5,089 research outputs found
Search for massive protostellar candidates in the southern hemisphere: I. Association with dense gas
(Abridged) We have observed CS and C17O lines, and 1.2 mm cont. emission
towards a sample of 130 high-mass protostellar candidates with DEC<-30 deg.
This is the first step of the southern extension of a project started more than
a decade ago aimed at the identification of massive protostellar candidates. We
selected from the IRAS PSC 429 sources which potentially are compact molecular
clouds. The sample is divided into two groups: the 298 sources with
[25-12]>0.57 and [60-12]>1.30 we call 'High' sources, the remaining 131 we call
'Low' sources. In this paper, we check the association with dense gas and dust
in 130 'Low' sources. We find a detection rate of ca. 85% in CS, demonstrating
a tight association with dense molecular clumps. Among the sources detected in
CS, ca. 76% have also been detected in C17O and ca. 93% in the 1.2 mm cont.
Mm-cont. maps show the presence of clumps with diameters 0.2-2 pc and masses
from a few Msun to 10^5 Msun; H2 volume densities lie between ca. 10^{4.5} and
10^{5.5} cm^{-3}. The L(bol) are 10^3-10^6 Lsun, consistent with embedded
high-mass objects. Based on our results and those found in the literature for
other samples, we conclude that our sources are massive objects probably in a
stage prior to the formation of an HII region. We propose a scenario in which
'High' and 'Low' sources are both made of a massive clump hosting a high-mass
protostellar candidate and a nearby stellar cluster. The difference might be
due to the fact that the IRAS 12mu flux, the best discriminant between the two
groups, is dominated by the emission from the cluster in 'Lows' and from the
massive protostellar object in 'Highs'.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astron. & Astroph.; 34 pages (incl. 14
figures and 8 tables
The Nature of Risk Preferences: Evidence from Insurance Choices
The authors use data on insurance deductible choices to estimate a structural model of risky choice that incorporates standard risk aversion (diminishing marginal utility for wealth) and probability distortions. They find that probability distortions--characterized by substantial overweighting of small probabilities and only mild insensitivity to probability changes--play an important role in explaining the aversion to risk manifested in deductible choices. This finding is robust to allowing for observed and unobserved heterogeneity in preferences. They demonstrate that neither Kőszegi-Rabin loss aversion alone nor Gul disappointment aversion alone can explain our estimated probability distortions, signifying a key role for probability weighting
Estimating Risk Preferences in the Field
We survey the literature on estimating risk preferences using field data. We concentrate our attention on studies in which risk preferences are the focal object and estimating their structure is the core enterprise. We review a number of models of risk preferences—including both expected utility (EU) theory and non-EU models—that have been estimated using field data, and we highlight issues related to identification and estimation of such models using field data. We then survey the literature, giving separate treatment to research that uses individual-level data (e.g., property insurance data) and research that uses aggregate data (e.g., betting market data). We conclude by discussing directions for future research
The Cost of Legal Restrictions on Experience Rating
We investigate the cost of legal restrictions on experience rating in auto and home insurance. The cost is an opportunity cost as experience rating can mitigate the problems associated with unobserved heterogeneity in claim risk, including mispriced coverage and resulting demand distortions. We assess this cost through a counterfactual analysis in which we explore how risk predictions, premiums, and demand in home insurance and two lines of auto insurance would respond to unrestricted multiline experience rating. Using claims data from a large sample of households, we first estimate the variance-covariance matrix of unobserved heterogeneity in claim risk. We then show that conditioning on claims experience leads to material refinements of predicted claim rates. Lastly, we assess how the households’ demand for coverage would respond to multiline experience rating. We find that the demand response would be large
Distinguishing Probability Weighting from Risk Misperceptions in Field Data
The paper outlines a strategy for distinguishing rank-dependent probability weighting from systematic risk misperceptions in field data. Our strategy relies on singling out a field environment with two key properties: (i) the objects of choice are money lotteries with more than two outcomes and (ii) the ranking of outcomes differs across lotteries. We first present an abstract model of risky choice that elucidates the identification problem and our strategy. The model has numerous applications, including insurance choices and gambling. We then consider the application of insurance deductible choices and illustrate our strategy using simulated data
IRAS 23385+6053: a candidate protostellar massive object
We present the results of a multi-line and continuum study towards the source
IRAS 23385+6053,performed with the IRAM-30m telescope, the Plateau de Bure
Interferometer, the Very Large Array Interferometer and the James Clerk Maxwell
Telescope. The new results confirm our earlier findings, namely that IRAS
23385+6053 is a good candidate high-mass protostellar object, precursor of an
ultracompact H region. The source is roughly composed of two regions: a
molecular core pc in size, with a temperature of K
and an H volume density of the order of 10 cm, and an
extended halo of diameter 0.4 pc, with an average kinetic temperature of
K and H volume density of the order of 10 cm. The
core temperature is much smaller than what is typically found in molecular
cores of the same diameter surrounding massive ZAMS stars. We deduce that the
core luminosity is between 150 and , and we believe
that the upper limit is near the ``true'' source luminosity. Moreover, by
comparing the H volume density obtained at different radii from the IRAS
source, we find that the halo has a density profile of the type . This suggests that the source is gravitationally
unstable. Finally, we demonstrate that the temperature at the core surface is
consistent with a core luminosity of and conclude that we
might be observing a protostar still accreting material from its parental
cloud, whose mass at present is .Comment: 18 pages, 20 figure
The Nature of Risk Preferences: Evidence from Insurance Choices
We use data on households' deductible choices in auto and home insurance to estimate a structural model of risky choice that incorporates "standard" risk aversion (concave utility over final wealth), loss aversion, and nonlinear probability weighting. Our estimates indicate that nonlinear probability weighting plays the most important role in explaining the data. More specifically, we find that standard risk aversion is small, loss aversion is nonexistent, and nonlinear probability weighting is large. When we estimate restricted models, we find that nonlinear probability weighting alone can better explain the data than standard risk aversion alone, loss aversion alone, and standard risk aversion and loss aversion combined. Our main findings are robust to a variety of modeling assumptions.
Mesonic correlation functions at finite temperature and density in the Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model with a Polyakov loop
We investigate the properties of scalar and pseudo-scalar mesons at finite
temperature and quark chemical potential in the framework of the
Nambu-Jona-Lasinio (NJL) model coupled to the Polyakov loop (PNJL model) with
the aim of taking into account features of both chiral symmetry breaking and
deconfinement. The mesonic correlators are obtained by solving the
Schwinger-Dyson equation in the RPA approximation with the Hartree (mean field)
quark propagator at finite temperature and density. In the phase of broken
chiral symmetry a narrower width for the sigma meson is obtained with respect
to the NJL case; on the other hand, the pion still behaves as a Goldstone
boson. When chiral symmetry is restored, the pion and sigma spectral functions
tend to merge. The Mott temperature for the pion is also computed.Comment: 24 pages, 9 figures, version to appear in Phys. Rev.
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