Synthesis and Characterization of Two New Organic Dyes for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

In the present study, two new organic dyes based on indigo were prepared and used as sensitizers in dye-sensitized solar cells. To this end, indoxyl was utilized as the electron-donor and acrylic acid and cyanoacrylic acid were used as the electron-acceptor anchoring groups. These dyes were purified and characterized by analytical techniques. Spectrophotometric evaluations of the prepared dyes in solution and on a nano-anatase-TiO₂ substrate were investigated. Additionally, oxidation potential measurements were also carried out. Finally, dye-sensitized solar cells were fabricated to determine the photovoltaic behavior and conversion efficiency of each dye.

[Supplementary materials are available for this article. Go to the publisher's online edition of Synthetic Communications® for the following free supplemental resource(s): Full experimental and spectral details.]     

Particle methods for PDEs arising in financial modeling

We numerically study convection–diffusion equations arising in financial modeling. We focus on the convection-dominated cases, in which the diffusion coefficients are relatively small. Both finite-difference and Monte-Carlo methods which are widely used in the problems of this kind might be inefficient due to severe restrictions on the meshsize and the number of realizations needed to achieve high resolution.We propose an alternative approach based on particle methods which have extremely low numerical diffusion and thus do not have the aforementioned restrictions. Our approach is based on the operator splitting: The hyperbolic steps are made using the method of characteristics, while the parabolic steps are performed using either a special discretization of the integral representation of the solution (which leads to a deterministic particle method) or a stochastic random walk approach.We apply the designed particle methods to a variety of test problems and the numerical results indicate high accuracy, efficiency and robustness of both the deterministic and stochastic methods. In addition, our numerical experiments clearly demonstrate that the deterministic particle method outperforms its stochastic counterpart.     

Optimal reinsurance under risk and uncertainty

This paper deals with the optimal reinsurance problem if both insurer and reinsurer are facing risk and uncertainty, though the classical uncertainty free case is also included. The insurer and reinsurer degrees of uncertainty do not have to be identical. The decision variable is not the retained (or ceded) risk, but its sensitivity with respect to the total claims. Thus, if one imposes strictly positive lower bounds for this variable, the reinsurer moral hazard is totally eliminated.Three main contributions seem to be reached. Firstly, necessary and sufficient optimality conditions are given in a very general setting. Secondly, the optimal contract is often a bang–bang solution, i.e., the sensitivity between the retained risk and the total claims saturates the imposed constraints. Thirdly, the optimal reinsurance problem is equivalent to other linear programming problem, despite the fact that risk, uncertainty, and many premium principles are not linear. This may be important because linear problems may be easily solved in practice, since there are very efficient algorithms.     

Nash equilibrium strategies for a defined contribution pension management

This paper studies the time-consistent investment strategy for a defined contribution (DC) pension plan under the mean–variance criterion. Since the time horizon of a pension fund management problem is relatively long, two background risks are taken into account: the inflation risk and the salary risk. Meanwhile, there are a risk-free asset, a stock and an inflation-indexed bond available in the financial market. The extended Hamilton–Jacobi–Bellman (HJB for short) equation of the equilibrium value function and the verification theorem corresponding to our problem are presented. The closed-form time-consistent investment strategy and the equilibrium efficient frontier are obtained by stochastic control technique. The effects of the inflation and stochastic income on the equilibrium strategy and the equilibrium efficient frontier are illustrated by mathematical and numerical analysis. Finally, we compare in detail the time-consistent results in our paper with the pre-commitment one and find the distinct properties of these two results.     

Robust investment–reinsurance optimization with multiscale stochastic volatility

This paper investigates the investment and reinsurance problem in the presence of stochastic volatility for an ambiguity-averse insurer (AAI) with a general concave utility function. The AAI concerns about model uncertainty and seeks for an optimal robust decision. We consider a Brownian motion with drift for the surplus of the AAI who invests in a risky asset following a multiscale stochastic volatility (SV) model. We formulate the robust optimal investment and reinsurance problem for a general class of utility functions under a general SV model. Applying perturbation techniques to the Hamilton–Jacobi–Bellman–Isaacs (HJBI) equation associated with our problem, we derive an investment–reinsurance strategy that well approximates the optimal strategy of the robust optimization problem under a multiscale SV model. We also provide a practical strategy that requires no tracking of volatility factors. Numerical study is conducted to demonstrate the practical use of theoretical results and to draw economic interpretations from the robust decision rules.     

On constant elasticity of substitution – Constant elasticity of transformation Directional Distance Functions

This paper aims to present non-linear CES (Constant Elasticity of Substitution)–CET (Constant Elasticity of Transformation) Directional Distance Functions. These measures inherit the structure of the standard Directional Distance Functions and that of the CES–CET technology. These functions allow non-parametric estimation of efficiency scores through linear programming method. Besides, the CES –CET technology gives the opportunity to explore α-returns to scale assumption for the new distance functions. The duality theory is investigated through pseudo profit, cost and revenue functions. The dual standpoint provides non-linear adjusted prices that can occur into non-linear pricing practices. An application is proposed to give an illustrative example of the primal CES–CET Directional Distance Functions.     

Weighted core–EP inverse of an operator between Hilbert spaces

We introduce and study the weighted core–EP inverse of an operator between two Hilbert spaces as a generalization of the weighted core–EP inverse for a rectangular matrix. Several new properties of weighted core–EP inverses are given and some known results are extended. Using a weighted operator, the core–EP pre-order and the minus partial order of corresponding operators, we define new pre-orders on the set of all Wg–Drazin invertible operators between two Hilbert spaces. As consequences of our results, we present a new characterization and new representations of the core–EP inverse, new characterizations of the core–EP pre-order and extend the core–EP pre-order to a partial order.     

On explicit order 1.5 approximations with varying coefficients: The case of super-linear diffusion coefficients

A conjecture appears in Kumar and Sabanis (2016), in the form of a remark, where it is stated that it is possible to construct, in a specified way, any high order explicit numerical schemes to approximate the solutions of SDEs with superlinear coefficients. We answer this conjecture to the positive for the case of order 1.5 approximations and show that the suggested methodology works. Moreover, we explore the case of having Hölder continuous derivatives for the diffusion coefficients.     

Blow-up and global solutions for a class of time fractional nonlinear reaction–diffusion equation with weakly spatial source

This paper investigates the blow-up of solutions for a time fractional nonlinear reaction–diffusion equation with weakly spatial source. We first derive two sufficient conditions under which the solutions may blow up in finite time. Then, we prove the existence of global solution when the initial data are small enough. Moreover, the long time behavior of bounded solutions will be analyzed.