3,592 research outputs found
Did Tax Policies mitigate US Business Cycles?
I study whether US Tax Policies affected economic volatility during the post World War II period. I employ a Real Business Cycle model with distorting taxation on household income and tax rules, and assume that taxes respond to the cyclical conditions of the economy. I estimate the deep parameters of the model using Bayesian techniques. My findings are; (a) fiscal policies display a strong countercyclical behavior, (b) help to reduce the cyclical and raw volatility of GDP, consumption, investment when the government can issue debt, and (c) unexpected changes in tax policies do not affect the volatility of the macroeconomic variables.Fiscal Policy and Business Cycles, Bayesian Methods.
LUCIFER: A new technique for Double Beta Decay
LUCIFER (Low-background Underground Cryogenic Installation
For Elusive Rates) is a new project aiming to study the neutrinoless Double Beta Decay. It will be based on the technology of the scintillating bolometers. These devices
shall have a great power in distinguishing signals from α’s and β/γ’s promising a background-free experiment, provided that the Q value of the candidate isotope is higher than the 208Tl line. The baseline candidate for LUCIFER is 82Se. Here the LUCIFER concept will be introduced and the prospects related to this project will be discussed
Interpreting the Hours-Technology time-varying relationship
We investigate the time varying relation between hours and technology shocks using a structural business cycle model. We propose an RBC model with a Constant Elasticity of Substitution (CES) production function that allows for capital- and labor-augmenting technology shocks. We estimate the model with Bayesian techniques. In the full sample, we find (i) evidence in favor of a less than unitary elasticity of substitution (rejecting Cobb-Douglas) and (ii) a sizable role for capital augmenting shock for business cycles fluctuations. In rolling sub-samples, we document that the transmission of technology shocks to hours worked has been varying over time. We argue that this change is due to the increase of the elasticity of factor substitution. That is, labor and capital became less complementary throughout the sample inducing a change in the sign and size of the response of hours. We conjecture that this change may have been induced by a change in the skill composition of the labor input.Hours Worked and Business Cycles, Bayesian Methods.
Electrostatic Patch Effect in Cylindrical Geometry. III. Torques
We continue to study the effect of uneven voltage distribution on two close
cylindrical conductors with parallel axes started in our papers [1] and [2],
now to find the electrostatic torques. We calculate the electrostatic potential
and energy to lowest order in the gap to cylinder radius ratio for an arbitrary
relative rotation of the cylinders about their symmetry axis. By energy
conservation, the axial torque, independent of the uniform voltage difference,
is found as a derivative of the energy in the rotation angle. We also derive
both the axial and slanting torques by the surface integration method: the
torque vector is the integral over the cylinder surface of the cross product of
the electrostatic force on a surface element and its position vector. The
slanting torque consists of two parts: one coming from the interaction between
the patch and the uniform voltages, and the other due to the patch interaction.
General properties of the torques are described. A convenient model of a
localized patch suggested in [2] is used to calculate the torques explicitly in
terms of elementary functions. Based on this, we analyze in detail patch
interaction for one pair of patches, namely, the torque dependence on the patch
parameters (width and strength) and their mutual positions. The effect of the
axial torque is then studied for the experimental conditions of the STEP
mission.Comment: 28 pages, 6 Figures. Submitted to Classical Quantum Gravit
Crossover transition in bag-like models
We formulate a simple model for a gas of extended hadrons at zero chemical
potential by taking inspiration from the compressible bag model. We show that a
crossover transition qualitatively similar to lattice QCD can be reproduced by
such a system by including some appropriate additional dynamics. Under certain
conditions, at high temperature, the system consist of a finite number of
infinitely extended bags, which occupy the entire space. In this situation the
system behaves as an ideal gas of quarks and gluons.Comment: Corresponds to the published version. Added few references and
changed the titl
Investigating The Physics Case of Running a B-Factory at the Y(5S) Resonance
We discuss the physics case of a high luminosity B-Factory running at the
Y(5S) resonance. We show that the coherence of the B meson pairs is preserved
at this resonance, and that Bs can be well distinguished from Bd and charged B
mesons. These facts allow to cover the physics program of a traditional
B-Factory and, at the same time, to perform complementary measurements which
are not accessible at the Y(4S). In particular we show how, despite the
experimental limitations in performing time-dependent measurements of Bs
decays, the same experimental information can be extracted, in several cases,
from the determination of time-integrated observables. In addition, a few
examples of the potentiality in measuring rare Bs decays are given. Finally, we
discuss how the study of Bs meson will improve the constraints on New Physics
parameters in the Bs sector, in the context of the generalized Unitarity
Triangle analysis.Comment: 47 pages, 22 figure
Advanced Formation Fluid Evaluation While Drilling with a New Heavy Gas Detector
In this paper, a chromatograph which exploits the benefits of FID technology optimized for the high resolution detection of heavier
hydrocarbon gas components is described. The components analyzed span from n-hexane to toluene. Flame Ionization Detector (FID)
technology is not new to gas detection on the field, however it had never been applied to the detection of gases heavier than n-pentane.
The instrumentation has been installed and run on a number of wells in different fields and countries, and it has operated as a
complement of an advanced surface logging system for a period of two years. Unlike other technologies presently utilized for this
scope, this system reduces dedicated equipment and personnel to a minimum.
The results presented show the clear identification of formation fluid contacts with higher accuracy than standard light gas detectors,
the recognition of contaminants within the drilling fluid, and the practicality of operating an advanced gas detection system with
minimal operational and logistic footprint. Some of the indications obtained challenge common beliefs about gas detection: consistent
extraction of heavy hydrocarbon gases from the drilling fluid is possible at relatively low temperatures, provided that the entire gas
extraction system is rigorously controlled in terms of gas sample pressure, flow, and temperature. Furthermore, gas data analysis can
yield indications on the fluid composition even when the gases analyzed are in extremely low quantity.
The system utilizes known technologies, developed and optimized to obtain new results. The system supports formation evaluation
when LWD or wireline can be inconclusive, in the presence of a low porosity pay or fresh water. It can also guide and optimize the
MDT testing program. Furthermore, the system takes into account the constraints of drilling operations, and strikes a balance between
data accuracy and practicality of the application
Environmental impact assessment of renewable energy communities: the analysis of an Italian neighbourhood
In recent years, research in renewable energy community (REC) schemes, coupling renewable energy sources and building energy efficiency, is gaining momentum. In this context, Urban Building Energy Modelling tools (UBEMs) have proved to comply with the design requirements of such schemes. However, a clear methodology exploiting UBEMs to support the design of RECs is still missing, especially for assessing the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with their specific technical configuration. Here, the REC is modelled in “urban modeling interface” (umi), one of the main bottom-up physics-based UBEMs. A building archetype approach is exploited to model the scenarios and assess embodied GHG emissions. The proposed methdology gives the possibility to investigate both the embodied and operational emissions for different REC configuration. A residential neighbourhood in Italy is selected as case study. The results demonstrate the importance of considering building characteristics when analysing emissions reductions in energy-sharing schemes, underlining the necessity of coupling the REC design with energy retrofit interventions
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