148 research outputs found
Volatility in the Housing Market: Evidence on Risk and Return in the London Sub-market
The impact of volatility in housing market analysis is reconsidered via examination of the risk-return relationship in the London housing market is examined. In addition to providing the first empirical results for the relationship between risk (as measured by volatility) and returns for this submarket, the analysis offers a more general message to empiricists via a detailed and explicit evaluation of the impact of empirical design decisions upon inferences. In particular, the negative risk-return relationship discussed frequently in the housing market literature is examined and shown to depend upon typically overlooked decisions concerning components of the empirical framework from which statistical inferences are drawn
Fourier Magnetic Imaging with Nanoscale Resolution and Compressed Sensing Speed-up using Electronic Spins in Diamond
Optically-detected magnetic resonance using Nitrogen Vacancy (NV) color
centres in diamond is a leading modality for nanoscale magnetic field imaging,
as it provides single electron spin sensitivity, three-dimensional resolution
better than 1 nm, and applicability to a wide range of physical and biological
samples under ambient conditions. To date, however, NV-diamond magnetic imaging
has been performed using real space techniques, which are either limited by
optical diffraction to 250 nm resolution or require slow, point-by-point
scanning for nanoscale resolution, e.g., using an atomic force microscope,
magnetic tip, or super-resolution optical imaging. Here we introduce an
alternative technique of Fourier magnetic imaging using NV-diamond. In analogy
with conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), we employ pulsed magnetic
field gradients to phase-encode spatial information on NV electronic spins in
wavenumber or k-space followed by a fast Fourier transform to yield real-space
images with nanoscale resolution, wide field-of-view (FOV), and compressed
sensing speed-up.Comment: 31 pages, 10 figure
Entanglement of single-photons and chiral phonons in atomically thin WSe
Quantum entanglement is a fundamental phenomenon which, on the one hand,
reveals deep connections between quantum mechanics, gravity and the space-time;
on the other hand, has practical applications as a key resource in quantum
information processing. While it is routinely achieved in photon-atom
ensembles, entanglement involving the solid-state or macroscopic objects
remains challenging albeit promising for both fundamental physics and
technological applications. Here, we report entanglement between collective,
chiral vibrations in two-dimensional (2D) WSe host --- chiral phonons (CPs)
--- and single-photons emitted from quantum dots (QDs) present in it. CPs which
carry angular momentum were recently observed in WSe and are a
distinguishing feature of the underlying honeycomb lattice. The entanglement
results from a "which-way" scattering process, involving an optical excitation
in a QD and doubly-degenerate CPs, which takes place via two indistinguishable
paths. Our unveiling of entanglement involving a macroscopic, collective
excitation together with strong interaction between CPs and QDs in 2D materials
opens up ways for phonon-driven entanglement of QDs and engineering chiral or
non-reciprocal interactions at the single-photon level
Strong mechanical driving of a single electron spin
Quantum devices for sensing and computing applications require coherent
quantum systems which can be manipulated in a fast and robust way. Such quantum
control is typically achieved using external electric or magnetic fields which
drive the system's orbital or spin degrees of freedom. However, most of these
approaches require complex and unwieldy antenna or gate structures, and with
few exceptions are limited to the regime of weak driving. Here, we present a
novel approach to strongly and coherently drive a single electron spin in the
solid state using internal strain fields in an integrated quantum device.
Specifically, we study individual Nitrogen-Vacancy (NV) spins embedded in
diamond mechanical oscillators and exploit the intrinsic strain coupling
between spin and oscillator to strongly drive the spins. As hallmarks of the
strong driving regime, we directly observe the energy spectrum of the emerging
phonon-dressed states and employ our strong, continuous driving for enhancement
of the NV spin coherence time. Our results constitute a first step towards
strain-driven, integrated quantum devices and open new perspectives to
investigate unexplored regimes of strongly driven multi-level systems and to
study exotic spin dynamics in hybrid spin-oscillator devices.We gratefully acknowledge financial support from SNI; NCCR QSIT; SNF grants 200021_143697; and EU FP7 grant 611143 (DIADEMS). AN holds a University Research Fellowship from the Royal Society and acknowledges support from the Winton Programme for the Physics of Sustainability.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from NPG via http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nphys341
Modelling UK house prices with structural breaks and conditional variance analysis
This paper differs from previous research by examining the existence of structural breaks in the UK regional house prices as well as in the prices of the different property types (flats, terraced, detached and semi-detached houses) in the UK as a whole, motivated by the uncertainty in the UK housing market and various financial events that may lead to structural changes within the housing market. Our paper enhances the conventional unit root tests by allowing for structural breaks, while including structural break tests strengthens our analysis. Our empirical results support the existence of structural breaks in the mean equation in seven out of thirteen regions of the UK as well as in three out of four property types, and in the variance equation in six regions and three property types. In addition, using a multivariate GARCH approach we examine both the behaviour of variances and covariances of the house price returns over time. Our results have significant implications for appropriate economic policy selection and investment management
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Sponsor ownership in Asian REITs
This study examines the relationship between sponsor ownership and firm performance proxied by firm value, operating cash flow, and dividend policy with Asian real estate investment trusts (REITs) in Japan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Singapore for the period from 2002 to 2012, focusing on both the incentive alignment effect and the entrenchment effect. Our study sheds new light on effective corporate governance for Asian REITs that are prone to agency problems. Such agency problems arise from the inequitable distribution of power to sponsors that results from the external management structure. The findings suggest that larger sponsor ownership aligns the interests of sponsors and minority shareholders and enhances the performance of Asian REITs, while such an effect diminishes as sponsors become more entrenched. We find that the incentive alignment effect and entrenchment effect are primarily driven by developer-sponsored REITs. Also evident is that the presence of institutional investors mitigates agency problems and increases firm performance
Modelo de otimização da gestão de risco em empresas não financeiras
Esta pesquisa apresenta o desenvolvimento de um modelo de otimização da gestão de riscos, através da identificação de uma estratégia de hedge que maximiza a esperança dos lucros. O modelo fundamenta-se na premissa de que fatores de riscos, além de afetar os resultados das empresas, podem, também, estar correlacionados com as oportunidades futuras de investimento. O modelo proposto incorpora os custos advindos de um endividamento adicional bem como os benefícios da disponibilidade de recursos internos. O trabalho está desenvolvido da seguinte forma: (1) discussão dos aspectos teóricos relacionados ao tema de gestão de riscos no contexto da teoria de finanças; (2) apresentação da metodologia adotada para o desenvolvimento do modelo; (3) derivação dos passos fundamentais que orientaram o modelo matemático, destacando as especificações das variáveis relevantes e os mecanismos de simulação e (4) apresentação dos principais resultados do modelo de hedge ótimo, dentre os quais se destacam: aumento da esperança dos lucros, redução da incerteza em relação aos investimentos, maior estabilidade do nível ótimo de investimento e de endividamento e menor flutuação dos resultados da empresa, decorrente da redução do nível de risco financeiro.This research presents an optimization model for risk management, through the development of a hedge strategy that maximizes the expected profit of a company. The model is based on the premise that a risk factor, besides affecting the results of the company, can also be correlated with future investment opportunities. The model incorporates the costs of an additional debt as well as the benefits of the availability of internal resources. The work is structured in the following way: (1) discussion of the theoretical aspects related to the theme of risk management in the context of the financial theory; (2) presentation of the methodology adopted for the development of the model; (3) derivation of the fundamental steps that guided the mathematical model, detaching the specifications of the important variables and the simulation mechanisms and (4) discussion of the main results of the hedge model, among which we highlight: increase in profit expectations, reduced uncertainty in relation to the investments, larger stability of investment and debt levels and smaller fluctuation of company results, due to lower financial risk levels
A White Paper on keV Sterile Neutrino Dark Matter
We present a comprehensive review of keV-scale sterile neutrino Dark Matter,collecting views and insights from all disciplines involved - cosmology,astrophysics, nuclear, and particle physics - in each case viewed from boththeoretical and experimental/observational perspectives. After reviewing therole of active neutrinos in particle physics, astrophysics, and cosmology, wefocus on sterile neutrinos in the context of the Dark Matter puzzle. Here, wefirst review the physics motivation for sterile neutrino Dark Matter, based onchallenges and tensions in purely cold Dark Matter scenarios. We then round outthe discussion by critically summarizing all known constraints on sterileneutrino Dark Matter arising from astrophysical observations, laboratoryexperiments, and theoretical considerations. In this context, we provide abalanced discourse on the possibly positive signal from X-ray observations.Another focus of the paper concerns the construction of particle physicsmodels, aiming to explain how sterile neutrinos of keV-scale masses could arisein concrete settings beyond the Standard Model of elementary particle physics.The paper ends with an extensive review of current and future astrophysical andlaboratory searches, highlighting new ideas and their experimental challenges,as well as future perspectives for the discovery of sterile neutrinos
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