1,819 research outputs found
Classification of Solvable Feynman Path Integrals
A systematic classification of Feynman path integrals in quantum mechanics is
presented and a table of solvable path integrals is given which reflects the
progress made during the last ten years or so, including, of course, the main
contributions since the invention of the path integral by Feynman in 1942. An
outline of the general theory is given. Explicit formul\ae\ for the so-called
basic path integrals are presented on which our general scheme to classify and
calculate path integrals in quantum mechanics is based.Comment: 13 pages, amstex, preprint DESY 92--189, and SISSA/1/93/F
Income Taxes and Entrepreneurial Choice: Empirical Evidence from Germany
Entrepreneurial activity is often regarded as an engine for economic growth and job creation. Through tax policy, governments possess a potential lever to influence the decisions of economic agents to start and close small businesses. In Germany, the top marginal income tax rates were reduced exclusively for entrepreneurs in 1994 and 1999/2000. These tax reforms provided two naturally defined control groups that enable us to exploit the legislation changes as "natural experiments". First, the tax rate reductions did not apply to freelance professionals (Freiberufler), and second, entrepreneurs with earnings below a certain threshold were not affected. Using data from two different sources, the SOEP and the Mikrozensus (LFS), we analyse the effect of the tax cuts on transitions into and out of self-employment and on the rate of self-employment. We apply a "difference-in-difference-in-difference" estimation technique within a discrete time hazard rate model. The results indicate that the decrease in tax rates did not have a significant effect on the self-employment decision.Taxation, entrepreneurship, natural experiment, difference-in-difference-in-difference estimation
Quantum Chaos
A short historical overview is given on the development of our knowledge of
complex dynamical systems with special emphasis on ergodicity and chaos, and on
the semiclassical quantization of integrable and chaotic systems. The general
trace formula is discussed as a sound mathematical basis for the semiclassical
quantization of chaos. Two conjectures are presented on the basis of which it
is argued that there are unique fluctuation properties in quantum mechanics
which are universal and, in a well defined sense, maximally random if the
corresponding classical system is strongly chaotic. These properties constitute
the quantum mechanical analogue of the phenomenon of chaos in classical
mechanics. Thus quantum chaos has been found.Comment: 12 pages; uuencoded compressed tar file containing PostScript source;
PostScript file also available by anonymous ftp to ftp.desy.de as
/pub/preprints/desy/1994/desy-013.p
Hyperbolic Universes with a Horned Topology and the CMB Anisotropy
We analyse the anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) in
hyperbolic universes possessing a non-trivial topology with a fundamental cell
having an infinitely long horn. The aim of this paper is twofold. On the one
hand, we show that the horned topology does not lead to a flat spot in the CMB
sky maps in the direction of the horn as stated in the literature. On the other
hand, we demonstrate that a horned topology having a finite volume could
explain the suppression of the lower multipoles in the CMB anisotropy as
observed by COBE and WMAP
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