Federal Minimum Wage, Tax-Transfer Earnings Supplements, and Poverty

[Excerpt] This report focuses on the impact of minimum wage and tax-transfer earnings supplements for workers of different family types. It does so through illustrating how the minimum wage and federal tax-transfer policies affect the income of a minimum wage worker who works full-time, full-year in four different family types: a single childless worker; a worker supporting a married couple; a single mother with two children; and a married couple with two children. These family types are chosen to highlight the different treatment federal tax-transfer policies have on workers of different family types. They were not chosen as representative of most minimum wage workers. The illustrations show the impact of policies on two childless workers—one married, one not. They also show the impact of two workers with children—one married, one not. The report highlights how policies differ between families with children, and families without children. This report supplements these illustrations with some background on policies, as well as some policy considerations that apply generally to debates on the minimum wage and tax-transfer policies. Full-year, full-time work at the minimum wage is not common. In 2012, 32% of workers earning the minimum wage worked full-time. Again, the illustrations were not chosen to be representative of most minimum wage workers. Full-time, full-year work was chosen for illustrative purposes. Additionally, the income produced by full-time, full year work at the minimum wage is an important policy benchmark, as it reflects the federally-determined minimum income for someone with full-time involvement in the labor force. This report • describes current law minimum wage and tax-transfer earnings supplement policies; • provides the illustrations of gross earnings and net income (after taxes and SNAP benefits) for full-time full-year minimum wage workers at both the current minimum wage ($7.25 per hour) and the proposed$10.10 minimum wage; and • discusses some of the policy implications of addressing poverty through both the minimum wage and federally-funded earnings supplements

Diffusion coefficients for multi-step persistent random walks on lattices

We calculate the diffusion coefficients of persistent random walks on lattices, where the direction of a walker at a given step depends on the memory of a certain number of previous steps. In particular, we describe a simple method which enables us to obtain explicit expressions for the diffusion coefficients of walks with two-step memory on different classes of one-, two- and higher-dimensional lattices.Comment: 27 pages, 2 figure

An Adaptive Total Variation Algorithm for Computing the Balanced Cut of a Graph

We propose an adaptive version of the total variation algorithm proposed in [3] for computing the balanced cut of a graph. The algorithm from [3] used a sequence of inner total variation minimizations to guarantee descent of the balanced cut energy as well as convergence of the algorithm. In practice the total variation minimization step is never solved exactly. Instead, an accuracy parameter is specified and the total variation minimization terminates once this level of accuracy is reached. The choice of this parameter can vastly impact both the computational time of the overall algorithm as well as the accuracy of the result. Moreover, since the total variation minimization step is not solved exactly, the algorithm is not guarantied to be monotonic. In the present work we introduce a new adaptive stopping condition for the total variation minimization that guarantees monotonicity. This results in an algorithm that is actually monotonic in practice and is also significantly faster than previous, non-adaptive algorithms

Computation of laminar viscous-inviscid interactions in high-speed internal flows

A review is given of computations for a series of nominally 2-D laminar viscous-inviscid interactions. Comparisons were made with detailed experimental shock tunnel results. The shock wave boundary layer interactions considered were induced by a compression ramp in one case and by an externally generated incident shock in the second case. In general, good agreement was reached between the grid refined calculations and experiment for the incipient and small separation conditions. For the highly separated flow, 3-D calculations which included the finite span effects of the experiment were required in order to obtain agreement with the data

Investigation into the selection of viewing configurations for three-component planar Doppler velocimetry measurements.

A method for the calculation of three orthogonal velocity components in planar Doppler velocimetry (PDV) using four or more measured velocity components (to the three typically used) is presented. The advantages and disadvantages are assessed by use of a Monte Carlo simulation and experimental measurements of the velocity field of a rotating disk. The addition of a fourth velocity component has been shown to lead to reductions in the final errors of up to 25%. The selection of viewing configurations for experiments is discussed by simulation of the level of errors in measured velocity components and investigation of the final level of errors in the orthogonal velocity components. Experimental measurements of the velocity field of a rotating disk are presented, demonstrating the effect of the viewing configuration on the final level of error

N=4 Supersymmetry on a Space-Time Lattice

Maximally supersymmetric Yang--Mills theory in four dimensions can be formulated on a space-time lattice while exactly preserving a single supersymmetry. Here we explore in detail this lattice theory, paying particular attention to its strongly coupled regime. Targeting a theory with gauge group SU(N), the lattice formulation is naturally described in terms of gauge group U(N). Although the U(1) degrees of freedom decouple in the continuum limit we show that these degrees of freedom lead to unwanted lattice artifacts at strong coupling. We demonstrate that these lattice artifacts can be removed, leaving behind a lattice formulation based on the SU(N) gauge group with the expected apparently conformal behavior at both weak and strong coupling

Collision-induced conformational changes in glycine

We present quantum dynamical calculations on the conformational changes of glycine in collisions with the He, Ne, and Ar rare-gas atoms. For two conformer interconversion processes (III-->I and IV-->I), we find that the probability of interconversion is dependent on several factors, including the energy of the collision, the angle at which the colliding atom approaches the glycine molecule, and the strength of the glycine-atom interaction. Furthermore, we show that attractive interactions between the colliding atom and the glycine molecule catalyze conformer interconversion at low collision energies. In previous infrared spectroscopy studies of glycine trapped in rare-gas matrices and helium clusters, conformer III has been consistently observed, but conformer IV has yet to be conclusively detected. Because of the calculated thermodynamic stability of conformer IV, its elusiveness has been attributed to the IV-->I conformer interconversion process. However, our calculations present little indication that IV-->I interconversion occurs more readily than III-->I interconversion. Although we cannot determine whether conformer IV interconverts during experimental Ne- and Ar-matrix depositions, our evidence suggests that the conformer should be present in helium droplets. Anharmonic vibrational frequency calculations illustrate that previous efforts to detect conformer IV may have been hindered by the overlap of its IR-absorption bands with those of other conformers. We propose that the redshifted symmetric –CH2 stretch of conformer IV provides a means for its conclusive experimental detection