All Pain, Whose Gain? A Fifty-State Analysis of the Independent State Legislature Doctrine for Redistricting

The “Independent State Legislature” (ISL) doctrine has recently been offered as a reinterpretation of legislative control over federal elections and may upend decades of election law precedent. Based on Article I of the U.S. Constitution, the ISL doctrine holds that such authority of state legislatures potentially overrides state constitutions, as well as state courts, citizen initiatives, and even the governor. The original political goals of the ISL doctrine were the 2000 and 2016 Presidential elections. The doctrine has recently come before the Supreme Court in Moore v. Harper, a case concerning redistricting, and could open the door to increased gerrymandering of U.S. congressional districts. Here we analyze the practical consequences in all fifty states. We find that such a change in redistricting law would be highly asymmetric to the major political parties, giving considerable advantage to Democrats because it would undo an existing propensity for reform or judicial intervention in Democratic-leaning and swing states. This asymmetry raises questions of the desirability of introducing the ISL to questions of redistricting

A systems framework for remedying dysfunction in U.S. democracy

Democracy often fails to meet its ideals, and these failures may be made worse by electoral institutions. Unwanted outcomes include polarized institutions, unresponsive representatives, and the ability of a faction of voters to gain power at the expense of the majority. Various reforms have been proposed to address these problems, but their effectiveness is difficult to predict against a backdrop of complex interactions. Here we outline a path for systems-level modeling to help understand and optimize repairs to U.S. democracy. Following the tradition of engineering and biology, models of systems include mechanisms with dynamical properties that include nonlinearities and amplification (voting rules), positive feedback mechanisms (single-party control, gerrymandering), negative feedback (checks and balances), integration over time (lifetime judicial appointments), and low dimensionality (polarization). To illustrate a systems-level approach we analyze three emergent phenomena: low dimensionality, elite polarization, and anti-majoritarianism in legislatures. In each case, long-standing rules now contribute to undesirable outcomes as a consequence of changes in the political environment. Theoretical understanding at a general level will also help evaluate whether a proposed reform's benefits will materialize and be lasting, especially as conditions change again. In this way, rigorous modeling may not only shape new lines of research, but aid in the design of effective and lasting reform

Spike Timing Dependent Plasticity: A Consequence of More Fundamental Learning Rules

Spike timing dependent plasticity (STDP) is a phenomenon in which the precise timing of spikes affects the sign and magnitude of changes in synaptic strength. STDP is often interpreted as the comprehensive learning rule for a synapse – the “first law” of synaptic plasticity. This interpretation is made explicit in theoretical models in which the total plasticity produced by complex spike patterns results from a superposition of the effects of all spike pairs. Although such models are appealing for their simplicity, they can fail dramatically. For example, the measured single-spike learning rule between hippocampal CA3 and CA1 pyramidal neurons does not predict the existence of long-term potentiation one of the best-known forms of synaptic plasticity. Layers of complexity have been added to the basic STDP model to repair predictive failures, but they have been outstripped by experimental data. We propose an alternate first law: neural activity triggers changes in key biochemical intermediates, which act as a more direct trigger of plasticity mechanisms. One particularly successful model uses intracellular calcium as the intermediate and can account for many observed properties of bidirectional plasticity. In this formulation, STDP is not itself the basis for explaining other forms of plasticity, but is instead a consequence of changes in the biochemical intermediate, calcium. Eventually a mechanism-based framework for learning rules should include other messengers, discrete change at individual synapses, spread of plasticity among neighboring synapses, and priming of hidden processes that change a synapse's susceptibility to future change. Mechanism-based models provide a rich framework for the computational representation of synaptic plasticity

Leading-Order Actions of Goldstino Fields

This paper starts with a self-contained discussion of the so-called Akulov-Volkov action S_AV, which is traditionally taken to be the leading-order action of Goldstino field. Explicit expressions for S_AV and its chiral version S_AV^ch are presented. We then turn to the issue on how these actions are related to the leading-order action S_NL proposed in the newly proposed constrained superfield formalism. We show that S_NL may yield S_AV/S_AV^ch or a totally different action S_KS, depending on how the auxiliary field in the former is integrated out. However, S_KS and S_AV/S_AV^ch always yield the same S-matrix elements, as one would have expected from general considerations in quantum field theory.Comment: Minor changes, version to appear in European Physical Journal

Nonlinear Realization of Spontaneously Broken N=1 Supersymmetry Revisited

This paper revisits the nonlinear realization of spontaneously broken N=1 supersymmetry. It is shown that the constrained superfield formalism can be reinterpreted in the language of standard realization of nonlinear supersymmetry via a new and simpler route. Explicit formulas of actions are presented for general renormalizable theories with or without gauge interactions. The nonlinear Wess-Zumino gauge is discussed and relations are pointed out for different definitions of gauge fields. In addition, a general procedure is provided to deal with theories of arbitrary Kahler potentials.Comment: 1+18 pages, LaTe

Superalgebra and Conservative Quantities in N=1 Self-dual Supergravity

The N=1 self-dual supergravity has SL(2,C) and the left-handed and right -handed local supersymmetries. These symmetries result in SU(2) charges as the angular-momentum and the supercharges. The model possesses also the invariance under the general translation transforms and this invariance leads to the energy-momentum. All the definitions are generally covariant . As the SU(2) charges and the energy-momentum we obtained previously constituting the 3-Poincare algebra in the Ashtekar's complex gravity, the SU(2) charges, the supercharges and the energy-momentum here also restore the super-Poincare algebra, and this serves to support the reasonableness of their interpretations.Comment: 18 pages, Latex, no figure

Fluorescence-Based Monitoring of In Vivo Neural Activity Using a Circuit-Tracing Pseudorabies Virus

The study of coordinated activity in neuronal circuits has been challenging without a method to simultaneously report activity and connectivity. Here we present the first use of pseudorabies virus (PRV), which spreads through synaptically connected neurons, to express a fluorescent calcium indicator protein and monitor neuronal activity in a living animal. Fluorescence signals were proportional to action potential number and could reliably detect single action potentials in vitro. With two-photon imaging in vivo, we observed both spontaneous and stimulated activity in neurons of infected murine peripheral autonomic submandibular ganglia (SMG). We optically recorded the SMG response in the salivary circuit to direct electrical stimulation of the presynaptic axons and to physiologically relevant sensory stimulation of the oral cavity. During a time window of 48 hours after inoculation, few spontaneous transients occurred. By 72 hours, we identified more frequent and prolonged spontaneous calcium transients, suggestive of neuronal or tissue responses to infection that influence calcium signaling. Our work establishes in vivo investigation of physiological neuronal circuit activity and subsequent effects of infection with single cell resolution

Contributions to the optical linewidth of shallow donor - bound excitonic transition in ZnO

We study the donor-bound exciton optical linewidth properties of Al, Ga and In donor ensembles in single-crystal zinc oxide (ZnO). Neutral shallow donors (D$^0$) in ZnO are spin qubits with optical access via the donor-bound exciton (D$^0$X). This spin-photon interface enables applications in quantum networking, memories and transduction. Essential optical parameters which impact the spin-photon interface include radiative lifetime, optical inhomogeneous and homogeneous linewidth and optical depth. The ensemble photoluminescence linewidth ranges from 4-11 GHz, less than two orders of magnitude larger than the expected lifetime-limited linewidth. The ensemble linewidth remains narrow in absorption measurements through the 300 $\mu$m-thick sample, which has an estimated optical depth up to several hundred. Homogeneous broadening of the ensemble line due to phonons is consistent with thermal population relaxation between D$^0$X states. This thermal relaxation mechanism has negligible contribution to the total linewidth at 2 K. We find that inhomogeneous broadening due to the disordered isotopic environment in natural ZnO is significant, ranging from 1.9 GHz - 2.2 GHz. Two-laser spectral anti-hole burning measurements, which can be used to measure the homogeneous linewidth in an ensemble, however, reveal spectral anti-hole linewidths similar to the single laser ensemble linewidth. Despite this broadening, the high homogeneity, large optical depth and potential for isotope purification indicate that the optical properties of the ZnO donor-bound exciton are promising for a wide range of quantum technologies and motivate a need to improve the isotope and chemical purity of ZnO for quantum technologies.Comment: 22 pages, 12 figure