Estimation of Nonlinear Dynamic Panel Data Models with Individual Effects

This paper suggests a generalized method of moments (GMM) based estimation for dynamic panel data models with individual specific fixed effects and threshold effects simultaneously. We extend Hansen’s (Hansen, 1999) original setup to models including endogenous regressors, specifically, lagged dependent variables. To address the problem of endogeneity of these nonlinear dynamic panel data models, we prove that the orthogonality conditions proposed by Arellano and Bond (1991) are valid. The threshold and slope parameters are estimated by GMM, and asymptotic distribution of the slope parameters is derived. Finite sample performance of the estimation is investigated through Monte Carlo simulations. It shows that the threshold and slope parameter can be estimated accurately and also the finite sample distribution of slope parameters is well approximated by the asymptotic distribution

Neutrino Physics with JUNO

The Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO), a 20 kton multi-purposeunderground liquid scintillator detector, was proposed with the determinationof the neutrino mass hierarchy as a primary physics goal. It is also capable ofobserving neutrinos from terrestrial and extra-terrestrial sources, includingsupernova burst neutrinos, diffuse supernova neutrino background, geoneutrinos,atmospheric neutrinos, solar neutrinos, as well as exotic searches such asnucleon decays, dark matter, sterile neutrinos, etc. We present the physicsmotivations and the anticipated performance of the JUNO detector for variousproposed measurements. By detecting reactor antineutrinos from two power plantsat 53-km distance, JUNO will determine the neutrino mass hierarchy at a 3-4sigma significance with six years of running. The measurement of antineutrinospectrum will also lead to the precise determination of three out of the sixoscillation parameters to an accuracy of better than 1\%. Neutrino burst from atypical core-collapse supernova at 10 kpc would lead to ~5000inverse-beta-decay events and ~2000 all-flavor neutrino-proton elasticscattering events in JUNO. Detection of DSNB would provide valuable informationon the cosmic star-formation rate and the average core-collapsed neutrinoenergy spectrum. Geo-neutrinos can be detected in JUNO with a rate of ~400events per year, significantly improving the statistics of existing geoneutrinosamples. The JUNO detector is sensitive to several exotic searches, e.g. protondecay via the $p\to K^++\bar\nu$ decay channel. The JUNO detector will providea unique facility to address many outstanding crucial questions in particle andastrophysics. It holds the great potential for further advancing our quest tounderstanding the fundamental properties of neutrinos, one of the buildingblocks of our Universe

Detection of the Diffuse Supernova Neutrino Background with JUNO

As an underground multi-purpose neutrino detector with 20 kton liquid scintillator, Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO) is competitive with and complementary to the water-Cherenkov detectors on the search for the diffuse supernova neutrino background (DSNB). Typical supernova models predict 2-4 events per year within the optimal observation window in the JUNO detector. The dominant background is from the neutral-current (NC) interaction of atmospheric neutrinos with 12C nuclei, which surpasses the DSNB by more than one order of magnitude. We evaluated the systematic uncertainty of NC background from the spread of a variety of data-driven models and further developed a method to determine NC background within 15\% with {\it{in}} {\it{situ}} measurements after ten years of running. Besides, the NC-like backgrounds can be effectively suppressed by the intrinsic pulse-shape discrimination (PSD) capabilities of liquid scintillators. In this talk, I will present in detail the improvements on NC background uncertainty evaluation, PSD discriminator development, and finally, the potential of DSNB sensitivity in JUNO

The Relationship between Energy Consumption and Economic Growth: Evidence from China’s Industrial Sectors

In this article, the relationship between energy consumption and economic growth is examined from the viewpoint of China’s industrial sectors. Panel data from 37 industrial sectors in China covering the period from 1998 to 2010 was used in this study. Not only first generation panel unit root tests and panel cointegration tests, but also second generation tests that account for dependence between cross-sectional units were employed. The empirical results reveal that both energy consumption and economic growth are integrated as order one, and they are cointegrated. Panel fully modified ordinary least squares estimators show that a 1% increase in energy consumption increases the real value added of industrial sectors by 0.871%, and a 1% increase in real value added of industrial sectors increases energy consumption by 1.103%. The panel vector error correction models for causality tests are estimated by a system generalized moment method. We find a unidirectional causal relation running from economic growth to energy consumption in the shortrun. In the long run, however, there is evidence of a unidirectional causality running from energy consumption to economic growth

Impact Dynamic Properties and Energy Evolution of Damaged Sandstone Based on Cyclic Loading Threshold

Rocks in deep coal mines are usually in varying degrees of damage state before they are destabilized by impact loads such as rock bursts. For the problem of the mechanical properties and energy evolution of damaged rocks under impact loads, the authors use static loads with different cyclic load thresholds to act on sandstone specimens to make them in distinct degrees of damage. Then, the rock mechanics system (MTS-816) and the Split Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB) are employed to perform uniaxial compression and impact dynamics tests on sandstones with different degrees of damage. The results show that, from the perspective of mechanical properties, the uniaxial compressive strength and dynamic compressive strength of the damaged sandstone gradually decrease with the increase of the upper limit of the cycle threshold and both obey the growth law of the quadratic function, and the dynamic strength increase factor (DIF) also decreases with the increase of the cyclic load threshold. In terms of energy, with the increment of the cyclic load threshold, the number of cracks in the damaged sandstone is large and the scale is enormous. Due to the effect of cracks, when the incident energy is a fixed value, the transmission energy decreases with the increase of the damage degree and the change law of the reflection energy is the opposite. The systematic study of the dynamic mechanical properties and energy evolution law of the damaged sandstone provides some reference for the prevention and mechanism research of rock bursts