Probing anomalous <Emphasis Type="Italic">Wtb</Emphasis> couplings in top pair decays

We investigate several quantities, defined in the decays of top quark pairs, which can be used to explore non-standard Wtb interactions. Two new angular asymmetries are introduced in the leptonic decay of top (anti)quarks. Both are very sensitive to anomalous Wtb couplings, and their measurement allows for a precise determination of the W helicity fractions. We also examine other angular and energy asymmetries, the W helicity fractions and their ratios, as well as spin correlation asymmetries, analysing their dependence on anomalous Wtb couplings and identifing the quantities which are most sensitive to them. It is explicitly shown that spin correlation asymmetries are less sensitive to new interactions in the decay of the top quark; therefore, when combined with the measurement of other observables, they can be used to determine the tt̄ spin correlation even in the presence of anomalous Wtb couplings. We finally discuss some asymmetries which can be used to test CP violation in tt̄ production and complex phases in the effective Wtb vertex.     

A frustrated three-dimensional antiferromagnet: stacked J1-J2 layers

We study a frustrated 3D antiferromagnet of stacked J(1)-J(2) layers. The intermediate 'quantum spin liquid' phase, present in the 2D case, narrows with increasing interlayer coupling and vanishes at a triple point. Beyond this, there is a direct first-order transition from Néel to columnar order. Possible applications to real materials are discussed.     

The diffraction of elastic waves by an imperfect fusion bond

We consider diffraction by a semi-infinite crack located alonga fusion interface between two differing elastic media. Twotypes of crack, namely open and partially closed cracks, areinvestigated. An open crack is modelled by a stress-free contactboundary condition and a partially closed crack is modelledby a spring contact boundary condition. For the latter, thejump in the stress across the crack is assumed to be proportionalto the jump in the displacement across the crack. This situationarises in, for example, a K-weld where the fine grain of theparent material (for example, ferritic or forged austeniticsteel) is in stark contrast with the coarse-grained weld metal(for example, austenitic weld metal). In the metal weld thedirection of the grain axis varies through the metal. However,diffraction is a local phenomenon and so the austenitic steelis assumed to have a zonal axis so that it may be modelled bya transversely isotropic composite. The ferritic or forged austeniticsteel will be modelled as an isotropic material.     

A set of exactly solvable Ising models with half-odd-integer spin

We present a set of exactly solvable Ising models, with half-odd-integer spin-S on a square-type lattice including a quartic interaction term in the Hamiltonian. The particular properties of the mixed lattice, associated with mixed half-odd-integer spin-(S,1/2) and only nearest-neighbor interaction, allow us to map this system either onto a purely spin-1/2 lattice or onto a purely spin-S lattice. By imposing the condition that the mixed half-odd-integer spin-(S,1/2) lattice must have an exact solution, we found a set of exact solutions that satisfy the free fermion condition of the eight vertex model. The number of solutions for a general half-odd-integer spin-S is given by S+1/2. Therefore we conclude that this transformation is equivalent to a simple spin transformation which is independent of the coordination number.     

Spin-phonon coupling induced frustration in the exactly solved spin-1/2 Ising model on a decorated planar lattice

Spin-1/2 Ising model with a spin-phonon coupling on decorated planar lattices partially amenable to lattice vibrations is examined using the decoration-iteration transformation and harmonic approximation. It is shown that the magnetoelastic coupling gives rise to an effective antiferromagnetic next-nearest-neighbour interaction, which competes with the nearest-neighbour interaction and is responsible for a frustration of decorating spins. A strong enough spin-phonon coupling consequently leads to an appearance of striking partially ordered and partially disordered phase, where a perfect antiferromagnetic alignment of nodal spins is accompanied with a complete disorder of decorating spins. Thermal dependences of the specific heat are explored in detail.     

The unsteady flow generated by an oscillating wall with transpiration

In this work, an analytical solution for the fluid behavior over flat plates with impulsive and oscillating motions, starting from rest, and with wall transpiration, is presented. The classical solution of this problem is given by Panton [7] and is found to be an especial case of the solution here presented. The analytical solution is obtained without the use of any special transformations, such as Laplace or Fourier transforms. Instead, an extension of the variable separation technique is used together with similarity arguments. A non-dimensional number—the transpiration rate—is used to take into account the injection or suction of fluid at the wall. This parameter is shown to be of great influence on the proposed velocity solution.     

The growth strategies in the hospitality industry from the perspective of the forgotten effects

This paper, using fuzzy incidence matrix, determines the causes why of major hotel chains in the world by number of rooms have used certain growth strategies for implement their international expansion. Both direct cause and second generation causes have been identified. In fact, determining the second generation effects (or forgotten effects) is one of the main contributions of this study as it shows that those causes that are usually not foreseen, at least in the first instance, affect notably in the expansion strategies of hotel chains in the medium and long term.     

ON AVOIDANCE ACTIVITIES IN FISHERY ENFORCEMENT MODELS

Compliance and enforcement in fisheries are important issues from an economic point of view since management measures are useless without a certain level of enforcement. These conclusions come from the well‐established theoretical literature on compliance and enforcement problems within fisheries and a common result is that, it is efficient to set fines as high as possible and monitoring as low as possible, when fines are costless and offenders are risk neutral. However, this result is sensitive to the assumption that fishermen cannot engage in avoidance activities, e.g., activities to reduce the likelihood of being detected when noncomplying. The paper presents a model of fisheries that allows the fishermen to engage in avoidance activities. The conclusions from the model are that, under certain circumstances, fines are costly transfers to society since they not only have a direct positive effect on the level of deterrence, but also an indirect negative effect in the form of increased avoidance activities to reduce the probability of detection. The paper contributes to the literature on avoidance activities by introducing the externality from the illegal behavior as an endogenous effect on other offenders. For an externality, that has an exogenous effect on other actors, Malik shows that fines are only costly transfers for conditional deterrence (when one actor is deterred while another actor is not). For fisheries, we show that fines are also costly transfers under no deterrence (when no agents are deterred).