Re-Politicising Regulation: Politics: Regulatory Variation and Fuzzy Liberalisation in the Single European Energy Market

[From the introduction] The idea that we are living in the age of the regulatory state has dominated the study of public policy in the European Union and its member states in general, and the study of the utilities sectors in particular.1 The European Commission’s continuous drive to expand the Single Market has therefore been a free-market and rule-oriented project, driven by regulatory politics rather than policies that involve direct public expenditure. The dynamics of European integration are rooted in three central concepts: free trade, multilateral rules, and supranational cooperation. During the 1990s EU competition policy took a ‘public turn’ and set its sights on the public sector.2 EU legislation broke up national monopolies in telecommunications, electricity and gas, and set the scene for further extension of the single market into hitherto protected sectors. Both the integration theory literature (intergovernmentalist and institutionalist alike) and literature on the emergence of the EU as a ‘regulatory state’ assumed that this was primarily a matter of policy making: once agreement had been reached to liberalise the utilities markets a relatively homogeneous process would follow. The regulatory state model fit the original common market blueprint better the old industrial policy approaches. On the other hand, sector-specific studies continue to reveal a less than fully homogeneous internal market. The EU has undergone momentous changes in the last two decades, which have rendered the notion of a homogeneous single market somewhat unrealistic

Auroral zone absorption of radio waves transmitted via the ionosphere

A discussion of the design for a new antenna system for the transmitter stations is presented together with the measurements and power computation made on the old and new antennas. In the 12 mc back-scatter program at College, the technique used to measure the amplitude of each individual echo and reanalysis of the range distribution previously reported are discussed. Revisions in the techniques of observation of visual auroras and the methods of recording the data for analysis are described in detail.Section I Purposes – Section II Abstract – Section III Publications, Lectures, Reports and Conferences – Section IV Factual Data : Task A ; Task B – Section V Conclusions and Recommendations – Section VI Plans for Next Quarter – Section VII Personnel – Section VIII Appendix : Visual Observations of Aurora in Alaska 1953-1954 / C.T. Elvey ; References ; Figures 1 to 17Ye

Three-loop HTLpt thermodynamics at finite temperature and chemical potential

In this proceedings we present a state-of-the-art method of calculating thermodynamic potential at finite temperature and finite chemical potential, using Hard Thermal Loop perturbation theory (HTLpt) up to next-to-next-leading-order (NNLO). The resulting thermodynamic potential enables us to evaluate different thermodynamic quantities including pressure and various quark number susceptibilities (QNS). Comparison between our analytic results for those thermodynamic quantities with the available lattice data shows a good agreement.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figures, conference proceedings of XXI DAE-BRNS HEP Symposium, IIT Guwahati, December 2014; to appear in 'Springer Proceedings in Physics Series

The C*-algebra of an affine map on the 3-torus

We study the C*-algebra of an affine map on a compact abelian group and give necessary and sufficient conditions for strong transitivity when the group is a torus. The structure of the C*-algebra is completely determined for all strongly transitive affine maps on a torus of dimension one, two or three

Logarithmic barriers for sparse matrix cones

Algorithms are presented for evaluating gradients and Hessians of logarithmic barrier functions for two types of convex cones: the cone of positive semidefinite matrices with a given sparsity pattern, and its dual cone, the cone of sparse matrices with the same pattern that have a positive semidefinite completion. Efficient large-scale algorithms for evaluating these barriers and their derivatives are important in interior-point methods for nonsymmetric conic formulations of sparse semidefinite programs. The algorithms are based on the multifrontal method for sparse Cholesky factorization

Plasmons on the edge of MoS2 nanostructures

Using ab initio calculations we predict the existence of one-dimensional (1D), atomically confined plasmons at the edges of a zigzag MoS2 nanoribbon. The strongest plasmon originates from a metallic edge state localized on the sulfur dimers decorating the Mo edge of the ribbon. A detailed analysis of the dielectric function reveals that the observed deviations from the ideal 1D plasmon behavior result from single-particle transitions between the metallic edge state and the valence and conduction bands of the MoS2 sheet. The Mo and S edges of the ribbon are clearly distinguishable in calculated spatially resolved electron energy loss spectrum owing to the different plasmonic properties of the two edges. The edge plasmons could potentially be utilized for tuning the photocatalytic activity of MoS2 nanoparticles

Fundamental Framework for Technical Analysis

Starting from the characterization of the past time evolution of market prices in terms of two fundamental indicators, price velocity and price acceleration, we construct a general classification of the possible patterns characterizing the deviation or defects from the random walk market state and its time-translational invariant properties. The classification relies on two dimensionless parameters, the Froude number characterizing the relative strength of the acceleration with respect to the velocity and the time horizon forecast dimensionalized to the training period. Trend-following and contrarian patterns are found to coexist and depend on the dimensionless time horizon. The classification is based on the symmetry requirements of invariance with respect to change of price units and of functional scale-invariance in the space of scenarii. This ``renormalized scenario'' approach is fundamentally probabilistic in nature and exemplifies the view that multiple competing scenarii have to be taken into account for the same past history. Empirical tests are performed on on about nine to thirty years of daily returns of twelve data sets comprising some major indices (Dow Jones, SP500, Nasdaq, DAX, FTSE, Nikkei), some major bonds (JGB, TYX) and some major currencies against the US dollar (GBP, CHF, DEM, JPY). Our ``renormalized scenario'' exhibits statistically significant predictive power in essentially all market phases. In constrast, a trend following strategy and trend + acceleration following strategy perform well only on different and specific market phases. The value of the ``renormalized scenario'' approach lies in the fact that it always finds the best of the two, based on a calculation of the stability of their predicted market trajectories.Comment: Latex, 27 page

Spatially resolved quantum plasmon modes in metallic nano-films from first principles

Electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) can be used to probe plasmon excitations in nanostructured materials with atomic-scale spatial resolution. For structures smaller than a few nanometers quantum effects are expected to be important, limiting the validity of widely used semi-classical response models. Here we present a method to identify and compute spatially resolved plasmon modes from first principles based on a spectral analysis of the dynamical dielectric function. As an example we calculate the plasmon modes of 0.5-4 nm thick Na films and find that they can be classified as (conventional) surface modes, sub-surface modes, and a discrete set of bulk modes resembling standing waves across the film. We find clear effects of both quantum confinement and non-local response. The quantum plasmon modes provide an intuitive picture of collective excitations of confined electron systems and offer a clear interpretation of spatially resolved EELS spectra.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figure

Uni-directional polymerization leading to homochirality in the RNA world

The differences between uni-directional and bi-directional polymerization are considered. The uni-directional case is discussed in the framework of the RNA world. Similar to earlier models of this type, where polymerization was assumed to proceed in a bi-directional fashion (presumed to be relevant to peptide nucleic acids), left-handed and right-handed monomers are produced via an autocatalysis from an achiral substrate. The details of the bifurcation from a racemic solution to a homochiral state of either handedness is shown to be remarkably independent of whether the polymerization in uni-directional or bi-directional. Slightly larger differences are seen when dissociation is allowed and the dissociation fragments are being recycled into the achiral substrate.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Astrobiolog

Single-Quadrature Continuous-Variable Quantum Key Distribution

Most continuous-variable quantum key distribution schemes are based on the Gaussian modulation of coherent states followed by continuous quadrature detection using homodyne detectors. In all previous schemes, the Gaussian modulation has been carried out in conjugate quadratures thus requiring two independent modulators for their implementations. Here, we propose and experimentally test a largely simplified scheme in which the Gaussian modulation is performed in a single quadrature. The scheme is shown to be asymptotically secure against collective attacks, and considers asymmetric preparation and excess noise. A single-quadrature modulation approach renders the need for a costly amplitude modulator unnecessary, and thus facilitates commercialization of continuous-variable quantum key distribution.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figure