symmetric pairs of non-unitary type, such as (\GL(\cH),\U(\cH)), we
also show that all separable unitary representations are trivial.Comment: 42 page
An analysis of integrative outcomes in the Dayton peace negotiations
The nature of the negotiated outcomes of the eight issues of the Dayton Peace Agreement was studied in terms of their integrative and distributive aspects. in cases where integrative elements were Sound, further analysis was conducted by concentrating on Pruitt's five types of integrative solutions: expanding the pie, cost cutting, non-specific compensation, logrolling, and bridging. The results showed that real world international negotiations can arrive at integrative agreements even when they involve redistribution of resources tin this case the redistribution of former Yugoslavia). Another conclusion was that an agreement can consist of several distributive outcomes and several integrative outcomes produced by different kinds of mechanisms. Similarly, in single issues more than one mechanism can be used simultaneously. Some distributive bargaining was needed in order to determine how much compensation was required. Finally, each integrative formula had some distributive aspects as well
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