Schubert problems with respect to osculating flags of stable rational curves

Given a point z in P^1, let F(z) be the osculating flag to the rational normal curve at point z. The study of Schubert problems with respect to such flags F(z_1), F(z_2), ..., F(z_r) has been studied both classically and recently, especially when the points z_i are real. Since the rational normal curve has an action of PGL_2, it is natural to consider the points (z_1, ..., z_r) as living in the moduli space of r distinct point in P^1 -- the famous M_{0,r}. One can then ask to extend the results on Schubert intersections to the compactification \bar{M}_{0,r}. The first part of this paper achieves this goal. We construct a flat, Cohen-Macaulay family over \bar{M}_{0,r}, whose fibers over M_{0,r} are isomorphic to G(d,n) and, given partitions lambda_1, ..., lambda_r, we construct a flat Cohen-Macualay family over \bar{M}_{0,r} whose fiber over (z_1, ..., z_r) in M_{0,r} is the intersection of the Schubert varieties indexed by lambda_i with respect to the osculating flags F(z_i). In the second part of the paper, we investigate the topology of the real points of our family, in the case that sum |lambda_i| = dim G(d,n). We show that our family is a finite covering space of \bar{M}_{0,r}, and give an explicit CW decomposition of this cover whose faces are indexed by objects from the theory of Young tableaux

Internationalisation of banking and banking supervision

The divergence between increasingly supranational financial markets on the one hand and still largely national supervisory structures on the other gives rise to tensions which reduce the effectiveness of the supervision. It lies in the interests of both the public and the private sector that the supervisory structures are commensurate with the risks in a global capital market. An extension of the framework of common minimum standards (at a high level!) and joint definitions and data standards are just as essential as an intensification of cooperation among the supervisory authorities. Self-regulation, market discipline and the inclusion of the financial industry in the shaping of the rules should be obvious elements of a modern supervisory regime. Banks which operate internationally see themselves caught between national regulation and cross-border activity every day. The combination of different sets of rules and supervisory authorities is a major cost factor and hinders the integration of the markets. The co-existence of national authorities operating in parallel risks violates the principle of competitive neutrality of supervision in a single market. This certainly applies in the EU, where not only internationalisation, but supranationalisation of supervision is called for. --

Brushes of semiflexible polymers in equilibrium and under flow in super-hydrophobic regime

We performed molecular dynamics simulations to study equilibrium and flow properties of a liquid in a nano-channel with confining surfaces coated with a layer of grafted semiflexible polymers. The coverage spans a wide range of grafting densities from essentially isolated chains to dense brushes. The end-grafted polymers were described by a bead spring model with an harmonic potential to include the bond stiffness of the chains. We varied the rigidity of the chains, from fully flexible polymers to rigid rods, in which the configurational entropy of the chains is negligible. The brush-liquid interaction was tuned to obtain a super-hydrophobic channel, in which the liquid did not penetrate the polymer brush, giving rise to a Cassie-Baxter state. Equilibrium properties such us brush height and bending energy were measured, varying the grafting density and the stiffness of the polymers. We studied also the characteristics of the brush-liquid interface and the morphology of the polymers chains supporting the liquid for different bending rigidities. Non-equilibrium simulations were performed, moving the walls of the channel in opposite directions at constant speed, obtaining a Couette velocity profile in the bulk liquid. The molecular degrees of freedom of the polymers were studied as a function of the Weissenberg number. Also, the violation of the no-slip boundary condition and the slip properties were analyzed as a function of the shear rate, grafting density and bending stiffness. At high grafting densities, a finite slip length independent of the shear rate or bending constant was found, while at low grafting densities a very interesting non-monotonic behaviour on the bending constant is observed

Decomposable Specht modules indexed by bihooks

We study the decomposability of Specht modules labelled by bihooks, bipartitions with a hook in each component, for the Iwahori--Hecke algebra of type $B$. In all characteristics, we determine a large family of decomposable Specht modules, and conjecture that these provide a complete list of decomposable Specht modules indexed by bihooks. We prove the conjecture for small $n$.Comment: 46 pages. Final version to appear in Pacific Journal of Mathematic