34,650 research outputs found
Alien Calculus and non perturbative effects in Quantum Field Theory
In many domains of physics, methods are needed to deal with non-perturbative
aspects. I want here to argue that a good approach is to work on the Borel
transforms of the quantities of interest, the singularities of which give
non-perturbative contributions. These singularities in many cases can be
largely determined by using the alien calculus developed by Jean \'Ecalle. My
main example will be the two point function of a massless theory given as a
solution of a renormalization group equation.Comment: 4 pages, double-colum
On the icosahedron: from two to three dimensions
In his famous book, Felix Klein describes a complex variable for the
quotients of the ordinary sphere by the finite groups of rotations and in
particular for the most complex situation of the quotient by the symmetry group
of the icosahedron. The purpose of this work and its sequels is to obtain
similar results for the quotients of the three--dimensional sphere. Various
properties of the group and of its representations are used to obtain
explicit expressions for coordinates and the relations they satisfy.Comment: 8 page
Consistency of Bayes estimators of a binary regression function
When do nonparametric Bayesian procedures ``overfit''? To shed light on this
question, we consider a binary regression problem in detail and establish
frequentist consistency for a certain class of Bayes procedures based on
hierarchical priors, called uniform mixture priors. These are defined as
follows: let be any probability distribution on the nonnegative integers.
To sample a function from the prior , first sample from
and then sample uniformly from the set of step functions from
into that have exactly jumps (i.e., sample all jump locations
and function values independently and uniformly). The main result states
that if a data-stream is generated according to any fixed, measurable
binary-regression function , then frequentist consistency
obtains: that is, for any with infinite support, the posterior of
concentrates on any neighborhood of . Solution of an
associated large-deviations problem is central to the consistency proof.Comment: Published at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/009053606000000236 in the
Annals of Statistics (http://www.imstat.org/aos/) by the Institute of
Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org
Higher Order Corrections to the Asymptotic Perturbative Solution of a Schwinger-Dyson Equation
Building on our previous works on perturbative solutions to a Schwinger-Dyson
for the massless Wess-Zumino model, we show how to compute 1/n corrections to
its asymptotic behavior. The coefficients are analytically determined through a
sum on all the poles of the Mellin transform of the one loop diagram. We
present results up to the fourth order in 1/n as well as a comparison with
numerical results. Unexpected cancellations of zetas are observed in the
solution, so that no even zetas appear and the weight of the coefficients is
lower than expected, which suggests the existence of more structure in the
theory.Comment: 16 pages, 2 figures. Some points clarified, typos corrected, matches
the version to be published in Lett. Math. Phy
Prices, Wages and Fertility in Pre-Industrial England
A two-sector Malthusian model is formulated in terms of a cointegrated vector autoregressive (CVAR) model on error correction form. The model allows for both agricultural product wages and relative prices to affect fertility. The model is estimated using new data for the pre-industrial period in England, and the analysis reveals a strong, positive effect of agricultural wages as well as a small and, surprisingly, positive effect of real agricultural prices on fertility. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that there is constant returns to scale with respect to labour in the manufacturing sector and strongly decreasing returns to scale in the agricultural sector.Malthus; cointegration; pre-industrial England
Sticky prices and monetary policy : evidence from disaggregated U.S. data
This paper uses factor-augmented vector autoregressions (FAVAR) estimated using a large data set to disentangle fluctuations in disaggregated consumer and producer prices which are due to macroeconomic factors from those due to sectorial conditions. This allows us to provide consistent estimates of the effects of US monetary policy on disaggregated prices. While sectorial prices respond quickly to sector-specific shocks, we find that for a large number of price series, there is a significant delay in the response of prices to monetary policy shocks. In addition, price responses display little evidence of a “price puzzle,” contrary to existing studies based on traditional VARs. The observed dispersion in the reaction of producer prices is relatively well explained by the degree of market power, as predicted by models with monopolistic competition. JEL Classification: E32, E5
God and the Global Economy: Religion and Attitudes Towards Trade and Immigration in the United States
Using the results of a national identity survey, we test the impact of religious affiliation on trade and immigration-policy preferences of US residents while controlling for individual level of skill, political ideology and other important demographic characteristics. Our results show that religion is an important determinant of international-policy preferences as individuals who are pre-Vatican II Catholic or members of a fundamentalist Protestant denomination are more likely to prefer policies that restrict imports and immigration. Religiosity, in contrast, has a separate effect of moderating attitudes towards immigration. In addition, we find evidence of denominational effects among African Americans in that members of fundamentalist denominations tend to favour policies that restrict imports while others do not, implying that statistical results commonly attributed to racial effects may actually be a religion effect
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