Financial model calibration using consistency hints

We introduce a technique for forcing the calibration of a financial model to produce valid parameters. The technique is based on learning from hints. It converts simple curve fitting into genuine calibration, where broad conclusions can be inferred from parameter values. The technique augments the error function of curve fitting with consistency hint error functions based on the Kullback-Leibler distance. We introduce an efficient EM-type optimization algorithm tailored to this technique. We also introduce other consistency hints, and balance their weights using canonical errors. We calibrate the correlated multifactor Vasicek model of interest rates, and apply it successfully to Japanese Yen swaps market and US dollar yield market

Introduction to the special issue on neural networks in financial engineering

There are several phases that an emerging field goes through before it reaches maturity, and computational finance is no exception. There is usually a trigger for the birth of the field. In our case, new techniques such as neural networks, significant progress in computing technology, and the need for results that rely on more realistic assumptions inspired new researchers to revisit the traditional problems of finance, problems that have often been tackled by introducing simplifying assumptions in the past. The result has been a wealth of new approaches to these time-honored problems, with significant improvements in many cases

Revealing Casual Pathways to Sustainable Water Service Delivering Using fsQCA

This study aimed to build on theory and practice regarding the combinations of conditions that influence water service sustainability when external partners are involved. The study investigates 26 well projects that have been implemented in developing countries with the assistance of Engineers Without Borders-USA (EWB-USA). Using past literature on sustainable water service delivery in developing communities, emergent coding techniques with project documents, and surveys with EWB-USA team members, this study identifies a set of project conditions to conduct fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA). Findings show that the presence of a water committee cannot alone account for project sustainability. Additional conditions, such as technology and construction processes, project governance, and community engagement practices must also be considered for project sustainability. The relationship between construction quality and financial sustainability is also discussed. Overall, the findings from this research contribute to sector theory and reveal distinct pathways towards sustainable water services. These findings informed recommendations for EWB-USA well project implementation and management, and demonstrate the utility of fsQCA as a tool to navigate the complexities of water service delivery by external partners and improve understanding to increase water service sustainability

Spatially Resolved Magnetic Field Structure in the Disk of a T Tauri Star

Magnetic fields in accretion disks play a dominant role during the star formation process but have hitherto been observationally poorly constrained. Field strengths have been inferred on T Tauri stars themselves and possibly in the innermost part of the accretion disk, but the strength and morphology of the field in the bulk of the disk have not been observed. Unresolved measurements of polarized emission (arising from elongated dust grains aligned perpendicular to the field) imply average fields aligned with the disks. Theoretically, the fields are expected to be largely toroidal, poloidal, or a mixture of the two, which imply different mechanisms for transporting angular momentum in the disks of actively accreting young stars such as HL Tau. Here we report resolved measurements of the polarized 1.25 mm continuum emission from HL Tau's disk. The magnetic field on a scale of 80 AU is coincident with the major axis (~210 AU diameter) of the disk. From this we conclude that the magnetic field inside the disk at this scale cannot be dominated by a vertical component, though a purely toroidal field does not fit the data well either. The unexpected morphology suggests that the magnetic field's role for the accretion of a T Tauri star is more complex than the current theoretical understanding.Comment: Accepted for publication in Natur

Constraining the evolution of stellar rotation using solar twins

The stellar Rotation $vs.$ Age relation is commonly considered as a useful tool to derive reliable ages for Sun-like stars. However, in the light of \kepler\ data, the presence of apparently old and fast rotators that do not obey the usual gyrochronology relations led to the hypothesis of weakened magnetic breaking in some stars. In this letter, we constrain the solar rotation evolutionary track using solar twins. Predicted rotational periods as a function of mass, age, [Fe/H] and given critical Rossby number ($Ro_{\rm crit}$) were estimated for the entire rotational sample. Our analysis favors the smooth rotational evolution scenario and suggests that, if the magnetic weakened breaking scenario takes place at all, it should arise after $Ro_{\rm crit}\gtrsim2.29$ or ages $\gtrsim$5.3 Gyr (at 95$\%$ confidence level).Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA

Discovery of diffuse radio emission at the center of the most X-ray-luminous cluster RX J1347.5-1145

We report on new VLA radio observations of the distant cluster RX J1347.5-1145, which is the most luminous in X-rays. We aim at investigating the possible presence of diffuse and extended radio emission in this very peculiar system which shows both a massive cooling flow and merging signatures. New low resolution (~18 arcsec) VLA radio observations of this cluster are combined with higher resolution (~2 arcsec) data available in the VLA archive. We discover the presence of a diffuse and extended (~500 kpc) radio source centered on the cluster, unrelated to the radio emission of the central AGN. The properties of the radio source, in particular a) its occurrence at the center of a massive cooling flow cluster, b) its total size comparable to that of the cooling region, c) its agreement with the observational trend between radio luminosity and cooling flow power, indicate that RX J1347.5-1145 hosts a radio mini-halo. We suggest that the radio emission of this mini-halo, which is the most distant object of its class discovered up to now, is due to electron re-acceleration triggered by the central cooling flow. However, we also note that the morphology of the diffuse radio emission shows an elongation coincident with the position of a hot subclump detected in X-rays, thus suggesting that additional energy for the electron re-acceleration might be provided by the submerger event.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in A&A Letter

Ca II Triplet Spectroscopy of Small Magellanic Cloud Red Giants. III. Abundances and Velocities for a Sample of 14 Clusters

We obtained spectra of red giants in 15 Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) clusters in the region of the CaII lines with FORS2 on the Very Large Telescope (VLT). We determined the mean metallicity and radial velocity with mean errors of 0.05 dex and 2.6 km/s, respectively, from a mean of 6.5 members per cluster. One cluster (B113) was too young for a reliable metallicity determination and was excluded from the sample. We combined the sample studied here with 15 clusters previously studied by us using the same technique, and with 7 clusters whose metallicities determined by other authors are on a scale similar to ours. This compilation of 36 clusters is the largest SMC cluster sample currently available with accurate and homogeneously determined metallicities. We found a high probability that the metallicity distribution is bimodal, with potential peaks at -1.1 and -0.8 dex. Our data show no strong evidence of a metallicity gradient in the SMC clusters, somewhat at odds with recent evidence from CaT spectra of a large sample of field stars Dobbie et al. (2014). This may be revealing possible differences in the chemical history of clusters and field stars. Our clusters show a significant dispersion of metallicities, whatever age is considered, which could be reflecting the lack of a unique AMR in this galaxy. None of the chemical evolution models currently available in the literature satisfactorily represents the global chemical enrichment processes of SMC clusters.Comment: 49 pages, 15 figures. Accepted for publication in A