43 research outputs found
First PAC studies on the hydrogen diffusion in III-V semiconductors
We report on first experiments which observe on a microscopic scale the migration of isolated hydrogen in InP, InAs and GaAs. Using the radioactive acceptor 117Cd, Cd-H pairs have been formed in these III-V semiconductors. After the decay of 117Cd to 117In, H is no longer bound to 117In and can diffuse freely. This diffusion has been observed by perturbed gg angular correlation (PAC) spectroscopy. At 10 K, the occupation of two different lattice sites by hydrogen has been observed
Volatility clustering and scaling for financial time series due to attractor bubbling
A microscopic model of financial markets is considered, consisting of many
interacting agents (spins) with global coupling and discrete-time thermal bath
dynamics, similar to random Ising systems. The interactions between agents
change randomly in time. In the thermodynamic limit the obtained time series of
price returns show chaotic bursts resulting from the emergence of attractor
bubbling or on-off intermittency, resembling the empirical financial time
series with volatility clustering. For a proper choice of the model parameters
the probability distributions of returns exhibit power-law tails with scaling
exponents close to the empirical ones.Comment: For related publications see http://www.helbing.or
Scaling of the distribution of price fluctuations of individual companies
We present a phenomenological study of stock price fluctuations of individual
companies. We systematically analyze two different databases covering
securities from the three major US stock markets: (a) the New York Stock
Exchange, (b) the American Stock Exchange, and (c) the National Association of
Securities Dealers Automated Quotation stock market. Specifically, we consider
(i) the trades and quotes database, for which we analyze 40 million records for
1000 US companies for the 2-year period 1994--95, and (ii) the Center for
Research and Security Prices database, for which we analyze 35 million daily
records for approximately 16,000 companies in the 35-year period 1962--96. We
study the probability distribution of returns over varying time scales , where varies by a factor of ---from 5 min up to
4 years. For time scales from 5~min up to approximately 16~days, we
find that the tails of the distributions can be well described by a power-law
decay, characterized by an exponent ---well outside the
stable L\'evy regime . For time scales days, we observe results consistent with a slow
convergence to Gaussian behavior. We also analyze the role of cross
correlations between the returns of different companies and relate these
correlations to the distribution of returns for market indices.Comment: 10pages 2 column format with 11 eps figures. LaTeX file requiring
epsf, multicol,revtex. Submitted to PR
Universal and non-universal properties of cross-correlations in financial time series
We use methods of random matrix theory to analyze the cross-correlation
matrix C of price changes of the largest 1000 US stocks for the 2-year period
1994-95. We find that the statistics of most of the eigenvalues in the spectrum
of C agree with the predictions of random matrix theory, but there are
deviations for a few of the largest eigenvalues. We find that C has the
universal properties of the Gaussian orthogonal ensemble of random matrices.
Furthermore, we analyze the eigenvectors of C through their inverse
participation ratio and find eigenvectors with large inverse participation
ratios at both edges of the eigenvalue spectrum--a situation reminiscent of
results in localization theory.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures, Revte
Size Effects in Agent-Based Macroeconomic Models: An Initial Investigation
We investigate the scale-free property of an agent-based macroeconomic model initially proposed by Wright (2005), called the Social Architecture (SA) model. The SA model has been shown to be able to replicate a number of important features of a macroeconomy, such as patterns concerning economic growth, business cycles, industrial dynamics and income distribution. We explore whether macroeconomic stylized features resulting from this model are robust when the number of agents populating the (model) economy vary. We simulate the model by systematically varying the agent population with 100, 500, 1000, 2,000, 4,000, 8,000 and 10,000 agents. Our results indicate that the SA model does exhibit significant size effects for several important variables
Glacial history affected phenotypic differentiation in the Alpine plant Campanula thyrsoides
Numerous widespread Alpine plant species show molecular differentiation among populations from distinct regions. This has been explained as the result of genetic drift during glacial survival in isolated refugia along the border of the European Alps. Since genetic drift may affect molecular markers and phenotypic traits alike, we asked whether phenotypic differentiation mirrors molecular patterns among Alpine plant populations from different regions. Phenotypic traits can be under selection, so we additionally investigated whether part of the phenotypic differentiation can be explained by past selection and/or current adaptation. Using the monocarpic Campanula thyrsoides as our study species, a common garden experiment with plants from 21 populations from four phylogeographic groups located in regions across the Alps and the Jura Mountains was performed to test for differentiation in morphological and phenological traits. Past selection was investigated by comparing phenotypic differentiation among and within regions with molecular differentiation among and within regions. The common garden results indicated regional differentiation among populations for all investigated phenotypic traits, particularly in phenology. Delayed flowering in plants from the South-eastern Alps suggested adaptation to long sub-mediterranean summers and contrasted with earlier flowering of plants experiencing shorter growing seasons in regions with higher elevation to the West. Comparisons between molecular and phenotypic differentiation revealed diversifying selection among regions in height and biomass, which is consistent with adaptation to environmental conditions in glacial refugia. Within regions, past selection acted against strong diversification for most phenotypic traits, causing restricted postglacial adaptation. Evidence consistent with post-glacial adaptation was also given by negative correlation coefficients between several phenotypic traits and elevation of the population's origin. In conclusion, our study suggests that, irrespective of adaptation of plants to their current environment, glacial history can have a strong and long-lasting influence on the phenotypic evolution of Alpine plants
Response of a subalpine grassland to simulated grazing: aboveground productivity along soil phosphorus gradients
Interactions between grassland ecosystems and vertebrate herbivores are critical for a better understanding of ecosystem processes, but diverge widely in different ecosystems. In this study, we examined plant responses to simulated red deer (
Cervus elaphus
L.) grazing using clip-plot experiments in a subalpine grassland ecosystem of the Central European Alps. We measured aboveground net primary production (ANPP) and phosphorus (P) concentration of leaf tissue from plants of two vegetation types with different grazing history. The experimental plots were placed on a soil-P gradient and subject to two different clipping treatments, which simulated moderate and heavy grazing, respectively. We found distinct differences in the response of both ANPP and P concentration in leaf tissues in the two vegetation types. Compared to moderate, heavy grazing simulation did not affect ANPP in the vegetation type adapted to grazing, but decreased ANPP in the non-grazing adapted vegetation type. High soil-P levels also had different effects on the response of the vegetation to clipping in the two vegetation types with different grazing history. ANPP correlated positively with soil-P in non-grazing adapted tall-grass vegetation, while in grazing adapted short-grass vegetation a positive relationship between soil-P and the P concentration in leaf tissues was found. Our experiments provide data for a better understanding of ecosystem processes in high-elevation grasslands of the Alps with possible implications for both nature conservation purposes in protected areas and the management of agriculturally used grasslands
Differentiation in morphology and flowering phenology between two Campanula thyrsoides L. subspecies
Subspecies are usually characterized by sets of morphological discontinuities. By means of common garden experiments, we investigated genetic differentiation in morphological and phenological traits in two geographically disjunct subspecies of Campanula thyrsoides L., i.e. subsp. thyrsoides (= C.* thyrsoides) occurring in the European Alps and Jura Mountains, and subsp. carniolica (= C.* carniolica) occurring in the Southeastern Alps and the Dinaric Arc. Nine out of 16 investigated traits were significantly different between C.* thyrsoides and C.* carniolica. For C.* carniolica inflorescence length was 1.4×, and above-ground biomass 2.7× higher, while flower density was significantly lower. Campanula* carniolica also showed delayed flowering and flower development from bottom to top compared to C.* thyrsoides which flowered from top to bottom. The inflorescence growth was indeterminate and flowering took several weeks in C.* carniolica, whereas C.* thyrsoides showed determinate flowering, rapidly opening all flowers within a few days. This differentiation in flowering phenology is likely to be adaptive. The submediterranean climate favours indeterminate flowering in C.* carniolica, allowing ongoing growth of the inflorescence throughout the long summer until environmental conditions worsen, whereas determinate and early flowering in C.* thyrsoides is favourable in the short growing season in the high Alps where seed production must be secured before temperature drops. Glacial survival in refugia with different climates (alpine vs. submediterranean) may have caused this regional differentiation