Exact solution of the lattice vertex model analog of the coupled Bariev XY chains

We present the algebraic Bethe Ansatz solution for the vertex model recently proposed by Zhou as the classical analog of the Bariev interacting XY chains. The relevant commutation rules between the creation fields contain the Hecke symmetry pointed out recently by Hikami and Murakami. The eigenvalues of the corresponding transfer matrix are explicitly given.Comment: Plain latex, 8 pag

Social support and the wealthy porcupine: Pain, social support, money, and culture

Social support and social integration have been major topics of research for social scientists for many decades (e.g., Durkheim, 1897/1997). Social support is generally portrayed as a “good thing,” with numerous researchers providing evidence of both the buffering and direct impacts of support on mental and physiological well-being (e.g., Kraus, Liang, & Gu, 1998; Litwin, 2001) and the ability of support to be a buffer against physical and psychological pain (e.g., Lpez-Martnez, Esteve-Zarazaga & Ramrez-Maestre, 2008). In their target article, Zhou and Gao (this issue) also suggest that social support is an important buffer against pain but argue for a further buffer against both physical and social pain—money—that may be important if social support fails. They cite a number of ingenious experiments for the link between social support, money, and pain, claiming that money and support “complement each other in managing pain” (p. 127), continuing in a tradition of research examining the compensatory dynamics of money and interpersonal support (e.g., Foa & Foa, 1974). In doing so, they raise a number of important questions about pain management, social exclusion, social support, and material resources. In my commentary I focus in particular on their concerns with social support and materialism, aiming to address three aspects of their model: the relationship between social support and money; the connections between money, materialism, and well-being; and the role of culture in moderating the relationship between social support and money. To do this I draw on some of my own work in changing cultures and conduct brief analyses of data from the latest large-scale European Social Survey (ESS). I conclude by suggesting some ideas for further research that might help further elaborate the intriguing model proposed by Zhou and Gao

Maximality with or without binariness: transfer-type characterizations

We provide the first necessary and su±cient conditions in the literature for the existence of maximal elements in a non-binary choice framework. As an application, the characterization of the existence of maximal elements for acyclic binary relations obtained in Rodriguez-Palmero and Garcia-Lapresta, 2002, Mathematical Social Sciences 43, 55-60, is deduced as a Corollary. Further characterizations in di®erent settings given by Tian and Zhou, 1995, Journal of Mathematical Economics 24, 281- 303, follow as well. Analogous characterization problems in the k- acyclic binary cases are solved too.maximization; non-binary choice function; transfer-continuity; k-acyclicity