Dark matter in the Kim-Nilles mechanism

The Kim-Nilles mechanism relates the $\mu$ term with the axion scale $f_a$, leading to the axino-Higgsino-Higgs Yukawa coupling of order $\mu/f_a$. This can bring a dangerous thermal production of axinos. If the axino is stable, its mass has to be as small as ${\cal O}$(0.1keV), or the reheat temperature should be lower than ${\cal O}$(10GeV) taking the lower axion scale $10^{10}$ GeV in order not to overclose the Universe. If the axino decays to a neutralino, the overproduced neutralinos can re-annihilate appropriately to saturate the observed dark matter density if the annihilation rate is of order $10^{-8}{GeV}^{-2}$ for the axion scale larger than about $10^{11}$ GeV. Thus, a light Higgsino-like lightest supersymmetric particle with a sizable bino mixture becomes a good dark matter candidate whose nucleonic cross-section is of order $10^{-45}$cm$^2$.Comment: 10 pages, 1 figure; Corrected errors in Eq.(7) and in the direct detection cross-section of the Higgsino-like dark matter; Revised Fig.1; Added a discussion on the saxion; Added references; to appear in PR

Improving Credit Card Operations with Data Mining Techniques

Consumer credit is ubiquitous and lending poses credit risk – the risk of economic loss due to the failure of a borrower to repay according to the terms of his or her contract with the lender. And so, managing credit risk entails estimating the potential ability of borrowers to repay their debts. Researchers have sought to identify factors that contribute to consumer risk, by using quantitative models. However, the presence of data mining techniques to identify credit risk cannot be ignored. There is a paucity of research to demonstrate the use of data mining techniques in this context, and such studies could be instructive to practitioners and academicians. This study fills that void. Using a data mining tool, this study shows that consumers can be segmented by their characteristics such as education, income, years on the job, and payment habits. The study showed that the rich were highly educated and always paid in full. Delinquency experiences were more frequent in the lower income segments. Knowledge about the risk of delinquency can be useful for lenders to price for credit risk and therefore to expand the reach of credit to consumers without having to compromise on profitability

The Case for the Abolition of Criminal Confessions

Confessions have long been considered the gold standard of evidence in criminal proceedings. But in truth, confession evidence imposes significant harms on our criminal justice system, through false convictions and other violations of defendants’ due process and moral rights. Moreover, our current doctrine is unable to eliminate or even curb these harms. This Article makes the case for the abolition of confession evidence in criminal proceedings. Though it may seem radical, abolition is sensible and best furthers our penological goals. As a theoretical matter, confession evidence has low probative value, but it is prejudicially overvalued by juries and judges. Consequently, this overvaluation means both that innocent defendants are systemically pressured into proclaiming their guilt and that juries are so swayed by it—even in light of countervailing evidence—that they render wrongful convictions. Indeed, as practice and empirical evidence demonstrate, this is not merely a theoretical possibility: false confessions and resulting miscarriages of justice occur with disturbing frequency. Moreover, confession evidence, and the methods to obtain it, impose significant harms on defendants in terms of their due process and moral rights, due to the pressures of interrogation, investigation, and jeopardy. And our current constitutional and evidentiary doctrines are incapable of addressing these harms, for these doctrines fail to recognize that false confessions are often caused by overwhelming pressures endemic to our criminal justice system. Consequently, solving these problems requires a comprehensive, properly focused solution that goes far beyond our current doctrinal hodgepodge. The abolition of confession evidence meets that demand. Compared to other solutions that have been proposed, such as further limiting law enforcement and prosecutorial conduct or introducing expert testimony and evidence, the abolition of such evidence best apprehends and mitigates the epistemic and moral concerns arising from confession evidence and interrogation. In addition, it coheres with and flows from the Constitution’s due process requirement of voluntariness in confessions and the evidentiary requirements of reliability. Finally, it would preserve and improve key features of our criminal justice system, namely interrogation, plea bargaining, and the assessment of evidence

Professor Suri Bhagavantam Centenary Celebrations

Fourteenth October 2009 wasthe 100th birth anniversary ofProf Suri Bhagavantam, the eminent Scientist, able Administrator, andone of the Principal Architects of Defence R&D Organisation. Hesucceeded Prof DS Kothari, the founder of the DRDO who servedas Scientific Adviser (SA) to Defence Minister and Director General, DRDO for eleven years.In the first fifteen years after independence, Indian security threat perception was quite low and this was reflected in the allocations for Defence by the Government of India. The only perceived threat was from another nascent and much smallernation Pakistan. The Himalayas were considered an impregnable natural barrier and in any case India firmly believed that China would never invade India. If the Defence allocations were low,the finances allotted to DRDO were even lower (percentage-wise). Apart from this low funding Dr Kothari felt in hibited to some extentby the advice given by Prof PMS Blacket that DRDO should not attempt to design and develop such major systems as aircraft, missiles, tanks, radars, etc., in view of the very poor industrial base in the country which did not hold much promise of expansionin the for eseeable future.Defence Science Journal, 2009, 59(6), pp.553-554, DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.14429/dsj.59.157