On classical and semiclassical properties of the Liouville theory with defects

The Lagrangian of the Liouville theory with topological defects is analyzed in detail and general solution of the corresponding defect equations of motion is found. We study the heavy and light semiclassical limits of the defect two-point function found before via the bootstrap program. We show that the heavy asymptotic limit is given by the exponential of the Liouville action with defects, evaluated on the solutions with two singular points. We demonstrate that the light asymptotic limit is given by the finite dimensional path integral over solutions of the defect equations of motion with a vanishing energy-momentum tensor.Comment: 50 pages, typos corrected, references added, comments and explanations adde

Macroeconomic Sources of Foreign Exchange Risk in New EU Members

We address the issue of foreign exchange risk and its macroeconomic determinants in several new EU members. The joint distribution of excess returns in the foreign exchange market and the observable macroeconomic factors is modeled using the stochastic discount factor (SDF) approach and a multivariate GARCH-in-mean model. We find that in post-transition economies real factors play a small role in determining foreign exchange risk, while nominal and monetary factors have a significant impact. Therefore, to contribute to the further stability of their domestic currencies, the central banks in the new EU member countries should continue stabilization policies aimed at achieving nominal convergence with the core EU members, as nominal factors play a crucial role in explaining the variability of the risk premium.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/64391/1/wp898.pd

Comments on fusion matrix in N=1 super Liouville field theory

We study several aspects of the $N=1$ super Liouville theory. We show that certain elements of the fusion matrix in the Neveu-Schwarz sector related to the structure constants according to the same rules which we observe in rational conformal field theory. We collect some evidences that these relations should hold also in the Ramond sector. Using them the Cardy-Lewellen equation for defects is studied, and defects are constructed.Comment: 28 pages, comment and reference adde

Geometrical structure of Weyl invariants for spin three gauge field in general gravitational background in d=4d=4

We construct all possible Weyl invariant actions in $d=4$ for linearized spin three field in a general gravitational background. The first action is obtained as the square of the generalized Weyl tensor for a spin three gauge field in nonlinear gravitational background. It is, however, not invariant under spin three gauge transformations. We then construct two other nontrivial Weyl but not gauge invariant actions which are linear in the Weyl tensor of the background geometry. We then discuss existence and uniqueness of a possible linear combination of these three actions which is gauge invariant. We do this at the linear order in the background curvature for Ricci flat backgrounds.Comment: 32 pages, v.2, misprints correcte

Charged-particle multiplicity and transverse energy in Pb-Pb collisions at sqrt(snn) = 2.76 TeV with ALICE

The measurements of charged-particle multiplicity and transverse energy at mid-rapidity in Pb-Pb collisions at sqrt(sNN) = 2.76 TeV are reported as a function of centrality. The fraction of the inelastic cross section recorded by the ALICE detector is estimated using a Glauber model. The results scaled by the number of participating nucleons are compared with pp collisions at the same collision energy, to similar results obtained at significantly lower energies, and with models based on different mechanisms for particle production in nuclear collisions.Comment: Contribution to QM 201