Extreme Candidates as the Beneficent Spoiler? Range Effect in the Plurality Voting System

How does the entrance of radical candidates influence election results? Conventional wisdom suggests that extreme candidates merely split the votes. Based on the range effect theory in cognitive psychology, we hypothesize that the entrance of an extreme candidate reframes the endpoints of the ideological spectrum among available candidates, which makes the moderate one on the same side to be perceived by the voters as even more moderate. Through two survey experiments in the United States and Taiwan, we provide empirical support for range effect in the vote choice in the plurality system. The results imply that a mainstream party can, even without changing its own manifesto, benefit from the entrance of its radical counterpart; it explains why the mainstream party may choose cooperation strategically. Our findings also challenge the assumption in regression models that the perceived ideological positions of candidates are independent of each other

χc0(1P)\chi_{c0}(1P) decay into Σˉ Σπ\bar\Sigma~\Sigma\pi in search of an I=1I=1, 1/2−1/2^- baryon state around KˉN\bar K N threshold

We present the theoretical study of the process $\chi_{c0}(1P)\to\bar\Sigma\Sigma\pi$ decay, by taking into account the $\pi\Sigma$ and $\pi\bar\Sigma$ final state interactions of the final meson-baryon pair based on the chiral unitary approach. We show that the process filters the isospin $I=1$ in the $\pi\Sigma$ channel and offers a reaction to test the existence of an $I=1$ state with strangeness $S=-1$ and spin-parity $J^p=1/2^-$ around the $\bar KN$ threshold predicted by some theories and supported by some experiments.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figures, 1 table, the version for PL

Triangle singularity in the J/ψ→K+K−f0(980)(a0(980))J/\psi \rightarrow K^+ K^- f_0(980)(a_0(980)) decays

We study the $J/\psi \rightarrow K^+ K^- f_0(980)(a_0(980))$ reaction and find that the mechanism to produce this decay develops a triangle singularity around $M_{\rm inv}(K^- f_0/K^- a_0) \approx 1515$~MeV. The differential width $d\Gamma / dM_{\rm inv}(K^- f_0/K^- a_0)$ shows a rapid growth around the invariant mass being 1515~MeV as a consequence of the triangle singularity of this mechanism, which is directly tied to the nature of the $f_0(980)$ and $a_0(980)$ as dynamically generated resonances from the interaction of pseudoscalar mesons. The branching ratios obtained for the $J/\psi \rightarrow K^+ K^- f_0(980)(a_0(980))$ decays are of the order of $10^{-5}$, accessible in present facilities, and we argue that their observation should provide relevant information concerning the nature of the low-lying scalar mesons.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figures, published in EPJ

Limiting Government Predation Through Anonymous Banking: A Theory with Evidence from China

China's economic performance of the past two decades presents a puzzle for the economics of transition and development: Enormous private business incentives were unleashed that have fueled rapid economic growth despite the fact that China has had very weak "conventional institutions" (such as the rule of law and separation of powers) to constrain the government from arbitrary intrusion into economic activities. We argue that one mechanism that has limited the government's ability for predation and harassment is commitment through information decentralization, where the key institutiton is "anonymous banking," that is, a combination of the use of cash for transactions and the use of anonymous savings deposits. The government's incentive for such a mechanism comes form the increased quasi-fiscal revenues collected from the state banking system through "financial repression," a combination of controls on international capital flows with restrictions on domestic interest rates. The major features of China's economy concerning its fiscal decline, financial deepening, and the sectoral dual-track can be better understood using this analytical framework.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/39659/3/wp275.pd