  Fuzzy logic is an alternate approach for quantifying uncertainty relating to
activity duration. The fuzzy version of the backward recursion has been shown
to produce results that incorrectly amplify the level of uncertainty. However,
the fuzzy version of the forward recursion has been widely proposed as an
approach for determining the fuzzy set of critical path lengths. In this paper,
the direct application of the extension principle leads to a proposition that
must be satisfied in fuzzy critical path analysis. Using a counterexample it is
demonstrated that the fuzzy forward recursion when discrete fuzzy sets are used
to represent activity durations produces results that are not consistent with
the theory presented. The problem is shown to be the application of the fuzzy
maximum. Several methods presented in the literature are described and shown to
provide results that are consistent with the extension principle.


  We consider a continuous-time quantum walk on a triple graph and investigate
the influence of the side chain on the propagation in the main chain.
Calculating the interchange of the probabilities between the two parts of the
main chain, we find that a switching effect appears if there are odd number of
points on the side chain when concrete conditions between the length of the
main chain and the position of the side chain are satisfied. Whereas, such an
effect does not occur if there are even number of points on the side chain. We
also suggest two proposals for experiment to observe such an effect, which may
be employed to design new type of switching device.


  In this Master thesis we consider 't Hooft's polygon model for 2+1D gravity.
After a detailed review of the polygon model in the classical context, we
discuss problems associated with its quantization and calculate the explicitly
the full Poisson structure of the constraints.
  The calculation of the Poisson structure in chapter 6 introduces corrections
and generalizations to earlier published results. We show that the full Poisson
structure closes on shell, but not off shell. An attempt is made to interpret
the gauge orbits generated by the constraints.


  This paper presents an erroneous proof that if the polynomials are dense in
$L_2(\mathbb{R}, \rho)$, then they are dense in $L_2(\mathbb{R}, \rho+\mu)$
where $\mu$ is a measure supported on a finite set of points.


  The article considers the practice of applying the cluster approach in Russia
as a tool for overcoming economic inequality between Russian regions. The
authors of the study analyze the legal framework of cluster policy in Russia,
noting that its successful implementation requires a little more time than
originally planned. Special attention is paid to the experience of
benchmarking.


  A non-technical overview of charge current quasi-elastic neutrino interaction
is presented. Many body computations of multinucleon ejection which is proposed
to explain recent large axial mass measurements are discussed. A few comments
on recent experimental results reported at NuInt11 workshop are included.


  We report the spontaneous generation of an Archimedean spiral pattern of
fullerene via the evaporation of solvent. The self-organized spiral pattern
exhibited equi-spacing on the order of micrometer between neighboring stripes.
The characteristics of the spirals, such as the spacing between stripes, the
number of stripes and the band width of stripes, could be controlled by tuning
the thickness of the liquid bridge and the concentration of solution. The
mechanism of pattern formation is interpreted in terms of a specific traveling
wave on the liquid-solid interface accompanied by a stick-slip process of the
contact line.


  A second-order formalism for the theory of 3D spin-3 gravity is considered.
Such a formalism is obtained by solving the torsion-free condition for the spin
connection \omega^a_{\mu}, and substituting the result into the action
integral. In the first-order formalism of the spin-3 gravity defined in terms
of SL(3,R) X SL(3,R) Chern-Simons (CS) theory, however, the generalized
torsion-free condition cannot be easily solved for the spin connection, because
the vielbein e^a_{\mu} itself is not invertible. To circumvent this problem,
extra vielbein-like fields e^a_{\mu\nu} are introduced as a functional of
e^a_{\mu}. New set of affine-like connections \Gamma_{\mu M}^N are defined in
terms of the metric-like fields, and a generalization of the Riemann curvature
tensor is also presented. In terms of this generalized Riemann tensor the
action integral in the second-order formalism is expressed. The transformation
rules of the metric and the spin-3 gauge field under the generalized
diffeomorphims are obtained explicitly. As in Einstein gravity, the new
affine-like connections are related to the spin connection by a certain gauge
transformation, and a gravitational CS term expressed in terms of the new
connections is also presented.


  The diquark structure in baryons is commonly accepted as a reasonable
approximation which can much simplify the picture and reduce the length of
calculations. However, a diquark by no means is a point-like particle, even
though it is treated as a whole object. Therefore, to apply the diquark picture
to the phenomenological calculations, at the effective vertices for the
diquark-gauge boson interactions, suitable form factors must be introduced to
compensate the effects caused by the inner structure of the diquark. It is
crucial to derive the appropriate form factors for various interactions. In
this work, we use the Bethe-Salpeter equation to derive such form factors and
numerically evaluate their magnitudes.


  We study the transient dynamics in a two-dimensional system of interacting
Dirac fermions subject to a quenched drive with circularly polarized light. In
the absence of interactions, the drive opens a gap at the Dirac point in the
quasienergy spectrum, inducing nontrivial band topology. Here we investigate
the dynamics of this gap opening process in the presence of interactions, as
captured by the generalized spectral function and correlators probed by
photoemission experiments. Through a mechanism akin to that known for
equilibrium systems, interactions renormalize and enhance the induced gap over
its value for the non-interacting system. We additionally study the heating
that naturally accompanies driving in the interacting system, and discuss the
regimes where dynamical gap emergence and enhancement can be probed before
heating becomes significant.


  It is shown that the famous Lyapunov exponents cannot be used as the
numerical characteristic for distinguishing different kinds of attractors, such
as the equilibrium point, the limit closed curve, the stable torus and the
strange attractor.


  Wetland quality is a critical factor in determining values of wetland goods
and services. However, in many studies on wetland valuation, wetland quality
has been ignored. While those studies might give useful information to the
local people for decision-making, their lack of wetland quality information may
lead to the difficulty in integrating wetland quality into a cross-studies
research like meta-analysis. In a meta-analysis, a statistical regression
function needs withdrawing from those individual studies for analysis and
prediction. This research introduces the wetland quality factor, a critical but
frequently missed factor, into a meta-analysis and simultaneously considers
other influential factors, such as study method, socio-economic state and other
wetland site characteristics, as well. Thus, a more accurate and valid
meta-regression function is expected. Due to no obvious quality information in
primary studies, we extract two kinds of wetland states from the study context
as relative but globally consistent quality measurement to use in the analysis,
as the first step to explore the effect of wetland quality on values of
ecosystem services.


  The spin-dependent scattering process in a system of topological insulator
and quantum dot is studied. The unitary scattering process is viewed as a gate
transformation applied to an initial state of two electrons. Due to the
randomness imposed through the impurities and alloying-induced effects of band
parameters, the formalism of the random unitary gates is implemented. For
quantifying entanglement in the system, we explored concurrence and
ensemble-averaged R\'enyi entropy. We found that applied external magnetic
field leads to long-range entanglement on the distances much larger than the
confinement length. We showed that topological features of itinerant electrons
sustain the formation of robust long-distance entanglement, which survives even
in the presence of a strong disorder.


  Motivating by the China's five element philosophy (CFEP) we construct a
permuted Volterra quadratic stochastic operator acting on the four dimensional
simplex. This operator (depending on 10 parameters) is considered as an
evolution operator for CFEP. We study the discrete time dynamical system
generated by this operator. Mainly our results related to a symmetric operator
(depending on one parameter). We show that this operator has a unique fixed
point, which is repeller. Moreover, in the case of non-zero parameter, it has
two 5-periodic orbits. We divide the simplex to four subsets: the first set
consists a single point (the fixed point); the second (resp. third) set is the
set of initial points trajectories of which converge to the first (resp.
second) 5-periodic orbit; the fourth subset is the set of initial points
trajectories of which do not converge and their sets of limit points are
infinite and lie on the boundary of the simplex. We give interpretations of our
results to CFEP.


  Since the emergence of GPT-3, Large Language Models (LLMs) have caught the
eyes of researchers, practitioners, and educators in the field of software
engineering. However, there has been relatively little investigation regarding
the performance of LLMs in assisting with requirements analysis and UML
modeling. This paper explores how LLMs can assist novice analysts in creating
three types of typical UML models: use case models, class diagrams, and
sequence diagrams. For this purpose, we designed the modeling tasks of these
three UML models for 45 undergraduate students who participated in a
requirements modeling course, with the help of LLMs. By analyzing their project
reports, we found that LLMs can assist undergraduate students as novice
analysts in UML modeling tasks, but LLMs also have shortcomings and limitations
that should be considered when using them.


  This paper considers a class of experimentation games with L\'{e}vy bandits
encompassing those of Bolton and Harris (1999) and Keller, Rady and Cripps
(2005). Its main result is that efficient (perfect Bayesian) equilibria exist
whenever players' payoffs have a diffusion component. Hence, the trade-offs
emphasized in the literature do not rely on the intrinsic nature of bandit
models but on the commonly adopted solution concept (MPE). This is not an
artifact of continuous time: we prove that efficient equilibria arise as limits
of equilibria in the discrete-time game. Furthermore, it suffices to relax the
solution concept to strongly symmetric equilibrium.


  The issue of magnetic confinement in magnetic fusion devices is addressed
within a purely magnetic approach. Using some Hamiltonian models for the
magnetic field lines, the dual impact of low magnetic shear is shown in a
unified way. Away from resonances, it induces a drastic enhancement of magnetic
confinement that favors robust internal transport barriers (ITBs) and
stochastic transport reduction. When low-shear occurs for values of the winding
of the magnetic field lines close to low-order rationals, the amplitude
thresholds of the resonant modes that break internal transport barriers by
allowing a radial stochastic transport of the magnetic field lines may be quite
low. The approach can be applied to assess the robustness versus magnetic
perturbations of general (almost) integrable magnetic steady states, including
non-axisymmetric ones such as the important single helicity steady states. This
analysis puts a constraint on the tolerable mode amplitudes compatible with
ITBs and may be proposed as a possible explanation of diverse experimental and
numerical signatures of their collapses.


  We consider the problem of secure distributed matrix multiplication (SDMM) in
which a user wishes to compute the product of two matrices with the assistance
of honest but curious servers. We construct polynomial codes for SDMM by
studying a combinatorial problem on a special type of addition table, which we
call the degree table. The codes are based on arithmetic progressions, and are
thus named GASP (Gap Additive Secure Polynomial) Codes. GASP Codes are shown to
outperform all previously known polynomial codes for secure distributed matrix
multiplication in terms of download rate.


  Recent studies of different X-ray binaries (XRBs) have shown a clear
correlation between the radio and X-ray emission. We present evidence of a
close relationship found between the radio and X-ray emission at different
epochs for GRS1915+105, using observations from the Ryle Telescope and Rossi
X-ray Timing Explorer satellite. The strongest correlation was found during the
hard state (also known as the `plateau' state), where a steady AU-scale jet is
known to exist. Both the radio and X-ray emission were found to decay from the
start of most plateau states, with the radio emission decaying faster. An
empirical relationship of $S_{\rm{radio}}\propto S_{\rm{X-ray}}^{\xi}$ was then
fitted to data taken only during the plateau state, resulting in a power-law
index of $\xi\sim1.7\pm0.3$, which is significantly higher than in other black
hole XRBs in a similar state. An advection-flow model was then fitted to this
relationship and compared to the universal XRB relationship as described by
Gallo et al. (2003). We conclude that either (I) the accretion disk in this
source is radiatively efficient, even during the continuous outflow of a
compact jet, which could also suggest a universal turn-over from radiatively
inefficient to efficient for all stellar-mass black holes at a critical mass
accretion rate ($\dot{m}_{\rm{c}}\approx10^{18.5}$ g/s); or (II) the X-rays in
the plateau state are dominated by emission from the base of the jet and not
the accretion disk (e.g. via inverse Compton scattering from the outflow).


  We consider the Kane-Mele-Hubbard model with a magnetic $\pi$ flux threading
each honeycomb plaquette. The resulting model has remarkably rich physical
properties. In each spin sector, the noninteracting band structure is
characterized by a total Chern number $C=\pm 2$. Fine-tuning of the intrinsic
spin-orbit coupling $\lambda$ leads to a quadratic band crossing point
associated with a topological phase transition. At this point, quantum Monte
Carlo simulations reveal a magnetically ordered phase which extends to weak
coupling. Although the spinful model has two Kramers doublets at each edge and
is explicitly shown to be a $Z_{2}$ trivial insulator, the helical edge states
are protected at the single-particle level by translation symmetry. Drawing on
the bosonized low-energy Hamiltonian, we predict a correlation-induced gap as a
result of umklapp scattering for half-filled bands. For strong interactions,
this prediction is confirmed by quantum Monte Carlo simulations.


  We construct the free field representation of the affine currents,
energy-momentum tensor and screening currents of the first kind of the current
superalgebra $gl(m|n)_k$ uniformly for $m=n$ and $m\neq n$. The energy-momentum
tensor is given by a linear combination of two Sugawara tensors associated with
the two independent quadratic Casimir elements of $gl(m|n)$.


  Providing guarantees on the safe operation of robots against edge cases is
challenging as testing methods such as traditional Monte-Carlo require too many
samples to provide reasonable statistics. Built upon recent advancements in
rare-event sampling, we present a model-based method to verify if a robotic
system satisfies a Signal Temporal Logic (STL) specification in the face of
environment variations and sensor/actuator noises. Our method is efficient and
applicable to both linear and nonlinear and even black-box systems with
arbitrary, but known, uncertainty distributions. For linear systems with
Gaussian uncertainties, we exploit a feature to find optimal parameters that
minimize the probability of failure. We demonstrate illustrative examples on
applying our approach to real-world autonomous robotic systems.


  Covariances from categorical variables are defined using a regular simplex
expression for categories. The method follows the variance definition by Gini,
and it gives the covariance as a solution of simultaneous equations. The
calculated results give reasonable values for test data. A method of principal
component analysis (RS-PCA) is also proposed using regular simplex expressions,
which allows easy interpretation of the principal components. The proposed
methods apply to variable selection problem of categorical data USCensus1990
data. The proposed methods give appropriate criterion for the variable
selection problem of categorical


  Schreyer has proved that the graded Betti numbers of a canonical tetragonal
curve are determined by two integers $b_1$ and $b_2$, associated to the curve
through a certain geometric construction. In this article we prove that in the
case of a smooth projective tetragonal curve on a toric surface, these integers
have easy interpretations in terms of the Newton polygon of its defining
Laurent polynomial. We can use this to prove an intrinsicness result on Newton
polygons of small lattice width.


  The paper addresses the problem of suppressing naturally the unsafe d=4 as
well as the color-triplet mediated and/or gravity-linked d=5 proton-decay
operators, which generically arise in SUSY-unification. It also attempts to
give light masses to the neutrinos, of the type suggested by current
experiments. It is noted that neither the symmetries in $SO(10)$, nor those in
$E_6$, suffice for the purpose -- especially in the matter of suppressing
naturally the d=5 proton-decay operators. By contrast, it is shown that a
certain {\it string-derived symmetry}, which cannot arise within conventional
grand unification, but which does arise within a class of three-generation
string-solutions, suffices, in conjuction with $B-L$, to safeguard
proton-stability from all potential dangers, including those which may arise
through higher dimensional operators and the color-triplets in the infinite
tower of states. At the same time, the symmetry in question permits neutrinos
to acquire appropriate masses. This shows that {\it string theory plays an
essential role in ensuring natural consistency of SUSY-unification with two
low-energy observations -- proton-stability and light masses for the
neutrinos}. The correlation between the masses of the extra $Z'$-boson (or
bosons), which arise in these models, and proton-decay rate is noted.


  We analyze the weak localization correction to the conductivity of a spinless
two-leg ladder model in the limit of strong dephasing \tau_\phi << \tau_tr,
paying particular attention to the presence of a magnetic field, which leads to
an unconventional magnetoresistance behavior. We find that the magnetic field
leads to three different effects: (i) negative magnetoresistance due to the
regular weak localization correction (ii) effective decoupling of the two
chains, leading to positive magnetoresistance and (iii) oscillations in the
magnetoresistance originating from the nature of the low-energy collective
excitations. All three effects can be observed depending on the parameter
range, but it turns out that large magnetic fields always decouple the chains
and thus lead to the curious effect of magnetic field enhanced localization.


  One of the most important philosophers in history, the German Friedrich
Nietzsche, is almost ignored by physicists. This author who declared the death
of God in the 19th century was a science enthusiast, especially in the second
period of his work. With the aid of the physical concept of force, Nietzsche
created his concept of will to power. After thinking about energy conservation,
the German philosopher had some inspiration for creating his concept of eternal
recurrence. In this article, some influences of physics on Nietzsche are
pointed out, and the topicality of his epistemological position$-$the
perspectivism$-$is discussed. Considering the concept of will to power, I
propose that the perspectivism leads to an interpretation where physics and
science in general are viewed as a game.


  Using the tight-binding approximation we calculated the magnetic
susceptibility of graphene quantum dots (GQD) of different geometrical shapes
and sizes, smaller than the magnetic length, when the magnetic properties are
governed by the electron edge states. Two types of edge states can be
discerned: the zero-energy states (ZES) located exactly at the zero-energy
Dirac point, and the dispersed edge states (DES) with the energy close, but not
exactly equal to zero. DES are responsible for the temperature independent
diamagnetic response, while ZES provide the temperature dependent spin Curie
paramagnetism. The hexagonal, circular and randomly shaped GQDs contain mainly
DES and, as a result, they are diamagnetic. The edge states of the triangular
GQDs are ZES and these dots reveal the interplay between the spin
paramagnetism, dominating for small dots and at low temperatures, and bulk
orbital diamagnetism, dominating for large dots and at high temperatures.


  Let $A$ be the generator of a strongly continuous cosine family $(\cos
(tA))_{t\in {\bf R}}$ on a complex Banach space $E$. The paper develops an
operational calculus for integral transforms and functions of $A$ using the
generalized harmonic analysis associated to certain hypergroups. It is shown
that characters of hypergroups which have Laplace representations give rise to
bounded operators on $E$. Examples include the Mellin transform and the
Mehler--Fock transform. The paper uses functional calculus for the cosine
family $\cos( t\sqrt {\Delta})$ which is associated with waves that travel at
unit speed. The main results include an operational calculus theorem for
Sturm--Liouville hypergroups with Laplace representation as well as analogues
to the Kunze--Stein phenomenon in the hypergroup convolution setting.


  The initial phase of an epidemic is often characterized by an exponential
increase in the number of infected individuals. In this Letter, we predict the
exponential spreading rate of an epidemic on a complex network. We first find
an expression of the reproduction number for a network, based on the degree
distribution, the network assortativity, and the level of clustering. We then
connect this reproduction number and the disease infectiousness to the
spreading rate. Our result holds for a broad range of networks, apart from
networks with very broad degree distribution, where no clear exponential regime
is present. Our theory bridges the gap between classic epidemiology and the
theory of complex network, with broad implications for model inference and
policy making.


  We present an exact analytical solution for quantum strong long-range models
in the canonical ensemble by extending the classical solution proposed in
[Campa et al., J. Phys. A 36, 6897 (2003)]. Specifically, we utilize the
equivalence between generalized Dicke models and interacting quantum models as
a generalization of the Hubbard-Stratonovich transformation. To demonstrate our
method, we apply it to the Ising chain in transverse field and discuss its
potential application to other models, such as the Fermi-Hubbard model,
combined short and long-range models and models with antiferromagnetic
interactions. Our findings indicate that the critical behaviour of a model is
independent of the range of interactions, within the strong long-range regime,
and the dimensionality of the model. Moreover, we show that the order parameter
expression is equivalent to that provided by mean-field theory, thus confirming
the exactness of the latter. Finally, we examine the algebraic decay of
correlations and characterize its dependence on the range of interactions in
the full phase diagram.


  Solutions of Lee Smolin Five Great Problems from his book {\it The Trouble
with Physics: the Rise of String Theory, the Fall of a Science, and What Comes
Next} are described. This solutions is obtained only from the properties of
probability without any ontological hypotheses.


  In this paper, we propose to evaluate the performance of channel estimation
techniques for Long Term Evolution (LTE) Downlink systems based on Zero Padding
technique (ZP) instead of Cyclic Prefixing (CP). LTE Downlink system is a
multiuser system based on a MIMO-OFDMA technology. Usually, in OFDM systems, a
guard interval is inserted in order to mitigate both inter-carrier interference
(ICI) and inter-symbol interference (ISI). LTE Downlink systems are based on
CP-OFDM technique which consists of a copy a last OFDM symbols inserted at the
beginning of each transmitted OFDM symbol. Although this technique shows good
performances, the CP-LTE system suffers from a power efficiency loss.With the
number of present OFDM symbols in LTE Downlink radio frame, the bandwidth loss
becomes more important. Instead of CP, we propose to evaluate the performance
of ZP-LTE systems in order to avoid the power efficiency .In this paper, we
interest to evaluate the performance of channel estimation techniques for the
two LTE Downlink systems. Simulations results show that although ZP-LTE systems
outperform CP-LTE Downlink systems in terms of power efficiency, the CP-LTE
systems show better performance than ZP-LTE systems and especially for high SNR
values. MATLAB Monte-Carlo simulations are used to evaluate the performance of
LS, LMMSE and Lr-LMMSE estimators in terms of Mean Square Error (MSE) and Bit
Error Rate (BER) for 2x2 LTE Downlink systems.


  We study the problem of interdicting a directed graph by deleting nodes with
the goal of minimizing the local edge connectivity of the remaining graph from
a given source to a sink. We show hardness of obtaining strictly unicriterion
approximations for this basic vertex interdiction problem. We also introduce
and study a general downgrading variant of the interdiction problem where the
capacity of an arc is a function of the subset of its endpoints that are
downgraded, and the goal is to minimize the downgraded capacity of a minimum
source-sink cut subject to a node downgrading budget. This models the case when
both ends of an arc must be downgraded to remove it, for example.
  For this generalization, we provide a bicriteria $(4,4)$-approximation that
downgrades nodes with total weight at most 4 times the budget and provides a
solution where the downgraded connectivity from the source to the sink is at
most 4 times that in an optimal solution. WE accomplish this with an LP
relaxation and round using a ball-growing algorithm based on the LP values. We
further generalize the downgrading problem to one where each vertex can be
downgraded to one of $k$ levels, and the arc capacities are functions of the
pairs of levels to which its ends are downgraded. We generalize our LP rounding
to get $(4k,4k)$-approximation for this case.


  Advanced supercapacitors have great potential to transform how we store and
utilize energy, leading to more efficient and sustainable energy systems. This
study reveals the structural features influencing the interfacial thermal
transport and electrical performances of supercapacitors, using the constant
potential and constant charge molecular dynamics simulation techniques. Thermal
and electrical properties were calculated for graphene/carbon nanotube
composite electrodes and ionic liquid electrolytes with different nanotube
diameter, number, layers, and alignments of the nanotubes. The effect of
application of a constant potential on the Kapitza resistance is determined for
the first time. The vertically aligned CNT structures exhibited higher
electrical performance, while the horizontal arrangement showed better thermal
performance. Optimum electrode configurations were identified by considering
thermal and electrical performance, along with other design factors, such as
structural stability, ease of manufacturing, and scalability. After considering
all these factors, the horizontally stacked multi-layer CNT arrangement emerged
as the optimal electrode structure. The insights gained from this study aid in
comprehending the effects of variations in electrode structure, thereby
enabling efficient supercapacitor electrode design.


  We present radial velocities, equivalent widths, model atmosphere parameters,
and abundances or upper limits for 53 species of 48 elements derived from high
resolution optical spectroscopy of 313 metal-poor stars. A majority of these
stars were selected from the metal-poor candidates of the HK Survey of Beers,
Preston, and Shectman. We derive detailed abundances for 61% of these stars for
the first time. Spectra were obtained during a 10-year observing campaign using
the Magellan Inamori Kyocera Echelle spectrograph on the Magellan Telescopes at
Las Campanas Observatory, the Robert G. Tull Coude Spectrograph on the Harlan
J. Smith Telescope at McDonald Observatory, and the High Resolution
Spectrograph on the Hobby-Eberly Telescope at McDonald Observatory. We perform
a standard LTE abundance analysis using MARCS model atmospheres, and we apply
line-by-line statistical corrections to minimize systematic abundance
differences arising when different sets of lines are available for analysis. We
identify several abundance correlations with effective temperature. A
comparison with previous abundance analyses reveals significant differences in
stellar parameters, which we investigate in detail. Our metallicities are, on
average, lower by approx. 0.25 dex for red giants and approx. 0.04 dex for
subgiants. Our sample contains 19 stars with [Fe/H] < -3.5, 84 stars with
[Fe/H] < -3.0, and 210 stars with [Fe/H] < -2.5. Detailed abundances are
presented here or elsewhere for 91% of the 209 stars with [Fe/H] < -2.5 as
estimated from medium resolution spectroscopy by Beers, Preston, and Shectman.
We will discuss the interpretation of these abundances in subsequent papers.


  Realistic predictions for the arrival directions of ultra-high-energy cosmic
rays require extensive simulations of UHECR propagation through 3D space,
potentially even including cosmological evolution and timing effects. Such 3D
or 4D simulations of cosmic-ray propagation suffer from the fact that a
relatively small target - the observer sphere - needs to be hit. If particles
are ejected in any direction from the source according to the source emission
geometry, such simulations are tremendously inefficient. We present here a
targeting mechanism which finds an optimal emission geometry to maximize the
number of hits while remaining unbiased in the arrival-direction distribution.
This can lead to speedups by many of orders of magnitude, depending on the
simulation setup. We present the basic mathematics to produce unbiased results
from targeted simulations, demonstrate its effectiveness with the simulation
package CRPropa 3 for various propagation scenarios, and discuss prospects to
include this mechanism as a standard part of CRPropa in the future.


  Using the three-dimensional subalgebras of the Lie algebra of Poincar\'e
group an extended class of exact solutions for the field equations of the axion
electrodynamics is obtained. These solutions include arbitrary parameters and
arbitrary functions as well. The most general solutions include six arbitrary
functions. Among them there are bound and square integrable solutions which
propagate faster than light. However, their energy velocities are smaller than
the velocity of light.


  We propose a new instruction (FPADDRE) that computes the round-off error in
floating-point addition. We explain how this instruction benefits
high-precision arithmetic operations in applications where double precision is
not sufficient. Performance estimates on Intel Haswell, Intel Skylake, and AMD
Steamroller processors, as well as Intel Knights Corner co-processor,
demonstrate that such an instruction would improve the latency of double-double
addition by up to 55% and increase double-double addition throughput by up to
103%, with smaller, but non-negligible benefits for double-double
multiplication. The new instruction delivers up to 2x speedups on three
benchmarks that use high-precision floating-point arithmetic: double-double
matrix-matrix multiplication, compensated dot product, and polynomial
evaluation via the compensated Horner scheme.


  We present a systematic analysis on the possible presence of dark mass
components inside globular clusters (GCs). A spherical Jeans analysis is
applied to the stellar kinematics of 9 nearby GCs. On top of the mass
distribution provided by the luminous stellar component, we add either dark
matter (DM), described by an NFW mass profile, or an intermediate mass
black-hole (IMBH), described by a point-like mass. Their existence would have
important implications in the context of indirect DM searches. After profiling
over the stellar parameters, we find no evidence neither for DM nor for IMBH.
Upper limits on the two components are reported.


  We consider systems of semilinear wave equations in three space dimensions
with quadratic nonlinear terms not satisfying the null condition. We prove
small data global existence of the classical solution under a new structural
condition related to the weak null condition. For two-component systems
satisfying this condition, we also observe a new kind of asymptotic behavior:
Only one component is dissipated and the other one behaves like a free solution
in the large time.


  Box-simplex games are a family of bilinear minimax objectives which
encapsulate graph-structured problems such as maximum flow [She17], optimal
transport [JST19], and bipartite matching [AJJ+22]. We develop efficient
near-linear time, high-accuracy solvers for regularized variants of these
games. Beyond the immediate applications of such solvers for computing Sinkhorn
distances, a prominent tool in machine learning, we show that these solvers can
be used to obtain improved running times for maintaining a (fractional)
$\epsilon$-approximate maximum matching in a dynamic decremental bipartite
graph against an adaptive adversary. We give a generic framework which reduces
this dynamic matching problem to solving regularized graph-structured
optimization problems to high accuracy. Through our reduction framework, our
regularized box-simplex game solver implies a new algorithm for dynamic
decremental bipartite matching in total time $\tilde{O}(m \cdot
\epsilon^{-3})$, from an initial graph with $m$ edges and $n$ nodes. We further
show how to use recent advances in flow optimization [CKL+22] to improve our
runtime to $m^{1 + o(1)} \cdot \epsilon^{-2}$, thereby demonstrating the
versatility of our reduction-based approach. These results improve upon the
previous best runtime of $\tilde{O}(m \cdot \epsilon^{-4})$ [BGS20] and
illustrate the utility of using regularized optimization problem solvers for
designing dynamic algorithms.


  The study of the fundamental limits of information systems is a central theme
in information theory. Both the traditional analytical approach and the
recently proposed computational approach have significant limitations, where
the former is mainly due to its reliance on human ingenuity, and the latter due
to its exponential memory and computational complexity. In this work, we
propose a new computational approach to tackle the problem with much lower
memory and computational requirements, which can naturally utilize certain
intuitions, but also can maintain the strong computational advantage of the
existing computational approach. A reformulation of the underlying optimization
problem is first proposed, which converts the large linear program to a maximin
problem. This leads to an iterative solving procedure, which uses the LP dual
to carry over learned evidence between iterations. The key in the reformulated
problem is the selection of good information inequalities, with which a relaxed
LP can be formed. A particularly powerful intuition is a potentially optimal
code construction, and we provide a method that directly utilizes it in the new
algorithm. As an application, we derive a tighter outer bound for the
storage-repair tradeoff for the $(6,5,5)$ regenerating code problem, which
involves at least 30 random variables and is impossible to compute with the
previously known computational approach.


  Sequential decision making for lifetime maximization is a critical problem in
many real-world applications, such as medical treatment and portfolio
selection. In these applications, a "reneging" phenomenon, where participants
may disengage from future interactions after observing an unsatisfiable
outcome, is rather prevalent. To address the above issue, this paper proposes a
model of heteroscedastic linear bandits with reneging, which allows each
participant to have a distinct "satisfaction level," with any interaction
outcome falling short of that level resulting in that participant reneging.
Moreover, it allows the variance of the outcome to be context-dependent. Based
on this model, we develop a UCB-type policy, namely HR-UCB, and prove that it
achieves $\mathcal{O}\big(\sqrt{{T}(\log({T}))^{3}}\big)$ regret. Finally, we
validate the performance of HR-UCB via simulations.


  Ramanujan's notebooks contain many elegant identities and one of the
celebrated identities is a formula for $\zeta(2k+1)$. In 1972, Grosswald gave
an extension of the Ramanujan's formula for $\zeta(2k+1)$, which contains a
polynomial of degree $2k+2$. This polynomial is now well-known as the Ramanujan
polynomial$R_{2k+1}(z)$, first studied by Gun, Murty, and Rath. Around the same
time, Murty, Smith and Wang proved that all the non-real zeros of $R_{2k+1}(z)$
lie on the unit circle. Recently, Chourasiya, Jamal, and the first author found
a new polynomial while obtaining a Ramanujan-type formula for Dirichlet
$L$-functions and named it as Ramanujan-type polynomial $R_{2k+1,p}(z)$. In the
same paper, they conjectured that all the non-real zeros of $R_{2k+1,p}(z)$ lie
on the circle $|z|=1/p$. The main goal of this paper is to present a proof of
this conjecture.


  We study the regularity of solutions to complex Monge-Amp\`ere equations
$(dd^c u)^n=f dV$, on bounded strongly pseudoconvex domains $ \Omega \subset
\C^n$. We show, under a mild technical assumption, that the unique solution $u$
to such an equation is H\"older continuous if the boundary values $\phi$ are
H\"older continuous and the density $f$ belongs to $L^p(\Omega)$ for some
$p>1$. This improves previous results by Bedford-Taylor and Kolodziej.


  We discuss a grand unified theory (GUT) based on an $SO(32)$ GUT gauge group
broken to its subgroups including a special subgroup. In the $SO(32)$ GUT on
six-dimensional (6D) orbifold space $M^4\times T^2/\mathbb{Z}_2$, one
generation of the SM fermions can be embedded into a 6D bulk Weyl fermion in
the $SO(32)$ vector representation. We show that for a three generation model,
all the 6D and 4D gauge anomalies in the bulk and on the fixed points are
canceled out without exotic chiral fermions at low energies.


  In the last two decades, scholars have designed various types of
bibliographic related indicators to identify breakthrough-class academic
achievements. In this study, we take a further step to look at properties of
the promising disruptive index, thus deepening our understanding of this index
and further facilitating its wise use in bibliometrics. Using publication
records for Nobel laureates between 1900 and 2016, we calculate the DI of Nobel
Prize-winning articles and its benchmark articles in each year and use the
median DI to denote the central tendency in each year, and compare results
between Medicine, Chemistry, and Physics. We find that conclusions based on DI
depend on the length of their citation time window, and different citation time
windows may cause different, even controversial, results. Also, discipline and
time play a role on the length of citation window when using DI to measure the
innovativeness of a scientific work. Finally, not all articles with DI equals
to 1 were the breakthrough-class achievements. In other words, the DI stands up
theoretically, but we should not neglect that the DI was only shaped by the
number of citing articles and times the references have been cited, these data
may vary from database to database.


  Let ${\mathcal W}_n$ be the Lie algebra of polynomial vector fields. We
classify simple weight ${\mathcal W}_n$-modules $M$ with finite weight
multiplicities. We prove that every such nontrivial module $M$ is either a
tensor module or the unique simple submodule in a tensor module associated with
the de Rham complex on $\mathbb C^n$.


  A Lie algebra $\mathfrak{g}_\mathbb{Q}$ over $\mathbb{Q}$ is said to be
$\mathbb{R}$-universal if every homomorphism from $\mathfrak{g}_\mathbb{Q}$ to
$\mathfrak{gl}(n,\mathbb{R})$ is conjugate to a homomorphism into
$\mathfrak{gl}(n,\mathbb{Q})$ (for every $n$). By using Galois cohomology, we
provide a short proof of the known fact that every real semisimple Lie algebra
has an $\mathbb{R}$-universal $\mathbb{Q}$-form. We also provide a
classification of the $\mathbb{R}$-universal Lie algebras that are semisimple.


  After a brief description of the basic theoretical concepts of the string
model approach, we discuss the limitations of the method, at low energies, at
high energies, and at high particle densities. We also report on recent efforts
to overcome these limitations.


  Models with essential non-perturbative QCD dynamics for the production of
charmonium are extrapolated to give predictions of prompt J/psi production at
the LHC. Differences of up to an order of magnitude occurs, although the
different models all describe the Tevatron data on high-pT charmonium. An
important point is here the treatment of higher order perturbative QCD effects.
We also discuss the large rate of prompt J/psi from these models as a
background to CP violation studies.


  Recommender systems (RSs) have become an indispensable part of online
platforms. With the growing concerns of algorithmic fairness, RSs are not only
expected to deliver high-quality personalized content, but are also demanded
not to discriminate against users based on their demographic information.
However, existing RSs could capture undesirable correlations between sensitive
features and observed user behaviors, leading to biased recommendations. Most
fair RSs tackle this problem by completely blocking the influences of sensitive
features on recommendations. But since sensitive features may also affect user
interests in a fair manner (e.g., race on culture-based preferences),
indiscriminately eliminating all the influences of sensitive features
inevitably degenerate the recommendations quality and necessary diversities. To
address this challenge, we propose a path-specific fair RS (PSF-RS) for
recommendations. Specifically, we summarize all fair and unfair correlations
between sensitive features and observed ratings into two latent proxy
mediators, where the concept of path-specific bias (PS-Bias) is defined based
on path-specific counterfactual inference. Inspired by Pearl's minimal change
principle, we address the PS-Bias by minimally transforming the biased factual
world into a hypothetically fair world, where a fair RS model can be learned
accordingly by solving a constrained optimization problem. For the technical
part, we propose a feasible implementation of PSF-RS, i.e., PSF-VAE, with
weakly-supervised variational inference, which robustly infers the latent
mediators such that unfairness can be mitigated while necessary recommendation
diversities can be maximally preserved simultaneously. Experiments conducted on
semi-simulated and real-world datasets demonstrate the effectiveness of PSF-RS.


  Nozi$\grave{e}$res' exhaustion theory argues the temperature for coherently
screening of all local moments in Kondo lattice could be much lower than the
temperature of single moment screening with insufficient number of conduction
electrons. Recent experiment [Luo et al, PNAS, 112,13520 (2015)] indicates the
cerium based nickel pnictides $CeNi_{2-\delta}As_2 (\delta\approx0.28)$ with
low carrier density is an ideal material to exam such protracted Kondo
screening. Using the density functional theory and dynamical mean-field theory,
we calculated the respective electronic structures of paramagnetic
$CeNi_2As_2$/$CeNi_2P_2$. In contrast to structurally analogous layered iron
pnictides, the electronic structures of the present systems show strong
three-dimensionality with substantially small contributions of Ni-3d electrons
to the carrier density. Moreover, we find significant Kondo resonance peaks in
the compressed $CeNi_2As_2$ and $CeNi_2P_2$ at low temperatures, accompanied by
topological changes of the Fermi surfaces. We also find similar quantum phase
transition in $CeNi_2As_2$ driven by chemical pressure via the isovalence
As$\rightarrow$P substitution.


  This work considers a model for oncolytic virotherapy, as given by the
reaction-diffusion-taxis system $$ \left\{ \begin{array}{l} u_t = \Delta u -
\nabla \cdot (u\nabla v)-\rho uz, \\[1mm] v_t = - (u+w)v, \\[1mm] w_t = D_w
\Delta w - w + uz, \\[1mm] z_t = D_z \Delta z - z - uz + \beta w, \end{array}
\right.
  $$ in a smoothly bounded domain $\Omega\subset\mathbb{R}^2$, with parameters
$D_w>0, D_z>0, \beta>0$ and $\rho\ge 0$.\\ % Previous analysis has asserted
that for all reasonably regular initial data, an associated no-flux type
initial-boundary value problem admits a global classical solution, and that
this solution is bounded if $\beta<1$, whereas whenever $\beta>1$ and
$\frac{1}{|\Omega|}\int_{\Omega} u(\cdot,0)>\frac{1}{\beta-1}$, infinite-time
blow-up occurs at least in the particular case when $\rho=0$.\abs %
  In order to provide an appropriate complement to this, the present work
reveals that for any $\rho\ge 0$ and arbitrary $\beta>0$, at each prescribed
level $\gamma\in (0,\frac{1}{(\beta-1)_+})$ one can identify an
$L^\infty$-neighborhood of the homogeneous distribution $(u,v,w,z)\equiv
(\gamma,0,0,0)$ within which all initial data lead to globally bounded
solutions that stabilize toward the constant equilibrium $(u_\infty,0,0,0)$
with some $u_\infty>0$.


  High resolution (R~20,000), high signal-to-noise (S/N~100) spectra were
collected for ~40 symbiotic stars with the Asiago echelle spectrograph over the
same 8480-8740 Ang wavelength range covered by the ESA Cornerstone mission
GAIA, centered on the near-IR CaII triplet and the head of the Paschen series.
A large number (~140) of cool MKK giant and supergiant templates were observed
with the same instrumentation to serve as a reference and classification grid.
The spectra offer bright prospects in classifying and addressing the nature of
the cool component of symbiotic stars (deriving T(eff), log g, [Fe/H],
[alpha/Fe], V(rot)sin i both via MDM-like methods and syntetic atmosphere
modeling) and mapping the physical condition and kinematics of the gas regions
responsible for the emission lines.


  In the paper by Wei et al. ("Federated Learning with Differential Privacy:
Algorithms and Performance Analysis"), the convergence performance of the
proposed differential privacy algorithm in federated learning (FL), known as
Noising before Model Aggregation FL (NbAFL), was studied. However, the
presented convergence upper bound of NbAFL (Theorem 2) is incorrect. This
comment aims to present the correct form of the convergence upper bound for
NbAFL.


  We present numerical models of the circumstellar disks of Be stars, and we
describe the resulting synthetic H-alpha emission lines and maps of the
wavelength-integrated emission flux projected onto the sky. We demonstrate that
there are monotonic relationships between the emission line equivalent width
and the ratio of the angular half-width at half maximum of the projected disk
major axis to the radius of the star. These relationships depend mainly upon
the temperatures of the disk and star, the inclination of the disk normal to
the line of sight, and the adopted outer boundary for the disk radius. We show
that the predicted H-alpha disk radii are consistent with those observed
directly through long baseline interferometry of nearby Be stars (especially
once allowance is made for disk truncation in binaries and for dilution of the
observed H-alpha equivalent width by continuum disk flux in the V-band).


  In this paper, we present a novel signal processing unit built upon the
theory of factor graphs, which is able to address a wide range of signal
processing algorithms. More specifically, the demonstrated factor graph
processor (FGP) is tailored to Gaussian message passing algorithms. We show how
to use a highly configurable systolic array to solve the message update
equations of nodes in a factor graph efficiently. A proper instruction set and
compilation procedure is presented. In a recursive least squares channel
estimation example we show that the FGP can compute a message update faster
than a state-ofthe- art DSP. The results demonstrate the usabilty of the FGP
architecture as a flexible HW accelerator for signal-processing and
communication systems.


  We report on various nanocarbons formed from a unique structural pattern
containing two pentagons, three hexagons and two heptagons, resulting from
local rearrange- ments around a divacancy in pristine graphene or nanotubes.
This defect can be inserted in sheets or tubes either individually or as
extended defect lines. Sheets or tubes containing only this defect as a pattern
can also be obtained. These fully defective sheets, and most of the tubes,
present a very pronounced rippled (wavy) structure and their energies are lower
than other structures based on pentagons and heptagons published so far.
Another particularity of these rippled carbon sheets is their ability to fold
themselves into a two-dimensional porous network of inter- connected tubes upon
heat treatment as shown by hybrid Monte Carlo simulations. Finally, contrary to
the common belief that pentagon/heptagon based structures are metallic, this
work shows that this defect pattern should give rise to semi-metallic
conduction.


  We present a systematic study of production of strange and non-strange hadron
yields and their ratios obtained in various experiments using our
thermodynamically consistent excluded-volume model. We also analyze the
production of light nuclei, hypernuclei and their antinuclei in terms of our
excluded-volume model over a broad energy range starting from Alternating
Gradient Synchrotron (AGS) to Large Hadron Collider (LHC) energies. Further, we
extend our model for studying rapidity spectra of hadrons produced in heavy-ion
collisions.


  The ability to transmit quantum states over long distances is a fundamental
requirement of the quantum internet and is reliant upon quantum repeaters.
Quantum repeaters involve entangled photon sources that emit and deliver
photonic entangled states at high rates and quantum memories that can
temporarily store quantum states. Improvement of the entanglement distribution
rate is essential for quantum repeaters, and multiplexing is expected to be a
breakthrough. However, limited studies exist on multiplexed photon sources and
their coupling with a multiplexed quantum memory. Here, we demonstrate the
storing of a frequency-multiplexed two-photon source at telecommunication
wavelengths in a quantum memory accepting visible wavelengths via wavelength
conversion after 10-km distribution. To achieve this, quantum systems are
connected via wavelength conversion with a frequency stabilization system and a
noise reduction system. The developed system was stably operated for more than
42 h. Therefore, it can be applied to quantum repeater systems comprising
various physical systems requiring long-term system stability.


  The design of machine learning systems often requires trading off different
objectives, for example, prediction error and energy consumption for deep
neural networks (DNNs). Typically, no single design performs well in all
objectives; therefore, finding Pareto-optimal designs is of interest. The
search for Pareto-optimal designs involves evaluating designs in an iterative
process, and the measurements are used to evaluate an acquisition function that
guides the search process. However, measuring different objectives incurs
different costs. For example, the cost of measuring the prediction error of
DNNs is orders of magnitude higher than that of measuring the energy
consumption of a pre-trained DNN, as it requires re-training the DNN. Current
state-of-the-art methods do not consider this difference in objective
evaluation cost, potentially incurring expensive evaluations of objective
functions in the optimization process. In this paper, we develop a novel
decoupled and cost-aware multi-objective optimization algorithm, we call
Flexible Multi-Objective Bayesian Optimization (FlexiBO) to address this issue.
FlexiBO weights the improvement of the hypervolume of the Pareto region by the
measurement cost of each objective to balance the expense of collecting new
information with the knowledge gained through objective evaluations, preventing
us from performing expensive measurements for little to no gain. We evaluate
FlexiBO on seven state-of-the-art DNNs for image recognition, natural language
processing (NLP), and speech-to-text translation. Our results indicate that,
given the same total experimental budget, FlexiBO discovers designs with
4.8$\%$ to 12.4$\%$ lower hypervolume error than the best method in
state-of-the-art multi-objective optimization.


  The evolutionary force of recombination is lacking in asexually reproducing
populations. As a consequence, the population can suffer an irreversible
accumulation of deleterious mutations, a phenomenon known as Muller's ratchet.
We formulate discrete and continuous time versions of Muller's ratchet.
Inspired by Haigh's (1978) analysis of a dynamical system which arises in the
limit of large populations, we identify the parameter gamma =
N*lambda/(Ns*log(N*lambda)) as most important for the speed of accumulation of
deleterious mutations. Here N is population size, s is the selection
coefficient and lambda is the deleterious mutation rate. For large parts of the
parameter range, measuring time in units of size N, deleterious mutations
accumulate according to a power law in N*lambda with exponent gamma if
gamma>0.5. For gamma<0.5 mutations cannot accumulate. We obtain diffusion
approximations for three different parameter regimes, depending on the speed of
the ratchet. Our approximations shed new light on analyses of Stephan et al.
(1993) and Gordo & Charlesworth (2000). The heuristics leading to the
approximations are supported by simulations.


  Understanding the similarities and differences between adding or removing
electrons from a charge-transfer insulator may provide insights about the
origin of the electron-hole asymmetry found in cuprates. Here we study with
cellular dynamical mean-field theory the Emery model set in the charge-transfer
insulator regime, and dope it with either electrons or holes. We consider the
normal state only and focus on the doping evolution of the orbital character of
the dopants and on the nature of the doping driven transition. Regarding the
orbital character of the dopants, we found an electron-hole asymmetry: doped
electrons mostly enter the copper orbitals, whereas doped holes mostly enter
the oxygen orbitals. Regarding the nature of the doping driven transition, we
found no qualitative electron-hole asymmetry: upon either electron or hole
doping, there is a two-stage transition from a charge-transfer insulator to a
strongly correlated pseudogap and then to a metal. This shows that a strongly
correlated pseudogap is an emergent feature of doped correlated insulators in
two dimensions, in qualitative agreement with recent experiments on ambipolar
Sr$_{1-x}$La$_{x}$CuO$_{2+y}$ cuprate films. Our results indicate that merely
doping with holes or electrons a charge-transfer insulator is not sufficient
for explaining the electron-hole asymmetry observed in the normal state phase
diagram of cuprates. Our work reinforces the view that actual hole-doped
cuprates are more correlated than their electron-doped counterparts.


  Complex networks are pervasive in the real world, capturing dyadic
interactions between pairs of vertices, and a large corpus has emerged on their
mining and modeling. However, many phenomena are comprised of polyadic
interactions between more than two vertices. Such complex hypergraphs range
from emails among groups of individuals, scholarly collaboration, or joint
interactions of proteins in living cells.
  A key generative principle within social and other complex networks is
transitivity, where friends of friends are more likely friends. The previously
proposed Iterated Local Transitivity (ILT) model incorporated transitivity as
an evolutionary mechanism. The ILT model provably satisfies many observed
properties of social networks, such as densification, low average distances,
and high clustering coefficients.
  We propose a new, generative model for complex hypergraphs based on
transitivity, called the Iterated Local Transitivity Hypergraph (or ILTH)
model. In ILTH, we iteratively apply the principle of transitivity to form new
hypergraphs. The resulting model generates hypergraphs simulating properties
observed in real-world complex hypergraphs, such as densification and low
average distances. We consider properties unique to hypergraphs not captured by
their 2-section. We show that certain motifs, which are specified
subhypergraphs of small order, have faster growth rates in ILTH hypergraphs
than in random hypergraphs with the same order and expected average degree. We
show that the graphs admitting a homomorphism into the 2-section of the initial
hypergraph appear as induced subgraphs in the 2-section of ILTH hypergraphs. We
consider new and existing hypergraph clustering coefficients, and show that
these coefficients have larger values in ILTH hypergraphs than in comparable
random hypergraphs.


  The $pp\to pp\gamma$ bremsstrahlung cross section is calculated within the
method of coordinate space representation. It is shown that in the beam energy
range of 350--450~MeV a deep attractive NN-potential with forbidden states
(Moscow potential) and realistic meson exchange potentials (MEP) give rise to
the cross sections that differ essentially in shape: the cross sections nearly
coincide in the minima but differ by a factor of 5 approximately in the maxima.
Therefore, the $pp\to pp\gamma$ reaction at energies $\sim$350--450~Mev can be
used to study $NN$ interaction off-shell and to discriminate experimentally
between MEP and Moscow potential.


  Context: The cosmological concordance model ($\Lambda$CDM) matches the
cosmological observations exceedingly well. This model has become the standard
cosmological model with the evidence for an accelerated expansion provided by
the type Ia supernovae (SNIa) Hubble diagram. However, the robustness of this
evidence has been addressed recently with somewhat diverging conclusions. Aims:
The purpose of this paper is to assess the robustness of the conclusion that
the Universe is indeed accelerating if we rely only on low-redshift
(z$\lesssim$2) observations, that is to say with SNIa, baryonic acoustic
oscillations, measurements of the Hubble parameter at different redshifts, and
measurements of the growth of matter perturbations. Methods: We used the
standard statistical procedure of minimizing the $\chi^2$ function for the
different probes to quantify the goodness of fit of a model for both
$\Lambda$CDM and a simple nonaccelerated low-redshift power law model. In this
analysis, we do not assume that supernovae intrinsic luminosity is independent
of the redshift, which has been a fundamental assumption in most previous
studies that cannot be tested. Results: We have found that, when SNIa intrinsic
luminosity is not assumed to be redshift independent, a nonaccelerated
low-redshift power law model is able to fit the low-redshift background data as
well as, or even slightly better, than $\Lambda$CDM. When measurements of the
growth of structures are added, a nonaccelerated low-redshift power law model
still provides an excellent fit to the data for all the luminosity evolution
models considered. Conclusions: Without the standard assumption that supernovae
intrinsic luminosity is independent of the redshift, low-redshift probes are
consistent with a nonaccelerated universe.


  Machine Learning (ML) helps us to recognize patterns from raw data. ML is
used in numerous domains i.e. biomedical, agricultural, food technology, etc.
Despite recent technological advancements, there is still room for substantial
improvement in prediction. Current ML models are based on classical theories of
probability and statistics, which can now be replaced by Quantum Theory (QT)
with the aim of improving the effectiveness of ML. In this paper, we propose
the Binary Classifier Inspired by Quantum Theory (BCIQT) model, which
outperforms the state of the art classification in terms of recall for every
category.


  Multiple-parton interactions play a vital role in hadron-hadron collisions.
This paper presents a study of the multiple-parton interactions with simulated
Z + jets events in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13
TeV. The events are simulated with POWHEG followed by hadronization and
parton-showering using PYTHIA 8. The events with dimuon invariant mass in the
range of 60--120 GeV are selected for the analysis. The charged particle jets,
having minimum transverse momentum of 5 GeV and absolute pseudo-rapidity less
than 2, are used to construct the observables for measurements of the
multiple-parton interactions. The proposed observables and phase-space region
presented in this paper found to have enhanced sensitivity to multiple-parton
interactions. The increased sensitivity to MPI will be lead to precise
constraints on the parameters of the MPI models.


  The power graph of a group is the simple graph with vertices as the group
elements, in which two distinct vertices are adjacent if and only if one of
them can be obtained as an integral power of the other. We study (minimal)
cut-sets of the power graph of a (finite) non-cyclic (nilpotent) group which
are associated with its maximal cyclic subgroups. Let $G$ be a finite
non-cyclic nilpotent group whose order is divisible by at least two distinct
primes. If $G$ has a Sylow subgroup which is neither cyclic nor a generalized
quaternion $2$-group and all other Sylow subgroups of $G$ are cyclic, then
under some conditions we prove that there is only one minimum cut-set of the
power graph of $G$. We apply this result to find the vertex connectivity of the
power graphs of certain finite non-cyclic abelian groups whose order is
divisible by at most three distinct primes.


  We analyze some properties of the four dimensional supergravity theories
which originate from five dimensions upon reduction. They generalize to N>2
extended supersymmetries the d-geometries with cubic prepotentials, familiar
from N=2 special K\"ahler geometry. We emphasize the role of a suitable
parametrization of the scalar fields and the corresponding triangular
symplectic basis. We also consider applications to the first order flow
equations for non-BPS extremal black holes.


  The environment-dependent bimodality of the distribution of stellar mass
($M_\ast$) and specific star formation rate (sSFR) of galaxies, and its
explanation in terms of the central-satellite dichotomy, form a cornerstone of
our current understanding of galaxy evolution in the hierarchical structure
formation paradigm. We revisit this framework in the IllustrisTNG simulation in
the context of the most extreme local tidal anisotropy $\alpha_{\rm peak}$
experienced by each galaxy over cosmic time, which is an excellent proxy for
environmental influence. We show that, while sharing a common monotonic
$M_\ast$-$v_{\rm peak}$ relation, central, satellite and `splashback' galaxies
define a hierarchy of increasing $\alpha_{\rm peak}$. We also find that the
sSFR of objects in small haloes unaffected by feedback from an active nucleus
typically decreases with increasing $\alpha_{\rm peak}$. Our results support an
alternate viewpoint in which a galaxy can be identified by the value of
$\alpha_{\rm peak}$; i.e., rather than being placed on the central-satellite
dichotomy, a galaxy is better classified by its location in a continuum of
tidal environments. This conceptual shift can potentially yield a more robust
understanding of galaxy evolution and the galaxy-dark matter connection, e.g.,
in accurately modelling subtle effects such as sSFR-induced secondary
clustering.


  The Accelerator Test Facility 2 (ATF2) is a scaled demonstrator system for
final focus beam lines of linear high energy colliders. This paper describes
the high resolution cavity beam position monitor (BPM) system, which is a part
of the ATF2 diagnostics. Two types of cavity BPMs are used, C-band operating at
6.423 GHz, and S-band at 2.888 GHz with an increased beam aperture. The
cavities, electronics, and digital processing are described. The resolution of
the C-band system with attenuators was determined to be approximately 250 nm
and 1 m for the S-band system. Without attenuation the best recorded C-band
cavity resolution was 27 nm.


  We study the action of a differential operator on Schubert polynomials. Using
this action, we first give a short new proof of an identity of I. Macdonald
(1991). We then prove a determinant conjecture of R. Stanley (2017). This
conjecture implies the (strong) Sperner property for the weak order on the
symmetric group, a property recently established by C. Gaetz and Y. Gao (2018).


  The black hole information problem has motivated many proposals for new
physics. One idea, known as state-dependence, is that quantum mechanics must be
generalized to describe the physics of black holes, and that fixed linear
operators do not provide the fundamental description of experiences for
infalling observers. Instead, such experiences are to be described by operators
with an extra dependence on the global quantum state. We show that any
implementation of this idea strong enough to remove firewalls from generic
states requires massive violations of the Born rule. We also demonstrate a
sense in which such violations are visible to infalling observers involved in
preparing the initial state of the black hole. We emphasize the generality of
our results; no details of any specific proposal for state-dependence are
required.


  We develop a 2D travel time tomography method which regularizes the inversion
by modeling groups of slowness pixels from discrete slowness maps, called
patches, as sparse linear combinations of atoms from a dictionary. We propose
to use dictionary learning during the inversion to adapt dictionaries to
specific slowness maps. This patch regularization, called the local model, is
integrated into the overall slowness map, called the global model. The local
model considers small-scale variations using a sparsity constraint and the
global model considers larger-scale features constrained using $\ell_2$
regularization. This strategy in a locally-sparse travel time tomography (LST)
approach enables simultaneous modeling of smooth and discontinuous slowness
features. This is in contrast to conventional tomography methods, which
constrain models to be exclusively smooth or discontinuous. We develop a
$\textit{maximum a posteriori}$ formulation for LST and exploit the sparsity of
slowness patches using dictionary learning. The LST approach compares favorably
with smoothness and total variation regularization methods on densely, but
irregularly sampled synthetic slowness maps.


  We consider the Johnson-Koranyi-Hua system on symmetric Siegel domains of
type two. We prove that all functions which are annihilated by the system and
satisfy an H^2 integrability condition are pluriharmonic. So the situation is
completely different on type two domains than on tube type domains: it was
proved by Johnson and Koranyi that on symmetric tube type domains the system
characterizes Poisson-Szego integrals.


  We provide a tensor calculus for $n$-number of ${\mathcal N}=(1,0)$ linear
multiplets in six dimensions. The coupling of linear multiplets is encoded in a
function ${\mathcal F}_{IJ}$ that is subject to certain constraints. We provide
various rigid and local supersymmetric models depending on the choice of the
function ${\mathcal F}_{IJ}$ and provide an interesting off-diagonal
superinvariant, which leads to an $R^2$ supergravity upon elimination of
auxiliary fields.


  The 2022 Russia Ukraine War has led to many sanctions being placed on Russia
and Ukraine. The paper will discuss the impact the 2022 Russian Sanctions have
on agricultural food prices and hunger. The paper also uses Instrumental
Variable Analysis to find how Cryptocurrency and Bitcoin can be used to hedge
against the impact of sanctions. The 6 different countries analyzed in this
study including Bangladesh, El Salvador, Iran, Nigeria, Philippines, and South
Africa, all of which are heavy importers of wheat and corn. The paper shows
that although Bitcoin may be volatile compared to other local currencies, it
might be a good investment to safeguard assets since it is not correlated with
commodity prices.Furthermore, the study demonstrates that transaction volume
has a strong relationship with prices.


  We account for particle emission and gravitational radiation from cosmic
string loops to determine their effect on the loop distribution and
observational signatures of strings. The effect of particle emission is that
the number density of loops no longer scales. This results in a high frequency
cutoff on the stochastic gravitational wave background, but we show that the
expected cutoff is outside the range of current and planned detectors. Particle
emission from string loops also produces a diffuse gamma ray background that is
sensitive to the presence of kinks and cusps on the loops. However, both for
kinks and cusps, and with mild assumptions about particle physics interactions,
current diffuse gamma-ray background observations do not constrain $G\mu$.


  The development of Quantum Electrodynamics (QED) is sketched from its
earliest beginnings until the formulations of 1949, using the example of the
divergent self-energy of the electron as a quintessential problem of the
1930's-40's. The lack of progress towards solving this problem led researchers
to believe that after the conceptual revolution of quantum mechanics a new
conceptual change was needed. It took a war and a new generation of
algorithmically inclined physicists to pursue the conventional route of
regularization and renormalization that led to the solution in 1947-1949. Some
remarks on contemporary high energy physics are made.


  This article is a contribution towards an understanding of Open Access (OA)
publishing. It proposes an analysis framework of 18 core attributes, divided
into the areas of Bibliographic information, Activity metrics, Economics,
Accessibility, and Predatory issues of OA journals. The framework has been
employed in a systematic analysis of 30 OA journals in software engineering
(SE) and information systems (IS), which were selected among 386 OA journals in
Computer Science from the Directory of OA Journals. An analysis is performed on
the sample of the journals, to provide an overview of the current situation of
OA journals in the fields of SE and IS. The journals are then compared
between-group, according to the presence of a publication fee. A within-group
analysis is performed on the journals requesting publication charges to
authors, in order to understand what is the value added according to different
price ranges. This article offers several contributions. It presents an
overview of OA definitions and models. It provides an analysis framework born
from the observation of data and the literature. It raises the need to study OA
in the fields of SE and IS while offering a first analysis. Finally, it
provides recommendations to readers of OA journals. This paper highlights
several concerns still threatening OA publishing in the fields of SE and IS.
Among them, it is shown that high publication fees are not sufficiently
justified by the publishers, which often lack transparency and may prevent
authors from adopting OA.


  We investigate the Cartan formalism in $F(R)$ gravity. $F(R)$ gravity has
been introduced as a theory to explain cosmological accelerated expansion by
replacing the Ricci scalar $R$ in the Einstein-Hilbert action with a function
of $R$. As is well-known, $F(R)$ gravity is rewritten as a scalar-tensor theory
by using the conformal transformation. Cartan $F(R)$ gravity is described based
on the Riemann-Cartan geometry formulated by the vierbein. In the Cartan
formalism, the Ricci scalar $R$ is divided into two parts, one derived from the
Levi-Civita connection and the other from the torsion. Assuming the spin
connection independent matter action, we have successfully rewritten the action
of Cartan $F(R)$ gravity into the Einstein-Hilbert action and a scalar field
with canonical kinetic and potential terms without any conformal
transformations. The resulting scalar-tensor theory is useful in applying the
usual slow-roll scenario. As a simple case, we employ the Starobinsky model and
evaluate fluctuations in the cosmological microwave background radiation.


  We have investigated the effect of the gate voltage on spin relaxation in an
Al0.3Ga0.7As/GaAs/Al0.3Ga0.7As heterostructure. The study is motivated by a
recent proposal for a non-ballistic spin field effect transistor that utilizes
the interplay between the Rashba and the Dresselhaus spin-orbit interaction in
the device channel. The model, which utilizes real material parameters, in
order to calculate spin dynamics as a function of the gate voltage has been
developed. From the obtained results we define the efficiency of the spin
polarization and spin density modulation. The estimated modulation of the spin
polarization at room temperature is of the order of 15-20%. The results show
that the effect is not sufficient for device applications. However, it can be
observed experimentally by optical pulse-probe techniques.


  Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are an enigmatic class of extragalactic transients
emitting Jy-level radio bursts in the GHz band, lasting for only a few ms. So
far, some objects are known to repeat while several others are not, likely
indicating multiple origins. There are many theoretical models, some predict
prompt VHE or optical emission correlated with FRBs while others imply VHE
afterglows hours after the FRB. To test these predictions and unravel the
nature of FRB progenitors, the stereoscopic Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov
Telescopes (IACTs) system MAGIC has been participating in FRB observation
campaigns since 2016. As IACTs are sensitive to Cherenkov photons in the
UV/blue region of the electromagnetic spectrum and use photo-detectors with
time response faster than a ms, MAGIC is also able to perform simultaneous
optical observations through a dedicated system installed in the central PMT of
its camera. The main challenge faced by MAGIC in searching for optical
counterpart of FRBs is the presence of irreducible background optical events
due to terrestrial sources. We present new results from MAGIC observations of
the first repeating FRB 121102 during several MWL observation campaigns. The
recently improved instrument and refined strategy to search for counterparts of
FRBs in the VHE and optical bands will also be presented.


  In this paper, we present a quantum algorithm for dynamic programming
approach for problems on directed acyclic graphs (DAGs). The running time of
the algorithm is $O(\sqrt{\hat{n}m}\log \hat{n})$, and the running time of the
best known deterministic algorithm is $O(n+m)$, where $n$ is the number of
vertices, $\hat{n}$ is the number of vertices with at least one outgoing edge;
$m$ is the number of edges. We show that we can solve problems that use OR,
AND, NAND, MAX and MIN functions as the main transition steps. The approach is
useful for a couple of problems. One of them is computing a Boolean formula
that is represented by Zhegalkin polynomial, a Boolean circuit with shared
input and non-constant depth evaluating. Another two are the single source
longest paths search for weighted DAGs and the diameter search problem for
unweighted DAGs.


  The behavior of strange matter in the frame of the SU(3)Polyakov-loop
extended Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model including $U_A(1)$ anomaly is considered. We
discuss the appearance of a peak in the ratio of the number of strange mesons
to non-strange mesons known as the "horn". The PNJL model gives a schematic
description of the chiral phase transition and meson properties at finite
temperature and density. Using the model, we can show that the splitting of
kaon and anti-kaon masses appears as a result of introduction of density. This
may explain the difference in the $K^+/\pi^+$ ratio and $K^-/\pi^-$ ratio at
low $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ and their tendency to the same value at high
$\sqrt{s_{NN}}$. We also show that the rise in the ratio $K^+/\pi^+$ appears
near CEP when we build the $K^+/\pi^+$ ratio along the phase transition diagram
and it can be considered as a critical region signal.


  Diffusion models are the current state-of-the-art in image generation,
synthesizing high-quality images by breaking down the generation process into
many fine-grained denoising steps. Despite their good performance, diffusion
models are computationally expensive, requiring many neural function
evaluations (NFEs). In this work, we propose an anytime diffusion-based method
that can generate viable images when stopped at arbitrary times before
completion. Using existing pretrained diffusion models, we show that the
generation scheme can be recomposed as two nested diffusion processes, enabling
fast iterative refinement of a generated image. In experiments on ImageNet and
Stable Diffusion-based text-to-image generation, we show, both qualitatively
and quantitatively, that our method's intermediate generation quality greatly
exceeds that of the original diffusion model, while the final generation result
remains comparable. We illustrate the applicability of Nested Diffusion in
several settings, including for solving inverse problems, and for rapid
text-based content creation by allowing user intervention throughout the
sampling process.


  The fast shocks that characterize supernova remnants heat circumstellar and
ejecta material to extremely high temperatures, resulting in significant X-ray
emission. The X-ray spectrum from an SNR carries a wealth of information about
the temperature and ionization state of the plasma, the density distribution of
the postshock material, and the composition of the ejecta. This, in turn,
places strong constraints on the properties of the progenitor star, the
explosive nucleosynthesis that produced the remnant, the properties of the
environment into which the SNR expands, and the effects of particle
acceleration on its dynamical evolution. Here I present results from X-ray
studies SNRs in various evolutionary states, and highlight key results inferred
from the thermal emission.


  Polarized neutron scattering experiments on the slightly overdoped
superconductor Ba$_{0.5}$K$_{0.5}$Fe$_2$As$_2$ reveal broad magnetic resonance
scattering peaking at approximately 15 meV. In spite of doping far beyond the
suppression of magnetic order, this compound exhibits dispersive and
anisotropic magnetic excitations. At energies below the resonance maximum,
magnetic correlations polarized parallel to the layers but perpendicular to the
propagation vector are reduced by a factor two compared to those in the two
orthogonal directions; in contrast correlations at the peak maximum are
isotropic.


  Erd\H{o}s' unit distance problem and Erd\H{o}s' distinct distances problem
are among the most classical and well-known open problems in all of discrete
mathematics. They ask for the maximum number of unit distances, or the minimum
number of distinct distances, respectively, determined by $n$ points in the
Euclidean plane. The question of what happens in these problems if one
considers normed spaces other than the Euclidean plane has been raised in the
1980s by Ulam and Erd\H{o}s and attracted a lot of attention over the years. We
give an essentially tight answer to both questions for almost all norms on
$\mathbb{R}^d$, in a certain Baire categoric sense.
  For the unit distance problem we prove that for almost all norms ||.|| on
$\mathbb{R}^d$, any set of $n$ points defines at most $\frac{1}{2} d \cdot n
\log_2 n$ unit distances according to ||.||. We also show that this is
essentially tight, by proving that for every norm ||.|| on $\mathbb{R}^d$, for
any large $n$, we can find $n$ points defining at least
$\frac{1}{2}(d-1-o(1))\cdot n \log_2 n$ unit distances according to ||.||.
  For the distinct distances problem, we prove that for almost all norms ||.||
on $\mathbb{R}^d$ any set of $n$ points defines at least $(1-o(1))n$ distinct
distances according to ||.||. This is clearly tight up to the $o(1)$ term.
  Our results settle, in a strong and somewhat surprising form, problems and
conjectures of Brass, of Matou\v{s}ek, and of Brass-Moser-Pach. The proofs
combine combinatorial and geometric ideas with tools from Linear Algebra,
Topology and Algebraic Geometry.


  In this paper, we compute the subgroup distortion of all finitely generated
subgroups of all finitely generated 3-manifold groups, and the subgroup
distortion in this case can only be linear, quadratic, exponential and double
exponential. It turns out that the subgroup distortion of a subgroup of a
3-manifold group is closely related to the separability of this subgroup.


  We report magnetocaloric and magnetic-torque evidence that in
Cs$_{2}$CuBr$_{4}$ -- a geometrically frustrated Heisenberg $S=1/2$
triangular-lattice antiferromagnet -- quantum fluctuations stabilize a series
of spin states at simple increasing fractions of the saturation magnetization
$M_{s}$. Only the first of these states -- at $M={1/3}M_{s}$ -- has been
theoretically predicted. We discuss how the higher fraction quantum states
might arise and propose model spin arrangements. We argue that the first-order
nature of the transitions into those states is due to strong lowering of the
energies by quantum fluctuations, with implications for the general character
of quantum phase transitions in geometrically frustrated systems.


  In recent years experimentalists have been able to clearly show that several
materials, such as MgB2, iron-based superconductors3, monolayer NbSe2, are
multiband superconductors. Superconducting pairing in multiple bands can give
rise to novel and very interesting phenomena. Leggett modes are exemplary of
the unusual effects that can be present in multiband superconductors. A Leggett
mode describes the collective periodic oscillation of the relative phase
between the phases of the superconducting condensates formed by electrons in
different bands. It can be thought of as the mode arising from an inter-band
Josephson effect. The experimental observation of Leggett modes is challenging
for several reasons: (i) Multiband superconductors are rare; (ii) they describe
charge fluctuations between bands and therefore are hard to probe directly;
(iii) their mass gap is often larger than the superconducting gaps and
therefore are strongly overdamped via relaxation processes into the
quasiparticle continuum. In this work we show that Leggett modes, and their
frequency, can be detected unambigously in a.c. driven superconducting quantum
interference devices (SQUIDs). We then use the results to analyze the
measurements of a SQUID based on Cd3As2, an exemplar Dirac semimetal, in which
superconductivity is induced by proximity to superconducting Al. The
experimental results show the theoretically predicted unique signatures of
Leggett modes and therefore allow us to conclude that a Leggett mode is present
in the two-band superconducting state of Dirac semimetal (DSM) Cd3As2.


  On the 50th anniversary of Bell's monumental 1964 paper, there is still
widespread misunderstanding about exactly what Bell proved. This
misunderstanding derives in turn from a failure to appreciate the earlier
arguments of Einstein, Podolsky and Rosen. I retrace the history and logical
structure of these arguments in order to clarify the proper conclusion, namely
that any world that displays violations of Bell's inequality for experiments
done far from one another must be non-local. Since the world we happen to live
in displays such violations, actual physics is non-local.


  We collected over 6000 high-resolution spectra of four dozen field RR Lyrae
(RRL) variables pulsating either in the fundamental (39 RRab) or in the first
overtone (9 RRc) mode. We measured radial velocities (RVs) of four strong
metallic and four Balmer lines along the entire pulsational cycle and derived
RV amplitudes with accuracies better than 1$-$2~\kmsec. The new amplitudes were
combined with literature data for 23~RRab and 3~RRc stars (total sample 74
RRLs) which allowed us to investigate the variation of the Bailey diagram
(photometric amplitude versus period) when moving from optical to mid-infrared
bands and to re-cast the Bailey diagram in terms of RV amplitudes. We found
that RV amplitudes for RRab are minimally affected by nonlinear phenomena
(shocks) and multi-periodicity (Blazhko effect). The RV slope ($\log
P$--A(V$_r$)) when compared with the visual slope ($\log P$--A($V$)) is
shallower and the dispersion, at fixed period, decreases by a factor of two. We
constructed homogeneous sets of Horizontal Branch evolutionary models and
nonlinear, convective pulsation models of RRLs to constrain the impact of
evolutionary effects on their pulsation properties. Evolution causes, on the
Bailey diagram based on RV amplitudes, a modest variation in pulsation period
and a large dispersion in amplitude. The broad dispersion in period of the
Bailey diagram is mainly caused by variation in RRL intrinsic parameters
(stellar mass, chemical composition). Empirical evidence indicates that RV
amplitudes are an optimal diagnostic for tracing the mean effective temperature
across the RRab instability strip.


  We present a systematic study of the Supernova Remnant (SNR) populations in
the nearby galaxies NGC 45, NGC 55, NGC 1313, and NGC 7793 based on deep Ha and
[S II] imaging. We find 42 candidate and 54 possible candidate SNRs based on
the [S II] / Ha > 0.4 criterion, 84 of which are new identifications. We derive
the Ha and the joint [S II]-Ha luminosity functions after accounting for
incompleteness effects. We find that the Ha luminosity function of the overall
sample is described with a skewed Gaussian with a mean equal to log(LHa /
10^(36) erg s^(-1)) = 0.07 and m(log(LHa / 10^(36) erg s^(-1)))) = 0.58. The
joint [S II]-Ha function is parameterized by a skewed Gaussian along the log([S
II] / 10^(36) erg s^(-1)) = 0.88 x log(LHa / 10^(36) erg s^(-1)) - 0.06 line
and a truncated Gaussian with m(log(L[S II] / 10^(36))) = 0.024 and s(log(L[S
II] / 10^(36))) = 0.14, on its vertical direction. We also define the
excitation function as the number density of SNRs as a function of their [S
II]/Ha ratios. This function is represented by a truncated Gaussian with a mean
at -0.014. We find a sub-linear [S II]-Ha relation indicating lower excitation
for the more luminous objects.


  Lanthanide-doped upconversion nanoparticles emerged recently as an attractive
material platform underpinning a broad range of innovative applications such as
optical cryptography, luminescent probes, and lasing. However, the intricate
4f-associated electronic transition in upconversion nanoparticles leads only to
a weak photoluminescence intensity and unpolarized emission, hindering many
applications that demand ultrabright and polarized light sources. Here, we
uncover a new strategy for achieving ultrabright and dual-band polarized
upconversion photoluminescence. We employ resonant dielectric metasurfaces
supporting high-quality resonant modes at dual upconversion bands enabling
two-order-of-magnitude amplification of upconversion emissions. We demonstrate
that dual-band resonances can be selectively switched on polarization, endowing
cross-polarization controlled upconversion luminescence with ultra-high degrees
of polarization, reaching approximately 0.86 and 0.91 at dual emission
wavelengths of 540 nm and 660 nm, respectively. Our strategy offers an
effective approach for enhancing photon upconversion processes paving the way
toward efficient low-threshold polarization upconversion lasers.


  We consider nonlinear half-wave equations with focusing power-type
nonlinearity $$ i \pt_t u = \sqrt{-\Delta} \, u - |u|^{p-1} u, \quad \mbox{with
$(t,x) \in \R \times \R^d$} $$ with exponents $1 < p < \infty$ for $d=1$ and $1
< p < (d+1)/(d-1)$ for $d \geq 2$. We study traveling solitary waves of the
form $$ u(t,x) = e^{i\omega t} Q_v(x-vt) $$ with frequency $\omega \in \R$,
velocity $v \in \R^d$, and some finite-energy profile $Q_v \in H^{1/2}(\R^d)$,
$Q_v \not \equiv 0$. We prove that traveling solitary waves for speeds $|v|
\geq 1$ do not exist. Furthermore, we generalize the non-existence result to
the square root Klein--Gordon operator $\sqrt{-\DD+m^2}$ and other
nonlinearities.
  As a second main result, we show that small data scattering fails to hold for
the focusing half-wave equation in any space dimension. The proof is based on
the existence and properties of traveling solitary waves for speeds $|v| < 1$.
Finally, we discuss the energy-critical case when $p=(d+1)/(d-1)$ in dimensions
$d \geq 2$.


  We prove that a graph C*-algebra with exactly one proper nontrivial ideal is
classified up to stable isomorphism by its associated six-term exact sequence
in K-theory. We prove that a similar classification also holds for a graph
C*-algebra with a largest proper ideal that is an AF-algebra. Our results are
based on a general method developed by the first named author with Restorff and
Ruiz. As a key step in the argument, we show how to produce stability for
certain full hereditary subalgebras associated to such graph C*-algebras. We
further prove that, except under trivial circumstances, a unique proper
nontrivial ideal in a graph C*-algebra is stable.


  As the calorimetric method of neutrino-energy reconstruction is generally
considered to be largely insensitive to nuclear effects, its application seems
to be an effective way for reducing systematic uncertainties in oscillation
experiments. To verify the validity of this opinion, we quantitatively study
the sensitivity of the calorimetric energy reconstruction to the effect of
final-state interactions in an ideal detector and in a realistic scenario. We
find that when particles escaping detection carry away a non-negligible
fraction of neutrino energy, the calorimetric reconstruction method becomes
sensitive to nuclear effects which, in turn, affects the outcome of the
oscillation analysis. These findings suggest that the best strategy for
reduction of systematic uncertainties in future neutrino-oscillation
studies---such as the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment---is to increase
their sensitivity to particles of low energy. The ambitious precision goals
appear also to require an extensive development of theoretical models capable
of providing an accurate predictions for exclusive cross sections of
well-controlled uncertainties.


  Data collection and labeling are critical bottlenecks in the deployment of
machine learning applications. With the increasing complexity and diversity of
applications, the need for efficient and scalable data collection and labeling
techniques has become paramount. This paper provides a review of the
state-of-the-art methods in data collection, data labeling, and the improvement
of existing data and models. By integrating perspectives from both the machine
learning and data management communities, we aim to provide a holistic view of
the current landscape and identify future research directions.


  Recent progress in \emph{Geometric Deep Learning} (GDL) has shown its
potential to provide powerful data-driven models. This gives momentum to
explore new methods for learning physical systems governed by \emph{Partial
Differential Equations} (PDEs) from Graph-Mesh data. However, despite the
efforts and recent achievements, several research directions remain unexplored
and progress is still far from satisfying the physical requirements of
real-world phenomena. One of the major impediments is the absence of
benchmarking datasets and common physics evaluation protocols. In this paper,
we propose a 2-D graph-mesh dataset to study the airflow over airfoils at high
Reynolds regime (from $10^6$ and beyond). We also introduce metrics on the
stress forces over the airfoil in order to evaluate GDL models on important
physical quantities. Moreover, we provide extensive GDL baselines.


  We propose here - for the first time in the literature, to our best knowledge
- an electroweak unification based on the $SU(5)_{L}\times U(1)_{Y}$ gauge
group. The spontaneous symmetry breaking takes place in the manner
$SU(5)_{L}\times U(1)_{Y} \rightarrow U(1)_{em}$, due to a particular Higgs
sector consisting of five scalar quintuplets. Each scalar quintuplet acquires
its own vacuum expectation value, by means of a proper parametrization which is
worked out once the overall vacuum expectation value in the model is
established. The decoupling of the low energy regime (corresponding to the
Standard Model) from the high scale (required by out model here) is
straightforwardly achieved in order to preserve the consistency with the
present experimental data. Finally, a promising phenomenological outcome is
derived by simply tuning a single free parameter. Our results include, besides
a viable one-parameter mass spectrum, also the prediction of precisely three
generations in the fermion sector and the electric charge quantization.


  We study the effect of domain perturbation on invariant manifolds for
semilinear parabolic equations subject to Dirichlet boundary condition. Under
Mosco convergence assumption on the domains, we prove the upper and lower
semicontinuity of both the local unstable invariant manifold and the local
stable invariant manifold near a hyperbolic equilibrium. The continuity results
are obtained by keeping track of the construction of invariant manifolds in P.
W. Bates and C. K. R. T. Jones [Dynam. Report. Ser. Dynam. Systems Appl. Vol.
2, 1--38, 1989].


  When shallow water flows over uneven bathymetry, the water surface is
modulated. This type of problem has been revisited numerous times since it was
first studied by Lord Kelvin in 1886. Our study analytically examines currents
whose unperturbed velocity profile $U(z)$ follows a power-law $z^q$, flowing
over a three-dimensional uneven bed. This particular form of $U$, which can
model a miscellany of realistic flows, allows explicit analytical solutions.
Arbitrary bed shapes can readily be imposed via Fourier's theorem provided
their steepness is moderate. Three-dimensional vorticity-bathymetry interaction
effects are evident when the flow makes an oblique angle with, a sinusoidally
corrugated bed. Streamlines are found to twist and the fluid particle drift is
redirected away from the direction of the unperturbed current. Furthermore, a
perturbation technique is developed which satisfies the bottom boundary
condition to arbitrary order also for large-amplitude obstructions which
penetrate well into the current profile. This introduces higher-order harmonics
of the bathymetry amplitude. States of resonance for first and higher order
harmonics are readily calculated. Although the method is theoretically
restricted to bathymetries of moderate inclination, a wide variety of steeper
obstructions are satisfactorily represented by the method, even provoking
occurrences of recirculation. All expressions are analytically explicit and
sequential fast Fourier transformations ensure quick and easy computation for
arbitrary three-dimensional bathymetries. A method for separating near and far
fields ensures computational convergence under the appropriate radiation
condition.


  CGRaBS J0809+5341, a high redshift blazar at z = 2.144, underwent a giant
optical outburst on 2014 April 19 when it brightened by $\sim$5 mag and reached
an unfiltered apparent magnitude of 15.7 mag. This implies an absolute
magnitude of -30.5 mag, making it one of the brightest quasars in the Universe.
This optical flaring triggered us to carry out observations during the decaying
part of the flare covering a wide energy range using the {\it Nuclear
Spectroscopic Telescope Array}, {\it Swift}, and ground based optical
facilities. For the first time, the source is detected in $\gamma$-rays by the
Large Area Telescope onboard the {\it Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope}. A high
optical polarization of $\sim$10\% is also observed. Using the Sloan Digital
Sky Survey spectrum, accretion disk luminosity and black hole mass are
estimated as $1.5 \times 10^{45}$ erg s$^{-1}$ and $10^{8.4}~M_{\odot}$
respectively. Using a single zone leptonic emission model, we reproduce the
spectral energy distribution of the source during the flaring activity. This
analysis suggests that the emission region is probably located outside the
broad line region, and the jet becomes radiatively efficient. We also show that
the overall properties of CGRaBS J0809+5341 seems not to be in agreement with
the general properties observed in high redshift blazars up to now.


  We review in detail the Batalin-Vilkovisky formalism for Lagrangian field
theories and its mathematical foundations with an emphasis on higher algebraic
structures and classical field theories. In particular, we show how a field
theory gives rise to an $L_\infty$-algebra and how quasi-isomorphisms between
$L_\infty$-algebras correspond to classical equivalences of field theories. A
few experts may be familiar with parts of our discussion, however, the material
is presented from the perspective of a very general notion of a gauge theory.
We also make a number of new observations and present some new results. Most
importantly, we discuss in great detail higher (categorified) Chern-Simons
theories and give some useful shortcuts in usually rather involved
computations.