Boston College

About: Boston College is a education organization based out in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Poison control. The organization has 9749 authors who have published 25406 publications receiving 1105145 citations. The organization is also known as: BC.

Properties of Implied Cost of Capital Using Analysts' Forecasts

Abstract: We evaluate the influence of measurement error in analysts' forecasts on the accuracy of implied cost of capital estimates from various implementations of the 'implied cost of capital' approach, and develop corrections for the measurement error. The implied cost of capital approach relies on analysts' short- and long-term earnings forecasts as proxies for the market's expectation of future earnings, and solves for the implied discount rate that equates the present value of the expected future payoffs to the current stock price. We document predictable error in the implied cost of capital estimates resulting from analysts' forecasts that are sluggish with respect to information in past stock returns. We propose two methods to mitigate the influence of sluggish forecasts on the implied cost of capital estimates. These methods substantially improve the ability of the implied cost of capital estimates to explain cross-sectional variation in future stock returns, which is consistent with the corrections being effective in mitigating the error in the estimates due to analysts' sluggishness.

Flexural phonons and thermal transport in multilayer graphene and graphite

Abstract: We present a theory for the lattice thermal conductivity ${\ensuremath{\kappa}}_{L}$ of multilayer graphene (MLG) and graphite, which is based on an exact numerical solution of the Boltzmann equation for phonons. Dominant contributions to ${\ensuremath{\kappa}}_{L}$ from out-of-plane or flexural phonons are found, which is consistent with previous findings for single-layer graphene (SLG). However, the interaction between graphene layers in MLG and graphite breaks a selection rule on phonon-phonon scattering, causing their ${\ensuremath{\kappa}}_{L}$s to be much lower than that of SLG. ${\mathrm{C}}^{13}$ isotopes are shown to be an important scattering mechanism, accounting for an \ensuremath{\sim}15% additional drop in the ${\ensuremath{\kappa}}_{L}$ of these systems. We demonstrate that the ${\ensuremath{\kappa}}_{L}$ values converge to that of graphite after only about five layers, a consequence of weak interlayer coupling. These findings are qualitatively consistent with recent measurements of ${\ensuremath{\kappa}}_{L}$ for MLG.

A Practical Guide to Experience-Sampling Procedures

Abstract: Experience-sampling is a powerful method for understanding a range of psychological phenomena as they occur in the daily lives of individuals. In this primer, we discuss the different techniques, equipment, and design options available to the experience-sampling researcher. We place special emphasis on computerized procedures and discuss the crucial social dynamic of the research team, which optimizes the success of experience-sampling procedures.

Liquid Crystal Metamaterial Absorber Spatial Light Modulator for THz Applications

Abstract: A terahertz (THz) spatial light modulator implemented with metamaterial absorbers (MMAs) functionalized with isothiocyanate-based liquid crystals (LCs) is experimentally demonstrated. The device is designed to work in refl ection mode and is arranged in a 6 × 6 pixel matrix where the response of each pixel is modulated by electronically controlling the orientation of liquid crystal dimers covering the entire metamaterial absorber landscape. Experiments show that each pixel can be controlled independently and that pixelated absorption patterns can be created at will. The SLM shows an overall modulation depth of 75%. Furthermore, computational results show that losses arising from LCs impose a severe limitation on the overall performance and that consequently the modulation depth of each pixel could be improved with liquid crystal mixtures designed primarily for THz frequencies. This work demonstrates the viability of liquid crystal-based reconfi gurable metamaterials and highlights their great potential use for future state-of-the-art THz devices.