On the Construction of Common Size, Value and Momentum Factors in International Stock Markets: A Guide with Applications

Demand is growing for a better understanding of how assets are priced in countries outside of the U.S. While financial data are available for many firms world-wide, it is important to have a reliable and replicable method of constructing high-quality systematic risk factors from these data. This paper first documents that appropriately screened data from Thomson Reuters Datastream and Thomson Reuters Worldscope can be used to replicate closely not only U.S. market returns and the corresponding momentum risk factor (as existing work has suggested), but also the widely-used U.S. size and value risk factors. We then build novel pan-European and country-specific momentum, size, and value risk factors. By comparing our pan-European market returns and risk factors with their counterparts in the U.S., we find that they are astonishingly highly correlated. The factors we compute are made available to other researchers.Risk factors; value, size, momentum, international equity markets, asset pricing anomalies

Renormalization Group Evolution in the type I + II seesaw model

We carefully analyze the renormalization group equations in the type I + II seesaw scenario in the extended standard model (SM) and minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM). Furthermore, we present analytic formulae of the mixing angles and phases and discuss the RG effect on the different mixing parameters in the type II seesaw scenario. The renormalization group equations of the angles have a contribution which is proportional to the mass squared difference for a hierarchical spectrum. This is in contrast to the inverse proportionality to the mass squared difference in the effective field theory case.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures; corrected error due to wrong superfield normalization in RG equations (24-28,C1-4) as well as error in RG equations of mixing parameters (38,43); RG equations of mixing angles depend on Majorana phase

Infinite Infrared Regularization and a State Space for the Heisenberg Algebra

We present a method for the construction of a Krein space completion for spaces of test functions, equipped with an indefinite inner product induced by a kernel which is more singular than a distribution of finite order. This generalizes a regularization method for infrared singularities in quantum field theory, introduced by G. Morchio and F. Strocchi, to the case of singularites of infinite order. We give conditions for the possibility of this procedure in terms of local differential operators and the Gelfand- Shilov test function spaces, as well as an abstract sufficient condition. As a model case we construct a maximally positive definite state space for the Heisenberg algebra in the presence of an infinite infrared singularity.Comment: 18 pages, typos corrected, journal-ref added, reference adde

Climate change coverage: more politics, less weather

Climate change is a global problem, and according to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon, it is currently the “greatest challenge facing humanity.” But it is a long-term, slow developing, and often invisible phenomenon so most people do not experience it first hand. Research has shown that news outlets are people’s main source of information on climate change. But how much attention do media professionals pay to the topic

Lifting the Franck-Condon blockade in driven quantum dots

Electron-vibron coupling in quantum dots can lead to a strong suppression of the average current in the sequential tunneling regime. This effect is known as Franck-Condon blockade and can be traced back to an overlap integral between vibron states with different electron numbers which becomes exponentially small for large electron-vibron coupling strength. Here, we investigate the effect of a time-dependent drive on this phenomenon, in particular the effect of an oscillatory gate voltage acting on the electronic dot level. We employ two different approaches: perturbation theory based on nonequilibrium Keldysh Green's functions and a master equation in Born-Markov approximation. In both cases, we find that the drive can lift the blockade by exciting vibrons. As a consequence, the relative change in average current grows exponentially with the drive strength.S.W. acknowledges financial support by the Marie Curie ITN cQOM and the ERC OPTOMECH. P.H. and T.L.S. are supported by the National Research Fund Luxembourg (ATTRACT 7556175). A.N. holds a University Research Fellowship from the Royal Society and acknowledges support from the Winton Programme for the Physics of Sustainability

Slow and fast single photons from a quantum dot interacting with the excited state hyperfine structure of the Cesium D1-line

Hybrid interfaces between distinct quantum systems play a major role in the implementation of quantum networks. Quantum states have to be stored in memories to synchronize the photon arrival times for entanglement swapping by projective measurements in quantum repeaters or for entanglement purification. Here, we analyze the distortion of a single-photon wave packet propagating through a dispersive and absorptive medium with high spectral resolution. Single photons are generated from a single In(Ga)As quantum dot with its excitonic transition precisely set relative to the Cesium D1 transition. The delay of spectral components of the single-photon wave packet with almost Fourier-limited width is investigated in detail with a 200 MHz narrow-band monolithic Fabry-Pérot resonator. Reflecting the excited state hyperfine structure of Cesium, “slow light” and “fast light” behavior is observed. As a step towards room-temperature alkali vapor memories, quantum dot photons are delayed for 5 ns by strong dispersion between the two 1.17 GHz hyperfine-split excited state transitions. Based on optical pumping on the hyperfine-split ground states, we propose a simple, all-optically controllable delay for synchronization of heralded narrow-band photons in a quantum network.DFG, 43659573, SFB 787: Halbleiter - Nanophotonik: Materialien, Modelle, BauelementeEC/H2020/679183/EU/Entanglement distribution via Semiconductor-Piezoelectric Quantum-Dot Relays/SPQRe

Pathogenicity of Pythium species to maize

AbstractPythium isolates from diseased and dead bait plants of maize and cress grown in compost or various soils (maize fields, parkland under deciduous trees, grassland) were characterised and tested for pathogenicity to maize (Zea mays L.). In pot tests performed under controlled conditions, pathogenicity of the isolates to maize was apparent by reduction of root and shoot growth, whereas damping-off of maize seedlings was less frequent. Contrarily, pea seedlings were killed by pathogenic Pythium isolates. Pythium isolates from diseased maize seedlings and pathogenic strains from other gramineous plants (P. phragmitis, P. aff.phragmitis, P. catenulatum) were not necessarily more virulent to maize compared to isolates originating from dicotyledonous plants (cress). The most virulent isolates originated from compost and caused a reduction of maize shoot growth of up to 60%. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that they were very closely related to P. ultimum var. ultimum and P. arrhenomanes, respectively. Isolates originating from maize fields, grassland and parkland under deciduous trees, a reference culture of P. arrhenomanes and strains of P. phragmitis, P. aff. phragmitis and P. catenulatum with known pathogenicity on reed were non-pathogenic on maize. Isolates from compost, and from maize fields generally had a higher temperature optimum for mycelial growth (30 °C) and a faster growth rate (1.5–2.0 mm h−1) compared to the isolates from parkland under deciduous trees and grassland soil (20–25 °C, ~1.0 mm h−1), respectively. This study indicates a potential impact of pathogenic Pythium on maize plants even in the absence of visible symptoms

Locating Overlap Information in Quantum Systems

When discussing the black hole information problem the term ``information flow'' is frequently used in a rather loose fashion. In this article I attempt to make this notion more concrete. I consider a Hilbert space which is constructed as a tensor product of two subspaces (representing for example inside and outside the black hole). I discuss how the system has the capacity to contain information which is in NEITHER of the subspaces. I attempt to quantify the amount of information located in each of the two subspaces, and elsewhere, and analyze the extent to which unitary evolution can correspond to ``information flow''. I define the notion of ``overlap information'' which appears to be well suited to the problem.Comment: 25 pages plain LaTeX, no figures. Imperial/TP/93-94/2

Anionic N-heterocyclic carbenes derived from sydnone imines such as molsidomine. Trapping reactions with selenium, palladium, and gold

The sydnone imines Molsidomine and 5-(benzoylimino)-3-(2-methoxyphenyl)-1,2,3-oxadiazolium-2-ide gave anionic N-heterocyclic carbenes on deprotonation at C4 which were trapped as methylated selenium adducts, gold complexes (X-ray analysis) as well as palladium complexes (X-ray analysis). The C-13 NMR resonance frequencies of the carbene carbon atom are extremely shifted upfield and appear at delta = 142.1 ppm (Molsidomine carbene) and delta = 159.8 ppm (sydnone imine carbene). The Pd complexes were applied as catalysts in Suzuki-Miyaura and Sonogashira-Hagihara cross-coupling reactions. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Peer reviewe

Characterization of PvuRts1I endonuclease as a tool to investigate genomic 5–hydroxymethylcytosine

In mammalian genomes a sixth base, 5-hydroxymethylcytosine ( hm C), is generated by enzymatic oxidation of 5-methylcytosine ( m C). This discovery has raised fundamental questions about the functional relevance of hm C in mammalian genomes. Due to their very similar chemical structure, discrimination of the rare hm C against the far more abundant m C is technically challenging and to date no methods for direct sequencing of hm C have been reported. Here, we report on a purified recombinant endonuclease, PvuRts1I, which selectively cleaves hm C-containing sequences. We determined the consensus cleavage site of PvuRts1I as hm CN 11–12 /N 9–10 G and show first data on its potential to interrogate hm C patterns in mammalian genomes