1,971 research outputs found
Are Experienced Analysts More Accurate?
We examine the relationship between analyst experience and the accuracy of annual earnings forecasts using a 20-year sample (1983-2002) from the Thomson Financial First Call I/B/E/S database. We test for this relationship using three different measures of forecast accuracy employed by prior researchers, which are regressed against measures of general experience and specific experience, along with five other controls, for four independent 5-year subperiods, as well as for the full 20-year period. We find that general experience levels are positively associated with forecast accuracy (negatively associated with forecast error) in most subperiods for two of the three measures of forecast accuracy. We also find, in contrast with the extant literature, that for two of the three measures of forecast accuracy and for most subperiods, specific experience does not have an association with forecast accuracy beyond that provided by the general experience measure. Our results suggest that the relationship between forecast accuracy and analyst experience (as well as some other commonly examined analyst characteristics) is dependent on the measure of accuracy employed and the time period studied
Relativity tests by complementary rotating Michelson-Morley experiments
We report Relativity tests based on data from two simultaneous
Michelson-Morley experiments, spanning a period of more than one year. Both
were actively rotated on turntables. One (in Berlin, Germany) uses optical
Fabry-Perot resonators made of fused silica; the other (in Perth, Australia)
uses microwave whispering-gallery sapphire resonators. Within the standard
model extension, we obtain simultaneous limits on Lorentz violation for
electrons (5 coefficients) and photons (8) at levels down to ,
improved by factors between 3 and 50 compared to previous work.Comment: 5 pages revtex, 2 figure
Improved test of Lorentz Invariance in Electrodynamics using Rotating Cryogenic Sapphire Oscillators
We present new results from our test of Lorentz invariance, which compares
two orthogonal cryogenic sapphire microwave oscillators rotating in the lab. We
have now acquired over 1 year of data, allowing us to avoid the short data set
approximation (less than 1 year) that assumes no cancelation occurs between the
and parameters from the photon
sector of the standard model extension. Thus, we are able to place independent
limits on all eight and parameters.
Our results represents up to a factor of 10 improvement over previous non
rotating measurements (which independently constrained 7 parameters), and is a
slight improvement (except for ) over results from
previous rotating experiments that assumed the short data set approximation.
Also, an analysis in the Robertson-Mansouri-Sexl framework allows us to place a
new limit on the isotropy parameter of
, an improvement of a factor of 2.Comment: Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.
Forecast Constraints on Inflation from Combined CMB and Gravitational Wave Direct Detection Experiments
We study how direct detection of the inflationary gravitational wave
background constrains inflationary parameters and complements CMB polarization
measurements. The error ellipsoids calculated using the Fisher information
matrix approach with Planck and the direct detection experiment, BBO (Big Bang
Observer), show different directions of parameter degeneracy, and the
degeneracy is broken when they are combined. For a slow-roll parameterization,
we show that BBO could significantly improve the constraints on the
tensor-to-scalar ratio compared with Planck alone. We also look at a quadratic
and a natural inflation model. In both cases, if the temperature of reheating
is also treated as a free parameter, then the addition of BBO can significantly
improve the error bars. In the case of natural inflation, we find that the
addition of BBO could even partially improve the error bars of a cosmic
variance-limited CMB experiment.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figures; matches version to appear in PRD; typos
correcte
Decoherence, fluctuations and Wigner function in neutron optics
We analyze the coherence properties of neutron wave packets, after they have
interacted with a phase shifter undergoing different kinds of statistical
fluctuations. We give a quantitative (and operational) definition of
decoherence and compare it to the standard deviation of the distribution of the
phase shifts. We find that in some cases the neutron ensemble is more coherent,
even though it has interacted with a wider (i.e. more disordered) distribution
of shifts. This feature is independent of the particular definition of
decoherence: this is shown by proposing and discussing an alternative
definition, based on the Wigner function, that displays a similar behavior. We
briefly discuss the notion of entropy of the shifts and find that, in general,
it does not correspond to that of decoherence of the neutron.Comment: 18 pages, 7 figure
Electrodynamics with Lorentz-violating operators of arbitrary dimension
The behavior of photons in the presence of Lorentz and CPT violation is
studied. Allowing for operators of arbitrary mass dimension, we classify all
gauge-invariant Lorentz- and CPT-violating terms in the quadratic Lagrange
density associated with the effective photon propagator. The covariant
dispersion relation is obtained, and conditions for birefringence are
discussed. We provide a complete characterization of the coefficients for
Lorentz violation for all mass dimensions via a decomposition using
spin-weighted spherical harmonics. The resulting nine independent sets of
spherical coefficients control birefringence, dispersion, and anisotropy. We
discuss the restriction of the general theory to various special models,
including among others the minimal Standard-Model Extension, the isotropic
limit, the case of vacuum propagation, the nonbirefringent limit, and the
vacuum-orthogonal model. The transformation of the spherical coefficients for
Lorentz violation between the laboratory frame and the standard Sun-centered
frame is provided. We apply the results to various astrophysical observations
and laboratory experiments. Astrophysical searches of relevance include studies
of birefringence and of dispersion. We use polarimetric and dispersive data
from gamma-ray bursts to set constraints on coefficients for Lorentz violation
involving operators of dimensions four through nine, and we describe the mixing
of polarizations induced by Lorentz and CPT violation in the cosmic-microwave
background. Laboratory searches of interest include cavity experiments. We
present the theory for searches with cavities, derive the experiment-dependent
factors for coefficients in the vacuum-orthogonal model, and predict the
corresponding frequency shift for a circular-cylindrical cavity.Comment: 58 pages two-column REVTeX, accepted in Physical Review
On the experimental determination of the one-way speed of light
In this contribution the question of the isotropy of the one-way speed of
light from an experimental perspective is addressed. In particular, we analyze
two experimental methods commonly used in its determination. The analysis is
aimed at clarifying the view that the one-way speed of light cannot be
determined by techniques in which physical entities close paths. The procedure
employed here will provide epistemological tools such that physicists
understand that a direct measurement of the speed not only of light but of any
physical entity is by no means trivial. Our results shed light on the physics
behind the experiments which may be of interest for both physicists with an
elemental knowledge in special relativity and philosophers of science.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures. To appear in the European Journal of Physic
Test of Lorentz Invariance in Electrodynamics Using Rotating Cryogenic Sapphire Microwave Oscillators
We present the first results from a rotating Michelson-Morley experiment that
uses two orthogonally orientated cryogenic sapphire resonator-oscillators
operating in whispering gallery modes near 10 GHz. The experiment is used to
test for violations of Lorentz Invariance in the frame-work of the photon
sector of the Standard Model Extension (SME), as well as the isotropy term of
the Robertson-Mansouri-Sexl (RMS) framework. In the SME we set a new bound on
the previously unmeasured component of
, and set more stringent bounds by up to a factor of 7
on seven other components. In the RMS a more stringent bound of
on the isotropy parameter, is set, which is more than a factor of 7 improvement. More detailed
description of the experiment and calculations can be found in: hep-ph/0506200Comment: Final published version, 4 pages, references adde
Matrix equations and trilinear commutation relations
In this paper we discuss a general algebraic approach to treating static
equations of matrix models with a mass-like term. In this approach the
equations of motions are considered as consequence of parafermi-like trilinear
commutation relations. In this context we consider several solutions, including
construction of noncommutative spheres. The equivalence of fuzzy spheres and
parafermions is underlined.Comment: 10 pages, an incorrect claim is removed, one reference is adde
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