A more resilient financial system but… Basel III and the FSB

At the request of the recent G20 Summits held in the last two years in Washington, London,Pittsburgh and Seoul, different international organizations, such as the IMF, BIS, WB, ECB, WTO, FSB, etc... have engaged to collaborate in the preparation of a new regulatory frame for a sounder global financial system; in particular the BCBS (Basel Committee on Banking Supervision) at BIS (Bank of International Settlements) and the FSB(Financial Stability Board) have reached agreements or will presumably do so in the near future in crucial issues such capital requirements, liquidity, leverage, systemic risk, etc. This paper tries to summarize the new regulatory standards, how they will be phased so that banks can meet the new requirements without impairing the economic recovery and our assessment on its macro and micro implications at the financial systems and real economies.Resilience, Supervision, Regulation, Micro prudential, Capital, Liquidity, Leverage, Macro-prudential, Procyclical, Systemic, Rating, Derivatives

Fitting and selecting scattering data

The main purpose of scattering experiments is to unveil the underlying structure of the colliding particles and their interaction. Typically one measures scattering observables (cross sections and polarizations) at discrete angles and energies and mutually consistent data may validate or falsify proposed theories or models. However, the accumulation of data from different laboratories while potentially improves the statistical significance it may sometimes generate mutually inconsistent data as a side-effect. Thus, some decision has to be made on what are the maximal amount of data which are mutually compatible. We show elastic $\pi N$ and $NN$ scattering as prominent examples where this selection is called for. We discuss how it can be done in a self-consistent manner invoking a principle of maximal consensus of the database and with the help of a sufficiently flexible model involving a minimal number of theoretical assumptions. In the NN case this has become possible with a combination of long distance field theoretical constraints at the hadronic level such as pion exchanges and electromagnetic effects and a coarse graining of the unknown interaction over the shortest de Broglie wavelength being probed in the scattering process.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, talk presented by ERA at XVII International Conference on Hadron Spectroscopy and Structure - Hadron2017, Salamanca, 25-29 September 201

The geometry of L^p-spaces over atomless measure spaces and the Daugavet property

We show that $L^p$-spaces over atomless measure spaces can be characterized in terms of a $p$-concavity type geometric property that is related with the Daugavet property

The continuous star formation history of a giant HII region in M101

We present results about the star formation process in the giant HII region NGC 5471 in the outskirts of M101. From resolved HST/WPFC2 photometry we find that star formation has been going for the last 70 Myr. We further compare previous results from integrated infrared-optical photometry with the stellar resolved CMD and we discuss the star formation properties of this region and its individual knots, as well as characterizing the different stellar content. This result has very important consequences in our understanding of the burst versus continuous star formation activity in spiral galaxies.Comment: 2 pages, 2 figures. Proceeding of the conference From Stars to Galaxies: Building the pieces to build up the Universe (Venice, Italy

The distance to the C component of I Zw 18 and its star formation history: A probabilistic approach

We analyzed the resolved stellar population of the C component of the extremely metal-poor dwarf galaxy Izw18 in order to evaluate its distance and star formation history as accurately as possible. In particular, we aimed at answering the question of whether this stellar population is young. We developed a probabilistic approach to analyzing high-quality photometric data obtained with the Advanced Camera for Surveys of the Hubble Space Telescope. This approach gives a detailed account of the various stochastic aspects of star formation. We carried out two successive models of the stellar population of interest, paying attention to how our assumptions could affect the results. We found a distance to the C component of I Zw 18 as high as 27 Mpc, a significantly higher value than those cited in previous works. The star formation history we inferred from the observational data shows various interesting features: a strong starburst that lasted for about 15 Myr, a more moderate one that occurred approx 100 Myr ago, a continuous process of star formation between both starbursts, and a possible episode of low level star formation at ages over 100 Myr. The stellar population studied is likely approx 125 Myr old, although ages of a few Gyr cannot be ruled out. Furthermore, nearly all the stars were formed in the last few hundreds of Myr.Comment: 13 pags., 17 (low-resolution) Figs. Accepted by A&

EVALUATION OF GEOMETRIC SCALE EFFECTS FOR SCRAMJET ISOLATORS

A numerical analysis was conducted to study the effects of geometrically scaling scramjet inlet-combustor isolators. Three-dimensional fully viscous numerical simulation of the flow inside constant area rectangular ducts, with a downstream back pressure condition, was analyzed using the SolidWorks Flow Simulation software. The baseline, or 1X, isolator configuration has a 1” x 2.67” cross section and 20” length. This baseline configuration was scaled up based on the 1X configuration mass flow to 10X and 100X configurations, with ten and one hundred times the mass flow rate, respectively. The isolator aspect ratio of 2.67 was held constant for all configurations. To provide for code validation, the Flow Simulation program was first used to analyze a converging-diverging channel and a wind tunnel nozzle. The channel case was compared with analytical theory and showed good agreement. The nozzle case was compared with AFRL experimental data and showed good agreement with the entrance and exit conditions (Pi0= 40 psia, Ti0= 530ºR, Pe= 18.86 psia, Te= 456ºR, respectively). While the boundary layer thickness remained constant, the boundary layer thickness with respect to the isolator height decreased as the scale increased. For all the isolator simulations, a shock train was expected to form inside the duct. However, the flow simulation failed to generate this flow pattern, due to improper sizing of the isolator and combustor for a 3-D model or having a low pressure ratio of 2.38. Instead, a single normal shock wave was established at the same relative location within the length of each duct, approximately 80% of the duct length from the isolator entrance. The shape of the shock changed as the scale increased from a normal shock wave, to a bifurcated shock wave, and to a normal shock train, respectively for the 1X, 10X, and 100X models