A Spatial Voting Model of Russia

n this work factor analysis is used to obtain a two-dimensional map of ideological preferences of the Russian elec-torate. It is shown that Moscow is the most polarized region with respect to ideological preferences. A spatial model of voting, based on the assumption that the voter’s utility depends on the distance between his and the party's ideological posi-tions and valence, is estimated. It is proved that ideological preferences significantly affect the voter's choice. We demonstrate the communist bias in rural regions can be entirely explained in terms of measured ideological preferences.spatial voting model; Russian electorate

Do Russians want to punish fellow citizens who oppose the war in Ukraine? Evidence from an online experiment

Research suggests a majority of people in Russia support their country’s military actions in Ukraine. But what do those who support the war think about those who oppose it? Using an online experiment, Philipp Chapkovski and Alexei Zakharov illustrate the extent to which ordinary Russians are willing to punish fellow citizens for their anti-war views

PARAMETER IDENTIFICATION OF A ROBOT ARM USING GENETIC ALGORITHMS

An identification method for inverse dynamics of a robot arm based on genetic algorithms (GA) is considered. It is shown that GAs are able to find robot parameters effectively even if the robot has low resolution position encoders. It is possible because the method only requires position feedback and there is no need to find out the speed and acceleration of the links that usually can only be done through finite differences calculations that cause dramatic errors during identification. The effectiveness of the algorithm is demonstrated on the example of parameter identification of the real robot PUMA 560 (for second and third links)

Economic Factors in a Model of Voting: The Case of The Netherlands, Great Britain, and Israel

A spatial model of voting in parliamentary elections is estimated by using survey data from The Netherlands, Great Brit-ain, and Israel. It is shown that more educated voters put more weight on the parties’ political programs. The choice of less educated voters depends primarily on their social and economic status. In the case of Israel, observance of religions traditions plays the same role as education in European countries: the more secular is the voter, the greater is the impact of the party’s policy platform on his choicespatial model; voting; survey data

Application of a theorem in stochastic models of elections

Previous empirical research has developed stochastic electoral models for Israel, Turkey, and other polities. The work suggests that convergence to an electoral center (often predicted by electoral models) is a nongeneric phenomenon. In an attempt to explain nonconvergence, a formal model based on intrinsic valence is presented. This theory showed that there are necessary and sufficient conditions for convergence. The necessary condition is that a convergence coefficient c is bounded above by the dimension w of the policy space, while a sufficient condition is that the coefficient is bounded above by 1. This coefficient is defined in terms of the difference in exogenous valences, the “spatial coefficient”, and the electoral variance. The theoretical model is then applied to empirical analyses of elections in the United States and Britain. These empirical models include sociodemographic valence and electoral perceptions of character trait. It is shown that the model implies convergence to positions close to the electoral origin. To explain party divergence, the model is then extended to incorporate activist valences. This extension gives a first-order balance condition that allows the party to calculate the optimal marginal condition to maximize vote share. We argue that the equilibrium positions of presidential candidates in US elections and by party leaders in British elections are principally due to the influence of activists, rather than the centripetal effect of the electorate

Does voluntary disclosure of polarizing information make polarization deeper? An online experiment on Russo-Ukrainian War

Does the animosity toward a holder of an opposite political opinion or the behavior toward someone whose opinion on a divisive issue is unknown depends on whether that opinion was disclosed or withheld voluntarily? In order to study this question, we conducted a pre-registered study in Russia, measuring the pro-war dictators' behavior towards their partners with aligned or conflicting views on the war in Ukraine using give-or-take modification of Dictator Game. In the presence of a large polarisation gap (outgroup discrimination), we did not find that intentional vs. unintentional disclosure of the recipients' positions affected the transfers of the dictators; at the same time, dictators' beliefs about the share of war supporters among experiment participants and the donations made by other dictators were causally affected. Our study is the first one to consider this dimension of social interactions, and contributes to the quickly growing literature on political polarisation

Signatures of a Graviton Mass in the Cosmic Microwave Background

There exist consistent low energy effective field theories describing gravity in the Higgs phase that allow the coexistence of massive gravitons and the conventional 1/r potential of gravity. In an effort to constrain the value of the graviton mass in these theories, we study the tensor contribution to the CMB temperature anisotropy and polarization spectra in the presence of a non-vanishing graviton mass. We find that the observation of a B-mode signal consistent with the spectrum predicted by inflationary models would provide the strongest limit yet on the mass of an elementary particle -- a graviton -- at a level of m\lesssim 10^(-30) eV\approx(10 Mpc)^(-1). We also find that a graviton mass in the range between (10 Mpc)^(-1) and (10 kpc)^(-1) leads to interesting modifications of the polarization spectrum. The characteristic signature of a graviton mass in this range would be a plateau in the B-mode spectrum up to angular multipoles of l\sim 100. For even larger values of the graviton mass the tensor contribution to the CMB spectra becomes strongly suppressed.Comment: 22 pages, 5 figures, v2: references added, accepted for publication in PR

Large area quasi-free standing monolayer graphene on 3C-SiC(111)

Large scale, homogeneous quasi-free standing monolayer graphene is obtained on cubic silicon carbide, i.e. the 3C-SiC(111) surface, which represents an appealing and cost effective platform for graphene growth. The quasi-free monolayer is produced by intercalation of hydrogen under the interfacial, (6root3x6root3)R30-reconstructed carbon layer. After intercalation, angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) reveals sharp linear pi-bands. The decoupling of graphene from the substrate is identified by X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS) and low energy electron diffraction (LEED). Atomic force microscopy (AFM) and low energy electron microscopy (LEEM) demonstrate that homogeneous monolayer domains extend over areas of hundreds of square-micrometers.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, Copyright (2011) American Institute of Physics. This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the American Institute of Physic