Polarized Double Photon Production in QCD to Order αs\alpha_s

We present a complete order $\alpha_s$ analysis of the process $p p\to \gamma \gamma + X$ with polarized initial states, previously studied by us with leading order structure functions. We include in our calculation new sets of parton densities evolved in NLO QCD, such as those of Gehrmann and Stirling and of Gl\"{u}ck et al., which incorporate the new anomalous dimensions of Mertig and Van Neerven in the evolution equation. A detailed phenomenological analysis is also given which includes the photon isolation. Our results indicate that the asymmetries, although not very large, should be substantial enough at RHIC energies to be measurable in future planned experiments.Comment: 29 pages revtex, 13 psfig

Quantum Mechanics, Path Integrals and Option Pricing: Reducing the Complexity of Finance

Quantum Finance represents the synthesis of the techniques of quantum theory (quantum mechanics and quantum field theory) to theoretical and applied finance. After a brief overview of the connection between these fields, we illustrate some of the methods of lattice simulations of path integrals for the pricing of options. The ideas are sketched out for simple models, such as the Black-Scholes model, where analytical and numerical results are compared. Application of the method to nonlinear systems is also briefly overviewed. More general models, for exotic or path-dependent options are discussed.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, presented by C.Coriano at the Intl. Workshop "Nonlinear Physics, THeory and Experiment II", Gallipoli, Lecce, June 28-July 6, 200

Who benefits from labor market regulations? Chile 1960-1998

Economists have examined the impact of labor market regulations on the level of employment. But there are many reasons to suspect that the impact of regulations differs across types of workers. In this paper the authors take advantage of the unusually large variance in labor policy in Chile to examine how different labor market regulations affect the distribution of employment and the employment rates across age, gender, and skill levels. To this effect, they use a sample of repeated cross-section household surveys spanning the period 1960-98 and measures of the evolution of job security provisions and minimum wages across time. The results suggest large distribution effects. The authors find that employment security provisions and minimum wages reduce the share of youth and unskilled employment as well as their employment rates. They also find large effects on the distribution of employment between women and men.Labor Policies,Labor Management and Relations,Environmental Economics&Policies,Public Health Promotion,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Environmental Economics&Policies,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Labor Management and Relations,Labor Standards,Youth and Governance

Avoiding Aliasing in Allan Variance: an Application to Fiber Link Data Analysis

Optical fiber links are known as the most performing tools to transfer ultrastable frequency reference signals. However, these signals are affected by phase noise up to bandwidths of several kilohertz and a careful data processing strategy is required to properly estimate the uncertainty. This aspect is often overlooked and a number of approaches have been proposed to implicitly deal with it. Here, we face this issue in terms of aliasing and show how typical tools of signal analysis can be adapted to the evaluation of optical fiber links performance. In this way, it is possible to use the Allan variance as estimator of stability and there is no need to introduce other estimators. The general rules we derive can be extended to all optical links. As an example, we apply this method to the experimental data we obtained on a 1284 km coherent optical link for frequency dissemination, which we realized in Italy

A Novel String Derived Z' With Stable Proton, Light-Neutrinos and R-parity violation

The Standard Model indicates the realization of grand unified structures in nature, and can only be viewed as an effective theory below a higher energy cutoff. While the renormalizable Standard Model forbids proton decay mediating operators due to accidental global symmetries, many extensions of the Standard Model introduce such dimension four, five and six operators. Furthermore, quantum gravity effects are expected to induce proton instability, indicating that the higher energy cutoff scale must be above 10^{16}GeV. Quasi-realistic heterotic string models provide the arena to explore how perturbative quantum gravity affects the particle physics phenomenology. An appealing explanation for the proton longevity is provided by the existence of an Abelian gauge symmetry that suppresses the proton decay mediating operators. Additionally, such a low-scale U(1) symmetry should: allow the suppression of the left-handed neutrino masses by a seesaw mechanism; allow fermion Yukawa couplings to the electroweak Higgs doublets; be anomaly free; be family universal. These requirements render the existence of such U(1) symmetries in quasi-realistic heterotic string models highly non-trivial. We demonstrate the existence of a U(1) symmetry that satisfies all of the above requirements in a class of left-right symmetric heterotic string models in the free fermionic formulation. The existence of the extra Z' in the energy range accessible to future experiments is motivated by the requirement of adequate suppression of proton decay mediation. We further show that while the extra U(1) forbids dimension four baryon number violating operators it allows dimension four lepton number violating operators and R-parity violation.Comment: 16 pages. Standard LaTex. minor change

Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays and Air Shower Simulations: a top-bottom view

Stable Superstring Relics (SSR) provide some of the candidates for the possible origin of the Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays (UHECR). After a brief overview of the motivations for introducing such relics, we address the question whether statistical fluctuations in the formation of the air showers generated by the primary spectrum of protons can be separated from a possible signal of new physics hidden in the first impact with the atmosphere. Our results are generated by using minimal modifications in the cross section of the primaries, and using available simulation codes used by the experimental collaborations. The results indicate that substantial increases in the cross section of the first impact, possibly due to new interactions, are unlikely to be detected in geometrical and/or variations of multiplicities in the cascade.Comment: 6 pages. 2 figures. Standard Latex. Typos corrected. To appear in the proceedings of the XV Incontri sulla Fisica delle Alte Energie (IFAE), Lecce, Italy, 23-26 April 200