Fast and accurate approximation of the angle-averaged redistribution function for polarized radiation

Context. Modeling spectral line profiles taking frequency redistribution effects into account is a notoriously challenging problem from the computational point of view, especially when polarization phenomena (atomic polarization and polarized radiation) are taken into account. Frequency redistribution effects are conveniently described through the redistribution function formalism, and the angle-averaged approximation is often introduced to simplify the problem. Even in this case, the evaluation of the emission coefficient for polarized radiation remains computationally costly, especially when magnetic fields are present or complex atomic models are considered. Aims. We aim to develop an efficient algorithm to numerically evaluate the angle-averaged redistribution function for polarized radiation. Methods. The proposed approach is based on a low-rank approximation via trivariate polynomials whose univariate components are represented in the Chebyshev basis. Results. The resulting algorithm is significantly faster than standard quadrature-based schemes for any target accuracy in the range [10−6, 10−2].

Welfare Mentality as a Challenge to European Sustainable Development. What Role for Youth Inclusion and Institutions?

This paper takes a free-market approach to the idea of welfare. That is, the analysis does not reject the role of the welfare state to fight against poverty and inequality but underlines the perils of the welfare mentality’s proliferation. Sustainable development requires more individual responsibility and less dependence on the state and its redistribution function. The aim of this paper is twofold. Firstly, it aims at showing that welfare mentality imposes challenges on sustainable development. The second aim is to identify the factors associated with welfare mentality. We use data from several international databases and apply correlation, principal components, and multiple regression analyses on a sample of 28 European countries. The results of our study show that welfare mentality negatively influences sustainable development by being positively correlated with the risk of poverty and the percentage of young people not in employment, education, or training (NEET). At the same time, countries such as Sweden, Denmark, and Luxembourg, widely acknowledged as welfare policy heavens, register low values in terms of preference for redistribution. The main determinants of welfare mentality are found to be a high level of NEET and a low level of economic freedom. This result points to the role of youth inclusion and free-market institutions in diminishing people’s welfare expectations and encouraging them to take better control of their own lives to reach prosperity and not depending on state support.

THE REDISTRIBUTION FUNCTION IN POLAND’S AGRICULTURAL BUDGETS IN THE LONG TERM

The study specifies the premises and purposes of the redistribution function of budget expenditures on agriculture. It determines the amount of expenditures fulfilling these purposes in Poland’s agricultural budgets in 1995–2018. An attempt was also made to assess their effects in the context of the dynamics of farmers’ income, the disparity between farmers’ income and the incomes of other social and professional groups, as well as intrasectoral disproportion in farm household income. It was demonstrated that the increase of budget expenditures on agriculture in 2004 contributed to a real increase of farmers’ income and a decrease in the disparity between the income of farm households and the income of households in general and of working households. However, the increase of redistribution expenditures did not reverse the progressing process of farm household income polarisation.

Economic Dimension Of Harmonizing Personal Income Taxation In The European Union Countries

Personal income tax (hereinafter referred to as PIT) has a short history, as it appeared in tax systems of EU countries as late as at the end of the 18th century. As a specific universal construction it performs two economic functions: providing financial means for covering some public expenses (fiscal function), leveling off – through its construction – inequalities in population incomes (redistribution function) and implements social functions of taxation through various tax reliefs and exemptions or the construction of the tax scale.

Lattice Boltzmann Modeling of Thermal Conduction in Composites with Thermal Contact Resistance

The effective thermal conductivity of composite materials with thermal contact resistance at interfaces is studied by lattice Boltzmann modeling in this work. We modified the non-dimensional partial bounce-back scheme, proposed by Han et al. [Int. J. Thermal Sci., 2008. 47: 1276-1283], to introduce a real thermal contact resistance at interfaces into the thermal lattice Boltzmann framework by re-deriving the redistribution function of heat at the phase interfaces for a corrected dimensional formulation. The modified scheme was validated in several cases with good agreement between the simulation results and the corresponding theoretical solutions. Furthermore, we predicted the effective thermal conductivities of composite materials using this method where the contact thermal resistance was not negligible, and revealed the effects of particle volume fraction, thermal contact resistance and particle size. The results in this study may provide a useful support for materials design and structure optimization.