7,929 research outputs found
Cost-efficiencies, profitability, and strategic behavior: evidence from Japanese commercial banks
DOI 10.1108/17439130610646162Purpose - to examine whether Japanese commerical banks exhibited economies of scale and economies of density at the time when the mega-merger wave in Japanese banking began in the late 1990's. Since this merger wave has not yielded efficiencies, this analysis aims to shed light on whether banks, at the start of the wave, had reason to believe that larger banks would be more efficient
Exponential torsion growth for random 3-manifolds
We show that a random 3-manifold with positive first Betti number admits a tower of cyclic covers with exponential torsion growth
Maximum occupation number for composite boson states
One of the major differences between fermions and bosons is that fermionic
states have a maximum occupation number of one, whereas the occupation number
for bosonic states is in principle unlimited. For bosons that are made up of
fermions, one could ask the question to what extent the Pauli principle for the
constituent fermions would limit the boson occupation number. Intuitively one
can expect the maximum occupation number to be proportional to the available
volume for the bosons divided by the volume occupied by the fermions inside one
boson, though a rigorous derivation of this result has not been given before.
In this letter we show how the maximum occupation number can be calculated from
the ground-state energy of a fermionic generalized pairing problem. A very
accurate analytical estimate of this eigenvalue is derived. From that a general
expression is obtained for the maximum occupation number of a composite boson
state, based solely on the intrinsic fermionic structure of the bosons. The
consequences for Bose-Einstein condensates of excitons in semiconductors and
ultra cold trapped atoms are discussed.Comment: 4 pages, Revte
Prewetting transition on a weakly disordered substrate : evidence for a creeping film dynamics
We present the first microscopic images of the prewetting transition of a
liquid film on a solid surface. Pictures of the local coverage map of a helium
film on a cesium metal surface are taken while the temperature is raised
through the transition. The film edge is found to advance at constant
temperature by successive avalanches in a creep motion with a macroscopic
correlation length. The creep velocity varies strongly in a narrow temperature
range. The retreat motion is obtained only at much lower temperature,
conforming to the strong hysteresis observed for prewetting transition on a
disordered surface. Prewetting transition on such disordered surfaces appears
to give rise to dynamical phenomena similar to what is observed for domain wall
motions in 2D magnets.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, to be published in Euro.Phys.Let
Electronic transport coefficients from ab initio simulations and application to dense liquid hydrogen
Using Kubo's linear response theory, we derive expressions for the
frequency-dependent electrical conductivity (Kubo-Greenwood formula),
thermopower, and thermal conductivity in a strongly correlated electron system.
These are evaluated within ab initio molecular dynamics simulations in order to
study the thermoelectric transport coefficients in dense liquid hydrogen,
especially near the nonmetal-to-metal transition region. We also observe
significant deviations from the widely used Wiedemann-Franz law which is
strictly valid only for degenerate systems and give an estimate for its valid
scope of application towards lower densities
Devociones republicanas:los avatares de la comunidad política a principios del siglo XIX
El artículo muestra que la República fue una referencia central en el lenguaje político de los primeros años del siglo XIX. Articulando nuevos y viejos sentidos, la República permite discutir las posibilidades de un análisis que, dejando de lado la entrada nacional, rastree las formas de la comunidad política. Para ello, la primera parte del artículo muestra algunos de los problemas que tiene la nación como categoría de análisis de las primeras décadas del siglo XIX colombiano. La segunda sección inicia señalando la pluralidad de alternativas para nominar la comunidad política disponibles a principios del XIX –patria, nación, patria republicana– y explora en detalle el lugar privilegiado que la República ocupaba en tal panorama. Finalmente, la última parte retoma la preocupación por la República subrayando su particular carácter católico. El artículo termina insistiendo en que este recorrido abre posibilidades y nuevas preguntas para pensar en una historia de las formas e itinerarios de las comunidades políticas en el siglo XIX colombiano.The article shows that the Republic was a pivotal reference point in the political language of early nineteenth-century Colombia. By articulating old and new meanings, the Republic allows us to discuss the possibilities of an analysis that, leaving aside the nation as a privileged concept, follows the changing shape of the political community. The article first discusses some of the problems with the analytical category of nation as the privileged way to understand the post-revolutionary period. Next, it highlights the various options available at the start of the nineteenth century to refer to the political community–fatherland, nation, republican homeland– to then emphasize the centrality of republican invocations. In the third section, it shows how the idea of the Republic was pervaded by Catholic references. The article concludes by insisting how this case suggests new ways of thinking about the shape and trajectory of political communities in early nineteenth-century Colombia.O artigo mostra que a República foi uma referência central na linguagem dos primeiros anos do século XIX. Articulando novos e velhos sentidos, a República permite discutir as possibilidades de uma análise que, deixando de lado a abertura nacional, investigue as formas da comunidade política. Portanto, a primeira parte do artigo mostra alguns dos problemas que tem a nação como categoria de análise das primeiras décadas do século XIX colombiano. A segunda seção começa ressaltando a pluralidade de alternativas, para nomear a comunidade política, disponíveis no início do século XIX –pátria, nação, pátria republicana– e explora com detalhes o lugar privilegiado que a República ocupava em tal panorama. Finalmente, a última parte retoma a preocupação pela República destacando seu particular caráter católico. O artigo termina insistindo que esta ocorrido abre possibilidades e novas perguntas para pensar em uma história das formas e itinerários das comunidades políticas no século XIX colombiano
Hydrodynamic object recognition using pressure sensing
Hydrodynamic sensing is instrumental to fish and some amphibians. It also represents, for underwater vehicles, an alternative way of sensing the fluid environment when visual and acoustic sensing are limited. To assess the effectiveness of hydrodynamic sensing and gain insight into its capabilities and limitations, we investigated the forward and inverse problem of detection and identification, using the hydrodynamic pressure in the neighbourhood, of a stationary obstacle described using a general shape representation. Based on conformal mapping and a general normalization procedure, our obstacle representation accounts for all specific features of progressive perceptual hydrodynamic imaging reported experimentally. Size, location and shape are encoded separately. The shape representation rests upon an asymptotic series which embodies the progressive character of hydrodynamic imaging through pressure sensing. A dynamic filtering method is used to invert noisy nonlinear pressure signals for the shape parameters. The results highlight the dependence of the sensitivity of hydrodynamic sensing not only on the relative distance to the disturbance but also its bearing
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Roll-to-roll manufacturing of micropatterned adhesives by template compression
For the next generation of handling systems, reversible adhesion enabled by micropatterned dry adhesives exhibits high potential. The versatility of polymeric micropatterns in handling objects made from various materials has been demonstrated by several groups. However, specimens reported in most studies have been restricted to the laboratory scale. Upscaling the size and quantity of micropatterned adhesives is the next step to enable successful technology transfer. Towards this aim, we introduce a continuous roll-to-roll replication process for fabrication of high-performance, mushroom-shaped micropatterned dry adhesives. The micropatterns were made from UV-curable polyurethane acrylates. To ensure the integrity of the complex structure during the fabrication process, flexible templates were used. The compression between the template and the wet prepolymer coating was investigated to optimize replication results without structural failures, and hence, to improve adhesion. As a result, we obtained micropatterned adhesive tapes, 10 cm in width and several meters in length, with adhesion strength about 250 kPa to glass, suitable for a wide range of applications. © 2018 by the authors
Excitonic condensate and quasiparticle transport in electron-hole bilayer systems
Bilayer electron-hole systems undergo excitonic condensation when the
distance d between the layers is smaller than the typical distance between
particles within a layer. All excitons in this condensate have a fixed dipole
moment which points perpendicular to the layers, and therefore this condensate
of dipoles couples to external electromagnetic fields. We study the transport
properties of this dipolar condensate system based on a phenomenological model
which takes into account contributions from the condensate and quasiparticles.
We discuss, in particular, the drag and counterflow transport, in-plane
Josephson effect, and noise in the in-plane currents in the condensate state
which provides a direct measure of the superfluid collective-mode velocity.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figure
Deterministic Partial Differential Equation Model for Dose Calculation in Electron Radiotherapy
Treatment with high energy ionizing radiation is one of the main methods in
modern cancer therapy that is in clinical use. During the last decades, two
main approaches to dose calculation were used, Monte Carlo simulations and
semi-empirical models based on Fermi-Eyges theory. A third way to dose
calculation has only recently attracted attention in the medical physics
community. This approach is based on the deterministic kinetic equations of
radiative transfer. Starting from these, we derive a macroscopic partial
differential equation model for electron transport in tissue. This model
involves an angular closure in the phase space. It is exact for the
free-streaming and the isotropic regime. We solve it numerically by a newly
developed HLLC scheme based on [BerCharDub], that exactly preserves key
properties of the analytical solution on the discrete level. Several numerical
results for test cases from the medical physics literature are presented.Comment: 20 pages, 7 figure
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