511 research outputs found
Structuring Judicial Discretion in China: Exploring the 2014 Sentencing Guidelines
In recent years, a range of western jurisdictions has introduced reforms designed to restrict and guide judicial discretion at sentencing. The reforms enacted include mandatory sentencing laws and guiding statutes prescribing sentencing purposes and principles as well as important aggravating and mitigating factors. However, formal guidelines are the most promising and well-studied innovation. We may now add China to the growing list of countries that have recognized the utility of guidelines. Over the past decade, China has slowly developed sentencing guidelines for its courts. The new guidelines contain both general directions with respect to the determination of sentence as well as specific numerical guidelines for common offences. The guidelines do not follow the approach taken by the US schemes, many of which employ a two-dimensional sentencing grid. Instead, China has adopted a strategy consisting of âStarting Pointâ sentences which are then adjusted by the court to reflect relevant mitigating and aggravating factors. This approach is much closer to the guidelines developed in England and Wales and those proposed but not yet implemented in New Zealand and Israel. In this article, we explore the new Chinese guidelines and provide a limited comparative analysis with guidelines in other jurisdictions. England and Wales is selected as the principal comparator since it has developed and implemented a comprehensive system consisting of both offence-specified guidelines as well as generic guidelines
Researching trust in the police and trust in justice: a UK perspective
This paper describes the immediate and more distant origins of a programme of comparative research that is examining cross-national variations in public trust in justice and in the police. The programme is built around a module of the fifth European Social Survey, and evolved from a study funded by the European Commission. The paper describes the conceptual framework within which we are operating â developed in large measure from theories of procedural justice. It reviews some of the methodological issues raised by the use of sample surveys to research issues of public trust in the police, public perceptions of institutional legitimacy and compliance with the law. Finally it gives a flavour of some of the early findings emerging from the programme
Resonantly damped surface and body MHD waves in a solar coronal slab with oblique propagation
The theory of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) waves in solar coronal slabs in a
zero- configuration and for parallel propagation of waves does not allow
the existence of surface waves. When oblique propagation of perturbations is
considered both surface and body waves are able to propagate. When the
perpendicular wave number is larger than a certain value, the body kink mode
becomes a surface wave. In addition, a sausage surface mode is found below the
internal cut-off frequency. When non-uniformity in the equilibrium is included,
surface and body modes are damped due to resonant absorption. In this paper,
first, a normal-mode analysis is performed and the period, the damping rate,
and the spatial structure of eigenfunctions are obtained. Then, the
time-dependent problem is solved, and the conditions under which one or the
other type of mode is excited are investigated.Comment: 19 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in Solar Physic
Broadening of Spectral Lines due to Dynamic Multiple Scattering and the Tully-Fisher Relation
The frequency shift of spectral lines is most often explained by the Doppler
Effect in terms of relative motion, whereas the Doppler broadening of a
particular line mainly depends on the absolute temperature. The Wolf effect on
the other hand deals with the correlation induced spectral change and explains
both the broadening and shift of the spectral lines. In this framework a
relation between the width of the spectral line is related to the redshift z
for the line and hence with the distance. For smaller values of z a relation
similar to the Tully-Fisher relation can be obtained and for larger values of z
a more general relation can be constructed. The derivation of this kind of
relation based on dynamic multiple scattering theory may play a significant
role in explaining the overall spectra of quasi stellar objects. We emphasize
that this mechanism is not applicable for nearby galaxies, .Comment: 18 pages, 5 figures, revised Version has been submitted to Physical
Review A. (2nd author's affiliation corrected
A model for interacting instabilities and texture dynamics of patterns
A simple model to study interacting instabilities and textures of resulting
patterns for thermal convection is presented. The model consisting of
twelve-mode dynamical system derived for periodic square lattice describes
convective patterns in the form of stripes and patchwork quilt. The interaction
between stationary zig-zag stripes and standing patchwork quilt pattern leads
to spatiotemporal patterns of twisted patchwork quilt. Textures of these
patterns, which depend strongly on Prandtl number, are investigated numerically
using the model. The model also shows an interesting possibility of a
multicritical point, where stability boundaries of four different structures
meet.Comment: 4 pages including 4 figures, page width revise
Relative Equilibria in the Four-Vortex Problem with Two Pairs of Equal Vorticities
We examine in detail the relative equilibria in the four-vortex problem where
two pairs of vortices have equal strength, that is, \Gamma_1 = \Gamma_2 = 1 and
\Gamma_3 = \Gamma_4 = m where m is a nonzero real parameter. One main result is
that for m > 0, the convex configurations all contain a line of symmetry,
forming a rhombus or an isosceles trapezoid. The rhombus solutions exist for
all m but the isosceles trapezoid case exists only when m is positive. In fact,
there exist asymmetric convex configurations when m < 0. In contrast to the
Newtonian four-body problem with two equal pairs of masses, where the symmetry
of all convex central configurations is unproven, the equations in the vortex
case are easier to handle, allowing for a complete classification of all
solutions. Precise counts on the number and type of solutions (equivalence
classes) for different values of m, as well as a description of some of the
bifurcations that occur, are provided. Our techniques involve a combination of
analysis and modern and computational algebraic geometry
Towards a Simple Model of Compressible Alfvenic Turbulence
A simple model collisionless, dissipative, compressible MHD (Alfvenic)
turbulence in a magnetized system is investigated. In contrast to more familiar
paradigms of turbulence, dissipation arises from Landau damping, enters via
nonlinearity, and is distributed over all scales. The theory predicts that two
different regimes or phases of turbulence are possible, depending on the ratio
of steepening to damping coefficient (m_1/m_2). For strong damping
(|m_1/m_2|<1), a regime of smooth, hydrodynamic turbulence is predicted. For
|m_1/m_2|>1, steady state turbulence does not exist in the hydrodynamic limit.
Rather, spikey, small scale structure is predicted.Comment: 6 pages, one figure, REVTeX; this version to be published in PRE. For
related papers, see http://sdphpd.ucsd.edu/~medvedev/papers.htm
The effect of twisted magnetic field on the resonant absorption of MHD waves in coronal loops
The standing quasi modes in a cylindrical incompressible flux tube with
magnetic twist that undergoes a radial density structuring is considered in
ideal magnetohydrodynamics (MHD). The radial structuring is assumed to be a
linearly varying density profile. Using the relevant connection formulae, the
dispersion relation for the MHD waves is derived and solved numerically to
obtain both the frequencies and damping rates of the fundamental and
first-overtone modes of both the kink (m=1) and fluting (m=2,3) waves. It was
found that a magnetic twist will increase the frequencies, damping rates and
the ratio of the oscillation frequency to the damping rate of these modes. The
period ratio P_1/P_2 of the fundamental and its first-overtone surface waves
for kink (m=1) and fluting (m=2,3) modes is lower than 2 (the value for an
untwisted loop) in the presence of twisted magnetic field. For the kink modes,
particularly, the magnetic twists B_{\phi}/B_z=0.0065 and 0.0255 can achieve
deviations from 2 of the same order of magnitude as in the observations.
Furthermore, for the fundamental kink body waves, the frequency bandwidth
increases with increasing the magnetic twist.Comment: 18 pages, 9 figure
Transverse oscillations of coronal loops
On 14 July 1998 TRACE observed transverse oscillations of a coronal loop generated by an external disturbance most probably caused by a solar flare. These oscillations were interpreted as standing fast kink waves in a magnetic flux tube. Firstly, in this review we embark on the discussion of the theory of waves and oscillations in a homogeneous straight magnetic cylinder with the particular emphasis on fast kink waves. Next, we consider the effects of stratification, loop expansion, loop curvature, non-circular cross-section, loop shape and magnetic twist.
An important property of observed transverse coronal loop oscillations is their fast damping. We briefly review the different mechanisms suggested for explaining the rapid damping phenomenon. After that we concentrate on damping due to resonant absorption. We describe the latest analytical results obtained with the use of thin transition layer approximation, and then compare these results with numerical findings obtained for arbitrary density variation inside the flux tube.
Very often collective oscillations of an array of coronal magnetic loops are observed. It is natural to start studying this phenomenon from the system of two coronal loops. We describe very recent analytical and numerical results of studying collective oscillations of two parallel homogeneous coronal loops.
The implication of the theoretical results for coronal seismology is briefly discussed. We describe the estimates of magnetic field magnitude obtained from the observed fundamental frequency of oscillations, and the estimates of the coronal scale height obtained using the simultaneous observations of the fundamental frequency and the frequency of the first overtone of kink oscillations.
In the last part of the review we summarise the most outstanding and acute problems in the theory of the coronal loop transverse oscillations
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