Mock jurors\u27 judgements of the victim, crime and defendant as a function of victim race and deliberation

Extra-legal variables are factors within a trial that are logically irrelevant to the determination of a verdict. They are deemed extra-legal they are extra to the law and are not prescribed in the relevant statutes upon which the relevant issue must be decided. Research investigating judicial decision-making, however, demonstrates that extra-legal variables often affect jurors\u27 judgements and improperly influence their decision-making. Examples of extra-legal variables include the personal attributes of trial participants, e.g., the victim\u27s physical attractiveness, socio-economic status, and age. Studies conducted in North America indicate that the race of the victim and defendant inappropriately influences jurors\u27 decision-making. However, to date, no such published research has been conducted in Australia. Due to Australia\u27s diverse population, which consists of several minority groups and a dominant Caucasian group, it is likely that race may net as an extra-legal variable. Furthermore, several Australian studies have documented a strong prejudice against Aborigines and Asians, with the potential for a newly emerging prejudice against individuals from Middle-Eastern countries. The present study investigated whether the race of the victim would affect jurors\u27 perceptions and judgements in a simulated attempted-rape trial. Research also indicates that the process of deliberation amongst other things, can affect the influence of extra-legal variables on decision-making, and that it can either exaggerate or attenuate this influence. Therefore, the impact of deliberation on the jurors\u27 perceptions and judgements was investigated, and also whether an interaction occurred between race and deliberation. One hundred and six participants were recruited to examine the effects of the race of the victim on their judgements of the defendant, crime, and victim. Due to Australia having a dominant Caucasian race, it was assumed that when the victim is Aboriginal, Asian or of a Middle Eastern origin, jurors\u27 judgements of the defendant, crime and the victim will be negatively prejudiced by the victim\u27s race, and that when the victim is Caucasian, no such prejudice will impact upon the jurors\u27 decision-making. It was also assumed that deliberation would attenuate the influence of the extra-legal variable of the victim\u27s race, such that any bias observed in pre-deliberation judgements will be reduced in post deliberation judgements. The quantitative data was analysed with a series of 4 x 2repeated measures ANOVAs and a qualitative analysis was undertaken of the deliberation discussions. Quantitative results revealed no significant effects for victim race. However, the effect for race approached significance regarding the seriousness of the crime, with the crime perceived as least serious for the Middle-Eastern victim. The pattern of results identified across several items also revealed a consistent trend toward the different races. An overall positive trend was observed toward the Aboriginal victim, and a negative trend identified toward the Middle-Eastern victim, and to a lesser extent, the Caucasian victim. Qualitative analyses support this pattern of results. The effect for deliberation revealed a number of significant findings, with the victim\u27s character perceived as more positive, and the defendant as less guilty following deliberation. Significant interactions were also identified regarding the defendant\u27s sentence and the responsibility of the victim. In particular, following deliberation, the defendant in the Caucasian condition was given a significantly reduced sentence, and the Asian victim was perceived as significantly less responsible. The results are discussed in terms of the need for closer analyses of Australian intergroup relations, social desirability and cultural stereotyping, and their influence on courtroom decisions

Spin flip scattering at Al surfaces

Non-local measurements are performed on a multi terminal device to $in-situ$ determine the spin diffusion length and in combination with resistivity measurements also the spin relaxation time in Al films. By varying the thickness of Al we determine the contribution to spin relaxation from surface scattering. From the temperature dependence of the spin diffusion length it is established that the spin relaxation is impurity dominated at low temperature. A comparison of the spin and momentum relaxation lengths for different thicknesses reveals that the spin flip scattering at the surfaces is weak compared to that within the bulk of the Al films.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figure

Enhanced spin accumulation in a superconductor

A lateral array of ferromagnetic tunnel junctions is used to inject and detect non-equilibrium quasi-particle spin distribution in a superconducting strip made of Al. The strip width and thickness is kept below the quasi particle spin diffusion length in Al. Non-local measurements in multiple parallel and antiparallel magnetic states of the detectors are used to in-situ determine the quasi-particle spin diffusion length. A very large increase in the spin accumulation in the superconducting state compared to that in the normal state is observed and is attributed to a diminishing of the quasi-particle population by opening of the gap below the transition temperature.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures; accepted for publication in Journal of Applied Physic

Test of Einstein Equivalence Principle for 0-spin and half-integer-spin atoms: Search for spin-gravity coupling effects

We report on a conceptually new test of the equivalence principle performed by measuring the acceleration in Earth's gravity field of two isotopes of strontium atoms, namely, the bosonic $^{88}$Sr isotope which has no spin vs the fermionic $^{87}$Sr isotope which has a half-integer spin. The effect of gravity upon the two atomic species has been probed by means of a precision differential measurement of the Bloch frequency for the two atomic matter waves in a vertical optical lattice. We obtain the values $\eta = (0.2\pm 1.6)\times10^{-7}$ for the E\"otv\"os parameter and $k=(0.5\pm1.1)\times10^{-7}$ for the coupling between nuclear spin and gravity. This is the first reported experimental test of the equivalence principle for bosonic and fermionic particles and opens a new way to the search for the predicted spin-gravity coupling effects.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures. New spin-gravtity coupling analysis on the data added to the manuscrip

Statistics of eigenfunctions in open chaotic systems: a perturbative approach

We investigate the statistical properties of the complexness parameter which characterizes uniquely complexness (biorthogonality) of resonance eigenstates of open chaotic systems. Specifying to the regime of isolated resonances, we apply the random matrix theory to the effective Hamiltonian formalism and derive analytically the probability distribution of the complexness parameter for two statistical ensembles describing the systems invariant under time reversal. For those with rigid spectra, we consider a Hamiltonian characterized by a picket-fence spectrum without spectral fluctuations. Then, in the more realistic case of a Hamiltonian described by the Gaussian Orthogonal Ensemble, we reveal and discuss the r\^ole of spectral fluctuations

Three obstructions: forms of causation, chronotopoids, and levels of reality

The thesis is defended that the theories of causation, time and space, and levels of reality are mutually interrelated in such a way that the difficulties internal to theories of causation and to theories of space and time can be understood better, and perhaps dealt with, in the categorial context furnished by the theory of the levels of reality. The structural condition for this development to be possible is that the first two theories be opportunely generalized

Spin injection and relaxation in a mesoscopic superconductor

We study spin accumulation and spin relaxation in a superconducting nanowire. Spins are injected and detected by using a set of magnetic tunnel contact electrodes, closely spaced along the nanowire. We observe a giant enhancement of the spin accumulation of up to five orders of magnitude on transition into the superconducting state, consistent with the expected changes in the density of states. The spin relaxation length decreases by an order of magnitude from its value in the normal state. These measurements combined with our theoretical model, allow us to distinguish the individual spin flip mechanisms present in the transport channel. Our conclusion is that magnetic impurities rather than spin-orbit coupling dominate spin-flip scattering in the superconducting state.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure

Anharmonic parametric excitation in optical lattices

We study both experimentally and theoretically the losses induced by parametric excitation in far-off-resonance optical lattices. The atoms confined in a 1D sinusoidal lattice present an excitation spectrum and dynamics substantially different from those expected for a harmonic potential. We develop a model based on the actual atomic Hamiltonian in the lattice and we introduce semiempirically a broadening of the width of lattice energy bands which can physically arise from inhomogeneities and fluctuations of the lattice, and also from atomic collisions. The position and strength of the parametric resonances and the evolution of the number of trapped atoms are satisfactorily described by our model.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure