Quantifying bid-ask spreads in the Chinese stock market using limit-order book data: Intraday pattern, probability distribution, long memory, and multifractal nature

The statistical properties of the bid-ask spread of a frequently traded Chinese stock listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange are investigated using the limit-order book data. Three different definitions of spread are considered based on the time right before transactions, the time whenever the highest buying price or the lowest selling price changes, and a fixed time interval. The results are qualitatively similar no matter linear prices or logarithmic prices are used. The average spread exhibits evident intraday patterns consisting of a big L-shape in morning transactions and a small L-shape in the afternoon. The distributions of the spread with different definitions decay as power laws. The tail exponents of spreads at transaction level are well within the interval $(2,3)$ and that of average spreads are well in line with the inverse cubic law for different time intervals. Based on the detrended fluctuation analysis, we found the evidence of long memory in the bid-ask spread time series for all three definitions, even after the removal of the intraday pattern. Using the classical box-counting approach for multifractal analysis, we show that the time series of bid-ask spread does not possess multifractal nature.Comment: 8 EPJ pages including 7 eps figure

A search for the fourth SM family quarks at Tevatron

It is shown that the fourth standard model (SM) family quarks can be observed at the Fermilab Tevatron if their anomalous interactions with known quarks have sufficient strength.Comment: 7 pages, 2 tables, 4 figure

Two-pion Bose-Einstein correlations in central Pb-Pb collisions at sNN\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 2.76 TeV

The first measurement of two-pion Bose-Einstein correlations in central Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 2.76$ TeV at the Large Hadron Collider is presented. We observe a growing trend with energy now not only for the longitudinal and the outward but also for the sideward pion source radius. The pion homogeneity volume and the decoupling time are significantly larger than those measured at RHIC.Comment: 17 pages, 5 captioned figures, 1 table, authors from page 12, published version, figures at http://aliceinfo.cern.ch/ArtSubmission/node/388

Inclusive omega photoproduction off nuclei

We investigate inclusive omega photoproduction off complex nuclei, concentrating on the feasibility to examine a possible in-medium change of the omega meson properties by observing the pi^0 gamma invariant mass spectrum. The simulations are performed by means of a BUU transport model including a full coupled-channel treatment of the final state interactions. In-medium changes of the omega spectral density are found to yield a moderate modification of the observables as compared to the situation in free space. Also the effects of a momentum dependence of the strong omega potential are discussed.Comment: 19 pages, 12 figures, minor corrections, accepted for publication in EPJ

Classical and quantum q-deformed physical systems

On the basis of the non-commutative q-calculus, we investigate a q-deformation of the classical Poisson bracket in order to formulate a generalized q-deformed dynamics in the classical regime. The obtained q-deformed Poisson bracket appears invariant under the action of the q-symplectic group of transformations. In this framework we introduce the q-deformed Hamilton's equations and we derive the evolution equation for some simple q-deformed mechanical systems governed by a scalar potential dependent only on the coordinate variable. It appears that the q-deformed Hamiltonian, which is the generator of the equation of motion, is generally not conserved in time but, in correspondence, a new constant of motion is generated. Finally, by following the standard canonical quantization rule, we compare the well known q-deformed Heisenberg algebra with the algebra generated by the q-deformed Poisson bracket.Comment: 9 pages, accepted for publication in "The European Physical Journal C

DNA Renaturation at the Water-Phenol Interface

We study DNA adsorption and renaturation in a water-phenol two-phase system, with or without shaking. In very dilute solutions, single-stranded DNA is adsorbed at the interface in a salt-dependent manner. At high salt concentrations the adsorption is irreversible. The adsorption of the single-stranded DNA is specific to phenol and relies on stacking and hydrogen bonding. We establish the interfacial nature of a DNA renaturation at a high salt concentration. In the absence of shaking, this reaction involves an efficient surface diffusion of the single-stranded DNA chains. In the presence of a vigorous shaking, the bimolecular rate of the reaction exceeds the Smoluchowski limit for a three-dimensional diffusion-controlled reaction. DNA renaturation in these conditions is known as the Phenol Emulsion Reassociation Technique or PERT. Our results establish the interfacial nature of PERT. A comparison of this interfacial reaction with other approaches shows that PERT is the most efficient technique and reveals similarities between PERT and the renaturation performed by single-stranded nucleic acid binding proteins. Our results lead to a better understanding of the partitioning of nucleic acids in two-phase systems, and should help design improved extraction procedures for damaged nucleic acids. We present arguments in favor of a role of phenol and water-phenol interface in prebiotic chemistry. The most efficient renaturation reactions (in the presence of condensing agents or with PERT) occur in heterogeneous systems. This reveals the limitations of homogeneous approaches to the biochemistry of nucleic acids. We propose a heterogeneous approach to overcome the limitations of the homogeneous viewpoint

The Making of the Standard Model

This is the edited text of a talk given at CERN on Septembr 16, 2003, as part of a celebration of the 30th anniversary of the discovery of neutral currents and the 20th anniversary of the discovery of the W and Z particles.Comment: 21 page

Suppression of charged particle production at large transverse momentum in central Pb-Pb collisions at sNN=2.76\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 2.76 TeV

Inclusive transverse momentum spectra of primary charged particles in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{\rm NN}}}$ = 2.76 TeV have been measured by the ALICE Collaboration at the LHC. The data are presented for central and peripheral collisions, corresponding to 0-5% and 70-80% of the hadronic Pb-Pb cross section. The measured charged particle spectra in $|\eta|<0.8$ and $0.3 < p_T < 20$ GeV/$c$ are compared to the expectation in pp collisions at the same $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}$, scaled by the number of underlying nucleon-nucleon collisions. The comparison is expressed in terms of the nuclear modification factor $R_{\rm AA}$. The result indicates only weak medium effects ($R_{\rm AA} \approx$ 0.7) in peripheral collisions. In central collisions, $R_{\rm AA}$ reaches a minimum of about 0.14 at $p_{\rm T}=6$-7GeV/$c$ and increases significantly at larger $p_{\rm T}$. The measured suppression of high-$p_{\rm T}$ particles is stronger than that observed at lower collision energies, indicating that a very dense medium is formed in central Pb-Pb collisions at the LHC.Comment: 15 pages, 5 captioned figures, 3 tables, authors from page 10, published version, figures at http://aliceinfo.cern.ch/ArtSubmission/node/98