83,491 research outputs found
The Passion of Gibson: evaluating a recent interpretation of Christ\u27s suffering and death in light of the New Testament
Passion of the Christ Publisher: [S.l.] : Icon Film Distribution, 2004
Applications of physics to finance and economics: returns, trading activity and income
This dissertation reports work where physics methods are applied to financial
and economical problems. The first part studies stock market data (chapter 1 to
5). The second part is devoted to personal income in the USA (chapter 6).
We first study the probability distribution of stock returns at mesoscopic
time lags (return horizons) ranging from about an hour to about a month. For
mesoscopic times the bulk of the distribution (more than 99% of the
probability) follows an exponential law. At longer times, the exponential law
continuously evolves into Gaussian distribution.
After characterizing the stock returns at mesoscopic time lags, we study the
subordination hypothesis. The integrated volatility V_t constructed from the
number of trades process can be used as a subordinator for a Brownian motion.
This subordination is able to describe approximatly 85% of the stock returns
for time lags that start at 1 hour but are shorter than one day. Finally, we
show that the CIR process describes well enough the empirical V_t process, such
that the corresponding Heston model is able to describe the log-returns x_t
process, with approximately the maximum quality that the subordination allows.
Finally, we study the time evolution of the personal income distribution. We
find that the personal income distribution in the USA has a well-defined
two-income-class structure. The majority of population (97-99%) belongs to the
lower income class characterized by the exponential Boltzmann-Gibb(``thermal'')
distribution, whereas the higher income class (1-3% of population) has a Pareto
power-law (``superthermal'') distribution. We show that the ``thermal'' part is
stationary in time.Comment: 24 pages and 45 figures. PhD thesis presented to the committee
members on May 10th 2005. This thesis is based on 3 published papers with one
chapter (chapter 5) with new unpublished result
From colonial port to socialist metropolis : imperialist legacies and the making of 'New Dalian'
This article explores the transformation of the city of Dalian from a colonial export port to an industrialized core city of the Japanese wartime empire and finally a model production city of the People's Republic of China. These shifts in the economic and political function of the city also resulted in complex identity issues for Dalian's urban residents. Dalian's rise reminds that there were trajectories of urban development and modernity in China which were different from that of Shanghai. Dalian provides an important, local view of the transition from empire to nation in this strategically important part of Manchuria
The auxiliary region method: A hybrid method for coupling PDE- and Brownian-based dynamics for reaction-diffusion systems
Reaction-diffusion systems are used to represent many biological and physical
phenomena. They model the random motion of particles (diffusion) and
interactions between them (reactions). Such systems can be modelled at multiple
scales with varying degrees of accuracy and computational efficiency. When
representing genuinely multiscale phenomena, fine-scale models can be
prohibitively expensive, whereas coarser models, although cheaper, often lack
sufficient detail to accurately represent the phenomenon at hand. Spatial
hybrid methods couple two or more of these representations in order to improve
efficiency without compromising accuracy.
In this paper, we present a novel spatial hybrid method, which we call the
auxiliary region method (ARM), which couples PDE and Brownian-based
representations of reaction-diffusion systems. Numerical PDE solutions on one
side of an interface are coupled to Brownian-based dynamics on the other side
using compartment-based "auxiliary regions". We demonstrate that the hybrid
method is able to simulate reaction-diffusion dynamics for a number of
different test problems with high accuracy. Further, we undertake error
analysis on the ARM which demonstrates that it is robust to changes in the free
parameters in the model, where previous coupling algorithms are not. In
particular, we envisage that the method will be applicable for a wide range of
spatial multi-scales problems including, filopodial dynamics, intracellular
signalling, embryogenesis and travelling wave phenomena.Comment: 29 pages, 14 figures, 2 table
Analytic structure of the Landau gauge gluon propagator
The analytic structure of the non-perturbative gluon propagator contains
information on the absence of gluons from the physical spectrum of the theory.
We study this structure from numerical solutions in the complex momentum plane
of the gluon and ghost Dyson-Schwinger equations in Landau gauge Yang-Mills
theory. The resulting ghost and gluon propagators are analytic apart from a
distinct cut structure on the real, timelike momentum axis. The propagator
violates the Osterwalder-Schrader positivity condition, confirming the absence
of gluons from the asymptotic spectrum of the theory.Comment: 5 pages, 7 figure
Non-relativistic conformal symmetries and Newton-Cartan structures
This article provides us with a unifying classification of the conformal
infinitesimal symmetries of non-relativistic Newton-Cartan spacetime. The Lie
algebras of non-relativistic conformal transformations are introduced via the
Galilei structure. They form a family of infinite-dimensional Lie algebras
labeled by a rational "dynamical exponent", . The Schr\"odinger-Virasoro
algebra of Henkel et al. corresponds to . Viewed as projective
Newton-Cartan symmetries, they yield, for timelike geodesics, the usual
Schr\"odinger Lie algebra, for which z=2. For lightlike geodesics, they yield,
in turn, the Conformal Galilean Algebra (CGA) and Lukierski, Stichel and
Zakrzewski [alias "\alt" of Henkel], with . Physical systems realizing
these symmetries include, e.g., classical systems of massive, and massless
non-relativistic particles, and also hydrodynamics, as well as Galilean
electromagnetism.Comment: LaTeX, 47 pages. Bibliographical improvements. To appear in J. Phys.
Over-allotment options in IPOs on Germany´s Neuer Markt : an empirical investigation
Over-allotment arrangements are nowadays part of almost any initial public offering. The underwriting banks borrow stocks from the previous shareholders to issue more than the initially announced number of shares. This is combined with the option to cover this short position at the issue price. We present empirical evidence on the value of these arrangements to the underwriters of initial public offerings on the Neuer Markt. The over-allotment arrangement is regarded as a portfolio of a long call option and a short position in a forward contract on the stock, which is different from other approaches presented in the literature. Given the economically substantial values for these option-like claims we try to identify benefits to previous shareholders or new investors when the company is using this instrument in the process of going public. Although we carefully control for potential endogeneity problems, we find virtually no evidence for a reduction in underpricing for firms using over-allotment arrangements. Furthermore, we do not find evidence for more pronounced price stabilization activities or better aftermarket performance for firms granting an over-allotment arrangement to the underwriting banks
- …