Congestion pricing of inputs in vertically related markets

This paper conducts a welfare analysis of a two-part tariff that is applied to the congestion pricing of inputs supplied by a natural monopolist with increasing returns to scale to competitive firms that require an input in a fixed proportion to output. Congestion pricing of inputs is optimal for both the welfare-maximizing regulator and the profit-maximizing monopolist if it is applied in the form of a uniform price for the input. However, a two-part tariff for the congestion pricing of inputs is optimal if competition in the downstream market is imperfect or if there is demand uncertainty in the market.two-part tariff

The Benefits of Information on the Efficient Usage of Consumer Durables

This paper attempts to measure how information provision affects usage of consumer durables, using data on residential demand for electricity in Japan. Assuming that consumer preferences are well described by a translog indirect utility function, a discrete-continuous model of information and usage choice is estimated to examine the effects of information about efficient usage of electric appliances. The empirical results indicate that information provision contributed to energy conservation.information, energy conservation, discrete-continuous model

Deconfinement of Vortices with Continuously Variable Fractions of the Unit Flux Quanta in Two-Gap Superconductors

We propose a new stage of confiment-decofinment transition, which can be observed in laboratory. In two-gap superconductors (SCs), two kinds of vortex exist and each of them carries a continuously variable fraction of the unit flux quanta Phi_0=h c / 2 e. The confined state of these two is a usual vortex and stable in the low temperature region of the system under a certain magnetic field above H_c1. We see an analogy to quarks in a charged pion. An entropy gain causes two fractional vortices to be deconfined above a certain temperature.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, to be published in Europhys. Let

N\'eel and singlet RVB orders in the t-J model

The N\'eel and the singlet RVB orders of the {\it t-J} model in a 2D square lattice are studied in the slave-boson mean-field approximation. It is shown that the N\'eel order parameter takes the maximum value at the finite temperature and disappear at the lower temperature for a certain range of doping. It is also shown that the N\'eel and the singlet RVB orders coexist at low temperature. This suggests the possibility of the coexistence of the N\'eel and the superconducting orders.Comment: RevTeX, 8 pages, 1 postscript figure. To appear in Physica C, Volume 257, issue 38

Static and dynamic properties of frictional phenomena in a one-dimensional system with randomness

Static and dynamic frictional phenomena at the interface with random impurities are investigated in a two-chain model with incommensurate structure. Static frictional force is caused by the impurity pinning and/or by the pinning due to the regular potential, which is responsible for the breaking of analyticity transition for impurity-free cases. It is confirmed that the static frictional force is always finite in the presence of impurities, in contrast to the impurity-free system. The nature of impurity pinning is discussed in connection with that in density waves. The kinetic frictional force of a steady sliding state is also investigated numerically. The relationship between the sliding velocity dependence of the kinetic frictional force and the strength of impurity potential is discussed.Comment: RevTex, 14 pages, 6 PostScript figures, to appear in Phys. Rev.

Dynamical frictional phenomena in an incommensurate two-chain model

Dynamical frictional phenomena are studied theoretically in a two-chain model with incommensurate structure. A perturbation theory with respect to the interchain interaction reveals the contributions from phonons excited in each chain to the kinetic frictional force. The validity of the theory is verified in the case of weak interaction by comparing with numerical simulation. The velocity and the interchain interaction dependences of the lattice structure are also investigated. It is shown that peculiar breaking of analyticity states appear, which is characteristic to the two-chain model. The range of the parameters in which the two-chain model is reduced to the Frenkel-Kontorova model is also discussed.Comment: RevTex, 9 pages, 7 PostScript figures, to appear in Phys. Rev.