Effects of word-of-mouth versus traditional marketing: findings from an internet social networking site

The authors study the effect of word-of-mouth (WOM) marketing on member growth at an Internet social networking site and compare it with traditional marketing vehicles. Because social network sites record the electronic invitations from existing members, outbound WOM can be precisely tracked. Along with traditional marketing, WOM can then be linked to the number of new members subsequently joining the site (sign-ups). Because of the endogeneity among WOM, new sign-ups, and traditional marketing activity, the authors employ a vector autoregression (VAR) modeling approach. Estimates from the VAR model show that WOM referrals have substantially longer carryover effects than traditional marketing actions and produce substantially higher response elasticises. Based on revenue from advertising impressions served to a new member, the monetary value of a WOM referral can be calculated; this yields an upper-bound estimate for the financial incentives the firm might offer to stimulate WOM.pre-prin

Nucleon matrix elements and baryon masses in the Dirac orbital model

Using the expansion of the baryon wave function in a series of products of single quark bispinors (Dirac orbitals), the nonsinglet axial and tensor charges of a nucleon are calculated. The leading term yields $g_A = 1.27$ in good agreement with experiment. Calculation is essentially parameter-free and depends only on the strong coupling constant value $\alpha_s$. The importance of lower Dirac bispinor component, yielding 18% to the wave function normalization is stressed. As a check, the baryon decuplet masses in the formalism of this model are also computed using standard values of the string tension $\sigma$ and the strange quark mass $m_s$; the results being in a good agreement with experiment.Comment: 8 pages, 2 tables; LaTeX2

Quasi-fixed point scenario in the modified NMSSM

The simplest extension of the MSSM that does not contradict LEP II experimental bound on the lightest Higgs boson mass at $\tan\beta\sim 1$ is the modified Next-to-Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MNSSM). We investigate the renormalization of Yukawa couplings and soft SUSY breaking terms in this model. The possibility of $b$-quark and $\tau$-lepton Yukawa coupling unification at the Grand Unification scale $M_X$ is studied. The particle spectrum is analysed in the vicinity of the quasi-fixed point where the solutions of renormalization group equations are concentrated at the electroweak scale.Comment: 19 pages, 3 figures, LaTeX2

Charm and bottom baryons in nonperturbative quark dynamics

We use the Field Correlator Method in QCD to calculate the masses of $\Sigma_c$, $\Xi_c$ and recently observed $\Sigma_b$, $\Xi_b$ baryons and their orbital excitations.Comment: Contributed talk at the session of Russian Academy of Sciences "Physics of Fundamental Interactions", ITEP, Moscow, November 26-30, 200

gDs∗DK∗(892)g_{D^{\ast}_{s}D K^{\ast}(892)} and gBs∗BK∗(892)g_{B^{\ast}_{s}B K^{\ast}(892)} coupling constants in QCD sum rules

The coupling constants $g_{D^{\ast}_{s}D K^{\ast}(892)}$ and $g_{B^{\ast}_{s}B K^{\ast}(892)}$ are calculated in the framework of three-point QCD sum rules. The correlation functions responsible for these coupling constants are evaluated considering contributions of both $D(B)$ and $K^*(892)$ mesons as off-shell states, but in the absence of radiative corrections. The results, $g_{D^{\ast}_{s}D K^{\ast}(892)}=(4.31\pm1.42) GeV^{-1}$ and $g_{B^{\ast}_{s}B K^{\ast}(892)}=(3.24\pm1.08) GeV^{-1}$ are obtained for the considered strong coupling constants.Comment: 13 Pages and 11 Figure

Kaon pair production in proton-nucleus collisions at 2.83 GeV kinetic energy

The production of non-phi K+K- pairs by protons of 2.83 GeV kinetic energy on C, Cu, Ag, and Au targets has been investigated using the COSY-ANKE magnetic spectrometer. The K- momentum dependence of the differential cross section has been measured at small angles over the 0.2--0.9 GeV/c range. The comparison of the data with detailed model calculations indicates an attractive K- -nucleus potential of about -60 MeV at normal nuclear matter density at a mean momentum of 0.5 GeV/c. However, this approach has difficulty in reproducing the smallness of the observed cross sections at low K- momenta.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, 1 tabl

Higgs bosons in the simplest SUSY models

Nowadays in the MSSM the moderate values of $\tan\beta$ are almost excluded by LEP II lower bound on the lightest Higgs boson mass. In the Next-to-Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model the theoretical upper bound on it increases and reaches maximal value in the strong Yukawa coupling limit when all solutions of renormalization group equations are concentrated near the quasi-fixed point. For calculation of Higgs boson spectrum the perturbation theory method can be applied. We investigate the particle spectrum in the framework of the modified NMSSM which leads to the self-consistent solution in the strong Yukawa coupling limit. This model allows one to get $m_h\sim 125$ GeV at values of $\tan\beta\ge 1.9$. In the investigated model the lightest Higgs boson mass does not exceed $130.5\pm 3.5$ GeV. The upper bound on the lightest CP-even Higgs boson mass in more complicated supersymmetric models is also discussed.Comment: 27 pages, 5 figures included, LaTeX 2e. Plenary talk at the Conference of RAS Nuclear Physics Department 2000 in ITEP, Moscow, Russia; to appear in Phys. Atom. Nuc

Studying Paths of Participation in Viral Diffusion Process

Authors propose a conceptual model of participation in viral diffusion process composed of four stages: awareness, infection, engagement and action. To verify the model it has been applied and studied in the virtual social chat environment settings. The study investigates the behavioral paths of actions that reflect the stages of participation in the diffusion and presents shortcuts, that lead to the final action, i.e. the attendance in a virtual event. The results show that the participation in each stage of the process increases the probability of reaching the final action. Nevertheless, the majority of users involved in the virtual event did not go through each stage of the process but followed the shortcuts. That suggests that the viral diffusion process is not necessarily a linear sequence of human actions but rather a dynamic system.Comment: In proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Social Informatics, SocInfo 201

Infrared quasi-fixed solutions in the NMSSM

The considerable part of the parameter space in the MSSM corresponding to the infrared quasi fixed point scenario is almost excluded by LEP II bounds on the lightest Higgs boson mass. In the NMSSM the mass of the lightest Higgs boson reaches its maximum value in the strong Yukawa coupling limit when Yukawa couplings are essentially larger than gauge ones at the Grand Unification scale. In this limit the solutions of the renormalisation group equations are attracted to the infrared and Hill type effective fixed lines or surfaces in the Yukawa coupling parameter space. They are concentrated in the vicinity of quasi fixed points for $Y_i(0)\to\infty$. However the solutions are attracted to such points rather weakly. For this reason when all $Y_i(0)\sim 1$ the solutions of the renormalisation group equations are gathered near a line in the Hill type effective surface. In the paper the approximate solutions for the NMSSM Yukawa couplings are given. The possibility of $b$--quark and $\tau$--lepton Yukawa coupling unification at the scale $M_{X}$ is also discussed.Comment: 32 pages, 8 figures included, LaTeX 2

History of exotic Meson (4-quark) and Baryon (5-quark) States

I briefly review the history of exotic meson (4-quark) and baryon (5-quark) states, which is rooted in the formalism of Regge pole and duality. There are robust model-independent predictions for the exchange of 4-quark (Baryonium) Regge trajectories in several processes, which are strongly supported by experiment. On the other hand the predictions for the spectroscopy of 4-quark resonances are based on specific QCD inspired models, with some experimental support. The corresponding predictions for the recently discovered exotic baryon (Pentaquark) state are briefly discussed.Comment: 14 pages Latex including 4 eps figures, final version to appear as a topical review in J. Phys.