Renormalization group in Statistical Mechanics and Mechanics: gauge symmetries and vanishing beta functions

Two very different problems that can be studied by renormalization group methods are discussed with the aim of showing the conceptual unity that renormalization group has introduced in some areas of theoretical Physics. The two problems are: the ground state theory of a one dimensional quantum Fermi liquid and the existence of quasi periodic motions in classical mechanical systems close to integrable ones. I summarize here the main ideas and show that the two treatments, although completely independent of each other, are strikingly similar.Comment: Plain TeX, 20 pages 7 figures (included in ps format

Correlated adaptation of agents in a simple market: a statistical physics perspective

We discuss recent work in the study of a simple model for the collective behaviour of diverse speculative agents in an idealized stockmarket, considered from the perspective of the statistical physics of many-body systems. The only information about other agents available to any one is the total trade at time steps. Evidence is presented for correlated adaptation and phase transitions/crossovers in the global volatility of the system as a function of appropriate information scaling dimension. Stochastically controlled irrationally of individual agents is shown to be globally advantageous. We describe the derivation of the underlying effective stochastic differential equations which govern the dynamics, and make an interpretation of the results from the point of view of the statistical physics of disordered systems.Comment: 15 Pages. 5 figure

Statistical physics of adaptive correlation of agents in a market

Recent results and interpretations are presented for the thermal minority game, concentrating on deriving and justifying the fundamental stochastic differential equation for the microdynamics.Comment: Invited talk presented at the Conference: Disordered and Complex Systems, King's College London, July 200

The Gravitational Polarization in General Relativity: Solution to Szekeres' Model of Quadrupole Polarization

A model for the static weak-field macroscopic medium is analyzed and the equation for the macroscopic gravitational potential is derived. This is a biharmonic equation which is a non-trivial generalization of the Poisson equation of Newtonian gravity. In case of the strong gravitational quadrupole polarization it essentially holds inside a macroscopic matter source. Outside the source the gravitational potential fades away exponentially. The equation is equivalent to a system of the Poisson equation and the nonhomogeneous modified Helmholtz equations. The general solution to this system is obtained by using Green's function method and it does not have a limit to Newtonian gravity. In case of the insignificant gravitational quadrupole polarization the equation for macroscopic gravitational potential becomes the Poisson equation with the matter density renormalized by the factor including the value of the quadrupole gravitational polarization of the source. The general solution to this equation obtained by using Green's function method has a limit to Newtonian gravity.Comment: 22 pages, no figures, to appear on Class. Quantum Gra

Atmosphere above a large solar pore

A large solar pore with a granular light bridge was observed on October 15, 2008 with the IBIS spectrometer at the Dunn Solar Telescope and a 69-min long time series of spectral scans in the lines Ca II 854.2 nm and Fe I 617.3 nm was obtained. The intensity and Doppler signals in the Ca II line were separated. This line samples the middle chromosphere in the core and the middle photosphere in the wings. Although no indication of a penumbra is seen in the photosphere, an extended filamentary structure, both in intensity and Doppler signals, is observed in the Ca II line core. An analysis of morphological and dynamical properties of the structure shows a close similarity to a superpenumbra of a sunspot with developed penumbra. A special attention is paid to the light bridge, which is the brightest feature in the pore seen in the Ca II line centre and shows an enhanced power of chromospheric oscillations at 3-5 mHz. Although the acoustic power flux in the light bridge is five times higher than in the "quiet" chromosphere, it cannot explain the observed brightness.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, accepted in Journal of Physics: Conference Serie

Hydrogen embrittlement susceptibility of a high strength steel X80

The present paper deals with hydrogen embrittlement (HE) susceptibility of a high strength steel grade (X80). The respective implication of different hydrogen populations, i.e. adsorbed, dissolved in interstitial sites, trapped on dislocations and/or microstructural elements on the associated embrittlement mechanisms has been addressed through mechanical testing in high pressure of hydrogen gas at room temperature. Tensile tests at various strain rates and hydrogen pressures have been carried out. Moreover, changes of gas (hydrogen or nitrogen) during loading have been imposed in order to get critical experiments able to discriminate among the potential hydrogen embrittlement mechanisms already proposed in the literature. The results of these tests have shown that hydrogen induces several kind of damages including decohesion along ferrite/pearlite interfaces and microcracks initiations on the specimens external surface. It is shown that decohesion is not critical under the loading paths used in the present study. On the contrary, it appears that the external microcracks initiation, followed by a quasi-cleavage fracture, is responsible for the premature failure of the material in high pressure of hydrogen gas. These experimental results have been further discussed by modeling hydrogen diffusion in order to identify hydrogen populations (adsorbed, diffusible or trapped) involved in HE. It was then demonstrated that adsorbed and near surface diffusible hydrogen are mainly responsible for embrittlement

Chromospheric heating by acoustic waves compared to radiative cooling

Acoustic and magnetoacoustic waves are among the possible candidate mechanisms that heat the upper layers of solar atmosphere. A weak chromospheric plage near a large solar pore NOAA 11005 was observed on October 15, 2008 in the lines Fe I 617.3 nm and Ca II 853.2 nm with the Interferometric Bidimemsional Spectrometer (IBIS) attached to the Dunn Solar Telescope. Analyzing the Ca II observations with spatial and temporal resolutions of 0.4" and 52 s, the energy deposited by acoustic waves is compared with that released by radiative losses. The deposited acoustic flux is estimated from power spectra of Doppler oscillations measured in the Ca II line core. The radiative losses are calculated using a grid of seven 1D hydrostatic semi-empirical model atmospheres. The comparison shows that the spatial correlation of maps of radiative losses and acoustic flux is 72 %. In quiet chromosphere, the contribution of acoustic energy flux to radiative losses is small, only of about 15 %. In active areas with photospheric magnetic field strength between 300 G and 1300 G and inclination of 20-60 degrees, the contribution increases from 23 % (chromospheric network) to 54 % (a plage). However, these values have to be considered as lower limits and it might be possible that the acoustic energy flux is the main contributor to the heating of bright chromospheric network and plages.Comment: 9 pages, 10 figures. Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journa

Dynamics of the solar atmosphere above a pore with a light bridge

Context: Solar pores are small sunspots lacking a penumbra that have a prevailing vertical magnetic field component. They can include light bridges at places with locally reduced magnetic field. Like sunspots, they exhibit a wide range of oscillatory phenomena. Aims: A large isolated pore with a light bridge (NOAA 11005) is studied to obtain characteristics of a chromospheric filamentary structure around the pore, to analyse oscillations and waves in and around the pore, and to understand the structure and brightness of the light bridge. Methods: Spectral imaging observations in the line Ca II 854.2 nm and complementary spectropolarimetry in Fe I lines, obtained with the DST/IBIS spectrometer and HINODE/SOT spectropolarimeter, were used to measure photospheric and chromospheric velocity fields, oscillations, waves, the magnetic field in the photosphere, and acoustic energy flux and radiative losses in the chromosphere. Results: The chromospheric filamentary structure around the pore has all important characteristics of a superpenumbra: it shows an inverse Evershed effect and running waves, and has a similar morphology and oscillation character. The granular structure of the light bridge in the upper photosphere can be explained by radiative heating. Acoustic waves leaking up from the photosphere along the inclined magnetic field in the light bridge transfer enough energy flux to balance the total radiative losses of the light-bridge chromosphere. Conclusions: The presence of a penumbra is not a necessary condition for the formation of a superpenumbra. The light bridge is heated by radiation in the photosphere and by acoustic waves in the chromosphere.Comment: 14 pages, 14 figures, 3 tables, accepted for publication in Astrononomy & Astrophysic

Forecasting tomorrow’s tourist

Purpose: This study aims to present a very recent literature review on tourism demand forecasting based on 50 relevant articles published between 2013 and June 2016. Design/methodology/approach: For searching the literature, the 50 most relevant articles according to Google Scholar ranking were selected and collected. Then, each of the articles were scrutinized according to three main dimensions: the method or technique used for analyzing data; the location of the study; and the covered timeframe. Findings: The most widely used modeling technique continues to be time series, confirming a trend identified prior to 2011. Nevertheless, artificial intelligence techniques, and most notably neural networks, are clearly becoming more used in recent years for tourism forecasting. This is a relevant subject for journals related to other social sciences, such as Economics, and also tourism data constitute an excellent source for developing novel modeling techniques. Originality/value: The present literature review offers recent insights on tourism forecasting scientific literature, providing evidences on current trends and revealing interesting research gaps.info:eu-repo/semantics/submittedVersio

Identification of common city characteristics influencing room occupancy

Purpose National tourism offices worldwide implement marketing strategies to influence tourists’ choices. However, there is more than meets the eye when it comes to choosing a city as a tourism destination. The purpose of this paper is to answer which are the characteristics that play a key role in room occupancy. Design/methodology/approach Diverse characteristics such as the city offer, demographics, natural amenities (e.g. number of beaches) and also politics (e.g. type of government) are combined into a decision tree model to unveil the relevance of each in determining room occupancy. The empirical experiments used data known in 2015 from 43 cities from Europe and the rest of the World to model room occupancy rate in 2016. Findings While the seasonality effect plays the most significant role, other less studied features such as the type of political party prior to current government were found to have an impact in room occupancy. Originality/value This study unveiled that center–right and right governments are generally more sensitive to promote its city as a tourism destination.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio