Phenomenological Implications of the Topflavor Model

We explore phenomenologies of the topflavour model for the LEP experiment at $m_{_Z}$ scale and the atomic parity violation (APV) experiment in the $C_s$ atoms at low energies. Implications of the model on the $Z$ peak data are studied in terms of the precision variables $\epsilon_i$'s. We find that the LEP data give more stringent constraints on the model parameters than the APV data.Comment: 23 pages (including 5 .eps figs), ReVTeX, the 1st revised version, to appear in Phys. Lett.

Recovery and Sustainability in East Asia

This paper analyzes the macroeconomic adjustment from the crisis in East Asia in a broad international prospective. The stylized pattern from the previous 160 currency crisis episodes over the period from 1970 to 1995 shows a V-type adjustment of real GDP growth in the years prior to and following a crisis. The adjustment shows a much sharper V-type in the crisis episodes with the IMF program, compared to those without. Cross-country regressions show that depreciation of real exchange rate, expansionary macroeconomic policies and favorable global environments are critical for the speedy post-crisis recovery. In this sense, the East Asian process of adjustment is not much different from the stylized pattern from the previous currency crisis episodes. However, the degree of initial contraction and following recovery has been far greater in East Asia than what the cross-country evidence predicts. This paper argues that the sharper adjustment pattern in East Asia is attributed to the severe liquidity crisis that was triggered by investor's panic and then amplified by the weak corporate and bank balance sheet. We find no evidence for a direct impact of a currency crisis on long-run growth.

Do Bars Trigger Activity in Galactic Nuclei?

We investigate the connection between the presence of bars and AGN activity, using a volume-limited sample of $\sim$9,000 late-type galaxies with axis ratio $b/a>0.6$ and $M_{r} < -19.5+5{\rm log}h$ at low redshift ($0.02\le z\lesssim 0.055$), selected from Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 7. We find that the bar fraction in AGN-host galaxies (42.6%) is $\sim$2.5 times higher than in non-AGN galaxies (15.6%), and that the AGN fraction is a factor of two higher in strong-barred galaxies (34.5%) than in non-barred galaxies (15.0%). However, these trends are simply caused by the fact that AGN-host galaxies are on average more massive and redder than non-AGN galaxies because the fraction of strong-barred galaxies (\bfrsbo) increases with $u-r$ color and stellar velocity dispersion. When $u-r$ color and velocity dispersion (or stellar mass) are fixed, both the excess of \bfrsbo in AGN-host galaxies and the enhanced AGN fraction in strong-barred galaxies disappears. Among AGN-host galaxies we find no strong difference of the Eddington ratio distributions between barred and non-barred systems. These results indicate that AGN activity is not dominated by the presence of bars, and that AGN power is not enhanced by bars. In conclusion we do not find a clear evidence that bars trigger AGN activity.Comment: 13 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in Ap