Difficulties of Simplicity

This paper attempts to show that the doctrine of divine simplicity suffers from difficulties which undermine its plausibility. The main difficulties explored are Plantinga’s problem of double identification, Pruss’ multiple attributes problem, and Schmitt’s co-specificity problem. In more recent years, defenders of the doctrine have offered a way out of these problems by interpreting it in light of a truthmaker account of predication. This paper analyzes this recent defense, among others, and attempts to show that this new interpretation of divine simplicity still has problems which undermine the plausibility of the doctrine

Turaev genus and alternating decompositions

We prove that the genus of the Turaev surface of a link diagram is determined by a graph whose vertices correspond to the boundary components of the maximal alternating regions of the link diagram. Furthermore, we use these graphs to classify link diagrams whose Turaev surface has genus one or two, and we prove that similar classification theorems exist for all genera.Comment: 28 pages, 24 figures. Significant changes to the proofs of Theorem 1.5 and Theorem 3.

Extensive microscale N isotopic heterogeneity in chondritic organic matter

Introduction: H and N isotopic anomalies (mainly excesses of D and 15N) in organic matter from primitive meteorites and IDPs suggest preservation of presolar molecular cloud material [1-3]. However, there have been very few spatially correlated H and N studies for either chondrites or IDPs [4, 5]. We report C and N isotopic imaging data for organic matter from four meteorites and three IDPs. D/H imaging data for many of the same samples are presented in [6, 7] and bulk organic isotope data in [8]

Rotation of Late-Type Stars in Praesepe with K2

We have Fourier analyzed 941 K2 light curves of likely members of Praesepe, measuring periods for 86% and increasing the number of rotation periods (P) by nearly a factor of four. The distribution of P vs. (V-K), a mass proxy, has three different regimes: (V-K)<1.3, where the rotation rate rapidly slows as mass decreases; 1.3<(V-K)<4.5, where the rotation rate slows more gradually as mass decreases; and (V-K)>4.5, where the rotation rate rapidly increases as mass decreases. In this last regime, there is a bimodal distribution of periods, with few between $\sim$2 and $\sim$10 days. We interpret this to mean that once M stars start to slow down, they do so rapidly. The K2 period-color distribution in Praesepe ($\sim$790 Myr) is much different than in the Pleiades ($\sim$125 Myr) for late F, G, K, and early-M stars; the overall distribution moves to longer periods, and is better described by 2 line segments. For mid-M stars, the relationship has similarly broad scatter, and is steeper in Praesepe. The diversity of lightcurves and of periodogram types is similar in the two clusters; about a quarter of the periodic stars in both clusters have multiple significant periods. Multi-periodic stars dominate among the higher masses, starting at a bluer color in Praesepe ((V-K)$\sim$1.5) than in the Pleiades ((V-K)$\sim$2.6). In Praesepe, there are relatively more light curves that have two widely separated periods, $\Delta P >$6 days. Some of these could be examples of M star binaries where one star has spun down but the other has not.Comment: Accepted by Ap

Transport Properties of a spinon Fermi surface coupled to a U(1) gauge field

With the organic compound $\kappa$-(BEDT-TTF)$_2$-Cu$_2$(CN)$_3$ in mind, we consider a spin liquid system where a spinon Fermi surface is coupled to a U(1) gauge field. Using the non-equilibrium Green's function formalism, we derive the Quantum Boltzmann Equation (QBE) for this system. In this system, however, one cannot a priori assume the existence of Landau quasiparticles. We show that even without this assumption one can still derive a linearized equation for a generalized distribution function. We show that the divergence of the effective mass and of the finite temperature self-energy do not enter these transport coefficients and thus they are well-defined. Moreover, using a variational method, we calculate the temperature dependence of the spin resistivity and thermal conductivity of this system.Comment: 12 page

The Hurricane Exposure, Adversity, and Recovery Tool (HEART): Developing and Validating a Risk Screening Instrument for Youth Exposed to Hurricane Harvey

Given the increasing regularity with which severe (named) hurricanes arise, there is a need for valid, practically useful measures that facilitate child-centered post-hurricane situation analysis and needs assessment. Measures that accurately assess the most potent hurricane-related risk factors are essential to identifying youth at risk for developing posttraumatic stress reactions and providing them with effective post-disaster support. With feedback from community stakeholders (e.g., school personnel, physicians and hospital staff, community clinicians), we developed the Hurricane Exposure, Adversity, and Recovery Tool (HEART), a 29-item self-report measure of hurricane risk factors. Test development procedures included: (1) Reviewing the literature regarding hurricane exposure-related risk factors in youth; (2) Generating a developmentally-informed test item pool; (3) Conducting interviews with clinicians, as well as youth impacted by Hurricane Harvey, to evaluate the comprehensibility and acceptability of candidate items; and (4) evaluating endorsement rates for hurricane exposure-related risk factors among (N = 107) youth in an outpatient clinic specializing in the treatment of childhood trauma and loss. Disaster-related exposure, pre-existing indicators of risk, and ongoing post-disaster adversities were correlated with posttraumatic stress and depressive symptoms. These results provide support for an integrative approach to post-hurricane screening for both hurricane-specific (e.g., witnessing injuries) and non-specific (e.g., prior trauma) factors

Rotation of Low-mass Stars in Taurus with K2

We present an analysis of K2 light curves (LCs) from Campaigns 4 and 13 for members of the young (~3 Myr) Taurus association, in addition to an older (~30 Myr) population of stars that is largely in the foreground of the Taurus molecular clouds. Out of 156 of the highest-confidence Taurus members, we find that 81% are periodic. Our sample of young foreground stars is biased and incomplete, but nearly all stars (37/38) are periodic. The overall distribution of rotation rates as a function of color (a proxy for mass) is similar to that found in other clusters: the slowest rotators are among the early M spectral types, with faster rotation toward both earlier FGK and later M types. The relationship between period and color/mass exhibited by older clusters such as the Pleiades is already in place by Taurus age. The foreground population has very few stars but is consistent with the USco and Pleiades period distributions. As found in other young clusters, stars with disks rotate on average slower, and few with disks are found rotating faster than ~2 days. The overall amplitude of the LCs decreases with age, and higher-mass stars have generally lower amplitudes than lower-mass stars. Stars with disks have on average larger amplitudes than stars without disks, though the physical mechanisms driving the variability and the resulting LC morphologies are also different between these two classes