  FEM simulations are a standard step in the design of accelerator magnets. It
is custom for accelerator applications to characterize the field quality in
terms of field expansion coefficients. With a commonly accepted approach,
expansion coefficients are calculated by means of a Fourier transform of the
local FEM solution at points on an arc. The accuracy of the coefficients
calculated this way depends strongly on the FEM mesh configuration and simple
refinement of the mesh does not always improve accuracy. The accuracy of the
expansion coefficients calculation can be improved by using the data on the
magnetization of elements in the magnet yoke, obtained in the solution, instead
of using directly the local solution. Since currents and the yoke magnetization
are the only sources of the field, with these data the field expansion
coefficients can be calculated at any remote point. We derive closed forms for
calculating expansion coefficients and implemented these results in the ANSYS
add-on. Results for a case study are presented, which demonstrate that
expansion coefficients can be calculated with good accuracy even for a rather
coarse mesh.


  Potential advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) could have profound
implications for how countries research and develop weapons systems, and how
militaries deploy those systems on the battlefield. The idea of AI-enabled
military systems has motivated some activists to call for restrictions or bans
on some weapon systems, while others have argued that AI may be too diffuse to
control. This paper argues that while a ban on all military applications of AI
is likely infeasible, there may be specific cases where arms control is
possible. Throughout history, the international community has attempted to ban
or regulate weapons or military systems for a variety of reasons. This paper
analyzes both successes and failures and offers several criteria that seem to
influence why arms control works in some cases and not others. We argue that
success or failure depends on the desirability (i.e., a weapon's military value
versus its perceived horribleness) and feasibility (i.e., sociopolitical
factors that influence its success) of arms control. Based on these criteria,
and the historical record of past attempts at arms control, we analyze the
potential for AI arms control in the future and offer recommendations for what
policymakers can do today.


  In this letter we report measurements of the coupling between Dirac fermion
quasiparticles (DFQs) and phonons on the (001) surface of the strong
topological insulator Bi2Se3. While most contemporary investigations of this
coupling have involved examining the temperature dependence of the DFQ
self-energy via angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) measurements,
we employ inelastic helium atom scattering to explore, for the first time, this
coupling from the phonon perspective. Using a Hilbert transform, we are able to
obtain the imaginary part of the phonon self-energy associated with a
dispersive surface phonon branch identified in our previous work [1] as having
strong interactions with the DFQs. From this imaginary part of the self-energy
we obtain a branch-specific electron-phonon coupling constant of 0.43, which is
stronger than the values reported form the ARPES measurements.


  This paper presents models and algorithms for interactive sensing in social
networks where individuals act as sensors and the information exchange between
individuals is exploited to optimize sensing. Social learning is used to model
the interaction between individuals that aim to estimate an underlying state of
nature. In this context the following questions are addressed: How can
self-interested agents that interact via social learning achieve a tradeoff
between individual privacy and reputation of the social group? How can
protocols be designed to prevent data incest in online reputation blogs where
individuals make recommendations? How can sensing by individuals that interact
with each other be used by a global decision maker to detect changes in the
underlying state of nature? When individual agents possess limited sensing,
computation and communication capabilities, can a network of agents achieve
sophisticated global behavior? Social and game theoretic learning are natural
settings for addressing these questions. This article presents an overview,
insights and discussion of social learning models in the context of data incest
propagation, change detection and coordination of decision making.


  Blanco-Cano et al. (2018) intended to find a type of transient event in the
solar wind before the terrestrial bow shock using a special type of simulation.
However, the simulation results cannot reproduce the main features of the
event. Based on the remarks described below, I am sure that the features in the
simulations are not those type of events. The VLASIATOR code simulated
proto-SHFAs.


  Let $\Bbb F_q$ be a finite field with $q$ elements and $n$ a positive
integer. Mart\'inez, Vergara and Oliveira \cite{MVO} explicitly factorized
$x^{n} - 1$ over $\Bbb F_q$ under the condition of $rad(n)|(q-1)$. In this
paper, suppose that $rad(n)\nmid (q-1)$ and $rad(n)|(q^w-1)$, where $w$ is a
prime, we explicitly factorize $x^{n}-1$ into irreducible factors in $\Bbb
F_q[x]$ and count the number of its irreducible factors.


  The decay constants for the $D$ and $D_S$ mesons, denoted $f_D$ and $f_{D_S}$
respectively, are equal in the $SU(3)_V$ limit, as are the hadronic amplitudes
for $B_S-\bar B_S$ and $B^0-\bar B^0$ mixing. The leading $SU(3)_V$ violating
contribution to $\left( f_{D_S} / f_D \right)$ and to the ratio of hadronic
matrix elements relevant for $B_S-\bar B_S$ and $B^0-\bar B^0$ mixing
amplitudes are calculated in chiral perturbation theory. We discuss the
formalism needed to include both meson and anti-meson fields in the heavy quark
effective theory.


  In this paper we introduce a novel method for fabricating MgB$_2$/MgO
multilayers and demonstrate the potential for using them as a new model for
disordered superconductors. In this approach we control the annealing of the
MgB$_2$ to yield an interesting new class of disordered (amorphous)
superconductors with relatively high transition temperatures. The multilayers
appear to exhibit quasi-two-dimensional superconductivity with controlled
anisotropy. We discuss the properties of the multilayers as the thickness of
the components of the bilayers vary.


  Unlike other realisations of the 2-Higgs Doublet Model (2HDM), the so-called
Type-I allows for a very light Higgs boson spectrum. Specifically, herein, the
heaviest of the two CP-even neutral Higgs states, $H$, can be the one
discovered at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in 2012, with a mass of $\approx
125$ GeV and couplings consistent with those predicted by the Standard Model
(SM). In such a condition of the model, referred to as `inverted mass
hierarchy', the decay of the SM-like Higgs state into pairs of the lightest
CP-even neutral Higgs boson, $h$, is possible, for masses of the latter ranging
from $M_H/2\approx 65$ GeV down to 15 GeV or so, all compatible with
experimental constraints. In this paper, we investigate the scope of the LHC in
accessing the process $gg\to H \to hh\to b\bar b\tau\tau$ by performing a Monte
Carlo (MC) analysis aimed at extracting this signal from the SM backgrounds, in
presence of a dedicated trigger choice and kinematic selection. We prove that
some sensitivity to such a channel exists already at Run 3 of the LHC while the
High-Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC) will be able to either confirm or disprove this
theoretical scenario over sizable regions of its parameter space.


  A ring may be regarded as a torus with r << R, where R is the major radius
and r is the minor radius. When such a ring is placed on a rough rod and
released with some angular velocity, it may continue to vertically spin around
the rod for some time instead of falling down immediately. It was observed that
two different kinds of motion for the rod exist, which are referred to as
single point and double point contact motion, based on the number of contact
points of the ring that are in contact with the rod. Single point contact
motion was observed for rings and double point contact motion was observed in
the case of a washer. We investigated the characteristics of the single point
contact motion. An explanation is provided for the single point contact motion
of the ring and an analysis of the forces on the ring is made. We observe a
hyperbolic decay in the angular velocity of the ring. An explicit solution is
determined for the single point contact motion of the ring and the obtained
solutions match the observed motion of the ring.


  In this paper we have calculated electron transport coefficient in ballistic
regime through a periodic dot sandwiched between uniform leads. We have
calculated the Green's function (GF), density of states (Dos) and the coherent
transmission coefficient (conductance) fully analytically. The quasi gap, bound
states energies, the energy and wire-length dependence of the GF and
conductance for this system are also derived.


  Doping dependence of the electronic structure of La$_{2-x}$Sr$_x$CuO$_4$
(LSCO) has been systematically studied in a series of photoemission
measurements. The unusual spectral features in the underdoped regime are
attributed to the formation of dynamical stripes and the opening of large and
small pseudogaps.


  Several groups have recently computed the gravitational radiation recoil
produced by the merger of two spinning black holes. The results suggest that
spin can be the dominant contributor to the kick, with reported recoil speeds
of hundreds to even thousands of kilometers per second. The parameter space of
spin kicks is large, however, and it is ultimately desirable to have a simple
formula that gives the approximate magnitude of the kick given a mass ratio,
spin magnitudes, and spin orientations. As a step toward this goal, we perform
a systematic study of the recoil speeds from mergers of black holes with mass
ratio $q\equiv m_1/m_2=2/3$ and dimensionless spin parameters of $a_1/m_1$ and
$a_2/m_2$ equal to 0 or 0.2, with directions aligned or anti-aligned with the
orbital angular momentum. We also run an equal-mass $a_1/m_1=-a_2/m_2=0.2$
case, and find good agreement with previous results. We find that, for
currently reported kicks from aligned or anti-aligned spins, a simple kick
formula inspired by post-Newtonian analyses can reproduce the numerical results
to better than $\sim$10%.


  We study the quantumness of correlations for ensembles of bi- and
multi-partite systems and relate it to the task of quantum data hiding.
Quantumness is here intended in the sense of minimum average disturbance under
local measurements. We consider a very general framework, but focus on local
complete von Neumann measurements as cause of the disturbance, and, later on,
on the trace-distance as quantifier of the disturbance. We discuss connections
with entanglement and previously defined notions of quantumness of
correlations. We prove that a large class of quantifiers of the quantumness of
correlations are entanglement monotones for pure bipartite states. In
particular, we define an entanglement of disturbance for pure states, for which
we give an analytical expression. Such a measure coincides with negativity and
concurrence for the case of two qubits. We compute general bounds on
disturbance for both single states and ensembles, and consider several
examples, including the uniform Haar ensemble of pure states, and pairs of
qubit states. Finally, we show that the notion of ensemble quantumness of
correlations is most relevant in quantum data hiding. Indeed, while it is known
that entanglement is not necessary for a good quantum data hiding scheme, we
prove that ensemble quantumness of correlations is.


  In the last decade, using single epoch virial based techniques in the optical
band, it has been possible to measure the central black hole mass on large AGN1
samples. However these measurements use the width of the broad line region as a
proxy of the virial velocities and are therefore difficult to be carried out on
those obscured (type 2) or low luminosity AGN where the nuclear component does
not dominate in the optical. Here we present the optical and near infrared
spectrum of the starburst/Seyfert galaxy NGC 6221, observed with X-shooter/VLT.
Previous observations of NGC 6221 in the X-ray band show an absorbed (N_H=8.5
+/- 0.4 x 10^21 cm^-2) spectrum typical of a type 2 AGN with luminosity
log(L_14-195 keV) = 42.05 erg/s, while in the optical band its spectrum is
typical of a reddened (A_V=3) starburst. Our deep X-shooter/VLT observations
have allowed us to detect faint broad emission in the H_alpha, HeI and Pa_beta
lines (FWHM ~1400-2300 km/s) confirming previous studies indicating that NGC
6221 is a reddened starburst galaxy which hosts an AGN. We use the measure of
the broad components to provide a first estimate of its central black hole mass
(M_BH = 10^(6.6 +/- 0.3) Msol, lambda_Edd=0.01-0.03), obtained using recently
calibrated virial relations suitable for moderately obscured (N_H<10^24 cm^-2)
AGN.


  In this paper, we revisit the weak gravitational lensing of CMB. The key
point is that the deflection angle of CMB photon varies with the redshift. From
this we obtain a set of modified power spectra. Compared with the ones
calculated before, the temperature, the polarization E mode and the cross power
spectra correction are of the order $0.01 %$, while the polarization B mode
correction is about $0.4 %$ (to $l=2000$).


  Let X be a smooth projective surface. Here we study the postulation of a
general union Z of fat points of X, when most of the connected components of Z
have multiplicity 2. This problem is related to the existence of "good"
families of curves on X, with prescribed singularities, most of them being
nodes, and to the cohomology of suitable line bundles on blowing ups of X. More
precise statements are obtained in the case X=P^2.


  We consider whether Broad Absorption Line Quasars (BAL QSOs) and Narrow Line
Seyfert 1 galaxies (NLS1s) are similar, as suggested by Brandt & Gallagher
(2000) and Boroson (2002). For this purpose we constructed a sample of 11 BAL
QSOs from existing Chandra and Swift observations. We found that BAL QSOs and
NLS1s both operate at high Eddington ratios L/Ledd, although BAL QSOs have
slightly lower L/Ledd. BAL QSOs and NLS1s in general have high FeII/H$\beta$
and low [OIII]/H$\beta$ ratios following the classic 'Boroson \& Green'
eigenvector 1 relation. We also found that the mass accretion rates $\dot{M}$
of BAL QSOs and NLS1s are more similar than previously thought, although some
BAL QSOs exhibit extreme mass accretion rates of more than 10 \msun/year. These
extreme mass accretion rates may suggest that the black holes in BAL QSOs are
relativistically spinning. Black hole masses in BAL QSOs are a factor of 100
larger than NLS1s. From their location on a M-$\sigma$ plot, we find that BAL
QSOs contain fully developed black holes. Applying a principal component
analysis to our sample we find eigenvector 1 to correspond to the Eddington
ratio L/Ledd, and eigenvector 2 to black hole mass.


  In part I, using the theory of $\infty$-categories, we constructed a natural
``continuous action'' of $\operatorname {Ham} (M, \omega) $ on the Fukaya
category of a closed monotone symplectic manifold. Here we show that this
action is generally homotopically non-trivial, i.e implicitly the main part of
a conjecture of Teleman. We use this to give various applications. For example
we find new curvature constraint phenomena for smooth and singular
$\mathcal{G}$-connections on principal $\mathcal{G}$-bundles over $S ^{4}$,
where $\mathcal{G}$ is $\operatorname {PU} (2)$ or $\operatorname {Ham} (S ^{2}
)$. Even for the classical group $\operatorname {PU} (2)$, these phenomena are
invisible to Chern-Weil theory, and are inaccessible to known Yang-Mills theory
and quantum characteristic classes techniques. So this can be understood as one
application of Floer theory and the theory of $\infty$-categories in basic
differential geometry. We also develop, based on this $\infty$-categorical
Fukaya theory, some basic new integer valued invariants of smooth manifolds,
called quantum obstruction. On the way we also construct what we call quantum
Maslov classes, which are higher degree variants of the relative Seidel
morphism. This also leads to new applications in Hofer geometry of the space of
Lagrangian equators in $S^2$.


  Let d1 and d2 be discriminants of distinct quadratic imaginary orders O_d1
and O_d2 and let J(d1,d2) denote the product of differences of CM j-invariants
with discriminants d1 and d2. In 1985, Gross and Zagier gave an elegant formula
for the factorization of the integer J(d1,d2) in the case that d1 and d2 are
relatively prime and discriminants of maximal orders. To compute this formula,
they first reduce the problem to counting the number of simultaneous embeddings
of O_d1 and O_d2 into endomorphism rings of supersingular curves, and then
solve this counting problem.
  Interestingly, this counting problem also appears when computing class
polynomials for invariants of genus 2 curves. However, in this application, one
must consider orders O_d1 and O_d2 that are non-maximal. Motivated by the
application to genus 2 curves, we generalize the methods of Gross and Zagier
and give a computable formula for v_p(J(d1,d2)) for any distinct pair of
discriminants d1,d2 and any prime p>2. In the case that d1 is squarefree and d2
is the discriminant of any quadratic imaginary order, our formula can be stated
in a simple closed form. We also give a conjectural closed formula when the
conductors of d1 and d2 are relatively prime.


  Experiments on Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) have revealed that a relatively broad
200THz pump pulse, roughly 30 cycles in width, can switch ITO from a
transparent to a reflecting state within one or two optical cycles, a few
Femtoseconds. So far the rapid switching has remained unexplained by theory.
Here a very simple bare bones theory explains the key experimental features in
terms of an avalanche model suggested by avalanche diodes.


  Using the monotonity of relative entropy of composite quantum systems we
obtain new entropic inequalities for arbitrary density matrices of single qudit
states. Example of qutrit state inequalities and the "qubit portrait" bound for
the distance between the qutrit states are considered in explicit form.


  Agents, whether software or hardware, perceive their environment through
sensors and act using actuators, often operating in dynamic, partially
observable settings. They face challenges like incomplete and noisy data,
unforeseen situations, and the need to adapt goals in real-time. Traditional
reasoning and ML methods, including Reinforcement Learning (RL), help but are
limited by data needs, predefined goals, and extensive exploration periods.
Ontologies offer a solution by integrating diverse information sources,
enhancing decision-making in complex environments. This thesis introduces an
ontology-enhanced decision-making model (OntoDeM) for autonomous agents.
OntoDeM enriches agents' domain knowledge, allowing them to interpret
unforeseen events, generate or adapt goals, and make better decisions. Key
contributions include: 1. An ontology-based method to improve agents' real-time
observations using prior knowledge. 2. The OntoDeM model for handling dynamic,
unforeseen situations by evolving or generating new goals. 3. Implementation
and evaluation in four real-world applications, demonstrating its
effectiveness. Compared to traditional and advanced learning algorithms,
OntoDeM shows superior performance in improving agents' observations and
decision-making in dynamic, partially observable environments.


  We give time-slicing path integral formulas for solutions to the heat
equation corresponding to a self-adjoint Laplace type operator acting on
sections of a vector bundle over a compact Riemannian manifold with boundary.
More specifically, we show that such a solution can be approximated by
integrals over finite-dimensional path spaces of piecewise geodesics
subordinated to increasingly fine partitions of the time interval. We consider
a subclass of mixed boundary conditions which includes standard Dirichlet and
Neumann boundary conditions.


  The constraints imposed on heterotic compactifications by global consistency
and phenomenology seem to be very finely balanced. We show that weakening these
constraints, as was proposed in some recent works, is likely to lead to
frivolous results. In particular, we construct an infinite set of such
frivolous models having precisely the massless spectrum of the MSSM and other
quasi-realistic features. Only one model in this infinite collection (the one
constructed in arXiv:hep-th/0512149) is globally consistent and supersymmetric.
The others might be interpreted as being anomalous, or as non-supersymmetric
models, or as local models that cannot be embedded in a global one. We also
show that the strongly coupled model of arXiv:hep-th/0512149 can be modified to
a perturbative solution with stable SU(4) or SU(5) bundles in the hidden
sector. We finally propose a detailed exploration of heterotic vacua involving
bundles on Calabi-Yau threefolds with Z_6 Wilson lines; we obtain many more
frivolous solutions, but none that are globally consistent and supersymmetric
at the string scale.


  We propose an holographic microscopy reconstruction method, which propagates
the hologram, in the object half space, in the vicinity of the object. The
calibration yields reconstructions with an undistorted reconstruction grid i.e.
with orthogonal $x$, $y$ and $z$ axis and constant pixels pitch. The method is
validated with an USAF target imaged by a $\times$60 microscope objective,
whose holograms are recorded and reconstructed for different USAF locations
along the longitudinal axis: -75 to +75 $\mu$m. Since the reconstruction
numerical phase mask, the reference phase curvature and MO form an afocal
device, the reconstruction can be interpreted as occurring equivalently in the
object or in image half space.


  Rotation is ubiquitous in the Universe, and recent kinematic surveys have
shown that early type galaxies and globular clusters are no exception. Yet the
linear response of spheroidal rotating stellar systems has seldom been studied.
This paper takes a step in this direction by considering the behaviour of
spherically symmetric systems with differential rotation. Specifically, the
stability of several sequences of Plummer spheres is investigated, in which the
total angular momentum, as well as the degree and flavour of anisotropy in the
velocity space are varied. To that end, the response matrix method is
customised to spherical rotating equilibria. The shapes, pattern speeds and
growth rates of the systems' unstable modes are computed. Detailed comparisons
to appropriate N-body measurements are also presented. The marginal stability
boundary is charted in the parameter space of velocity anisotropy and rotation
rate. When rotation is introduced, two sequences of growing modes are
identified corresponding to radially and tangentially-biased anisotropic
spheres respectively. For radially anisotropic spheres, growing modes occur on
two intersecting surfaces (in the parameter space of anisotropy and rotation),
which correspond to fast and slow modes, depending on the net rotation rate.
Generalised, approximate stability criteria are finally presented.


  We summarize our latest developments in perturbative treating the effective
theories of strong interactions. We discuss the principles of constructing the
mathematically correct expressions for the S-matrix elements at a given loop
order and briefly review the renormalization procedure. This talk shall provide
the philosophical basement as well as serve as an introduction for the material
presented at this conference by A. Vereshagin and K. Semenov-Tian-Shansky.


  We investigate the relevance of quantum gravity during inflation to address
the Hubble tension that arises from Planck 2018 and SH0ES data sets. We show
that the effect of quantum gravity during inflation can increase the rate of
change of $H_0$, thereby accounting for a wide range of observed $H_0$.
Further, we show that due to the quantum gravity effect on inflation, the
temperature at the onset of reheating can be lower than the standard case,
causing delays in the reheating process. The role of quantum gravity is
inevitable in settling the Hubble tension. The results of the present study may
find use in resolving the Hubble tension, in validating inflationary model and
quantum gravity.


  We show how computation of left Kan extensions can be reduced to computation
of free models of cartesian (finite-limit) theories. We discuss how the
standard and parallel chase compute weakly free models of regular theories and
free models of cartesian theories, and compare the concept of "free model" with
a similar concept from database theory known as "universal model". We prove
that, as algorithms for computing finite free models of cartesian theories, the
standard and parallel chase are complete under fairness assumptions. Finally,
we describe an optimized implementation of the parallel chase specialized to
left Kan extensions that achieves an order of magnitude improvement in our
performance benchmarks compared to the next fastest left Kan extension
algorithm we are aware of.


  Two different approaches to dealing with probabilistic knowledge are examined
-models and inductive inference. Examples of the first are: influence diagrams
[1], Bayesian networks [2], log-linear models [3, 4]. Examples of the second
are: games-against nature [5, 6] varieties of maximum-entropy methods [7, 8,
9], and the author's min-score induction [10]. In the modeling approach, the
basic issue is manageability, with respect to data elicitation and computation.
Thus, it is assumed that the pertinent set of users in some sense knows the
relevant probabilities, and the problem is to format that knowledge in a way
that is convenient to input and store and that allows computation of the
answers to current questions in an expeditious fashion. The basic issue for the
inductive approach appears at first sight to be very different. In this
approach it is presumed that the relevant probabilities are only partially
known, and the problem is to extend that incomplete information in a reasonable
way to answer current questions. Clearly, this approach requires that some form
of induction be invoked. Of course, manageability is an important additional
concern. Despite their seeming differences, the two approaches have a fair
amount in common, especially with respect to the structural framework they
employ. Roughly speaking, this framework involves identifying clusters of
variables which strongly interact, establishing marginal probability
distributions on the clusters, and extending the subdistributions to a more
complete distribution, usually via a product formalism. The product extension
is justified on the modeling approach in terms of assumed conditional
independence; in the inductive approach the product form arises from an
inductive rule.


  Consider a robust multiple-input single-output downlink beamforming
optimization problem in a frequency division duplexing system. The base station
(BS) sends training signals to the users, and every user estimates the channel
coefficients, quantizes the gain and the direction of the estimated channel and
sends them back to the BS. Suppose that the channel state information at the
transmitter is imperfectly known mainly due to the channel direction
quantization errors, channel estimation errors and outdated channel effects.
The actual channel is modeled as in an uncertainty set composed of two
inequality homogeneous and one equality inhomogeneous quadratic constraints, in
order to account for the aforementioned errors and effects. Then the transmit
power minimization problem is formulated subject to robust
signal-to-noise-plus-interference ratio constraints. Each robust constraint is
transformed equivalently into a quadratic matrix inequality (QMI) constraint
with respect to the beamforming vectors. The transformation is accomplished by
an equivalent phase rotation process and the strong duality result for a
quadratically constrained quadratic program. The minimization problem is
accordingly turned into a QMI problem, and the problem is solved by a
restricted linear matrix inequality relaxation with additional valid convex
constraints. Simulation results are presented to demonstrate the performance of
the proposed method, and show the efficiency of the restricted relaxation.


  Almost all of the current top-performing object detection networks employ
region proposals to guide the search for object instances. State-of-the-art
region proposal methods usually need several thousand proposals to get high
recall, thus hurting the detection efficiency. Although the latest Region
Proposal Network method gets promising detection accuracy with several hundred
proposals, it still struggles in small-size object detection and precise
localization (e.g., large IoU thresholds), mainly due to the coarseness of its
feature maps. In this paper, we present a deep hierarchical network, namely
HyperNet, for handling region proposal generation and object detection jointly.
Our HyperNet is primarily based on an elaborately designed Hyper Feature which
aggregates hierarchical feature maps first and then compresses them into a
uniform space. The Hyper Features well incorporate deep but highly semantic,
intermediate but really complementary, and shallow but naturally
high-resolution features of the image, thus enabling us to construct HyperNet
by sharing them both in generating proposals and detecting objects via an
end-to-end joint training strategy. For the deep VGG16 model, our method
achieves completely leading recall and state-of-the-art object detection
accuracy on PASCAL VOC 2007 and 2012 using only 100 proposals per image. It
runs with a speed of 5 fps (including all steps) on a GPU, thus having the
potential for real-time processing.


  Collective behaviour has been observed in hadronic measurements of high
multiplicity proton+lead collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), as well
as in (proton, deuteron, helium-3)+gold collisions at the Relativistic
Heavy-Ion Collider (RHIC). To better understand the evolution dynamics and the
properties of the matter created in these small systems, a systematic study of
the soft hadronic observables together with electromagnetic radiation from
these collisions is performed, using a hydrodynamic framework. Quantitative
agreement is found between theoretical calculations and existing experimental
hadronic observables. The validity of the fluid dynamical description is
estimated by calculating Knudsen and inverse Reynolds numbers. Sizeable thermal
yields are predicted for low $p_T$ photons. Further predictions of higher order
charged hadron anisotropic flow coefficients and of thermal photon enhancement
are proposed.


  Let $\Lambda^{\mathbb{R}}$ denote the linear space over $\mathbb{R}$ spanned
by $z^{k}$, $k \in \mathbb{Z}$. Define the real inner product (with varying
exponential weights) $<\boldsymbol{\cdot},\boldsymbol{\cdot} >_{\mathscr{L}}
\colon \Lambda^{\mathbb{R}} \times \Lambda^{\mathbb{R}}
  \to \mathbb{R}$, $(f,g) \mapsto \int_{\mathbb{R}}f(s)g(s) \exp (-\mathscr{N}
V(s)) \md s$, $\mathscr{N} \in \mathbb{N}$, where the external field $V$
satisfies: (i) $V$ is real analytic on $\mathbb{R} \setminus \{0\}$; (ii)
$\lim_{| x | \to \infty}(V(x)/\ln (x^{2} + 1)) =
  +\infty$; and (iii) $\lim_{| x | \to 0}(V(x)/\ln (x^{-2} + 1))
  = +\infty$. Orthogonalisation of the (ordered) base $\lbrace
1,z^{-1},z,z^{-2},z^{2},...c,z^{-k},z^{k},...c \rbrace$ with respect to
$<\boldsymbol{\cdot},\boldsymbol{\cdot} >_{\mathscr{L}}$ yields the even degree
and odd degree orthonormal Laurent polynomials $\lbrace \phi_{m}(z)
\rbrace_{m=0}^{\infty}$: $\phi_{2n}(z) = \xi^{(2n)}_{-n}z^{-n} + ...b +
\xi^{(2n)}_{n}z^{n}$, $\xi^{(2n)}_{n} > 0$, and $\phi_{2n+1}(z) =
\xi^{(2n+1)}_{-n-1} z^{-n-1} + ...b + \xi^{(2n+1)}_{n}z^{n}$,
$\xi^{(2n+1)}_{-n-1} > 0$. Asymptotics in the double-scaling limit as
$\mathscr{N},n \to \infty$ such that $\mathscr{N}/n = 1 + o(1)$ of
$\xi^{(2n+1)}_{-n-1}$ and $\phi_{2n+1}(z)$ (in the entire complex plane) are
obtained by formulating the odd degree orthonormal Laurent polynomial problem
as a matrix Riemann-Hilbert problem on $\mathbb{R}$, and then extracting the
large-N behaviour by applying the non-linear steepest-descent method introduced
in [1] and further developed in [2,3].


  Anari, Gharan, and Vinzant proved (complete) log-concavity of the basis
generating functions for all matroids. From the viewpoint of combinatorial
Hodge theory, it is natural to ask whether these functions are "strictly"
log-concave for simple matroids. In this paper, we show this strictness for
simple graphic matroids, that is, we show that Kirchhoff polynomials of simple
graphs are strictly log-concave. Our key observation is that the Kirchhoff
polynomial {of a complete graph} can be seen as the (irreducible) relative
invariant of a certain prehomogeneous vector space, which may be independently
interesting in its own right. Furthermore, we prove that for any
$a_i\in\mathbb{R}_{>0}$, $a_1x_1+\cdots+a_nx_n\in R^1_{M}$ satisfies the strong
Lefschetz property (moreover, Hodge--Riemann bilinear relation) at degree one
of the Artinian Gorenstein algebra $R^*_M$ associated to a graphic matroid $M$,
which is defined by Maeno and Numata for all matroids.


  We consider in this paper elliptic equations which are perturbations of
Laplace's equation by a compactly supported potential. We show that in
dimension greater than three for a wide class of potentials all the solutions
are globally minimising. However, in dimension two the situation is different.
We show that for radially symmetric potentials there always exist solutions
which are not locally minimal unless the potential vanishes identically. We
discuss the relations of this with the so-called Hopf rigidity phenomenon.


  We define Chern-Schwartz-MacPherson (CSM) cycles of an arbitrary matroid.
These are balanced weighted fans supported on the skeleta of the corresponding
Bergman fan. In the case that the matroid arises from a complex hyperplane
arrangement A, we show that these cycles represent the CSM class of the
complement of A. We also prove that for any matroid, the degrees of its CSM
cycles are given by the coefficients of (a shift of) the reduced characteristic
polynomial, and that CSM cycles are valuations under matroid polytope
subdivisions.


  In the face of shifting means of production from manual human labor to labor
automation, one solution that stands out is the advancement of a Universal
Basic Income, UBI to every citizen from the government with no strings
attached. The proposal, however, has encountered sharp criticism from different
quarters questioning the morality behind sourcing of funds, largely through
taxation, to uphold an institution designed to provide social support. Others
also perceive the idea as a form of socialism, or a capitalist road to
communism. The current discussion, however, seeks to demonstrate that the
provision of such stipend can occur through the utilization of revenues
realized from production driven by Artificial Intelligence (AI), and to a small
extent, philanthropic contributions from the top 1 percent of the population.


  Applying an automatic neighbour search algorithm to the 3D UZC galaxy
catalogue (Falco 1999) we have identified 291 compact groups (CGs) with
redshifts between 1000 and 10000 km/s. The sample is analysed to investigate
whether Triplets display kinematical and morphological characteristics similar
to higher order CGs (Multiplets). It is found that Triplets constitute low
velocity dispersion structures, have a gas-rich galaxy population and are
typically retrieved in sparse environments. Conversely Multiplets show higher
velocity dispersion, include few gas-rich members and are generally embedded
structures. Evidence hence emerges indicating that Triplets and Multiplets,
though sharing a common scale, correspond to different galaxy systems. Triplets
are typically field structures whilst Multiplets are mainly subclumps (either
temporarily projected or collapsing) within larger structures. Simulations show
that selection effects can only partially account for differences, but
significant contamination of Triplets by field galaxy interlopers could
eventually induce the observed dependences on multiplicity.


  The accelerated use of digital cameras prompts an increasing concern about
privacy and security, particularly in applications such as action recognition.
In this paper, we propose an optimizing framework to provide robust visual
privacy protection along the human action recognition pipeline. Our framework
parameterizes the camera lens to successfully degrade the quality of the videos
to inhibit privacy attributes and protect against adversarial attacks while
maintaining relevant features for activity recognition. We validate our
approach with extensive simulations and hardware experiments.


  We provide a systematic derivation of boundary layer models in
magnetohydrodynamics (MHD), through an asymptotic analysis of the
incompressible MHD system. We recover classical linear models, related to the
famous Hartmann and Shercliff layers, as well as nonlinear ones, that we call
magnetic Prandtl models. We perform their linear stability analysis,
emphasizing the stabilizing effect of the magnetic field.


  The Planck mission detected thousands of extragalactic radio sources at
frequencies from 28 to 857 GHz. Planck's calibration is absolute (in the sense
that it is based on the satellite's annual motion around the Sun and the
temperature of the cosmic microwave background), and its beams are well
characterized at sub-percent levels. Thus Planck's flux density measurements of
compact sources are absolute in the same sense. We have made coordinated VLA
and ATCA observations of 65 strong, unresolved Planck sources in order to
transfer Planck's calibration to ground-based instruments at 22, 28, and 43
GHz. The results are compared to microwave flux density scales currently based
on planetary observations. Despite the scatter introduced by the variability of
many of the sources, the flux density scales are determined to 1-2% accuracy.
At 28 GHz, the flux density scale used by the VLA runs 3.6% +- 1.0% below
Planck values; at 43 GHz, the discrepancy increases to 6.2% +- 1.4% for both
ATCA and the VLA.


  High-speed electrical switching of Ge2Sb2Te5 (GST) remains a challenging task
due to the large impedance mismatch between the low-conductivity amorphous
state and the high-conductivity crystalline state. In this letter, we
demonstrate an effective doping scheme using nickel to reduce the resistivity
contrast between the amorphous and crystalline states by nearly three orders of
magnitude. Most importantly, our results show that doping produces the desired
electrical performance without adversely affecting the film's optical
properties. The nickel doping level is approximately 2% and the lattice
structure remains nearly unchanged when compared with undoped-GST. The
refractive indices at amorphous and crystalline states were obtained using
ellipsometry which echoes the results from XRD. The material's thermal
transport properties are measured using time-domain thermoreflectance (TDTR),
showing no change upon doping. The advantages of this doping system will open
up new opportunities for designing electrically reconfigurable high speed
optical elements in the near-infrared spectrum.


  We study the existence of positive solutions of a particular elliptic system
in $\mathbb{R}^3$ composed of two coupled non linear stationary Schr\"odinger
equations (NLSEs), that is $-\epsilon^2 \Delta u + V(x) u= h_v(u,v), -
\epsilon^2 \Delta v + V(x) v=h_u (u,v)$. Under certain hypotheses on the
potential $V$ and the non linearity $h$, we manage to prove that there exists a
solution $(u_\epsilon,v_\epsilon)$ that decays exponentially with respect to
local minima points of the potential and whose energy tends to concentrate
around these points, as $\epsilon \to 0$. We also estimate this energy in terms
of particular ground state energies. This work follows closely what is done in
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00526-007-0103-z , although here we consider a more
general non linearity and we restrict ourselves to the case where the domain is
$\mathbb{R}^3$.


  We study the problem of meta-learning through the lens of online convex
optimization, developing a meta-algorithm bridging the gap between popular
gradient-based meta-learning and classical regularization-based multi-task
transfer methods. Our method is the first to simultaneously satisfy good sample
efficiency guarantees in the convex setting, with generalization bounds that
improve with task-similarity, while also being computationally scalable to
modern deep learning architectures and the many-task setting. Despite its
simplicity, the algorithm matches, up to a constant factor, a lower bound on
the performance of any such parameter-transfer method under natural task
similarity assumptions. We use experiments in both convex and deep learning
settings to verify and demonstrate the applicability of our theory.


  We suggest that physics underlying the recently observed removal of
sublattice and spin degeneracies in graphene in a strong magnetic field
describes a phase transition connected with the generation of excitonic and
spin gaps. The strong-coupling regime is described using a phenomenological
model with enhanced Zeeman splitting (spin gap) and excitonic gaps. The
experimental form of the Hall conductivity $\sigma_{xy}$ with the additional
$\nu= 0, \pm 1$ plateaus is reproduced. The form of $\sigma_{xy}$ in the case
of a strong-coupling regime with no enhanced Zeeman splitting is also
discussed.


  As experiment charts new territory at the electroweak scale, the enterprise
to characterise all possible theories becomes all the more necessary. In the
absence of new particles, this ambitious enterprise is attainable and has led
to the Higgs Effective Field Theory (HEFT) as the most general characterising
framework, containing the Standard Model Effective Field Theory (SMEFT) as a
subspace. The characterisation of this theory space led to the dichotomy SMEFT
vs. HEFT\SMEFT as the two possible realisations of symmetry breaking. The
criterion to distinguish these two possibilities is non-local in field space,
and phenomena which explore field space beyond the neighbourhood of the vacuum
manifold are in a singular position to tell them apart. Cosmology allows for
such phenomena, and this work focuses on HEFT\SMEFT, the less explored of the
two options, to find that first order phase transitions with detectable
gravitational wave remnants, domain wall formation and vacuum decay in the far,
far distant future can take place and single out HEFT\SMEFT. Results in
cosmology are put against LHC constraints, and the potential of future ground-
and space-based experiments to cover parameter space is discussed.


  The transformer based model (e.g., FusingTF) has been employed recently for
Electrocardiogram (ECG) signal classification. However, the high-dimensional
embedding obtained via 1-D convolution and positional encoding can lead to the
loss of the signal's own temporal information and a large amount of training
parameters. In this paper, we propose a new method for ECG classification,
called low-dimensional denoising embedding transformer (LDTF), which contains
two components, i.e., low-dimensional denoising embedding (LDE) and transformer
learning. In the LDE component, a low-dimensional representation of the signal
is obtained in the time-frequency domain while preserving its own temporal
information. And with the low dimensional embedding, the transformer learning
is then used to obtain a deeper and narrower structure with fewer training
parameters than that of the FusingTF. Experiments conducted on the MIT-BIH
dataset demonstrates the effectiveness and the superior performance of our
proposed method, as compared with state-of-the-art methods.


  Real-space picture of electron recollision with the parent ion guides our
understanding of the highly nonlinear response of atoms and molecules to
intense low-frequency laser fields. It is also among several leading
contestants for the dominant mechanism of high harmonic generation (HHG) in
solids, where it is typically viewed in the momentum space, as the
recombination of the conduction band electron with the valence band hole,
competing with another HHG mechanism, the strong-field driven Bloch
oscillations. In this work, we use numerical simulations to directly test and
confirm the real-space recollision picture as the key mechanism of HHG in
solids. Our tests take advantage of the well-known characteristic features in
the molecular harmonic spectra, associated with the real-space structure of the
molecular ion. We show the emergence of analogous spectral features when
similar real-space structures are present in the periodic potential of the
solid-state lattice. This work demonstrates the capability of HHG imaging of
spatial structures of a unit cell in solids.


  We search for runaway former companions of the progenitors of nearby Galactic
core-collapse supernova remnants (SNRs) in the Tycho-Gaia astrometric solution
(TGAS). We look for candidates for a sample of ten SNRs with distances less
than $2\;\mathrm{kpc}$, taking astrometry and $G$ magnitude from TGAS and $B,V$
magnitudes from the AAVSO Photometric All-Sky Survey (APASS). A simple method
of tracking back stars and finding the closest point to the SNR centre is shown
to have several failings when ranking candidates. In particular, it neglects
our expectation that massive stars preferentially have massive companions. We
evolve a grid of binary stars to exploit these covariances in the distribution
of runaway star properties in colour - magnitude - ejection velocity space. We
construct an analytic model which predicts the properties of a runaway star, in
which the model parameters are the properties of the progenitor binary and the
properties of the SNR. Using nested sampling we calculate the Bayesian evidence
for each candidate to be the runaway and simultaneously constrain the
properties of that runaway and of the SNR itself. We identify four likely
runaway companions of the Cygnus Loop, HB 21, S147 and the Monoceros Loop. HD
37424 has previously been suggested as the companion of S147, however the other
three stars are new candidates. The favoured companion of HB 21 is the Be star
BD+50 3188 whose emission-line features could be explained by pre-supernova
mass transfer from the primary. There is a small probability that the
$2\;\mathrm{M}_{\odot}$ candidate runaway TYC 2688-1556-1 associated with the
Cygnus Loop is a hypervelocity star. If the Monoceros Loop is related to the
on-going star formation in the Mon OB2 association, the progenitor of the
Monoceros Loop is required to be more massive than $40\;\mathrm{M}_{\odot}$
which is in tension with the posterior for HD 261393.


  Kernel ridge regression is used to approximate the kinetic energy of
non-interacting fermions in a one-dimensional box as a functional of their
density. The properties of different kernels and methods of cross-validation
are explored, and highly accurate energies are achieved. Accurate {\em
constrained optimal densities} are found via a modified Euler-Lagrange
constrained minimization of the total energy. A projected gradient descent
algorithm is derived using local principal component analysis. Additionally, a
sparse grid representation of the density can be used without degrading the
performance of the methods. The implications for machine-learned density
functional approximations are discussed.


  A nilmanifold resp. solvmanifold is a compact homogeneous space of a
connected and simply-connected nilpotent resp. solvable Lie group by a lattice,
i.e. a discrete co-compact subgroup.
  There is an easy criterion for nilpotent Lie groups which enables one to
decide whether there is a lattice or not. Moreover, it is easy to decide
whether a nilmanifold is formal, Kaehlerian or (Hard) Lefschetz.
  The study of solvmanifolds meets with noticeably greater obstacles than the
study of nilmanifolds. Even the construction of solvmanifolds is considerably
more difficult than is the case for nilmanifolds. The reason is that there is
no simple criterion for the existence of a lattice in a connected and
simply-connected solvable Lie group.
  We consider the question of existence of lattices in solvable Lie groups up
to dimension six and examine whether the corresponding solvmanifolds are
formal, symplectic, Kaehler or (Hard) Lefschetz.


  Hybrid approach has a special status among Face Recognition Systems as they
combine different recognition approaches in an either serial or parallel to
overcome the shortcomings of individual methods. This paper explores the area
of Hybrid Face Recognition using score based strategy as a combiner/fusion
process. In proposed approach, the recognition system operates in two modes:
training and classification. Training mode involves normalization of the face
images (training set), extracting appropriate features using Principle
Component Analysis (PCA) and Independent Component Analysis (ICA). The
extracted features are then trained in parallel using Back-propagation neural
networks (BPNNs) to partition the feature space in to different face classes.
In classification mode, the trained PCA BPNN and ICA BPNN are fed with new face
image(s). The score based strategy which works as a combiner is applied to the
results of both PCA BPNN and ICA BPNN to classify given new face image(s)
according to face classes obtained during the training mode. The proposed
approach has been tested on ORL and other face databases; the experimented
results show that the proposed system has higher accuracy than face recognition
systems using single feature extractor.


  Exploration of the small $x$ kinematic region by the HERA experiments led to
a revival of some models which existed before the advent of Quantum Chromo
Dynamics (QCD) as the theory of the strong interactions. Predictions of these
models for the deep inelastic structure functions are compared with those given
by QCD. Future experiments will concentrate on the large $x$-region and we will
discuss some issues which are important for the test of QCD. In particular we
emphasize the next-to-next-to-leading (NNLO) order analysis of the structure
functions and the determination of the strong coupling constant $\alpha_s$. We
also make some critical remarks about the relevance of so called large
corrections in the small and large $x$-region.


  A distance can be measured by monitoring how much a wheel has rotated when
rolled without slipping. This simple idea underlies the mathematics of Cartan
geometry. The Cartan-geometric description of gravity consists of a SO(1,4)
gauge connection $A^{AB}(x)$ and a symmetry-breaking field $V^A(x)$. The clear
similarity with symmetry-broken Yang-Mills theory suggests strongly the
existence of a new field in nature: the gravitational Higgs field $V^A$. By
treating $V^A$ as a genuine dynamical field we arrive at a natural
generalization of General Relativity with a wealth of new phenomenology and
with General Relativity reproduced exactly in the limit where $V^2$ tends to a
positive constant. We show that in regions wherein $V^2(x)$ varies, but has a
definite sign, the Cartan-geometric formulation is a form of a scalar-tensor
theory. A specific choice of action yields the Peebles-Ratra quintessence model
whilst more general actions are shown to exhibit propagation of torsion.
Regions where the sign of $V^2$ changes correspond to a change in signature of
the geometry; a simple choice of action with FRW symmetry yields, without any
additional ad hoc assumptions, a classical analogue of the Hartle-Hawking
no-boundary proposal. Solutions from more general actions are discussed. A
gauge prescription for coupling matter to gravity is described and matter
actions are presented which reduce to standard ones in the limit
$V^2\rightarrow const$. It becomes clear that Cartan geometry may function as a
novel platform for inspiring and exploring modified theories of gravity with
applications to dark energy, black holes, and early-universe cosmology. We end
by listing a set of open problems.


  It is shown that an equiprobability hypothesis leads to a scenario in which
it is possible to predict the outcome of a single toss of a fair coin with a
success probability greater than 50%. We discuss whether this hypothesis might
be independent of the usual hypotheses governing probability, as well as
whether this hypothesis might be assumed as a result of the Principle of
Indifference. Also discussed are ways to implement or circumvent the
hypothesis.


  A symmetric subset of the reals is one that remains invariant under some
reflection x --> c-x. Given 0 < x < 1, there exists a real number D(x) with the
following property: if 0 < d < D(x), then every subset of [0,1] with measure x
contains a symmetric subset with measure d, while if d > D(x), then there
exists a subset of [0,1] with measure x that does not contain a symmetric
subset with measure d. In this paper we establish upper and lower bounds for
D(x) of the same order of magnitude: for example, we prove that D(x) = 2x - 1
for 11/16 < x < 1 and that 0.59 x^2 < D(x) < 0.8 x^2 for 0 < x < 11/16.
  This continuous problem is intimately connected with a corresponding discrete
problem. A set S of integers is called a B*[g] set if for any given m there are
at most g ordered pairs (s_1,s_2) \in S \times S with s_1+s_2=m; in the case
g=2, these are better known as Sidon sets. We also establish upper and lower
bounds of the same order of magnitude for the maximal possible size of a B*[g]
set contained in {1,...,n}, which we denote by R(g,n). For example, we prove
that R(g,n) < 1.31 \sqrt{gn} for all n > g > 1, while R(g,n) > 0.79 \sqrt{gn}
for sufficiently large integers g and n.
  These two problems are so interconnected that both continuous and discrete
tools can be applied to each problem with surprising effectiveness. The
harmonic analysis methods and inequalities among various L^p norms we use to
derive lower bounds for D(x) also provide uniform upper bounds for R(g,n),
while the techniques from combinatorial and probabilistic number theory that we
employ to obtain constructions of large B*[g] sets yield strong upper bounds
for D(x).


  System dynamics (SD) is an effective approach for helping reveal the temporal
behavior of complex systems. Although there have been recent developments in
expanding SD to include systems' spatial dependencies, most applications have
been restricted to the simulation of diffusion processes; this is especially
true for models on structural change (e.g. LULC modeling). To address this
shortcoming, a Python program is proposed to tightly couple SD software to a
Geographic Information System (GIS). The approach provides the required
capacities for handling bidirectional and synchronized interactions of
operations between SD and GIS. In order to illustrate the concept and the
techniques proposed for simulating structural changes, a fictitious environment
called Daisyworld has been recreated in a spatial system dynamics (SSD)
environment. The comparison of spatial and non-spatial simulations emphasizes
the importance of considering spatio-temporal feedbacks. Finally, practical
applications of structural change models in agriculture and disaster management
are proposed.


  A short and elementary proof is given of a celebrated eigenvalue-perturbation
result due to Alfred Brauer.


  PixelCNN achieves state-of-the-art results in density estimation for natural
images. Although training is fast, inference is costly, requiring one network
evaluation per pixel; O(N) for N pixels. This can be sped up by caching
activations, but still involves generating each pixel sequentially. In this
work, we propose a parallelized PixelCNN that allows more efficient inference
by modeling certain pixel groups as conditionally independent. Our new PixelCNN
model achieves competitive density estimation and orders of magnitude speedup -
O(log N) sampling instead of O(N) - enabling the practical generation of
512x512 images. We evaluate the model on class-conditional image generation,
text-to-image synthesis, and action-conditional video generation, showing that
our model achieves the best results among non-pixel-autoregressive density
models that allow efficient sampling.


  A promising research area that has recently emerged, is on how to use index
coding to improve the communication efficiency in distributed computing
systems, especially for data shuffling in iterative computations. In this
paper, we posit that pliable index coding can offer a more efficient framework
for data shuffling, as it can better leverage the many possible shuffling
choices to reduce the number of transmissions. We theoretically analyze pliable
index coding under data shuffling constraints, and design a hierarchical
data-shuffling scheme that uses pliable coding as a component. We find benefits
up to $O(ns/m)$ over index coding, where $ns/m$ is the average number of
workers caching a message, and $m$, $n$, and $s$ are the numbers of messages,
workers, and cache size, respectively.


  Following the recent paper which initiated the study of colour isomorphism
problems for complete graphs, we obtain upper bounds for $f_2(n,H)$ for a
family of graphs $H$ obtained as the $K_0$-th rooted power of a balanced rooted
tree for some sufficiently large $K_0$. The proof uses the random polynomial
method of Bukh. We also obtain matching lower bounds for $1$-subdivisions of
the complete bipartite graph.


  The quantum geometric tensor (QGT) characterizes the complete geometric
properties of quantum states, with the symmetric part being the quantum metric,
and the antisymmetric part being the Berry curvature. We propose a generic
Hamiltonian with global degenerate ground states, and give a general relation
between the corresponding non-Abelian quantum metric and unit Bloch vector.
This enables us to construct the relation between the non-Abelian quantum
metric and Berry or Euler curvature. To be concrete, we present and study two
topological semimetal models with global degenerate bands under CP and $C_2T$
symmetries, respectively. The topological invariants of these two degenerate
topological semimetals are the Chern number and Euler class, respectively,
which are calculated from the non-Abelian quantum metric with our constructed
relations. Based on the adiabatic perturbation theory, we further obtain the
relation between the non-Abelian quantum metric and the energy fluctuation.
Such a non-adiabatic effect can be used to extract the non-Abelian quantum
metric, which is numerically demonstrated for the two models of degenerate
topological semimetals. Finally, we discuss the quantum simulation of the model
Hamiltonians with cold atoms.


  This paper investigates optimal portfolio strategies in a market where the
drift is driven by an unobserved Markov chain. Information on the state of this
chain is obtained from stock prices and expert opinions in the form of signals
at random discrete time points. As in Frey et al. (2012), Int. J. Theor. Appl.
Finance, 15, No. 1, we use stochastic filtering to transform the original
problem into an optimization problem under full information where the state
variable is the filter for the Markov chain. The dynamic programming equation
for this problem is studied with viscosity-solution techniques and with
regularization arguments.


  We show that in a hot hadron gas, chiral symmetry restoration and
deconfinement lead to a strong suppression of dilepton production by pion
annihilation in the continuum above the $\rho-\omega-\phi$ peak. The
suppression due to deconfinement persists also for annihilation reactions
involving heavier mesons.


  Let $\Gamma^\infty$ be the set of all universally Baire sets of reals.
Inspired by recent work of the second author and Nam Trang, we introduce a new
technique for establishing generic absoluteness results for models containing
$\Gamma^\infty$.
  Our main technical tool is an iteration that realizes $\Gamma^\infty$ as the
sets of reals in a derived model of some iterate of $V$. We show, from a
supercompact cardinal $\kappa$ and a proper class of Woodin cardinals, that
whenever $g \subseteq Col(\omega, 2^{2^\kappa})$ is $V$-generic and $h$ is
$V[g]$-generic for some poset $\mathbb{P}\in V[g]$, there is an elementary
embedding $j: V\rightarrow M$ such that $j(\kappa)=\omega_1^{V[g*h]}$ and
$L(\Gamma^\infty, \mathbb{R})$ as computed in $V[g*h]$ is a derived model of
$M$ at $j(\kappa)$.
  As a corollary we obtain that $\mathsf{Sealing}$ holds in $V[g]$, which was
previously demonstrated by Woodin using the stationary tower forcing. Also,
using a theorem of Woodin, we conclude that the derived model of $V$ at
$\kappa$ satisfies $\mathsf{AD}_{\mathbb{R}}+``\Theta$ is a regular cardinal".
  Inspired by core model induction, we introduce the definable powerset
$\mathcal{A}^\infty$ of $\Gamma^\infty$ and use our derived model
representation mentioned above to show that the theory of
$L(\mathcal{A}^\infty)$ cannot be changed by forcing. Working in a different
direction, we also show that the theory of $L(\Gamma^\infty,
\mathbb{R})[\mathcal{C}]$, where $\mathcal{C}$ is the club filter on
$\wp_{\omega_1}(\Gamma^\infty)$, cannot be changed by forcing. Proving the two
aforementioned results is the first step towards showing that the theory of
$L(Ord^\omega, \Gamma^\infty, \mathbb{R})([\mu_\alpha: \alpha\in Ord])$, where
$\mu_\alpha$ is the club filter on $\wp_{\omega_1}(\alpha)$, cannot be changed
by forcing.


  In this work, we use a double-layered stack of TiO2 nanotubes (TiNTs) to
construct a visible-light triggered drug delivery system. Key for visible-light
drug release is a hydrophobic cap on the nanotubes containing Au nanoparticles
(AuNPs). The AuNPs allow for a photocatalytic scission of the hydrophobic chain
under visible light. To demonstrate the principle, we loaded antibiotic
(ampicillin sodium (AMP)) in the lower part of the TiO2 nanotube stack,
triggered visible light induced release, and carried out antibacterial studies.
The release from the platform becomes most controllable if the drug is
silane-grafted in hydrophilic bottom layer for drug storage. Thus visible-light
photocatalysis can also determine the release kinetics of the active drug from
the nanotube wall.


  To safely deploy legged robots in the real world it is necessary to provide
them with the ability to reliably detect unexpected contacts and accurately
estimate the corresponding contact force. In this paper, we propose a collision
detection and identification pipeline for a quadrupedal manipulator. We first
introduce an approach to estimate the collision time span based on band-pass
filtering and show that this information is key for obtaining accurate
collision force estimates. We then improve the accuracy of the identified force
magnitude by compensating for model inaccuracies, unmodeled loads, and any
other potential source of quasi-static disturbances acting on the robot. We
validate our framework with extensive hardware experiments in various
scenarios, including trotting and additional unmodeled load on the robot.


  We study a simple five-dimensional extension of the Standard Model,
compactified on a flat line segment in which there propagate Higgs and gauge
bosons of the Standard Model. We impose a Dirichlet boundary condition on the
Higgs field to realize its vacuum expectation value. Since a flat
Nambu-Goldstone zero-mode of the bulk Higgs is eliminated by the Dirichlet
boundary condition, a superposition of the Higgs Kaluza-Klein modes play the
role of the Nambu-Goldstone boson except at the boundaries. We discuss
phenomenology of our model at the LHC, namely the top Yukawa deviation and the
production and decay of the physical Higgs field, as well as the constraints
from the electroweak precision measurements.


  The lowest order chiral Lagrangian is used to study s-wave interactions of
the baryon decuplet with the octet of pseudoscalar mesons. The coupled channel
Bethe Salpeter equation is used to obtain dynamically generated
$\tfrac{3}{2}^-$ resonances in the partial wave amplitudes which provide a
reasonable description to a number of 3 and 4-star resonances like
$\Delta(1700)$, $\Lambda(1520)$, $\Sigma(1670)$, $\Sigma(1940)$, $\Xi(1820)$,
$\Omega(2250)$ etc. The phenomenological introduction of d-wave channels in the
coupled channel scheme along with the existing s-wave channels is shown to
provide a much improved description of the $\Lambda(1520)$ resonance. The
prediction of the absolute strength of the cross section in the reactions
$K^-p\to\Lambda\pi^0\pi^0$ and $K^-p\to\Lambda\pi^+\pi^-$ provided by this
scheme shows a good agreement with existing data.


  Heavy quarks are produced in the early stages of nucleus-nucleus collisions
and can therefore provide important insight into the Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP).
Quarkonia are proposed as crucial probes to study the QGP. The extent of the
medium modification for heavy-quark quarkonium production in heavy-ion
collisions is measured in terms of a nuclear modification factor $R_{\rm AA}$,
defined as the quarkonium yield in heavy-ion collisions divided by the relative
quarkonium cross section in pp collisions scaled by the nuclear overlap
function. A possible path-length dependent quarkonium dissociation, as well as
a contribution of (re-)generation of quarkonia from heavy quarks in the medium,
would lead to an azimuthal anisotropy of quarkonium production relative to the
reaction plane. In this contribution, the recent ALICE measurements of
quarkonium in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}$ = 5.02 TeV will be
discussed for both mid- and forward rapidity. The dependence of $R_{\rm AA}$ on
centrality and $p_{\rm T}$ for J/$\psi$, $\Upsilon$(1S), $\Upsilon$(2S), as
well as the J/$\psi$ elliptic flow $v_{2}$ will be shown. The experimental data
and the current theoretical model calculations will be also discussed.


  We develop methods for calculating the zero-frequency noise for quantum
shuttles, i.e. nanoelectromechanical devices where the mechanical motion is
quantized. As a model system we consider a three-dot array, where the internal
electronic coherence both complicates and enriches the physics. Two different
formulations are presented: (i) quantum regression theorem, and (ii) the
counting variable approach. It is demonstrated, both analytically and
numerically, that the two formulations yield identical results, when the
conditions of their respective applicability are fulfilled. We describe the
results of extensive numerical calculations for current and current noise (Fano
factor), based on a solution of a Markovian generalized master equation. The
results for the current and noise are further analyzed in terms of Wigner
functions, which help to distinguish different transport regimes (in
particular, shuttling vs. cotunneling). In the case of weak inter-dot coupling,
the electron transport proceeds via sequential tunneling between neighboring
dots. A simple rate equation with the rates calculated analytically from the
P(E)-theory is developed and shown to agree with the full numerics.


  The first simultaneous operation of the AURIGA detector and the LIGO
observatory was an opportunity to explore real data, joint analysis methods
between two very different types of gravitational wave detectors: resonant bars
and interferometers. This paper describes a coincident gravitational wave burst
search, where data from the LIGO interferometers are cross-correlated at the
time of AURIGA candidate events to identify coherent transients. The analysis
pipeline is tuned with two thresholds, on the signal-to-noise ratio of AURIGA
candidate events and on the significance of the cross-correlation test in LIGO.
The false alarm rate is estimated by introducing time shifts between data sets
and the network detection efficiency is measured with simulated signals with
power in the narrower AURIGA band. In the absence of a detection, we discuss
how to set an upper limit on the rate of gravitational waves and to interpret
it according to different source models. Due to the short amount of analyzed
data and to the high rate of non-Gaussian transients in the detectors noise at
the time, the relevance of this study is methodological: this was the first
joint search for gravitational wave bursts among detectors with such different
spectral sensitivity and the first opportunity for the resonant and
interferometric communities to unify languages and techniques in the pursuit of
their common goal.


  We present the BVR broad band polarimetric observations of 51 stars belonging
to the young open cluster IC 1805. Along with the photometric data from the
literature we have modeled and subtracted the foreground dust contribution from
the maximum polarization (P_{max}) and colour excess (E_{B-V}). The mean value
of the P_max for intracluster medium and the foreground are found to be 5.008
+/-0.005 % and 4.865 +/-0.022 % respectively. Moreover, the mean value of the
wavelength of maximum polarization (lambda_{max}) for intracluster medium is
0.541 +/- 0.003 micro m, which is quite similar as the general interstellar
medium (ISM). The resulting intracluster dust component is found to have
negligible polarization efficiency as compared to interstellar dust. Some of
the observed stars in IC 1805 have shown the indication of intrinsic
polarization in their measurements.


  We consider spin-polarized mixtures of cold fermionic atoms on the BEC side
of the Feshbach resonance. We demonstrate that a strongly anisotropic confining
potential can give rise to a double-peak structure in the axial distribution of
the density difference and a polarization-dependent aspect ratio of the
minority species. Both phenomena appear as a result of the breakdown of the
local density approximation for the phase-separated regime. We speculate on the
implications of our findings for the unitary regime.


  We report a comprehensive muon spectroscopy study of the Zn-barlowite series
of $S={\frac{1}{2}}$ kagom\'e antiferromagnets, Zn$_x$Cu$_{4-x}$(OH)$_{6}$FBr,
for $x=0.00$ to $0.99(1)$. By combining muon spin relaxation and rotation
measurements with state-of-the-art density-functional theory muon-site
calculations, we observe the formation of both $\mu$--F and $\mu$--OH complexes
in Zn-barlowite. From these stopping sites, implanted muon spins reveal the
suppression of long-range magnetic order into a possible quantum spin liquid
state upon increasing concentration of Zn-substitution. In the parent compound
($x=0$), static long-range magnetic order below $T_{\mathsf{N}}=15$ K manifests
itself in the form of spontaneous oscillations in the time-dependent muon
asymmetry signal consistent with the dipolar fields expected from the
calculated muon stopping sites and the previously determined magnetic structure
of barlowite. Meanwhile, in the $x=1.0$ end-member of the series---in which
antiferromagnetic kagom\'e layers of Cu$^{2+}$ $S={\frac{1}{2}}$ moments are
decoupled by diamagnetic Zn$^{2+}$ ions---we observe that dynamic magnetic
moment fluctuations persist down to at least 50 mK, indicative of a quantum
disordered ground state. We demonstrate that this crossover from a static to
dynamic magnetic ground state occurs for compositions of Zn-barlowite with
$x>0.5$, which bears resemblance to dynamical behaviour of the widely studied
Zn-paratacamite series that contains the quantum spin liquid candidate
herbertsmithite.


  The aim of this paper is to provide an affirmative answer to a recent
question by Bubeck and Linial on the local profile of trees. For a tree $T$,
let $p^{(k)}_1(T)$ be the proportion of paths among all $k$-vertex subtrees
(induced connected subgraphs) of $T$, and let $p^{(k)}_2(T)$ be the proportion
of stars. Our main theorem states: if $p^{(k)}_1(T_n) \to 0$ for a sequence of
trees $T_1,T_2,\ldots$ whose size tends to infinity, then $p^{(k)}_2(T_n) \to
1$. Both are also shown to be equivalent to the statement that the number of
$k$-vertex subtrees grows superlinearly and the statement that the $(k-1)$th
degree moment grows superlinearly.


  Interferometric gravitational-wave detectors like LIGO, GEO600 and Virgo
record a surplus of information above and beyond possible gravitational-wave
events. These auxiliary channels capture information about the state of the
detector and its surroundings which can be used to infer potential terrestrial
noise sources of some gravitational-wave-like events. We present an algorithm
addressing the ordering (or equivalently optimizing) of such information from
auxiliary systems in gravitational-wave detectors to establish veto conditions
in searches for gravitational-wave transients. The procedure was used to
identify vetoes for searches for unmodelled transients by the LIGO and Virgo
collaborations during their science runs from 2005 through 2007. In this work
we present the details of the algorithm; we also use a limited amount of data
from LIGO's past runs in order to examine the method, compare it with other
methods, and identify its potential to characterize the instruments themselves.
We examine the dependence of Receiver Operating Characteristic curves on the
various parameters of the veto method and the implementation on real data. We
find that the method robustly determines important auxiliary channels, ordering
them by the apparent strength of their correlations to the gravitational-wave
channel. This list can substantially reduce the background of noise events in
the gravitational-wave data. In this way it can identify the source of glitches
in the detector as well as assist in establishing confidence in the detection
of gravitaional-wave transients.


  (Abridged) We present new photometric and spectroscopic observations of the
famous Hoag's Object, a peculiar ring galaxy with a central roundish core. The
nature of Hoag's Object is still under controversial discussion. Previous
studies demonstrated that a major accretion event that took place at least 2-3
Gyr ago can account for the observational evidence. However, the role of
internal nonlinear mechanisms in forming the outer ring was not yet completely
ruled out. These new data, together with HI and optical information from the
literature, are used to demonstrate that Hoag's Object is a relatively isolated
system surrounded by a luminous quasi-spiral pattern and a massive, low-density
HI disc. The main stellar body is an old, mildly triaxial elliptical galaxy
with very high angular momentum. We review previous formation scenarios of
Hoag's Object in light of the new data and conclude that the peculiar
morphology could not represent a late phase in barred early-type galaxies
evolution. In addition, no observational evidence supports late merging events
in the evolution of the galaxy, although further tests are required before
safely dismissing this idea. We propose a new scenario where the elliptical
core formed in the early Universe with the HI disc forming shortly after the
core by prolonged "cold" accretion of primordial gas from the intergalactic
medium. The low gas density does not allow intense star formation to occur
everywhere in the disc, but only along a tightly wound spiral pattern of
enhanced density induced by the triaxial gravitational potential.


  We prove new barrier results in arithmetic complexity theory, showing severe
limitations of natural lifting (aka escalation) techniques. For example, we
prove that even optimal rank lower bounds on $k$-tensors cannot yield
non-trivial lower bounds on the rank of $d$-tensors, for any constant $d>k$.
This significantly extends recent barrier results on the limits of (matrix)
rank methods by Efremenko, Garg, Oliveira and Wigderson, which handles the
(very important) case $k=2$.
  Our generalization requires the development of new technical tools and
results in algebraic geometry, which are interesting in their own right and
possibly applicable elsewhere. The basic issue they probe is the relation
between numeric and symbolic rank of tensors, essential in the proofs of
previous and current barriers. Our main technical result implies that for every
symbolic $k$-tensor (namely one whose entries are polynomials in some set of
variables), if the tensor rank is small for every evaluation of the variables,
then it is small symbolically. This statement is obvious for $k=2$.
  To prove an analogous statement for $k>2$ we develop a "numeric to symbolic"
transfer of algebraic relations to algebraic functions, somewhat in the spirit
of the implicit function theorem. It applies in the general setting of
inclusion of images of polynomial maps, in the form appearing in Raz's elusive
functions approach to proving VP $\neq$ VNP. We give a toy application showing
how our transfer theorem may be useful in pursuing this approach to prove
arithmetic complexity lower bounds.


  We study pro excision in algebraic K-theory, following Suslin--Wodzicki,
Cuntz--Quillen, Corti\~nas, and Geisser--Hesselholt, as well as Artin--Rees and
continuity properties of Andr\'e--Quillen, Hochschild, and cyclic homology. Our
key tool is to first establish the equivalence of various pro Tor vanishing
conditions which appear in the literature. Using this we prove that all ideals
of commutative, Noetherian rings are pro unital in a certain sense, and show
that such ideals satisfy pro excision in $K$-theory as well as in cyclic and
topological cyclic homology. In addition, our techniques yield a strong form of
the pro Hochschild--Kostant--Rosenberg theorem, an extension to general base
rings of the Cuntz--Quillen excision theorem in periodic cyclic homology, and a
generalisation of the Fe\u{\i}gin--Tsygan theorem.


  Electronic frequency mixers are fundamental building blocks of electronic
systems. Harmonic frequency mixing in particular enables broadband
electromagnetic signal analysis across octaves of spectrum using a single local
oscillator. However, conventional harmonic frequency mixers do not operate
beyond hundreds of GHz to a few THz. If extended to the petahertz scale in a
compact and scalable form, harmonic mixers would enable field-resolved optical
signal analysis spanning octaves of spectra in a monolithic device without the
need for frequency conversion using nonlinear crystals. Here we demonstrate
lightwave-electronic harmonic frequency mixing beyond 0.350 PHz using plasmonic
nanoantennas. We demonstrate that the mixing process enables complete,
field-resolved detection of spectral content far outside that of the local
oscillator, greatly extending the range of detectable frequencies compared to
conventional heterodyning techniques. Our work has important implications for
applications where optical signals of interest exhibit coherent
femtosecond-scale dynamics spanning multiple harmonics.


  The high-redshift radio-loud quasar PKS 2126-158 is found to have a large
number of red galaxies in close apparent proximity. We use the Gemini
Multi-Object Spectrograph (GMOS) on Gemini South to obtain optical spectra for
a large fraction of these sources. We show that there is a group of galaxies at
$z\sim0.66$, coincident with a metal-line absorption system seen in the
quasar's optical spectrum. The multiplexing capabilities of GMOS also allow us
to measure redshifts of many foreground galaxies in the field surrounding the
quasar.
  The galaxy group has five confirmed members, and a further four fainter
galaxies are possibly associated. All confirmed members exhibit early-type
galaxy spectra, a rare situation for a Mg II absorbing system. We discuss the
relationship of this group to the absorbing gas, and the possibility of
gravitational lensing of the quasar due to the intervening galaxies.


  Oscillating shapes of the primordial bispectrum are present in many
inflationary models. The Planck experiment has recently published measurements
of oscillating shapes, which were however limited to the efficient frequency
range of the used analysis method. Here we study the KSW estimator for
oscillations in the CMB bispectrum, that allows to examine arbitrary
oscillation frequencies for separable oscillating bispectrum shapes. We study
the precision with which amplitude, phase and frequency can be determined with
our estimator. An examination of the 3-point function in real space gives
further insight into the estimator.


  Alpha Centauri is a triple stellar system, and it contains the closest star
to Earth (Proxima Centauri). Over the last decades, the stars in Alpha Cen and
their orbits have been investigated in great detail. However, the possible
scenarios for planet formation and evolution in this triple stellar system
remain to be explored further. First, we present a 3D hydrodynamical simulation
of the circumstellar discs in the binary Alpha Cen AB. Then, we compute
stability maps for the planets within Alpha Cen obtained through N-body
integrations. Last, we estimate the radial velocity (RV) signals of such
planets. We find that the circumstellar discs within the binary cannot exceed 3
au in radius and that the available dust mass to form planets is about 30
$M_\oplus$. Planets around A and B are stable if their semimajor axes are below
3 au, while those around C are stable and remain unperturbed by the binary AB.
For rocky planets, the planetary mass has only a mild effect on the stability.
Therefore, Alpha Cen could have formed and hosted rocky planets around each
star, which may be detected with RV methods in the future. The exoplanetary
hunt in this triple stellar system must continue.


  Magnetoencephalography and electroencephalography (M/EEG) are non-invasive
modalities that measure the weak electromagnetic fields generated by neural
activity. Estimating the location and magnitude of the current sources that
generated these electromagnetic fields is a challenging ill-posed regression
problem known as \emph{source imaging}. When considering a group study, a
common approach consists in carrying out the regression tasks independently for
each subject. An alternative is to jointly localize sources for all subjects
taken together, while enforcing some similarity between them. By pooling all
measurements in a single multi-task regression, one makes the problem better
posed, offering the ability to identify more sources and with greater
precision. The Minimum Wasserstein Estimates (MWE) promotes focal activations
that do not perfectly overlap for all subjects, thanks to a regularizer based
on Optimal Transport (OT) metrics. MWE promotes spatial proximity on the
cortical mantel while coping with the varying noise levels across subjects. On
realistic simulations, MWE decreases the localization error by up to 4 mm per
source compared to individual solutions. Experiments on the Cam-CAN dataset
show a considerable improvement in spatial specificity in population imaging.
Our analysis of a multimodal dataset shows how multi-subject source
localization closes the gap between MEG and fMRI for brain mapping.


  We describe a canonical decomposition of the cohomology of the Dani-Mainkar
metabelian Lie algebras associated with graphs. As applications, we obtain
explicit formulas for the third cohomology of any Dani-Mainkar Lie algebra and
for the cohomology in all degrees of Lie algebras associated with arbitrary
star graphs. We also describe a procedure to reduce the calculation of the
cohomology of solvable Lie algebras associated with graphs through the
Grantcharov-Grantcharov-Iliev construction to the cohomology of Dani-Mainkar
Lie algebras.


  We present a model for Lepton Flavor Violating (LFV) neutral current
non-standard interactions of neutrinos with matter fields parameterized by
$\epsilon_{\alpha \beta}^f$ with $\alpha \ne \beta$. Here, unlike the previous
models, the ratios of the off-diagonal LFV elements of the effective NSI
coupling to the diagonal lepton flavor conserving ones ({\it i.e.,}
$(\epsilon_{\alpha \beta}^f)^2/(\epsilon_{\alpha \alpha}^f \epsilon_{\beta
\beta}^f)$ ) are arbitrary. The model enjoys rich phenomenology, predicting
invisible Higgs decay and new meson decay modes observable in upcoming
experiments. The model for $\epsilon_{\mu e}^f$ also predicts a $\mu^-$ to
$e^-$ conversion rate on nuclei accessible in the planned experiments.


  We prove here the following results: \begin{th} Let $E$ a rank 2 vector
bundle over ${\bf P}_3$, if $C$ is a reduced irreducible curve of ${\bf
P}_3^{\vee}$ such that $E_H$ is unstable for all $H\in C$ then $C$ is a line.
  \end{th} We define now the set $W(E)$ as the set of planes $H$ such that the
restricted bundle $E_H$ is unstable (that means non semi-stable).
  \begin{th} Let $E$ a rank 2 vector bundle over ${\bf P}_3$, with first chern
class $c_1=c_1(E)$, $L$ a line and an integer $n\ge 0$. The following
conditions are equivalent:
  \begin{description}
  \item[(i)] $L^{\vee}\subset W(E)$ and $H^0(E_H(-n+[-c_1/2]))\neq 0$ for a
general point $H\in L^{\vee}$. \item[(ii)] There exist $m>0$ and a section
$t\in H^0(E(m+[-c_1/2]))$ such that the zero variety of $t$ contains the
infinitesimal neighbourhood of order $(m+n-1)$ of $L$.
  \end{description}


  The observational counterparts of theoretically predicted first hydrostatic
cores (FHSC) have been searched for in the interstellar medium for nearly two
decades now. Distinguishing them from other types of more evolved but still
embedded objects remains a challenge because these objects have a short
lifetime, are small, and embedded in a dense cocoon. One possible lead to
finding them is the characterization of the outflows that are launched by these
objects. We observed the L1451-mm FHSC candidate with the NOEMA interferometer
in order to study the emission of several molecules. A nonlocal thermodynamic
equilibrium analysis of the CH$_3$OH detected lines was performed to retrieve
the physical conditions of the emitting region around the central source,
together with the CH$_3$OH, SiO, CS, and H$_2$CO column densities. Of the
targeted molecules, we detected lines of c-C$_3$H$_2$, CH$_3$OH, CS, C$^{34}$S,
SO, DCN, DCO$^+$, H$_2$CO, HC$_3$N, HDCO, and SiO. One of the methanol lines
appears to be a maser line. The detection of this class I maser and the SiO
line in L1451-mm support the presence of a low-velocity and compact outflow.
The excitation conditions of the thermal lines of methanol are also compatible
with shocks (H$_2$ density of $\sim 3\times 10^6$~cm$^{-3}$ and a temperature
higher than 40~K). Although these low-velocity outflows are theoretically
predicted by some models of FHSC, these models also predict the shock
temperature to be below 20~K, that is, not evaporating methanol. In addition,
the predicted velocities would not erode the grains and release silicon in the
gas phase. We therefore conclude that these new observations favor the
hypothesis that L1451-mm would be at a very early protostellar stage, launching
an outflow nearly on the plane of the sky with a higher velocity than is
observed.


  Topological drawings are representations of graphs in the plane, where
vertices are represented by points, and edges by simple curves connecting the
points. A drawing is simple if two edges intersect at most in a single point,
either at a common endpoint or at a proper crossing. In this paper we study
properties of maximal plane subgraphs of simple drawings $D_n$ of the complete
graph $K_n$ on $n$ vertices. Our main structural result is that maximal plane
subgraphs are 2-connected and what we call essentially 3-edge-connected.
Besides, any maximal plane subgraph contains at least $\lceil 3n/2 \rceil$
edges. We also address the problem of obtaining a plane subgraph of $D_n$ with
the maximum number of edges, proving that this problem is NP-complete. However,
given a plane spanning connected subgraph of $D_n$, a maximum plane
augmentation of this subgraph can be found in $O(n^3)$ time. As a side result,
we also show that the problem of finding a largest compatible plane
straight-line graph of two labeled point sets is NP-complete.


  A discussion on the electrical conductivity of the quark-gluon plasma as
determined by lattice QCD is given. After a reminder of basic definitions and
expectations, various methods for spectral reconstruction are reviewed,
including the use of Ans\"atze and sum rules, the Maximum Entropy and
Backus-Gilbert methods, and Tikhonov regularisation. A comprehensive overview
of lattice QCD results obtained so far is given, including a comparison of the
different lattice formulations. A noticeable consistency for the conductivities
obtained is seen, in spite of the differences in the lattice setups and
spectral reconstruction methods. It is found that in the case of quenched QCD
little temperature dependence of $\sigma/T$ is seen in the temperature range
investigated, while for QCD with dynamical quarks a reduction of $\sigma/T$ in
the vicinity of the thermal crossover is observed, compared to its value in the
QGP. Several open questions are posed at the end.


  Joint bleeding is a common condition for people with hemophilia and, if
untreated, can result in hemophilic arthropathy. Ultrasound imaging has
recently emerged as an effective tool to diagnose joint recess distension
caused by joint bleeding. However, no computer-aided diagnosis tool exists to
support the practitioner in the diagnosis process. This paper addresses the
problem of automatically detecting the recess and assessing whether it is
distended in knee ultrasound images collected in patients with hemophilia.
After framing the problem, we propose two different approaches: the first one
adopts a one-stage object detection algorithm, while the second one is a
multi-task approach with a classification and a detection branch. The
experimental evaluation, conducted with $483$ annotated images, shows that the
solution based on object detection alone has a balanced accuracy score of
$0.74$ with a mean IoU value of $0.66$, while the multi-task approach has a
higher balanced accuracy value ($0.78$) at the cost of a slightly lower mean
IoU value.


  We show a very general existence theorem to the complex Monge-Amp\`ere type
equation on hyperconvex domains.


  Motivated by recent progress in calculating field theory amplitudes, we study
applications of the basic ideas in these developments to the calculation of
amplitudes in string theory. We consider in particular both non-Abelian and
Abelian open superstring disk amplitudes in a flat space background, focusing
mainly on the four-dimensional case. The basic field theory ideas under
consideration split into three separate categories. In the first, we argue that
the calculation of alpha'-corrections to MHV open string disk amplitudes
reduces to the determination of certain classes of polynomials. This line of
reasoning is then used to determine the alpha'^3-correction to the MHV
amplitude for all multiplicities. A second line of attack concerns the
existence of an analog of CSW rules derived from the Abelian Dirac-Born-Infeld
action in four dimensions. We show explicitly that the CSW-like perturbation
series of this action is surprisingly trivial: only helicity conserving
amplitudes are non-zero. Last but not least, we initiate the study of BCFW
on-shell recursion relations in string theory. These should appear very
naturally as the UV properties of the string theory are excellent. We show that
all open four-point string amplitudes in a flat background at the disk level
obey BCFW recursion relations. Based on the naturalness of the proof and some
explicit results for the five-point gluon amplitude, it is expected that this
pattern persists for all higher point amplitudes and for the closed string.


  Recent work in multi-view stereo (MVS) combines learnable photometric scores
and regularization with PatchMatch-based optimization to achieve robust
pixelwise estimates of depth, normals, and visibility. However, non-learning
based methods still outperform for large scenes with sparse views, in part due
to use of geometric consistency constraints and ability to optimize over many
views at high resolution. In this paper, we build on learning-based approaches
to improve photometric scores by learning patch coplanarity and encourage
geometric consistency by learning a scaled photometric cost that can be
combined with reprojection error. We also propose an adaptive pixel sampling
strategy for candidate propagation that reduces memory to enable training on
larger resolution with more views and a larger encoder. These modifications
lead to 6-15% gains in accuracy and completeness on the challenging ETH3D
benchmark, resulting in higher F1 performance than the widely used
state-of-the-art non-learning approaches ACMM and ACMP.


  We study regularity for solutions of quasilinear elliptic equations of the
form $\div \A(x,u,\nabla u) = \div \F $ in bounded domains in $\R^n$. The
vector field $\A$ is assumed to be continuous in $u$, and its growth in $\nabla
u$ is like that of the $p$-Laplace operator. We establish interior gradient
estimates in weighted Morrey spaces for weak solutions $u$ to the equation
under a small BMO condition in $x$ for $\A$. As a consequence, we obtain that
$\nabla u$ is in the classical Morrey space $\calM^{q,\lambda}$ or weighted
space $L^q_w$ whenever $|\F|^{\frac{1}{p-1}}$ is respectively in
$\calM^{q,\lambda}$ or $L^q_w$, where $q$ is any number greater than $p$ and
$w$ is any weight in the Muckenhoupt class $A_{\frac{q}{p}}$. In addition, our
two-weight estimate allows the possibility to acquire the regularity for
$\nabla u$ in a weighted Morrey space that is different from the functional
space that the data $|\F|^{\frac{1}{p-1}}$ belongs to.


  We revisit the vertical structure of neutrino-dominated accretion flows in
spherical coordinates. We stress that the flow should be geometrically thick
when advection becomes dominant. In our calculation, the luminosity of neutrino
annihilation is enhanced by one or two orders of magnitude. The empty funnel
along the rotation axis can naturally explain the neutrino annihilable
ejection.


  We construct near-optimal coresets for kernel density estimates for points in
$\mathbb{R}^d$ when the kernel is positive definite. Specifically we show a
polynomial time construction for a coreset of size $O(\sqrt{d}/\varepsilon\cdot
\sqrt{\log 1/\varepsilon} )$, and we show a near-matching lower bound of size
$\Omega(\min\{\sqrt{d}/\varepsilon, 1/\varepsilon^2\})$. When $d\geq
1/\varepsilon^2$, it is known that the size of coreset can be
$O(1/\varepsilon^2)$. The upper bound is a polynomial-in-$(1/\varepsilon)$
improvement when $d \in [3,1/\varepsilon^2)$ and the lower bound is the first
known lower bound to depend on $d$ for this problem. Moreover, the upper bound
restriction that the kernel is positive definite is significant in that it
applies to a wide-variety of kernels, specifically those most important for
machine learning. This includes kernels for information distances and the sinc
kernel which can be negative.


  The remarkable properties of silicon have made it the central material for
the fabrication of current microelectronic devices. Silicon's fundamental
properties also make it an attractive option for the development of devices for
spintronics and quantum information processing. The ability to manipulate and
measure spins of single electrons is crucial for these applications. Here we
report the manipulation and measurement of a single spin in a quantum dot
fabricated in a silicon/silicon-germanium heterostructure. We demonstrate that
the rate of loading of electrons into the device can be tuned over an order of
magnitude using a gate voltage, that the spin state of the loaded electron
depends systematically on the loading voltage level, and that this tunability
arises because electron spins can be loaded through excited orbital states of
the quantum dot. The longitudinal spin relaxation time T1 is measured using
single-shot pulsed techniques and found to be ~3 seconds at a field of 1.85
Tesla. The demonstration of single spin measurement as well as a long spin
relaxation time and tunability of the loading are all favorable properties for
spintronics and quantum information processing applications.


  Gravitational mass flows, such as avalanches, debris flows and rockfalls are
common events in alpine regions with high impact on transport routes. Within
the last few decades, hazard zone maps have been developed to systematically
approach this threat. These maps mark vulnerable zones in habitable areas to
allow effective planning of hazard mitigation measures and development of
settlements. Hazard zone maps have shown to be an effective tool to reduce
fatalities during extreme events. They are created in a complex process, based
on experience, empirical models, physical simulations and historical data. The
generation of such maps is therefore expensive and limited to crucially
important regions, e.g. permanently inhabited areas.
  In this work we interpret the task of hazard zone mapping as a classification
problem. Every point in a specific area has to be classified according to its
vulnerability. On a regional scale this leads to a segmentation problem, where
the total area has to be divided in the respective hazard zones. The recent
developments in artificial intelligence, namely convolutional neuronal
networks, have led to major improvement in a very similar task, image
classification and semantic segmentation, i.e. computer vision. We use a
convolutional neuronal network to identify terrain formations with the
potential for catastrophic snow avalanches and label points in their reach as
vulnerable. Repeating this procedure for all points allows us to generate an
artificial hazard zone map. We demonstrate that the approach is feasible and
promising based on the hazard zone map of the Tirolean Oberland. However, more
training data and further improvement of the method is required before such
techniques can be applied reliably.


  Polycrystalline Sr1-xNdxFeAsF samples were prepared at various Nd-doping
levels using both a stoichiometric mixture of the starting materials and in
slight excess amounts of FeAs. Susceptibility and resistivity of the samples
were studied down to 4 K revealing a probable coexistence of superconductivity
and a magnetic ordering. Temperature dependence of resistivity for all the
Nd-doped samples shows the presence of a transition below 15 K most likely
originating from the magnetic ordering of Nd moments, while the
spin-density-wave anomaly at 175 K survives up to 0.35 Nd-doping.
Superconductivity only occurs above 0.40 Nd-doping with onset maximum Tc
reaching as high as 52 K.