Radio Emission from 3D Relativistic Hydrodynamic Jets: Observational Evidence of Jet Stratification

We present the first radio emission simulations from high resolution three dimensional relativistic hydrodynamic jets, which allow for a study of the observational implications of the interaction between the jet and external medium. This interaction gives rise to a stratification of the jet where a fast spine is surrounded by a slow high energy shear layer. The stratification, and in particular the large specific internal energy and slow flow in the shear layer largely determines the emission from the jet. If the magnetic field in the shear layer becomes helical (e.g., resulting from an initial toroidal field and an aligned field component generated by shear) the emission shows a cross section asymmetry, in which either the top or the bottom of the jet dominates the emission. This, as well as limb or spine brightening, is a function of the viewing angle and flow velocity, and the top/bottom jet emission predominance can be reversed if the jet changes direction with respect to the observer, or presents a change in velocity. The asymmetry is more prominent in the polarized flux, because of field cancellation (or amplification) along the line of sight. Recent observations of jet cross section emission asymmetries in the blazar 1055+018 can be explained assuming the existence of a shear layer with a helical magnetic field.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, 1 latex style file, ApJL accepte

General relativity, differential geometry, and unitary theories in the work of Mira Fernandes

An analysis of the work of Mira Fernandes on unitary theories is presented.Comment: 3 page

Black holes and fundamental physics

We give a review of classical, thermodynamic and quantum properties of black holes relevant to fundamental physics.Comment: Invited talk at the Fifth International Workshop on New Worlds in Astroparticle Physics, University of the Algarve, Faro, Portugal, January 8-10, 2005, published in the Proceedings of the Fifth International Workshop on New Worlds in Astroparticle Physics, World Scientific (2006), eds. Ana M. Mour\~ao et al., p. 71-9

On information and competition in private value auctions

How much information does an auctioneer want bidders to have in a private value environment? We address this question using a novel approach to ordering information structures based on the property that in private value settings more information leads to a more disperse distribution of buyers’ updated expected valuations. We define the class of precision criteria following this approach and different notions of dispersion, and relate them to existing criteria of informativeness. Using supermodular precision, we obtain three results: (1) a more precise information structure yields a more efficient allocation; (2) the auctioneer provides less than the efficient level of information since more information increases bidder informational rents; (3) there is a strategic complementarity between information and competition, so that both the socially efficient and the auctioneer’s optimal choice of precision increase with the number of bidders, and both converge as the number of bidders goes to infinity.Auctions, Competition, Private Values, Informativeness Criteria