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@tiotasram@kolektiva.social
2026-08-11 16:22:46
Content warning: Long

Random thought that goes interesting places:
There are a lot of cheap ways to spend money to drastically improve the quality of life for lots of people (UBI, mosquito nets, digging wells, etc.). Those people almost invariably become way more economically productive in aggregate when this happens, far above the costs involved, if you measure from the perspective of the affected group. So for billionaires looking for outsized returns on investments, why not simply spend on some of these programs, then invest in a broad index of socks that are going to go up as a result?
The answer could be "billionaires by their nature are too evil to think of this," which, could be true....
But I think there's a deeper answer, which is that there *is no* bundle of stocks that goes up as humans flourish. This is directly contrary to neoliberal economic doctrine/propaganda, but it also has an explanation that's obvious from the neoliberal doctrine itself: the stock market is a gambling arena for bets on corporate profits. Corporate profits are money taken in in excess of costs. But the value of a corporation is not produced abstractly by the mere existence of the organization; it's produced by the labor of humans working for the organization, with raw materials that the organization purchases. So to make a profit, an organization has to do some combination of paying its workers less than the value the create, and/or paying less for it's raw materials than they are really worth. The more it does these two things, the more profit it can generate.
Notice that these two profit-generating activities directly and indirectly immiserate humans, *and* that reducing human misery by means other than reducing these activities makes them harder. People who have other means of income won't sell their labor for less than it's worth, nor will they sell their resources below their fair value. Only desperate people will agree to terms that corporations require to be profitable.
This is not a "Marxist analysis" by the way; it's the direct application of the basic principles taught in any neoliberal introductory macroeconomics class.
In any case, once we understand that the stock market is "gambling on how much corporations can exploit their employees/suppliers/customers", it's clear why you can't make money from stock investments in companies that profit from flourishing humans: profit is by construction made of human misery.
It also explains a lot of other things, like why private US employers who pay huge amounts of payroll towards health insurance for their employees would be *against* public health insurance that would offload those costs onto all taxpayers: the amount they're able to lower wages as a result of desperation for access to health care is more than worth the direct costs.
This is the central reason why capitalism (defined as: a system where money equals power) is inimical to human happiness: it allows profits built on suffering to be converted into the power to maintain the system of suffering and even extend and intensify it, creating a feedback loop of extractive domination.
Now I'm sure some people might read this and think: what about the good companies? The ones that pay their workers and suppliers a fair wage, and sell their products at fair prices? Even putting aside the fact that such a thing seems less believable than a unicorn these days, such a company by definition does not make a profit. The fair wage for its workers is the value they add to the raw materials it buys, and the fair price for those is the selling price of the finished product minus the value the company adds. The balance sheet will read exactly zero at the end of the day if compensation is actually fair. You can still run a company like this in theory, and even grow it, but of course under capitalism it will just get bought out by an unethical company that is profitable. Could you in some kind of utopian dream world run a tightly regulated series of markets where you have most of what people think capitalism is, without the bad parts? Maybe, but it definitely wouldn't involve actual capitalism, and it wouldn't have a stock market.
#anarchy #capitalism #econimics

@arXiv_condmatsoft_bot@mastoxiv.page
2026-08-13 07:59:35

Universality in the deswelling of tangentially active polymer chains in dilute solutions
Suryansh Tripathi, Aritra Santra
arxiv.org/abs/2608.11972 arxiv.org/pdf/2608.11972 arxiv.org/html/2608.11972
arXiv:2608.11972v1 Announce Type: new
Abstract: Dilute solutions of linear polymer chains with tangentially active monomeric beads are simulated using a Brownian dynamics (BD) algorithm over a range of solvent quality in the crossover regime between $\theta$ and athermal solvents. The conformational changes with increasing P{\'e}clet number ($Pe$) (which is proportional to the strength of activity) suggest deswelling of the chains resulting in a collapse of the radius of gyration data to a random walk (RW) statistics at a unique value of $Pe$, independent of the solvent quality. The swelling behaviour of active polymers in the crossover regime relative to their size at the $\theta$ state is found to follow the same universal characteristics as that of passive polymer chains. Furthermore, based on polymer blob theory we present a novel scaling of the thermal blob size with tangential activity of the monomeric beads. Altogether, this work establishes a connection between the configurational properties of active polymers and scaling laws in polymer physics, which provides a useful framework to study the dynamics of activity induced motion of polymeric molecules for various biophysical applications.
toXiv_bot_toot

Anthony Fauci, the former veteran director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (Niaid),
invoked the Fifth Amendment during a hearing before the US Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
During his long history in the government, he many times appeared before committee’s for hearings and respects the value of oversight.
“However, given Senator Paul’s obvious obsession with calling for my prosecution,
his repeated slanderou…

@arXiv_mathDG_bot@mastoxiv.page
2026-08-06 08:11:53

Einstein Metrics and Equivariant Harmonic Maps: The Einstein Detection Principle
Anna Siffert
arxiv.org/abs/2608.04952 arxiv.org/pdf/2608.04952 arxiv.org/html/2608.04952
arXiv:2608.04952v1 Announce Type: new
Abstract: We develop a new analytical framework for the local deformation theory of compact cohomogeneity-one Einstein metrics. The framework combines an intrinsic reformulation of the Einstein boundary-value problem with an auxiliary theory of equivariant harmonic maps and leads to what we call the Einstein Detection Principle. The auxiliary harmonic maps generate a rich variational, elliptic and spectral framework while introducing no additional Einstein degrees of freedom.
toXiv_bot_toot

@arXiv_physicsfludyn_bot@mastoxiv.page
2026-05-19 08:23:38

Electrolyte flows under magnetic fields: Manning-like counterion condensation in one dimension
Yoav Tsori, Hannes Uecker
arxiv.org/abs/2605.18076 arxiv.org/pdf/2605.18076 arxiv.org/html/2605.18076
arXiv:2605.18076v1 Announce Type: new
Abstract: We present a theoretical framework for unidirectional electromagnetohydrodynamic flow of dilute electrolytes under perpendicular magnetic fields. Starting from the Navier--Stokes equation coupled with the Poisson--Nernst--Planck formulation, we show that the problem admits a sequential decoupling: the Stokes equation is solved first to obtain the velocity profile, which defines a hydrodynamic potential entering the Nernst--Planck description of ions. This Lorentz-force-induced potential competes with electrostatic attraction and significantly alters ionic distributions. We analyze this mechanism in two canonical geometries. In planar Couette shear, it produces a Manning--Oosawa-like condensation transition in one dimension, a phenomenon absent in classical electrostatics. We derive an eigenvalue equation predicting a sharp threshold between counterion enrichment and depletion at the charged wall. In cylindrical Taylor--Couette flow, the same effect shifts the classical Manning criterion by a magnetic parameter, enabling tunable control of condensation. These findings extend Manning--Oosawa phenomenology to driven, non-equilibrium systems and provide a basis for magnetic manipulation of screening in electrolytes, with implications for microfluidics, electrochemical systems, and nonlinear boundary-value theory.
toXiv_bot_toot

@arXiv_qbioNC_bot@mastoxiv.page
2026-07-21 08:13:20

The Positive Experience Principle: Forecasting Conscious Choices with AI Embeddings
Zheng Su, Mingyan Fang
arxiv.org/abs/2607.16659 arxiv.org/pdf/2607.16659 arxiv.org/html/2607.16659
arXiv:2607.16659v1 Announce Type: new
Abstract: A fundamental challenge in the science of consciousness is the lack of a universal, predictive framework for motivated behavior. While existing theories excel at describing specific mechanisms, from neural pathways to computational models, they do not provide a foundational principle that explains the consistent direction of conscious systems toward certain states and away from others. To address this gap, we propose the Positive Experience Principle (PEP), a unifying principle stating that conscious systems have an inherent tendency to move toward states of higher positive subjective experience. This tendency is quantified by a Positive Experience Value (PEV), a scalar metric derived from the physical configurations defined by our earlier Universal Consciousness Code (UCC) theory. The PEP bridges physics, neuroscience, and psychology by positing that diverse behaviors are manifestations of a single, fundamental drive to optimize PEV. The PEP generates testable predictions for the dynamics of conscious systems, offering a path toward a unified science of behavior.
toXiv_bot_toot

@arXiv_qfinTR_bot@mastoxiv.page
2026-07-21 07:49:46

Uniform-Loss Automated Market Making for Prediction Markets
Ciamac C. Moallemi, Dan Robinson, Brian Zhu
arxiv.org/abs/2607.17428 arxiv.org/pdf/2607.17428 arxiv.org/html/2607.17428
arXiv:2607.17428v1 Announce Type: new
Abstract: Automated market makers (AMMs) for prediction markets descend from market scoring rules, where a mechanism operator subsidizes a market to aggregate beliefs about uncertain events. The existing literature has focused on bounding the total worst-case loss to the subsidizer, but has not addressed how that loss is distributed across price states or over time. We use the framework of loss-versus-rebalancing (LVR) to study this distribution and introduce \textit{uniform AMMs}, defined by the property that instantaneous LVR is proportional to pool value and independent of the current token price. In a static setting, we show that for a broad class of \textit{win-martingales} -- processes that converge to 0 or 1 at a fixed resolution time -- there exists a pricing function that achieves uniform LVR under that process, and conversely, that any sufficiently regular pricing function induces a win-martingale under which it is uniform. We then extend the framework to dynamic liquidity management, showing that liquidity levels can be adjusted over time to implement a prescribed target expected cumulative loss schedule. This theory is illustrated with canonical examples of win-martingales and pricing functions. Our results can inform AMM designers and liquidity providers on how the inevitable cost of subsidizing price discovery can be shaped and controlled across both price and time.
toXiv_bot_toot

@arXiv_physicsfludyn_bot@mastoxiv.page
2026-07-23 07:56:59

Sidewall effects on the onset of interfacial Holmboe waves in stratified exchange flows at high Schmidt number
Guilherme Siqueira de Aquino, Metten M. de Lange, Adrien Lefauve, Matias Duran-Matute
arxiv.org/abs/2607.19565 arxiv.org/pdf/2607.19565 arxiv.org/html/2607.19565
arXiv:2607.19565v1 Announce Type: new
Abstract: Predicting the onset of interfacial instabilities is central to understanding turbulent mixing in natural and engineered stratified shear flows. Here, we study the onset of travelling Holmboe waves in confined exchange flows along a slope. Earlier stratified inclined duct experiments have mapped this transition, and stability analyses based on measured or prescribed profiles have explained their emergence. However, a predictive criterion linking forcing, geometry, base flow, and wave onset was still lacking. We closed this gap with a long-duct, sharp-interface asymptotic theory for the three-dimensional laminar exchange flow, including the effects of sidewall friction. The resulting analytical solution naturally identifies a confinement-adjusted Froude number, $Fr^*$, which unifies the effects of forcing and confinement into a single measure of the effective laminar exchange flow. Using this solution to parameterise sidewall drag in a practical width-averaged model, we perform linear stability analyses and numerical simulations at high Schmidt number. Together, linear stability analysis, direct numerical simulations, and existing experiments across a range of duct widths show that wave onset is accurately predicted by an approximately constant critical value of $Fr^*$. Deviations arise only in very narrow ducts, where sidewalls influence instability not only by modifying the laminar exchange flow but also by directly damping perturbations and delaying wave onset. These findings provide a predictive criterion for wave onset, reconcile long-standing discrepancies among experimental configurations, and establish lateral confinement as a fundamental control on the transition from laminar exchange to wave-driven mixing in stratified shear flows.
toXiv_bot_toot