Editorial

Diversity matters, both at the firm and at the macro-economic level. This is the driving mission of JEOD. While the importance of diversity is already quite well recognized in other disciplines as a major source of wellbeing and quality of life, an open discussion on diversity in economics (meaning both diversity of enterprise types and diversity in the possible combinations of public and private sector roles in different economic systems) has long been taboo. JEOD wants to remove this anomaly

The dynamics of the NAIRU model with two switching regimes

We consider a model of inflation and unemployment proposed in Ferri et al. (JEBO, 2001), in which the dynamics are described by a discontinuous piecewise linear map, made up of two branches. We shall show that the bounded dynamics may be classified in two cases: we may have either regular dynamics with stable cycles of any period or quasiperiodic trajectories, or only chaotic dynamics (pure chaos in which a unique absolutely continuous invariant ergodic measure exists, and structurally stable),in a rich variety of cyclical chaotic intervals. The main results are the analytical formulation of the border collision bifurcation curves, through which we give a complete picture of the possible outcomes of the model.Phillips curve, Regime switching, NAIRU, Nonlinearities, Discontinuous maps.

Hardware simulator for optical correlation spectroscopy with Gaussian statistics and arbitrary correlation functions

We present a new hardware simulator (HS) for characterization, testing and benchmarking of digital correlators used in various optical correlation spectroscopy experiments where the photon statistics is Gaussian and the corresponding time correlation function can have any arbitrary shape. Starting from the HS developed in [Rev. Sci. Instrum. 74, 4273 (2003)], and using the same I/O board (PCI-6534 National Instrument) mounted on a modern PC (Intel Core i7-CPU, 3.07GHz, 12GB RAM), we have realized an instrument capable of delivering continuous streams of TTL pulses over two channels, with a time resolution of Δt = 50ns, up to a maximum count rate of 〈I〉 ∼ 5MHz. Pulse streams, typically detected in dynamic light scattering and diffuse correlation spectroscopy experiments were generated and measured with a commercial hardware correlator obtaining measured correlation functions that match accurately the expected ones.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Multidimensional persistent homology is stable

Multidimensional persistence studies topological features of shapes by analyzing the lower level sets of vector-valued functions. The rank invariant completely determines the multidimensional analogue of persistent homology groups. We prove that multidimensional rank invariants are stable with respect to function perturbations. More precisely, we construct a distance between rank invariants such that small changes of the function imply only small changes of the rank invariant. This result can be obtained by assuming the function to be just continuous. Multidimensional stability opens the way to a stable shape comparison methodology based on multidimensional persistence.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figure

Three-dimensional coherence of light speckles: Theory

We provide a detailed analysis of the three-dimensional spatial coherence properties of light speckles, based on very general assumptions. We show that, while in the deep Fresnel region close to the source the longitudinal coherence of speckles is ruled by the laws of ordinary diffraction, on approach to the Fraunhofer zone the longitudinal coherence length tends to become infinite. We offer both a quantitative and a qualitative description of the emergence of these different behaviors.We provide a detailed analysis of the three-dimensional spatial coherence properties of light speckles, based on very general assumptions. We show that, while in the deep Fresnel region close to the source the longitudinal coherence of speckles is ruled by the laws of ordinary diffraction, on approach to the Fraunhofer zone the longitudinal coherence length tends to become infinite. We offer both a quantitative and a qualitative description of the emergence of these different behaviors. \ua9 2008 The American Physical Society

Three-dimensional coherence of light speckles: Experiment

We provide an experimental detailed study of the three-dimensional coherence properties of light speckles produced by different tunable pseudothermal sources. Our findings confirm the theoretical prediction of the companion article [A. Gatti et al., Phys. Rev. A 78, 063806 (2008)], according to which the longitudinal coherence of the speckles is ruled by ordinary diffraction laws only in the deep-Fresnel zone close to the source, deviates from this behavior in the Fresnel zone, and tends to become infinite when approaching the Fraunhofer zone. A quantitative comparison with theory is presented for Gaussian speckles in all the three regimes and for Airy speckles in the deep-Fresnel zone. Potential applications to three-dimensional imaging techniques are briefly discussed.We provide an experimental detailed study of the three-dimensional coherence properties of light speckles produced by different tunable pseudothermal sources. Our findings confirm the theoretical prediction of the companion article [A. Gatti , Phys. Rev. A 78, 063806 (2008)], according to which the longitudinal coherence of the speckles is ruled by ordinary diffraction laws only in the deep-Fresnel zone close to the source, deviates from this behavior in the Fresnel zone, and tends to become infinite when approaching the Fraunhofer zone. A quantitative comparison with theory is presented for Gaussian speckles in all the three regimes and for Airy speckles in the deep-Fresnel zone. Potential applications to three-dimensional imaging techniques are briefly discussed

Differential Ghost Imaging

We present a new technique, differential ghost imaging (DGI), which dramatically enhances the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of imaging methods based on spatially correlated beams. DGI can measure the transmission function of an object in absolute units, with a SNR that can be orders of magnitude higher than the one achievable with the conventional ghost imaging (GI) analysis. This feature allows for the first time, to our knowledge, the imaging of weakly absorbing objects, which represents a breakthrough for GI applications. Theoretical analysis and experimental and numerical data assessing the performances of the technique are presented

Low- to high-velocity frictional properties of the clay-rich gouges from the slipping zone of the 1963 Vaiont slide, northern Italy

The final slip of about 450 m at about 30 m/s of the 1963 Vaiont landslide (Italy) was preceded by >3 year long creeping phase which was localized in centimeter-thick clay-rich layers (60–70% smectites, 20–30% calcite and quartz). Here we investigate the frictional properties of the clay-rich layers under similar deformation conditions as during the landslide: 1–5 MPa normal stress, 2 × 10^(−7) to 1.31 m/s slip rate and displacements up to 34 m. Experiments were performed at room humidity and wet conditions with biaxial, torsion and rotary shear apparatus. The clay-rich gouge was velocity-independent to velocity-weakening in both room humidity and wet conditions. In room humidity experiments, the coefficient of friction decreased from 0.47 at v 0.70 m/s: full lubrication results from the formation of a continuous water film in the gouge. The Vaiont landslide occurred under wet to saturated conditions. The unstable behavior of the landslide is explained by the velocity-weakening behavior of the Vaiont clay-rich gouges. The formation of a continuous film of liquid water in the slipping zone reduced the coefficient of friction to almost zero, even without invoking the activation of thermal pressurization. This explains the extraordinary high velocity achieved by the slide during the final collapse