Alternative options for the monetary integration of Central and Eastern European EU accession countries

The final destination of monetary policy and integration for the Central and Eastern European EU accession countries is the joining of the euro area. The European union has affirmed that, according to the EC treaty, this will be possible, at the earliest, two years after EU accession. Against this background, the most important issue for the accession countries to decide whether to aim for an early introduction of the euro a few years after EU accession or to adopt for a more gradual strategy of monetary integration. This paper reviews the main arguments for and against either of this approaches. Thus the focus is on the question of how speedily to introduce the euro in the accession countries, within the standard path laid down in the EU accession regulations

Trends in multiparticle production and some "predictions" for pp and PbPb collisions at LHC

Based on trends seen at lower energies we "predict" the multiplicities and pseudorapidity distributions of particle density and elliptic flow that will be seen in PbPb and pp collisions at the LHC. We argue that, if these predictions turn out to be correct, either these quantities are insensitive to the state of matter created in high energy heavy ion collisions or the observed simplicity and universality of the data must be telling us something profound about the mechanism of particle production, which to this date is not well understood.Comment: Invited Talk at SQM2007 Conferenc

Kaon and Φ\Phi production vs Participants in Nuclear Collisions

Data on kaon and $\Phi$ production in nuclear collisions as a function of centrality are analysed both at AGS and SPS energy range. We compare the results of several experiments, looking for common trend in `participant scaling' of production yields. We find a smooth description of scaled kaon and $\Phi$ yields as a function of participant density. We also show a participant density dependence of kaons and $\Phi$ produced in the forward hemisphere for proton-nucleus collisions.Comment: Proceedings of the International Conference on Strangeness in Quark Matter, 20-25 July 2000, Berkeley, CA. To appear in Journal of Physics G: Nuclear and Particle Physic

Generalizing survey results from student samples: Implications from service recovery research

Using college students as research subjects in consumer research may or may not be appropriate. This paper discusses external validity of research findings using student subjects as surrogates for consumers in experimental, particularly scenario based, studies. A study that investigated differences between a student sample and a customer sample in response to service experience is described. Results were mixed. No significant mean differences were found in complaint intention, preference to complain to an employee or a manager, overall satisfaction, and revisit intention toward service providers. However, significant discrepancies were observed in testing the role of initial overall satisfaction in evaluating recovery satisfaction and in the relative importance of dimensions of justice. For both student and non-student groups, regardless their recovery satisfaction were positive or negative, initial overall satisfaction was a stronger predictor for post-recovery overall satisfaction than recovery satisfaction

Theoretical Evaluations of the Fission Cross Section of the 77 eV Isomer of 235-U

We have developed models of the fission barrier (barrier heights and transition state spectra) that reproduce reasonably well the measured fission cross section of $^{235}$U from neutron energy of 1 keV to 2 MeV. From these models we have calculated the fission cross section of the 77 eV isomer of $^{235}$U over the same energy range. We find that the ratio of the isomer cross section to that of the ground state lies between about 0.45 and 0.55 at low neutron energies. The cross sections become approximately equal above 1 MeV. The ratio of the neutron capture cross section to the fission cross section for the isomer is predicted to be about a factor of 3 larger for the isomer than for the ground state of $^{235}$U at keV neutron energies. We have also calculated the cross section for the population of the isomer by inelastic neutron scattering form the $^{235}$U ground state. We find that the isomer is strongly populated, and for $E_n = 1 MeV$ the $(n,n'\gamma)$ cross section leading to the population of the isomer is of the order of 0.5 barn. Thus, neutron reaction network calculations involving the uranium isotopes in a high neutron fluence are likely to be affected by the 77 eV isomer of $^{235}$U. With these same models the fission cross sections of $^{233}$U and $^{237}$U can be reproduced approximately using only minor adjustments to the barrier heights. With the significant lowering of the outer barrier that is expected for the outer barrier the general behavior of the fission cross section of $^{239}$Pu can also be reproduced.Comment: 17 pages including 8 figure

Spatially resolved ultrafast precessional magnetization reversal

Spatially resolved measurements of quasi-ballistic precessional magnetic switching in a microstructure are presented. Crossing current wires allow detailed study of the precessional switching induced by coincident longitudinal and transverse magnetic field pulses. Though the response is initially spatially uniform, dephasing occurs leading to nonuniformity and transient demagnetization. This nonuniformity comes in spite of a novel method for suppression of end domains in remanence. The results have implications for the reliability of ballistic precessional switching in magnetic devices.Comment: 17 pages (including 4 figures), submitted to Phys. Rev. Let