Metaphysics and Law

The dichotomy between questions of fact and questions of law serves as a starting point for the following discussion of the nature of legal reasoning. In the course of the dialogue the author notes similarities and dissimilarities between legal reasoning and philosophical and mathematical reasoning. In the end we are left with a clearer insight into the distinctive features of the adjudicative process

Metaphysics and Law

The dichotomy between questions of fact and questions of law serves as a starting point for the following discussion of the nature of legal reasoning. In the course of the dialogue the author notes similarities and dissimilarities between legal reasoning and philosophical and mathematical reasoning. In the end we are left with a clearer insight into the distinctive features of the adjudicative process

Competition, quality and contract compliance: evidence from compulsory competitive tendering in local government in Great Britain, 1987-2000

The introduction of competition has frequently been found to cause costs to fall. There has, however, been a question as to whether this was partly achieved at the cost of quality. Auction theory predicts prices would fall more the greater the competition to provide the service. There has been some debate about whether the smaller budgets would make contract compliance more difficult. Evidence is found in support of this hypothesis. We also find some evidence that the better recorded performance of the in-house direct service organisations (DSOs) during this period was due to the information advantage they had from being incumbents

Evidence of endothelial dysfunction in the development of Alzheimer's disease : Is Alzheimer's a vascular disorder?

Acknowledgements Dr Soiza is funded by an NRS Career Research Fellowship. The authors are grateful to Alzheimer’s Research UK for providing funding.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Exponentially Enhanced Quantum Metrology

We show that when a suitable entanglement generating unitary operator depending on a parameter is applied on N qubits in parallel, and an appropriate observable is measured, a precision of order 2 raised to the power (-N) in estimating the parameter may be achieved. This exponentially improves the precision achievable in classical and in quantum non-entangling parallel strategies. We propose a quantum-optics model of laser light interacting with an N-qubit system, say a polyatomic molecule, via a generalized Jaynes-Cummings interaction which, in principle, could achieve the exponentially enhanced precision.Comment: 4 pages, 1 postscript figure ; typos correcte

Exact solutions of the (2+1) Dimensional Dirac equation in a constant magnetic field in the presence of a minimal length

We study the (2+1) dimensional Dirac equation in an homogeneous magnetic field (relativistic Landau problem) within a minimal length, or generalized uncertainty principle -GUP-, scenario. We derive exact solutions for a given explicit representation of the GUP and provide expressions of the wave functions in the momentum representation. We find that in the minimal length case the degeneracy of the states is modified and that there are states that do not exist in the ordinary quantum mechanics limit (\beta -->0). We also discuss the mass-less case which may find application in describing the behavior of charged fermions in new materials like Graphene.Comment: 9 pages, to appear in Physical Review