614,063 research outputs found
Blurred maximal cyclically monotone sets and bipotentials
Let X be a reflexive Banach space and Y its dual. In this paper we find
necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of a bipotential for a
blurred maximal cyclically monotone graph. Equivalently, we find a necessary
and sufficient condition on for that the differential
inclusion can be put in the form
, with a bipotential.Comment: Revised version, corrections in theorem 6.
Phase transitions of nematic rubbers
Single crystal nematic elastomers undergo a transition from a strongly
ordered phase N to an "isotropic" phase I. We show that: (a) samples produced
under tension by the Finkelmann procedure are intrinsically anisotropic and
should show a small (temperature dependent) birefringence in the high
temperature I phase. (b) for the I->Ntransition via cooling there is a spinodal
limit but for the N->I transition via heating there is no soft mode at the
standard spinodal temperature. (c) the N->I transition is reminiscent of a
martensitic transformation: nucleation of the I phase should occur in the form
of platelets, making a well defined angle with the director.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures (To appear in Europhys. Lett.
An exact representation of the fermion dynamics in terms of Poisson processes and its connection with Monte Carlo algorithms
We present a simple derivation of a Feynman-Kac type formula to study
fermionic systems. In this approach the real time or the imaginary time
dynamics is expressed in terms of the evolution of a collection of Poisson
processes. A computer implementation of this formula leads to a family of
algorithms parametrized by the values of the jump rates of the Poisson
processes. From these an optimal algorithm can be chosen which coincides with
the Green Function Monte Carlo method in the limit when the latter becomes
exact.Comment: 4 pages, 1 PostScript figure, REVTe
Entanglement control in hybrid optomechanical systems
We demonstrate the control of entanglement in a hybrid optomechanical system
comprising an optical cavity with a mechanical end-mirror and an intracavity
Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC). Pulsed laser light (tuned within realistic
experimental conditions) is shown to induce an almost sixfold increase of the
atom-mirror entanglement and to be responsible for interesting dynamics between
such mesoscopic systems. In order to assess the advantages offered by the
proposed control technique, we compare the time-dependent dynamics of the
system under constant pumping with the evolution due to the modulated laser
light.Comment: Published versio
Indirect effects of an aid program: how do liquidity injections affect non-eligibles' consumption?
Aid programs in developing countries are likely to affect both the treated and the non-treated households living in the targeted areas. Studies that focus on the treatment effecton the treated may fail to capture important spillover effects. We exploit the unique designof an aid program's experimental trial to identify its indirect effect on consumption for non-eligible households living in treated areas. We find that this effect is positive, and that itoccurs through changes in the insurance and credit markets: non-eligible households receivemore transfers, and borrow more when hit by a negative idiosyncratic shock, because of theprogram liquidity injection; thus they can reduce their precautionary savings. We also testfor general equilibrium effects in the local labor and goods markets; we find no significantchanges in labor income and prices, while there is a reduction in earnings from sales ofagricultural products, which are now consumed rather than sold. We show that this classof aid programs has important positive externalities; thus their overall effect is larger thanthe effect on the treated. Our results confirm that a key identifying assumption - that thetreatment has no effect on the non-treated - is likely to be violated in similar policy designs. Aid programs in developing countries are likely to affect both the treated and the non-treated households living in the targeted areas. Studies that focus on the treatment effecton the treated may fail to capture important spillover effects. We exploit the unique designof an aid program's experimental trial to identify its indirect effect on consumption for non-eligible households living in treated areas. We find that this effect is positive, and that itoccurs through changes in the insurance and credit markets: non-eligible households receivemore transfers, and borrow more when hit by a negative idiosyncratic shock, because of theprogram liquidity injection; thus they can reduce their precautionary savings. We also testfor general equilibrium effects in the local labor and goods markets; we find no significantchanges in labor income and prices, while there is a reduction in earnings from sales ofagricultural products, which are now consumed rather than sold. We show that this classof aid programs has important positive externalities; thus their overall effect is larger thanthe effect on the treated. Our results confirm that a key identifying assumption - that thetreatment has no effect on the non-treated - is likely to be violated in similar policy designs
You Tube if you want to – a Web 2.0 approach to staff development in web conferencing
How can we identify and make best use of potential resources in a staff development programme promoting web conferencing? What are the resources we should use? This paper regards web conferencing as a potentially powerful tool at the disposal of an institution intent on exploring new models of blended and online learning appropriate to the changing needs of 21st-century learners. It presents web conferencing in the user-centric context of Web 2.0 – the social web technologies whose educational impact is to empower online communication, collaboration, participation and sharing of resources. Based on findings from an 18-month period of evaluation and initial implementation at Leeds Met, it outlines practical staff development approaches in the related areas of user-created content and community involvement that could promote a more efficient and focused dissemination of the insights and experiences of a local, national and world-wide user group
Brain drain with FDI gain? Factor mobility between Eastern and Western Europe
A growing strand of literature highlights that skilled migration may favour growth-enhancing technology transfer, trade and foreign direct investments between the source and the host economies of migrants (network effects). We explore a specific channel through which the possible "diaspora externality" associated with the current emigration of both poorly and highly educated workers may occur: the removal of informational, cultural and reputational barriers that could prevent firms of high-income countries from investing in the low-income immigrants' economies of origin. By means of a straightforward gravity specification, we take a fragmentation and multinational production model in the fashion of Venables (1999) to the data. The focus is on the mobility of capital and workers between the advanced European Union countries (EU15) and New Member States (NMS) in the 1994-2005 period. The evidence points to a significant correlation between the volume of EU15's activities in NMS and the total stock of NMS' own-migrants in the EU15 economies. Furthermore, the larger is the share of skilled workers in the total emigration stock the larger is the inward FDI flow
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