29,289 research outputs found
Information, information processing and gravity
I discuss fundamental limits placed on information and information processing
by gravity. Such limits arise because both information and its processing
require energy, while gravitational collapse (formation of a horizon or black
hole) restricts the amount of energy allowed in a finite region. Specifically,
I use a criterion for gravitational collapse called the hoop conjecture. Once
the hoop conjecture is assumed a number of results can be obtained directly:
the existence of a fundamental uncertainty in spatial distance of order the
Planck length, bounds on information (entropy) in a finite region, and a bound
on the rate of information processing in a finite region. In the final section
I discuss some cosmological issues related to the total amount of information
in the universe, and note that almost all detailed aspects of the late universe
are determined by the randomness of quantum outcomes. This paper is based on a
talk presented at a 2007 Bellairs Research Institute (McGill University)
workshop on black holes and quantum information.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, revte
Animal Spirits Meets Creative Destruction
We show how a Schumpeterian process of creative destruction can induce coordination in the timing of entrepreneurial activities across diverse sectors of the economy.Consequently, a multi-sector economy, in which sector-specific, productivity improvements are made by independent, profit-seeking entrepreneurs, can exhibit regular booms, slowdowns and downturns as an inherent part of the long-run growth process.The cyclical equilibrium that we study has a higher long-run growth rate but lower welfare than the corresponding acyclical one.We find that the cycles generated by our model share some features of actual business cycles, and that across cycling economies, a negative relationship emerges between volatility and growth.economic growth;entrepreneurship;innovation;business cycles
Co-movement, Capital and Contracts: 'Normal' Cycles Through Creative Destruction
We develop a unified theory of endogenous business cycles in which expansions are neoclassical growth periods driven by productivity improvements and capital accumulation, while downturns are the result of Keynesian contractions in aggregate demand below potential output. Recessions allow skilled labor to be reallocated to growth promoting activities which fuel subsequent expansions. However, rigidities in production and contractual limitations, inherent to the process of creative destruction, leave capital severely underutilized. A key feature of our equilibrium is the endogenous emergence of long term supply contracts between capitalist owners and producers.Long-term contracting;investment irreversibility;putty-clay technology;asset- specificity;Endogenous cycles and growth
Fiscal Shocks and Fiscal Risk Management
We use the returns on a set of international financial securities to identify exogenous shocks to the Canadian federal surplus. We find that a large portion of the variation in the surplus can be replicated by a linear combination of these returns and that the rising debt observed in the 1980s and 1990s was a result of adverse exogenous shocks and a delayed response by the government to these shocks. We develop a formal framework to evaluate the potential gains from a fiscal risk management strategy, using these securities to hedge against exogenous shocks. We show that fiscal risk management can generate significant welfare gains by enhancing the sustainability of fiscal policy and thereby lowering average tax rates.Fiscal policy, sustainability, asset pricing, risk management.
Numerical Evidence for Robustness of Environment-Assisted Quantum Transport
Recent theoretical studies show that decoherence process can enhance
transport efficiency in quantum systems. This effect is known as
environment-assisted quantum transport (ENAQT). The role of ENAQT in optimal
quantum transport is well investigated, however, it is less known how robust
ENAQT is with respect to variations in the system or its environment
characteristic. Toward answering this question, we simulated excitonic energy
transfer in Fenna-Matthews-Olson (FMO) photosynthetic complex. We found that
ENAQT is robust with respect to many relevant parameters of environmental
interactions and Frenkel-exciton Hamiltonian including reorganization energy,
bath frequency cutoff, temperature, and initial excitations, dissipation rate,
trapping rate, disorders, and dipole moments orientations. Our study suggests
that the ENAQT phenomenon can be exploited in robust design of highly efficient
quantum transport systems.Comment: arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1104.481
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