10,791 research outputs found
The informativeness of stochastic frontier and programming frontier efficiency scores: Cost efficiency and other measures of bank holding company performance
This paper examines the properties of the X-inefficiencies in U.S. bank holding companies derived from both stochastic and linear programming frontiers. This examination allows the robustness of results across methods to be compared. While we find that calculated programming inefficiency scores are two to three times larger than those estimated using a stochastic frontier, the patterns of the scores across banks and time are similar, and there is a relatively high correlation of the rankings of banks' efficiencies under the two methods. However, when we examine the "informativeness" of the efficiency measured by the two different techniques, we find some large differences. We find evidence that the stochastic frontier scores are more closely related to risk-taking behavior, managerial competence, and bank stock returns. Based on these findings, we conclude that while both methods produce informative efficiency scores, for this data set decision makers should put more weight on the stochastic frontier efficiency estimates.Bank holding companies ; Banks and banking - Costs
Secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation from reaction of isoprene with nitrate radicals (NO_3)
Secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation from the reaction of isoprene with nitrate radicals (NO3) is investigated in the Caltech indoor chambers. Experiments are performed in the dark and under dry conditions (RH<10%) using N2O5 as a source of NO3 radicals. For an initial isoprene concentration of 18.4 to 101.6 ppb, the SOA yield (defined as the ratio of the mass of organic aerosol formed to the mass of parent hydrocarbon reacted) ranges from 4.3% to 23.8%. By examining the time evolutions of gas-phase intermediate products and aerosol volume in real time, we are able to constrain the chemistry that leads to the formation of low-volatility products. Although the formation of ROOR from the reaction of two peroxy radicals (RO2) has generally been considered as a minor channel, based on the gas-phase and aerosol-phase data it appears that RO2+RO2 reaction (self reaction or cross-reaction) in the gas phase yielding ROOR products is a dominant SOA formation pathway. A wide array of organic nitrates and peroxides are identified in the aerosol formed and mechanisms for SOA formation are proposed. Using a uniform SOA yield of 10% (corresponding to Mo≅10 μg m−3), it is estimated that ~2 to 3 Tg yr−1 of SOA results from isoprene + NO3. The extent to which the results from this study can be applied to conditions in the atmosphere depends on the fate of peroxy radicals (i.e. the relative importance of RO2+RO2 versus RO2+NO3 reactions) in the nighttime troposphere
Effect of NOx level on secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation from the photooxidation of terpenes
Secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation from the photooxidation of one monoterpene (α-pinene) and two sesquiterpenes (longifolene and aromadendrene) is investigated in the Caltech environmental chambers. The effect of NOx on SOA formation for these biogenic hydrocarbons is evaluated by performing photooxidation experiments under varying NOx conditions. The NOx dependence of α-pinene SOA formation follows the same trend as that observed previously for a number of SOA precursors, including isoprene, in which SOA yield (defined as the ratio of the mass of organic aerosol formed to the mass of parent hydrocarbon reacted) decreases as NOx level increases. The NOx dependence of SOA yield for the sesquiterpenes, longifolene and aromadendrene, however, differs from that determined for isoprene and α-pinene; the aerosol yield under high-NOx conditions substantially exceeds that under low-NOx conditions. The reversal of the NOx dependence of SOA formation for the sesquiterpenes is consistent with formation of relatively low-volatility organic nitrates, and/or the isomerization of large alkoxy radicals leading to less volatile products. Analysis of the aerosol chemical composition for longifolene confirms the presence of organic nitrates under high-NOx conditions. Consequently the formation of SOA from certain biogenic hydrocarbons such as sesquiterpenes (and possibly large anthropogenic hydrocarbons as well) may be more efficient in polluted air
Phase transition in a spring-block model of surface fracture
A simple and robust spring-block model obeying threshold dynamics is
introduced to study surface fracture of an overlayer subject to stress induced
by adhesion to a substrate. We find a novel phase transition in the crack
morphology and fragment-size statistics when the strain and the substrate
coupling are varied. Across the transition, the cracks display in succession
short-range, power-law and long-range correlations. The study of stress release
prior to cracking yields useful information on the cracking process.Comment: RevTeX, 4 pages, 4 Postscript figures included using epsfi
Decoherence and dephasing errors caused by D.C. Stark effect in rapid ion transport
We investigate the error due to D.C. Stark effect for quantum information
processing for trapped ion quantum computers using the scalable architecture
proposed in J. Res. Natl. Inst. Stan. 103, 259 (1998) and Nature 417, 709
(2002). As the operation speed increases, dephasing and decoherence due to the
D.C. Stark effect becomes prominent as a large electric field is applied for
transporting ions rapidly. We estimate the relative significance of the
decoherence and dephasing effects and find that the latter is dominant. We find
that the minimum possible of dephasing is quadratic in the time of flight, and
an inverse cubic in the operational time scale. From these relations, we obtain
the operational speed-range at which the shifts caused by D.C. Stark effect, no
matter follow which trajectory the ion is transported, are no longer
negligible. Without phase correction, the maximum speed a qubit can be
transferred across a 100 micron-long trap, without excessive error, in about 10
ns for Calcium ion and 50 ps for Beryllium ion. In practice, the accumulated
error is difficult to be tracked and calculated, our work gives an estimation
to the range of speed limit imposed by D.C. Stark effect.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure. v2: Title is changed in this version to make our
argument more focused. Introduction is rewritten. A new section IV is added
to make our point more prominent. v3: Title is changed to make our argument
more specific. Abstract, introduction, and summary are revise
Families of N=2 Strings
In a given 4d spacetime bakcground, one can often construct not one but a
family of distinct N=2 string theories. This is due to the multiple ways N=2
superconformal algebra can be embedded in a given worldsheet theory. We
formulate the principle of obtaining different physical theories by gauging
different embeddings of the same symmetry algebra in the same ``pre-theory.''
We then apply it to N=2 strings and formulate the recipe for finding the
associated parameter spaces of gauging. Flat and curved target spaces of both
(4,0) and (2,2) signatures are considered. We broadly divide the gauging
choices into two classes, denoted by alpha and beta, and show them to be
related by T-duality. The distinction between them is formulated topologically
and hinges on some unique properties of 4d manifolds. We determine what their
parameter spaces of gauging are under certain simplicity ansatz for generic
flat spaces (R^4 and its toroidal compactifications) as well as some curved
spaces. We briefly discuss the spectra of D-branes for both alpha and beta
families.Comment: 66+1 pages, 2 tables, latex 2e, hyperref. ver2: typos corrected,
reference adde
Heisenberg-picture approach to the exact quantum motion of a time-dependent forced harmonic oscillator
In the Heisenberg picture, the generalized invariant and exact quantum
motions are found for a time-dependent forced harmonic oscillator. We find the
eigenstate and the coherent state of the invariant and show that the
dispersions of these quantum states do not depend on the external force. Our
formalism is applied to several interesting cases.Comment: 15 pages, two eps files, to appear in Phys. Rev. A 53 (6) (1996
Ordered Phases of Itinerant Dzyaloshinsky-Moriya Magnets and Their Electronic Properties
A field theory appropriate for magnets that display helical order due to the
Dzyaloshinsky-Moriya mechanism, a class that includes MnSi and FeGe, is used to
derive the phase diagram in a mean-field approximation. The helical phase, the
conical phase in an external magnetic field, and recent proposals for the
structure of the A-phase and the non-Fermi-liquid region in the paramagnetic
phase are discussed. It is shown that the orientation of the helical pitch
vector along an external magnetic field within the conical phase occurs via two
distinct phase transitions. The Goldstone modes that result from the long-range
order in the various phases are determined, and their consequences for
electronic properties, in particular the specific heat, the single-particle
relaxation time, and the electrical and thermal conductivities, are derived.
Various aspects of the ferromagnetic limit, and qualitative differences between
the transport properties of helimagnets and ferromagnets, are also discussed.Comment: 22pp, 8 eps fig
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