Regional Income Stratification in Unified Germany Using a Gini Decomposition Approach

This paper delivers new insights into the development of income inequality and regional stratification in Germany after unification using a new method for detecting social stratification by a decomposition of the GINI index which yields the obligatory between- and withingroup components as well as an "overlapping" index for the different sup-populations. We apply this method together with a jackknife estimation of standard errors. We find that East Germany is still a stratum on its own when using post-government income, but since 2001 no longer is when using pre-government income. These results remain stable when using alternatively defined regional classifications. However, there are also indications of some regional variation within West Germany. Overall, these findings are important for the political discussion with respect to a potential regional concentration of future transfers from East to West Germany.Inequality decomposition; Gini; Stratification; German unification; Regional disparities; SOEP

Integrated infrared array technology

An overview of integrated infrared (IR) array technology is presented. Although the array pixel formats are smaller, and the readout noise of IR arrays is larger, than the corresponding values achieved with optical charge-coupled-device silicon technology, substantial progress is being made in IR technology. Both existing IR arrays and those being developed are described. Examples of astronomical images are given which illustrate the potential of integrated IR arrays for scientific investigations

Convexity and Hamiltonian Equations in Differential Games

We study a zero sum differential game under strong assumptions of convexity - the cost is one convex for one player, and concave for the other. An explicit necessary and sufficient condition for a saddle point of the game is given in terms of convex analysis subgradients of the conjugate of the cost function. A generalized Hamiltonian equation is shown to describe saddle trajectories of the game

HOLLOTRON switch for megawatt lightweight space inverters

The feasibility of satisfying the switching requirements for a megawatt ultralight inverter system using HOLLOTRON switch technology was determined. The existing experimental switch hardware was modified to investigate a coaxial HOLLOTRON switch configuration and the results were compared with those obtained for a modified linear HOLLOTRON configuration. It was concluded that scaling the HOLLOTRON switch to the current and voltage specifications required for a megawatt converter system is indeed feasible using a modified linear configuration. The experimental HOLLOTRON switch operated at parameters comparable to the scaled coaxial HOLLOTRON. However, the linear HOLLOTRON data verified the capability for meeting all the design objectives simultaneously including current density (greater than 2 A/sq cm), voltage (5 kV), switching frequency (20 kHz), switching time (300 ns), and forward voltage drop (less than or equal to 20 V). Scaling relations were determined and a preliminary design was completed for an engineering model linear HOLLOTRON switch to meet the megawatt converter system specifications