771 research outputs found
The Impact of Enlightened Shareholder Value
This paper documents and analyses the findings of a study conducted in relation to selected reports of all of the retail companies that are listed on the FTSE 100 in order to ascertain the impact of enlightened shareholder value on UK corporate governance. The findings are also analysed in light of other studies and commentary
An evaluation of sustainability in large British companies
This article undertakes an assessment of the sustainability efforts of some of the largest companies that are listed on the FTSE 100 (a share index composed of the 100 largest companies that are listed on the London Stock Exchange according to market capitalisation). It provides empirical insights into how large listed British companies are addressing sustainability and their efforts in terms of incorporating sustainability factors into their business operations. The study was based on an extended content analysis of each company’s annual and sustainability reports. Our findings demonstrate that companies are trying to integrate sustainability in their business strategies even though there are variations in their efforts. There are indications that the majority of the companies have been able to embed sustainability in their strategy and operations and are now attempting to establish goals for further improvement. We found strong evidence of willingness to engage with relevant stakeholders to evaluate which sustainability issues are of importance to the particular companies and then to communicate to those relevant stakeholders the measures that have been taken to integrate sustainability in their business strategies. However, our findings also revealed areas where there is a need for further improvement such as compliance with international standards for sustainability reporting and establishment of better frameworks to enhance their sustainability efforts
Spontaneous DC Current Generation in a Resistively Shunted Semiconductor Superlattice Driven by a TeraHertz Field
We study a resistively shunted semiconductor superlattice subject to a
high-frequency electric field. Using a balance equation approach that
incorporates the influence of the electric circuit, we determine numerically a
range of amplitude and frequency of the ac field for which a dc bias and
current are generated spontaneously and show that this region is likely
accessible to current experiments. Our simulations reveal that the Bloch
frequency corresponding to the spontaneous dc bias is approximately an integer
multiple of the ac field frequency.Comment: 8 pages, Revtex, 3 Postscript figure
wormholes and topological charge
I investigate solutions to the Euclidean Einstein-matter field equations with
topology in a theory with a massless periodic scalar
field and electromagnetism. These solutions carry winding number of the
periodic scalar as well as magnetic flux. They induce violations of a
quasi-topological conservation law which conserves the product of magnetic flux
and winding number on the background spacetime. I extend these solutions to a
model with stable loops of superconducting cosmic string, and interpret them as
contributing to the decay of such loops.Comment: 18 pages (includes 6 figs.), harvmac and epsf, CU-TP-62
Microwave Photoconductivity in Two-Dimensional Electron Systems due to Photon-Assisted Interaction of Electrons with Leaky Interface Phonons
We calculate the contribution of the photon-assisted interaction of electrons
with leaky interface phonons to the dissipative dc photoconductivity of a
two-dimensional electron system in a magnetic field. The calculated
photoconductivity as a function of the frequency of microwave radiation and the
magnetic field exhibits pronounced oscillations. The obtained oscillation
structure is different from that in the case of photon-assisted interaction
with impurities. We demonstrate that at a sufficiently strong microwave
radiation in the certain ranges of its frequency (or in certain ranges of the
magnetic field) this mechanism can result in the absolute negative
conductivity.Comment: 3 pages, 1 figur
Intersubband gain in a Bloch oscillator and Quantum cascade laser
The link between the inversion gain of quantum cascade structures and the
Bloch gain in periodic superlattices is presented. The proposed theoretical
model based on the density matrix formalism is able to treat the gain mechanism
of the Bloch oscillator and Quantum cascade laser on the same footing by taking
into account in-plane momentum relaxation. The model predicts a dispersive
contribution in addition to the (usual) population-inversion-dependent
intersubband gain in quantum cascade structures and - in the absence of
inversion - provides the quantum mechanical description for the dispersive gain
in superlattices. It corroborates the predictions of the semi-classical
miniband picture, according to which gain is predicted for photon energies
lower than the Bloch oscillation frequency, whereas net absorption is expected
at higher photon energies, as a description which is valid in the
high-temperature limit. A red-shift of the amplified emission with respect to
the resonant transition energy results from the dispersive gain contribution in
any intersubband transition, for which the population inversion is small.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figure
Quantum metastability in a class of moving potentials
In this paper we consider quantum metastability in a class of moving
potentials introduced by Berry and Klein. Potential in this class has its
height and width scaled in a specific way so that it can be transformed into a
stationary one. In deriving the non-decay probability of the system, we argue
that the appropriate technique to use is the less known method of scattering
states. This method is illustrated through two examples, namely, a moving
delta-potential and a moving barrier potential. For expanding potentials, one
finds that a small but finite non-decay probability persists at large times.
Generalization to scaling potentials of arbitrary shape is briefly indicated.Comment: 10 pages, 1 figure
An Anisotropic Wormhole:TUNNELLING in Time and Space
We discuss the structure of a gravitational euclidean instanton obtained
through coupling of gravity to electromagnetism. Its topology at fixed is
. This euclidean solution can be interpreted as a tunnelling to
a hyperbolic space (baby universe) at or alternatively as a static
wormhole that joins the two asymptotically flat spaces of a
Reissner--Nordstr\"om type solution with .Comment: PLAIN-TEX, 16 pages (4 figures not included), Report DFTT 2/9
Localization properties of driven disordered one-dimensional systems
We generalize the definition of localization length to disordered systems
driven by a time-periodic potential using a Floquet-Green function formalism.
We study its dependence on the amplitude and frequency of the driving field in
a one-dimensional tight-binding model with different amounts of disorder in the
lattice. As compared to the autonomous system, the localization length for the
driven system can increase or decrease depending on the frequency of the
driving. We investigate the dependence of the localization length with the
particle's energy and prove that it is always periodic. Its maximum is not
necessarily at the band center as in the non-driven case. We study the
adiabatic limit by introducing a phenomenological inelastic scattering rate
which limits the delocalizing effect of low-frequency fields.Comment: Accepted for publication in European Physical Journal
Naturalistic rapid deceleration data: Drivers aged 75 years and older.
The data presented in this article are related to the research manuscript "Predictors of older drivers' involvement in rapid deceleration events", which investigates potential predictors of older drivers' involvement in rapid deceleration events including measures of vision, cognitive function and driving confidence (A. Chevalier et al., 2016) [1]. In naturalistic driving studies such as this, when sample size is not large enough to allow crashes to be used to investigate driver safety, rapid deceleration events may be used as a surrogate safety measure. Naturalistic driving data were collected for up to 52 weeks from 182 volunteer drivers aged 75-94 years (median 80 years, 52% male) living in the suburban outskirts of Sydney. Driving data were collected using an in-vehicle monitoring device. Accelerometer data were recorded 32 times per second and Global Positioning System (GPS) data each second. To measure rapid deceleration behavior, rapid deceleration events (RDEs) were defined as having at least one data point at or above the deceleration threshold of 750Â milli-g (7.35Â m/s2). All events were constrained to a maximum 5Â s duration. The dataset provided with this article contains 473 events, with a row per RDE. This article also contains information about data processing, treatment and quality control. The methods and data presented here may assist with planning and analysis of future studies into rapid deceleration behaviour using in-vehicle monitoring
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