Explaining the Price of Voluntary Carbon Offsets

This paper investigates factors that explain the large variability in the price of voluntary carbon offsets. We estimate hedonic price functions using a variety of provider- and project-level characteristics as explanatory variables. We find that providers located in Europe sell offsets at prices that are approximately 30 percent higher than providers located in either North America or Australasia. Contrary to what one might expect, offset prices are generally higher, by roughly 20 percent, when projects are located in developing or least-developed nations. But this result does not hold for forestry-based projects. We find evidence that forestry-based offsets sell at lower prices, and the result is particularly strong when projects are located in developing or least-developed nations. Offsets that are certified under the Clean Development Mechanism or the Gold Standard, and therefore qualify for emission reductions under the Kyoto Protocol, sell at a premium of more than 30 percent; however, third-party certification from the Voluntary Carbon Standard, one of the largest certifiers, is associated with a price discount. Variables that have no effect on offset prices are the number of projects that a provider manages and a provider’s status as for-profit or not-for-profit.

Water dynamics in different biochar fractions

Biochar is a carbonaceous porous material deliberately applied to soil to improve its fertility. The mechanisms through which biochar acts on fertility are still poorly understood. The effect of biochar texture size on water dynamics was investigated here in order to provide information to address future research on nutrient mobility towards plant roots as biochar is applied as soil amendment. A poplar biochar has been stainless steel fractionated in three different textured fractions (1.0-2.0mm, 0.3-1.0mm and <0.3mm, respectively). Water-saturated fractions were analyzed by fast field cycling (FFC) NMR relaxometry. Results proved that 3D exchange between bound and bulk water predominantly occurred in the coarsest fraction. However, as porosity decreased, water motion was mainly associated to a restricted 2D diffusion among the surface-site pores and the bulk-site ones. The X-ray \u3bc-CT imaging analyses on the dry fractions revealed the lowest surface/volume ratio for the coarsest fraction, thereby corroborating the 3D water exchange mechanism hypothesized by FFC NMR relaxometry. However, multi-micrometer porosity was evidenced in all the samples. The latter finding suggested that the 3D exchange mechanism cannot even be neglected in the finest fraction as previously excluded only on the basis of NMR relaxometry results. X-ray \u3bc-CT imaging showed heterogeneous distribution of inorganic materials inside all the fractions. The mineral components may contribute to the water relaxation mechanisms by FFC NMR relaxometry. Further studies are needed to understand the role of the inorganic particles on water dynamics

Detection and construction of an elliptic solution to the complex cubic-quintic Ginzburg-Landau equation

In evolution equations for a complex amplitude, the phase obeys a much more intricate equation than the amplitude. Nevertheless, general methods should be applicable to both variables. On the example of the traveling wave reduction of the complex cubic-quintic Ginzburg-Landau equation (CGL5), we explain how to overcome the difficulties arising in two such methods: (i) the criterium that the sum of residues of an elliptic solution should be zero, (ii) the construction of a first order differential equation admitting the given equation as a differential consequence (subequation method).Comment: 12 pages, no figure, to appear, Theoretical and Mathematical Physic

A Characterization of Discrete Time Soliton Equations

We propose a method to characterize discrete time evolution equations, which generalize discrete time soliton equations, including the $q$-difference Painlev\'e IV equations discussed recently by Kajiwara, Noumi and Yamada.Comment: 13 page

Completeness of the cubic and quartic H\'enon-Heiles Hamiltonians

The quartic H\'enon-Heiles Hamiltonian $H = (P_1^2+P_2^2)/2+(\Omega_1 Q_1^2+\Omega_2 Q_2^2)/2 +C Q_1^4+ B Q_1^2 Q_2^2 + A Q_2^4 +(1/2)(\alpha/Q_1^2+\beta/Q_2^2) - \gamma Q_1$ passes the Painlev\'e test for only four sets of values of the constants. Only one of these, identical to the traveling wave reduction of the Manakov system, has been explicitly integrated (Wojciechowski, 1985), while the three others are not yet integrated in the generic case $(\alpha,\beta,\gamma)\not=(0,0,0)$. We integrate them by building a birational transformation to two fourth order first degree equations in the classification (Cosgrove, 2000) of such polynomial equations which possess the Painlev\'e property. This transformation involves the stationary reduction of various partial differential equations (PDEs). The result is the same as for the three cubic H\'enon-Heiles Hamiltonians, namely, in all four quartic cases, a general solution which is meromorphic and hyperelliptic with genus two. As a consequence, no additional autonomous term can be added to either the cubic or the quartic Hamiltonians without destroying the Painlev\'e integrability (completeness property).Comment: 10 pages, To appear, Theor.Math.Phys. Gallipoli, 34 June--3 July 200

Disordered Regimes of the one-dimensional complex Ginzburg-Landau equation

I review recent work on the ``phase diagram'' of the one-dimensional complex Ginzburg-Landau equation for system sizes at which chaos is extensive. Particular attention is paid to a detailed description of the spatiotemporally disordered regimes encountered. The nature of the transition lines separating these phases is discussed, and preliminary results are presented which aim at evaluating the phase diagram in the infinite-size, infinite-time, thermodynamic limit.Comment: 14 pages, LaTeX, 9 figures available by anonymous ftp to amoco.saclay.cea.fr in directory pub/chate, or by requesting them to [email protected]

Solitary waves of nonlinear nonintegrable equations

Our goal is to find closed form analytic expressions for the solitary waves of nonlinear nonintegrable partial differential equations. The suitable methods, which can only be nonperturbative, are classified in two classes. In the first class, which includes the well known so-called truncation methods, one \textit{a priori} assumes a given class of expressions (polynomials, etc) for the unknown solution; the involved work can easily be done by hand but all solutions outside the given class are surely missed. In the second class, instead of searching an expression for the solution, one builds an intermediate, equivalent information, namely the \textit{first order} autonomous ODE satisfied by the solitary wave; in principle, no solution can be missed, but the involved work requires computer algebra. We present the application to the cubic and quintic complex one-dimensional Ginzburg-Landau equations, and to the Kuramoto-Sivashinsky equation.Comment: 28 pages, chapter in book "Dissipative solitons", ed. Akhmediev, to appea

On elliptic solutions of the cubic complex one-dimensional Ginzburg-Landau equation

The cubic complex one-dimensional Ginzburg-Landau equation is considered. Using the Hone's method, based on the use of the Laurent-series solutions and the residue theorem, we have proved that this equation has neither elliptic standing wave nor elliptic travelling wave solutions. This result amplifies the Hone's result, that this equation has no elliptic travelling wave solutions.Comment: LaTeX, 12 page

Stochastic collective dynamics of charged--particle beams in the stability regime

We introduce a description of the collective transverse dynamics of charged (proton) beams in the stability regime by suitable classical stochastic fluctuations. In this scheme, the collective beam dynamics is described by time--reversal invariant diffusion processes deduced by stochastic variational principles (Nelson processes). By general arguments, we show that the diffusion coefficient, expressed in units of length, is given by $\lambda_c\sqrt{N}$, where $N$ is the number of particles in the beam and $\lambda_c$ the Compton wavelength of a single constituent. This diffusion coefficient represents an effective unit of beam emittance. The hydrodynamic equations of the stochastic dynamics can be easily recast in the form of a Schr\"odinger equation, with the unit of emittance replacing the Planck action constant. This fact provides a natural connection to the so--called ``quantum--like approaches'' to beam dynamics. The transition probabilities associated to Nelson processes can be exploited to model evolutions suitable to control the transverse beam dynamics. In particular we show how to control, in the quadrupole approximation to the beam--field interaction, both the focusing and the transverse oscillations of the beam, either together or independently.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figure