M than 60% of the Earth’s land and shallow marine areas are covered by > 2 km of sediments and sedimentary rocks, with the thickest accumulations on rifted continental margins (Figure 1). Free-air marine gravity anomalies derived from Geosat and ERS-1 satellite altimetry (Fairhead et al., 2001; Sandwell and Smith, 2009; Andersen et al., 2009) outline most of these major basins with remarkable p...

The aim of these lectures is to give a brief introduction to brane cosmology. After introducing some basic geometrical notions, we discuss the cosmology of a brane universe with matter localized on the brane. Then we introduce an intrinsic curvature scalar term in the bulk action, and analyze the cosmology of this induced gravity. Finally we present the cosmology of a moving brane in the backgr...

This paper applies a gravity model to examine the determinants of Icelandic exports. The model specifications tested allow for sector and trade bloc estimation. Also, a combination of an export ratio and a gravity model is tested, as well as marine product subsamples. The estimates are based on panel data on exports from 4 sectors, to 16 countries, over a period of 11 years. Estimates indicate ...

In this paper, we use a unique dataset on the distribution of output and demand across regions of the United States to estimate trade costs for 969 service and manufacturing industries. Our estimation method is a natural extension of the gravity model of trade and identifies trade costs in the absence of trade data. The estimated trade costs are higher on average for service industries, but the...

It is proved that any static system that is spacetime-geodesically complete at infinity, and whose spacelike-topology outside a compact set is that of R minus a ball, is asymptotically flat. The matter is assumed compactly supported and no energy condition is required. A similar (though stronger) result applies to black holes too. This allows us to state a large generalisation of the uniqueness...

Presently, Planck’s constant is a fundamental constant that can not be derived from other constants. Assis developed a model based on an extended Weber-type potential energy, that allows calculating gravitational-type forces from neutral oscillating electric dipoles. Here we show that the maximum possible point-mass in his model equals the Planck mass which allows us to derive Planck’s constant...

In this paper we critically analyze the so far performed and proposed tests for measuring the general relativistic Lense-Thirring effect in the gravitational field of the Earth with some of the existing accurately tracked artificial satellites. The impact of the 2nd generation GRACE-only EIGEN-GRACE02S Earth gravity model and of the 1st CHAMP+GRACE+terrestrial gravity combined EIGEN-CG01C Earth...

The concept of extended Euler homogeneity of potential fields is examined with respect to all variables of length dimension in their analytical expressions. This reveals the possible existence of positive degrees of homogeneity or corresponding negative structural indices considered as extensions of the Thompson’s structural indices in Euler deconvolution. This approach is implemented for a con...

T he United States, along with almost every other country in the world, maintains significant restrictions on the movement of goods across international borders. Although the recent Uruguay round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) resulted in a general lowering of tariffs and a broadening of goods and countries covered by the agreement, free trade remains elusive. Strong growt...

Do conflicts among naval powers hurt international trade? In theory the commercially relevant aspects of aggressive naval power can either thwart trade (through blockades, embargoes, commerce raiding, and guerre de course strategies) or facilitate trade (through control of trade routes and protection of shipping). Thus the question must be empirically addressed. Using a panel gravity model, we ...