Photonic band structure of highly deformable, self-assembling systems

We calculate the photonic band structure at normal incidence of highly deformable, self-assembling systems - cholesteric elastomers subjected to external stress. Cholesterics display brilliant reflection and lasing owing to gaps in their photonic band structure. The band structure of cholesteric elastomers varies sensitively with strain, showing new gaps opening up and shifting in frequency. A novel prediction of a total band gap is made, and is expected to occur in the vicinity of the previously observed de Vries bandgap, which is only for one polarisation

Does It Really Work? Re-Assessing the Impact of Pre-Departure Cross-Cultural Training on Expatriate Adjustment

Cultural adjustment is considered to be a prerequisite for expatriate success abroad. One way to enhance adjustment is to provide employees with knowledge and awareness of appropriate norms and behaviors of the host country through cross-cultural training (CCT). This article analyzes the impact of pre-departure CCT on expatriate adjustment and focuses on variations in participation, length and the comprehensiveness of training. Unlike previous research, the study focuses on the effectiveness of pre-departure CCT for non-US employees expatriated to a broad range of host country settings. Employing data from 339 expatriates from 20 German Multinational Corporations (MNCs) the study finds CCT has little if any effect on general, interactional or work setting expatriate adjustment. However, a significant impact of foreign language competence was found for all three dimensions of expatriate adjustment. We used interviews with 20 expatriates to supplement our discussion and provide further implications for practice

An organizational impression management perspective on the formation of corporate reputations

Researchers have only recently turned their attention to the study of corporate reputation. As is characteristic of many early areas of management inquiry, the field is decidedly multidisciplinary and disconnected. This article selectively reviews reputation research conducted mainly during the past decade. A framework is proposed that views reputation from the perspective of organizational impression management. Corporations are viewed as social actors, intent on enhancing their respectability and impressiveness in the eyes of constituents

Equivalence classes and local asymptotic normality in system identification for quantum Markov chains

We consider the problem of identifying and estimating dynamical parameters of an ergodic quantum Markov chain, when only the stationary output is accessible for measurements. The starting point of the analysis is the fact that the knowledge of the output state completely fixes the dynamics up to an equivalence class of ‘coordinate transformation’ consisting of a multiplication by a phase and a unitary conjugation of the Kraus operators. Assuming that the dynamics depends on an unknown parameter, we show that the latter can be estimated at the ‘standard’ rate n−1/2, and give an explicit expression of the (asymptotic) quantum Fisher information of the output, which is proportional to the Markov variance of a certain ‘generator’. More generally, we show that the output is locally asymptotically normal, i.e., it can be approximated by a simple quantum Gaussian model consisting of a coherent state whose mean is related to the unknown parameter. As a consistency check, we prove that a parameter related to the ‘coordinate transformation’ unitaries has zero quantum Fisher information

Saturn Atmospheric Structure and Dynamics

2 Saturn inhabits a dynamical regime of rapidly rotating, internally heated atmospheres similar to Jupiter. Zonal winds have remained fairly steady since the time of Voyager except in the equatorial zone and slightly stronger winds occur at deeper levels. Eddies supply energy to the jets at a rate somewhat less than on Jupiter and mix potential vorticity near westward jets. Convective clouds exist preferentially in cyclonic shear regions as on Jupiter but also near jets, including major outbreaks near 35°S associated with Saturn electrostatic discharges, and in sporadic giant equatorial storms perhaps generated from frequent events at depth. The implied meridional circulation at and below the visible cloud tops consists of upwelling (downwelling) at cyclonic (anti-cyclonic) shear latitudes. Thermal winds decay upward above the clouds, implying a reversal of the circulation there. Warm-core vortices with associated cyclonic circulations exist at both poles, including surrounding thick high clouds at the south pole. Disequilibrium gas concentrations in the tropical upper troposphere imply rising motion there. The radiative-convective boundary and tropopause occur at higher pressure in the southern (summer) hemisphere due to greater penetration of solar heating there. A temperature “knee ” of warm air below the tropopause, perhaps due to haze heating, is stronger in the summer hemisphere as well. Saturn’s south polar stratosphere is warmer than predicted by radiative models and enhanced in ethane, suggesting subsidence-driven adiabatic warming there. Recent modeling advances suggest that shallow weather laye