Relevant market delineation with the use of strategic business information.

In his paper a, overview of methods used in antitrust analysis to delineate relevant markets is provided and shortcomings are pointed out. A practical methodology to delineate relevant geographical and product markets is developed, starting from the theoretical definition of a relevant antitrust market. Based on criteria used by business strategists in segmenting markets, the new methodology makes use of strategic information on the position of a company and its competitors in a specific industry sector to delineate relevant markets. The usefulness of the new methodology is illustrated from the European truck industry.

Chiral magnetic effect in the PNJL model

We study the two-flavor Nambu--Jona-Lasinio model with the Polyakov loop (PNJL model) in the presence of a strong magnetic field and a chiral chemical potential $\mu_5$ which mimics the effect of imbalanced chirality due to QCD instanton and/or sphaleron transitions. Firstly we focus on the properties of chiral symmetry breaking and deconfinement crossover under the strong magnetic field. Then we discuss the role of $\mu_5$ on the phase structure. Finally the chirality charge, electric current, and their susceptibility, which are relevant to the Chiral Magnetic Effect, are computed in the model.Comment: Some reference added. Minor revisions. One figure added. To appear on Phys. Rev.

An Introduction to Pervasive Interface Automata

Pervasive systems are often context-dependent, component based systems in which components expose interfaces and offer one or more services. These systems may evolve in unpredictable ways, often through component replacement. We present pervasive interface automata as a formalism for modelling components and their composition. Pervasive interface automata are based on the interface automata of Henzinger et al, with several significant differences. We expand their notion of input and output actions to combinations of input, output actions, and callable methods and method calls. Whereas interfaces automata have a refinement relation, we argue the crucial relation in pervasive systems is component replacement, which must include consideration of the services offered by a component and assumptions about the environment. We illustrate pervasive interface autmotata and component replacement with a small case study of a pervasive application for sports predictions

Universal aspects of string propagation on curved backgrounds

String propagation on D-dimensional curved backgrounds with Lorentzian signature is formulated as a geometrical problem of embedding surfaces. When the spatial part of the background corresponds to a general WZW model for a compact group, the classical dynamics of the physical degrees of freedom is governed by the coset conformal field theory SO(D-1)/SO(D-2), which is universal irrespective of the particular WZW model. The same holds for string propagation on D-dimensional flat space. The integration of the corresponding Gauss-Codazzi equations requires the introduction of (non-Abelian) parafermions in differential geometry.Comment: 15 pages, latex. Typo in Eq. (2.12) is corrected. Version to be published in Phys. Rev.

Chiral magnetic effect in the PNJL model

We study the two-flavor Nambu--Jona-Lasinio model with the Polyakov loop (PNJL model) in the presence of a strong magnetic field and a chiral chemical potential $\mu_5$ which mimics the effect of imbalanced chirality due to QCD instanton and/or sphaleron transitions. Firstly we focus on the properties of chiral symmetry breaking and deconfinement crossover under the strong magnetic field. Then we discuss the role of $\mu_5$ on the phase structure. Finally the chirality charge, electric current, and their susceptibility, which are relevant to the Chiral Magnetic Effect, are computed in the model.Comment: Some reference added. Minor revisions. One figure added. To appear on Phys. Rev.

Logical inference approach to relativistic quantum mechanics: derivation of the Klein-Gordon equation

The logical inference approach to quantum theory, proposed earlier [Ann. Phys. 347 (2014) 45-73], is considered in a relativistic setting. It is shown that the Klein-Gordon equation for a massive, charged, and spinless particle derives from the combination of the requirements that the space-time data collected by probing the particle is obtained from the most robust experiment and that on average, the classical relativistic equation of motion of a particle holds

Continuous-feed nanocasting process for the synthesis of bismuth nanowire composites

We present a novel, continuous-feed nanocasting procedure for the synthesis of bismuth nanowire structures embedded in the pores of a mesoporous silica template. The immobilization of a bismuth salt inside the silica template from a diluted metal salt solution yields a sufficiently high loading to obtain electrically conducting bulk nanowire composite samples after reduction and sintering the nanocomposite powders. Electrical resistivity measurements of sintered bismuth nanowires embedded in the silica template reveal size-quantization effects

Liner radius fluctuations in a high-gain Cherenkov free-electron laser

Phase shifts in the propagating electromagnetic field of a Cherenkov free-electron laser (CFEL) can affect its gain. The phase velocity of an electromagnetic wave varies, for example, when the lined waveguide is inhomogeneous along its length. In this paper, we study quantitatively the saturated power of a particular CFEL at both weak and strong electron-beam pumping when the inner radius of the liner contains fluctuations along the waveguide. We show that the gain bandwidth of the CFEL is substantially broadened when the CFEL is pumped with a high-current beam. We also show that the design of a CFEL needs to include optimization with respect to sensitivity to liner fluctuations, especially for weakly pumped CFELs, that is, CFELs that use a low-current electron-beam density. This optimization can be relaxed for more strongly pumped CFELs