Investigation of the semileptonic transition of the BB into the orbitally excited charmed tensor meson

The transition form factors of the semileptonic $B \rightarrow D_2^*(2460)\ell\bar{\nu}\,\,\,\,(\ell=\tau,\mu,e)$ decay channel are calculated within the framework of the three-point QCD sum rules. The fit functions of the form factors are then used to estimate the total decay width and branching ratio of this transition. The order of branching ratio shows that this channel can be detected at LHCb.Comment: 15 Pages, 4 Figures and 5 Table

The relative effects of crude oil price and exchange rate on petroleum product prices: Evidence from a set of Northern Meditteranean countries

Cataloged from PDF version of article.This paper provides a set of empirical evidence from five Northern Mediterranean countries that are subject to similar refinery reference prices regarding the relative sensitivity of crude oil prices and exchange rate on (pre-tax) petroleum product prices. The empirical evidence reveals that a one percent increase in exchange rate (depreciation) increases petroleum product prices less than a one percent increase in crude oil prices does in the long run. In the short run, however, a one percent increase in exchange rate increases petroleum product prices more than a one percent increase in crude oil prices does. © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Production sharing agreements in the Caucasus and Central Asia: a contextual study of Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan

Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the newly formed resource-rich countries have each striven to occupy a major position in Eurasian economy. Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan are two of the former Soviet republics that arguably have most successfully realised this goal in the petroleum sector, largely by attracting foreign investors. Their success in attracting and securing these investments has been dependent on contractual production-sharing agreements (‘PSAs’) as well as the implementation of a series of laws designed to protect and secure foreign investment. Production-sharing agreements establish the legal, fiscal and commercial framework between a multinational oil company and a concerned state with respect to each other. This article focuses on the legal and taxation aspects of the PSAs initiated by Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan from a comparative perspective. The article exposes the main legal issues and explores the most controversial contractual commitments inserted into this type of agreement. It goes on to propose practicable solutions to overcome the outlined challenges and makes concrete recommendations to the governments of these states

Ag and Au Atoms Intercalated in Bilayer Heterostructures of Transition Metal Dichalcogenides and Graphene

The diffusive motion of metal nanoparticles Au and Ag on monolayer and between bilayer heterostructures of transition metal dichalcogenides and graphene are investigated in the framework of density functional theory. We found that the minimum energy barriers for diffusion and the possibility of cluster formation depend strongly on both the type of nanoparticle and the type of monolayers and bilayers. Moreover, the tendency to form clusters of Ag and Au can be tuned by creating various bilayers. Tunability of the diffusion characteristics of adatoms in van der Waals heterostructures holds promise for controllable growth of nanostructures.Comment: accepted, APL Ma

Quantum Transport Characteristics of Lateral pn-Junction of Single Layer TiS3

Using density functional theory and nonequilibrium Greens functions-based methods we investigated the electronic and transport properties of monolayer TiS3 pn-junction. We constructed a lateral pn-junction in monolayer TiS3 by using Li and F adatoms. An applied bias voltage caused significant variability in the electronic and transport properties of the TiS3 pn-junction. In addition, spin dependent current-voltage characteristics of the constructed TiS3 pn-junction were analyzed. Important device characteristics were found such as negative differential resistance and rectifying diode behaviors for spin-polarized currents in the TiS3 pn-junction. These prominent conduction properties of TiS3 pn-junction offer remarkable opportunities for the design of nanoelectronic devices based on a recently synthesized single-layered material

Controlling Polymer Capture and Translocation by Electrostatic Polymer-Pore Interactions

Polymer translocation experiments typically involve anionic polyelectrolytes such as DNA molecules driven through negatively charged nanopores. Quantitative modelling of polymer capture to the nanopore followed by translocation therefore necessitates the consideration of the electrostatic barrier resulting from like-charge polymer-pore interactions. To this end, in this work we couple mean-field level electrohydrodynamic equations with the Smoluchowski formalism to characterize the interplay between the electrostatic barrier, the electrophoretic drift, and the electro-osmotic liquid flow. In particular, we find that due to distinct ion density regimes where the salt screening of the drift and barrier effects occur, there exists a characteristic salt concentration maximizing the probability of barrier-limited polymer capture into the pore. We also show that in the barrier-dominated regime, the polymer translocation time increases exponentially with the membrane charge and decays exponentially fast with the pore radius and the salt concentration. These results suggest that the alteration of these parameters in the barrier-driven regime can be an efficient way to control the duration of the translocation process and facilitate more accurate measurements of the ionic current signal in the pore