41,120 research outputs found
Net baryon-number fluctuations in magnetized quark matter
The kurtosis and skewness of net baryon-number fluctuations are studied for
the magnetized phase diagram of three-flavor quark matter within the Polyakov
extended NambuJona-Lasinio model. Two models with magnetic catalysis and
inverse magnetic catalysis are considered. Special attention is given to their
behavior in the neighborhood of the light and strange critical end points
(CEPs). Several isentropic trajectories that come close the CEPs are studied in
order to analyze possible signatures of a CEP in the presence of external
magnetic fields. The effect of the magnetic field on the velocity of sound,
, when both the light and strange CEPs are approached from the crossover
region is also investigated by calculating their temperature and baryon
chemical potential dependencies at fixed distances from these CEPs. Regions
with large fluctuations but no CEP in nonmagnetized matter develop a CEP under
the action of a strong magnetic field. Besides, the Landau quantization of the
quark trajectories may result in the appearance of extra CEPs, in particular,
in the strange sector for strong magnetic fields, identifiable by the net
baryon-number fluctuations. Stiffer (smoother) fluctuations in the region of
the CEP are characteristic of models that do not predict (do predict) the
inverse magnetic catalysis at zero chemical potential. Particularly interesting
is the ratio that has a more pronounced peak structure,
indicating that it is eventually a more convenient probe for the search of a
CEP. The speed of sound shows a much richer structure in magnetized quark
matter and allows one to identify both chiral and deconfinement transitions.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures; PRD versio
Perspectives for the Balkans and a Wider European Order
CEPS established a template for EU strategy towards the Balkans already during the Kosovo war, and this was refined in the Ljubljana Declaration by the think tanks of the region (with CEPS) in July before the Sarajevo Summit. The subsequent evolution of policy in the region and of the EU and Stability Pact is compared with these proposals. Some parts of the CEPS proposals are developed further. Implications for the rest of the wider Europe are also examined, in search for the defining concepts and mechanisms of an order for the entire European space.
Towards a Eurasian economic Union: the challenge of integration and unity
otherwise â without the prior permission of CEPS
Does Inflation Targeting Matter? A Reassessment
This paper uses a number of identification approaches (using instrumental variables, assumptions about heteroscedasticity and panel fixed effects) to estimate the effect of inflation targeting on inflation. Generally, it finds the effect is small and insignificant.Inflation; Monetary policy
Multiple critical end points in magnetized three flavor quark matter
The magnetized phase diagram for three-flavor quark matter is studied within
the Polyakov extended Nambu--Jona-Lasinio model. The order parameters are
analyzed with special emphasis on the strange quark condensate. We show that
the presence of an external magnetic field induces several critical endpoints
(CEPs) in the strange sector, which arise due to the multiple phase transitions
that the strange quark undergoes. The spinodal and binodal regions of the phase
transitions are shown to increase with external magnetic field strength. The
influence of strong magnetic fields on the isentropic trajectories around the
several CEPs is analyzed. A focusing effect is observed on the region towards
the CEPs that are related with the strange quark phase transitions. Compared to
the chiral transitions, the deconfinement transition turns out to be less
sensitive to the external magnetic field and the crossover nature is preserved
over the whole phase diagram.Comment: 12 pages, 10 figures; PRD versio
Structural evaluation of concrete expanded polystyrene sandwich panels for slab applications
Sandwich panels are being extensively and increasingly used in building construction because they are light in weight, energy efficient, aesthetically attractive and can be easily handled and erected. This paper presents a structural evaluation of Concrete-Expanded Polystyrene (CEPS) sandwich panels for slab applications using finite element modeling approach. CEPS panels are made of expanded polystyrene foam sandwiched between concrete skins. The use of foam in the middle of sandwich panel reduces the weight of the structure and also acts as insulation against thermal, acoustics and vibration. Applying reinforced concrete skin to both sides of panel takes the advantages of the sandwich concept where the reinforced concrete skins take compressive and tensile loads resulting in higher stiffness and strength and the core transfers shear loads between the faces. This research uses structural software Strand7, which is based on finite element method, to predict the load deformation behaviour of the CEPS sandwich slab panels. Non linear static analysis was used in the numerical investigations. Predicted results were compared with the existing experimental results to validate the numerical approach used
Algorithm Portfolio for Individual-based Surrogate-Assisted Evolutionary Algorithms
Surrogate-assisted evolutionary algorithms (SAEAs) are powerful optimisation
tools for computationally expensive problems (CEPs). However, a randomly
selected algorithm may fail in solving unknown problems due to no free lunch
theorems, and it will cause more computational resource if we re-run the
algorithm or try other algorithms to get a much solution, which is more serious
in CEPs. In this paper, we consider an algorithm portfolio for SAEAs to reduce
the risk of choosing an inappropriate algorithm for CEPs. We propose two
portfolio frameworks for very expensive problems in which the maximal number of
fitness evaluations is only 5 times of the problem's dimension. One framework
named Par-IBSAEA runs all algorithm candidates in parallel and a more
sophisticated framework named UCB-IBSAEA employs the Upper Confidence Bound
(UCB) policy from reinforcement learning to help select the most appropriate
algorithm at each iteration. An effective reward definition is proposed for the
UCB policy. We consider three state-of-the-art individual-based SAEAs on
different problems and compare them to the portfolios built from their
instances on several benchmark problems given limited computation budgets. Our
experimental studies demonstrate that our proposed portfolio frameworks
significantly outperform any single algorithm on the set of benchmark problems
The Impact of Athletic Performance on Alumni Giving: An Analysis of Micro Data
An ongoing controversy in the literature on the economics of higher education centers on whether the success of a schoolâs athletic program affects alumni donations. This paper uses a unique data set to investigate this issue. The data contain detailed information about donations made by alumni of a selective research university as well as a variety of their economic and de-mographic characteristics. One important question is how to characterize the success of an athlet-ic program. We focus not only on the performance of the most visible teams, football and bas-ketball, but also on the success of the team on which he or she played as an undergraduate. One of our key findings is that the impact of athletic success on donations differs for men and women. When a male graduateâs former team wins its conference championship, his dona-tions for general purposes increase by about 7 percent and his donations to the athletic program increase by about the same percentage. Football and basketball records generally have small and statistically insignificant effects; in some specifications, a winning basketball season reduces do-nations. For women there is no statistically discernible effect of a former teamâs success on cur-rent giving; as is the case for men, the impacts of football and basketball, while statistically sig-nificant in some specifications, are not important in magnitude. Another novel result is that for males, varsity athletes whose teams were successful when they were undergraduates subsequent-ly make larger donations to the athletic program. For example, if a male alumnusâs team won its conference championship during his senior year, his subsequent giving to the athletic program is about 8 percent a year higher, ceteris paribus.
The Valuation of Agricultural Land and the Influence of Government Payments
Factor Markets Coordination: Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), Brussels, BelgiumAgricultural and Food Policy, Land Economics/Use,
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