Price Drops, Fluctuations, and Correlation in a Multi-Agent Model of Stock Markets

In this paper we compare market price fluctuations with the response to fundamental price drops within the Lux-Marchesi model which is able to reproduce the most important stylized facts of real market data. Major differences can be observed between the decay of spontaneous fluctuations and of changes due to external perturbations reflecting the absence of detailed balance, i.e., of the validity of the fluctuation-dissipation theorem. We found that fundamental price drops are followed by an overshoot with a rather robust characteristic time.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures, 2 tables; submitted to Physica

Drag reductions obtained by modifying a box-shaped ground vehicle

A box-shaped ground vehicle was used to simulate the aerodynamic drag of high volume transports, that is, delivery vans, trucks, or motor homes. The coast-down technique was used to define the drag of the original vehicle, having all square corners, and several modifications of the vehicle. Test velocities ranged up to 65 miles per hour, which provided maximum Reynolds numbers of 1 times 10 to the 7th power based on vehicle length. One combination of modifications produced a reduction in aerodynamic drag of 61 percent as compared with the original square-cornered vehicle

Spectral and Combinatorial Aspects of Cayley-Crystals

Owing to their interesting spectral properties, the synthetic crystals over lattices other than regular Euclidean lattices, such as hyperbolic and fractal ones, have attracted renewed attention, especially from materials and meta-materials research communities. They can be studied under the umbrella of quantum dynamics over Cayley graphs of finitely generated groups. In this work, we investigate numerical aspects related to the quantum dynamics over such Cayley graphs. Using an algebraic formulation of the "periodic boundary condition" due to Lueck [Geom. Funct. Anal. 4, 455-481 (1994)], we devise a practical and converging numerical method that resolves the true bulk spectrum of the Hamiltonians. Exact results on the matrix elements of the resolvent, derived from the combinatorics of the Cayley graphs, give us the means to validate our algorithms and also to obtain new combinatorial statements. Our results open the systematic research of quantum dynamics over Cayley graphs of a very large family of finitely generated groups, which includes the free and Fuchsian groups.Comment: converging periodic bc for hyperbolic and fractal crystals, tested against exact result

Converging Periodic Boundary Conditions and Detection of Topological Gaps on Regular Hyperbolic Tessellations

Tessellations of the hyperbolic spaces by regular polygons are becoming popular because they support discrete quantum and classical models displaying unique spectral and topological characteristics. Resolving the true bulk spectra and the thermodynamic response functions of these models requires converging periodic boundary conditions and our work delivers a practical solution for this open problem on generic {p,q}-tessellations. This enables us to identify the true spectral gaps of bulk Hamiltonians and, as an application, we construct all but one topological models that deliver the topological gaps predicted by the K-theory of the lattices. We demonstrate the emergence of the expected topological spectral flows whenever two such bulk models are deformed into each other and, additionally, we prove the emergence of topological channels whenever a soft physical interface is created between different topological classes of Hamiltonians

TiB_2 and ZrB_2 diffusion barriers in GaAs Ohmic contact technology

The transition metal diboride compounds, ZrB_2 and TiB_2, interposed between Ni/Ge/Au Ohmic contact metallization on n‐type GaAs wafers and an overlying thick Au contact layer, have been investigated to evaluate their effectiveness in stabilizing the Ohmic contact by limiting the in‐diffusion of Au. All of the metal layers were e‐beam deposited except the ZrB_2 which was rf‐diode sputtered. The barrier layer thicknesses were 50 and 100 nm for the TiB_2 and the ZrB_2, respectively. Postdeposition alloying of the contacts was performed at 400, 425, or 450 °C. Auger electron spectroscopy depth profiling of the resultant Ohmic contacts demonstrates that the barrier layers effectively preclude penetration of Au to the Ohmic contact structure. Specific contact resistivities for such contacts are in the low 10^(−7) Ω cm^2 range; although some degradation of the contact resistivity is observed after long term annealing, the values of resistivities do not exceed 1.5×10^(−6) Ω cm^2 after 92 h at 350 °C

Genome-wide phylogenetic analysis of the pathogenic potential of Vibrio furnissii

This is the final version of the article. Available from Frontiers Media via the DOI in this record.We recently reported the genome sequence of a free-living strain of Vibrio furnissii (NCTC 11218) harvested from an estuarine environment. V. furnissii is a widespread, free-living proteobacterium and emerging pathogen that can cause acute gastroenteritis in humans and lethal zoonoses in aquatic invertebrates, including farmed crustaceans and molluscs. Here we present the analyses to assess the potential pathogenic impact of V. furnissii. We compared the complete genome of V. furnissii with 8 other emerging and pathogenic Vibrio species. We selected and analyzed more deeply 10 genomic regions based upon unique or common features, and used 3 of these regions to construct a phylogenetic tree. Thus, we positioned V. furnissii more accurately than before and revealed a closer relationship between V. furnissii and V. cholerae than previously thought. However, V. furnissii lacks several important features normally associated with virulence in the human pathogens V. cholera and V. vulnificus. A striking feature of the V. furnissii genome is the hugely increased Super Integron, compared to the other Vibrio. Analyses of predicted genomic islands resulted in the discovery of a protein sequence that is present only in Vibrio associated with diseases in aquatic animals. We also discovered evidence of high levels horizontal gene transfer in V. furnissii. V. furnissii seems therefore to have a dynamic and fluid genome that could quickly adapt to environmental perturbation or increase its pathogenicity. Taken together, these analyses confirm the potential of V. furnissii as an emerging marine and possible human pathogen, especially in the developing, tropical, coastal regions that are most at risk from climate change.This research was funded by a grant from Shell Research Ltd

Complete genome sequence of a free-living Vibrio furnissii sp. nov. strain (NCTC 11218)

This is the final version. Available from American Society for Microbiology via the DOI in this record. Shell Research Limited