Exchange Rate Regimes and Revenue Performance in Sub-Saharan Africa

It has been argued that the institutions of the CFA Franc zone may have reduced inflation but that they also induced misalignment of the real exchange rate and that this is the explanation for their dismal revenue performance. This paper uses a panel of 22 countries in sub-Saharan Africa to estimate revenue performance over the period from 1980 to 1996. It finds that the poor cumulative relative revenue performance of the franc zone countries is mainly attributable to differences in environmental and structural factors, and to their different responses to changes in the equilibrium real exchange rate, but that the misalignment of the real exchange rate also played a part.

Asynchronous response of coupled pacemaker neurons

We study a network model of two conductance-based pacemaker neurons of differing natural frequency, coupled with either mutual excitation or inhibition, and receiving shared random inhibitory synaptic input. The networks may phase-lock spike-to-spike for strong mutual coupling. But the shared input can desynchronize the locked spike-pairs by selectively eliminating the lagging spike or modulating its timing with respect to the leading spike depending on their separation time window. Such loss of synchrony is also found in a large network of sparsely coupled heterogeneous spiking neurons receiving shared input.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures. To appear in Phys. Rev. Let

A decade of ejecta dust formation in the Type IIn SN 2005ip

In order to understand the contribution of core-collapse supernovae to the dust budget of the early universe, it is important to understand not only the mass of dust that can form in core-collapse supernovae but also the location and rate of dust formation. SN 2005ip is of particular interest since dust has been inferred to have formed in both the ejecta and the post-shock region behind the radiative reverse shock. We have collated eight optical archival spectra that span the lifetime of SN 2005ip and we additionally present a new X-shooter optical-near-IR spectrum of SN 2005ip at 4075d post-discovery. Using the Monte Carlo line transfer code DAMOCLES, we have modelled the blueshifted broad and intermediate width H$\alpha$, H$\beta$ and He I lines from 48d to 4075d post-discovery using an ejecta dust model. We find that dust in the ejecta can account for the asymmetries observed in the broad and intermediate width H$\alpha$, H$\beta$ and He I line profiles at all epochs and that it is not necessary to invoke post-shock dust formation to explain the blueshifting observed in the intermediate width post-shock lines. Using a Bayesian approach, we have determined the evolution of the ejecta dust mass in SN 2005ip over 10 years presuming an ejecta dust model, with an increasing dust mass from ~10$^{-8}$ M$_{\odot}$ at 48d to a current dust mass of $\sim$0.1 M$_{\odot}$.Comment: Accepted by MNRAS, 17 pages, 11 figures. Author accepted manuscript. Accepted on 04/03/19. Deposited on 07/03/1

Vortex avalanches and the onset of superfluid turbulence

Quantized circulation, absence of Galilean invariance due to a clamped normal component, and the vortex mutual friction are the major factors that make superfluid turbulence behave in a way different from that in classical fluids. The model is developed for the onset of superfluid turbulence that describes the initial avalanche-like multiplication of vortices into a turbulent vortex tangle.Comment: 4 page

Classical and quantum regimes of the superfluid turbulence

We argue that turbulence in superfluids is governed by two dimensionless parameters. One of them is the intrinsic parameter q which characterizes the friction forces acting on a vortex moving with respect to the heat bath, with 1/q playing the same role as the Reynolds number Re=UR/\nu in classical hydrodynamics. It marks the transition between the "laminar" and turbulent regimes of vortex dynamics. The developed turbulence described by Kolmogorov cascade occurs when Re >> 1 in classical hydrodynamics, and q << 1 in the superfluid hydrodynamics. Another parameter of the superfluid turbulence is the superfluid Reynolds number Re_s=UR/\kappa, which contains the circulation quantum \kappa characterizing quantized vorticity in superfluids. This parameter may regulate the crossover or transition between two classes of superfluid turbulence: (i) the classical regime of Kolmogorov cascade where vortices are locally polarized and the quantization of vorticity is not important; and (ii) the quantum Vinen turbulence whose properties are determined by the quantization of vorticity. The phase diagram of the dynamical vortex states is suggested.Comment: 12 pages, 1 figure, version accepted in JETP Letter

Vortex vs spinning string: Iordanskii force and gravitational Aharonov-Bohm effect

We discuss the transverse force acting on the spinning cosmic string, moving in the background matter. It comes from the gravitational Aharonov-Bohm effect and corresponds to the Iordanskii force acting on the vortex in superfluids, when the vortex moves with respect to the normal component of the liquid.Comment: Latex file, 9 pages, no figures, references are added, version submitted to JETP Let

Asymptotic motion of a single vortex in a rotating cylinder

We study numerically the behavior of a single quantized vortex in a rotating cylinder. We study in particular the spiraling motion of a vortex in a cylinder that is parallel to the rotation axis. We determine the asymptotic form of the vortex and its axial and azimuthal propagation velocities under a wide range of parameters. We also study the stability of the vortex line and the effect of tilting the cylinder from the rotation axis.Comment: 9 pages, 10 figures. Considerable changes, now close to the published versio

Study of the acoustic signature of UHE neutrino interactions in water and ice

The production of acoustic signals from the interactions of ultra-high energy (UHE) cosmic ray neutrinos in water and ice has been studied. A new computationally fast and efficient method of deriving the signal is presented. This method allows the implementation of up to date parameterisations of acoustic attenuation in sea water and ice that now includes the effects of complex attenuation, where appropriate. The methods presented here have been used to compute and study the properties of the acoustic signals which would be expected from such interactions. A matrix method of parameterising the signals, which includes the expected fluctuations, is also presented. These methods are used to generate the expected signals that would be detected in acoustic UHE neutrino telescopes.Comment: 21 pages and 13 figure

Flow Phase Diagram for the Helium Superfluids

The flow phase diagram for He II and $^3$He-B is established and discussed based on available experimental data and the theory of Volovik [JETP Letters {\bf{78}} (2003) 553]. The effective temperature - dependent but scale - independent Reynolds number $Re_{eff}=1/q=(1+\alpha')/\alpha$, where $\alpha$ and $\alpha'$ are the mutual friction parameters and the superfluid Reynolds number characterizing the circulation of the superfluid component in units of the circulation quantum are used as the dynamic parameters. In particular, the flow diagram allows identification of experimentally observed turbulent states I and II in counterflowing He II with the turbulent regimes suggested by Volovik.Comment: 2 figure