Voltage regulator for battery power source

A bipolar transistor in series with the battery as the control element also in series with a zener diode and a resistor is used to maintain a predetermined voltage until the battery voltage decays to very nearly the predetermined voltage. A field effect transistor between the base of the bipolar transistor and a junction between the zener diode and resistor regulates base current of the bipolar transistor, thereby regulating the conductivity of the bipolar transistor for control of the output voltage

Power converter

A dc-to-dc converter employs four transistor switches in a bridge to chop dc power from a source, and a voltage multiplying diode rectifying ladder network to rectify and filter the chopped dc power for delivery to a load. The bridge switches are cross coupled in order for diagonally opposite pairs to turn on and off together using RC networks for the cross coupling to achieve the mode of operation of a free running multivibrator, and the diode rectifying ladder is configured to operate in a push-pull mode driven from opposite sides of the multivibrator outputs of the ridge switches. The four transistor switches provide a square-wave output voltage which as a peak-to-peak amplitude that is twice the input dc voltage, and is thus useful as a dc-to-ac inverter

Window comparator

A window comparator is described, comprising two operational amplifiers, one with two feedback circuits, each feedback circuit having a diode connected to the amplifier output and poled for forward current conduction of opposite polarity, to provide an algebraic difference between an input signal and a selected set-point voltage. Differential input terminals of the second operational amplifier were connected to the separate feedback circuits of the first operational amplifier, one input terminal to the output of one diode, and the other to the output of the other diode. A selected window-width voltage was connected through a coupling resistor to one of the input terminals of the second operational amplifier to determine when the algebraic difference of the input signal and the setpoint voltage has exceeded a predetermined tolerance after that difference has changed signs

Full wave modulator-demodulator amplifier apparatus

A full-wave modulator-demodulator apparatus is described including an operational amplifier having a first input terminal coupled to a circuit input terminal, and a second input terminal alternately coupled to the circuit input terminal. A circuit is ground by a switching circuit responsive to a phase reference signal and the operational amplifier is alternately switched between a non-inverting mode and an inverting mode. The switching circuit includes three field-effect transistors operatively associated to provide the desired switching function in response to an alternating reference signal of the same frequency as an AC input signal applied to the circuit input terminal

On the volatility of volatility

The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) Volatility Index, VIX, is calculated based on prices of out-of-the-money put and call options on the S&P 500 index (SPX). Sometimes called the "investor fear gauge," the VIX is a measure of the implied volatility of the SPX, and is observed to be correlated with the 30-day realized volatility of the SPX. Changes in the VIX are observed to be negatively correlated with changes in the SPX. However, no significant correlation between changes in the VIX and changes in the 30-day realized volatility of the SPX are observed. We investigate whether this indicates a mispricing of options following large VIX moves, and examine the relation to excess returns from variance swaps.Comment: 15 pages, 12 figures, LaTe

Edge properties of the chiral d-wave superconducting state in doped graphene

We investigate the effect of edges on the intrinsic electron-electron interaction driven d-wave superconducting state in graphene doped close to the van Hove singularity. While the bulk is in a chiral $d_{x^2-y^2}+id_{xy}$ state, the order parameter at any edge is enhanced and has $d_{x^2-y^2}$-symmetry, with a decay length strongly increasing with weakening superconductivity. No graphene edge is pair breaking for the $d_{x^2-y^2}$ state and we never find any localized zero-energy edge states. We find two chiral edge modes which carry a spontaneous, but not quantized, quasiparticle current related to the zero-energy momentum. Moreover, for realistic values of the Rashba spin-orbit coupling, a Majorana fermion appears at the edge when tuning a Zeeman field.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures. Supplementary material added. Published versio