Lyapunov exponents, entropy production and decoherence

We establish that the entropy production rate of a classically chaotic Hamiltonian system coupled to the environment settles, after a transient, to a meta-stable value given by the sum of positive generalized Lyapunov exponents. A meta-stable steady state is generated in this process. This behavior also occurs in quantum systems close to the classical limit where it leads to the restoration of quantum-classical correspondence in chaotic systems coupled to the environment.Comment: 4 ReVTeX pages + 3 postscript figures. PRL (to appear

Chaos and Lyapunov exponents in classical and quantal distribution dynamics

We analytically establish the role of a spectrum of Lyapunov exponents in the evolution of phase-space distributions $\rho(p,q)$. Of particular interest is $\lambda_2$, an exponent which quantifies the rate at which chaotically evolving distributions acquire structure at increasingly smaller scales and which is generally larger than the maximal Lyapunov exponent $\lambda$ for trajectories. The approach is trajectory-independent and is therefore applicable to both classical and quantum mechanics. In the latter case we show that the $\hbar\to 0$ limit yields the classical, fully chaotic, result for the quantum cat map.Comment: 5 RevTeX pages + 2 ps figs. Phys. Rev. E (to appear,'97

Does Openness Promote Competition? A Case Study of Indian Manufacturing

This paper uses firm level data for the period 1989-2001 to analyse the working of competition in India’s manufacturing sector. It examines the impact of greater competition on profit mark-up over the last decade. The econometric analysis of the factors determining markup indicates that, contrary to received wisdom, trade openness by itself does not act to reduce the profit mark-up. The paper also investigates the degree of competitiveness defined as the Lerner price-cost margin. The analysis indicates that the estimated margins are in general high over the 1990s across all industries and in most of the industries considered these margins have been increasing over the second-half of the 1990s. The market by itself does not bring about competitive outcomes. The regulatory agencies probably have a crucial role to ensure a level playing field.Competition; Indian Manufacturing