  The presence of a tau component in the flux of atmospheric neutrinos inside
the Earth, due to flavor oscillations, makes these neutrinos a valuable probe
of interactions of the tau neutrino with matter. We study -- analytically and
numerically -- the effects of nonstandard interactions in the nu_e-nu_tau
sector on atmospheric neutrino oscillations, and calculate the bounds on the
exotic couplings that follow from combining the atmospheric neutrino and K2K
data. We find very good agreement between numerical results and analytical
predictions derived from the underlying oscillation physics. While improving on
existing accelerator bounds, our bounds still allow couplings of the size
comparable to the standard weak interaction. The inclusion of new interactions
expands the allowed region of the vacuum oscillation parameters towards smaller
mixing angles, 0.2 ~< sin^2 theta_{23} ~< 0.7, and slightly larger mass squared
splitting, 1.5 * 10^{-3} eV^2 ~< |\Delta m^2_{23}| ~< 4.0 * 10^{-3} eV^2,
compared to the standard case. The impact of the K2K data on all these results
is significant; further important tests of the nu_e-nu_tau exotic couplings
will come from neutrino beams experiments such as MINOS and long baseline
projects.


  The ellipses model is a continuum percolation process in which ellipses with
random orientation and eccentricity are placed in the plane according to a
Poisson point process. A parameter $\alpha$ controls the tail distribution of
the major axis' distribution and we focus on the regime $\alpha \in (1,2)$ for
which there exists a unique infinite cluster of ellipses and this cluster
fulfills the so called highway property. We prove that the distance within this
infinite cluster behaves asymptotically like the (unrestricted) Euclidean
distance in the plane. We also show that the chemical distance between points
$x$ and $y$ behaves roughly as $c \log\log |x-y|$.


  The prerequisite of the chiral magnetic effect is the existence of net chiral
charge in the quark gluon plasma (QGP). If we assume the quarks and anti-quarks
contribute equally to the net chiral charge, the CME will induce a flow of the
quark chemical potential and will cause the QGP having three distinct layers
along the strong magnetic field characterised by distinctive compositions of
quark chemical potentials. This phenomenon may bring new observable outcomes
and help us test the existence of CME.


  Orthogonal time frequency space (OTFS) is a promising modulation scheme for
wireless communication in high-mobility scenarios. Recently, a reservoir
computing (RC) based approach has been introduced for online subframe-based
symbol detection in the OTFS system, where only a limited number of
over-the-air (OTA) pilot symbols are utilized for training. However, this
approach does not leverage the domain knowledge specific to the OTFS system to
fully unlock the potential of RC. This paper introduces a novel two-dimensional
RC (2D-RC) method that incorporates the domain knowledge of the OTFS system
into the design for symbol detection in an online subframe-based manner.
Specifically, as the channel interaction in the delay-Doppler (DD) domain is a
two-dimensional (2D) circular operation, the 2D-RC is designed to have the 2D
circular padding procedure and the 2D filtering structure to embed this
knowledge. With the introduced architecture, 2D-RC can operate in the DD domain
with only a single neural network, instead of necessitating multiple RCs to
track channel variations in the time domain as in previous work. Numerical
experiments demonstrate the advantages of the 2D-RC approach over the previous
RC-based approach and compared model-based methods across different OTFS system
variants and modulation orders.


  Measurements of the magnetic susceptibility of Fe/W(110) films with thickness
in the range of 1.6 to 2.4 ML Fe, show that in addition to the large response
along the easy axis associated with the Curie transition, there is a much
smaller, paramagnetic hard axis response that is not consistent with the 2D
anisotropic Heisenberg model used to describe homogeneous in-plane ferromagnets
with uniaxial anisotropy. The shape, amplitude, and peak temperature of the
hard axis susceptibility, as well as its dependence upon layer completion close
to 2.0 ML, indicate that inhomogeneities in the films create a system of mixed
anisotropy. A likely candidate for inhomogeneities that are magnetically
relevant in the critical region are the closed lines of step edges associated
with the incomplete layers. According to the Harris criterion, the existence of
magnetically relevant inhomogeneities may alter the critical properties of the
films from those of a 2D Ising model. Experiments in the recent literature are
discussed in this context.


  We find the numerically exact partition potential for 1-D systems of
interacting electrons designed to model diatomic molecules. At integer fragment
occupations, the kinetic contribution to the partition potential develops sharp
features in the internuclear region that nearly cancel corresponding features
of exchange-correlation. They occur at locations that coincide with those of
well-known features of the underlying molecular Kohn-Sham potential. For
non-integer fragment occupations, we demonstrate that the fragment Kohn-Sham
gaps determine the kinetic part of the partition potential. Our results
highlight the importance of non-additive noninteracting kinetic and
exchange-correlation energy approximations in density-embedding methods at
large internuclear separations and the importance of non-additive
noninteracting kinetic energy approximations at all separations.


  We apply scattering theory on asymptotically hyperbolic manifolds to singular
Yamabe metrics, applying the results to the study of the conformal geometry of
compact manifolds with boundary. In particular, we define extrinsic versions of
the conformally invariant powers of the Laplacian, or GJMS operators, on the
boundary of any such manifold, along with associated extrinsic Q-curvatures. We
use the existence and uniqueness of a singular Yamabe metric to define also
nonlocal extrinsic fractional GJMS operators on the boundary, and draw other
global conclusions about the scattering operator, including a Gauss-Bonnet
theorem in dimension four.


  The log-periodic power law (LPPL) is a model of asset prices during
endogenous bubbles. If the on-going development of a bubble is suspected, asset
prices can be fit numerically to the LPPL law. The best solutions can then
indicate whether a bubble is in progress and, if so, the bubble critical time
(i.e., when the bubble is expected to burst). Consequently, the LPPL model is
useful only if the data can be fit to the model with algorithms that are
accurate and computationally efficient. In this paper, we address primarily the
computational efficiency and secondarily the precision of the LPPL non-linear
least-square fit. Specifically, we present a parallel Levenberg-Marquardt
algorithm (LMA) for LPPL least-square fit that sped up computation of more than
a factor of four over a sequential LMA on historical and synthetic price
series. Additionally, we isolate a linear sub-structure of the LPPL
least-square fit that can be paired with an exact computation of the Jacobian,
give new settings for the Levenberg-Marquardt damping factor, and describe a
heuristic method to choose initial solutions.


  As the world's population increases, so does the demand for food. This demand
for food in turn puts pressure on agriculture in many countries. The impact of
climate change on the environment has made it difficult to produce food that
may be necessary to accommodate the growing population. Due to these concerns,
the agriculture sector is forced to move towards more efficient and sustainable
methods of farming to increase productivity. There is evidence that the use of
technology in agriculture has the potential to improve food production and food
sustainability; thereby addressing the concerns of food security. The Internet
of Things (IoT) has been suggested as a potential tool for farmers to overcome
the impact of climate change on food security. However, there is dearth of
research on the readiness of implementing IoT in South Africa's agricultural
sector. Therefore, this research aims to explore the readiness of the
agricultural sector of South Africa for a wide implementation of IoT. This
research conducts a desktop study through the lens of the PEST framework on the
special case of South Africa. A thematic literature and documents review was
deployed to examine the political, economic, societal and technological factors
that may facilitate or impede the implementation of IoT in the agricultural
sectors of South Africa. The findings suggest that the wide ranging political,
economic, societal and technological constructs enable the implementation of
IoT within South Africa's agricultural sector. The most important include
current policies, technological infrastructure, access to internet, and mobile
technology which places South Africa in a good position to implement IoT in
agriculture.


  In this paper we develop a new technique to compute the Betti table of a
monomial ideal. We present a prototype implementation of the resulting
algorithm and we perform numerical experiments suggesting a very promising
efficiency. On the way of describing the method, we also prove new constraints
on the shape of the possible Betti tables of a monomial ideal.


  Recent progress in Large Language Models (LLMs) and language agents has
demonstrated significant promise for various future applications across
multiple disciplines. While traditional approaches to language agents often
rely on fixed, handcrafted designs, our research aims to develop both learnable
and dynamic agents. Our method uses an existing framework that abstracts
language agents as graphs. Within this graph framework, we aim to learn a model
that can generate edges for every given input to the language agent. This
allows us to generate edges that represent the flow of communication within the
graph based on the given input, thereby adjusting the internal communication of
a language agent. We learn to generate these edges using a pretrained LLM that
is fine-tuned with reinforcement learning. This LLM can be fine-tuned on
several datasets simultaneously, and we hypothesize that the model learns to
adapt to these different domains during training, achieving good overall
performance when encountering data from different domains during deployment. We
demonstrate that our approach surpasses the previous static approach by nearly
6% accuracy on a combined dataset of MMLU and CMMLU, and by more than 10% when
trained with a sparsity-inducing loss. It also performs superior in additional
experiments conducted with the MMLU and Mini Crossword Puzzles datasets. The
code is available at https://github.com/lukasVierling/DynamicGPTSwarm.


  Integer sequences of the form $\lfloor n^c\rfloor$, where $1<c<2$, can be
locally approximated by sequences of the form $\lfloor n\alpha+\beta\rfloor$ in
a very good way. Following this approach, we are led to an estimate of the
difference \[\sum_{n\leq x}\varphi\left(\lfloor n^c\rfloor\right)-\frac
1c\sum_{n\leq x^c}\varphi(n)n^{\frac 1c-1},\] which measures the deviation of
the mean value of $\varphi$ on the subsequence $\lfloor n^c\rfloor$ from the
expected value, by an expression involving exponential sums. As an application
we prove that for $1<c\leq 1.42$ the subsequence of the Thue-Morse sequence
indexed by $\lfloor n^c\rfloor$ attains both of its values with asymptotic
density $1/2$.


  Cubic bipartite graphs with girth at least 6 correspond to symmetric
combinatorial (v_3) configurations. In 1887 V. Martinetti described a simple
reduction method which enables one to reduce each combinatorial (v_3)
configuration to one from the infinite set of so-called irreducible
configurations. The aim of this paper is to show that a slightly extended set
of reductions enables one to reduce each combinatorial (v_3) configuration
either to the Fano configuration or to the Pappus configuration.


  We consider brane configurations in elliptic models which represent softly
broken N=4 USp(2 N_c) and SO(N_c) theory. We generalize the notion of the O4
plane, so that it is compatible with the symmetry in the covering space of the
elliptic models. By using this notion of the O4 plane, we find the curve for
softly broken N=4 USp(2 N_c) and that for SO(N_c) theory as infinite series
expansions. For the USp case, we can present the expansion as a polynomial.


  To process data more efficiently, big data frameworks provide data
abstractions to developers. However, due to the abstraction, there may be many
challenges for developers to understand and debug the data processing code. To
uncover the challenges in using big data frameworks, we first conduct an
empirical study on 1,000 Apache Spark-related questions on Stack Overflow. We
find that most of the challenges are related to data transformation and API
usage. To solve these challenges, we design an approach, which assists
developers with understanding and debugging data processing in Spark. Our
approach leverages statistical sampling to minimize performance overhead, and
provides intermediate information and hint messages for each data processing
step of a chained method pipeline. The preliminary evaluation of our approach
shows that it has low performance overhead and we receive good feedback from
developers.


  We used the Submillimeter Array (SMA) to observe the thermal polarized dust
emission from the protostellar source NGC 2024 FIR 5. The polarized emission
outlines a partial hourglass morphology for the plane-of-sky component of the
core magnetic field. Our data are consistent with previous BIMA maps, and the
overall magnetic field geometries obtained with both instruments are similar.
We resolve the main core into two components, FIR 5A and FIR 5B. A possible
explanation for the asymmetrical field lies in depolarization effects due to
the lack of internal heating from FIR 5B source, which may be in a prestellar
evolutionary state. The field strength was estimated to be 2.2 mG, in agreement
with previous BIMA data. We discuss the influence of a nearby H{\sc ii} region
over the field lines at scales of $\sim 0.01$ pc. Although the hot component is
probably compressing the molecular gas where the dust core is embedded, it is
unlikely that the radiation pressure exceeds the magnetic tension. Finally, a
complex outflow morphology is observed in CO (3 $\rightarrow$ 2) maps. Unlike
previous maps, several features associated with dust condensations other than
FIR 5 are detected.


  Autonomous vehicles rely heavily upon their perception subsystems to see the
environment in which they operate. Unfortunately, the effect of variable
weather conditions presents a significant challenge to object detection
algorithms, and thus it is imperative to test the vehicle extensively in all
conditions which it may experience. However, development of robust autonomous
vehicle subsystems requires repeatable, controlled testing - while real weather
is unpredictable and cannot be scheduled. Real-world testing in adverse
conditions is an expensive and time-consuming task, often requiring access to
specialist facilities. Simulation is commonly relied upon as a substitute, with
increasingly visually realistic representations of the real-world being
developed. In the context of the complete autonomous vehicle control pipeline,
subsystems downstream of perception need to be tested with accurate recreations
of the perception system output, rather than focusing on subjective visual
realism of the input - whether in simulation or the real world. This study
develops the untapped potential of a lightweight weather augmentation method in
an autonomous racing vehicle - focusing not on visual accuracy, but rather the
effect upon perception subsystem performance in real time. With minimal
adjustment, the prototype developed in this study can replicate the effects of
water droplets on the camera lens, and fading light conditions. This approach
introduces a latency of less than 8 ms using compute hardware well suited to
being carried in the vehicle - rendering it ideal for real-time implementation
that can be run during experiments in simulation, and augmented reality testing
in the real world.


  For fixed coprime polynomials $U,V \in \mathbb{F}_q [T]$ with degrees of
different parities, and a general polynomial $A \in \mathbb{F}_q [T]$, define
the arithmetic function $S_{U,V} (A)$ to be the number of representations of
$A$ of the form $UE^2 + VF^2$ with $E,F \in \mathbb{F}_q [T]$. We study the
mean and variance of $S_{U,V}$ over short intervals in $\mathbb{F}_q [T]$, and
this can be interpreted as the function field analogue of the mean and variance
of lattice points in thin elliptic annuli, where the scaling factor of the
ellipses is rational. Our main result is an asymptotic formula for the variance
even when the length of the interval remains constant relative to the absolute
value of the centre of the interval. In terms of lattice points, this means we
obtain the variance in the so-called ``local'' or ``microscopic'' regime, where
the area of the annulus remains constant relative to the inner radius. We also
obtain asymptotic or exact formulas for almost all other lengths of the
interval, and we see some interesting behaviour at the boundary between short
and long intervals. Our approach is that of additive characters and Hankel
matrices that we employed for the divisor function and a restricted
sum-of-squares function in previous work, and we develop further results on
Hankel matrices in this paper.


  Tests of discrete symmetry violation have played an important role in
understand the structure of weak interactions in the Standard Model of particle
physics. Historically these measurements have been extensively performed at
experiments with large samples of K and B mesons. A high luminosity tau-charm
facility presents physicists with the opportunity to comprehensively explore
discrete symmetry violation and test the Standard Model using tau leptons,
charm mesons and charmed baryons. This paper discusses several possible
measurements for a future tau-charm factory.


  An efficient, fully automatic method for 3D face shape and pose estimation in
unconstrained 2D imagery is presented. The proposed method jointly estimates a
dense set of 3D landmarks and facial geometry using a single pass of a modified
version of the popular "U-Net" neural network architecture. Additionally, we
propose a method for directly estimating a set of 3D Morphable Model (3DMM)
parameters, using the estimated 3D landmarks and geometry as constraints in a
simple linear system. Qualitative modeling results are presented, as well as
quantitative evaluation of predicted 3D face landmarks in unconstrained video
sequences.


  In many quantization problems, the distortion function is given by the
Euclidean metric to measure the distance of a source sample to any given
reproduction point of the quantizer. We will in this work regard distortion
functions, which are additively and multiplicatively weighted for each
reproduction point resulting in a heterogeneous quantization problem, as used
for example in deployment problems of sensor networks. Whereas, normally in
such problems, the average distortion is minimized for given weights
(parameters), we will optimize the quantization problem over all weights, i.e.,
we tune or control the distortion functions in our favor.
  For a uniform source distribution in one-dimension, we derive the unique
minimizer, given as the uniform scalar quantizer with an optimal common weight.
By numerical simulations, we demonstrate that this result extends to
two-dimensions where asymptotically the parameter optimized quantizer is the
hexagonal lattice with common weights. As an application, we will determine the
optimal deployment of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to provide a wireless
communication to ground terminals under a minimal communication power cost.
Here, the optimal weights relate to the optimal flight heights of the UAVs.


  Open-loop stable limit cycles are foundational to the dynamics of legged
robots. They impart a self-stabilizing character to the robot's gait, thus
alleviating the need for compute-heavy feedback-based gait correction. This
paper proposes a general approach to rapidly generate limit cycles with
explicit stability constraints for a given dynamical system. In particular, we
pose the problem of open-loop limit cycle stability as a single-stage
constrained-optimization problem (COP), and use Direct Collocation to
transcribe it into a nonlinear program (NLP) with closed-form expressions for
constraints, objectives, and their gradients. The COP formulations of stability
are developed based (1) on the spectral radius of a discrete return map, and
(2) on the spectral radius of the system's monodromy matrix, where the spectral
radius is bounded using different constraint-satisfaction formulations of the
eigenvalue problem. We compare the performance and solution qualities of each
approach, but specifically highlight the Schur decomposition of the monodromy
matrix as a formulation which boasts wider applicability through weaker
assumptions and attractive numerical convergence properties. Moreover, we
present results from our experiments on a spring-loaded inverted pendulum model
of a robot, where our method generated actuation trajectories for open-loop
stable hopping in under 2 seconds (on the Intel Core i7-6700K), and produced
energy-minimizing actuation trajectories even under tight stability
constraints.


  A geometric torsion dynamics leading to an effective curvature in a second
order formalism on a D4-brane is revisited with a renewed interest. We obtain
two effective $AdS_4$ brane geometries on a vacuum created pair of $(D{\bar
D})_3$-brane. One of them is shown to describe an AdS Schwarzschild spinning
black hole and the other is shown to describe a spinning black hole bound
state. It is argued that a D-instanton in a vacuum created anti D3-brane within
a pair may describe a quintessence. It may seen to incorporate a varying vacuum
energy density in a brane universe. We consider the effective curvature scalar
on $S^1\times S^1$ to analyze torsion-less geometries on a vacuum created pair
of $(D{\bar D})_2$-brane. The emergent $AdS_3$ brane is shown to describe a
Schwarzschild and a Reissner-Nordstrom (RN) geometries in presence of extra
dimension(s).


  This paper proposes and analyzes a class of new weak Galerkin (WG) finite
element methods for 2- and 3-dimensional linear elasticity problems. The
methods use discontinuous piecewise-polynomial approximations of degrees
$k(\geq 0)$ for the stress, $k+1$ for the displacement, and a continuous
piecewise-polynomial approximation of degree $k+1$ for the displacement trace
on the inter-element boundaries, respectively. After the local elimination of
unknowns defined in the interior of elements, the WG methods result in SPD
systems where the unknowns are only the degrees of freedom describing the
continuous trace approximation. We show that the proposed methods are robust in
the sense that the derived a priori error estimates are optimal and uniform
with respect to the Lam\'{e} constant $\lambda$. Numerical experiments confirm
the theoretical results.


  Very recently, E. H. Lieb and J. P. Solovej stated a conjecture about the
constant of embedding between two Bergman spaces of the upper-half plane. A
question in relation with a Werhl-type entropy inequality for the affine $AX+B$
group. More precisely, that for any holomorphic function $F$ on the upper-half
plane $\Pi^+$, $$\int_{\Pi^+}|F(x+iy)|^{2s}y^{2s-2}dxdy\le
\frac{\pi^{1-s}}{(2s-1)2^{2s-2}}\left(\int_{\Pi^+}|F(x+iy)|^2 dxdy\right)^s $$
for $s\ge 1$, and the constant $\frac{\pi^{1-s}}{(2s-1)2^{2s-2}}$ is sharp. We
prove differently that the above holds whenever $s$ is an integer and we prove
that it holds when $s\rightarrow\infty$. We also prove that when restricted to
powers of the Bergman kernel, the conjecture holds. We next study the case
where $s$ is close to $1.$ Hereafter, we transfer the conjecture to the unit
disc where we show that the conjecture holds when restricted to analytic
monomials. Finally, we overview the bounds we obtain in our attempts to prove
the conjecture.


  Consider a linear Boltzmann equation posed on the Euclidian plane with a
periodic system of circular holes and for particles moving at speed 1. Assuming
that the holes are absorbing -- i.e. that particles falling in a hole remain
trapped there forever, we discuss the homogenization limit of that equation in
the case where the reciprocal number of holes per unit surface and the length
of the circumference of each hole are asymptotically equivalent small
quantities. We show that the mass loss rate due to particles falling into the
holes is governed by a renewal equation that involves the distribution of
free-path lengths for the periodic Lorentz gas. In particular, it is proved
that the total mass of the particle system at time t decays exponentially fast
as t tends to infinity. This is at variance with the collisionless case
discussed in [Caglioti, E., Golse, F., Commun. Math. Phys. 236 (2003), pp.
199--221], where the total mass decays as Const./t as the time variable t tends
to infinity.


  During 2004, four divisions of the American Physical Society commissioned a
study of neutrino physics to take stock of where the field is at the moment and
where it is going in the near and far future. Several working groups looked at
various aspects of this vast field. The summary was published as a main report
entitled ``The Neutrino Matrix'' accompanied by short 50 page versions of the
report of each working group. Theoretical research in this field has been quite
extensive and touches many areas and the short 50 page report provided only a
brief summary and overview of few of the important points. The theory
discussion group felt that it may be of value to the community to publish the
entire study as a white paper and the result is the current article. After a
brief overview of the present knowledge of neutrino masses and mixing and some
popular ways to probe the new physics implied by recent data, the white paper
summarizes what can be learned about physics beyond the Standard Model from the
various proposed neutrino experiments. It also comments on the impact of the
experiments on our understanding of the origin of the matter-antimatter
asymmetry of the Universe and the basic nature of neutrino interactions as well
as the existence of possible additional neutrinos. Extensive references to
original literature are provided.


  We consider the Cauchy problem for the generalized Fornberg-Whitham equation
with dissipation. This is one of the nonlinear, nonlocal and
dispersive-dissipative equations. The main topic of this paper is an asymptotic
analysis for the solutions to this problem. We prove that the solution to this
problem converges to the modified heat kernel. Moreover, we construct the
second term of asymptotics for the solutions depending on the degree of the
nonlinearity. In view of those second asymptotic profiles, we investigate the
effects of the dispersion, dissipation and nonlinear terms on the asymptotic
behavior of the solutions.


  We study the structure of a family of algebras which encodes a generalization
of the Pieri Rule for the complex orthogonal group. In particular, we show that
each of these algebras has a standard monomial basis and has a flat deformation
to a Hibi algebra. There is also a parallel theory for the complex symplectic
group.


  Tools for filtering the World Wide Web exist, but they are hampered by the
difficulty of capturing user preferences in such a dynamic environment. We
explore the acquisition of user profiles by unobtrusive monitoring of browsing
behaviour and application of supervised machine-learning techniques coupled
with an ontological representation to extract user preferences. A multi-class
approach to paper classification is used, allowing the paper topic taxonomy to
be utilised during profile construction. The Quickstep recommender system is
presented and two empirical studies evaluate it in a real work setting,
measuring the effectiveness of using a hierarchical topic ontology compared
with an extendable flat list.


  A modest aim of this pedagogical presentation is to analyze, critically,
certain fundamental physical concepts to illustrate the physical principles
behind the special theory of relativity and, hence, to also illustrate the
limitations of its applicability.


  In this paper, we show how a construction of an implicit complexity model can
be implemented using concepts coming from the core of von Neumann algebras.
Namely, our aim is to gain an understanding of classical computation in terms
of the hyperfinite $\mathrm{II}_1$ factor, starting from the class of Kalmar
recursive functions. More methodologically, we address the problem of finding
the right perspective from which to view the new relation between computation
and combinatorial aspects in operator algebras. The rich structure of discrete
invariants may provide a mathematical setting able to shed light on some basic
combinatorial phenomena that are at the basis of our understanding of
complexity.


  We present the long-term spectro-temporal evolution of the average radio
emission properties of the magnetar XTE J1810-197 (PSR J1809-1943) following
its most recent outburst in late 2018. We report the results from two and a
half years of monitoring campaign with the upgraded Giant Metrewave Radio
Telescope carried out over the frequency range of 300 - 1450 MHz. Our
observations show intriguing time variability in the average profile width,
flux density, spectral index and the broadband spectral shape. While the
average profile width appears to gradually decrease at later epochs, the flux
density shows multiple episodes of radio re-brightening over the course of our
monitoring. Our systematic monitoring observations reveal that the radio
spectrum has steepened over time, resulting in evolution from a magnetar-like
to a more pulsar-like spectrum. A more detailed analysis reveals that the radio
spectrum has a turnover, and this turnover shifts towards lower frequencies
with time. We present the details of our analysis leading to these results, and
discuss our findings in the context of magnetar radio emission mechanisms as
well as potential manifestations of the intervening medium. We also briefly
discuss whether an evolving spectral turnover could be an ubiquitous property
of radio magnetars.


  We measure the three components of velocity dispersion,
$\sigma_{R},\sigma_{\theta},\sigma_{\phi}$, for stars within 6 < R < 30 kpc of
the Milky Way using a new radial velocity sample from the MMT telescope. We
combine our measurements with previously published data so that we can more
finely sample the stellar halo. We use a maximum likelihood statistical method
for estimating mean velocities, dispersions, and covariances assuming only that
velocities are normally distributed. The alignment of the velocity ellipsoid is
consistent with a spherically symmetric gravitational potential. From the
spherical Jeans equation, the mass of the Milky Way is M(<12 kpc) =
$1.3\times10^{11}$ M$_{\odot}$ with an uncertainty of 40%. We also find a
region of discontinuity, 15 < R < 25 kpc, where the estimated velocity
dispersions and anisotropies diverge from their anticipated values, confirming
at high significance the break observed by others. We argue that this break in
anisotropy is physically explained by coherent stellar velocity structure in
the halo, such as the Sgr stream. To significantly improve our understanding of
halo kinematics will require combining radial velocities with future Gaia
proper motions.


  Electrically induced reorientation of nematic liquid crystal (NLC) molecules
caused by dielectric anisotropy of the material is a fundamental phenomenon
widely used in modern technologies. Its Achilles heel is a slow (millisecond)
relaxation from the field-on to the field-off state. We present an
electro-optic effect in an NLC with a response time of about 30 ns to both the
field-on and field-off switching. This effect is caused by the electric field
induced modification of the order parameters (EMOP) and does not require
reorientation of the optic axis (director).


  Nonsymmorphic space group symmetries can generate exotic band-crossings in
topological metals and semimetals. Here, based on symmetry analysis and
first-principles calculations, we reveal rich band-crossing features in the
existing layered compounds Ta$_3$SiTe$_6$ and Nb$_3$SiTe$_6$, enabled by
nonsymmorphic symmetries. We show that in the absence of spin-orbit coupling
(SOC), these three-dimensional (3D) bulk materials possess accidental Dirac
loops and essential fourfold nodal lines. In the presence of SOC, there emerges
an hourglass Dirac loop---a fourfold degenerate nodal loop, on which each point
is a neck-point of an hourglass-type dispersion. We show that this interesting
type of band-crossing is protected and dictated by the nonsymmorphic space
group symmetries, and it gives rise to drumhead-like surface states.
Furthermore, we also investigate these materials in the monolayer form. We show
that these two-dimensional (2D) monolayers host nodal lines in the absence of
SOC, and the nodal lines transform to essential spin-orbit Dirac points when
SOC is included. Our work suggests a realistic material platform for exploring
the fascinating physics associated with nonsymmorphic band-crossings in both 3D
and 2D systems.


  Two habitable planetary states are proposed: an aqua planet like the Earth
and a land planet that has a small amount of water. Land planets keep liquid
water under larger solar radiation compared to aqua planets. Water loss may
change an aqua planet into a land planet, and the planet can remain habitable
for a longer time than had it stayed an aqua planet. We calculate planetary
evolution with hydrogen escape for different initial water inventories and
different distances from the central star. We find that there are two
conditions to evolve an aqua planet into a land planet: the critical amount of
water on the surface M_ml consistent with a planet being a land planet, and the
critical amount of water vapor in the atmosphere M_cv that defines the onset of
the runaway greenhouse state. We find that Earth-size aqua planets with initial
oceans < 10 % of the Earth's can evolve into land planets if M_cv = 3 m in
precipitable water and M_ml = 5 % of the Earth's ocean mass. Such planets can
keep liquid water on their surface for another 2 Gyrs. The initial amount of
water and M_cv are shown to be important dividing parameters of the planetary
evolution path. Our results indicate that massive hydrogen escape could give a
fresh start as another kind of habitable planet rather than the end of its
habitability.


  This paper describes the submission to the speaker diarization track of
VoxCeleb Speaker Recognition Challenge 2021 done by North America Bixby Lab of
Samsung Research America. Our speaker diarization system consists of four main
components such as overlap speech detection and speech separation, robust
speaker embedding extraction, spectral clustering with fused affinity matrix,
and leakage filtering-based postprocessing. We evaluated our system on the
VoxConverse dataset and the challenge evaluation set, which contain natural
conversations of multiple talkers collected from YouTube. Our system obtained
4.46%, 6.39%, and 6.16% of the diarization error rate on the VoxConverse
development, test, and the challenge evaluation set, respectively.


  The coaxial wire method is a common and appreciated technique to assess the
beam coupling impedance of an accelerator element from scattering parameters.
Nevertheless, the results obtained from wire measurements could be inaccurate
due to the presence of the stretched conductive wire that artificially creates
the conditions for the propagation of a Transverse ElectroMagnetic (TEM) mode.
The aim of this work is to establish a solid technique to obtain the beam
coupling impedance from electromagnetic simulations, without modifications of
the device under test. In this framework, we identified a new relation to get
the longitudinal resistive wall beam coupling impedance of a circular chamber
directly from the scattering parameters and demonstrated that it reduces to the
exact theoretical expression. Furthermore, a possible generalization of the
method to arbitrary cross-section chamber geometries has been studied and
validated with numerical simulations.


  Despite the extensive investment and impressive recent progress at reasoning
by similarity, deep learning continues to struggle with more complex forms of
reasoning such as non-monotonic and commonsense reasoning. Non-monotonicity is
a property of non-classical reasoning typically seen in commonsense reasoning,
whereby a reasoning system is allowed (differently from classical logic) to
jump to conclusions which may be retracted later, when new information becomes
available. Neural-symbolic systems such as Logic Tensor Networks (LTN) have
been shown to be effective at enabling deep neural networks to achieve
reasoning capabilities. In this paper, we show that by combining a
neural-symbolic system with methods from continual learning, LTN can obtain a
higher level of accuracy when addressing non-monotonic reasoning tasks.
Continual learning is added to LTNs by adopting a curriculum of learning from
knowledge and data with recall. We call this process Continual Reasoning, a new
methodology for the application of neural-symbolic systems to reasoning tasks.
Continual Reasoning is applied to a prototypical non-monotonic reasoning
problem as well as other reasoning examples. Experimentation is conducted to
compare and analyze the effects that different curriculum choices may have on
overall learning and reasoning results. Results indicate significant
improvement on the prototypical non-monotonic reasoning problem and a promising
outlook for the proposed approach on statistical relational learning examples.


  We calculate the spin relaxation rates in a parabolic InSb quantum dots due
to the spin interaction with acoustical phonons. We considered the deformation
potential mechanism as the dominant electron-phonon coupling in the
Pavlov-Firsov spin-phonon Hamiltonian. By studying suitable choices of magnetic
field and lateral dot size, we determine regions where the spin relaxation
rates can be practically suppressed. We analyze the behavior of the spin
relaxation rates as a function of an external magnetic field and mean quantum
dot radius. Effects of the spin admixture due to Dresselhaus contribution to
spin-orbit interaction are also discussed.


  We compute the deformation space of quadratic letterplace ideals $L(2,P)$ of
finite posets $P$ when its Hasse diagram is a rooted tree. These deformations
are unobstructed. The deformed family has a polynomial ring as the base ring.
The ideal $J(2,P)$ defining the full family of deformations is a rigid ideal
and we compute it explicitly. In simple example cases $J(2,P)$ is the ideal of
maximal minors of a generic matrix, the Pfaffians of a skew-symmetric matrix,
and a ladder determinantal ideal.


  Diffusion-limited reactions (DLR) are usually described within the
Smoluchowski theory, which neglects interactions between the diffusing
components. We propose a first extension of such frame- work that incorporates
excluded-volume effects, considering hard diffusing agents in the presence of
an absorbing sink. For large values of the absorber-to-diffuser size ratio Rs,
the encounter rate obtained from the simulations is in very good agreement with
a simple generalization of the Smolu- chowski equation at high densities.
Reducing Rs, the rate gets substantially depressed at interme- diate packing
and become even non-monotonic for Rs << 1. Concurrently with the saturation of
the rate, stationary density waves set in close to the absorbing center. A
mean-field, effective-potential analysis of the Smoluchowski equation under
crowding sheds light on the subtle link between such ordering and the slowing
down of the encounter dynamics. Finally, we show how an infinitesimal amount of
non-reacting impurities can equally slow down dramatically the reaction.


  Learning goal-directed behavior in environments with sparse feedback is a
major challenge for reinforcement learning algorithms. The primary difficulty
arises due to insufficient exploration, resulting in an agent being unable to
learn robust value functions. Intrinsically motivated agents can explore new
behavior for its own sake rather than to directly solve problems. Such
intrinsic behaviors could eventually help the agent solve tasks posed by the
environment. We present hierarchical-DQN (h-DQN), a framework to integrate
hierarchical value functions, operating at different temporal scales, with
intrinsically motivated deep reinforcement learning. A top-level value function
learns a policy over intrinsic goals, and a lower-level function learns a
policy over atomic actions to satisfy the given goals. h-DQN allows for
flexible goal specifications, such as functions over entities and relations.
This provides an efficient space for exploration in complicated environments.
We demonstrate the strength of our approach on two problems with very sparse,
delayed feedback: (1) a complex discrete stochastic decision process, and (2)
the classic ATARI game `Montezuma's Revenge'.


  Let $\pi$ be an order-$q$-subplane of $PG(2,q^3)$ that is exterior to
$\ell_\infty$. The exterior splash of $\pi$ is the set of $q^2+q+1$ points on
$\ell_\infty$ that lie on an extended line of $\pi$. Exterior splashes are
projectively equivalent to scattered linear sets of rank 3, covers of the
circle geometry $CG(3,q)$, and hyper-reguli of $PG(5,q)$. In this article we
use the Bruck-Bose representation in $PG(6,q)$ to give a geometric
characterisation of special conics of $\pi$ in terms of the covers of the
exterior splash of $\pi$. We also investigate properties of
order-$q$-subplanes\ with a common exterior splash, and study the intersection
of two exterior splashes.


  A list of 205 gamma-ray strong objects was reported recently as a result of a
3-month integration with the Large Area Telescope on board the Fermi Gamma-Ray
Space Telescope. We attempted identification of these objects,
cross-correlating the gamma-ray positions with VLBI positions of a large
all-sky sample of extragalactic radio sources selected on the basis of their
parsec-scale flux density. The original associations reported by the Fermi team
are confirmed and six new identifications are suggested. A Monte-Carlo analysis
shows that the fraction of chance associations in our analysis is less than 5
per cent, and confirms that the vast majority of gamma-ray bright extragalactic
sources are radio loud blazars with strong parsec-scale jets. A correlation
between the parsec-scale radio and gamma-ray flux is supported by our analysis
of a complete VLBI flux-density-limited sample of extragalactic jets. The
effectiveness of using a VLBI catalog to find associations between gamma-ray
detections and compact extragalactic radio sources, especially near the
Galactic plane, is demonstrated. It is suggested that VLBI catalogs should be
used for future identification of Fermi LAT objects.


  We prepare monolayers of tantalum sulfide on Au(111) by evaporation of Ta in
a reactive background of H$_2$S. Under sulfur-rich conditions, monolayers of
2H-TaS$_2$ develop, whereas under sulfur-poor conditions TaS forms, a structure
that can be derived from 2H-TaS$_2$ by removal of the bottom S layer. We
analyse the alignment of the layers with respect to the substrate and the
relation with the domains in the Au(111) herringbone reconstruction using
scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). With the help of density functional theory
(DFT) calculations we can determine the registry of the two phases with the
substrate. We develop a growth process that allows preparation of uniquely
oriented 2H-TaS$_2$ on Au(111). 2H-TaS$_2$ and TaS have a remarkably similar
in-plane lattice structure and we observe the formation of lateral
2H-TaS$_2$-TaS heterostructures with atomically well-defined and defect-free
boundaries. We observe mirror twin boundaries within 2H-TaS$_2$ along the S-
and Ta-edge.


  In this paper, we build on recent results by Chauve et al. (2014) and Bahrani
and Lumbroso (2017), which combined the split-decomposition, as exposed by
Gioan and Paul, with analytic combinatorics, to produce new enumerative results
on graphs---in particular the enumeration of several subclasses of perfect
graphs (distance-hereditary, 3-leaf power, ptolemaic). Our goal was to study a
simple family of graphs, of which the split-decomposition trees have prime
nodes drawn from an enumerable (and manageable!) set of graphs. Cactus graphs,
which we describe in more detail further down in this paper, can be thought of
as trees with their edges replaced by cycles (of arbitrary lengths). Their
split-decomposition trees contain prime nodes that are cycles, making them
ideal to study. We derive a characterization for the split-decomposition trees
of cactus graphs, produce a general template of symbolic grammars for cactus
graphs, and implement random generation for these graphs, building on work by
Iriza (2015).


  A fractional fuzzy Potts measure is a probability distribution on spin
configurations of a finite graph $G$ obtained in two steps: first a subgraph of
$G$ is chosen according to a random cluster measure $\phi_{p,q}$, and then a
spin ($\pm1$) is chosen independently for each component of the subgraph and
assigned to all vertices of that component. We show that whenever $q\geq1$,
such a measure is positively associated, meaning that any two increasing events
are positively correlated. This generalizes earlier results of
H\"{a}ggstr\"{o}m [Ann. Appl. Probab. 9 (1999) 1149--1159] and
H\"{a}ggstr\"{o}m and Schramm [Stochastic Process. Appl. 96 (2001) 213--242].


  Real-world BB84 Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) systems utilize imperfect
devices that introduce vulnerabilities to their security, known as side-channel
attacks. Measurement-Device-Independent (MDI) QKD authorizes an untrusted third
party to make measurements and removes all side-channel attacks. The typical
implementations of MDI-QKD employ near symmetric channels which are difficult
to realize physically in many practical scenarios such as when asymmetric
channel losses are present, normally a consequence of the communication
environment. Maritime and satellite-based communications are two such instances
in which the channels are characterized by continuously changing losses in
different channels. In this work, we perform asymmetric MDI-QKD in a laboratory
environment with simulated turbulence using an Acousto-Optic Modulator (AOM) to
interrogate the performance of free-space quantum communication. Under
turbulent conditions, scattering and beam wandering cause intensity
fluctuations which decrease the detected signal-to-noise ratio. Using the
7-intensity optimization method proposed by Wang et al., coupled with
Prefixed-Threshold Real-time Selection (P-RTS), we demonstrate enhancement in
the secure key rate under turbulent conditions for finite-size decoy-state MDI
QKD. Furthermore, we show that P-RTS can yield considerably higher secure key
rates for a wide range of atmospheric channel parameters.


  The d-bar-Neumann operator on (0,q)-forms ($1\le q \le n$) on a bounded
convex domain Omega in C^n is compact if and only if the boundary of Omega
contains no complex analytic (equivalently: affine) variety of dimension
greater than or equal to q.


  The Cartan subalgebra of the sl2 quantum affine algebra is generated by a
family of mutually commuting operators, responsible for the l-weight
decomposition of finite dimensional modules. The natural Jordan filtration
induced by these operators is generically non-trivial on l-weight spaces of
dimension greater than one. We derive, for every standard module of quantum
affine sl2, the dimensions of the Jordan grades and prove that they can be
directly read off from the t-dependence of the q,t-characters introduced by
Nakajima. To do so we construct explicit bases for the standard modules with
respect to which the Cartan generators are upper-triangular. The basis vectors
of each l-weight space are labelled by the elements of a ranked poset from the
family L(m,n).


  Plasmonic nano-optical tweezers enable the non-invasive manipulation of
nano-objects under low illumination intensities, and have become a powerful
tool for nanotechnology and biophysics. However, measuring the trap stiffness
of nanotweezers remains a complicated task, which hinders the development of
plasmonic trapping. Here, we describe an experimental method to measure the
trap stiffness based on the temporal correlation of the fluorescence from the
trapped object. The method is applied to characterize the trap stiffness in
different double nanohole apertures and explore the influence of their design
parameters in relationship with numerical simulations. Optimizing the double
nanohole design achieves a trap stiffness 10x larger than the previous
state-of-the-art. The experimental method and the design guidelines discussed
here offer a simple and efficient way to improve the performance of
nano-optical tweezers.


  We address the problem of calculating the correlation functions of
one-dimensional two-component gases with strong repulsive contact interactions.
The model considered in this paper describes particles with fractional
statistics and in appropriate limits reduces to the Gaudin-Yang model or the
spinor Bose gas. In the case of impenetrable particles we derive a Fredholm
determinant representation for the temperature-, time-, and space-dependent
correlation functions which is very easy to implement numerically and
constitute the starting point for the analytical investigation of the
asymptotics. Making use of this determinant representation and the solution of
an associated Riemann-Hilbert problem we derive the low-energy asymptotics of
the correlators in the spin-incoherent regime characterized by near
ground-state charge degrees of freedom but a highly thermally disordered spin
sector. The asymptotics present features reminiscent of spin-charge separation
with the spin part exponentially decaying in space separation and oscillating
with a period proportional to the statistics parameter while the charge part
presents scaling with anomalous exponents which cannot be described by any
unitary conformal field theory. The momentum distribution and the Fourier
transform of the dynamical Green's function are asymmetrical for arbitrary
statistics, a direct consequence of the broken space-reversal symmetry. Due to
the exponential decay the momentum distribution $n(k)$ at zero temperature does
not present algebraic singularities but the tails obey the universal decay
$\lim_{k\rightarrow\pm\infty}n(k)\sim C/k^4$ with the amplitude $C$ given by
Tan's contact. As a function of the statistics parameter the contact is a
monotonic function reaching its minimum for the fermionic system and the
maximum for the bosonic system.


  The problem of identification of statistically significant patterns in a
sequence of data has been applied to many domains such as intrusion detection
systems, financial models, web-click records, automated monitoring systems,
computational biology, cryptology, and text analysis. An observed pattern of
events is deemed to be statistically significant if it is unlikely to have
occurred due to randomness or chance alone. We use the chi-square statistic as
a quantitative measure of statistical significance. Given a string of
characters generated from a memoryless Bernoulli model, the problem is to
identify the substring for which the empirical distribution of single letters
deviates the most from the distribution expected from the generative Bernoulli
model. This deviation is captured using the chi-square measure. The most
significant substring (MSS) of a string is thus defined as the substring having
the highest chi-square value. Till date, to the best of our knowledge, there
does not exist any algorithm to find the MSS in better than O(n^2) time, where
n denotes the length of the string. In this paper, we propose an algorithm to
find the most significant substring, whose running time is O(n^{3/2}) with high
probability. We also study some variants of this problem such as finding the
top-t set, finding all substrings having chi-square greater than a fixed
threshold and finding the MSS among substrings greater than a given length. We
experimentally demonstrate the asymptotic behavior of the MSS on varying the
string size and alphabet size. We also describe some applications of our
algorithm on cryptology and real world data from finance and sports. Finally,
we compare our technique with the existing heuristics for finding the MSS.


  NGC 7789 is a $\sim$1.6 Gyr old, populous open cluster located at $\sim$2000
pc. We characterize the blue straggler stars (BSS) of this cluster using the
Ultraviolet (UV) data from the UVIT/AstroSat. We present spectral energy
distributions (SED) of 15 BSS candidates constructed using multi-wavelength
data ranging from UV to IR wavelengths. In 8 BSS candidates, a single
temperature SED is found to be satisfactory. We discover hot companions in 5
BSS candidates. The hot companions with Teff $\sim$11750-15500 K, R
$\sim$0.069-0.242 R$_{\odot}$, and L $\sim$0.25-1.55 L$_{\odot}$, are most
likely extremely low mass (ELM) white dwarfs (WDs) with masses smaller than
$\sim$0.18 M$_{\odot}$, and thereby confirmed post mass transfer systems. We
discuss the implication of this finding in the context of BSS formation
mechanisms. Two additional BSS show excess in one or more UV filters, and may
have a hot companion, however, we are unable to characterize them. We suggest
that at least 5 of the 15 BSS candidates (33%) studied in this cluster have
formed via the mass transfer mechanism.


  We construct models for the motivic homotopy category based on simplicial
functors from smooth schemes over a field to simplicial sets. These spaces are
homotopy invariant and therefore one does not have to invert the affine line in
order to get a model for the motivic homotopy category.


  Sequence comparison is a prerequisite to virtually all comparative genomic
analyses. It is often realised by sequence alignment techniques, which are
computationally expensive. This has led to increased research into
alignment-free techniques, which are based on measures referring to the
composition of sequences in terms of their constituent patterns. These
measures, such as $q$-gram distance, are usually computed in time linear with
respect to the length of the sequences. In this paper, we focus on the
complementary idea: how two sequences can be efficiently compared based on
information that does not occur in the sequences. A word is an {\em absent
word} of some sequence if it does not occur in the sequence. An absent word is
{\em minimal} if all its proper factors occur in the sequence. Here we present
the first linear-time and linear-space algorithm to compare two sequences by
considering {\em all} their minimal absent words. In the process, we present
results of combinatorial interest, and also extend the proposed techniques to
compare circular sequences. We also present an algorithm that, given a word $x$
of length $n$, computes the largest integer for which all factors of $x$ of
that length occur in some minimal absent word of $x$ in time and space
$\cO(n)$. Finally, we show that the known asymptotic upper bound on the number
of minimal absent words of a word is tight.


  A high-brilliance ($\sim10^{24}$~photon.s$^{-1}$.mm$^{-2}$.mrd$^{-2}$/0.1\%)
gamma-ray source experiment is currently being planned at Fermilab
($E_\gamma\simeq 1.1$~MeV)~[1]. The source implements a high-repetition-rate
inverse Compton scattering by colliding electron bunches formed in a 300-MeV
superconducting linac with a high-intensity laser pulse. This paper describes
the design rationale along with some of technical challenges associated to
producing high-repetition-rate collision. The expected performances of the
gamma-ray source are also presented.


  We prove a Lojasiewicz-Simon inequality $$ \left| E(u) - 4\pi n \right| \leq
C \| \mathcal{T}(u) \|^\alpha $$ for maps $u \in W^{2,2}\left( S^2, S^2
\right).$ The inequality holds with $\alpha = 1$ in general and with $\alpha >
1$ unless $u$ is nearly constant on an open set. We obtain polynomial
convergence of weak solutions of harmonic map flow $u(t) : S^2 \to S^2$ as $t
\to \infty$ on compact domains away from the singular set, assuming that the
body map is nonconstant. The proof uses Topping's repulsion estimates together
with polynomial lower bounds on the energy density coming from a bubble-tree
induction argument.


  This study uses classical molecular dynamics to simulate infinite nuclear
matter and study the effect of isospin asymmetry on bulk properties such as
energy per nucleon, pressure, saturation density, compressibility and symmetry
energy. The simulations are performed on systems embedded in periodic boundary
conditions with densities and temperatures in the ranges $\rho$=0.02 to 0.2
fm$^{-3}$ and T = 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 MeV, and with isospin content of
$x=Z/A$=0.3, 0.4 and 0.5. The results indicate that symmetric and asymmetric
matter are self-bound at some temperatures and exhibit phase transitions from a
liquid phase to a liquid-gas mixture. The main effect of isospin asymmetry is
found to be a reduction of the equilibrium densities, a softening of the
compressibility and a disappearance of the liquid-gas phase transition. A
procedure leading to the evaluation of the symmetry energy and its variation
with the temperature was devised, implemented and compared to mean field theory
results.


  I review the four mechanisms of bound states in the continuum (BICs) in
application to microwave and acoustic cavities open to directional waveguides.
The most simple are the symmetry protected BICs which are localized inside the
cavity because of the orthogonality of the eigenmodes to the propagating modes
of waveguides. However, the most general and interesting is the
Friedrich-Wintgen mechanism when the BICs are result of full destructive
interference of outgoing resonant modes. The third type of the BICs, the
Fabry-Perot BICs, occur in a double resonator system when each resonator can
serve as an ideal mirror. At last, the accidental BICs can be realized in the
open cavities with no symmetry like the open Sinai billiard in which the
eigenmode of the resonator can become orthogonal to the continuum of the
waveguide accidentally by a smooth deformation of the eigenmode. We also review
the one-dimensional systems in which the BICs occur owing to full destructive
interference of two waves separated by spin or polarization or by paths in the
Aharonov-Bohm rings. We widely use the method of effective non-Hermitian
Hamiltonian equivalent to the coupled mode theory which detects bound states in
the continuum (BICs) by finding zero widths resonances.


  Speech emotion sensing in communication networks has a wide range of
applications in real life. In these applications, voice data are transmitted
from the user to the central server for storage, processing, and decision
making. However, speech data contain vulnerable information that can be used
maliciously without the user's consent by an eavesdropping adversary. In this
work, we present a privacy-enhanced emotion communication system for preserving
the user personal information in emotion-sensing applications. We propose the
use of an adversarial learning framework that can be deployed at the edge to
unlearn the users' private information in the speech representations. These
privacy-enhanced representations can be transmitted to the central server for
decision making. We evaluate the proposed model on multiple speech emotion
datasets and show that the proposed model can hide users' specific demographic
information and improve the robustness of emotion identification without
significantly impacting performance. To the best of our knowledge, this is the
first work on a privacy-preserving framework for emotion sensing in the
communication network.


  Although no intermediate polar (IP) has been observed in recent years to
descend into a state of low rate of mass transfer, there are candidate stars
that appear to be already in intermediate and low states. V709 Cas is probably
an intermediate state IP; NSV 2872 appears to be a low state IP, and will
probably resemble the long orbital period IP V1072 Tau if it returns to a high
state. The enigmatic V407 Vul, which has had many interpretations as an
ultra-short period binary, has many resemblances to the pre-cataclysmic
variable V471 Tau, and may therefore be an IP precursor of quite long orbital
period, and not yet a fully fledged cataclysmic variable.


  The proper definition and evaluation of the configuration space path integral
for the motion of a particle in curved space is a notoriously tricky problem.
We discuss a consistent definition which makes use of an expansion in Fourier
sine series of the particle paths. Salient features of the regularization are
the Lee-Yang ghosts fields and a specific effective potential to be added to
the classical action. The Lee-Yang ghost fields are introduced to exponentiate
the non-trivial path integral measure and make the perturbative loop expansion
finite order by order, whereas the effective potential is necessary to maintain
the general coordinate invariance of the model. We also discuss a three loop
computation which tests the mode regularization scheme and reproduces
consistently De Witt's perturbative solution of the heat kernel.


  Comprehensive set of shell model calculations for $^{78-84}$Se isotopes have
been performed with recently derived interactions, namely JUN45 and jj44b for
${f_{5/2}pg_{9/2}}$ space. To study the importance of the proton excitations
across Z=28 shell in this region mentioned by Cheal {\it et al.} [Phys. Rev.
Lett. {\bf104}, 252502 (2010)], calculation for ${fpg_{9/2}}$ valence space
using an ${fpg}$ effective interaction with $^{48}$Ca as core and imposing a
truncation has also been performed. Comparison of the calculations with
experimental data show that the predicted results of jj44b interaction are in
good agreement with experimental data.


  We propose novel quantum antennas and metamaterials with strong magnetic
response at optical frequencies. Our design is based on the arrangement of
natural atoms with only electric dipole transition moments at distances smaller
than a wavelength of light but much larger than their physical size. In
particular, we show that an atomic dimer can serve as a magnetic antenna at its
antisymmetric mode to enhance the decay rate of a magnetic transition in its
vicinity by several orders of magnitude. Furthermore, we study metasurfaces
composed of atomic bilayers with and without cavities and show that they can
fully reflect the electric and magnetic fields of light, thus, forming nearly
perfect electric/magnetic mirrors. The proposed quantum metamaterials can be
fabricated with available state-of-the-art technologies and promise several
applications both in classical optics and quantum engineering.


  Exchange of dominance between twin kHz quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs)
observed in some low-mass-X-ray-binaries (LMXB) suggests the possibility of a
resonance between two oscillatory modes. We study the behaviour of the
effective gravitational potential around specific resonant radii, and estimate
the role of the higher-order terms governing the non-linear, anharmonic
forcing. We discuss the impact it has on the mode amplitude in the linear and
non--linear regimes. We also discuss a related possibility of lowering of the
neutron star mass estimates from the highest observed QPO frequencies.


  We introduce a real-valued measure ${m_L}$ on non-Archimedean ordered fields
$(\mathbb{F},<)$ that extend the field of real numbers $(\mathbb{R},<)$. The
definition of ${m_L}$ is inspired by the Loeb measures of hyperreal fields in
the framework of Robinson's analysis with infinitesimals. The real-valued
measure ${m_L}$ turns out to be general enough to obtain a canonical measurable
representative in $\mathbb{F}$ for every Lebesgue measurable subset of
$\mathbb{R}$, moreover, the measure of the two sets is equal. In addition,
$m_L$ it is more expressive than a class of non-Archimedean uniform measures.
We focus on the properties of the real-valued measure in the case where
$\mathbb{F}=\mathcal{R}$, the Levi-Civita field. In particular, we compare
${m_L}$ with the uniform non-Archimedean measure over $\mathcal{R}$ developed
by Shamseddine and Berz, and we prove that the first is infinitesimally close
to the second, whenever the latter is defined. We also define a real-valued
integral for functions on the Levi-Civita field, and we prove that every real
continuous function has an integrable representative in $\mathcal{R}$. Recall
that this result is false for the current non-Archimedean integration over
$\mathcal{R}$. The paper concludes with a discussion on the representation of
the Dirac distribution by pointwise functions on non-Archimedean domains.


  This paper proposes a method to navigate a mobile robot by estimating its
state over a number of distributed sensor networks (DSNs) such that it can
successively accomplish a sequence of tasks, i.e., its state enters each
targeted set and stays inside no less than the desired time, under a
resource-aware, time-efficient, and computation- and communication-constrained
setting.We propose a new robot state estimation and navigation architecture,
which integrates an event-triggered task-switching feedback controller for the
robot and a two-time-scale distributed state estimator for each sensor. The
architecture has three major advantages over existing approaches: First, in
each task only one DSN is active for sensing and estimating the robot state,
and for different tasks the robot can switch the active DSN by taking resource
saving and system performance into account; Second, the robot only needs to
communicate with one active sensor at each time to obtain its state information
from the active DSN; Third, no online optimization is required. With the
controller, the robot is able to accomplish a task by following a reference
trajectory and switch to the next task when an event-triggered condition is
fulfilled. With the estimator, each active sensor is able to estimate the robot
state. Under proper conditions, we prove that the state estimation error and
the trajectory tracking deviation are upper bounded by two time-varying
sequences respectively, which play an essential role in the event-triggered
condition. Furthermore, we find a sufficient condition for accomplishing a task
and provide an upper bound of running time for the task. Numerical simulations
of an indoor robot's localization and navigation are provided to validate the
proposed architecture.


  Let $k$ be an algebraically closed field of characteristic $p>0$. Let $G$ be
$Z/\ell Z$ semi-direct product $Z/pZ$ where $\ell$ is a prime distinct from
$p$. In this paper, we study Galois covers $\psi:Z \to P^1_k$ ramified only
over $\infty$ with Galois group $G$. We find the minimal genus of a curve $Z$
that admits such a cover and show that it depends only on $\ell$, $p$, and the
order $a$ of $\ell$ modulo $p$. We also prove that the number of curves $Z$ of
this minimal genus which admit such a cover is at most $(p-1)/a$.


  Rest-frame 0.48-1.1 micron emission line strengths and molecular gas mass
(H_2) upper limits for 3 luminous infrared sources - the hyperluminous infrared
galaxies IR F09105+4108 (z=0.44), IR F15307+3252 (z=0.93), and the
optically-selected QSO PG 1634+706 (z=1.3) - are presented. Diagnostic
emission-line ratios indicate a Seyfert 2-like spectrum for both infrared
galaxies, consistent with previously published work. The upper limits of
molecular gas mass for all 3 sources are M(H_2) < 1-3x10^10 h^-2 M_sun (q=0.5,
H=100h km/s/Mpc), less than that of the most gas-rich infrared galaxies in the
local Universe. All 3 sources have L_ir/L'_CO = 1300-2000, and thus are the
extragalactic sources with the most extreme L_ir/L'_CO values measured to date.
Given the relatively warm far-infrared colors for all 3 objects, much of their
infrared luminosity may emanate from a relatively modest amount of warm dust
(e.g. M_d = 10^5-7 M_sun, T_d = 200-100 K) near the AGN...


  Sub-Riemannian structures on odd-dimensional spheres respecting the Hopf
fibration naturally appear in quantum mechanics. We study the curvature maps
for such a sub-Riemannian structure and express them using the Riemannian
curvature tensor of the Fubini-Study metric of the complex projective space and
the curvature form of the Hopf fibration. We also estimate the number of
conjugate points of a sub-Riemannian extremal in terms of the bounds of the
sectional curvature and the curvature form. It presents a typical example for
the study of curvature maps and comparison theorms for a general corank 1
sub-Riemannian structure with symmetries done by C.Li and I.Zelenko.


  We present a spectroscopic analysis of the GIRAFFE and UVES data collected by
the Gaia-ESO survey for the young open cluster NGC 3293. Archive spectra from
the same instruments obtained in the framework of the `VLT-FLAMES survey of
massive stars' are also analysed. Atmospheric parameters, non-LTE chemical
abundances for six elements, or variability information are reported for a
total of about 160 B stars spanning a wide range in terms of spectral types (B1
to B9.5) and rotation rate (up to 350 km/s). We take advantage of the
multi-epoch observations to detect several binary systems or intrinsically
line-profile variables. A deconvolution algorithm is used to infer the current,
true (deprojected) rotational velocity distribution. We find a broad,
Gaussian-like distribution peaking around 200-250 km/s. Although some stars
populate the high-velocity tail, most stars in the cluster appear to rotate far
from critical. We discuss the chemical properties of the cluster, including the
low occurrence of abundance peculiarities in the late B stars and the paucity
of objects showing CN-cycle burning products at their surface. We argue that
the former result can largely be explained by the inhibition of diffusion
effects because of fast rotation, while the latter is generally in accord with
the predictions of single-star evolutionary models under the assumption of a
wide range of initial spin rates at the onset of main-sequence evolution.
However, we find some evidence for a less efficient mixing in two quite rapidly
rotating stars that are among the most massive objects in our sample. Finally,
we obtain a cluster age of ~20 Myrs through a detailed, star-to-star correction
of our results for the effect of stellar rotation. This is significantly older
than previous estimates from turn-off fitting that fully relied on classical,
non-rotating isochrones. [abridged]


  We present the DLR Planetary Stereo, Solid-State LiDAR, Inertial (S3LI)
dataset, recorded on Mt. Etna, Sicily, an environment analogous to the Moon and
Mars, using a hand-held sensor suite with attributes suitable for
implementation on a space-like mobile rover. The environment is characterized
by challenging conditions regarding both the visual and structural appearance:
severe visual aliasing poses significant limitations to the ability of visual
SLAM systems to perform place recognition, while the absence of outstanding
structural details, joined with the limited Field-of-View of the utilized
Solid-State LiDAR sensor, challenges traditional LiDAR SLAM for the task of
pose estimation using point clouds alone. With this data, that covers more than
4 kilometers of travel on soft volcanic slopes, we aim to: 1) provide a tool to
expose limitations of state-of-the-art SLAM systems with respect to
environments, which are not present in widely available datasets and 2)
motivate the development of novel localization and mapping approaches, that
rely efficiently on the complementary capabilities of the two sensors. The
dataset is accessible at the following url: https://rmc.dlr.de/s3li_dataset


  Providing effective access paths to content is a key task in digital
libraries. Oftentimes, such access paths are realized through advanced query
languages, which, on the one hand, users may find challenging to learn or use,
and on the other, requires libraries to convert their content into a high
quality structured representation. As a remedy, narrative information access
proposes to query library content through structured patterns directly, to
ensure validity and coherence of information. However, users still find it
challenging to express their information needs in such patterns. Therefore,
this work bridges the gap by introducing a method that deduces patterns from
keyword searches. Moreover, our user studies with participants from the
biomedical domain show their acceptance of our prototypical system.


  Turbulent flow separation induced by a protuberance on one of the walls of an
otherwise planar channel is investigated using Direct Numerical Simulations.
Different bulge geometries and Reynolds numbers - with the highest friction
Reynolds number simulation reaching a peak of Re{\tau} = 900 - are addressed to
understand the effect of the wall curvature and of the Reynolds number on the
dynamics of the recirculating bubble behind the bump. Most of the drag is due
to the form contribution, whilst the friction contribution does not change
appreciably with respect to an equivalent planar channel flow. The most bluff
geometry has a larger recirculation region, whilst the Reynolds number increase
results in a smaller recirculation bubble and a shear layer more attached to
the bump. The energy introduced by the pressure drop follows two routes: part
of it is transferred towards the walls to be dissipated and part feeds the
turbulent production hence the velocity fluctuations in the separating shear
layer. Spatial energy fluxes transfer the kinetic energy into the recirculation
bubble and downstream near the wall where it is ultimately dissipated.
Consistently, anisotropy concentrates at small scales near the walls
irrespective of the value of the Reynolds number. In the bulk flow and in the
recirculation bubble, isotropy is restored at small scales and the isotropy
recovery rate is controlled by the Reynolds number. Anisotropy invariant maps
are presented, showing the difficulty in developing suitable turbulence models
to predict separated turbulent flow dynamics. Results shed light on the
processes of production, transfer and dissipation of energy in this relatively
complex turbulent flow where non-homogeneous effects overwhelm the classical
picture of wall bounded turbulent flows which typically exploits streamwise
homogeneity.


  We investigate a quite strong turbulence in a supercritical fluid near a
gas-liquid critical point. Specifically, we consider a case in which the
Kolmogorov scale is much smaller than the equilibrium correlation length $\xi$.
Although equilibrium critical fluctuations are destroyed by turbulence, $\xi$
still provides a crossover length scale between two types of energy cascade. At
scales much larger than $\xi$, the Richardson cascade becomes dominant, whereas
at scales much smaller than $\xi$, another type of cascade, which we call the
van der Waals cascade, is induced by density fluctuations. Experimental
conditions required to observe the van der Waals cascade are also discussed.


  The electric dipole moments (EDMs) of the neutron and the electron are
reviewed within the framework of the supersymmetric standard model (SSM) based
on grand unified theories coupled to N=1 supergravity. Taking into account
one-loop and two-loop contributions to the EDMs, we explore SSM parameter space
consistent with experiments and discuss predicted values for the EDMs.
Implications of baryon asymmetry of our universe for the EDMs are also
discussed.


  Data owners face increasing liability for how the use of their data could
harm under-priviliged communities. Stakeholders would like to identify the
characteristics of data that lead to algorithms being biased against any
particular demographic groups, for example, defined by their race, gender, age,
and/or religion. Specifically, we are interested in identifying subsets of the
feature space where the ground truth response function from features to
observed outcomes differs across demographic groups. To this end, we propose
FORESEE, a FORESt of decision trEEs algorithm, which generates a score that
captures how likely an individual's response varies with sensitive attributes.
Empirically, we find that our approach allows us to identify the individuals
who are most likely to be misclassified by several classifiers, including
Random Forest, Logistic Regression, Support Vector Machine, and k-Nearest
Neighbors. The advantage of our approach is that it allows stakeholders to
characterize risky samples that may contribute to discrimination, as well as,
use the FORESEE to estimate the risk of upcoming samples.


  In this paper, we investigate propagation phenomena for KPP bulk-surface
systems in a cylindrical domain with general section and heterogeneous
coefficients. As for the scalar KPP equation, we show that the asymptotic
spreading speed of solutions can be computed in terms of the principal
eigenvalues of a family of self-adjoint elliptic operators. Using this
characterization, we analyze the dependence of the spreading speed on various
parameters, including diffusion rates and the size and shape of the section of
the domain. In particular, we provide new theoretical results on several
asymptotic regimes like small and high diffusion rates and sections with small
and large sizes. These results generalize earlier ones which were available in
the radial homogeneous case. Finally, we numerically investigate the issue of
shape optimization of the spreading speed. By computing its shape derivative,
we observe, in the case of homogeneous coefficients, that a disk either
maximizes or minimizes the speed, depending on the parameters of the problem,
both with or without constraints. We also show the results of numerical shape
optimization with non homogeneous coefficients, when the disk is no longer an
optimizer.


  We prove better lower bounds on additive spanners and emulators, which are
lossy compression schemes for undirected graphs, as well as lower bounds on
shortcut sets, which reduce the diameter of directed graphs. We show that any
$O(n)$-size shortcut set cannot bring the diameter below $\Omega(n^{1/6})$, and
that any $O(m)$-size shortcut set cannot bring it below $\Omega(n^{1/11})$.
These improve Hesse's [Hesse03] lower bound of $\Omega(n^{1/17})$. By combining
these constructions with Abboud and Bodwin's [AbboudB17] edge-splitting
technique, we get additive stretch lower bounds of $+\Omega(n^{1/11})$ for
$O(n)$-size spanners and $+\Omega(n^{1/18})$ for $O(n)$-size emulators. These
improve Abboud and Bodwin's $+\Omega(n^{1/22})$ lower bounds.


  We consider the twistor space ${\cal P}^6\cong{\mathbb R}^4{\times}{\mathbb
C}P^1$ of ${\mathbb R}^4$ with a non-integrable almost complex structure ${\cal
J}$ such that the canonical bundle of the almost complex manifold $({\cal P}^6,
{\cal J})$ is trivial. It is shown that ${\cal J}$-holomorphic Chern-Simons
theory on a real $(6|2)$-dimensional graded extension ${\cal P}^{6|2}$ of the
twistor space ${\cal P}^6$ is equivalent to self-dual Yang-Mills theory on
Euclidean space ${\mathbb R}^4$ with Lorentz invariant action. It is also shown
that adding a local term to a Chern-Simons-type action on ${\cal P}^{6|2}$, one
can extend it to a twistor action describing full Yang-Mills theory.


  In this study, we further investigate the robustness and generalization
ability of an neural network (NN) based force estimation method, using the da
Vinci Research Kit Si (dVRK-Si). To evaluate our method's performance, we
compare the force estimation accuracy with several baseline methods. We conduct
comparative studies between the dVRK classic and dVRK-Si systems to benchmark
the effectiveness of these approaches.
  We conclude that the NN-based method provides comparable force estimation
accuracy across the two systems, as the average root mean square error (RMSE)
over the average range of force ratio is approximately 3.07% for the dVRK
classic, and 5.27% for the dVRK-Si. On the dVRK-Si, the force estimation RMSEs
for all the baseline methods are 2 to 4 times larger than the NN-based method
in all directions. One possible reason is, we made assumptions in the baseline
methods that static forces remain the same or dynamics is time-invariant. These
assumptions may hold for the dVRK Classic, as it has pre-loaded weight and
maintains horizontal self balance. Since the dVRK-Si configuration does not
have this property, assumptions do not hold anymore, therefore the NN-based
method significantly outperforms.


  We perform an analytical study of the stability of the background solution of
the model in which an inflaton, through an axionic coupling to a $U(1)$ gauge
field, causes an amplification of the gauge field modes that strongly backreact
on its dynamics. To this goal, we study the evolution of the gauge field modes
coupled to the inflaton zero mode, treating perturbatively the deviation of the
inflaton velocity from its mean-field value. As long as the system is in the
strong backreaction regime we find that the inflaton velocity performs
oscillations of increasing amplitude about the value it would have in the
approximation of constant velocity, confirming an instability that has been
observed in numerical studies.


  The exploration of circumstellar environments by means of direct imaging to
search for Earth-like exoplanets is one of the challenges of modern astronomy.
One of the current limitations are evolving non-common path aberrations (NCPA)
that originate from optics downstream of the main wavefront sensor. The
self-coherent camera (SCC) is an integrated coronagraph and focal-plane
wavefront sensor that generates wavefront information-encoding Fizeau fringes
in the focal plane by adding a reference hole (RH) in the Lyot stop. Here, we
aim to show that by featuring a polarizer in the RH and adding a polarizing
beamsplitter downstream of the Lyot stop, the RH can be placed right next to
the pupil. We refer to this new variant of the SCC as the polarization-encoded
self-coherent camera (PESCC). We study the performance of the PESCC
analytically and numerically, and compare it, where relevant, to the SCC. We
show analytically that the PESCC relaxes the requirements on the focal-plane
sampling and spectral resolution with respect to the SCC by a factor of 2 and
3.5, respectively. Furthermore, we find via our numerical simulations that the
PESCC has effectively access to $\sim$16 times more photons, which improves the
sensitivity of the wavefront sensing by a factor of $\sim4$. We also show that
without additional measurements, the RH point-spread function (PSF) can be
calibrated using PESCC images, enabling coherent differential imaging (CDI) as
a contrast-enhancing post-processing technique for every observation. In
idealized simulations (clear aperture, charge two vortex coronagraph, perfect
DM, no noise sources other than phase and amplitude aberrations) and in
circumstances similar to those of space-based systems, we show that WFSC
combined with CDI can achieve a $1\sigma$ raw contrast of $\sim3\cdot10^{-11}-
8 \cdot 10^{-11}$ between 1 and 18 $\lambda / D$.


  We fit the $^1 S_0 \Lambda\Lambda$ interaction in the nuclear medium to the
masses of the experimentally known double-$\Lambda$ hypernuclei:
$^{\phantom{6}6}_{\Lambda\Lambda}$He, $^{10}_{\Lambda\Lambda}$Be and
$^{13}_{\Lambda\Lambda}$B. We derive this effective interaction from OBE
J\"ulich $\Lambda\Lambda$-type potentials and using both Hartree-Fock and
variational approaches. We find that the inclusion of $\Lambda\Lambda$
correlations in the variational scheme leads to significant differences and a
better understanding of the dynamical features of the system. We investigate
the sensitivity of the binding energies and the mesonic decay widths of the
above double-$\Lambda$ hypernuclei to the $\omega \Lambda\Lambda $ coupling and
the form factor at the $\sigma \Lambda\Lambda$ vertex.
  We also use this effective interaction to predict binding energies and pionic
decay widths of heavier double-$\Lambda$ hypernuclei, not discovered yet.
Finally, we discard the existence of $^1 S_0$ $\Lambda\Lambda$ bound states
provided the $\Lambda\Lambda-\Xi N$ coupling can be neglected.


  A wide range of approaches for batch processes monitoring can be found in the
literature. This kind of process generates a very peculiar data structure, in
which successive measurements of many process variables in each batch run are
available. Traditional approaches do not take into account the time series
nature of the data. The main reason is that the time series inference theory is
not based on replications of time series, as it is in batch process data. It is
based on the variability in a time domain. This fact demands some adaptations
of this theory in order to accommodate the model coefficient estimates,
considering jointly the batch to batch samples variability (batch domain) and
the serial correlation in each batch (time domain). In order to address this
issue, this paper proposes a new approach grounded in a group of control charts
based on the classical ARMA model for monitoring and diagnostic of batch
processes dynamics. The model coefficients are estimated (through the ordinary
least square method) for each historical time series sample batch and modified
Hotelling and t-Student distributions are derived and used to accommodate those
estimates. A group of control charts based on that distributions are proposed
for monitoring the new batches. Additionally, those groups of charts help to
fault diagnosis, identifying the source of disturbances. Through simulated and
real data we show that this approach seems to work well for both purposes.


  We present results from \textsc{GigaEris}, a cosmological, $N$-body
hydrodynamical "zoom-in" simulation of the formation of a Milky Way-sized
galaxy halo with unprecedented resolution, encompassing of order a billion
particles within the refined region. The simulation employs a modern
implementation of smoothed-particle hydrodynamics, including metal-line cooling
and metal and thermal diffusion. We focus on the early assembly of the galaxy,
down to redshift $z=4.4$. The simulated galaxy has properties consistent with
extrapolations of the main sequence of star-forming galaxies to higher
redshifts and levels off to a star formation rate of $\sim$60$\,
M_{\odot}$~yr$^{-1}$ at $z=4.4$. A compact, thin rotating stellar disk with
properties analogous to those of low-redshift systems arises already at $z \sim
8$. The galaxy rapidly develops a multi-component structure, and the disk, at
least at these early stages, does not grow "upside-down" as often reported in
the literature. Rather, at any given time, newly born stars contribute to
sustain a thin disk. The kinematics reflect the early, ubiquitous presence of a
thin disk, as a stellar disk component with $v_\phi/\sigma_R$ larger than unity
is already present at $z \sim 9$--10. Our results suggest that high-resolution
spectro-photometric observations of very high-redshift galaxies should find
thin rotating disks, consistent with the recent discovery of cold rotating gas
disks by ALMA. Finally, we present synthetic images for the JWST NIRCam camera,
showing how the early disk would be easily detectable already at those early
times.


  We study the alignments between the angular momentum of individual objects
and the large-scale structure in cosmological numerical simulations and real
data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, Data Release 6. To this end we measure
anisotropies in the two point cross-correlation function around simulated halos
and observed galaxies, studying separately the 1- and 2-halo regimes. The
alignment of the angular momentum of dark-matter haloes in LCDM simulations is
found to be dependent on scale and halo mass. At large distances (2-halo
regime), the spins of high mass haloes are preferentially oriented in the
direction perpendicular to the distribution of matter; lower mass systems show
a weaker trend that may even reverse to show an angular momentum in the plane
of the matter distribution. In the 1-halo term regime, the angular momentum is
aligned in the direction perpendicular to the matter distribution; the effect
is stronger than for the 1-halo term and increases for higher mass systems.
  On the observational side, we focus our study on galaxies in the Sloan
Digital Sky Survey, Data Release 6 (SDSS-DR6) with elongated apparent shapes,
and study alignments with respect to the major semi-axis. We find an excess of
structure in the direction of the major semi-axis for all samples; the red
sample shows the highest alignment (2.7+-0.08%) and indicates that the angular
momentum of flattened spheroidals tends to be perpendicular to the large-scale
structure. (Abridged)


  We study possible effects of non-local gravity corrections on the recent
discovery by the IceCube collaboration reporting high-energy neutrino flux
detected at energies of order PeV. Considering the 4-dimensional operator $\sim
y_{\alpha \chi}\bar{{L_{{\alpha}}}}\, H\, \chi$, it is possible to explain both
the IceCube neutrino rate and the abundance of Dark Matter, provided that
non-local corrections are present in the cosmological background. Furthermore,
the mechanism could constitute a natural way to address the $H_0$ tension
issue.


  A systematic approach to assess the linear stability of Alfv\'en eigenmodes
in the presence of fusion-born alpha particles is described. Because
experimental results for ITER are not available yet, it is not known beforehand
which Alfv\'en eigenmodes will interact more intensively with the
alpha-particle population. Therefore, the number of modes that need to be
considered in stability assessments becomes quite large and care must be
exercised when choosing the numerical tools to work with, which must be fast
and efficient. In the presented approach, all possible eigenmodes are first
found after intensively scanning a suitable frequency range. Each solution
found is then tested to find if its discretization over the radial grid in use
is adequate. Finally, the interaction between the identified eigenmodes and the
alpha-particle population is evaluated with the drift-kinetic code CASTOR-K, in
order to assess their growth rates and hence their linear stability. The
described approach enables one to single out the most unstable eigenmodes in a
given scenario, which can then be handled with more specialized tools. This
selection capability eases the task of evaluating alpha-particle interactions
with Alfv\'en eigenmodes, either for ITER scenarios or for any other kind of
scenario planning.


  This paper describes Turing's Halting Problem (HP), and reviews the classic
proof that no function exists that can solve HP. The concept of a
"Context-Dependent Function" (CDF), whose behavior varies based on seemingly
irrelevant changes to a program calling that function, is introduced, and the
proof of HP's undecidability is re-examined in light of CDFs. The existence of
CDFs is established via a pair of examples of such functions. The conclusion of
the proof of HP's undecidability is thus shown to be overly strong, as it
doesn't show that no solution to HP exists, but rather that a solution must be
a CDF. A higher-level analysis of this work is given, followed by conclusions
and comments on future work.


  Successful deployment of cognitive radios requires efficient sensing of the
spectrum and dynamic adaptation of the available resources according to the
sensed (imperfect) information. While most works design these two tasks
separately, in this paper we address them jointly. In particular, we
investigate an overlay cognitive radio with multiple secondary users that
access orthogonally a set of frequency bands originally devoted to primary
users. The schemes are designed to minimize the cost of sensing, maximize the
performance of the secondary users (weighted sum rate), and limit the
probability of interfering the primary users. The joint design is addressed
using dynamic programming and nonlinear optimization techniques. A two-step
strategy that first finds the optimal resource allocation for any sensing
scheme and then uses that solution as input to solve for the optimal sensing
policy is implemented. The two-step strategy is optimal, gives rise to
intuitive optimal policies, and entails a computational complexity much lower
than that required to solve the original formulation.


  In a recent paper Siegfried et al. published a new sequence-based structural
RNA assay that utilizes mutational profiling to detect base pairing (MaP).
Output from MaP provides information about both pairing (via reactivities) and
contact (via correlations). Reactivities can be coupled to partition function
folding models for structural inference, while correlations can reveal pairs of
sites that may be in structural proximity. The possibility for inference of 3D
contacts via MaP suggests a novel approach to structural prediction for RNA
analogous to covariance structural prediction for proteins. We explore this
approach and show that partial correlation analysis outperforms na\"ive
correlation analysis. Our results should be applicable to a wide range of
high-throughput sequencing based RNA structural assays that are under
development.


  We consider the Quantum Null Energy Condition (QNEC) for holographic
conformal field theories in two spacetime dimensions (CFT$_2$). We show that
QNEC saturates for all states dual to vacuum solutions of AdS$_3$ Einstein
gravity, including systems that are far from thermal equilibrium. If the
Ryu-Takayanagi surface encounters bulk matter QNEC does not need to be
saturated, whereby we give both analytical and numerical examples. In
particular, for CFT$_2$ with a global quench dual to AdS$_3$-Vaidya geometries
we find a curious half-saturation of QNEC for large entangling regions. We also
address order one corrections from quantum backreactions of a scalar field in
AdS$_3$ dual to a primary operator of dimension $h$ in a large central charge
expansion and explicitly compute both, the backreacted Ryu--Takayanagi surface
part and the bulk entanglement contribution to EE and QNEC. At leading order
for small entangling regions the contribution from bulk EE exactly cancels the
contribution from the back-reacted Ryu-Takayanagi surface, but at higher orders
in the size of the region the contributions are almost equal while QNEC is not
saturated. For a half-space entangling region we find that QNEC is gapped by
$h/4$ in the large $h$ expansion.


  We show how the transverse polarization of a quark initiating a jet can be
probed by the azimuthal distribution of two hadrons (of large $z$) in the jet.
This permits a twist 2 asymmetry in hard processes when only one of the initial
particles is polarized transversely. Applications to hadron-hadron and
lepton-hadron scattering are discussed.


  Bicycle-sharing systems, which can provide shared bike usage services for the
public, have been launched in many big cities. In bicycle-sharing systems,
people can borrow and return bikes at any stations in the service region very
conveniently. Therefore, bicycle-sharing systems are normally used as a
short-distance trip supplement for private vehicles as well as regular public
transportation. Meanwhile, for stations located at different places in the
service region, the bike usages can be quite skewed and imbalanced. Some
stations have too many incoming bikes and get jammed without enough docks for
upcoming bikes, while some other stations get empty quickly and lack enough
bikes for people to check out. Therefore, inferring the potential destinations
and arriving time of each individual trip beforehand can effectively help the
service providers schedule manual bike re-dispatch in advance. In this paper,
we will study the individual trip prediction problem for bicycle-sharing
systems. To address the problem, we study a real-world bicycle-sharing system
and analyze individuals' bike usage behaviors first. Based on the analysis
results, a new trip destination prediction and trip duration inference model
will be introduced. Experiments conducted on a real-world bicycle-sharing
system demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed model.


  We present the results from a spectroscopic monitoring campaign to obtain
reverberation-mapping measurements and investigate the broad-line region
kinematics for active galactic nuclei (AGN) of Mrk~817 and NGC~7469. This
campaign was undertaken with the Lijiang 2.4-meter telescope, the median
spectroscopic sampling is 2.0 days for Mrk~817 and 1.0 days for NGC~7469. We
detect time lags of the broad emission lines including H$\beta$, H$\gamma$,
He~{\sc ii} and He~{\sc i} for both AGNs, and including Fe~{\sc ii} for Mrk~817
with respect to the varying AGN continuum at 5100~\AA. Investigating the
relationship between line widths and time lags of the broad emission lines, we
find that the BLR dynamics of Mrk~817 and NGC~7469 are consistent with the
virial prediction. We estimate the masses of central supermassive black hole
(SMBH) and the accretion rates of both AGNs. Using the data of this campaign,
we construct the velocity-resolved lag profiles of the broad H$\gamma$,
H$\beta$, and He~{\sc i} lines for Mrk~817, which show almost the same
kinematic signatures that the time lags in the red wing are slightly larger
than the time lags in the blue wing. For NGC~7469, we only clearly construct
the velocity-resolved lag profiles of the broad H$\gamma$ and H$\beta$, which
show very similar kinematic signatures to the BLR of Mrk~817. These signatures
indicate that the BLR of Keplerian motion in both AGNs seemingly has outflowing
components during the monitoring period. We discuss the kinematics of the BLR
and the measurements including SMBH mass and accretion rates.