Outperforming markets: IC and the long-term performance of Japanese IPOs

This article studies the effects of disclosure practices of Japanese IPO prospectuses on long-term stock performance and bid–ask spread, as a proxy for cost of capital, after a company is admitted to the stock exchange. A disclosure index methodology is applied to 120 IPO prospectuses from 2003. Intellectual capital information leads to significantly better long-term performance against a reference portfolio, and is thus important to the capital market. Further, superior disclosure of IC reduces bid–ask spread in the long-term, indicating that such disclosures are important in an IPO setting. Analysts and investors can attain higher long-term returns by understanding IC

Unified dark energy models : a phenomenological approach

A phenomenological approach is proposed to the problem of universe accelerated expansion and of the dark energy nature. A general class of models is introduced whose energy density depends on the redshift $z$ in such a way that a smooth transition among the three main phases of the universe evolution (radiation era, matter domination, asymptotical de Sitter state) is naturally achieved. We use the estimated age of the universe, the Hubble diagram of Type Ia Supernovae and the angular size - redshift relation for compact and ultracompact radio structures to test whether the model is in agreement with astrophysical observation and to constrain its main parameters. Although phenomenologically motivated, the model may be straightforwardly interpreted as a two fluids scenario in which the quintessence is generated by a suitably chosen scalar field potential. On the other hand, the same model may also be read in the context of unified dark energy models or in the framework of modified Friedmann equation theories.Comment: 12 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication on Physical Review

Abelian gauge potentials on cubic lattices

The study of the properties of quantum particles in a periodic potential subject to a magnetic field is an active area of research both in physics and mathematics; it has been and it is still deeply investigated. In this review we discuss how to implement and describe tunable Abelian magnetic fields in a system of ultracold atoms in optical lattices. After discussing two of the main experimental schemes for the physical realization of synthetic gauge potentials in ultracold set-ups, we study cubic lattice tight-binding models with commensurate flux. We finally examine applications of gauge potentials in one-dimensional rings.Comment: To appear on: "Advances in Quantum Mechanics: Contemporary Trends and Open Problems", G. Dell'Antonio and A. Michelangeli eds., Springer-INdAM series 201

Higgs Scalars in the Minimal Non-minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model

We consider the simplest and most economic version among the proposed non-minimal supersymmetric models, in which the $\mu$-parameter is promoted to a singlet superfield, whose all self-couplings are absent from the renormalizable superpotential. Such a particularly simple form of the renormalizable superpotential may be enforced by discrete $R$-symmetries which are extended to the gravity-induced non-renormalizable operators as well. We show explicitly that within the supergravity-mediated supersymmetry-breaking scenario, the potentially dangerous divergent tadpoles associated with the presence of the gauge singlet first appear at loop levels higher than 5 and therefore do not destabilize the gauge hierarchy. The model provides a natural explanation for the origin of the $\mu$-term, without suffering from the visible axion or the cosmological domain-wall problem. Focusing on the Higgs sector of this minimal non-minimal supersymmetric standard model, we calculate its effective Higgs potential by integrating out the dominant quantum effects due to stop squarks. We then discuss the phenomenological implications of the Higgs scalars predicted by the theory for the present and future high-energy colliders. In particular, we find that our new minimal non-minimal supersymmetric model can naturally accommodate a relatively light charged Higgs boson, with a mass close to the present experimental lower bound.Comment: 63 pages (12 figures), extended versio

Search for a W' boson decaying to a bottom quark and a top quark in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

Results are presented from a search for a W' boson using a dataset corresponding to 5.0 inverse femtobarns of integrated luminosity collected during 2011 by the CMS experiment at the LHC in pp collisions at sqrt(s)=7 TeV. The W' boson is modeled as a heavy W boson, but different scenarios for the couplings to fermions are considered, involving both left-handed and right-handed chiral projections of the fermions, as well as an arbitrary mixture of the two. The search is performed in the decay channel W' to t b, leading to a final state signature with a single lepton (e, mu), missing transverse energy, and jets, at least one of which is tagged as a b-jet. A W' boson that couples to fermions with the same coupling constant as the W, but to the right-handed rather than left-handed chiral projections, is excluded for masses below 1.85 TeV at the 95% confidence level. For the first time using LHC data, constraints on the W' gauge coupling for a set of left- and right-handed coupling combinations have been placed. These results represent a significant improvement over previously published limits.Comment: Submitted to Physics Letters B. Replaced with version publishe

Search for direct production of charginos and neutralinos in events with three leptons and missing transverse momentum in √s = 7 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for the direct production of charginos and neutralinos in final states with three electrons or muons and missing transverse momentum is presented. The analysis is based on 4.7 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data delivered by the Large Hadron Collider and recorded with the ATLAS detector. Observations are consistent with Standard Model expectations in three signal regions that are either depleted or enriched in Z-boson decays. Upper limits at 95% confidence level are set in R-parity conserving phenomenological minimal supersymmetric models and in simplified models, significantly extending previous results

Jet size dependence of single jet suppression in lead-lead collisions at sqrt(s(NN)) = 2.76 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the LHC

Measurements of inclusive jet suppression in heavy ion collisions at the LHC provide direct sensitivity to the physics of jet quenching. In a sample of lead-lead collisions at sqrt(s) = 2.76 TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of approximately 7 inverse microbarns, ATLAS has measured jets with a calorimeter over the pseudorapidity interval |eta| < 2.1 and over the transverse momentum range 38 < pT < 210 GeV. Jets were reconstructed using the anti-kt algorithm with values for the distance parameter that determines the nominal jet radius of R = 0.2, 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5. The centrality dependence of the jet yield is characterized by the jet "central-to-peripheral ratio," Rcp. Jet production is found to be suppressed by approximately a factor of two in the 10% most central collisions relative to peripheral collisions. Rcp varies smoothly with centrality as characterized by the number of participating nucleons. The observed suppression is only weakly dependent on jet radius and transverse momentum. These results provide the first direct measurement of inclusive jet suppression in heavy ion collisions and complement previous measurements of dijet transverse energy imbalance at the LHC.Comment: 15 pages plus author list (30 pages total), 8 figures, 2 tables, submitted to Physics Letters B. All figures including auxiliary figures are available at http://atlas.web.cern.ch/Atlas/GROUPS/PHYSICS/PAPERS/HION-2011-02

Search for the standard model Higgs boson decaying into two photons in pp collisions at sqrt(s)=7 TeV

A search for a Higgs boson decaying into two photons is described. The analysis is performed using a dataset recorded by the CMS experiment at the LHC from pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV, which corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 4.8 inverse femtobarns. Limits are set on the cross section of the standard model Higgs boson decaying to two photons. The expected exclusion limit at 95% confidence level is between 1.4 and 2.4 times the standard model cross section in the mass range between 110 and 150 GeV. The analysis of the data excludes, at 95% confidence level, the standard model Higgs boson decaying into two photons in the mass range 128 to 132 GeV. The largest excess of events above the expected standard model background is observed for a Higgs boson mass hypothesis of 124 GeV with a local significance of 3.1 sigma. The global significance of observing an excess with a local significance greater than 3.1 sigma anywhere in the search range 110-150 GeV is estimated to be 1.8 sigma. More data are required to ascertain the origin of this excess.Comment: Submitted to Physics Letters

Search for displaced vertices arising from decays of new heavy particles in 7 TeV pp collisions at ATLAS

We present the results of a search for new, heavy particles that decay at a significant distance from their production point into a final state containing charged hadrons in association with a high-momentum muon. The search is conducted in a pp-collision data sample with a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV and an integrated luminosity of 33 pb^-1 collected in 2010 by the ATLAS detector operating at the Large Hadron Collider. Production of such particles is expected in various scenarios of physics beyond the standard model. We observe no signal and place limits on the production cross-section of supersymmetric particles in an R-parity-violating scenario as a function of the neutralino lifetime. Limits are presented for different squark and neutralino masses, enabling extension of the limits to a variety of other models.Comment: 8 pages plus author list (20 pages total), 8 figures, 1 table, final version to appear in Physics Letters

Measurement of the polarisation of W bosons produced with large transverse momentum in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS experiment

This paper describes an analysis of the angular distribution of W->enu and W->munu decays, using data from pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC in 2010, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of about 35 pb^-1. Using the decay lepton transverse momentum and the missing transverse energy, the W decay angular distribution projected onto the transverse plane is obtained and analysed in terms of helicity fractions f0, fL and fR over two ranges of W transverse momentum (ptw): 35 < ptw < 50 GeV and ptw > 50 GeV. Good agreement is found with theoretical predictions. For ptw > 50 GeV, the values of f0 and fL-fR, averaged over charge and lepton flavour, are measured to be : f0 = 0.127 +/- 0.030 +/- 0.108 and fL-fR = 0.252 +/- 0.017 +/- 0.030, where the first uncertainties are statistical, and the second include all systematic effects.Comment: 19 pages plus author list (34 pages total), 9 figures, 11 tables, revised author list, matches European Journal of Physics C versio