A brief peek at the cyclotron in our microscope

The influence of low energy bremsstrahlung emission on the performance of electron spectrometers and monochromators is investigated. Despite the occurrence of multi-photon events, the effect of the main azimuthal (organ pipe) mode is likely to be negligible. Potentially more serious is a new radial mode not considered in the classical theory but revealed in the quantum mechanics picture. The progress of the finely focused wave at the spectrometer entrance slit is described by a coherent wave packet of many oscillator states. It is shielded from disruption by a relatively much longer half-life. Cavity effects causing additional suppression of bremsstrahlung emission are briefly discussed.

Should I have been more careful or less careless? The comparative nature of counterfactual thoughts alters judgments of their impact

Counterfactual thoughts inherently imply a comparison of a given reality to an alternative state of affairs. Previous research mainly considered consequences of different counterfactual types, namely focus (other vs. self), structure (additive vs. subtractive), and direction (upward vs. downward). The current work investigates whether a 'more-than' versus 'less-than' comparative nature of counterfactual thoughts alters judgments of their impact. Four experiments demonstrated that self-generated other- (Studies 1 and 3) and self-focused (Study 2) upward counterfactuals are judged more impactful when they entail 'more-than' rather than 'less-than' comparisons. Judgments include plausibility and persuasiveness, as well as counterfactuals' likelihood to change future behavior and feelings. Self-reported ease of thought generation and (dis)fluency gauged by difficulty in thought generation was similarly affected. This more-less asymmetry reversed in Study 3 for downward counterfactual thoughts, with 'less-than' counterfactuals being judged more impactful and easier to generate. Further attesting to the role of ease, when spontaneously generating comparative counterfactuals, participants correctly provided more 'more-than' upward counterfactuals, but more 'less-than' downward counterfactuals (Study 4). These findings delineate one of the to date few conditions for a reversal of the more-less asymmetry and provide support for a correspondence principle, the simulation heuristic, and thus the role of ease in counterfactual thinking. They suggest that especially 'more-than' counterfactuals following negative events, and 'less-than' counterfactuals following positive events, are likely to have an important impact on people. (226 words).

The birth of quantum mechanics from the spirit of radiation theory

This paper starts from the observation that the major hallmarks in the history of quantum mechanics centrally involved light and radiation. Consequently, we ask how precisely did concepts and ideas from radiation theory define the creation of quantum mechanics? And why was it a quantum theory of mechanics and not a quantum theory of electrodynamics that was crafted in the years 1925/26? Following these questions, this paper provides a reading of the history of the old quantum theory from the perspective of radiation. We argue that both wave and matrix mechanics, while emerging from widely different trajectories, emerged as spin-offs from nascent, ultimately unsuccessful quantum theories of radiation. We discuss the epistemological implications of this development for the historical and philosophical analysis of quantum mechanics and quantum field theory.

Specificity and incremental predictive validity of implicit attitudes: studies of a race-based phenotype

Four studies involving 2552 White American participants were conducted to investigate bias based on the race-based phenotype of hair texture. Specifically, we probed the existence and magnitude of bias in favor of Eurocentric (straight) over Afrocentric (curly) hair and its specificity in predicting responses to a legal decision involving the phenotype. Study 1 revealed an implicit preference, measured by an Implicit Association Test (IAT), favoring Eurocentric over Afrocentric hair texture among White Americans. This effect was not reducible to a Black/White implicit race attitude nor to mere perceptual preference favoring straight over curly hair. In Study 2, the phenotype (hair) IAT significantly and uniquely predicted expressions of support in response to an actual legal case that involved discrimination on the basis of Afrocentric hair texture. Beyond replicating this result, Studies 3 and 4 (the latter preregistered) provided further, and even more stringent, evidence for incremental predictive validity: in both studies, the phenotype IAT was associated with support for a Black plaintiff above and beyond the effects of two parallel explicit scales and, additionally, a race attitude IAT. Overall, these studies support the idea that race bias may be uniquely detected by examining implicit attitudes elicited by group-based phenotypicality, such as hair texture. Moreover, the present results inform theoretical investigations of the correspondence principle in the context of implicit social cognition: they suggest that tailoring IATs to index specific aspects of an attitude object (e.g., by decomposition of phenotypes) can improve prediction of intergroup behavior.