7,054 research outputs found
Long-Term Oil Price Forecasts: A New Perspective on Oil and the Macroeconomy
We examine how future real GDP growth relates to changes in the forecasted longterm average of discounted real oil prices and to changes in unanticipated fluctuations of real oil prices around the forecasts. Forecasts are conducted using a state-space oil market model, in which global real economic activity and real oil prices share a common stochastic trend. Changes in unanticipated fluctuations and changes in the forecasted longterm average of discounted real oil prices sum to real oil price changes. We find that these two components have distinctly different relationships with future real GDP growth. Positive and negative changes in the unanticipated fluctuations of real oil prices correlate with asymmetric responses of future real GDP growth. In comparison, changes in the forecasted long-term average are smaller in magnitude but are more influential on real GDP.
Persistent upward revisions of forecasts in the 2000s had a substantial negative impact on
real GDP growth, according to our estimates
Relativistic X-ray Lines from the Inner Accretion Disks Around Black Holes
Relativistic X-ray emission lines from the inner accretion disk around black
holes are reviewed. Recent observations with the Chandra X-ray Observatory,
X-ray Multi-Mirror Mission-Newton, and Suzaku are revealing these lines to be
good probes of strong gravitational effects. A number of important
observational and theoretical developments are highlighted, including evidence
of black hole spin and effects such as gravitational light bending, the
detection of relativistic lines in stellar-mass black holes, and evidence of
orbital-timescale line flux variability. In addition, the robustness of the
relativistic disk lines against absorption, scattering, and continuum effects
is discussed. Finally, prospects for improved measures of black hole spin and
understanding the spin history of supermassive black holes in the context of
black hole-galaxy co-evolution are presented. The best data and most rigorous
results strongly suggest that relativistic X-ray disk lines can drive future
explorations of General Relativity and disk physics.Comment: 40 pages, includes color figures, to appear in ARAA, vol 45, in pres
X-ray Properties of Black-Hole Binaries
We review the properties and behavior X-ray binaries that contain an
accreting black hole. The larger majority of such systems are X-ray transients,
and many of them were observed in daily pointings with RXTE throughout the
course of their outbursts. The complex evolution of these sources is described
in terms of common behavior patterns illustrated with comprehensive overview
diagrams for six selected systems. Central to this comparison are three X-ray
states of accretion, which are reviewed and defined quantitatively. Each state
yields phenomena that arise in strong gravitational fields. We sketch a
scenario for the potential impact of black hole observations on physics and
discuss a current frontier topic: the measurement of black hole spin.Comment: 39 pages, 12 figures, ARAA, vol. 44, in pres
The magnetic nature of disk accretion onto black holes
Although disk accretion onto compact objects - white dwarfs, neutron stars,
and black holes - is central to much of high energy astrophysics, the
mechanisms which enable this process have remained observationally elusive.
Accretion disks must transfer angular momentum for matter to travel radially
inward onto the compact object. Internal viscosity from magnetic processes and
disk winds can in principle both transfer angular momentum, but hitherto we
lacked evidence that either occurs. Here we report that an X-ray-absorbing wind
discovered in an observation of the stellar-mass black hole binary GRO J1655-40
must be powered by a magnetic process that can also drive accretion through the
disk. Detailed spectral analysis and modeling of the wind shows that it can
only be powered by pressure generated by magnetic viscosity internal to the
disk or magnetocentrifugal forces. This result demonstrates that disk accretion
onto black holes is a fundamentally magnetic process.Comment: 15 pages, 2 color figures, accepted for publication in Nature.
Supplemental materials may be obtained by clicking
http://www.astro.lsa.umich.edu/~jonmm/nature1655.p
A super massive black hole binary in 3C66B: future observational perspectives
Supermassive black hole binaries (SMBHBs) may exist in the centers of
galaxies and active galactic nuclei (AGN) and are expected to be fairly common
in the Universe as a consequence of merging processes between galaxies. The
existence of SMBHBs can be probed by looking for double nuclei in galaxy
centers or, more easily, detecting periodic behavior in the observed radio
light curves. In a recent paper, Sudou et al. \cite{sudou2003} announced the
first direct observation of an SMBHB. Using VLBI observations they found that
the unresolved radio core of the radio galaxy 3C66B shows a well defined
elliptical motion with a period of yrs, implying the presence of
a couple of massive black holes in the center of the galaxy. In the present
paper we study the astrophysical implications of the existence of such an SMBHB
in 3C66B. In particular we focus on the information that can be obtained from
detecting a signal periodicity either in the -ray and/or -ray light
curves as a consequence of the motion of the black holes. These observations
could be used to extract further information on the physical parameters of the
SMBHB and partially solve the system parameter degeneracy. The detection of the
gravitational wave spectrum emitted by such system may be used to completely
determine the physical parameters of the binary system.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figures, in Press on Astronomy & Astrophysic
A new and integrated hydro-economic accounting and analytical framework for water resources: A case study for North China
Water is a critical issue in China for a variety of reasons. China is poor of water resources with 2300 m3 of per capita availability, which is less than of the world average. This is exacerbated by regional differences; e.g. North China's water availability is only about 271 m3 of per capita value, which is only of the world's average. Furthermore, pollution contributes to water scarcity and is a major source for diseases, particularly for the poor. The Ministry of Hydrology [1997. China's Regional Water Bullets. Water Resource and Hydro-power Publishing House, Beijing, China] reports that about 65–80% of rivers in North China no longer support any economic activities.
Previous studies have emphasized the amount of water withdrawn but rarely take water quality into consideration. The quality of the return flows usually changes; the water quality being lower than the water flows that entered the production process initially. It is especially important to measure the impacts of wastewater to the hydro-ecosystem. Thus, water consumption should not only account for the amount of water inputs but also the amount of water contaminated in the hydro-ecosystem by the discharged wastewater.
In this paper we present a new accounting and analytical approach based on economic input–output modelling combined with a mass balanced hydrological model that links interactions in the economic system with interactions in the hydrological system. We thus follow the tradition of integrated economic–ecologic input–output modelling. Our hydro-economic accounting framework and analysis tool allows tracking water consumption on the input side, water pollution leaving the economic system and water flows passing through the hydrological system thus enabling us to deal with water resources of different qualities.
Following this method, the results illustrate that North China requires 96% of its annual available water, including both water inputs for the economy and contaminated water that is ineligible for any uses
Bis(diethylenetriamine-κ3 N,N′,N′′)nickel(II) bis(1,2-dicyanoethene-1,2-dithiolato-κ2 S,S′)nickel(II)
The title compound, [Ni(C4H13N3)2][Ni(C4N2S2)2], has been synthesized by the reaction of Ni(ClO4)2·6H2O, diethylenetriamine (deta) and Na2[Ni(mnt)2] [mnt = maleonitriledithiolate(2-)] in methanol. The structure is composed of a [Ni(deta)2]2+ cation and a [Ni(mnt)2]2− anion. The coordination geometry of the NiII ion in the cation is slightly distorted octahedral, defined by six N atoms from two deta ligands, while the NiII ion in the anion is four-coordinated by four S atoms from two mnt ligands in a slightly distorted square-planar geometry. The cations and anions are connected by N—H⋯N hydrogen bonds
Measurements of the Proton-Neutron Correlation in Deuteron Breakup at 260 MeV
This research was sponsored by the National Science Foundation Grant NSF PHY-931478
Narrow-band imaging pattern classification in oral cavity
Narrow-band imaging is widely used in the diagnostic work-up of oral lesions. Different oral subsites present three epithelial types (1, 2a and 2b), each with a different structure and function. The aim of this study was to analyse and describe the different vascular patterns seen on narrow-band imaging according to oral epithelial type and histology
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