  The premise of automated alert correlation is to accept that false alerts
from a low level intrusion detection system are inevitable and use attack
models to explain the output in an understandable way. Several algorithms exist
for this purpose which use attack graphs to model the ways in which attacks can
be combined. These algorithms can be classified in to two broad categories
namely scenario-graph approaches, which create an attack model starting from a
vulnerability assessment and type-graph approaches which rely on an abstract
model of the relations between attack types. Some research in to improving the
efficiency of type-graph correlation has been carried out but this research has
ignored the hypothesizing of missing alerts. Our work is to present a novel
type-graph algorithm which unifies correlation and hypothesizing in to a single
operation. Our experimental results indicate that the approach is extremely
efficient in the face of intensive alerts and produces compact output graphs
comparable to other techniques.


  Using rigorous solutions, we compare the ERE parameters obtained in three
different scenarios of EFT($\notpi$) in nonperturbative regime. A scenario with
unconventional power counting (like KSW) is shown to be disfavored by the PSA
data, while the one with elaborate prescription of renormalization but keeping
conventional power counting intact seems more promising.


  Meta-reinforcement learning algorithms can enable robots to acquire new
skills much more quickly, by leveraging prior experience to learn how to learn.
However, much of the current research on meta-reinforcement learning focuses on
task distributions that are very narrow. For example, a commonly used
meta-reinforcement learning benchmark uses different running velocities for a
simulated robot as different tasks. When policies are meta-trained on such
narrow task distributions, they cannot possibly generalize to more quickly
acquire entirely new tasks. Therefore, if the aim of these methods is to enable
faster acquisition of entirely new behaviors, we must evaluate them on task
distributions that are sufficiently broad to enable generalization to new
behaviors. In this paper, we propose an open-source simulated benchmark for
meta-reinforcement learning and multi-task learning consisting of 50 distinct
robotic manipulation tasks. Our aim is to make it possible to develop
algorithms that generalize to accelerate the acquisition of entirely new,
held-out tasks. We evaluate 7 state-of-the-art meta-reinforcement learning and
multi-task learning algorithms on these tasks. Surprisingly, while each task
and its variations (e.g., with different object positions) can be learned with
reasonable success, these algorithms struggle to learn with multiple tasks at
the same time, even with as few as ten distinct training tasks. Our analysis
and open-source environments pave the way for future research in multi-task
learning and meta-learning that can enable meaningful generalization, thereby
unlocking the full potential of these methods.


  The use of cortical field potentials rather than the details of spike trains
as the basis for cognitive information processing is proposed. This results in
a space of cognitive elements with natural metrics. Sets of spike trains may
also be considered to be points in a multidimensional metric space. The
closeness of sets of spike trains in such a space implies the closeness of
points in the resulting function space of potential distributions.


  The Sr~{\sc i} 4607~\AA\ spectral line shows one of the strongest scattering
polarization signals in the visible solar spectrum. The amplitude of this
polarization signal is expected to vary at granular spatial scales, due to the
combined action of the Hanle effect and the local anisotropy of the radiation
field. Observing these variations would be of great interest because it would
provide precious information on the small-scale activity of the solar
photosphere. At present, few detections of such spatial variations have been
reported. This is due to the difficulty of these measurements, which require
combining high spatial ($\sim$ 0.1"), spectral ($\leq$ 20 m\AA), and temporal
resolution (< 1 min) with increased polarimetric sensitivity ($\sim$
10$^-$$^4$). Aims. We aim to detect spatial variations at granular scales of
the scattering polarization peak of the Sr~{\sc i} 4607~\AA\ line at different
limb distances, and to study the correlation with the continuum intensity.
Methods.Using the Zurich IMaging POLarimeter (ZIMPOL) system mounted at the
GREGOR telescope and spectrograph in Tenerife, Spain, we carried out
spectro-polarimetric measurements to obtain the four Stokes parameters in the
Sr~{\sc i} line at different limb distances, from $\mu=0.2$ to $\mu=0.8$, on
the solar disk. Results.Spatial variations of the scattering polarization
signal in the Sr~{\sc i} 4607~\AA\ line, with a spatial resolution of about
0.66", are clearly observed at every $\mu$. The spatial scale of these
variations is comparable to the granular size. A statistical analysis reveals
that the linear scattering polarization amplitude in this Sr~{\sc i} spectral
line is positively correlated with the intensity in the continuum,
corresponding to the granules, at every $\mu$.


  The aim of this paper is to present a simple stochastic model that accounts
for the effects of a long-memory in volatility on option pricing. The starting
point is the stochastic Black-Scholes equation involving volatility with
long-range dependence. We consider the option price as a sum of classical
Black-Scholes price and random deviation describing the risk from the random
volatility. By using the fact the option price and random volatility change on
different time scales, we find the asymptotic equation for the derivation
involving fractional Brownian motion. The solution to this equation allows us
to find the pricing bands for options.


  The teacher-student (T/S) learning has been shown effective in unsupervised
domain adaptation [1]. It is a form of transfer learning, not in terms of the
transfer of recognition decisions, but the knowledge of posteriori
probabilities in the source domain as evaluated by the teacher model. It learns
to handle the speaker and environment variability inherent in and restricted to
the speech signal in the target domain without proactively addressing the
robustness to other likely conditions. Performance degradation may thus ensue.
In this work, we advance T/S learning by proposing adversarial T/S learning to
explicitly achieve condition-robust unsupervised domain adaptation. In this
method, a student acoustic model and a condition classifier are jointly
optimized to minimize the Kullback-Leibler divergence between the output
distributions of the teacher and student models, and simultaneously, to
min-maximize the condition classification loss. A condition-invariant deep
feature is learned in the adapted student model through this procedure. We
further propose multi-factorial adversarial T/S learning which suppresses
condition variabilities caused by multiple factors simultaneously. Evaluated
with the noisy CHiME-3 test set, the proposed methods achieve relative word
error rate improvements of 44.60% and 5.38%, respectively, over a clean source
model and a strong T/S learning baseline model.


  In this paper, the design and the performance of two prototype detectors
based on Micromegas technology with a pad readout geometry is discussed. In
addition, two alternative implementations of a spark-resistent protection layer
on top of the readout pads have been tested to optimize the charge-up behavior
of the detector under high rates. The prototype detectors consist of 500 pads
with a size of 5x4 mm, each connected to one independent readout channel, and
cover an active area of 10x10 cm. The design of these prototypes and its
associated readout infrastructure was developed in such a way that it can be
easily adapted for large-size detector concepts.


  We compute euclidean coordinate space correlation functions in a holographic
model of QCD. We concentrate, in particular, on channels that are related to
the U(1)_A problem, the flavor-singlet axialvector, pseudoscalar meson, and
pseudoscalar glueball (topological charge) correlator. We find that even a very
simple holographic model defined on a slice of AdS_5 provides a qualitatively
correct description of QCD correlation functions. We study the role of anomaly
terms, and show that both euclidean positivity and low energy theorems based on
the axial anomaly relation are correctly implemented. We compare the results
with expectations from an instanton model of the QCD vacuum.


  Near the edges of the instability strip the rate of stellar evolution is
larger than the growth-rate of the pulsation amplitude, and the same holds
whenever the star is engaged in pulsational mode switching. Stellar evolution
therefore controls both the onset of pulsation at the edges of the instability
strip and of mode switching inside it. Two types of switchings (bifurcations)
occur. In a soft bifurcation the switching time scale is the inverse harmonic
mean of the pulsational modal growth-rate and of the stellar evolution rate. In
a hard bifurcation the switching times can be substantially longer than the
thermal time scale which is typically of the order of a hundred periods for
Cepheids and RR Lyrae. We discuss some of the observational consequences, in
particular the paucity of low amplitude pulsators at the edges of the
instability strip.


  Extensive airshower detection is an important issue in current astrophysics
endeavours. Surface arrays detectors are a common practice since they are easy
to handle and have a 100% duty cycle. In this work we present an experimental
study of the parameters relevant to the design of a water Cerenkov detector for
high energy airshowers. This detector is conceived as part of the surface array
of the Pierre Auger Project, which is expected to be sensitive to ultra high
energy cosmic rays. In this paper we focus our attention in the geometry of the
tank and its inner liner material, discussing pulse shapes and charge
collections.


  We evaluate the leading infrared behavior of the scalar susceptibility in QCD
and in the multiflavor Schwinger model for small non-zero quark mass $m$ and/or
small nonzero temperature as well as the scalar susceptibility for the finite
volume QCD partition function. In QCD, it is determined by one-loop chiral
perturbation theory, with the result that the leading infrared singularity
behaves as $\sim \log m$ at zero temperature and as $\sim T/\sqrt m$ at finite
temperature. In the Schwinger model with several flavors we use exact results
for the scalar correlation function. We find that the Schwinger model has a
phase transition at $T=0$ with critical exponents that satisfy the standard
scaling relations. The singular behavior of this model depends on the number of
flavors with a scalar susceptibility that behaves as $\sim m^{-2/(N_f+1)}$. At
finite volume $V$ we show that the scalar susceptibility is proportional to
$1/m^2V$. Recent lattice calculations of this quantity by Karsch and Laermann
are discussed.


  In this paper we investigate how the short-time Fourier transform can be
extended in a Clifford setting. We prove some of the main properties of the
Clifford short-time Fourier transform such as the orthogonality relation, the
reconstruction property and the reproducing kernel formula. Moreover, we show
the effects of modulating and translating the signal and the window function,
respectively. Finally, we demonstrate the Lieb's uncertainty principle for the
Clifford short-time Fourier transform.


  We deduce a non-linear commutator higher-spin (HS) symmetry algebra which
encodes unitary irreducible representations of the AdS group -- subject to a
Young tableaux $Y(s_1,\ldots ,s_k)$ with $k\geq 2$ rows -- in a $d$-dimensional
anti-de-Sitter space. Auxiliary representations for a deformed non-linear HS
symmetry algebra in terms of a generalized Verma module, as applied to
additively convert a subsystem of second-class constraints in the HS symmetry
algebra into one with first-class constraints, are found explicitly in the case
of a $k=2$ Young tableaux. An oscillator realization over the Heisenberg
algebra for the Verma module is constructed. The results generalize the method
of constructing auxiliary representations for the symplectic $sp(2k)$ algebra
used for mixed-symmetry HS fields in flat spaces \cite{BRbos}. Polynomial
deformations of the $su(1,1)$ algebra related to the Bethe ansatz are studied
as a by-product. A nilpotent BRST operator for a non-linear HS symmetry algebra
of the converted constraints for $Y(s_1, s_2)$ is found, with non-vanishing
terms (resolving the Jacobi identities) of third order in powers of ghost
coordinates. A gauge-invariant unconstrained reducible Lagrangian formulation
for a free bosonic HS field of generalized spin $(s_1,s_2)$ is deduced.
Following the results of \cite{BuchbinderReshetnyak, BRmasscub}, we develop a
BRST approach to constructing general off-shell local cubic interaction
vertices for irreducible massive higher-spin fields (being candidates for
massive particles in the Dark Matter problem). A new reducible gauge-invariant
Lagrangian formulation for an antisymmetric massive tensor field of spin
$(1,1)$ is obtained.


  We have analyzed H and K_s-band images of the Arches cluster obtained using
the NIRC2 instrument on Keck with the laser guide star adaptive optics (LGS AO)
system. With the help of the LGS AO system, we were able to obtain the deepest
ever photometry for this cluster and its neighborhood, and derive the
background-subtracted present-day mass function (PDMF) down to 1.3 Msun for the
5 arcsec-9 arcsec annulus of the cluster. We find that the previously reported
turnover at 6 Msun is simply due to a local bump in the mass function (MF), and
that the MF continues to increase down to our 50 % completeness limit (1.3
Msun) with a power-law exponent of Gamma = -0.91 for the mass range of 1.3 <
M/Msun < 50. Our numerical calculations for the evolution of the Arches cluster
show that the Gamma values for our annulus increase by 0.1-0.2 during the
lifetime of the cluster, and thus suggest that the Arches cluster initially had
Gamma of -1.0 ~ -1.1, which is only slightly shallower than the Salpeter value.


  We propose an approach to construct text-based time-series indices in an
optimal way--typically, indices that maximize the contemporaneous relation or
the predictive performance with respect to a target variable, such as
inflation. We illustrate our methodology with a corpus of news articles from
the Wall Street Journal by optimizing text-based indices focusing on tracking
the VIX index and inflation expectations. Our results highlight the superior
performance of our approach compared to existing indices.


  We propose a large-margin Gaussian Mixture (L-GM) loss for deep neural
networks in classification tasks. Different from the softmax cross-entropy
loss, our proposal is established on the assumption that the deep features of
the training set follow a Gaussian Mixture distribution. By involving a
classification margin and a likelihood regularization, the L-GM loss
facilitates both a high classification performance and an accurate modeling of
the training feature distribution. As such, the L-GM loss is superior to the
softmax loss and its major variants in the sense that besides classification,
it can be readily used to distinguish abnormal inputs, such as the adversarial
examples, based on their features' likelihood to the training feature
distribution. Extensive experiments on various recognition benchmarks like
MNIST, CIFAR, ImageNet and LFW, as well as on adversarial examples demonstrate
the effectiveness of our proposal.


  We report on ROSAT HRI observations of the z=0.61 radio galaxy 3C220.1. The
X-ray emission from this object consists of an extended component, which we
attribute to luminous cluster emission, and a compact central source. The
compact component is too bright to be modelled as a cooling flow under some
plausible assumptions for the hot gas temperature and distribution; we suggest
instead that it is directly related to the core of the radio source. The X-ray
flux of the compact component is consistent with the prediction of Worrall et
al (1994) that all powerful radio galaxies should have a central jet-related
X-ray emission component that is proportional in strength to the radio core
flux density. Other observations of distant 3CR radio sources are consistent
with this model.


  This paper presents a method for investigating, through an automatic
procedure, the (lack of) identifiability of parametrized dynamical models. This
method takes into account constraints on parameters and returns parameters
whose estimations make the model identifiable. It is based on i) an equivalence
between an extension of the notion of identifiability and the existence of
solutions of algebraic systems, ii) the use of symbolic computations for
testing their existence.
  This method is described in details and is applied to two examples, of which
the last one involves 12 parameters.


  We consider an optimization problem for spatial power distribution generated
by an array of transmitting elements. Using ultrasound hyperthermia cancer
treatment as a motivating example, the signal design problem consists of
optimizing the power distribution across the tumor and healthy tissue regions,
respectively. The models used in the optimization problem are, however,
invariably subject to errors. deposition as well as inefficient treatment. To
combat such unknown model errors, we formulate a robust signal design framework
that can take the uncertainty into account using a worst-case approach. This
leads to a semi-infinite programming (SIP) robust design problem which we
reformulate as a tractable convex problem, potentially has a wider range of
applications.


  This article describes a purely analytic approach to urn models of the
generalized or extended P\'olya-Eggenberger type, in the case of two types of
balls and constant ``balance,'' that is, constant row sum. The treatment starts
from a quasilinear first-order partial differential equation associated with a
combinatorial renormalization of the model and bases itself on elementary
conformal mapping arguments coupled with singularity analysis techniques.
Probabilistic consequences in the case of ``subtractive'' urns are new
representations for the probability distribution of the urn's composition at
any time n, structural information on the shape of moments of all orders,
estimates of the speed of convergence to the Gaussian limit and an explicit
determination of the associated large deviation function. In the general case,
analytic solutions involve Abelian integrals over the Fermat curve x^h+y^h=1.
Several urn models, including a classical one associated with balanced trees
(2-3 trees and fringe-balanced search trees) and related to a previous study of
Panholzer and Prodinger, as well as all urns of balance 1 or 2 and a sporadic
urn of balance 3, are shown to admit of explicit representations in terms of
Weierstra\ss elliptic functions: these elliptic models appear precisely to
correspond to regular tessellations of the Euclidean plane.


  Let M be a module over a commutative ring R. In this paper, we continue our
study of annihilating-submodule graph AG(M) which was introduced in (The
Zariski topology-graph of modules over commutative rings, Comm. Algebra., 42
(2014), 3283{3296). AG(M) is a (undirected) graph in which a nonzero submodule
N of M is a vertex if and only if there exists a nonzero proper submodule K of
M such that NK = (0), where NK, the product of N and K, is defined by (N : M)(K
: M)M and two distinct vertices N and K are adjacent if and only if NK = (0).
We obtain useful characterizations for those modules M for which either AG(M)
is a complete (or star) graph or every vertex of AG(M) is a prime (or maximal)
submodule of M. Moreover, we study coloring of annihilating-submodule graphs.


  There is increasing interest in deep exclusive meson production (DEMP)
reactions, as they provide access to Generalized Parton Distributions over a
broad kinematic range, and are the only means of measuring pion and kaon
charged electric form factors at high $Q^2$. Such investigations are a
particularly useful tool in the study of hadronic structure in QCD's transition
regime from long-distance interactions described in terms of meson-nucleon
degrees of freedom, to short-dist ance interactions governed by hard
quark-gluon degrees of freedom. To assist the planning of future experimental
investigations of DEMP reactions in this transition regime, such as at
Jefferson Lab and the Electron-Ion Collider (EIC), we have written a special
purpose event generator, DEMPgen. Several types of DEMP reactions can be
generated: $t$-channel $p(e,e^{\prime}\pi^+)n$,
$p(e,e^{\prime}K^+)\Lambda[\Sigma^0]$, and $\vec{n}(e,e^{\prime}\pi^-)p$ from a
polarized $^3$He target. DEMPgen is modular in form, so that additional
reactions can be added over time. The generator produces kinematically-complete
reaction events which are absolutely-normalized, so that projected event rates
can be predicted, and detector resolution requirements studied. The event
normalization is based on parameterizations of theoretical models, appropriate
to the kinematic regime under study. Both fixed target modes and collider beam
modes are supported. This paper presents the structure of the generator, the
model parameterizations used for absolute event weighting, the kinematic
distributions of the generated particles, some initial results using the
generator, and instructions for its use.


  The standard equilibrium equation for magnetized plasma is extended to
account for the magnetic polarization force. A factor of the pressure gradient
arising from the magnetic decomposition of the Hall term survives the limit of
vanishing magnetization and is canceled by a contribution from the magnetic
polarization force, such that the proposed equation reduces to the standard
form in the free current limit. Comparison of the solutions for an axially
symmetric plasma column indicates agreement with the free current limit for
vanishing magnetization and variation in the field and current profiles as the
degree of magnetization increases.


  Fe$_{3}$Si/Ge(Fe,Si)/Fe$_{3}$Si thin film stacks were grown by a combination
of molecular beam epitaxy and solid phase epitaxy (Ge on Fe$_{3}$Si). The
stacks were analyzed using electron microscopy, electron diffraction, and
synchrotron X-ray diffraction. The Ge(Fe,Si) films crystallize in the well
oriented, layered tetragonal structure FeGe$_{2}$ with space group P4mm. This
kind of structure does not exist as a bulk material and is stabilized by solid
phase epitaxy of Ge on Fe$_{3}$Si. We interpret this as an ordering phenomenon
induced by minimization of the elastic energy of the epitaxial film.


  We show that a class of extremal four-dimensional supersymmetric
``high-branes'', i.e. string and domain wall solutions, can be interpreted as
intersections of four ten-dimensional Dirichlet branes. These $d=4$ solutions
are related, via $T$-duality in ten dimensions, to the four-dimensional
extremal Maxwell/scalar black holes that are characterized by a scalar coupling
parameter $a$ with $a=0,1/\sqrt{3}, 1, \sqrt{3}$.


  We study a thermal and a transverse magnetic field response of a vortex line
array confined to a plane with a single columnar pinning defect. By integrating
out ``bulk'' degrees of freedom away from the columnar defect we reduce this
two-dimensional problem to a one-dimensional one, localized on the defect and
exhibiting a long-range elasticity along the defect. We show that as a function
of temperature, for a magnetic field aligned with the defect this system
exhibits a one-dimensional analog of a roughening transition, with a
low-temperature ``smooth'' phase corresponding to a vortex array pinned by the
defect, and a high-temperature ``rough'' phase in which at long scales thermal
fluctuations effectively average away the pinning by the defect. We also find
that in the low-temperature pinned phase, the vortex lattice tilt response to a
transverse magnetic field proceeds via a soliton proliferation transition,
governed by an integrable sine-Hilbert equation and analogous to the well-known
commensurate-incommensurate transition in sine-Gordon systems. The
distinguishing feature here is the long-range nature of the one-dimensional
elasticity, leading to a logarithmic soliton energy and interaction. We predict
the transverse-field -- temperature phase diagram and discuss extension of our
results to a bulk vortex array in the presence of a distribution of columnar
defects.


  A classical result of variational analysis, known as Attouch theorem,
establishes the equivalence between epigraphical convergence of a sequence of
proper convex lower semicontinuous functions and graphical convergence of the
corresponding subdifferential maps up to a normalization condition which fixes
the integration constant. In this work, we show that in finite dimensions and
under a mild boundedness assumption, we can replace subdifferentials (sets of
vectors) by slopes (scalars, corresponding to the distance of the
subdifferentials to zero) and still obtain the same characterization: namely,
the epigraphical convergence of functions is equivalent to the epigraphical
convergence of their slopes. This surprising result goes in line with recent
developments on slope determination (Boulmezaoud, Cieutat, Daniilidis, 2018),
(P\'erez-Aros, Salas, Vilches, 2021) and slope sensitivity (Daniilidis,
Drusvyatskiy, 2023) for convex functions.


  This thesis introduces DescribeX, a powerful framework that is capable of
describing arbitrarily complex XML summaries of web collections, providing
support for more efficient evaluation of XPath workloads. DescribeX permits the
declarative description of document structure using all axes and language
constructs in XPath, and generalizes many of the XML indexing and summarization
approaches in the literature. DescribeX supports the construction of
heterogeneous summaries where different document elements sharing a common
structure can be declaratively defined and refined by means of path regular
expressions on axes, or axis path regular expression (AxPREs). DescribeX can
significantly help in the understanding of both the structure of complex,
heterogeneous XML collections and the behaviour of XPath queries evaluated on
them.
  Experimental results demonstrate the scalability of DescribeX summary
refinements and stabilizations (the key enablers for tailoring summaries) with
multi-gigabyte web collections. A comparative study suggests that using a
DescribeX summary created from a given workload can produce query evaluation
times orders of magnitude better than using existing summaries. DescribeX's
light-weight approach of combining summaries with a file-at-a-time XPath
processor can be a very competitive alternative, in terms of performance, to
conventional fully-fledged XML query engines that provide DB-like functionality
such as security, transaction processing, and native storage.


  We solve the Wheeler DeWitt equation for the planar Reissner-Nordstr\"om-AdS
black hole in a minisuperspace approximation. We construct semiclassical
Wheeler DeWitt states from Gaussian wavepackets that are peaked on classical
black hole interior solutions. By using the metric component $g_{xx}$ as a
clock, these states are evolved through both the exterior and interior
horizons. Close to the singularity, we show that quantum fluctuations in the
wavepacket become important, and therefore the classicality of the
minisuperspace approximation breaks down. Towards the AdS boundary, the Wheeler
DeWitt states are used to recover the Lorentzian partition function of the dual
theory living on this boundary. This partition function is specified by an
energy and a charge. Finally, we show that the Wheeler DeWitt states know about
the black hole thermodynamics, recovering the grand canonical thermodynamic
potential after an appropriate averaging at the black hole horizon.


  The evaluation of iterated primitives of powers of logarithms is expressed in
closed form. The expressions contain polynomials with coefficients given in
terms of the harmonic numbers and their generalizations. The logconcavity of
these polynomials is established.


  Variability is examined in over 2.6 million stars covering 11 square degrees
of the core of the Sagittarius dwarf spheroidal galaxy (Sgr dSph) from VISTA
Z-band observations. Generally, pulsation on the Sgr dSph giant branches
appears to be excited by the internal kappa mechanism. Pulsation amplitudes
appear identical between red and asymptotic (RGB/AGB) giant stars, and between
unreddened carbon and oxygen-rich stars at the same luminosity. The lack of
correlation between infrared excess and variability among oxygen-rich stars
indicates pulsations do not contribute significantly to wind driving in
oxygen-rich stars in the Sgr dSph, though the low amplitudes of these stars
mean this may not apply elsewhere. The dust-enshrouded carbon stars have the
highest amplitudes of the stars we observe. Only in these stars does an
external kappa-mechanism-driven pulsation seem likely, caused by variations in
their more-opaque carbon-rich molecules or dust. This may allow pulsation
driving of winds to be effective in carbon stars. Variability can be simplified
to a power law (amplitude proportional to L/T^2), as in other systems. In
total, we identify 3026 variable stars (with r.m.s. variability of delta Z >~
0.015 magnitudes), of which 176 are long-period variables associable with the
upper giant branches of the Sgr dSph. We also identify 324 candidate RR Lyrae
variables in the the Sgr dSph and 340 in the outer Galactic Bulge.


  The status of the Standard Model Scalar Boson search in the bosonic decay
channels at the CMS experiment at the LHC is presented. The results are based
on proton-proton collisions data corresponding to integrated luminosities of up
to 5.1 fb-1 at sqrt{s} = 7 TeV and 19.6 fb-1 at sqrt{s} = 8 TeV. The
observation of a new boson at a mass near 126 GeV is confirmed by the analysis
of the new data and first measurements of the boson properties are shown.


  This work aims to provide a more complete understanding of the resonance
mechanisms that occur in turbulent jets at high subsonic Mach number, as shown
by Towne et al. (2017). Resonance was suggested by that study to exist between
upstream- and downstream-travelling guided waves. Five possible resonance
mechanisms were postulated, each involving different families of guided waves
that reflect in the nozzle exit plane and a number of downstream turning
points. But the study did not show which of these mechanisms are active in the
flow. In this work, the waves underpinning resonance are identified via a
biorthogonal projection of the Large Eddy Simulation data on eigenbases
provided by locally parallel linear stability analysis. Two of the scenarios
postulated by Towne et al. (2017) are thus confirmed to exist in the turbulent
jet data. The reflection-coefficients in the nozzle exit and turning-point
planes are, furthermore, identified.


  Graph-Convolution-based methods have been successfully applied to
representation learning on homophily graphs where nodes with the same label or
similar attributes tend to connect with one another. Due to the homophily
assumption of Graph Convolutional Networks (GCNs) that these methods use, they
are not suitable for heterophily graphs where nodes with different labels or
dissimilar attributes tend to be adjacent. Several methods have attempted to
address this heterophily problem, but they do not change the fundamental
aggregation mechanism of GCNs because they rely on summation operators to
aggregate information from neighboring nodes, which is implicitly subject to
the homophily assumption. Here, we introduce a novel aggregation mechanism and
develop a RAndom Walk Aggregation-based Graph Neural Network (called RAW-GNN)
method. The proposed approach integrates the random walk strategy with graph
neural networks. The new method utilizes breadth-first random walk search to
capture homophily information and depth-first search to collect heterophily
information. It replaces the conventional neighborhoods with path-based
neighborhoods and introduces a new path-based aggregator based on Recurrent
Neural Networks. These designs make RAW-GNN suitable for both homophily and
heterophily graphs. Extensive experimental results showed that the new method
achieved state-of-the-art performance on a variety of homophily and heterophily
graphs.


  The algebraic approach to black hole quantization requires the horizon area
eigenvalues to be equally spaced. As shown previously, for a neutral
non-rotating black hole, such eigenvalues must be $2^{n}$-fold degenerate if
one constructs the black hole stationary states by means of a pair of creation
operators subject to a specific algebra. We show that the algebra of these two
building blocks exhibits $U(2)\equiv U(1)\times SU(2)$ symmetry, where the area
operator generates the U(1) symmetry. The three generators of the SU(2)
symmetry represent a {\it global} quantum number (hyperspin) of the black hole,
and we show that this hyperspin must be zero. As a result, the degeneracy of
the $n$-th area eigenvalue is reduced to $2^{n}/n^{3/2}$ for large $n$, and
therefore, the logarithmic correction term $-3/2\log A$ should be added to the
Bekenstein-Hawking entropy. We also provide a heuristic approach explaining
this result, and an evidence for the existence of {\it two} building blocks.


  AX J1843.8-0352 is a new X-ray SNR identified to the radio complex G28.6-0.1
with the ASCA satellite. Chandra discovered two distinct components from this
SNR: non-thermal and thin thermal X-ray emissions. The non-thermal component is
fitted with a power-law spectrum of photon index 2.0. The morphology is
complicated, but roughly an elliptical shape with a mean diameter of about
7'-10'. The east to south rims of the ellipse are associated with the
non-thermal radio sources C, F and G (Helfand et al. 1989). The power-law slope
of the radio spectrum can be smoothly connected to that of X-rays with a break
at around the optical-IR band, hence would be due to synchrotron X-rays
accelerated probably to > 1 TeV at the shell of the SNR. The thermal component
near the southeast rim is a thin plasma of about 0.8 keV temperature. It has
the appearance of a "Tadpole" figure with a head of 30"x 40"-size and a tail of
30"-long. Although this emission is associated with the west part of the radio
source F, the absorption is about two times larger than that of the non-thermal
X-rays, the bulk of the SNR emission. Therefore, together with the peculiar
morphology, whether the thermal plasma is a part of the SNR or a background
object is unclear.


  In this paper, we propose a novel approach for conducting face morphing
attacks, which utilizes optimal-landmark-guided image blending. Current face
morphing attacks can be categorized into landmark-based and generation-based
approaches. Landmark-based methods use geometric transformations to warp facial
regions according to averaged landmarks but often produce morphed images with
poor visual quality. Generation-based methods, which employ generation models
to blend multiple face images, can achieve better visual quality but are often
unsuccessful in generating morphed images that can effectively evade
state-of-the-art face recognition systems~(FRSs). Our proposed method overcomes
the limitations of previous approaches by optimizing the morphing landmarks and
using Graph Convolutional Networks (GCNs) to combine landmark and appearance
features. We model facial landmarks as nodes in a bipartite graph that is fully
connected and utilize GCNs to simulate their spatial and structural
relationships. The aim is to capture variations in facial shape and enable
accurate manipulation of facial appearance features during the warping process,
resulting in morphed facial images that are highly realistic and visually
faithful. Experiments on two public datasets prove that our method inherits the
advantages of previous landmark-based and generation-based methods and
generates morphed images with higher quality, posing a more significant threat
to state-of-the-art FRSs.


  We extend recently developed methods used for determining the electromagnetic
charge radius and $a_\mu^{\pi\pi}$ to obtain a determination of the
electromagnetic form factor of the pion, $F_\pi^V(t)$, in several significant
kinematical regions, using a parametrization-free formalism based on
analyticity and unitarity, and with the inclusion of precise inputs from both
timelike and spacelike regions. On the unitarity cut, below the first inelastic
threshold we use the precisely known phase of the form factor, known from
$\pi\pi$ elastic scattering via the Fermi-Watson theorem, and above the
inelastic threshold a conservative integral condition on the modulus. We also
use as input the experimental values of the modulus at several energies in the
elastic region, where the data from $e^+e^-\to \pi^+\pi^-$ and $\tau$ hadronic
decays are mutually consistent, as well as the most recent measurements at
spacelike momenta. The experimental uncertainties are implemented by Monte
Carlo simulations. At spacelike values $Q^2=-t>0$ near the origin, our
predictions are consistent and significantly more precise than the recent QCD
lattice calculations. The determinations at larger $Q^2$ confirm the late onset
of perturbative QCD for exclusive quantities. From the predictions of
$|F_\pi^V(t)|^2$ on the timelike axis below 0.63 GeV, we obtain the hadronic
vacuum polarization (HPV) contribution to the muon anomaly,
$a_\mu^{\pi\pi}|_{\leq 0.63\gev} = (132.97\pm 0.70)\times 10^{-10}$, using
input from both $e^+e^-$ annihilation and $\tau$ decay, and
$a_\mu^{\pi\pi}|_{\leq 0.63 \gev} = (132.91\pm 0.76)\times 10^{-10}$ using only
$e^+e^-$ input. Our determinations can be readily extended to obtain such
contributions in any interval of interest lying between $2 m_\pi$ and 0.63 GeV.


  This paper is intended as part of a more extensive molecular line survey in
star forming regions along the evolutionary track of a collapsing cloud toward
a young stellar object. We have studied a sample of seven small dark clouds
(Bok globules) and eight Herbig Ae/Be stars in the J=1->0 transition of
HCO$^{+}$, H$^{13}$CO$^{+}$, HCN and H$^{13}$CN. The choice of these molecules
is determined by the simple chemistry and the predicted high abundance of the
reactants leading to their formation. The isotopically substituted species
(isotopomers), H$^{13}$CO$^{+}$ and H$^{13}$CN, were observed in order to
determine, whenever possible, the optical thickness of the main species. The
most abundant isotopomers were found in almost all the sources (detection rate
70-90\%). Those sources which exhibited the strongest signals were also
searched for the $^{13}$C isotopomers. H$^{13}$CO$^{+}$ was found in one dark
cloud and around three Herbig Ae/Be stars, while H$^{13}$CN around only one
star. The column densities for each species and the physical conditions of the
objects were derived whenever the observational data allowed it.


  We consider a non-stationary variant of a sequential stochastic optimization
problem, in which the underlying cost functions may change along the horizon.
We propose a measure, termed variation budget, that controls the extent of said
change, and study how restrictions on this budget impact achievable
performance. We identify sharp conditions under which it is possible to achieve
long-run-average optimality and more refined performance measures such as rate
optimality that fully characterize the complexity of such problems. In doing
so, we also establish a strong connection between two rather disparate strands
of literature: adversarial online convex optimization; and the more traditional
stochastic approximation paradigm (couched in a non-stationary setting). This
connection is the key to deriving well performing policies in the latter, by
leveraging structure of optimal policies in the former. Finally, tight bounds
on the minimax regret allow us to quantify the "price of non-stationarity,"
which mathematically captures the added complexity embedded in a temporally
changing environment versus a stationary one.


  Recommendation represents a vital stage in developing and promoting the
benefits of the Internet of Things (IoT). Traditional recommender systems fail
to exploit ever-growing, dynamic, and heterogeneous IoT data. This paper
presents a comprehensive review of the state-of-the-art recommender systems, as
well as related techniques and application in the vibrant field of IoT. We
discuss several limitations of applying recommendation systems to IoT and
propose a reference framework for comparing existing studies to guide future
research and practices.


  It is well known that entanglement is widespread in quantum field theory, in
the following sense: every Reeh-Schlieder state contains entanglement between
any two spatially separated regions. This applies, in particular, to the vacuum
of a non-interacting scalar theory in Minkowski spacetime. Discussions on
entanglement in field theory have focused mainly on subsystems containing
infinitely many degrees of freedom -- typically, the field modes that are
supported within a compact region of space. In this article, we study
entanglement in subsystems made of finitely many field degrees of freedom, in a
free scalar theory in $D+1$-dimensional Minkowski spacetime. The focus on
finitely many modes of the field is motivated by the finite capabilities of
real experiments. We find that entanglement between finite-dimensional
subsystems is {\em not common at all}, and that one needs to carefully select
the support of modes for entanglement to show up. We also find that
entanglement is increasingly sparser in higher dimensions. We conclude that
entanglement in Minkowski spacetime is significantly less ubiquitous than
normally thought.


  We show that atoms subject to laser radiation may form a non-additive
many-body system on account of their long-range forces, when the atoms are
trapped in the vicinity of a fiber with a Bragg grating. When the laser
frequency is inside the grating's bandgap but very close to its edge, we find
that the range and strength of the laser-induced interaction becomes
substantially enhanced, due to the large density of states near the edge, while
the competing process of scattering to the fiber is inhibited. The dynamics of
the atomic positions in this system conforms to a prominent model of
statistical physics which exhibits slow relaxation. This suggests the
possibility of using laser-illuminated atoms to study the characteristics of
non-additive systems.


  We report the first search for the Sagittarius tidal stream of axion dark
matter around 4.55 $\mu$eV using CAPP-12TB haloscope data acquired in March of
2022. Our result excluded the Sagittarius tidal stream of
Dine-Fischler-Srednicki-Zhitnitskii and Kim-Shifman-Vainshtein-Zakharov axion
dark matter densities of $\rho_a\gtrsim0.184$ and $\gtrsim0.025$ GeV/cm$^3$,
respectively, over a mass range from 4.51 to 4.59 $\mu$eV at a 90\% confidence
level.


  We consider the impact of the recent data obtained by the LHC, Tevatron, and
fixed-target experiments on the nucleon quark distributions with a particular
focus on disentangling different quark species. An improved determination of
the poorly known strange sea distribution is obtained due to including data
from the neutrino-induced deep-inelastic scattering experiments NOMAD and
CHORUS. The impact of the associated (W + c) production data by CMS and ATLAS
on the strange sea determination is also studied and a comparison with earlier
results based on the collider data is discussed. Finally, the recent LHC and
Tevatron data on the charged lepton asymmetry are compared to the NNLO ABM
predictions and the potential of this input in improving the non-strange sea
distributions is evaluated.


  Let V be the Veronese cubic surface in P^9. We classify the projections of V
to P^8 whose coordinate rings are Koszul. In particular we obtain a purely
theoretical proof of the Koszulness of the pinched Veronese, a result obtained
originally by Caviglia using filtrations, deformations and computer assisted
computations. To this purpose we extend, to certain complete intersections,
results of Conca, Herzog, Trung and Valla concerning homological properties of
diagonal algebras.


  Our main result states that every fixed-point free continuous self-map of
${\mathbb R}^{n}$ is colorable. This result can be re-formulated as follows: A
continuous map $f: {\mathbb R}^{n}\to {\mathbb R}^{n}$ is fixed-point free iff
$\widetilde f: \beta {\mathbb R}^{n}\to \beta {\mathbb R}^{n}$ is fixed-point
free. We also obtain a generalization of this fact and present some examples.


  This report deals with the basic concepts on deducing transit times for
quantum scattering: the stationary phase method and its relation with delay
times for relativistic and non-relativistic tunneling particles. We notice that
the applicability of this method is constrained by several subtleties in
deriving the phase time that describes the localization of scattered wave
packets. We investigate the general relation between phase times and dwell
times for quantum tunneling/scattering. Considering a symmetrical collision of
two identical wave packets with an one-dimensional barrier, we demonstrate that
these two distinct transit time definitions are explicitly connected. The
traversal times are obtained for a symmetrized (two identical bosons) and an
antisymmetrized (two identical fermions) quantum colliding configuration.
Multiple wave packet decomposition shows us that the phase time (group delay)
describes the exact position of the scattered particles and, in addition to the
exact relation with the dwell time, leads to correct conceptual understanding
of both transit time definitions. At last, we extend the non-relativistic
formalism to the solutions for the tunneling zone of a one-dimensional
electrostatic potential in the relativistic (Dirac to Klein-Gordon) wave
equation where the incoming wave packet exhibits the possibility of being
almost totally transmitted through the potential barrier. The conditions for
the occurrence of accelerated tunneling transmission probabilities are all
quantified and the problematic superluminal interpretation based on the
non-relativistic tunneling dynamics is revisited.


  Continuing our previous work on graded twisting of Hopf algebras and monoidal
categories, we introduce a graded twisting construction for equivariant
comodule algebras and module categories. As an example we study actions of
quantum subgroups of $G\subset SL_{-1}(2)$ on $K_{-1}[x,y]$ and show that in
most cases the corresponding invariant rings $K_{-1}[x,y]^G$ are invariant
rings $K[x,y]^{G'}$ for the action of a classical subgroup $G'\subset SL(2)$.
As another example we study Poisson boundaries of graded twisted categories and
show that under the assumption of weak amenability they are graded twistings of
the Poisson boundaries.


  I review the major open science questions in exoplanet atmospheres. These are
mainly focused in the areas of understanding atmospheric physics, the
atmosphere as a window into other realms of planetary physics, and the
atmosphere is a window into understanding planet formation. For gas giant
planets, high quality spectra have been delivered from JWST and from the
ground, enabling the determination of atmospheric abundances. For the very
common sub-Neptune planets, we are just beginning to obtain and interpret JWST
spectra. For the terrestrial planets, which can be studied only around M stars,
the field aims to determine if these planets even have long-lived atmospheres.


  When the theory of Quantum Chromodynamics was introduced, it was to explain
the observed phenomena of quark confinement and scaling. It was then discovered
that the emergence of instantons is an essential consequence of this theory.
This led to unanticipated explanations not only for the anomalously high masses
of the $\eta$ and the $\eta'$ particles, but also for the remarkable
differences that had been observed in the mixing angles for the pseudoscalar
mesons and the vector mesons.


  This paper presents a comparative analysis on two artificial neural networks
(with different architectures) for the task of tempo estimation. For this
purpose, it also proposes the modeling, training and evaluation of a B-RNN
(Bidirectional Recurrent Neural Network) model capable of estimating tempo in
bpm (beats per minutes) of musical pieces, without using external auxiliary
modules. An extensive database (12,550 pieces in total) was curated to conduct
a quantitative and qualitative analysis over the experiment. Percussion-only
tracks were also included in the dataset. The performance of the B-RNN is
compared to that of state-of-the-art models. For further comparison, a
state-of-the-art CNN was also retrained with the same datasets used for the
B-RNN training. Evaluation results for each model and datasets are presented
and discussed, as well as observations and ideas for future research. Tempo
estimation was more accurate for the percussion only dataset, suggesting that
the estimation can be more accurate for percussion-only tracks, although
further experiments (with more of such datasets) should be made to gather
stronger evidence.


  The effects of a Planck-scale deformation of the Minkowski energy-momentum
dispersion relation on the phenomenology of non-trapped Bose-Einstein
condensates (BECs) are examined. Such a deformation is shown to cause a shift
in the condensation temperature $T_{c}$ of the BEC and, for a specific
functional form of deformation, this shift can be as large as the current
measured precision on $T_{c}$. For a $_{37}^{85}Rb$ cold-atom BEC with a
particle density $n\simeq 10^{12}cm^{-3}$ we find a fractional shift of order
$10^{-4}$, but this can be much larger for even more dilute BECs. We discuss
the possibility of planning specific experiments with BECs that might provide
phenomenological constraints on Planck-scale physics. These corrections to
$T_{c}$ are found to be extremely small for ultrarelativistic BECs implying
that, in some cases, Planck-scale effects may be more important in low- rather
than high-energy processes.


  We present a theory for Euclidean dimensionality reduction with subgaussian
matrices which unifies several restricted isometry property and
Johnson-Lindenstrauss type results obtained earlier for specific data sets. In
particular, we recover and, in several cases, improve results for sets of
sparse and structured sparse vectors, low-rank matrices and tensors, and smooth
manifolds. In addition, we establish a new Johnson-Lindenstrauss embedding for
data sets taking the form of an infinite union of subspaces of a Hilbert space.


  Critical toponymy examines the dynamics of power, capital, and resistance
through place names and the sites to which they refer. Studies here have
traditionally focused on the semantic content of toponyms and the top-down
institutional processes that produce them. However, they have generally ignored
the ways in which toponyms are used by ordinary people in everyday discourse,
as well as the other strategies of geospatial description that accompany and
contextualize toponymic reference. Here, we develop computational methods to
measure how cultural and economic capital shape the ways in which people refer
to places, through a novel annotated dataset of 47,440 New York City Airbnb
listings from the 2010s. Building on this dataset, we introduce a new named
entity recognition (NER) model able to identify important discourse categories
integral to the characterization of place. Our findings point toward new
directions for critical toponymy and to a range of previously understudied
linguistic signals relevant to research on neighborhood status, housing and
tourism markets, and gentrification.


  The computation of eigenvalues of large-scale matrices arising from finite
element discretizations has gained significant interest in the last decade.
Here we present a new algorithm based on slicing the spectrum that takes
advantage of the rank structure of resolvent matrices in order to compute m
eigenvalues of the generalized symmetric eigenvalue problem in $\mathcal{O}(n m
\log^\alpha n)$ operations, where $\alpha>0$ is a small constant.


  Social media has quickly grown into an essential tool for people to
communicate and express their needs during crisis events. Prior work in
analyzing social media data for crisis management has focused primarily on
automatically identifying actionable (or, informative) crisis-related messages.
In this work, we show that recent advances in Deep Learning and Natural
Language Processing outperform prior approaches for the task of classifying
informativeness and encourage the field to adopt them for their research or
even deployment. We also extend these methods to two sub-tasks of
informativeness and find that the Deep Learning methods are effective here as
well.


  Titanium dioxide (TiO$_2$) thin films are commonly used as photocatalytic
materials. Here, we enhance the photocatalytic activity of devices based on
TiO$_2$ by combining nanostructured glass substrates with metallic plasmonic
nanostructures. We achieve a three-fold increase of the catalyst's surface area
through nanoscale three-dimensional patterning of periodic conical grids, which
creates a broadband optical absorber. The addition of aluminum and gold
activates the structures plasmonically and improves the optical absorption in
the TiO$_2$ films to above 70% in the visible and NIR spectral range. We
demonstrate the resulting enhancement of the photocatalytic activity with
organic dye degradation tests under different light sources. Furthermore, the
pharmaceutical drug Carbamazepine, a common water pollutant, is reduced in
aqueous solution by up to 48% in 360 minutes. Our approach is scalable and
potentially enables future solar-driven wastewater treatment.


  We present a detailed photometric study of the dwarf irregular galaxy NGC
6822 aimed at investigating the properties of its stellar populations and, in
particular, the presence of stellar radial gradients. Our goal is to analyse
the stellar populations in six fields, which cover the whole bar of this dwarf
galaxy. We derived the quantitative star formation history (SFH) of the six
fields using the IAC method, involving IAC-pop/MinnIAC codes. The solutions we
derived show an enhanced star formation rate (SFR) in Fields 1 and 3 during the
past 500 Myr. The SFRs of the other fields are almost extinguished at very
recent epochs and. We study the radial gradients of the SFR and consider the
total mass converted into stars in two time intervals (between 0 and 0.5 Gyr
ago and between 0.5 and 13.5 Gyr ago). We find that the scale lengths of the
young and intermediate-to-old populations are perfectly compatible, with the
exception of the young populations in Fields 1 and 3. The recent SF in these
two fields is greater than in the other ones. This might be an indication that
in these two fields we are sampling incipient spiral arms. Further evidence and
new observations are required to prove this hypothesis. In addition, we derived
the age-metallicity relations. As expected, the metallicity increases with time
for all of the fields. We do not observe any radial gradient in the
metallicity.


  We analyse the constraints on dimension-six Delta F=1 effective operators in
models respecting the MFV hypothesis, both in the one-Higgs doublet case and in
the two-Higgs doublet scenario with large tan beta. The constraints are derived
mainly from the b -> s inclusive observables measured at the B factories. The
implications of these bounds in view of improved measurements in exclusive and
inclusive observables in b -> s l^+ l^- and s -> d nu nubar transitions are
discussed.


  We study the interconversion of multipartite symmetric $N$-qubit states under
stochastic local operations and classical communication (SLOCC). We demonstrate
that if two symmetric states can be connected with a nonsymmetric invertible
local operation (ILO), then they belong necessarily to the separable, W, or GHZ
entanglement class, establishing a practical method of discriminating subsets
of entanglement classes. Furthermore, we prove that there always exists a
symmetric ILO connecting any pair of symmetric $N$-qubit states equivalent
under SLOCC, simplifying the requirements for experimental implementations of
local interconversion of those states.


  Link prediction algorithms aim to infer the existence of connections (or
links) between nodes in network-structured data and are typically applied to
refine the connectivity among nodes. In this work, we focus on link prediction
for flow-driven spatial networks, which are embedded in a Euclidean space and
relate to physical exchange and transportation processes (e.g., blood flow in
vessels or traffic flow in road networks). To this end, we propose the Graph
Attentive Vectors (GAV) link prediction framework. GAV models simplified
dynamics of physical flow in spatial networks via an attentive,
neighborhood-aware message-passing paradigm, updating vector embeddings in a
constrained manner. We evaluate GAV on eight flow-driven spatial networks given
by whole-brain vessel graphs and road networks. GAV demonstrates superior
performances across all datasets and metrics and outperformed the
state-of-the-art on the ogbl-vessel benchmark at the time of submission by 12%
(98.38 vs. 87.98 AUC). All code is publicly available on GitHub.


  This paper presents an automatic method to evaluate the naturalness of
natural language generation in dialogue systems. While this task was previously
rendered through expensive and time-consuming human labor, we present this
novel task of automatic naturalness evaluation of generated language. By
fine-tuning the BERT model, our proposed naturalness evaluation method shows
robust results and outperforms the baselines: support vector machines,
bi-directional LSTMs, and BLEURT. In addition, the training speed and
evaluation performance of naturalness model are improved by transfer learning
from quality and informativeness linguistic knowledge.


  Resonant interaction between excitonic transitions of molecules and localized
electromagnetic field allows the formation of hybrid light-matter polaritonic
states. This hybridization of the light and the matter states has been shown to
be able to significantly alter the intrinsic properties of molecular ensembles
placed inside the optical cavity. Here, we have achieved strong coupling
between the excitonic transition in typical oligonucleotide-based molecular
beacons labelled with a pair of organic dye molecules, demonstrating an
efficient donor to acceptor resonance energy transfer, and the tuneable
open-access cavity mode. The photoluminescence of this hybrid system under
non-resonant laser excitation and the dependence of the relative population of
light-matter hybrid states on cavity detuning have been characterized.
Furthermore, by analysing the dependence of the relaxation pathways between
energy states in this system, we have demonstrated that predominant strong
coupling of the cavity photon to the exciton transition in the donor dye
molecule can lead to such a large an energy shift that the energy transfer from
the acceptor exciton reservoir to the mainly donor lower polaritonic state can
be achieved, thus yielding the chromophores donor-acceptor role reversal or
carnival effect. Our experimental data confirm the theoretically predicted
possibility for confined electromagnetic fields to control and mediate
polariton-assisted remote energy transfer thus paving the way to new approaches
to remote-controlled chemistry, energy harvesting, energy transfer and sensing.


  This paper is an extension of the paper by Del Popolo, Chan, and Mota (2020)
to take account the effect of dynamical friction. We show how dynamical
friction changes the threshold of collapse, $\delta_c$, and the turn-around
radius, $R_t$. We find numerically the relationship between the turnaround
radius, $R_{\rm t}$, and mass, $M_{\rm t}$, in $\Lambda$CDM, in dark energy
scenarios, and in a $f(R)$ modified gravity model. Dynamical friction gives
rise to a $R_{\rm t}-M_{\rm t}$ relation differing from that of the standard
spherical collapse. In particular, dynamical friction amplifies the effect of
shear, and vorticity already studied in Del Popolo, Chan, and Mota (2020). A
comparison of the $R_{\rm t}-M_{\rm t}$ relationship for the $\Lambda$CDM, and
those for the dark energy, and modified gravity models shows, that the $R_{\rm
t}-M_{\rm t}$ relationship of the $\Lambda$CDM is similar to that of the dark
energy models, and small differences are seen when comparing with the $f(R)$
models. The effect of shear, rotation, and dynamical friction is particularly
evident at galactic scales, giving rise to a difference between the $R_{\rm
t}-M_{\rm t}$ relation of the standard spherical collapse of the order of
$\simeq 60\%$. Finally, we show how the new values of the $R_{\rm t}-M_{\rm t}$
influence the constraints to the $w$ parameter of the equation of state.


  Most causal inference algorithms in the literature (e.g., Pearl (2000),
Spirtes et al. (2000), Heckerman et al. (1999)) exploit an assumption usually
referred to as the causal Faithfulness or Stability condition. In this paper,
we highlight two components of the condition used in constraint-based
algorithms, which we call "Adjacency-Faithfulness" and
"Orientation-Faithfulness". We point out that assuming Adjacency-Faithfulness
is true, it is in principle possible to test the validity of
Orientation-Faithfulness. Based on this observation, we explore the consequence
of making only the Adjacency-Faithfulness assumption. We show that the familiar
PC algorithm has to be modified to be (asymptotically) correct under the
weaker, Adjacency-Faithfulness assumption. Roughly the modified algorithm,
called Conservative PC (CPC), checks whether Orientation-Faithfulness holds in
the orientation phase, and if not, avoids drawing certain causal conclusions
the PC algorithm would draw. However, if the stronger, standard causal
Faithfulness condition actually obtains, the CPC algorithm is shown to output
the same pattern as the PC algorithm does in the large sample limit. We also
present a simulation study showing that the CPC algorithm runs almost as fast
as the PC algorithm, and outputs significantly fewer false causal arrowheads
than the PC algorithm does on realistic sample sizes. We end our paper by
discussing how score-based algorithms such as GES perform when the
Adjacency-Faithfulness but not the standard causal Faithfulness condition
holds, and how to extend our work to the FCI algorithm, which allows for the
possibility of latent variables.


  Facial expressions have essential cues to infer the humans state of mind,
that conveys adequate information to understand individuals actual feelings.
Thus, automatic facial expression recognition is an interesting and crucial
task to interpret the humans cognitive state through the machine. In this
paper, we proposed an Exigent Features Preservative Network (EXPERTNet), to
describe the features of the facial expressions. The EXPERTNet extracts only
pertinent features and neglect others by using exigent feature (ExFeat) block,
mainly comprises of elective layer. Specifically, elective layer selects the
desired edge variation features from the previous layer outcomes, which are
generated by applying different sized filters as 1 x 1, 3 x 3, 5 x 5 and 7 x 7.
Different sized filters aid to elicits both micro and high-level features that
enhance the learnability of neurons. ExFeat block preserves the spatial
structural information of the facial expression, which allows to discriminate
between different classes of facial expressions. Visual representation of the
proposed method over different facial expressions shows the learning capability
of the neurons of different layers. Experimental and comparative analysis
results over four comprehensive datasets CK+, MMI DISFA and GEMEP-FERA, ensures
the better performance of the proposed network as compared to existing
networks.


  Prediction of solar activity cycles is challenging because physical processes
inside the Sun involve a broad range of multiscale dynamics that no model can
reproduce and because the available observations are highly limited and cover
mostly surface layers. Helioseismology makes it possible to probe solar
dynamics in the convective zone, but variations in differential rotation and
meridional circulation are currently available for only two solar activity
cycles. It has been demonstrated that sunspot observations, which cover over
400 years, can be used to calibrate the Parker-Kleeorin-Ruzmaikin dynamo model,
and that the Ensemble Kalman Filter (EnKF) method can be used to link the
modeled magnetic fields to sunspot observations and make reliable predictions
of a following activity cycle. However, for more accurate predictions, it is
necessary to use actual observations of the solar magnetic fields, which are
available only for the last four solar cycles. In this paper I briefly discuss
the influence of the limited number of available observations on the accuracy
of EnKF estimates of solar cycle parameters, the criteria to evaluate the
predictions, and application of synoptic magnetograms to the prediction of
solar activity.


  Let f in Z[X,Y,Z] be a non-constant, absolutely irreducible, homogeneous
polynomial with integer coefficients, such that the projective curve given by
f=0 has a function field isomorphic to the rational function field Q(t). We
show that all integral solutions of the Diophantine equation f=0 (up to those
corresponding to some singular points) can be parametrized by a single triple
of integer-valued polynomials. In general, it is not possible to parametrize
this set of solutions by a single triple of polynomials with integer
coefficients.


  The effective control of the COVID-19 pandemic is one the most challenging
issues of nowadays. The design of optimal control policies is perplexed from a
variety of social, political, economical and epidemiological factors. Here,
based on epidemiological data reported in recent studies for the Italian region
of Lombardy, which experienced one of the largest and most devastating
outbreaks in Europe during the first wave of the pandemic, we address a
probabilistic model predictive control (PMPC) approach for the modelling and
the systematic study of what if scenarios of the social distancing in a
retrospective analysis for the first wave of the pandemic in Lombardy. The
performance of the proposed PMPC scheme was assessed based on simulations of a
compartmental model that was developed to quantify the uncertainty in the level
of the asymptomatic cases in the population, and the synergistic effect of
social distancing in various activities, and public awareness campaign
prompting people to adopt cautious behaviors to reduce the risk of disease
transmission. The PMPC scheme takes into account the social mixing effect, i.e.
the effect of the various activities in the potential transmission of the
disease. The proposed approach demonstrates the utility of a PMPC approach in
addressing COVID-19 transmission and implementing public relaxation policies.


  Ion cyclotron emission (ICE) holds great potential as a diagnostic tool for
fast ions in fusion devices. The theory of magnetoacoustic cyclotron
instability (MCI), as an emission mechanism for ICE, states that MCI is driven
by a velocity distribution of fast ions that approximates a drift ring beam.
The influence of key parameters on the linear MCI is systematically
investigated using the linear kinetic dispersion relation solver BO (Xie H.
2019 Comput. Phys. Comm. 244 343). The computational spectra region considered
extends up to 40 times the ion cyclotron frequency. By examining the influence
of these key parameters on MCI, several novel results have been obtained. In
the case of MCI excited by super-Alfv\'enic fast ions, the parallel velocity
spread significantly affects the bandwidth of harmonics and the continuous
spectrum, while the perpendicular velocity spread has a decisive effect on the
MCI growth rate. As the velocity spread increases, the linear relationship
between the MCI growth rate and the square root of the number density ratio
transitions to a linear relationship between the MCI growth rate and the number
density ratio. This finding provides a linear perspective explanation for the
observed linear relation between fast ion number density and ICE intensity in
JET. Furthermore, high harmonics are more sensitive to changes in propagation
angle than low harmonics because a decrease in the propagation angle alters the
dispersion relation of the fast Alfv\'en wave. In the case of MCI excited by
sub-Alfv\'enic fast ions, a significant growth rate increase occurs at high
harmonics due to the transition of sub-Alfv\'enic fast ions to super-Alfv\'enic
fast ions.


  We have determined new relations between $UBV$ colors and mass-to-light
ratios ($M/L$) for dwarf irregular (dIrr) galaxies, as well as for transformed
$g^\prime - r^\prime$. These $M/L$ to color relations (MLCRs) are based on
stellar mass density profiles determined for 34 LITTLE THINGS dwarfs from
spectral energy distribution fitting to multi-wavelength surface photometry in
passbands from the FUV to the NIR. These relations can be used to determine
stellar masses in dIrr galaxies for situations where other determinations of
stellar mass are not possible. Our MLCRs are shallower than comparable MLCRs in
the literature determined for spiral galaxies. We divided our dwarf data into
four metallicity bins and found indications of a steepening of the MLCR with
increased oxygen abundance, perhaps due to more line blanketing occurring at
higher metallicity.


  We study spin-orbit torques (SOT) in non-degenerate multiband electron
systems in the weak disorder limit. In order to have better physical
transparency a semiclassical Boltzmann approach equivalent to the Kubo
diagrammatic approach in the non-crossing approximation is formulated. This
semiclassical framework accounts for the interband- coherence effects induced
by both the electric field and static impurity scattering. Using the
two-dimensional Rashba ferromagnet as a model system, we show that the
antidamping-like SOT arising from disorder-induced interband-coherence effects
is very sensitive to the spin structure of disorder and may have the same sign
as the intrinsic SOT in the presence of spin-dependent disorder. While the
cancellation of this SOT and the intrinsic one occurs only in the case of
spin-independent short-range disorder.


  Most known terrestrial planets orbit small stars with radii less than 60%
that of the Sun. Theoretical models predict that these planets are more
vulnerable to atmospheric loss than their counterparts orbiting Sun-like stars.
To determine whether a thick atmosphere has survived on a small planet, one
approach is to search for signatures of atmospheric heat redistribution in its
thermal phase curve. Previous phase curve observations of the super-Earth 55
Cancri e (1.9 Earth radii) showed that its peak brightness is offset from the
substellar point $-$ possibly indicative of atmospheric circulation. Here we
report a phase curve measurement for the smaller, cooler planet LHS 3844b, a
1.3 Earth radius world in an 11-hour orbit around a small, nearby star. The
observed phase variation is symmetric and has a large amplitude, implying a
dayside brightness temperature of $1040\pm40$ kelvin and a nightside
temperature consistent with zero kelvin (at one standard deviation). Thick
atmospheres with surface pressures above 10 bar are ruled out by the data (at
three standard deviations), and less-massive atmospheres are unstable to
erosion by stellar wind. The data are well fitted by a bare rock model with a
low Bond albedo (lower than 0.2 at two standard deviations). These results
support theoretical predictions that hot terrestrial planets orbiting small
stars may not retain substantial atmospheres.


  In this paper we study general tropical linear spaces locally: For any basis
B of the matroid underlying a tropical linear space L, we define the local
tropical linear space L_B to be the subcomplex of L consisting of all vectors v
that make B a basis of maximal v-weight. The tropical linear space L can then
be expressed as the union of all its local tropical linear spaces, which we
prove are homeomorphic to Euclidean space. Local tropical linear spaces have a
simple description in terms of polyhedral matroid subdivisions, and we prove
that they are dual to mixed subdivisions of Minkowski sums of simplices. Using
this duality we produce tight upper bounds for their f-vectors. We also study a
certain class of tropical linear spaces that we call conical tropical linear
spaces, and we give a simple proof that they satisfy Speyer's f-vector
conjecture.


  Bezout's theorem gives us the degree of intersection of two properly
intersecting projective varieties. As two curves in P^3 never intersect
properly, Bezout's theorem cannot be directly used to bound the number of
intersection points of such curves. In this work, we bound the maximum number
of intersection points of two integral ACM curves in P^3. The bound that we
give is in many cases optimal as a function of only the degrees and the initial
degrees of the curves.


  In this paper we solve the exit problems for an one-sided Markov additive
process (MAP) which is exponentially killed with a bivariate killing intensity
$\omega(\cdot,\cdot)$ dependent on the present level of the process and the
present state of the environment. Moreover, we analyze respective resolvents.
All identities are given in terms of new generalizations of classical scale
matrices for the MAP. We also remark on a number of applications of the
obtained identities to (controlled) insurance risk processes. In particular, we
show that our results can be applied to the so-called Omega model, where
bankruptcy occurs at rate $\omega(\cdot,\cdot)$ when the surplus process
becomes negative. Finally, we consider the Markov modulated Brownian motion
(MMBM) and present the results for the particular choice of piecewise intensity
function $\omega(\cdot,\cdot)$.


  In this paper we consider the generalized Reeder's puzzle, introduced by
Reeder in 2005 and generalized by Borovoi and Evenor in 2016. We give a
detailed solution of the puzzle for the graphs of Dynkin diagrams and affine
Dynkin diagrams. We find the number of equivalence classes in each case. We
also discuss more general graphs, and prove the main theorem about graphs
(simply-laced trees) that contain E_6 as a subgraph.


  A simple model for the angular dependent interaction between C_60 molecules
in face centered cubic lattice is proposed and analyzed by use of the rigorous
bifurcation approach. The quantitative results for the orientational phase
transition and the characteristics of the ordered phase are in good agreement
with the experimental data.


  We present ISM and CGM metallicities for 25 absorption systems associated
with isolated star-forming galaxies (<z>=0.28) with 9.4<log(M*/Msun)<10.9 and
with absorption detected within 200kpc. Galaxy ISM metallicities were measured
using Ha/[NII] emission lines from Keck/ESI spectra. CGM single-phase
low-ionization metallicities were modeled using MCMC and Cloudy analysis of
absorption from HST/COS and Keck/HIRES or VLT/UVES quasar spectra. We find that
the star-forming galaxy ISM metallicities follow the observed stellar mass
metallicity relation (scatter 0.19dex). CGM metallicity shows no dependence
with stellar mass and exhibits a scatter of ~2dex. All CGM metallicities are
lower than the galaxy ISM metallicities and are offset by log(dZ)=-1.17+/-0.11.
There is no obvious metallicity gradient as a function of impact parameter or
virial radius (<2.3 sigma). There is no relationship between the relative
CGM-galaxy metallicity and azimuthal angle. We find the mean metallicity
differences along the major and minor axes are -1.13+/-0.18 and -1.23+/-0.11,
respectively. Regardless of whether we examine our sample by low/high
inclination or low/high impact parameter, or low/high N(HI), we do not find any
significant relationship with relative CGM-galaxy metallicity and azimuthal
angle. We find that 10/15 low column density systems (logN(HI)<17.2) reside
along the galaxy major axis while high column density systems (logN(HI)>17.2)
reside along the minor axis. This suggest N(HI) could be a useful indicator of
accretion/outflows. We conclude that CGM is not well mixed, given the range of
galaxy-CGM metallicities, and that metallicity at low redshift might not be a
good tracer of CGM processes. Furthermore we should replace integrated
line-of-sight, single phase, metallicities with multi-phase, cloud-cloud
metallicities, which could be more indicative of the physical processes within
the CGM.


  Recent tools for interactive data exploration significantly increase the
chance that users make false discoveries. The crux is that these tools
implicitly allow the user to test a large body of different hypotheses with
just a few clicks thus incurring in the issue commonly known in statistics as
the multiple hypothesis testing error. In this paper, we propose solutions to
integrate multiple hypothesis testing control into interactive data exploration
tools. A key insight is that existing methods for controlling the false
discovery rate (such as FDR) are not directly applicable for interactive data
exploration. We therefore discuss a set of new control procedures that are
better suited and integrated them in our system called Aware. By means of
extensive experiments using both real-world and synthetic data sets we
demonstrate how Aware can help experts and novice users alike to efficiently
control false discoveries.


  We use gauge/gravity duality to study vector meson (J/{\Psi}, {\rho}_0,
{\Omega}, {\Phi}) production in electron-proton scattering, in the limit of
high center of mass energy at fixed momentum transfer, corresponding to the
limit of low Bjorken x, where the process is dominated by pomeron exchange. Our
approach considers the pomeron at strong coupling, described by the graviton
Regge trajectory in AdS space with a hard-wall to mimic confinement effects.
Both the proton and vector mesons are described by simple holographic wave
functions in AdS. This model agrees with HERA H1 data with a {\chi}^2 per
degree of freedom below one on total cross-sections, and below two on
differential cross-sections, confirming the success of previous studies that
model low x DIS and DVCS using gauge/gravity duality.


  Recently [Karimipour and Memarzadeh, PhysRevA 73, 012329 (2006)] posed the
problem of finding a continuous family of orthonormal bases in a bipartite
space of two identical systems with the following properties: i) in each basis,
all states have to be equally entangled, and ii) the family continuously
interpolate between the product basis and the maximally entangled basis. The
authors provided a necessary condition and simple examples for relatively small
dimensions, but questioned the existence of a general solution for arbitrary
dimensions. Employing the properties of quadratic Gauss sums, we prove that
such a family of bases exists for all dimensions and provide an explicit simple
parametrization. We illustrate the behaviour of our solution with particular
examples.


  The ringdown phase following a binary black hole merger is usually assumed to
be well described by a linear superposition of complex exponentials
(quasinormal modes). In the strong-field conditions typical of a binary black
hole merger, non-linear effects may produce mode coupling. Artificial mode
coupling can also be induced by the black hole's rotation, if the radiation
field is expanded in terms of spin-weighted spherical (rather than spheroidal)
harmonics. Observing deviations from linear black hole perturbation theory
requires optimal fitting techniques to extract ringdown parameters from
numerical waveforms, which are inevitably affected by errors. So far,
non-linear least-squares fitting methods have been used as the standard
workhorse to extract frequencies from ringdown waveforms. These methods are
known not to be optimal for estimating parameters of complex exponentials.
Furthermore, different fitting methods have different performance in the
presence of noise. The main purpose of this paper is to introduce the
gravitational wave community to modern variations of a linear parameter
estimation technique first devised in 1795 by Prony: the Kumaresan-Tufts and
matrix pencil methods. Using "test" damped sinusoidal signals in Gaussian white
noise we illustrate the advantages of these methods, showing that they have
variance and bias at least comparable to standard non-linear least-squares
techniques. Then we compare the performance of different methods on
unequal-mass binary black hole merger waveforms. The methods we discuss should
be useful both theoretically (to monitor errors and search for non-linearities
in numerical relativity simulations) and experimentally (for parameter
estimation from ringdown signals after a gravitational wave detection).


  It is currently common to use spatially unresolved multi-filter broad-band
photometry to determine the masses of individual stellar clusters (and hence
the cluster mass function, CMF). I analyze the stochastic effects introduced by
the sampling of the stellar initial mass function (SIMF) in the derivation of
the individual masses and the CMF and I establish that such effects are the
largest contributor to the observational uncertainties. An analytical solution,
valid in the limit where uncertainties are small, is provided to establish the
range of cluster masses over which the CMF slope can be obtained with a given
accuracy. The validity of the analytical solution is extended to higher mass
uncertainties using Monte Carlo simulations and the Gamma approximation. The
value of the Poisson mass is calculated for a large range of ages and a variety
of filters for solar-metallicity clusters measured with single-filter
photometry. A method that uses the code CHORIZOS is presented to simultaneously
derive masses, ages, and extinctions. The classical method of using unweighted
UBV photometry to simultaneously establish ages and extinctions of stellar
clusters is found to be unreliable for clusters older than approx. 30 Ma, even
for relatively large cluster masses. On the other hand, augmenting the filter
set to include longer-wavelength filters and using weights for each filter
increases the range of masses and ages that can be accurately measured with
unresolved photometry. Nevertheless, a relatively large range of masses and
ages is found to be dominated by SIMF sampling effects that render the observed
masses useless, even when using UBVRIJHK photometry. A revision of some
literature results affected by these effects is presented and possible
solutions for future observations and analyses are suggested.


  We propose two novel two-dimensional (2D) topological materials,
(PtN$_4$)$_3$C$_{32}$ and (MnN$_4$)$_3$C$_{32}$, with a special geometry that
we named as kagome-in-honeycomb (KIH) lattice structure, to illustrate the
coexistence of the paradigmatic states of kagome physics, Dirac fermions and
flat bands, that are difficult to be simultaneously observed in
three-dimensional realistic systems. In such system, MN$_4$(M=Pt or Mn)
moieties are embedded in honeycomb graphene sheet according to kagome lattice
structure, thereby resulting in a KIH lattice. Using the first-principles
calculations, we have systemically studied the structural, electronic, and
topological properties of these two materials. In the absence of spin-orbit
coupling (SOC), they both exhibit the coexistence of Dirac/quadratic-crossing
cone and flat band near the Fermi level. When SOC is included, a sizable
topological gap is opened at the Dirac/quadratic-crossing nodal point. For
nonmagnetic (PtN$_4$)$_3$C$_{32}$, the system is converted into a
$\mathbb{Z}_2$ topological quantum spin Hall insulator defined on a curved
Fermi level, while for ferromagnetic (MnN$_4$)$_3$C$_{32}$, the material is
changed from a half-semi-metal to a quantum anomalous Hall insulator with
nonzero Chern number and nontrivial chiral edge states. Our findings not only
predict a new family of 2D quantum materials, but also provide an
experimentally feasible platform to explore the emergent kagome physics,
topological quantum Hall physics, strongly correlated phenomena, and theirs
fascinating applications.


  Irregularly sampled time series analysis is a common problem in various
disciplines. Since conventional methods are not directly applicable to
irregularly sampled time series, a common interpolation approach is used;
however, this causes data distortion and consequently biases further analyses.
We propose a method that yields a regularly sampled time series spectrum of
costs with minimum information loss. Each time series in this spectrum is a
stationary series and acts as a difference filter. The transformation costs
approach derives the differences between consecutive and arbitrarily sized
segments. After obtaining regular sampling, recurrence plot analysis is
performed to distinguish regime transitions. The approach is applied to a
prototypical model to validate its performance and to different palaeoclimate
proxy data sets located around Africa to identify critical climate transition
periods during the last 5 million years and their characteristic properties.


  We study one-dimensional Kitaev chain driven by the anisotropy parameter,
$J_{-}= t/\tau_Q$, in the presence of weak Gaussian noise in the parameter
$J_{+}$. The system is prepared in the ground state of the Hamiltonian at the
initial time $t\rightarrow -\infty$. The defect density and the residual energy
at the end of the drive protocol reveals anti-Kibble Zurek (AKZ) behavior which
deviates from the earlier reported linear in quench time dependence for the
defect density. The entropy density at the end of the protocol is found to
exhibit the signature of the AKZ behavior. In the context of the Kitaev chain,
the two-point spin correlators are short ranged. The hidden topological order
across the quantum phase transition point is probed via the non-local string
order parameters. The two-point Majorana correlator and the hidden string
correlator calculated in the final decohered state at the end of the noisy
drive protocol is consistent with the AKZ picture. We have analyzed the kink
statistics in the dual spin space, the first three cumulants at the end of the
noisy drive also exhibit the AKZ scaling behavior for slower sweeps similar to
the defect density. The kink distribution function is well approximated with
the normal distribution with non-universal noise dependent mean and variance.


  Deep X-ray surveys have shown that the cosmic X-ray background (XRB) is
largely due to the accretion onto supermassive black holes, integrated over the
cosmic time. These surveys have resolved more than 80% of the 0.1-10 keV X-ray
background into discrete sources. Optical spectroscopic identifications show
that the sources producing the bulk of the X-ray background are a mixture of
obscured (type-1) and unobscured (type-2) AGNs, as predicted by the XRB
population synthesis models. A class of highly luminous type-2 AGN, so called
QSO-2s, has been detected in the deepest Chandra and XMM-Newton surveys. The
new Chandra AGN redshift distribution peaks at much lower redshifts (z~0.7)
than that based on ROSAT data, indicating that Seyfert galaxies peak at
significantly lower redshifts than QSOs.


  We describe the implementation of infrared subtractions for two-loop QCD
corrections to quark-antiquark annihilation to electroweak final states. The
subtractions are given as form-factor integrands whose integrals are known. The
resulting subtracted amplitudes are amenable to efficient numerical
integration. Our procedure is based on the universality of infrared
singularities and requires a relatively limited set of subtractions, whose
number grows as the number of two-loop diagrams, rather than with the number of
singular regions of integration.


  The analytically tractable model employing Quantum Markovian Master
Equations, derived by weak coupling procedure and satisfying complete
positivity, is proposed to describe a model of molecular battery charged by a
non-equilibrium excitonic reservoir. The excitons are produced by
non-equilibrium processes involving, e.g. light absorption and chemical
reactions. Various relations concerning the efficiency of the involved
processes of energy transfer and the stability of battery are discussed. The
model can be treated as an initial step in applications of mathematically sound
version of Quantum Theory of Open Systems to complex processes of energy
transfer in biological system and man-made devices based on organic materials.


  We describe the results of fitting simple spherically symmetric models to the
first overtone CO and AlO A-X (2-0) bands in V838 Mon. We find that the
temperature and column of both CO and AlO systematically decline over the
period 2002 October - 2005 February and that an additional, hotter and denser,
component is present from 2005 January. We also describe the results of an
observation of the star and its light echo at 850micron. We do not detect the
`infrared' echo at these wavelength, and place an upper limit of 3x10^7 cm^-2
on the column of grains.


  We look afresh at the deduction of the "Lorentz contraction" of a "rod" from
the Lorentz transformation equations of the special theory of relativity. We
show that under special conditions, which include acceleration of the "rod",
length "expansion" and "invariance" are possible, and thus these are purely
kinematical phenomena. We then take a closer look at Einstein's two famous
papers on the special theory of relativity and point out a flaw in his
argument. It seems that it is possible to have the times of the clocks of two,
and indeed all, inertial systems to agree with each other.


  Over the southern African region the geomagnetic field is weak and changes
rapidly. For this area series of geomagnetic field measurements exist since the
1950s. We take advantage of the existing repeat station surveys and observatory
annual means, and clean these data sets by eliminating jumps and minimising
external field contributions in the original time series. This unique data set
allows us to obtain a detailed view of the geomagnetic field behaviour in space
and time by computing a regional model. For this, we use a system of
representation similar to harmonic splines. Initially, the technique is
systematically tested on synthetic data. After systematically testing the
method on synthetic data, we derive a model for 1961 to 2001 that gives a
detailed view of the fast changes of the geomagnetic field in this region.


  Solar flares are complicated physical phenomena that are observable in a
broad range of the electromagnetic spectrum, from radiowaves to $\gamma$-rays.
For a more comprehensive understanding of flares, it is necessary to perform a
combined multi-wavelength analysis using observations from many satellites and
ground-based observatories. For efficient data search, integration of different
flare lists and representation of observational data, we have developed an
Interactive Multi-Instrument Database of Solar Flares
(https://solarflare.njit.edu/). The web accessible database is fully functional
and allows the user to search for uniquely-identified flare events based on
their physical descriptors and availability of observations by a particular set
of instruments. Currently, the data from three primary flare lists (GOES,
RHESSI and HEK) and a variety of other event catalogs (Hinode, Fermi GBM,
Konus-Wind, OVSA flare catalogs, CACTus CME catalog, Filament eruption catalog)
and observing logs (IRIS and Nobeyama coverage) are integrated, and an
additional set of physical descriptors (temperature and emission measure) is
provided along with an observing summary, data links, and multi-wavelength
light curves for each flare event since January, 2002. We envision that this
new tool will allow researchers to significantly speed up the search of events
of interest for statistical and case studies.


  The so-called light logics have been introduced as logical systems enjoying
quite remarkable normalization properties. Designing a type assignment system
for pure lambda calculus from these logics, however, is problematic. In this
paper we show that shifting from usual call-by-name to call-by-value lambda
calculus allows regaining strong connections with the underlying logic. This
will be done in the context of Elementary Affine Logic (EAL), designing a type
system in natural deduction style assigning EAL formulae to lambda terms.


  In the spirit of the well-known odd-number limitation, we study failure of
Pyragas control of periodic orbits and equilibria. Addressing the periodic
orbits first, we derive a fundamental observation on the invariance of the
geometric multiplicity of the trivial Floquet multiplier. This observation
leads to a clear and unifying understanding of the odd-number limitation, both
in the autonomous and the non-autonomous setting. Since the presence of the
trivial Floquet multiplier governs the possibility of successful stabilization,
we refer to this multiplier as the determining center. The geometric invariance
of the determining center also leads to a necessary condition on the gain
matrix for the control to be successful. In particular, we exclude scalar
gains. Application of Pyragas control on equilibria does not only imply a
geometric invariance of the determining center, but surprisingly also on
centers which resonate with the time delay. Consequently, we formulate odd- and
any-number limitations both for real eigenvalues together with arbitrary time
delay as well as for complex conjugated eigenvalue pairs together with a
resonating time delay. The very general nature of our results allows for
various applications.


  Radiative thermal neutron capture cross sections for nuclei participating in
s-process and p-process nucleosynthesis in and around $N=50$ closed neutron
shell have been calculated in statistical semi-microscopic Hauser-Feshbach
approach for the energy range of astrophysical interest. A folded optical model
potential is constructed utilizing the standard DDM3Y real nucleon-nucleon
interaction. The folding of the interaction with target radial matter
densities, obtained from the relativistic-mean-field approach, is done in
coordinate space using the spherical approximation. The standard nuclear
reaction code TALYS1.8 is used for cross-section calculation. The cross
sections are compared with experimental results and reasonable agreements are
found for almost all cases. Maxwellian-averaged cross sections (MACS) for the
nuclei are presented at a single thermal energy of 30 keV relevant to
s-process. We have also presented the MACS values over a range of energy from 5
to 100 keV for neutron magic nuclei with $(N=50)$.


  Security properties are often focused on the technological side of the
system. One implicitly assumes that the users will behave in the right way to
preserve the property at hand. In real life, this cannot be taken for granted.
In particular, security mechanisms that are difficult and costly to use are
often ignored by the users, and do not really defend the system against
possible attacks.
  Here, we propose a graded notion of security based on the complexity of the
user's strategic behavior. More precisely, we suggest that the level to which a
security property $\varphi$ is satisfied can be defined in terms of (a) the
complexity of the strategy that the voter needs to execute to make $\varphi$
true, and (b) the resources that the user must employ on the way. The simpler
and cheaper to obtain $\varphi$, the higher the degree of security.
  We demonstrate how the idea works in a case study based on an electronic
voting scenario. To this end, we model the vVote implementation of the \Pret
voting protocol for coercion-resistant and voter-verifiable elections. Then, we
identify "natural" strategies for the voter to obtain receipt-freeness, and
measure the voter's effort that they require. We also look at how hard it is
for the coercer to compromise the election through a randomization attack.


  Perfect tracking control for real-world Euler-Lagrange systems is challenging
due to uncertainties in the system model and external disturbances. The
magnitude of the tracking error can be reduced either by increasing the
feedback gains or improving the model of the system. The latter is clearly
preferable as it allows to maintain good tracking performance at low feedback
gains. However, accurate models are often difficult to obtain. In this article,
we address the problem of stable high-performance tracking control for unknown
Euler-Lagrange systems. In particular, we employ Gaussian Process regression to
obtain a data-driven model that is used for the feed-forward compensation of
unknown dynamics of the system. The model fidelity is used to adapt the
feedback gains allowing low feedback gains in state space regions of high model
confidence. The proposed control law guarantees a globally bounded tracking
error with a specific probability. Simulation studies demonstrate the
superiority over state of the art tracking control approaches.


  Based on the structure of a Lie algebroid for non-geometric fluxes in string
theory, a differential-geometry calculus is developed which combines usual
diffeomorphisms with so-called \beta-diffeomorphisms emanating from gauge
symmetries of the Kalb-Ramond field. This allows to construct a bi-invariant
action of Einstein-Hilbert type comprising a metric, a (quasi-)symplectic
structure \beta and a dilaton. As a salient feature, this symplectic gravity
action and the resulting equations of motion take a form which is similar to
the standard action and field equations. Furthermore, the two actions turn out
to be related via a field redefinition reminiscent of the Seiberg-Witten limit.
Remarkably, this redefinition admits a direct generalization to higher-order
\alpha'-corrections and to the additional fields and couplings appearing in the
effective action of the superstring. Simple solutions to the equations of
motion of the symplectic gravity action, including Calabi-Yau geometries, are
discussed.