Signatures of middle aged, nearby pulsars in the cosmic ray lepton spectrum?

Recent data reported by the PAMELA and ATIC experiments, as well as cosmic ray lepton results from FERMI and H.E.S.S. collaborations sparked a series of papers explaining these results either by contributions of electron positron pairs to the local interstellar cosmic ray (CR) spectrum by dark matter (DM) or pulsars. Focusing here on pulsars, we argue that at the present, our knowledge about particle acceleration at pulsars as well as of the local Galactic CR propagation is still limited, i.e. the recent results for CR electrons and positrons constrain pulsar and propagation models. We will thus not present another attempt to explain the data by contributions of pulsars to the local CR lepton flux but rather to highlight the caveats in doing so.Comment: 6 pages, accepted for the publication in the proceedings of the ICATPP Conference on Cosmic Rays for Particle and Astroparticle Physics, Villa Olmo (Como), Oct. 201

The D3/D7 Background and Flavor Dependence of Regge Trajectories

In the context of AdS/CFT with flavor, we consider the type IIB supergravity solution corresponding to a fully localized D3/D7 intersection. We complete the standard metric ansatz by providing an analytic expression for the warp factor, under the assumption of a logarithmically running axion-dilaton. From the gauge dual perspective, this behavior is related to the positive beta function of the N=4, d=4 SU(N_c) super Yang-Mills gauge theory, coupled to N_f fundamental N=2 hypermultiplets. We comment on the existence of tadpoles and relate them to the same gauge theory beta function. Next we consider a classical spinning string configuration in the decoupling limit of the D3/D7 geometry and extract the flavor (N_f) dependence of the associated meson Regge trajectory. Including the backreaction of the D7-branes in the supergravity dual allows for going beyond the quenched approximation on the dual gauge theory side.Comment: 26 pages, 5 figure

Structure and energetics of Si(111)-(5x2)-Au

We propose a new structural model for the Si(111)-(5x2)-Au reconstruction. The model incorporates a new experimental value of 0.6 monolayer for the coverage of gold atoms, equivalent to six gold atoms per 5x2 cell. Five main theoretical results, obtained from first-principles total-energy calculations, support the model. (1) In the presence of silicon adatoms the periodicity of the gold rows spontaneously doubles, in agreement with experiment. (2) The dependence of the surface energy on the adatom coverage indicates that a uniformly covered phase is unstable and will phase-separate into empty and covered regions, as observed experimentally. (3) Theoretical scanning tunneling microscopy images are in excellent agreement with experiment. (4) The calculated band structure is consistent with angle-resolved photoemission spectra; analysis of their correspondence allows the straightforward assignment of observed surface states to specific atoms. (5) The calculated activation barrier for diffusion of silicon adatoms along the row direction is in excellent agreement with the experimentally measured barrier.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures, also available with higher-resolution figures from http://cst-www.nrl.navy.mil/users/erwin/ausi111.v5.pd

An international survey of stress tests

In the summer of 2000, central banks from the Group of Ten countries surveyed large international banks about their use of stress tests_a risk management tool that measures a firm's exposure to extreme movements in asset prices. The survey findings highlight the risks that most concern financial institutions and clarify how these institutions use stress tests in their overall risk management programs.Risk management ; Risk assessment ; Financial services industry

Transport and handling LHC components: A permanent challenge

The LHC project, collider and experiments, is an assembly of thousands of elements, large or small, heavy or light, fragile or robust. Each element has its own transport requirements that constitute a real challenge to handle. Even simple manoeuvres could lead to difficulties in integration, routing and execution due to the complex environment and confined underground spaces. Examples of typical LHC elements transport and handling will be detailed such as the 16-m long, 34-t heavy, fragile cryomagnets from the surface to the final destination in the tunnel, or the delicate cryogenic cold-boxes down to pits and detector components. This challenge did not only require a lot of imagination but also a close cooperation between all the involved parties, in particular with colleagues from safety, cryogenics, civil engineering, integration and logistics

Development of Improved Rheometric Tools and their Application on the Non-Newtonian Rheology of Polymeric Fluids

The normal force and pressure of polymers is studied with improved constructions for rheometers. Via the FT the time-dependent data from oscillatory shear and capillary flows is analysed. A nonlinear parameter is introduced for LAOS and for the melt flow instabilities a FT analysis of the extrudate images is introduced For the CaBER, the elongational viscosity is calculated, the equations of balance are restated and the influence of the curing time is studied using the new separation energy

Rating Agencies: Is There an Agency Issue?

This paper examines the potential for conflicts of interest in the debt ratings business. Inherent in the current business model is the fact that firms whose obligations are rated by the agencies pay fees for those ratings, which in turn comprises virtually all of the revenues of the rating agencies. Given the public nature of the ratings, no other business model seems feasible for rating agencies as commercial ventures, so that conflicts of interest are inherent in this important part of the financial markets infrastructure. This paper examines the nature of this conflict, how it is managed, and the significance of market structure and reputation in preventing conflict exploitation. These issues are linked to the use of ratings for regulatory certification purposes, as well as the international dimensions of debt ratings activity through investments and joint ventures of the major rating groups

Glass Model, Hubbard Model and High-Temperature Superconductivity

In this paper we revisit the glass model describing the macroscopic behavior of the High-Temperature superconductors. We link the glass model at the microscopic level to the striped phase phenomenon, recently discussed widely. The size of the striped phase domains is consistent with earlier predictions of the glass model when it was introduced for High-Temperature Superconductivity in 1987. In an additional step we use the Hubbard model to describe the microscopic mechanism for d-wave pairing within these finite size stripes. We discuss the implications for superconducting correlations of Hubbard model, which are much higher for stripes than for squares, for finite size scaling, and for the new view of the glass model picture.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figures (included), LaTex using Revtex, accepted by Int. J. Mod. Phys.

Rating Agencies: Is There an Agency Issue? Roy C. Smith and Ingo Walter

This paper examines the potential for conflicts of interest in the debt ratings business. Inherent in the current business model is the fact that firms whose obligations are rated by the agencies pay fees for those ratings, which in turn comprises virtually all of the revenues of the rating agencies. Given the public nature of the ratings, no other business model seems feasible for rating agencies as commercial ventures, so that conflicts of interest are inherent in this important part of the financial markets infrastructure. This paper examines the nature of this conflict, how it is managed, and the significance of market structure and reputation in preventing conflict exploitation. These issues are linked to the use of ratings for regulatory certification purposes, as well as the international dimensions of debt ratings activity through investments and joint ventures of the major rating groups