The Social Market Economy as a Formula for Peace, Prosperity, and Sustainability

The social market economy was developed in Germany during the interwar period amidst political and economic turmoil. With clear demarcation lines differentiating it from socialism and laissez-faire capitalism, the social market economy became a formula for peace and prosperity for post WWII Germany. Since then, the success of the social market economy has inspired many other countries to adopt its principles. Drawing on evidence from economic history and the history of economic thought, this thesis first reviews the evolution of the fundamental principles that form the foundation of social-market economic thought. Blending the micro-economic utility maximization framework with traditional growth theory, I provide theoretical support that aggregate social welfare is maximized in a stylized social market economy. Despite the presence of extensive qualitative research, no attempts have yet been made to measure social market economic performance empirically or to quantify the effects of social market economic principles on peace and prosperity. Thus, I explore potential indicators to develop a social market economic performance index. I provide empirical evidence that supports the notion that the application of social market economic principles carries a social peace dividend, creates more equal opportunity, promotes ecological sustainability, and generates higher per capita incomes. I use the empirical results to build an interactive web application that allows for the simulation, assessment, and visualization of the economic-performance effects of applying social market economic principles to the economies of 165 countries. Lastly, the interactive web application also allows for modification of the social market economic principles and reports the estimated impact on peace and prosperity in these countries

Magnetic field stabilization system for atomic physics experiments

Atomic physics experiments commonly use millitesla-scale magnetic fields to provide a quantization axis. As atomic transition frequencies depend on the amplitude of this field, many experiments require a stable absolute field. Most setups use electromagnets, which require a power supply stability not usually met by commercially available units. We demonstrate stabilization of a field of 14.6 mT to 4.3 nT rms noise (0.29 ppm), compared to noise of $\gtrsim$ 100 nT without any stabilization. The rms noise is measured using a field-dependent hyperfine transition in a single $^{43}$Ca$^+$ ion held in a Paul trap at the centre of the magnetic field coils. For the $^{43}$Ca$^+$ "atomic clock" qubit transition at 14.6 mT, which depends on the field only in second order, this would yield a projected coherence time of many hours. Our system consists of a feedback loop and a feedforward circuit that control the current through the field coils and could easily be adapted to other field amplitudes, making it suitable for other applications such as neutral atom traps.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figure

Tube Width Fluctuations in F-Actin Solutions

We determine the statistics of the local tube width in F-actin solutions, beyond the usually reported mean value. Our experimental observations are explained by a segment fluid theory based on the binary collision approximation (BCA). In this systematic generalization of the standard mean-field approach effective polymer segments interact via a potential representing the topological constraints. The analytically predicted universal tube width distribution with a stretched tail is in good agreement with the data.Comment: Final version, 5 pages, 4 figure