Formal Hecke algebras and algebraic oriented cohomology theories

In the present paper we generalize the construction of the nil Hecke ring of Kostant-Kumar to the context of an arbitrary algebraic oriented cohomology theory of Levine-Morel and Panin-Smirnov, e.g. to Chow groups, Grothendieck's K_0, connective K-theory, elliptic cohomology, and algebraic cobordism. The resulting object, which we call a formal (affine) Demazure algebra, is parameterized by a one-dimensional commutative formal group law and has the following important property: specialization to the additive and multiplicative periodic formal group laws yields completions of the nil Hecke and the 0-Hecke rings respectively. We also introduce a deformed version of the formal (affine) Demazure algebra, which we call a formal (affine) Hecke algebra. We show that the specialization of the formal (affine) Hecke algebra to the additive and multiplicative periodic formal group laws gives completions of the degenerate (affine) Hecke algebra and the usual (affine) Hecke algebra respectively. We show that all formal affine Demazure algebras (and all formal affine Hecke algebras) become isomorphic over certain coefficient rings, proving an analogue of a result of Lusztig.Comment: 28 pages. v2: Some results strengthened and references added. v3: Minor corrections, section numbering changed to match published version. v4: Sign errors in Proposition 6.8(d) corrected. This version incorporates an erratum to the published versio

Everyday cosmopolitanism in representations of Europe among young Romanians in Britain

The paper presents an analysis of everyday cosmopolitanism in constructions of Europe among young Romanian nationals living in Britain. Adopting a social representations approach, cosmopolitanism is understood as a cultural symbolic resource that is part of everyday knowledge. Through a discursively-oriented analysis of focus group data, we explore the ways in which notions of cosmopolitanism intersect with images of Europeanness in the accounts of participants. We show that, for our participants, representations of Europe are anchored in an Orientalist schema of West-vs.-East, whereby the West is seen as epitomising European values of modernity and progress, while the East is seen as backward and traditional. Our findings further show that representations of cosmopolitanism reinforce this East/West dichotomy, within a discourse of ‘Occidental cosmopolitanism’. The paper concludes with a critical discussion of the diverse and complex ideological foundations of these constructions of European cosmopolitanism and their implications

On the origin of utility, weighting, and discounting functions: How they get their shapes and how to change their shapes

We present a theoretical account of the origin of the shapes of utility, probability weighting, and temporal discounting functions. In an experimental test of the theory, we systematically change the shape of revealed utility, weighting, and discounting functions by manipulating the distribution of monies, probabilities, and delays in the choices used to elicit them. The data demonstrate that there is no stable mapping between attribute values and their subjective equivalents. Expected and discounted utility theories, and also their descendants such as prospect theory and hyperbolic discounting theory, simply assert stable mappings to describe choice data and offer no account of the instability we find. We explain where the shape of the mapping comes from and, in describing the mechanism by which people choose, explain why the shape depends on the distribution of gains, losses, risks, and delays in the environment

Synthesized grain size distribution in the interstellar medium

We examine a synthetic way of constructing the grain size distribution in the interstellar medium (ISM). First we formulate a synthetic grain size distribution composed of three grain size distributions processed with the following mechanisms that govern the grain size distribution in the Milky Way: (i) grain growth by accretion and coagulation in dense clouds, (ii) supernova shock destruction by sputtering in diffuse ISM, and (iii) shattering driven by turbulence in diffuse ISM. Then, we examine if the observational grain size distribution in the Milky Way (called MRN) is successfully synthesized or not. We find that the three components actually synthesize the MRN grain size distribution in the sense that the deficiency of small grains by (i) and (ii) is compensated by the production of small grains by (iii). The fraction of each {contribution} to the total grain processing of (i), (ii), and (iii) (i.e., the relative importance of the three {contributions} to all grain processing mechanisms) is 30-50%, 20-40%, and 10-40%, respectively. We also show that the Milky Way extinction curve is reproduced with the synthetic grain size distributions.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in Earth, Planets, and Spac

Takeovers and cooperatives: governance and stability in non-corporate firms

Author's draft dated 11 January 2010. Final version published in Journal of economics available online at http://www.springerlink.com/If consumers wholly or partially control a firm with market power they will charge less than the profit maximizing price. Starting at the usual monopoly price, a small price reduction will have a second order effect on profits but a first order effect on consumer surplus. Despite this desirable static result, it has been argued that cooperatives are vulnerable to take-over by outsiders who will run them as for-profit businesses. This paper studies takeovers of cooperatives. We argue that there will not be excessive takeovers of cooperatives due to the Grossman-Hart problem of free riding during takeovers.Research in part supported by ESRC grant RES-000-22-0650

Genomweite polygene Werte revolutionieren die Intelligenzforschung

Intelligence — the ability to learn, reason and solve problems — predicts all important life outcomes and is highly heritable. Recent genome-wide association studies have identified inherited genome sequence differences that account for five percent of the variance in intelligence and thus, for ten percent of its heritability. These findings open new avenues for research into the causes and consequences of intelligence using genome-wide polygenic scores that aggregate the effects of thousands of DNA variants