OSSE observations of active galactic nuclei

The Oriented Scintillation Spectrometer Experiment (OSSE) was designed to address a broad range of scientific objectives through gamma ray observations in the 0.05 to 10 MeV energy range. A significant number of these observations shall be directed to the study of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN). The characteristics of the OSSE instrument and the current observation plans are discussed. Examples of the scientific issues which OSSE expects to address are provided

Pairing Glue Activation in Cuprates within the Quantum Critical Regime

A grand challenge in many-body quantum physics is to explain the apparent connection between quantum criticality and high-temperature superconductivity in the cuprates and similar systems, such as the iron pnictides and chalcogenides. Here we argue that the quantum-critical regime plays an essential role in activating a strong-pairing mechanism: although pairing bosons create a symmetry-breaking instability which suppresses pairing, the combination of these broken-symmetry states within the critical regime can restore this symmetry for the paired quasiparticles. This condition is shown to be met within a large-U ansatz. A hidden quantum phase transition then arises between a Fermi-liquid and a non-Fermi-liquid broken-symmetry striped state, and a critical regime in which the broken-symmetry states are combined.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures; modified version, including clarifications, accepted for publication in EP

Efficiency and formalism of quantum games

We pursue a general theory of quantum games. We show that quantum games are more efficient than classical games, and provide a saturated upper bound for this efficiency. We demonstrate that the set of finite classical games is a strict subset of the set of finite quantum games. We also deduce the quantum version of the Minimax Theorem and the Nash Equilibrium Theorem.Comment: 10 pages. Efficiency is explicitly defined. More discussion on the connection of quantum and classical game

Do Racial Disparities Exist During Pretrial Decisionmaking? Evidence From North Carolina

Racial Disparities in the Criminal Justice System are well documented in that minority defendants are over-represented compared with white defendants. The present authors argue that it is crucial to study the pretrial stages because they are a pivotal point in the criminal justice process continuum and racial disparities may begin to take root at an early stage of the process. We find some evidence of racial disparities in pretrial decisionmaking. The type of bond assigned differs by race. Black defendants who were unable to post bond spent more days in jail, compared to white counterparts. However, race is not a significant predictor of bond amount in the regression analysis, indicating that racial disparities may not be as pronounced as some advocates believe in terms of bond amounts set by judges. We acknowledge that the findings are limited due to small sample size and cautions should be taken when generalizing the findings