Orbifolds, geometric structures and foliations. Applications to harmonic maps

In recent years a lot of attention has been paid to topological spaces which are a bit more general than smooth manifolds - orbifolds. Orbifolds are intuitively speaking manifolds with some singularities. The formal definition is also modelled on that of manifolds, an orbifold is a topological space which locally is homeomorphic to the orbit space of a finite group acting on $R^n$. Orbifolds were defined by Satake, as V-manifolds, then studied by W. Thurston, who introduced the term "orbifold". Due to their importance in physics, and in particular in the string theory, orbifolds have been drawing more and more attention. In this paper we propose to show that the classical theory of geometrical structures, easily translates itself to the context of orbifolds and is closely related to the theory of foliated geometrical structures, cf. \cite{Wo0}. Finally, we propose a foliated approach to the study of harmonic maps between Riemannian orbifolds based on our previous research into transversely harmonic maps

Managing unilateral market power in electricity

This paper first describes those features of the electricity supply industry that make a prospective market monitoring process essential to a well-functioning wholesale market. Some of these features are shared with the securities industry, although the technology of electricity production and delivery make a reliable transmission network a necessary condition for an efficient wholesale market. These features of the electricity supply industry also make antitrust or competition law alone an inadequate foundation for an electricity market monitoring process. This paper provides examples of both the successes and failures of market monitoring from several international markets. More than 10 years of experience with the electricity industry restructuring process has shown that market failures are more likely and substantially more harmful to consumers than other market failures because of how electricity is produced and delivered and the crucial role it plays in the modern economy. Wholesale market meltdowns of varying magnitudes and durations have occurred in electricity markets around the world, and many of them could have been prevented if a prospective market monitoring process backed by the prevailing regulatory authority had been in place at the start of the market.Access to Markets,Markets and Market Access,Environmental Economics&Policies,Energy Markets,Economic Theory&Research

Unilateral Market Power in Wholesale Electricity Markets

Elektrizitätswirtschaft, Großhandel, Marktführer, Regulierung, Electric utility industry, Wholesale trade, Market leader, Regulation

Lessons from international experience with electricity market monitoring

The author first describes those features of the electricity supply industry that make a prospective market monitoring process essential to a well-functioning wholesale market. Some of these features are shared with the securities industry, although the technology of electricity production and delivery make a reliable transmission network a necessary condition for an efficient wholesale market. These features of the electricity supply industry also make antitrust or competition law alone an inadequate foundation for an electricity market monitoring process. The author provides examples of both the successes and failures of market monitoring from several international markets. More than 10 years of experience with the electricity industry restructuring process has shown that market failures are more likely and substantially more harmful to consumers than other market failures because of how electricity is produced and delivered and the crucial role it plays in the modern economy. Wholesale market meltdowns of varying magnitudes and durations have occurred in electricity markets around the world, and many of them could have been prevented if a prospective market monitoring process backed by the prevailing regulatory authority had been in place at the start of the market.Access to Markets,Markets and Market Access,Environmental Economics&Policies,ClimateChange,Health Economics&Finance

The BIC of a singular foliation defined by an abelian group of isometries

We study the cohomology properties of the singular foliation \F determined by an action $\Phi \colon G \times M\to M$ where the abelian Lie group $G$ preserves a riemannian metric on the compact manifold $M$. More precisely, we prove that the basic intersection cohomology \lau{\IH}{*}{\per{p}}{\mf} is finite dimensional and verifies the Poincar\'e Duality. This duality includes two well-known situations: -- Poincar\'e Duality for basic cohomology (the action $\Phi$ is almost free). -- Poincar\'e Duality for intersection cohomology (the group $G$ is compact and connected)