Taming of the wild group of magnetic translations

We use a theorem of Auslander and Kostant on the representation theory of solvable Lie-groups for the study of some groups necessary for the description of certain quasi-periodic systems of solid-state physics. We show that the magnetic translation group is tame (Type I) if the magnetic field is not constant but fluctuating.Comment: 6 pages, to appear in the special issue "Mathematical Methods in Condensed Matter Physics" of J.Math.Phy

Does Private and Cost-Priced Higher Education Produce Poor Quality?

Since the beginning of the transition, Hungarian higher education has been undergoing continuous transformation. The number of students in higher education more than doubled, and this was accompanied by the appearance of newly founded church-run and private higher education institutions and newly established cost-priced places. The paper focuses on the potential negative effects private and cost-priced higher education might have on the quality of the education and students by making use of labour market success indicators (wages and labour market status) with the help of multivariate estimation techniques. A unique data set, the Second Fid‚v Survey, is used which provides information about the September 2000 labour market situation of persons graduated from higher education in 1999. The results suggest that education at cost-priced, state funded places and private higher education institutions provides essentially the same level of knowledge or produces the same educational quality as measured by wages. No negative effect has been detected as for the labour market status of exstudents. Students from cost-priced places and private institutions experience the same unemployment probability, whereas the overall employment probability of students graduated from cost-priced places is higher than that of persons studied at state-funded places. One can conclude that although the opportunity of establishing more and more cost-priced places might have been advantageous for higher education institutions so as to increase their revenues, they have shown some selfrestraint in this respect, and there is no sign that the increase in costpriced places has led to lower quality workers.

An agent-based model for energy service companies

The residential housing sector is a major consumer of energy accounting for approximately one third of carbon emissions in the United Kingdom. Achieving a sustainable, low-carbon infrastructure necessitates a reduced and more efficient use of domestic energy supplies. Energy service companies offer an alternative to traditional providers, which supply a single utility product to satisfy the unconstrained demand of end users, and have been identified as a potentially important actor in sustainable future economies. An agent-based model is developed to examine the potential of energy service companies to contribute to the large scale upgrading of household energy efficiency, which would ultimately lead to a more sustainable and secure energy infrastructure. The migration of households towards energy service companies is described by an attractiveness array, through which potential customers can evaluate the future benefits, in terms of household energy costs, of changing provider. It is shown that self-financing is a limiting factor to the widespread upgrading of residential energy efficiency. Greater reductions in household energy costs could be achieved by committing to longer term contracts, allowing upgrade costs to be distributed over greater time intervals. A steadily increasing cost of future energy usage lends an element of stability to the market, with energy service companies displaying the ability to retain customers on contract expiration. The model highlights how a greater focus on the provision of energy services, as opposed to consumable products, presents a viable approach to reducing future energy costs and usage

Multi-utility service companies: a complex systems model of increasing resource efficiency

Domestic households account for a significant portion of energy consumption and carbon emissions in the United Kingdom. Gains in energy and resource efficiency are undermined by the continuing rise in consumption. A multiutility service company (MUSCo) could enable households to make efficiency improvements through energy technologies and demand management, thus reducing overall consumption. We present a system dynamics model for the domestic energy demand and supply system in the United Kingdom, in which MUSCos compete with traditional utility providers. The market transition toward a leasing contracted service is examined and various potential business models explored

Brentano's Influence on Husserl's Early Notion of Intentionality

The influence of Brentano on the emergence of Husserl's notion of intentionality has been usually perceived as the key of understanding the history of intentionality, since Brentano was credited with the discovery of intentionality, and Husserl was his discipline. This much debated question is to be revisited in the present essay by incorporating recent advances in Brentano scholarship and by focusing on Husserl's very first work, his habilitation essay (Über den Begriff der Zahl), which followed immediately after his study years at Brentano, and also on manuscript notes from the same period. It is to be shown that (i) although Brentano failed to enact a direct influence on Husserl's notion of intentionality (much in line with K. Schuhmann's claim), (ii) yet the core of Brentano's notion remained operative in Husserl's theory of relations, which is seemingly influenced by John Stuart Mill and Hermann Lotze. This investigation is intended as a contribution towards the proper understanding of the complexities of Husserl's early philosophy