295 research outputs found
Why is Price Discovery in Credit Default Swap Markets News-Specific?
Abstract: We analyse daily lead-lag patterns in US equity and credit default swap (CDS) returns. We first document that equity returns robustly lead CDS returns. However, we find that the CDSlag is due to common (and not firm-specific) news and arises predominantly in response to positive (instead of negative) equity market news. We provide an explanation for this newsspecific price discovery based on dealers in the CDS market exploiting their informational advantage vis-à-vis institutional investors with hedging demands. In support of this explanation we find that the CDS-lag and its newsspecificity are related to various firm-level proxies for hedging demand in the cross-section as well measures for economy-wide informational asymmetries over time.price discovery;CDS;hedging demand;informational asymmetries
Why is Price Discovery in Credit Default Swap Markets News-Specific?
Abstract: We analyse daily lead-lag patterns in US equity and credit default swap (CDS) returns. We first document that equity returns robustly lead CDS returns. However, we find that the CDSlag is due to common (and not firm-specific) news and arises predominantly in response to positive (instead of negative) equity market news. We provide an explanation for this newsspecific price discovery based on dealers in the CDS market exploiting their informational advantage vis-à-vis institutional investors with hedging demands. In support of this explanation we find that the CDS-lag and its news-specificity are related to various firm-level proxies for hedging demand in the cross-section as well measures for economy-wide informational asymmetries over time.
Computation of Kolmogorov's Constant in Magnetohydrodynamic Turbulence
In this paper we calculate Kolmogorov's constant for magnetohydrodynamic
turbulence to one loop order in perturbation theory using the direct
interaction approximation technique of Kraichnan. We have computed the
constants for various , i.e., fluid to magnetic energy ratios
when the normalized cross helicity is zero. We find that increases from
1.47 to 4.12 as we go from fully fluid case to a situation when , then it decreases to 3.55 in a fully magnetic limit .
When , we find that .Comment: Latex, 10 pages, no figures, To appear in Euro. Phys. Lett., 199
SUMER: Solar Ultraviolet Measurements of Emitted Radiation
The SUMER (solar ultraviolet measurements of emitted radiation) experiment is described. It will study flows, turbulent motions, waves, temperatures and densities of the plasma in the upper atmosphere of the Sun. Structures and events associated with solar magnetic activity will be observed on various spatial and temporal scales. This will contribute to the understanding of coronal heating processes and the solar wind expansion. The instrument will take images of the Sun in EUV (extreme ultra violet) light with high resolution in space, wavelength and time. The spatial resolution and spectral resolving power of the instrument are described. Spectral shifts can be determined with subpixel accuracy. The wavelength range extends from 500 to 1600 angstroms. The integration time can be as short as one second. Line profiles, shifts and broadenings are studied. Ratios of temperature and density sensitive EUV emission lines are established
Alfv\`en wave phase-mixing and damping in the ion cyclotron range of frequencies
Aims. To determine the effect of the Hall term in the generalised Ohm's law
on the damping and phase mixing of Alfven waves in the ion cyclotron range of
frequencies in uniform and non-uniform equilibrium plasmas. Methods. Wave
damping in a uniform plasma is treated analytically, whilst a Lagrangian remap
code (Lare2d) is used to study Hall effects on damping and phase mixing in the
presence of an equilibrium density gradient. Results. The magnetic energy
associated with an initially Gaussian field perturbation in a uniform resistive
plasma is shown to decay algebraically at a rate that is unaffected by the Hall
term to leading order in k^2di^2 where k is wavenumber and di is ion skin
depth. A similar algebraic decay law applies to whistler perturbations in the
limit k^2di^2>>1. In a non-uniform plasma it is found that the
spatially-integrated damping rate due to phase mixing is lower in Hall MHD than
it is in MHD, but the reduction in the damping rate, which can be attributed to
the effects of wave dispersion, tends to zero in both the weak and strong phase
mixing limits
Comment on "Are periodic solar wind number density structures formed in the solar corona?" by N. M. Viall et al., 2009, Geophys. Res. Lett., 36, L23102, doi:10.1029/2009GL041191
Location of formation of periodic solar wind number density structures is
discussed. Observation of proton and alpha anticorrelation in these structures
[Viall et al., 2009] indicates that taking into account that bulk velocity of
aplha-particles is higher than that of proton the place of formation for these
structures should be located at distance less 0.002 AU from place of
observation.Comment: 6 pages, submitted in GR
Prolonged decrease in heart rate variability after elective hip arthroplasty
The pattern of postoperative heart rate variability may provide insight into the response of the autonomic nervous system to anaesthesia and surgery. We have obtained spectral (fast Fourier transform) and non-spectral indices of heart rate variability from electrocardiographic recordings, sampled during continuous perioperative Holter monitoring in 15 otherwise healthy patients with an uncomplicated postoperative course, undergoing elective hip arthroplasty with either spinal or general anaesthesia. In both groups, total spectral energy (0.01-1 Hz), low-frequency spectral energy (0.01-0.15 Hz) and high-frequency spectral energy (0.15-0.40 Hz) decreased after surgery to 32% (95% confidence interval (Cl) 10.5; P <0.01), 29% (95% Cl 12.5; P <0.07; and 33% (95% Cl 12.5; P <0.01) of their preoperative values, respectively, and these indices remained suppressed for up to 5 days. Non-spectral indices decreased to a similar extent. These findings indicate a substantial and prolonged postoperative decrease in both parasympathetic and sympathetic influence on the sinus nod
Possible Disintegrating Short-Period Super-Mercury Orbiting KIC 12557548
We report here on the discovery of stellar occultations, observed with
Kepler, that recur periodically at 15.685 hour intervals, but which vary in
depth from a maximum of 1.3% to a minimum that can be less than 0.2%. The star
that is apparently being occulted is KIC 12557548, a K dwarf with T_eff = 4400
K and V = 16. Because the eclipse depths are highly variable, they cannot be
due solely to transits of a single planet with a fixed size. We discuss but
dismiss a scenario involving a binary giant planet whose mutual orbit plane
precesses, bringing one of the planets into and out of a grazing transit. We
also briefly consider an eclipsing binary, that either orbits KIC 12557548 in a
hierarchical triple configuration or is nearby on the sky, but we find such a
scenario inadequate to reproduce the observations. We come down in favor of an
explanation that involves macroscopic particles escaping the atmosphere of a
slowly disintegrating planet not much larger than Mercury. The particles could
take the form of micron-sized pyroxene or aluminum oxide dust grains. The
planetary surface is hot enough to sublimate and create a high-Z atmosphere;
this atmosphere may be loaded with dust via cloud condensation or explosive
volcanism. Atmospheric gas escapes the planet via a Parker-type thermal wind,
dragging dust grains with it. We infer a mass loss rate from the observations
of order 1 M_E/Gyr, with a dust-to-gas ratio possibly of order unity. For our
fiducial 0.1 M_E planet, the evaporation timescale may be ~0.2 Gyr. Smaller
mass planets are disfavored because they evaporate still more quickly, as are
larger mass planets because they have surface gravities too strong to sustain
outflows with the requisite mass-loss rates. The occultation profile evinces an
ingress-egress asymmetry that could reflect a comet-like dust tail trailing the
planet; we present simulations of such a tail.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figures; submitted to ApJ, January 10, 2012; accepted
March 21, 201
Alfv\'en Reflection and Reverberation in the Solar Atmosphere
Magneto-atmospheres with Alfv\'en speed [a] that increases monotonically with
height are often used to model the solar atmosphere, at least out to several
solar radii. A common example involves uniform vertical or inclined magnetic
field in an isothermal atmosphere, for which the Alfv\'en speed is exponential.
We address the issue of internal reflection in such atmospheres, both for
time-harmonic and for transient waves. It is found that a mathematical boundary
condition may be devised that corresponds to perfect absorption at infinity,
and, using this, that many atmospheres where a(x) is analytic and unbounded
present no internal reflection of harmonic Alfv\'en waves. However, except for
certain special cases, such solutions are accompanied by a wake, which may be
thought of as a kind of reflection. For the initial-value problem where a
harmonic source is suddenly switched on (and optionally off), there is also an
associated transient that normally decays with time as O(t-1) or O(t-1 ln t),
depending on the phase of the driver. Unlike the steady-state harmonic
solutions, the transient does reflect weakly. Alfv\'en waves in the solar
corona driven by a finite-duration train of p-modes are expected to leave such
transients.Comment: Accepted by Solar Physic
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