Using Different Approaches to Evaluate Individual Social Equity in Transport

Inequalities not only exist in the field of economics in relation to income and wealth, but also in other areas, such as the transport sector, where access to and use of different transport modes varies markedly across population groups, and which provides the means to access everyday living activities. A key concern within the transport sector is that inequality has extended beyond the traditional measures of travel, and now covers a wide range of effects relating to social exclusion, freedom, well-being and being able to access reasonable opportunities and resources. In order to address the aforementioned issues, an important question to resolve is what type of methods can be used to measure inequalities in transport most effectively. Therefore, this study aims to apply different approaches, including the Capabilities Approach (CA) and a further six inequality indices, namely the Gini coefficient, the Atkinson index, the Palma ratio, the Pietra ratio, the Schutz coefficient and the Theil index, to the case study using the relatively migrant-rich lower-income neighbourhood of Tuqiao, in Beijing, in order to assess individual transport-related social inequity issues. The findings suggest that the CA is useful in assessing transport-related inequalities where there are significant barriers to the take up of accessibility, for example where there are high levels of disadvantaged groups and disaggregated analysis can be undertaken. The Palma ratio appears to have a larger effect than the Gini coefficient and the other inequality indices when measuring transport-related social inequity. In addition, we also found that most income inequality methods adapted from econometrics may be better suited to measuring transport-related social inequity between different regions, cities or countries, or within the same area, but at different points in time, rather than to measuring a single neighbourhood as a whole. Finally, we argue that to what extent politicians or transport planners can use appropriate management tools to measure transport-related social inequalities may be significant in terms of the progress that can be made in the fight against social inequity in the transport field

Innovation Institution and Spatial Transfer of Energy Industry: The Case of Jiangsu Province, China

This study aims to explore the effect of innovation institution on spatial transfer of energy industry in Jiangsu, China. We focus on the disparity of innovation and energy industry, and analyze the spatial transfer difference in different types of energy industry, rather than view energy industry as a whole. The study demonstrates the spatial change of energy industry at regional level and maps the spatial pattern at city level. The study chooses intellectual property rights (IPRs) protection intensity, authorization patents and local research and development (R&D) investment as the proxy of innovation. Using official data and employing panel fixed-effect model at city-industry level, we conclude (a) innovation abilities significantly influence the spatial transfer of energy industry in Jiangsu. Especially, due to the different time, IPRs protection, patent counts, and R&D investment have different effects on different regions in Jiangsu; (b) 2010 is an important turning point for energy industry development in Jiangsu, and after 2010, the energy industry begins to shift to the middle and northern Jiangsu, whereas the spatial pattern of energy industry in coastal cities is basically unchanged; (c) there is a great difference between the regions in Jiangsu Province, and industrial upgrading has not been achieved in northern Jiangsu

Shadowing by non uniformly hyperbolic periodic points and uniform hyperbolicity

We prove that, under a mild condition on the hyperbolicity of its periodic points, a map $g$ which is topologically conjugated to a hyperbolic map (respectively, an expanding map) is also a hyperbolic map (respectively, an expanding map). In particular, this result gives a partial positive answer for a question done by A. Katok, in a related context

Control of coherent backscattering by breaking optical reciprocity

Reciprocity is a universal principle that has a profound impact on many areas of physics. A fundamental phenomenon in condensed-matter physics, optical physics and acoustics, arising from reciprocity, is the constructive interference of quantum or classical waves which propagate along time-reversed paths in disordered media, leading to, for example, weak localization and metal-insulator transition. Previous studies have shown that such coherent effects are suppressed when reciprocity is broken. Here we show that by breaking reciprocity in a controlled manner, we can tune, rather than simply suppress, these phenomena. In particular, we manipulate coherent backscattering of light, also known as weak localization. By utilizing a non-reciprocal magneto-optical effect, we control the interference between time-reversed paths inside a multimode fiber with strong mode mixing, and realize a continuous transition from the well-known peak to a dip in the backscattered intensity. Our results may open new possibilities for coherent control of classical and quantum waves in complex systemsComment: Comments are welcom

Mode Repulsion and Mode Coupling in Random Lasers

We studied experimentally and theoretically the interaction of lasing modes in random media. In a homogeneously broadened gain medium, cross gain saturation leads to spatial repulsion of lasing modes. In an inhomogeneously broadened gain medium, mode repulsion occurs in the spectral domain. Some lasing modes are coupled through photon hopping or electron absorption and reemission. Under pulsed pumping, weak coupling of two modes leads to synchronization of their lasing action. Strong coupling of two lasing modes results in anti-phased oscillations of their intensities.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figure

Universality and correlations in individuals wandering through an online extremist space

The 'out of the blue' nature of recent terror attacks and the diversity of apparent motives, highlight the importance of understanding the online trajectories that individuals follow prior to developing high levels of extremist support. Here we show that the physics of stochastic walks, with and without temporal correlation, provides a unifying description of these online trajectories. Our unique dataset comprising all users of a global social media site, reveals universal characteristics in individuals' online lifetimes. Our accompanying theory generates analytical and numerical solutions that describe the characteristics shown by individuals that go on to develop high levels of extremist support, and those that do not. The existence of these temporal and also many-body correlations suggests that existing physics machinery can be used to quantify and perhaps mitigate the risk of future events

Destruction of the Mott Insulating Ground State of Ca_2RuO_4 by a Structural Transition

We report a first-order phase transition at T_M=357 K in single crystal Ca_2RuO_4, an isomorph to the superconductor Sr_2RuO_4. The discontinuous decrease in electrical resistivity signals the near destruction of the Mott insulating phase and is triggered by a structural transition from the low temperature orthorhombic to a high temperature tetragonal phase. The magnetic susceptibility, which is temperature dependent but not Curie-like decreases abruptly at TM and becomes less temperature dependent. Unlike most insulator to metal transitions, the system is not magnetically ordered in either phase, though the Mott insulator phase is antiferromagnetic below T_N=110 K.Comment: Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. B (Rapid Communications