3,359 research outputs found
The socially responsible choice in a duopolistic market: a dynamic problem of “ethical product” differentiation
The increasing attention of profit maximizing corporations to corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a new
stylized fact of the contemporary economic environment. In our theoretical analysis we model CSR adoption as
the optimal response of a profit maximizing firm to the competition of a not for profit corporate pioneer in the
presence of a continuum of consumers with heterogeneous preferences towards the social and environmental
features of the final good. CSR adoption implies a trade-off since, on the one side, it raises production costs but,
on the other side, it leads to accumulation of “ethical capital”.We investigate conditions under which the profit
maximizing firm switches from price to price and CSR competition by comparing monopoly and duopoly equilibria
and their consequences on aggregate social responsibility and consumer welfare. Our findings provide a
theoretical background for competition between profit maximizing incumbents and not for profit entrants in
markets such as fair trade, organic food, ethical banking and ethical finance
Space charge in drift chambers operated with the Xe,CO2(15%) mixture
Using prototype modules of the ALICE Transition Radiation Detector we
investigate space charge effects and the dependence of the pion rejection
performance on the incident angle of the ionizing particle. The average pulse
height distributions in the drift chambers operated with the Xe,CO2(15%)
mixture provide quantitative information on the gas gain reduction due to space
charge accumulating during the drift of the primary ionization. Our results
demonstrate that the pion rejection performance of a TRD is better for tracks
which are not at normal incidence to the anode wires. We present detailed
simulations of detector signals, which reproduce the measurements and lend
strong support to our interpretation of the measurements in terms of space
charge effects.Comment: 18 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in Nucl.Instrum.Meth.
A. Data files available at http://www-alice.gsi.de/tr
Transverse Momentum Distributions for Heavy Quark Pairs
We study the transverse momentum distribution for a of heavy quarks
produced in hadron-hadron interactions. Predictions for the large transverse
momentum region are based on exact order QCD perturbation theory.
For the small transverse momentum region, we use techniques for all orders
resummation of leading logarithmic contributions associated with initial state
soft gluon radiation. The combination provides the transverse momentum
distribution of heavy quark pairs for all transverse momenta. Explicit results
are presented for pair production at the Fermilab Tevatron collider
and for pair production at fixed target energies.Comment: LaTeX (27 pages text, 8 figures not included, but available on
request
System Test of the ATLAS Muon Spectrometer in the H8 Beam at the CERN SPS
An extensive system test of the ATLAS muon spectrometer has been performed in
the H8 beam line at the CERN SPS during the last four years. This spectrometer
will use pressurized Monitored Drift Tube (MDT) chambers and Cathode Strip
Chambers (CSC) for precision tracking, Resistive Plate Chambers (RPCs) for
triggering in the barrel and Thin Gap Chambers (TGCs) for triggering in the
end-cap region. The test set-up emulates one projective tower of the barrel
(six MDT chambers and six RPCs) and one end-cap octant (six MDT chambers, A CSC
and three TGCs). The barrel and end-cap stands have also been equipped with
optical alignment systems, aiming at a relative positioning of the precision
chambers in each tower to 30-40 micrometers. In addition to the performance of
the detectors and the alignment scheme, many other systems aspects of the ATLAS
muon spectrometer have been tested and validated with this setup, such as the
mechanical detector integration and installation, the detector control system,
the data acquisition, high level trigger software and off-line event
reconstruction. Measurements with muon energies ranging from 20 to 300 GeV have
allowed measuring the trigger and tracking performance of this set-up, in a
configuration very similar to the final spectrometer. A special bunched muon
beam with 25 ns bunch spacing, emulating the LHC bunch structure, has been used
to study the timing resolution and bunch identification performance of the
trigger chambers. The ATLAS first-level trigger chain has been operated with
muon trigger signals for the first time
A new measurement of direct CP violation in two pion decays of the neutral kaon
The NA48 experiment at CERN has performed a new measurement of direct CP
violation, based on data taken in 1997 by simultaneously collecting K_L and K_S
decays into pi0pi0 and pi+pi-. The result for the CP violating parameter
Re(epsilon'/epsilon) is (18.5 +/- 4.5(stat)} +/- 5.8 (syst))x10^{-4}.Comment: 18 pages, 6 figure
A precision measurement of direct CP violation in the decay of neutral kaons into two pions
The direct CP violation parameter Re(epsilon'/epsilon) has been measured from
the decay rates of neutral kaons into two pions using the NA48 detector at the
CERN SPS. The 2001 running period was devoted to collecting additional data
under varied conditions compared to earlier years (1997-99). The new data yield
the result: Re(epsilon'/epsilon) = (13.7 +/- 3.1) times 10^{-4}. Combining this
result with that published from the 1997, 98 and 99 data, an overall value of
Re(epsilon'/epsilon) = (14.7 +/- 2.2) times 10^{-4} is obtained from the NA48
experiment.Comment: 19 pages, 5 figures, to be published in Physics Letters
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