  A variety of problems in acoustic and electromagnetic scattering require the
evaluation of impedance or layered media Green's functions. Given a point
source located in an unbounded half-space or an infinitely extended layer,
Sommerfeld and others showed that Fourier analysis combined with contour
integration provides a systematic and broadly effective approach, leading to
what is generally referred to as the Sommerfeld integral representation. When
either the source or target is at some distance from an infinite boundary, the
number of degrees of freedom needed to resolve the scattering response is very
modest. When both are near an interface, however, the Sommerfeld integral
involves a very large range of integration and its direct application becomes
unwieldy. Historically, three schemes have been employed to overcome this
difficulty: the method of images, contour deformation, and asymptotic methods
of various kinds. None of these methods make use of classical layer potentials
in physical space, despite their advantages in terms of adaptive resolution and
high-order accuracy. The reason for this is simple: layer potentials are
impractical in layered media or half-space geometries since they require the
discretization of an infinite boundary. In this paper, we propose a hybrid
method which combines layer potentials (physical-space) on a finite portion of
the interface together with a Sommerfeld-type (Fourier) correction. We prove
that our method is efficient and rapidly convergent for arbitrarily located
sources and targets, and show that the scheme is particularly effective when
solving scattering problems for objects which are close to the half-space
boundary or even embedded across a layered media interface.


  We analyze the thermodynamics of massless bosonic systems in D-dimensional
anti-de Sitter spacetime, considering scalar, electromagnetic, and
gravitational fields. Their dynamics are described by Poschl-Teller effective
potentials and quantized in a unified framework, with the determination of the
associated energy spectra. From the microscopic description developed, a
macroscopic thermodynamic treatment is proposed, where an effective volume in
anti-de Sitter geometry is defined and a suitable thermodynamic limit is
considered. Partition functions are constructed for the bosonic gases, allowing
the determination of several thermodynamic quantities of interest. With the
obtained results, general aspects of the thermodynamics are explored.


  CUDA is one of the most popular choices for GPU programming, but it can only
be executed on NVIDIA GPUs. Executing CUDA on non-NVIDIA devices not only
benefits the hardware community, but also allows data-parallel computation in
heterogeneous systems. To make CUDA programs portable, some researchers have
proposed using source-to-source translators to translate CUDA to portable
programming languages that can be executed on non-NVIDIA devices. However, most
CUDA translators require additional manual modifications on the translated
code, which imposes a heavy workload on developers. In this paper, CuPBoP is
proposed to execute CUDA on non-NVIDIA devices without relying on any portable
programming languages. Compared with existing work that executes CUDA on
non-NVIDIA devices, CuPBoP does not require manual modification of the CUDA
source code, but it still achieves the highest coverage (69.6%), much higher
than existing frameworks (56.6%) on the Rodinia benchmark. In particular, for
CPU backends, CuPBoP supports several ISAs (e.g., X86, RISC-V, AArch64) and has
close or even higher performance compared with other projects. We also compare
and analyze the performance among CuPBoP, manually optimized OpenMP/MPI
programs, and CUDA programs on the latest Ampere architecture GPU, and show
future directions for supporting CUDA programs on non-NVIDIA devices with high
performance


  The topology of the non-adiabatic parameter space bundle is discussed for
evolution of exact cyclic state vectors in Berry's original example of split
angular momentum eigenstates. It turns out that the change in topology occurs
at a critical frequency. The first Chern number that classifies these bundles
is proportional to angular momentum. The non-adiabatic principal bundle over
the parameter space is not well-defined at the critical frequency.


  We study the collective behavior of inclusions inducing local anisotropic
curvatures in a flexible fluid membrane. The N-body interaction energy for
general anisotropic inclusions is calculated explicitly, including multi-body
interactions. Long-range attractive interactions between inclusions are found
to be sufficiently strong to induce aggregation. Monte Carlo simulations show a
transition from compact clusters to aggregation on lines or circles. These
results might be relevant to proteins in biological membranes or colloidal
particles bound to surfactant membranes.


  We derive and study the effective spin model that explains the anomalous spin
dynamics in the one-dimensional Hubbard model with strong potential disorder.
Assuming that charges are localized, we show that spins are delocalized and
their subdiffusive transport originates from a singular random distribution of
spin exchange interactions. The exponent relevant for the subdiffusion is
determined by the Anderson localization length and the density of electrons.
While the analytical derivations are valid for low particle density, numerical
results for the full model reveal a qualitative agreement up to half-filling.


  The increasing amount of data generated at the edge/client nodes and the
privacy concerns have resulted in learning at the edge, in which the
computations are performed at edge devices and are communicated to a central
node for updating the model. The edge nodes have low bandwidth and may be
available only intermittently. There are helper nodes present in the network
that aid the edge nodes in the communication to the server. The edge nodes
communicate the local gradient to helper nodes which relay these messages to
the central node after possible aggregation. Recently, schemes using repetition
codes and maximum-distance-separable (MDS) codes, respectively known as Aligned
MDS Coding (AMC) scheme and Aligend Repetition Coding (ARC) scheme, were
proposed. It was observed that in AMC scheme the communication between edge
nodes and helper nodes is optimal but with an increased cost of communication
between helper and master. An upper bound on the communication cost between
helpers and master was obtained. In this paper, a tradeoff between
communication costs at edge nodes and helper nodes is established with the help
of pyramid codes, a well-known class of locally repairable codes. The
communication costs at both the helper nodes and edge nodes are exactly
characterized. Using the developed technique, the exact communication cost at
helper nodes can be computed for the scheme using MDS codes. In the end, we
provide two improved aggregation strategies for the existing AMC and ARC
schemes, yielding significant reduction in communication cost at helpers,
without changing any of the code parameters.


  In the 14th century the French thinker John Buridan developed a theory of
motion that bears a strong resemblance to Newtonian momentum. Buridan's ideas
include a quantity of motion which is determined by an object's mass, speed,
and direction; in the absence of resistive effects, this quantity remains with
the object. Buridan's work is an interesting story in the history of physics.
Buridan's insights have value for introducing concepts of inertia and momentum
to physics students.


  In the private values single object auction model, we construct a
satisfactory mechanism - a symmetric, dominant strategy incentive compatible,
and budget-balanced mechanism. Our mechanism allocates the object to the
highest valued agent with more than 99% probability provided there are at least
14 agents. It is also ex-post individually rational. We show that our mechanism
is optimal in a restricted class of satisfactory ranking mechanisms. Since
achieving efficiency through a dominant strategy incentive compatible and
budget-balanced mechanism is impossible in this model, our results illustrate
the limits of this impossibility.


  Mass dependence of the effective source radii, observed in hadronic $Z^0$
decays by several LEP I experiments, is analyzed in a model which assumes
proportionality between four-momentum of a produced particle and the
four-vector describing its space-time position at the freeze-out. It is shown
that this relation (commonly accepted in description of high-energy collisions)
can explain the data, provided all particles are emitted from a "tube" of $\sim
1$ fm in diameter at a constant proper time $\sim 1.5$ fm.


  Diffractive photoproduction of dijets was measured with the ZEUS detector at
the ep collider HERA using an integrated luminosity of 77.2 pb-1. The
measurements were made in the kinematic range Q^2 < 1 GeV^2, 0.20 < y < 0.85
and x_pom < 0.025, where Q^2 is the photon virtuality, y is the inelasticity
and x_pom is the fraction of the proton momentum taken by the diffractive
exchange. The two jets with the highest transverse energy, E_T^jet, were
required to satisfy E_T^jet > 7.5 and 6.5 GeV, respectively, and to lie in the
pseudorapidity range -1.5 < eta^jet < 1.5. Differential cross sections were
compared to perturbative QCD calculations using available parameterisations of
diffractive parton distributions of the proton.


  Projective Reed-Muller codes were introduced by Lachaud, in 1988 and their
dimension and minimum distance were determined by Serre and S{\o}rensen in
1991. In coding theory one is also interested in the higher Hamming weights, to
study the code performance. Yet, not many values of the higher Hamming weights
are known for these codes, not even the second lowest weight (also known as
next-to-minimal weight) is completely determined. In this paper we determine
all the values of the next-to-minimal weight for the binary projective
Reed-Muller codes, which we show to be equal to the next-to-minimal weight of
Reed-Muller codes in most, but not all, cases.


  We address the problem of transmission of electrons between two
noninteracting leads through a region where they interact (quantum dot). We use
a model of spinless electrons hopping on a one-dimensional lattice and with an
interaction on a single bond. We show that all the two-particle scattering
states can be found exactly. Comparisons are made with numerical results on the
time evolution of a two-particle wave packet and several interesting features
are found for scattering. For N particles the scattering state is obtained by
perturbation theory. For a dot connected to Fermi seas at different chemical
potentials, we find an expression for the change in the Landauer current
resulting from the interactions on the dot. We end with some comments on the
case of spin-1/2 electrons.


  The Google DeepMind challenge match in March 2016 was a historic achievement
for computer Go development. This article discusses the development of
computational intelligence (CI) and its relative strength in comparison with
human intelligence for the game of Go. We first summarize the milestones
achieved for computer Go from 1998 to 2016. Then, the computer Go programs that
have participated in previous IEEE CIS competitions as well as methods and
techniques used in AlphaGo are briefly introduced. Commentaries from three
high-level professional Go players on the five AlphaGo versus Lee Sedol games
are also included. We conclude that AlphaGo beating Lee Sedol is a huge
achievement in artificial intelligence (AI) based largely on CI methods. In the
future, powerful computer Go programs such as AlphaGo are expected to be
instrumental in promoting Go education and AI real-world applications.


  Spectral evolution of gamma-ray burst pulses assumed to arise from emission
of fireballs is explored. It is found that, due to the curvature effect, the
integrated flux and peak energy are well related by a power law in the decaying
phase of pulses, where the index is about 3, being free of the intrinsic
emission and the Lorentz factor. The spectrum of a pulse in its decaying phase
differs slightly for different intrinsic spectral evolution patterns,
indicating that it is dominated by the curvature effect. In the rising phase,
the integrated flux keeps increasing whilst the peak energy remains unchanged
when the intrinsic emission bears an unchanged spectrum. Within this phase, the
flux decreases with the increasing of the peak energy for a hard-to-soft
intrinsic spectrum, and for a soft-to-hard-to-soft intrinsic spectrum, the flux
generally increases with the increasing of the peak energy. An intrinsic
soft-to-hard-to-soft spectral evolution within a co-moving pulse would give
rise to a pulse-like evolutionary curve for the peak energy.


  Over the past few years, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), also known as
drones, have been adopted as part of a new logistic method in the commercial
sector called "last-mile delivery". In this novel approach, they are deployed
alongside trucks to deliver goods to customers to improve the quality of
service and reduce the transportation cost. This approach gives rise to a new
variant of the traveling salesman problem (TSP), called TSP with drone (TSP-D).
A variant of this problem that aims to minimize the time at which truck and
drone finish the service (or, in other words, to maximize the quality of
service) was studied in the work of Murray and Chu (2015). In contrast, this
paper considers a new variant of TSP-D in which the objective is to minimize
operational costs including total transportation cost and one created by waste
time a vehicle has to wait for the other. The problem is first formulated
mathematically. Then, two algorithms are proposed for the solution. The first
algorithm (TSP-LS) was adapted from the approach proposed by Murray and Chu
(2015), in which an optimal TSP solution is converted to a feasible TSP-D
solution by local searches. The second algorithm, a Greedy Randomized Adaptive
Search Procedure (GRASP), is based on a new split procedure that optimally
splits any TSP tour into a TSP-D solution. After a TSP-D solution has been
generated, it is then improved through local search operators. Numerical
results obtained on various instances of both objective functions with
different sizes and characteristics are presented. The results show that GRASP
outperforms TSP-LS in terms of solution quality under an acceptable running
time.


  In the present study we consider three two-component (integrable and
non-integrable) systems which describe the propagation of shallow water waves
on a constant shear current. Namely, we consider the two-component Camassa-Holm
equations, the Zakharov-Ito system and the Kaup--Boussinesq equations all
including constant vorticity effects. We analyze both solitary and
periodic-type travelling waves using the simple and geometrically intuitive
phase space analysis. We get the pulse-type solitary wave solutions and the
front solitary wave solutions. For the Zakharov-Ito system we underline the
occurrence of the pulse and anti-pulse solutions. The front wave solutions
decay algebraically in the far field. For the Kaup-Boussinesq system,
interesting analytical multi-pulsed travelling wave solutions are found.


  Recommendation and collaborative filtering systems are important in modern
information and e-commerce applications. As these systems are becoming
increasingly popular in the industry, their outputs could affect business
decision making, introducing incentives for an adversarial party to compromise
the availability or integrity of such systems. We introduce a data poisoning
attack on collaborative filtering systems. We demonstrate how a powerful
attacker with full knowledge of the learner can generate malicious data so as
to maximize his/her malicious objectives, while at the same time mimicking
normal user behavior to avoid being detected. While the complete knowledge
assumption seems extreme, it enables a robust assessment of the vulnerability
of collaborative filtering schemes to highly motivated attacks. We present
efficient solutions for two popular factorization-based collaborative filtering
algorithms: the \emph{alternative minimization} formulation and the
\emph{nuclear norm minimization} method. Finally, we test the effectiveness of
our proposed algorithms on real-world data and discuss potential defensive
strategies.


  Vehicle pedestrian communication is extremely important when developing
autonomy for an autonomous vehicle. Enabling bidirectional nonverbal
communication between pedestrians and autonomous vehicles will lead to an
improvement of pedestrians' safety in autonomous driving. If a pedestrian wants
to communicate, the autonomous vehicle should provide feedback to the human
about what it is about to do. The user study presented in this paper
investigated several possible options for an external vehicle display for
effective nonverbal communication between an autonomous vehicle and a human.
The result of this study will guide the development of the feedback module in
future studies, optimizing for public acceptance and trust in the autonomous
vehicle's decision while being legible to the widest range of potential users.
The results of this study show that participants prefer symbols over text,
lights and road projection. Additionally, participants prefer the combination
of symbols and text as interaction modes to be displayed if the autonomous
vehicle is not driving. Further, the results show that the text interaction
mode option "Safe to cross" should be used combined with the symbol interaction
mode option that displays a symbol of a walking person. We plan to elaborate
and focus on the selected interaction modes via Virtual Reality and in the real
world in ongoing and future studies.


  (Abridged) We present the first Laser Guide Star Adaptive Optics (LGS-AO)
observations of the Galactic center. LGS-AO has dramatically improved the
quality, robustness, and versatility with which high angular resolution
infrared images of the Galactic center can be obtained with the W. M. Keck II
10-meter telescope. Specifically, Strehl ratios of 0.7 and 0.3 at L'[3.8
micron] and K'[2.1 micron], respectively, are achieved in these LGS-AO images.
During our observations, the infrared counterpart to the central supermassive
black hole, Sgr A*-IR, showed significant infrared intensity variations, with
observed L' magnitudes ranging from 12.6 to 14.5 mag. The faintest end of our
L' detections, 1.3 mJy (dereddened), is the lowest level of emission yet
observed for this source by a factor of 3. No significant variation in the
location of SgrA*-IR is detected as a function of either wavelength or
intensity. Near a peak in its intensity, we obtained the first measurement of
SgrA*-IR's K'-L' color (3.0 +- 0.2 mag, observed), which corresponds to an
intrinsic spectral index of -0.5 +- 0.3. This is significantly bluer than other
recent infrared measurements. Because our measurement was taken at a time when
Sgr A* was ~6 times brighter in the infrared than the other measurements, we
posit that the spectral index of the emission arising from the vicinity of our
Galaxy's central black hole may depend on the strength of the flare, with
stronger flares giving rise to a higher fraction of high energy electrons in
the emitting region.


  In this article, we provide a discussion on a composite class of exact static
spherically symmetric vacuum solutions of Einstein's equations. We construct
the composite solution of Einstein field equation by match the interior vacuum
metric in Schwarzschild original gauge, to the exterior vacuum metric in
isotropic gauge, at a junction surface. This approach allows us to associate
rigorously with both gauges as a same "space", which is a unique differentiable
manifold M^4


  We propose a method to determine the total magnetic susceptibility of
strongly interacting matter by lattice QCD simulations, and present first
numerical results for the theory with two light flavors, which suggest a weak
magnetic activity in the confined phase and the emergence of strong
paramagnetism in the deconfined, Quark-Gluon Plasma phase.


  A system in a quantum superposition of distinct states usually exhibits many
peculiar behaviors. Here we show that putting quasiparticles of graphene into
superpositions of states in the two valleys can complete change the properties
of the massless Dirac fermions. Due to the coexistence of both the quantum and
relativistic characteristics, the superposition states exhibit many oddball
behaviors in their chiral tunneling process. We further demonstrate that a
recently observed line defect in graphene could be used to generate such
superposition states. A possible experimental device to detect the novel
behaviors of the relativistic superposition states in graphene is proposed.


  The subrank of tensors is a measure of how much a tensor can be
''diagonalized''. This parameter was introduced by Strassen to study fast
matrix multiplication algorithms in algebraic complexity theory and is closely
related to many central tensor parameters (e.g. slice rank, partition rank,
analytic rank, geometric rank, G-stable rank) and problems in combinatorics,
computer science and quantum information theory. Strassen (J. Reine Angew.
Math., 1988) proved that there is a gap in the subrank when taking large powers
under the tensor product: either the subrank of all powers is at most one, or
it grows as a power of a constant strictly larger than one. In this paper, we
precisely determine this constant for tensors of any order. Additionally, for
tensors of order three, we prove that there is a second gap in the possible
rates of growth. Our results strengthen the recent work of Costa and Dalai (J.
Comb. Theory, Ser. A, 2021), who proved a similar gap for the slice rank. Our
theorem on the subrank has wider applications by implying such gaps not only
for the slice rank, but for any ``normalized monotone''. In order to prove the
main result, we characterize when a tensor has a very structured tensor (the
W-tensor) in its orbit closure. Our methods include degenerations in
Grassmanians, which may be of independent interest.


  Random sampling in high dimensions has successfully been applied to phenomena
as diverse as nuclear resonances, neural networks and black hole evaporation.
Here we revisit an elegant argument by the British physicist Dennis Sciama,
which demonstrated that were our universe random, it would almost certainly
have a negligible chance for life. Under plausible assumptions, we show that a
random universe can masquerade as `intelligently designed,' with the
fundamental constants instead appearing to be fined tuned to be achieve the
highest probability for life to occur. For our universe, this mechanism may
only require there to be around a dozen currently unknown fundamental
constants. We speculate on broader applications for the mechanism we uncover.


  Given $L$ a solvable Lie Algebra of operators acting on a Banach space $E$,
we study the action of the opposite algebra of $L$, $L'$, on $E^*$. Moreover,
we extend S{\l}odkowski joint spectra, $\sigma_{\delta,k}$, $\sigma_{\pi,k}$,
and we study its usual spectral properties.


  Brownian motion and viscoelasticity of semiflexible polymers is a subject
that has been studied for many years. Still, rigorous analysis has been
hindered due to the difficulty in handling the constraint that polymer chains
cannot be stretched along the contour. Here, we show a straightforward method
to solve the problem. We consider a stiff polymer that has a persistent length
$L_p$ much larger than the contour length $L$. We express the polymer
configuration using three types of variables: the position vector of the center
of mass $R_c$, the unit vector $n$ along the main axis, and the normal
coordinates $u_p$ for bending. Solving the Smoluchowski equation for the
distribution function of these variables, we calculate the equilibrium time
correlation function $ \langle P(t)\cdot P(0) \rangle$ of the end-to-end vector
$P$ and the complex modulus $G^*(\omega)$ of dilute solution. They include the
bending effect to the first order in $\theta \equiv L/L_p$ and reduce to the
exact results for the rigid rod in the limit of $\theta \to 0$. The rotational
diffusion coefficient increases slightly by the semiflexibility because the
equilibrium length of the semiflexible polymer is smaller than that of the
rigid rod with the same contour length. The storage modulus shows the same
asymptotic dependence $G'(\omega) \sim \omega^{3/4}$ predicted by Shankar,
Pasquali, and Morse [J. Rheol. 2002, 46, 1111--1154]. The high-frequency
viscosity is predicted to be dependent on the thickness of the semiflexible
polymers.


  When a hydrogen atom trapped in finite space formed by two parallel perfectly
conducting plates, the transition rates can be modified. Life-time of the
hydrogen $2P_{1/2}$-state is estimated to be shorter as much as $56.3ps $ with
a separation distance of $b = 1.2 \mu m$ between two plates. Although the
modification is dependent on position of the atom, the life-time can be shorten
or lengthen by adjusting the separation distance even for the case that the
atom is placed at the center between two plates.


  One way to recognise an object is to study how the echo has been shaped
during the interaction with the target. Wideband sonar allows the study of the
energy distribution for a large range of frequencies. The frequency
distribution contains information about an object, including its inner
structure. This information is a key for automatic recognition. The scattering
by a target can be quantitatively described by its Form Function. The Form
Function can be calculated based on the data of the initial pulse, reflected
pulse and parameters of a medium where the pulse is propagating. In this work
spherical objects are classified based on their filler material - water or air.
We limit the study to spherical 2 layered targets immersed in water. The Form
Function is used as a descriptor and fed into a Neural Network classifier,
Multilayer Perceptron (MLP). The performance of the classifier is compared with
Support Vector Machine (SVM) and the Form Function descriptor is examined in
contrast to the Time and Frequency Representation of the echo.


  Performance of wireless mesh networks (WMNs) in terms of network capacity,
end-to-end latency, and network resilience depends upon the prevalent levels of
interference. Thus, interference alleviation is a fundamental design concern in
multi-radio multi-channel (MRMC) WMNs, and is achieved through a judicious
channel assignment (CA) to the radios in a WMN. In our earlier works we have
tried to address the problem of estimating the intensity of interference in a
wireless network and predicting the performance of CA schemes based on the
measure of the interference estimate. We have proposed reliable CA performance
prediction approaches which have proven effective in grid WMNs. In this work,
we further assess the reliability of these CA performance prediction techniques
in a large MRMC WMN which comprises of randomly placed mesh routers. We perform
exhaustive simulations on an ns-3 802.11n environment. We obtain conclusive
results to demonstrate the efficacy of proposed schemes in random WMNs as well.


  Quark-hadron (QH) duality in lepton scattering off nucleons is studied with
the resonance quark model. It is shown that in the case of neutrino scattering
off an isoscalar target the duality is simultaneously observed for charged and
neutral currents $xF_1^{\nu N}$, $F_2^{\nu N}$, and $xF_3^{\nu N}$ weak
structure functions.
  We demonstrate that the QH duality can be useful property for modeling
structure functions in the so-called resonance region. As an example it is
shown that combining relativistic quark model predictions with duality
arguments allows a construction of the inclusive resonance $F_2^{ep}$ structure
function.


  To address growth challenges facing large Data Centers and supercomputing
clusters a new construction is presented for scalable, high throughput, low
latency networks. The resulting networks require 1.5-5 times fewer switches,
2-6 times fewer cables, have 1.2-2 times lower latency and correspondingly
lower congestion and packet losses than the best present or proposed networks
providing the same number of ports at the same total bisection. These advantage
ratios increase with network size. The key new ingredient is the exact
equivalence discovered between the problem of maximizing network bisection for
large classes of practically interesting Cayley graphs and the problem of
maximizing codeword distance for linear error correcting codes. Resulting
translation recipe converts existent optimal error correcting codes into
optimal throughput networks.


  A.Rydh and \"O.Rapp [Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 86}, 1873 (2001).] claim that the
vortex liquid in untwinned YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{7-\delta}$ crystals is correlated
above the melting transition, in striking contrast to previous work [D.L\'opez
{\it et al.}, Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 76}, 4034 (1996).]. In this Comment we
present new measurements using the same experimental technique on twinned and
untwinned YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{7-\delta}$ crystals with similar overall
characteristics as those reported by Rydh and Rapp . The comparison of the
vortex correlation response in both cases indicates that the central conclusion
of their work is not correct. Our results reconfirm the work by L\'opez {\it et
al.} and points on the origin of the misinterpretation in the work of Rydh and
Rapp.


  Using a common technique for approximating distributions [generalized
functions], we are able to use standard Monte Carlo methods to compute QFT
quantities in Minkowski spacetime, under phase transitions, or when dealing
with coalescing stationary points.


  We present the results of an exact diagonalization study of the spin-1/2
Heisenberg antiferromagnet on a two-dimensional version of the pyrochlore
lattice, also known as the square lattice with crossings or the checkerboard
lattice. Examining the low energy spectra for systems of up to 24 spins, we
find that all clusters studied have non-degenerate ground states with total
spin zero, and big energy gaps to states with higher total spin. We also find a
large number of non-magnetic excitations at energies within this spin gap.
Spin-spin and spin-Peierls correlation functions appear to be short-ranged, and
we suggest that the ground state is a spin liquid.


  The infrared (IR) spectra of many evolved carbon-rich stars exhibit two
prominent dust emission features peaking around 21um and 30um, with the former
exclusively seen in proto-planetary nebulae (PPNe), while the latter seen in a
much wider range of objects, including AGB stars, PPNe and planetary nebulae
(PNe). The 30um feature is seen in all the 21um sources, but no correlation is
found between these two features. Over a dozen carrier candidates have been
proposed for the 21um feature, but none of them has been widely accepted and
the nature of the 21um feature remains a mystery. The carrier of the 30um
feature also remains unidentied. MgS dust, once widely accepted as a valid
carrier, was ruled out because of the sulfur budget problem. In this work we
examine nano-sized FeO dust as a carrier for the 21um feature. We calculate the
IR emission spectrum of FeO nanodust which undergoes single-photon heating in
PPNe. It is found that the 21um feature emitted by FeO nanodust is too broad to
explain the observed feature. For the 30um feature, we argue that graphite
could be a viable carrier. Graphite, provided its d.c. conductivity sigma_dc
exceeding 100/ohm/cm, exhibits a pronounced band at 30um.


  In a prior work, the authors proved a global bifurcation theorem for
spatially periodic interfacial hydroelastic traveling waves on infinite depth,
and computed such traveling waves. The formulation of the traveling wave
problem used both analytically and numerically allows for waves with
multi-valued height. The global bifurcation theorem required a one-dimensional
kernel in the linearization of the relevant mapping, but for some parameter
values, the kernel is instead two-dimensional. In the present work, we study
these cases with two-dimensional kernels, which occur in resonant and
non-resonant variants. We apply an implicit function theorem argument to prove
existence of traveling waves in both of these situations. We compute the waves
numerically as well, in both the resonant and non-resonant cases.


  We perform lattice simulations of two-flavor QCD using Neuberger's overlap
fermion, with which the exact chiral symmetry is realized at finite lattice
spacings. The epsilon-regime is reached by decreasing the light quark mass down
to 3 MeV on a 16^3 32 lattice with a lattice spacing \sim 0.11 fm. We find a
good agreement of the low-lying Dirac eigenvalue spectrum with the analytical
predictions of the chiral random matrix theory, which reduces to the chiral
perturbation theory in the epsilon-regime. The chiral condensate is extracted
as \Sigma(2 GeV) = (251(7)(11) MeV)^3, where the errors are statistical and an
estimate of the higher order effects in the epsilon-expansion.


  We study observational signatures of nonsingular ultracompact objects
regularized by nonlinear electrodynamics. The phenomenon of birefringence
causes photons of different polarizations to propagate with respect to two
distinct metrics, which manifests itself in the appearance of additional light
rings surrounding the ultracompact object. We analyze the observational
consequences of this result and illustrate our findings based on three regular
black hole models commonly considered in the literature. We find that
nonsingular horizonless ultracompact objects sourced by nonlinear
electrodynamics possess an odd number of light rings and discuss the viability
of this effective description of their properties. In addition, we compare the
phase velocities of polarized light rays propagating in nonsingular geometries
sourced by nonlinear electrodynamics to the corresponding phase velocity in the
Schwarzschild spacetime and demonstrate that regularizing the singularity by
means of a theory that does not adhere to the Maxwell weak-field limit may lead
to the emergence of acausal regions.


  We construct a quantum reference frame, which can be used to approximately
implement arbitrary unitary transformations on a system in the presence of any
number of extensive conserved quantities, by absorbing any back action provided
by the conservation laws. Thus, the reference frame at the same time acts as a
battery for the conserved quantities.
  Our construction features a physically intuitive, clear and
implementation-friendly realisation. Indeed, the reference system is composed
of the same types of subsystems as the original system and is finite for any
desired accuracy. In addition, the interaction with the reference frame can be
broken down into two-body terms coupling the system to one of the reference
frame subsystems at a time. We apply this construction to quantum thermodynamic
setups with multiple, possibly non-commuting conserved quantities, which allows
for the definition of explicit batteries in such cases.


  We examine phases of the Shraiman-Siggia model of lightly-doped, square
lattice quantum antiferromagnets in a self-consistent, two-loop, interacting
magnon analysis. We find magnetically-ordered and quantum-disordered phases
both with and without incommensurate spin correlations. The quantum disordered
phases have a pseudo-gap in the spin excitation spectrum. The quantum
transition between the magnetically ordered and commensurate quantum-disordered
phases is argued to have the dynamic critical exponent $z=1$ and the same
leading critical behavior as the disordering transition in the pure $O(3)$
sigma model. The relationship to experiments on the doped cuprates is
discussed.


  Using a photonic quantum computer for boson sampling has been demonstrated a
tremendous advantage over classical supercomputers. It is highly desirable to
develop boson sampling algorithms for realistic scientific problems. In this
work, we propose a hybrid quantum-classical sampling (HQCS) algorithm to
calculate the optical spectrum for complex molecules considering anharmonicity
and Duschinsky rotation (DR) effects. The classical sum-over-state method for
this problem has a computational complexity that exponentially increases with
system size. In the HQCS algorithm, an intermediate harmonic potential energy
surface (PES) is created, bridging the initial and final PESs. The magnitude
and sign (-1 or +1) of the overlap between the initial state and the
intermediate state are estimated by quantum boson sampling and by classical
algorithms respectively, achieving an exponential speed-up. Additionally, the
overlap between the intermediate state and the final state is efficiently
evaluated by classical algorithms. The feasibility of HQCS is demonstrated in
calculations of the emission spectrum of a Morse model as well as pyridine
molecule by comparison with the nearly exact time-dependent density matrix
renormalization group solutions. A near-term quantum advantage for realistic
molecular spectroscopy simulation is proposed.


  Searches for top quark-associated physics such as $t\bar t W$ or $t\bar t H$
in final states with multiple leptons require a careful accounting of expected
backgrounds due to the lack of reconstructible resonances. We demonstrate that
the rare top quark decays $t \to \ell' \nu b \ell\ell$ and $t \to q q' b
\ell\ell$, when a soft lepton is not detected, can contribute a non-negligible
background to such searches. Simulations in the LHC experiments typically do
not account for such decays and as such backgrounds to such searches may be
underestimated.


  In this paper we explore the combinatorics of the non-negative part (G/P)+ of
a cominuscule Grassmannian. For each such Grassmannian we define Le-diagrams --
certain fillings of generalized Young diagrams which are in bijection with the
cells of (G/P)+. In the classical cases, we describe Le-diagrams explicitly in
terms of pattern avoidance. We also define a game on diagrams, by which one can
reduce an arbitrary diagram to a Le-diagram. We give enumerative results and
relate our Le-diagrams to other combinatorial objects. Surprisingly, the
totally non-negative cells in the open Schubert cell of the odd and even
orthogonal Grassmannians are (essentially) in bijection with preference
functions and atomic preference functions respectively.


  We study the inverse scattering for Schr{\"o}dinger operators on locally
perturbed periodic lattices. We show that the associated scattering matrix is
equivalent to the Dirichlet-to-Neumann map for a boundary value problem on a
finite part of the graph, and reconstruct scalar potentials as well as the
graph structure from the knowledge of the S-matrix. In particular, we give a
procedure for probing defects in hexagonal lattices (graphene).


  We describe an extension of the Enzo code to enable fully-coupled radiation
hydrodynamical simulation of inhomogeneous reionization in large $\sim (100
Mpc)^3$ cosmological volumes with thousands to millions of point sources. We
solve all dynamical, radiative transfer, thermal, and ionization processes
self-consistently on the same mesh, as opposed to a postprocessing approach
which coarse-grains the radiative transfer. We do, however, employ a simple
subgrid model for star formation which we calibrate to observations. Radiation
transport is done in the grey flux-limited diffusion (FLD) approximation, which
is solved by implicit time integration split off from the gas energy and
ionization equations, which are solved separately. This results in a faster and
more robust scheme for cosmological applications compared to the earlier
method. The FLD equation is solved using the hypre optimally scalable geometric
multigrid solver from LLNL. By treating the ionizing radiation as a grid field
as opposed to rays, our method is scalable with respect to the number of
ionizing sources, limited only by the parallel scaling properties of the
radiation solver. We test the speed and accuracy of our approach on a number of
standard verification and validation tests. We show by direct comparison with
Enzo's adaptive ray tracing method Moray that the well-known inability of FLD
to cast a shadow behind opaque clouds has a minor effect on the evolution of
ionized volume and mass fractions in a reionization simulation validation test.
We illustrate an application of our method to the problem of inhomogeneous
reionization in a 80 Mpc comoving box resolved with $3200^3$ Eulerian grid
cells and dark matter particles.


  We add massive fundamental matter to the ABJM model by adding D6-branes
wrapped asymptotically over RP3. We find two types of solutions at finite
temperature, one that enters the black hole and one that ends before the black
hole. We analyze the behavior of the free energy as a function of temperature,
and find that the system exhibits a phase transition between the two types of
solutions, similar to what happens in the D3-D7 system. We also analyze the
meson spectrum in the model and find several massive scalar modes, again, quite
like the D3-D7 system. We end with a calculation of the conductivities in the
two phases.


  Analytical formulas for next-to-leading order temperature corrections to the
thermal state variables of interacting nucleons in bulk matter are derived in
the degenerate limit. The formalism developed is applicable to a wide class of
non-relativistic and relativistic models of hot and dense matter currently used
in nuclear physics and astrophysics (supernovae, proto-neutron stars and
neutron star mergers) as well as in condensed matter physics. We consider the
general case of arbitrary dimensionality of momentum space and an arbitrary
degree of relativity (for relativistic mean-field theoretical models). For
non-relativistic zero-range interactions, knowledge of the Landau effective
mass suffices to compute next-to-leading order effects, but in the case of
finite-range interactions, momentum derivatives of the Landau effective mass
function up to second order are required. Numerical computations are performed
to compare results from our analytical formulas with the exact results for
zero- and finite-range potential and relativistic mean-field theoretical
models. In all cases, inclusion of next-to-leading order temperature effects
substantially extends the ranges of partial degeneracy for which the analytical
treatment remains valid.


  We analyze a sample of 3300 galaxies between redshifts z~3.5 and z~8.5
selected from JWST images in the Hubble Ultra Deep Field (HUDF) and UKIDSS
Ultra Deep Survey field, including objects with stellar masses as low as ~ 10^8
Msun up to z~8. The depth and wavelength coverage of the JWST data allow us,
for the first time, to derive robust stellar masses for such high-z, low
stellar-mass galaxies on an individual basis. We compute the galaxy stellar
mass function (GSMF), after complementing our sample with ancillary data from
CANDELS to constrain the GMSF at high stellar masses (M > M*). Our results show
a steepening of the low stellar-mass end slope (a) with redshift, with a =
-1.61 (+/-0.05) at z~4 and a = -1.98 (+/-0.14) at z~7. We also observe an
evolution of the normalization phi* from z~7 to z~4, with phi*(z~4)/phi*(z~7)=
130 (+210/-50). Our study incorporates a novel method for the estimation of the
Eddington bias that takes into account its possible dependence both on stellar
mass and redshift, while allowing for skewness in the error distribution. We
finally compute the resulting cosmic stellar mass density and find a flatter
evolution with redshift than previous studies.


  A quantum theory of gravity is described in the case of a positive
cosmological constant in 3+1 dimensions. Both old and new results are
described, which support the case that loop quantum gravity provides a
satisfactory quantum theory of gravity. These include the existence of a ground
state, discoverd by Kodama, which both is an exact solution to the constraints
of quantum gravity and has a semiclassical limit which is deSitter spacetime.
The long wavelength excitations of this state are studied and are shown to
reproduce both gravitons and, when matter is included, quantum field theory on
deSitter spacetime. Furthermore, one may derive directly from the
Wheeler-deWitt equation, Planck scale, computable corrections to the
energy-momentum relations for matter fields. This may lead in the next few
years to experimental tests of the theory.
  To study the excitations of the Kodama state exactly requires the use of the
spin network representation, which is quantum deformed due to the cosmological
constant. The theory may be developed within a single horizon, and the boundary
states described exactly in terms of a boundary Chern-Simons theory. The
Bekenstein bound is recovered and the N bound of Banks is given a background
independent explanation.
  The paper is written as an introduction to loop quantum gravity, requiring no
prior knowledge of the subject. The deep relationship between quantum gravity
and topological field theory is stressed throughout.


  Jacobian conjecture states that if $F:\ \mathbb C^n(\mathbb R^n)\rightarrow
\mathbb C^n(\mathbb R^n)$ is a polynomial map such that the Jacobian of $F$ is
a nonzero constant, then $F$ is injective. This conjecture is still open for
all $n\ge 2$, and for both $\mathbb C^n$ and $\mathbb R^n$. Here we provide a
positive answer to the Jacobian conjecture in $\mathbb R^2$ via the tools from
the theory of dynamical systems.


  $R_p$ and motivation for explicit $R\!\!\!/}_p$, MSSM $\rightarrow$ $
R\!\!\!/}_p$ MSSM, Bounds on ${R\!\!\!/}_p$ couplings, Collider-specific
phenomenology, Cosmological implications, Summary and outlook, References


  Recently, major progress has been made towards the realisation of quantum
internet to enable a broad range of classically intractable applications. These
applications such as delegated quantum computation require running a secure
identification protocol between a low-resource and a high-resource party to
provide secure communication. In this work, we propose two identification
protocols based on the emerging hardware secure solutions, the quantum Physical
Unclonable Functions (qPUFs). The first protocol allows a low-resource party to
prove its identity to a high-resource party and in the second protocol, it is
vice-versa. Unlike existing identification protocols based on Quantum Read-out
PUFs which rely on the security against a specific family of attacks, our
protocols provide provable exponential security against any Quantum
Polynomial-Time adversary with resource-efficient parties. We provide a
comprehensive comparison between the two proposed protocols in terms of
resources such as quantum memory and computing ability required in both parties
as well as the communication overhead between them.


  We construct several families of Artin-Schelter regular algebras of global
dimension four using double Ore extension and then prove that all these
algebras are strongly noetherian, Auslander regular, Koszul and Cohen-Macaulay
domains. Many regular algebras constructed in the paper are new and are not
isomorphic to either a normal extension or an Ore extension of an
Artin-Schelter regular algebra of global dimension three.


  For Encyclopedia of Complexity and Systems Science (Springer Verlag). No
abstract.
  I. Definition and Introduction
  II. Methods
  III. Quantities and Exponents
  IV. Fractal Dimension; Incipient Infinite Cluster
  V. Simple Renormalisation Group
  VI. Future Directions


  In this addendum we introduce the concept of time-inversion referencing. This
is an extension of hypertext allowing authors to cite papers that where not yet
published (or even not yet written) when they publish a manuscript. We are
convinced that this concept will prove very useful especially when adjustments
to the so-called intellectual property rights have to be made. We apply the
concept to our paper on rotational properties of trapped bosons.


  We study pion in the holographic model of Hirn and Sanz which contains two
Yang-Mills fields defined in the background of the sliced AdS space. The
infrared boundary conditions imposed on these fields generate the spontaneous
breaking of the chiral symmetry down to its vector subgroup. Within the
framework of this model, we get an analytic expression for the pion form factor
and a compact result for its radius. We also extend the holographic model to
include Chern-Simons term which is required to reproduce the appropriate axial
anomaly of QCD. As a result, we calculate the anomalous form factor of the pion
and predict its Q^2-slope for the kinematics when one of the photons is almost
on-shell. We also observe that the anomalous form factor with one real and one
virtual photon is given by the same analytic expression as the electromagnetic
form factor of a charged pion. One of the advantages of the present model is
that it does not require an infrared boundary counterterm to correctly
reproduce the anomaly of QCD.


  Inspired by the recent work [MRW20], we prove that the nodal length of a
planar random wave $B_{E}$, i.e. the length of its zero set $B_{E}^{-1}(0)$, is
asymptotically equivalent, in the $L^{2}$-sense and in the high-frequency limit
$E\rightarrow \infty$, to the integral of $H_{4}(B_{E}(x))$, $H_4$ being the
fourth Hermite polynomial. As a straightforward consequence, we obtain a
central limit theorem in Wasserstein distance. This complements recent findings
in [NPR19] and [PV20].


  We say that a system of differential equations
d^2x(t)/dt^2=Adx(t)/dt+Bx(t)+Cu(t), in which A and B are m-by-m complex
matrices and C is an m-by-n complex matrix, is rigid if it can be reduced by
substitutions x(t)=Sy(t), u(t)=Udy(t)/dt+Vy(t)+Pv(t) with nonsingular S and P
to each system obtained from it by a small enough perturbation of its matrices
A,B,C. We prove that there exists a rigid system if and only if
m<n(1+square_root{5})/2, and describe all rigid systems.


  We present Keck spectropolarimetry of the unusual type Ia supernova (SN Ia)
2005hk several days before maximum light. An analysis of the high
signal-to-noise-ratio total-flux spectrum shows the object's extreme similarity
to the peculiar SN 2002cx. SN 2005hk has an optical spectrum dominated by Fe
III lines and only weak lines of intermediate-mass elements, unlike a normal SN
Ia at this epoch. The photospheric velocity measured from the minima of strong
absorption lines is very low for an SN Ia (~6000 km s^{-1}), solidifying the
connection to SN 2002cx. The spectrum-synthesis code Synow was used to identify
the presence of iron-peak elements, intermediate-mass elements, and possibly
unburned carbon at similar velocities in the outer ejecta of SN 2005hk. Many
weak spectral features remain unidentified. The spectropolarimetry shows a low
level of continuum polarization (~0.4%) after correction for the interstellar
component and only a weak Fe III line feature is detected. The level of
continuum polarization is normal for an SN Ia, implying that the unusual
features of SN 2005hk cannot be readily explained by large asymmetries.


  We provide a necessary and sufficient condition for the representability of a
function as the classical multidimensional Laplace transform, when the support
of the representing measure is contained in some generalized semi-algebraic
set. This is done by employing a method of Putinar and Vasilescu [Putinar, M.
and Vasilescu, F.-H., Solving moment problems by dimensional extension, Ann. of
Math. (2) 149 (1999), no. 3, 1087-1107] for the corresponding multidimensional
moment problem.


  Both coronal plumes and network jets are rooted in network lanes. The
relationship between the two, however, has yet to be addressed. For this
purpose, we perform an observational analysis using images acquired with the
Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) 171{\AA} passband to follow the evolution of
coronal plumes, the observations taken by the Interface Region Imaging
Spectrograph (IRIS) slit-jaw 1330{\AA} to study the network jets, and the
line-of-sight magnetograms taken by the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI)
to overview the the photospheric magnetic features in the regions. Four regions
in the network lanes are identified, and labeled ``R1--R4''. We find that
coronal plumes are clearly seen only in ``R1''&''R2'' but not in ``R3''&``R4'',
even though network jets abound in all these regions. Furthermore, while
magnetic features in all these regions are dominated by positive polarity, they
are more compact (suggesting stronger convergence) in ``R1''&``R2'' than that
in ``R3''&``R4''. We develop an automated method to identify and track the
network jets in the regions. We find that the network jets rooted in
``R1''&``R2'' are higher and faster than that in ``R3''&``R4'',indicating that
network regions producing stronger coronal plumes also tend to produce more
dynamic network jets. We suggest that the stronger convergence in ``R1''&``R2''
might provide a condition for faster shocks and/or more small-scale magnetic
reconnection events that power more dynamic network jets and coronal plumes.


  Numerical calculations for Majorana zero modes on a one-dimensional chain are
performed using the technique of block diagonalization for general parameter
settings. It is found that Majorana zero modes occur near the ends of the chain
and decay exponentially away from the ends. The phase diagrams show that
Majorana zero modes of a long-enough chain indeed have a parameter domain of
$2t>|\mu|$ as predicted from the bulk property of the chain, but a short chain
has a much smaller parameter domain than the prediction. Through a numerical
simulation Majorana zero modes are found to be robust under the disturbance of
noise. Finally the reversion of the parity of the ground states is studied by
applying a bias voltage on the quantum dot at an end of the chain. It is found
that for a weak coupling between a chain and a quantum dot the parity of the
ground states can be reversed through adiabatically tuning the bias voltage.


  Concept Relation Discovery and Innovation Enabling Technology (CORDIET), is a
toolbox for gaining new knowledge from unstructured text data. At the core of
CORDIET is the C-K theory which captures the essential elements of innovation.
The tool uses Formal Concept Analysis (FCA), Emergent Self Organizing Maps
(ESOM) and Hidden Markov Models (HMM) as main artifacts in the analysis
process. The user can define temporal, text mining and compound attributes. The
text mining attributes are used to analyze the unstructured text in documents,
the temporal attributes use these document's timestamps for analysis. The
compound attributes are XML rules based on text mining and temporal attributes.
The user can cluster objects with object-cluster rules and can chop the data in
pieces with segmentation rules. The artifacts are optimized for efficient data
analysis; object labels in the FCA lattice and ESOM map contain an URL on which
the user can click to open the selected document.


  PEPit is a Python package aiming at simplifying the access to worst-case
analyses of a large family of first-order optimization methods possibly
involving gradient, projection, proximal, or linear optimization oracles, along
with their approximate, or Bregman variants. In short, PEPit is a package
enabling computer-assisted worst-case analyses of first-order optimization
methods. The key underlying idea is to cast the problem of performing a
worst-case analysis, often referred to as a performance estimation problem
(PEP), as a semidefinite program (SDP) which can be solved numerically. To do
that, the package users are only required to write first-order methods nearly
as they would have implemented them. The package then takes care of the SDP
modeling parts, and the worst-case analysis is performed numerically via a
standard solver.


  We study maximum likelihood estimation in Gaussian graphical models from a
geometric point of view. An algebraic elimination criterion allows us to find
exact lower bounds on the number of observations needed to ensure that the
maximum likelihood estimator (MLE) exists with probability one. This is applied
to bipartite graphs, grids and colored graphs. We also study the ML degree, and
we present the first instance of a graph for which the MLE exists with
probability one, even when the number of observations equals the treewidth.


  This paper concerns the enumeration of rotation-type and congruence-type
convex polyominoes on the square lattice. These can be defined as orbits of the
groups C4, of rotations, and D4, of symmetries of the square acting on
(translation- type) polyominoes. In virtue of Burnside's Lemma, it is
sufficient to enumerate the various symmetry classes (fixed points) of
polyominoes defined by the elements of C4 and D4. Using the
Temperley--Bousquet-Melou methodology, we solve this problem and provide
explicit or recursive formulas for their generating functions according to
width, height and area. We also enumerate the class of asymmetric convex
polyominoes, using Moebius inversion, and prove that their number is
asymptotically equivalent to the number of convex polyominoes, a fact which is
empirically evident.


  Learned visual compression is an important and active task in multimedia.
Existing approaches have explored various CNN- and Transformer-based designs to
model content distribution and eliminate redundancy, where balancing efficacy
(i.e., rate-distortion trade-off) and efficiency remains a challenge. Recently,
state-space models (SSMs) have shown promise due to their long-range modeling
capacity and efficiency. Inspired by this, we take the first step to explore
SSMs for visual compression. We introduce MambaVC, a simple, strong and
efficient compression network based on SSM. MambaVC develops a visual state
space (VSS) block with a 2D selective scanning (2DSS) module as the nonlinear
activation function after each downsampling, which helps to capture informative
global contexts and enhances compression. On compression benchmark datasets,
MambaVC achieves superior rate-distortion performance with lower computational
and memory overheads. Specifically, it outperforms CNN and Transformer variants
by 9.3% and 15.6% on Kodak, respectively, while reducing computation by 42% and
24%, and saving 12% and 71% of memory. MambaVC shows even greater improvements
with high-resolution images, highlighting its potential and scalability in
real-world applications. We also provide a comprehensive comparison of
different network designs, underscoring MambaVC's advantages. Code is available
at https://github.com/QinSY123/2024-MambaVC.


  Geothermal energy is the key to drive the plate tectonics and interior
thermodynamics of the Earth. The surface heat flux, as measured in boreholes,
provide limited insights into the relative contributions of primordial versus
radiogenic sources of the heat budget of the mantle. Geoneutrinos, electron
antineutrinos that produced from the radioactive decay of the heat producing
elements, are unique probes that bring direct information about the amount and
distribution of heat producing elements in the crust and mantle. Cosmochemical,
geochemical, and geodynamic compositional models of the Bulk Silicate Earth
(BSE) individually predicts different mantle neutrino fluxes, and therefore can
be distinguished by the direct measurement of geoneutrinos. The 20 kton
detector of the Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO), currently
under construction in the Guangdong Province (China), is expected to provide an
exciting opportunity to obtain a high statistics measurement, which will
produce sufficient data to address several key questions of geological
importance. To test different compositional models of the mantle, an accurate
estimation of the crust geoneutrino flux based on a three-dimensional (3-D)
crust model in advance is important. This paper presents a 3-D crust model over
a surface area of 10-degrees-times-10-degrees grid surrounding the JUNO
detector and a depth down to the Moho discontinuity, based on the geological,
geophysical and geochemistry properties. The 3-D model provides a distinction
of the volumes of the different geological layers together with the
corresponding Th and U abundances. We also present our predicted local
contribution to the total geoneutrino flux and the corresponding radiogenic
heat.


  We address two shortcomings in online travel time estimation methods for
congested urban traffic. The first shortcoming is related to the determination
of the number of mixture modes, which can change dynamically, within day and
from day to day. The second shortcoming is the wide-spread use of Gaussian
probability densities as mixture components. Gaussian densities fail to capture
the positive skew in travel time distributions and, consequently, large numbers
of mixture components are needed for reasonable fitting accuracy when applied
as mixture components. They also assign positive probabilities to negative
travel times. To address these issues, this paper derives a mixture
distribution with Gamma component densities, which are asymmetric and supported
on the positive numbers. We use sparse estimation techniques to ensure
parsimonious models and propose a generalization of Gamma mixture densities
using Mittag-Leffler functions, which provides enhanced fitting flexibility and
improved parsimony. In order to accommodate within-day variability and allow
for online implementation of the proposed methodology (i.e., fast computations
on streaming travel time data), we introduce a recursive algorithm which
efficiently updates the fitted distribution whenever new data become available.
Experimental results using real-world travel time data illustrate the efficacy
of the proposed methods.


  It is well known that a Bosonic Mott insulator can be realized by condensing
vortices of a bo- son condensate. Usually, a vortex becomes an anti-vortex (and
vice-versa) under time reversal symmetry, and the condensation of vortices
results in a trivial Mott insulator. However, if each vortex or anti-vortex
interacts with a spin trapped at its core, the time reversal transformation of
the composite vortex operator will contain an extra minus sign. It turns out
that such a composite vortex condensed state is a bosonic topological insulator
(BTI) with gapless boundary excitations protected by $U(1)\rtimes Z_2^T$
symmetry. We point out that in BTI, an external $\pi$ flux monodromy defect
carries a Kramers doublet. We propose lattice model Hamiltonians to realize the
BTI phase, which might be implemented in cold atom systems or spin-1 solid
state systems.


  The survey description and the near-, mid-, and far-infrared flux properties
are presented for the 258 galaxies in the Local Volume Legacy (LVL). LVL is a
Spitzer Space Telescope legacy program that surveys the local universe out to
11 Mpc, built upon a foundation of ultraviolet, H-alpha, and HST imaging from
11HUGS (11 Mpc H-alpha and Ultraviolet Galaxy Survey) and ANGST (ACS Nearby
Galaxy Survey Treasury). LVL covers an unbiased, representative, and
statistically robust sample of nearby star-forming galaxies, exploiting the
highest extragalactic spatial resolution achievable with Spitzer. As a result
of its approximately volume-limited nature, LVL augments previous Spitzer
observations of present-day galaxies with improved sampling of the
low-luminosity galaxy population. The collection of LVL galaxies shows a large
spread in mid-infrared colors, likely due to the conspicuous deficiency of 8um
PAH emission from low-metallicity, low-luminosity galaxies. Conversely, the
far-infrared emission tightly tracks the total infrared emission, with a
dispersion in their flux ratio of only 0.1 dex. In terms of the relation
between infrared-to-ultraviolet ratio and ultraviolet spectral slope, the LVL
sample shows redder colors and/or lower infrared-to-ultraviolet ratios than
starburst galaxies, suggesting that reprocessing by dust is less important in
the lower mass systems that dominate the LVL sample. Comparisons with
theoretical models suggest that the amplitude of deviations from the relation
found for starburst galaxies correlates with the age of the stellar populations
that dominate the ultraviolet/optical luminosities.


  An asymptotic behaviour of solution of Kadomtsev-Petviashvili-2 equation is
obtained as $t\to\infty$ uniformly with respect to spatial variables.


  We study the effects of electron-electron correlations and confinement
potential on the far-infrared spectrum of a lateral two-electron quantum dot
molecule by exact diagonalization. The calculated spectra directly reflect the
lowered symmetry of the external confinement potential. Surprisingly, we find
interactions to drive the spectrum towards that of a high-symmetry parabolic
quantum dot. We conclude that far-infrared spectroscopy is suitable for probing
effective confinement of the electrons in a quantum dot system, even if
interaction effects cannot be resolved in a direct fashion.


  We study how the black hole complementarity principle can emerge from quantum
gravitational dynamics within a local semiclassical approximation. Further
developing and then simplifying a microstate model based on the fragmentation
instability of a near-extremal black hole, we find that the key to the
replication (but not cloning) of infalling information is the decoupling of
various degrees of freedom. The infalling matter decouples from the interior
retaining a residual time-dependent quantum state in the hair which encodes the
initial state of the matter non-isometrically. The non-linear ringdown of the
interior after energy absorption and decoupling also encodes the initial state,
and transfers the information to Hawking radiation. During the Hawking
evaporation process, the fragmented throats decouple from each other and the
hair decouples from the throats. We find that the hair mirrors infalling
information after the decoupling time which scales with the logarithm of the
entropy (at the time of infall) when the average mass per fragmented throat (a
proxy for the temperature) is held fixed. The decoding protocol for the
mirrored information does not require knowledge of the interior, and only
limited information from the Hawking radiation, as can be argued to be
necessitated by the complementarity principle. We discuss the scope of the
model to illuminate various aspects of information processing in a black hole.


  A few years ago, we found the supersymmetric(SUSY) counterpart of the
spectral triple which specified noncommutative geometry(NCG). Based on "the
triple", we considered the SUSY version of the spectral action principle and
had derived the action of super Yang--Mills theory, minimal supersymmetric
standard model, and supergravity. In these theories, we used vector notation in
order to express a chiral or an anti-chiral matter superfield. We also
represented the NCG algebra and the Dirac operator by matrices which operated
on the space of matter field. In this paper, we represent the triple in the
superspace coordinate system $(x^\mu,\theta,\bar{\theta})$. We also introduce
"extracting operators" and the new definition of the supertrace so that we can
also investigate the square of the Dirac operator on the Minkowskian manifold
in the superspace. We finally re-construct the super Yang--Mills theory on NCG
in the superspace coordinate to which we are familiar to describe SUSY
theories.


  We develop a lattice model which exhibits topological transitions from $Z_2$
topological insulators to mirror symmetry-protected topological crystalline
insulators by introducing additional spin-orbit coupling terms. The topological
phase is characterized by the mirror winding number, defined within the mirror
symmetry invariant subspace, which ensures the protection of gapless edge
states and zero-energy corner states under specific boundary conditions.
Additionally, we propose a feasible scheme using ultracold atoms confined in a
stacked hexagonal optical lattice with Raman fields to realize the
two-dimensional topological crystalline insulators. Detection of the mirror
winding number in these systems can be achieved by implementing a simple quench
sequence and observing the evolution of the time-of-flight patterns.


  We provide some new computations of Farrell--Tate and Bredon (co)homology for
arithmetic groups. For calculations of Farrell--Tate or Bredon homology, one
needs cell complexes wherecell stabilizers fix their cells pointwise. We
provide two algorithms computing an efficient subdivision of a complex to
achieve this rigidity property. Applying these algorithms to available cell
complexes for PSL4(Z) provides computations of Farrell--Tate cohomology for
small primes as well as the Bredon homology for the classifying spaces of
proper actions with coefficients in the complex representation ring.


  We present millimeter-wave continuum images of four wide (separations 210-800
AU) young stellar binary systems in the Taurus-Auriga star-forming region. For
all four sources, the resolution of our observations is sufficient to determine
the mm emission from each of the components. In all four systems, the primary
star's disk has stronger millimeter emission than the secondary and in three of
the four, the secondary is undetected; this is consistent with predictions of
recent models of binary formation by fragmentation. The primaries'
circumstellar disk masses inferred from these observations are comparable to
those found for young single stars, confirming that the presence of a wide
binary companion does not prevent the formation of a protoplanetary disk. Some
of the secondaries show signatures of accretion (H-alpha emission and K - L
excesses), yet their mm fluxes suggest that very little disk mass is present.


  In this article, localized linear defect modes due to bandgap guidance in
two-dimensional photonic lattices with localized or non-localized defects are
investigated theoretically. First, when the defect is localized and weak,
eigenvalues of defect modes bifurcated from edges of Bloch bands are derived
analytically. It is shown that in an attractive (repulsive) defect, defect
modes bifurcate out from Bloch-band edges with normal (anomalous) diffraction
coefficients. Furthermore, distances between defect-mode eigenvalues and
Bloch-band edges are exponentially small functions of the defect strength,
which is very different from the one-dimensional case where such distances are
quadratically small with the defect strength. It is also found that some
defect-mode branches bifurcate not from Bloch-band edges, but from quasi-edge
points within Bloch bands, which is very unusual. Second, when the defect is
localized but strong, defect modes are determined numerically. It is shown that
both the repulsive and attractive defects can support various types of defect
modes such as fundamental, dipole, quadrupole, and vortex modes. These modes
reside in various bandgaps of the photonic lattice. As the defect strength
increases, defect modes move from lower bandgaps to higher ones when the defect
is repulsive, but remain within each bandgap when the defect is attractive,
similar to the one-dimensional case. The same phenomena are observed when the
defect is held fixed while the applied dc field (which controls the lattice
potential) increases. Lastly, if the defect is non-localized (i.e. it persists
at large distances in the lattice), it is shown that defect modes can be
embedded inside the continuous spectrum, and they can bifurcate out from edges
of the continuous spectrum algebraically rather than exponentially.


  The Kramers problem in the energy-diffusion limited regime of very low
friction is difficult to deal with analytically becasue of the repeated
recrossings of the barrier that typically occur before an asymptotic rate
constant is achieved. Thus, the transmission coefficient of particles over the
potential barrier undergoes oscillatory behavior in time before settling into a
steady state. Recently Kohen and Tannor (JCP Vol. 103, Pg. 6013, 1995)
developed a method based on the phase space distribution function to calculate
the transmission coefficient as a function of time in the high-friction regime.
Here we formulate a parallel method for the low-friction regime. We find
analytic results for the full time and temperature dependence of the rate
coefficient in this regime. Our low-friction result at long times reproduces
the equilibrium result of Kramers at very low friction and extends it to higher
friction and lower temperatures below the turn-over region. Our results
indicate that the single most important quantity in determining the entire time
evolution of the transmission coefficient is the rate of energy loss of a
particle that starts above the barrier. We test our resutls, as well as those
of Kohen and Tannor for the Kramers problem, against detailed numerical
simulations.


  It is shown that, under some generic assumptions, shocks cannot accelerate
particles unless the overall shock Mach number exceeds a critical value M >
sqrt(5). The reason is that for M <= sqrt(5) the work done to compress the flow
in a particle precursor requires more enthalpy flux than the system can
sustain. This lower limit applies to situations without significant magnetic
field pressure. In case that the magnetic field pressure dominates the pressure
in the unshocked medium, i.e. for low plasma beta, the resistivity of the
magnetic field makes it even more difficult to fulfil the energetic
requirements for the formation of shock with an accelerated particle precursor
and associated compression of the upstream plasma. We illustrate the effects of
magnetic fields for the extreme situation of a purely perpendicular magnetic
field configuration with plasma beta = 0, which gives a minimum Mach number of
M = 5/2. The situation becomes more complex, if we incorporate the effects of
pre-existing cosmic rays, indicating that the additional degree of freedom
allows for less strict Mach number limits on acceleration. We discuss the
implications of this result for low Mach number shock acceleration as found in
solar system shocks, and shocks in clusters of galaxies.


  We investigate the link between ionised Fe X-ray line emission and continuum
emission in the bright nearby AGN, Mrk 766. A new long (433 ks) XMM-Newton
observation is analysed, together with archival data from 2000 and 2001. The
contribution from ionised line emission is measured and its time variations on
short (5-20 ks) timescales are correlated with the continuum emission. The
ionised line flux is found to be highly variable and to be strongly correlated
with the continuum flux, demonstrating an origin for the ionised line emission
that is co-located with the continuum emission. Most likely the emission is
ionised reflection from the accretion disc within a few A.U. of the central
black hole, and its detection marks the first time that such an origin has been
identified other than by fitting to spectral line profiles. Future observations
may be able to measure a time lag and hence achieve reverberation mapping of
AGN at X-ray energies.


  Hadrons containing at least one heavy quark (charm or bottom) frequently have
small enough natural widths that decay modes involving a single photon have
detectable branching fractions. Photons of typical energy greater than 100 MeV
have been directly detected, while those of lower energy have only been
inferred. Here we discuss prospects for observing direct sub-100 MeV photons in
specific radiative decays of charmed and bottom vector mesons, as well as a
spin-excited heavy baryon.


  We present a chemical abundance analysis on the basis of high signal-to-
noise and high resolution spectra for 12 stars of our newly defined sample. The
selection criterion for the stars of this sample was their position in the `RV
Tauri' box in the [12]-[25], [25]-[60] two-colour diagram. An additional
requisite was the presence of a near-IR excess.
  We found that the photospheres of nine stars are affected by the depletion
process. Since the most likely origin of the near-IR excess is a disc, this
strongly suggests that the phenomenon of depletion and the presence of a disc
are linked. Among the depleted stars we find different depletion patterns. In
seven stars elements with a condensation temperature below 1500 K are not or
only slightly affected. Large underabundances are measured only for most
elements with a condensation temperature above 1500 K.


  The effect of particle-nonconserving processes on the steady state of driven
diffusive systems is studied within the context of a generalized ABC model. It
is shown that in the limit of slow nonconserving processes, the large deviation
function of the overall particle density can be computed by making use of the
steady state density profile of the conserving model. In this limit one can
define a chemical potential and identify first order transitions via Maxwell's
construction, similarly to what is done in equilibrium systems. This method may
be applied to other driven models subjected to slow nonconserving dynamics.


  In this work we study a one-dimensional lattice of Lipkin-Meshkov-Glick
models with alternating couplings between nearest-neighbors sites, which
resembles the Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model. Typical properties of the underlying
models are present in our semiclassical-topological hybrid system, allowing us
to investigate an interplay between semiclassical bifurcations at mean-field
level and topological phases. Our results show that bifurcations of the energy
landscape lead to diverse ordered quantum phases. Furthermore, the study of the
quantum fluctuations around the mean field solution reveals the existence of
nontrivial topological phases. These are characterized by the emergence of
localized states at the edges of a chain with open boundary conditions.


  We present a description of singular horizontal curves of a totally
nonholonomic analytic distribution in term of the projections of the orbits of
some isotropic subanalytic singular distribution defined on the nonzero
annihilator of the initial distribution in the cotangent bundle. As a
by-product of our first result, we obtain, under an additional assumption on
the constructed subanalytic singular distribution, a proof of the minimal rank
Sard conjecture in the analytic case. It establishes that from a given point
the set of points accessible through singular horizontal curves of minimal
rank, which corresponds to the rank of the distribution, has Lebesgue measure
zero.


  We analyze a cavity optomechanical setup, in which position of an oscillator
modulates optical loss. We show that in such setup quantum limited position
measurements can be performed if the external cavity coupling rate matches the
optical loss rate, a condition known as "critical coupling". Additionally,
under this condition the setup exhibits a number of potential benefits for
practical operation including the complete absence of dynamical backaction, and
hence optomechanical instability, and rejection of classical laser noise and
thermal fluctuations of cavity frequency from the measurement record. We
propose two implementations of this scheme: one based on signal-recycled
Michelson-type interferometer and the other on a tilted membrane inside
Fabry-Perot cavity.


  Recently, several working implementations of in--band full--duplex wireless
systems have been presented, where the same node can transmit and receive
simultaneously in the same frequency band. The introduction of such a
possibility at the physical layer could lead to improved performance but also
poses several challenges at the MAC layer. In this paper, an innovative
mechanism of channel contention in full--duplex OFDM wireless networks is
proposed. This strategy is able to ensure efficient transmission scheduling
with the result of avoiding collisions and effectively exploiting full--duplex
opportunities. As a consequence, considerable performance improvements are
observed with respect to standard and state--of--the--art MAC protocols for
wireless networks, as highlighted by extensive simulations performed in ad hoc
wireless networks with varying number of nodes.


  Direct numerical simulations are carried out to investigate the effect of the
wall temperature on the behavior of oblique shock-wave/turbulent boundary layer
interactions at freestream Mach number $2.28$ and shock angle of the wedge
generator $\varphi = 8^{\circ}$. Five values of the
wall-to-recovery-temperature ratio ($T_w/T_r$) are considered, corresponding to
cold, adiabatic and hot wall thermal conditions. We show that the main effect
of cooling is to decrease the characteristic scales of the interaction in terms
of upstream influence and extent of the separation bubble. The opposite
behavior is observed in the case of heating, that produces a marked dilatation
of the interaction region. The distribution of the Stanton number shows that a
strong amplification of the heat transfer occurs across the interaction, and
the maximum values of thermal and dynamic loads are found in the case of cold
wall. The analysis reveals that the fluctuating heat flux exhibits a strong
intermittent behavior, characterized by scattered spots with extremely high
values compared to the mean. Furthermore, the analogy between momentum and heat
transfer, typical of compressible, wall-bounded, equilibrium turbulent flows
does not apply for most part of the interaction domain. The pre-multiplied
spectra of the wall heat flux do not show any evidence of the influence of the
low-frequency shock motion, and the primary mechanism for the generation of
peak heating is found to be linked with the turbulence amplification in the
interaction region.


  Skull Stripping is a requisite preliminary step in most diagnostic
neuroimaging applications. Manual Skull Stripping methods define the gold
standard for the domain but are time-consuming and challenging to integrate
into processing pipelines with a high number of data samples. Automated methods
are an active area of research for head MRI segmentation, especially deep
learning methods such as U-Net architecture implementations. This study
compares Vanilla, Residual, and Dense 2D U-Net architectures for Skull
Stripping. The Dense 2D U-Net architecture outperforms the Vanilla and Residual
counterparts by achieving an accuracy of 99.75% on a test dataset. It is
observed that dense interconnections in a U-Net encourage feature reuse across
layers of the architecture and allow for shallower models with the strengths of
a deeper network.


  This paper describes methods for training autonomous agents to play the game
"Doom 2" through Imitation Learning (IL) using only pixel data as input. We
also explore how Reinforcement Learning (RL) compares to IL for humanness by
comparing camera movement and trajectory data. Through behavioural cloning, we
examine the ability of individual models to learn varying behavioural traits.
We attempt to mimic the behaviour of real players with different play styles,
and find we can train agents that behave aggressively, passively, or simply
more human-like than traditional AIs. We propose these methods of introducing
more depth and human-like behaviour to agents in video games. The trained IL
agents perform on par with the average players in our dataset, whilst
outperforming the worst players. While performance was not as strong as common
RL approaches, it provides much stronger human-like behavioural traits to the
agent.


  We perform a numerical study of the phase transitions in three-dimensional
Z(N) lattice gauge theories at finite temperature for N>4. Using the dual
formulation of the models and a cluster algorithm we locate the position of the
critical points and study the critical behavior across both phase transitions
in details. In particular, we determine various critical indices, compute the
average action and the specific heat. Our results are consistent with the two
transitions being of infinite order. Furthermore, they belong to the
universality class of two-dimensional Z(N) vector spin models.


  In this note, we present a simpler algorithm for joint seat allocation
problem in case there are two or more merit lists. In case of two lists (the
current situation for Engineering seats in India), the running time of the
algorithm is proportional to sum of running time for two separate (delinked)
allocations. The algorithm is straight forward and natural and is not (at least
directly) based on deferred acceptance algorithm of Gale and Shapley. Each
person can only move higher in his or her preference list. Thus, all steps of
the algorithm can be made public. This will improve transparency and trust in
the system.


  The microwave thermometry method for the diagnosis of breast cancer is based
on an analysis of the internal temperature distribution.This paper is devoted
to the construction of a mathematical model for increasing the accuracy of
measuring the internal temperature of mammary glands, which are regarded as a
complex combination of several components, such as fat tissue, muscle tissue,
milk lobules, skin, blood flows, tumor tissue. Each of these biocomponents is
determined by its own set of physical parameters. Our numerical model is
designed to calculate the spatial distributions of the electric microwave field
and the temperature inside the biological tissue. We compare the numerical
simulations results to the real medical measurements of the internal
temperature.


  Lie symmetry analysis is one of the powerful tools to analyze nonlinear
ordinary differential equations. We review the effectiveness of this method in
terms of various symmetries. We present the method of deriving Lie point
symmetries, contact symmetries, hidden symmetries, nonlocal symmetries,
$\lambda$-symmetries, adjoint symmetries and telescopic vector fields of a
second-order ordinary differential equation. We also illustrate the algorithm
involved in each method by considering a nonlinear oscillator equation as an
example. The connections between (i) symmetries and integrating factors and
(ii) symmetries and integrals are also discussed and illustrated through the
same example. The interconnections between some of the above symmetries, that
is (i) Lie point symmetries and $\lambda$-symmetries and (ii) exponential
nonlocal symmetries and $\lambda$-symmetries are also discussed. The order
reduction procedure is invoked to derive the general solution of the
second-order equation.


  Gestures that share similarities in their forms and are related in their
meanings, should be easier for learners to recognize and incorporate into their
existing lexicon. In that regard, to be more readily accepted as standard by
the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community, technical gestures in American Sign
Language (ASL) will optimally share similar in forms with their lexical
neighbors. We utilize a lexical database of ASL, ASL-LEX, to identify lexical
relations within a set of technical gestures. We use automated identification
for 3 unique sub-lexical properties in ASL- location, handshape and movement.
EdGCon assigned an iconicity rating based on the lexical property similarities
of the new gesture with an existing set of technical gestures and the
relatedness of the meaning of the new technical word to that of the existing
set of technical words. We collected 30 ad hoc crowdsourced technical gestures
from different internet websites and tested them against 31 gestures from the
DeafTEC technical corpus. We found that EdGCon was able to correctly
auto-assign the iconicity ratings 80.76% of the time.


  DeepMine is a speech database in Persian and English designed to build and
evaluate text-dependent, text-prompted, and text-independent speaker
verification, as well as Persian speech recognition systems. It contains more
than 1850 speakers and 540 thousand recordings overall, more than 480 hours of
speech are transcribed. It is the first public large-scale speaker verification
database in Persian, the largest public text-dependent and text-prompted
speaker verification database in English, and the largest public evaluation
dataset for text-independent speaker verification. It has a good coverage of
age, gender, and accents. We provide several evaluation protocols for each part
of the database to allow for research on different aspects of speaker
verification. We also provide the results of several experiments that can be
considered as baselines: HMM-based i-vectors for text-dependent speaker
verification, and HMM-based as well as state-of-the-art deep neural network
based ASR. We demonstrate that the database can serve for training robust ASR
models.


  Inspired by the trend on unifying theories of programming, this paper shows
how the algebraic treatment of standard data dependency theory equips
relational data with functional types and an associated type system which is
useful for type checking database operations and for query optimization.
  Such a typed approach to database programming is then shown to be of the same
family as other programming logics such as eg. Hoare logic or that of strongest
invariant functions which has been used in the analysis of while statements.
  The prospect of using automated deduction systems such as Prover9 for
type-checking and query optimization on top of such an algebraic approach is
considered.


  An intensive monitoring program of 54 6.7-GHz methanol maser sources was
carried out at the Hartebeesthoek Radio Astronomy Observatory from January 1999
to April 2003. The monitoring program was subsequently continued on 19 sources
of interest. Analysis of the resulting time-series stretching over eight years
shows that six of the sources are periodic, with periods ranging from 133 days
to 504 days. The waveforms in individual sources range from sinusoidal
fluctuations to sharp flares and there can be other long term trends in the
time-series. The amplitudes of the variations can also change from cycle to
cycle. The time-series of the periodic masers will be presented, and possible
causes of the variability discussed.


  We construct new families of two-ended $O(m)\times O(n)$-invariant solutions
to the Allen- Cahn equation \Delta u+u-u3=0 in $\mathbb{R}^{N+1}$, with $N\ge
7$, whose zero level sets diverge logarithmically from the Lawson cone at
infinity. The construction is based on a careful study of the Jacobi-Toda
system on a given $O(m)\times O(n)$-invariant manifold, which is asymptotic to
the Lawson cone at infinity.


  We calculate the coupling constants between the light vector mesons and heavy
mesons within the framework of the light-cone QCD sum rule in the leading order
of heavy quark effective theory. The sum rules are very stable with the
variations of the Borel parameter and the continuum threshold. The extracted
couplings will be useful in the study of the possible heavy meson molecular
states. They may also helpful in the interpretation of the proximity of
X(3872), Y(4260) and Z(4430) to the threshold of two charmed mesons through the
couple-channel mechanism.


  Localized sufficient conditions for the large deviation principle of the
given stochastic differential equations will be presented for stochastic
differential equations with non-Lipschitzian and time-inhomogeneous
coefficients, which is weaker than those relevant conditions existing in the
literature. We consider at first the large deviation principle when
$\int_0^t\sup_{x\in\mathbb{R}^d}||\sigma(s,x)||\vee|b(s,x)|ds=:C_t<\infty$ for
any fixed $t$, then we generalize the conclusion to unbounded case by using
bounded approximation program.


  Dynamics of atomic and molecular bright solitons in a hybrid atom-molecular
BEC (Bose Einstein Condensate) system of 85Rb coupled through Magnetic Feshbach
Resonance (MFR) has been investigated. By solving the time independent
atom-molecular coupled equations, the initial atomic and molecular
wavefunctions were obtained and the dynamics of the initial atomic and
molecular waves in a spherical one-dimensional trap were studied by solving the
time-dependent atom-molecular coupled equations. During evolution two types of
induced or stimulated decays of the feshbach molecules were switched on. These
two types of stimulated decays of the feshbach molecules to the two-atom
continuum and to the bound level of the lowest hyperfinee state of the molecule
were induced by laser or Radio Frequency fields. Hence the strength of these
two induced decays can be controlled by varying the laser or RF field
parameters e.g. intensity, detuning etc. It is found that depending on the
relative strength of these two types of stimulated or induced decays initial
atomic and molecular waves assume solitonic nature as bright solitons during
evolution and the stability of these solitonic waves can be achieved by
controlling the relative strength of induced decays in two different channels.
It is shown that these two induced decays lead to the formation of stable
atomic and molecular solitons by suppressing the initial oscillations and
instability in the atom-molecular coupled system of 85Rb atoms.


  We study the SU(2) electroweak model in which the standard Yang-Mills
coupling is supplemented by a Born-Infeld term. The deformation of the
sphaleron and bisphaleron solutions due to the Born-Infeld term is investigated
and new branches of solutions are exhibited. Especially, we find a new branch
of solutions connecting the Born-Infeld sphaleron to the first solution of the
Kerner-Gal'tsov series.


  Recently, Xia introduced a deterministic variation $\phi_{\sigma}$ of Defant
and Kravitz's stack-sorting maps for set partitions and showed that any set
partition $p$ is sorted by $\phi^{N(p)}_{aba}$, where $N(p)$ is the number of
distinct alphabets in $p$. Xia then asked which set partitions $p$ are not
sorted by $\phi_{aba}^{N(p)-1}$. In this note, we prove that the minimal length
of a set partition $p$ that is not sorted by $\phi_{aba}^{N(p)-1}$ is $2N(p)$.
Then we show that there is only one set partition of length $2N(p)$ and ${{N(p)
+ 1} \choose 2} + 2{N(p) \choose 2}$ set partitions of length $2N(p)+1$ that
are not sorted by $\phi_{aba}^{N(p)-1}$.


  Light is generally expected to travel through isotropic media independent of
its direction. This makes it challenging to develop non-reciprocal optical
elements like optical diodes or circulators, which currently rely on
magneto-optical effects and birefringent materials. Here we present
measurements of non-reciprocal transmission and spontaneous symmetry breaking
between counter-propagating light in dielectric microresonators. The symmetry
breaking corresponds to a resonance frequency splitting that allows only one of
two counter-propagating (but otherwise identical) light waves to circulate in
the resonator. Equivalently, the symmetry breaking can be seen as the collapse
of standing waves and transition to travelling waves within the resonator. We
present theoretical calculations to show that the symmetry breaking is induced
by Kerr-nonlinearity-mediated interaction between the counter-propagating
light. This effect is expected to take place in any dielectric ring-resonator
and might constitute one of the most fundamental ways to induce optical
non-reciprocity. Our findings pave the way for a variety of applications
including all optical switching, nonlinear-enhanced rotation sensing, optically
controllable circulators and isolators, optical flip-flops for photonic
memories as well as exceptionally sensitive power and refractive index sensors.


  This paper proposes a new method for horizon detection called the multi-scale
cross modal linear feature. This method integrates three different concepts
related to the presence of horizon in maritime images to increase the accuracy
of horizon detection. Specifically it uses the persistence of horizon in
multi-scale median filtering, and its detection as a linear feature commonly
detected by two different methods, namely the Hough transform of edgemap and
the intensity gradient. We demonstrate the performance of the method over 13
videos comprising of more than 3000 frames and show that the proposed method
detects horizon with small error in most of the cases, outperforming three
state-of-the-art methods.


  The masses of central massive black holes in BL Lac objects are estimated
from their host galaxy absolute magnitude at R-band by using the empirical
relation between absolute magnitude of host galaxy and black hole mass. Only a
small fraction of BL Lac objects exhibit weak broad-line emission, and we
derive the sizes of the broad-line regions (BLRs) in these BL Lac objects from
the widths of their broad emission lines on the assumption of the clouds being
virilized in BLRs. It is found that the sizes of the BLRs in these sources are
usually 2-3 orders of magnitude larger than that expected by the empirical
correlation between BLR size and optical luminosity defined by a sample of
Seyfert galaxies and quasars. We discuss a variety of possibilities and suggest
it may probably be attributed to anisotropic motion of the BLR clouds in these
BL Lac objects. If the BLR geometry of these sources is disk-like, the viewing
angles between the axis and the line of sight are in the range of 2-12 degrees,
which is consistent with the unification schemes.


  Exact Lagrangian in compact form is derived for planar internal waves in a
two-fluid system with a relatively small density jump (the Boussinesq limit
taking place in real oceanic conditions), in the presence of a background shear
current of constant vorticity, and over arbitrary bottom profile. Long-wave
asymptotic approximations of higher orders are derived from the exact
Hamiltonian functional in a remarkably simple way, for two different
parametrizations of the interface shape.