  Optical super-oscillation enables far-field super-resolution imaging beyond
diffraction limits. However, the existing super-oscillatory lens for the
spatial super-resolution imaging system still confronts critical limitations in
performance due to the lack of a more advanced design method and the limited
design degree of freedom. Here, we propose an optical super-oscillatory
diffractive neural network, i.e., SODNN, that can achieve super-resolved
spatial resolution for imaging beyond the diffraction limit with superior
performance over existing methods. SODNN is constructed by utilizing
diffractive layers to implement optical interconnections and imaging samples or
biological sensors to implement nonlinearity, which modulates the incident
optical field to create optical super-oscillation effects in 3D space and
generate the super-resolved focal spots. By optimizing diffractive layers with
3D optical field constraints under an incident wavelength size of $\lambda$, we
achieved a super-oscillatory spot with a full width at half maximum of
0.407$\lambda$ in the far field distance over 400$\lambda$ without side-lobes
over the field of view, having a long depth of field over 10$\lambda$.
Furthermore, the SODNN implements a multi-wavelength and multi-focus spot array
that effectively avoids chromatic aberrations. Our research work will inspire
the development of intelligent optical instruments to facilitate the
applications of imaging, sensing, perception, etc.


  Let $G(n)=\sigma (n)/(n \log \log n )$. Robin made hypothesis that
$G(n)<e^\gamma$ for all integer $n>5040$. If there exists counterexample to
Robin hypothesis, then there must exist finite number of counterexamples
$n>5040$ such that $G(n)$ attains largest value. This article studies various
properties of such number.


  Functional nanoparticles (NPs) have gained significant attention as a
promising application in various fields, including sensor, smart coating, drug
delivery, and more. Here, we propose a novel mechanism assisted by
machine-learning workflow to accurately predict phase diagram of NPs, which
elegantly achieves tunability of shapes and internal structures of NPs using
self-assembly of block-copolymers (BCP). Unlike most of previous studies, we
obtain onion-like and mesoporous NPs in neutral environment and hamburger-like
NPs in selective environment. Such novel phenomenon is obtained only by
tailoring the topology of a miktoarm star BCP chain architecture without the
need for any further treatment. Moreover, we demonstrate that the BCP chain
architecture can be used as a new strategy for tuning the lamellar asymmetry of
NPs. We show that the asymmetry between A and B lamellae in striped ellipsoidal
and onion-like particles increases as the volume fraction of the A-block
increases, beyond the level reached by linear BCPs. In addition, we find an
extended region of onion-like structure in the phase diagram of A-selective
environment, as well as the emergence of an inverse onion-like structure in the
B-selective one. Our findings provide a valuable insight into the design and
fabrication of nanoscale materials with customized properties, opening up new
possibilities for advanced applications in sensing, materials science, and
beyond.


  We compute the Reidemeister-Turaev torsion of homology cylinders which takes
values in the $K_1$-group of the $I$-adic completion of the group ring
$\mathbb{Q}\pi_1\Sigma_{g,1}$, and prove that its reduction to
$\widehat{\mathbb{Q}\pi_1\Sigma_{g,1}}/\hat{I}^{d+1}$ is a finite-type
invariant of degree $d$. We also show that the $1$-loop part of the LMO
homomorphism and the Enomoto-Satoh trace can be recovered from the leading term
of our torsion.


  Recent research has highlighted improvements in high-quality imaging guided
by event cameras, with most of these efforts concentrating on the RGB domain.
However, these advancements frequently neglect the unique challenges introduced
by the inherent flaws in the sensor design of event cameras in the RAW domain.
Specifically, this sensor design results in the partial loss of pixel values,
posing new challenges for RAW domain processes like demosaicing. The challenge
intensifies as most research in the RAW domain is based on the premise that
each pixel contains a value, making the straightforward adaptation of these
methods to event camera demosaicing problematic. To end this, we present a
Swin-Transformer-based backbone and a pixel-focus loss function for demosaicing
with missing pixel values in RAW domain processing. Our core motivation is to
refine a general and widely applicable foundational model from the RGB domain
for RAW domain processing, thereby broadening the model's applicability within
the entire imaging process. Our method harnesses multi-scale processing and
space-to-depth techniques to ensure efficiency and reduce computing complexity.
We also proposed the Pixel-focus Loss function for network fine-tuning to
improve network convergence based on our discovery of a long-tailed
distribution in training loss. Our method has undergone validation on the MIPI
Demosaic Challenge dataset, with subsequent analytical experimentation
confirming its efficacy. All code and trained models are released here:
https://github.com/yunfanLu/ev-demosaic


  Recently, it was shown that most popular IR measures are not interval-scaled,
implying that decades of experimental IR research used potentially improper
methods, which may have produced questionable results. However, it was unclear
if and to what extent these findings apply to actual evaluations and this
opened a debate in the community with researchers standing on opposite
positions about whether this should be considered an issue (or not) and to what
extent.
  In this paper, we first give an introduction to the representational
measurement theory explaining why certain operations and significance tests are
permissible only with scales of a certain level. For that, we introduce the
notion of meaningfulness specifying the conditions under which the truth (or
falsity) of a statement is invariant under permissible transformations of a
scale. Furthermore, we show how the recall base and the length of the run may
make comparison and aggregation across topics problematic.
  Then we propose a straightforward and powerful approach for turning an
evaluation measure into an interval scale, and describe an experimental
evaluation of the differences between using the original measures and the
interval-scaled ones.
  For all the regarded measures - namely Precision, Recall, Average Precision,
(Normalized) Discounted Cumulative Gain, Rank-Biased Precision and Reciprocal
Rank - we observe substantial effects, both on the order of average values and
on the outcome of significance tests. For the latter, previously significant
differences turn out to be insignificant, while insignificant ones become
significant. The effect varies remarkably between the tests considered but
overall, on average, we observed a 25% change in the decision about which
systems are significantly different and which are not.


  Ring-trapped Bose-Einstein condensates subject to spin-orbit coupling support
localized dark soliton excitations that show periodic density dynamics in real
space. In addition to the density feature, solitons also carry a localized
pseudo-spin magnetization that exhibits a rich and tunable dynamics. Analytic
results for Rashba-type spin-orbit coupling and spin-invariant interactions
predict a conserved magnitude and precessional motion for the soliton
magnetization that allows for the simulation of spin-related geometric phases
recently seen in electronic transport measurements.


  The Pioneer 10/11 spacecraft yielded the most precise navigation in deep
space to date. However, their radio-metric tracking data received from the
distances between 20--70 astronomical units from the Sun has consistently
indicated the presence of a small, anomalous, Doppler frequency drift. The
drift is a blue frequency shift that can be interpreted as a sunward
acceleration of a_P = (8.74 +/- 1.33) x 10^{-10} m/s^2 for each particular
spacecraft. This signal has become known as the Pioneer anomaly; the nature of
this anomaly remains unexplained.
  Recently new Pioneer 10 and 11 radio-metric Doppler and flight telemetry data
became available. The newly available Doppler data set is significantly
enlarged when compared to the data used in previous investigations and is
expected to be the primary source for the investigation of the anomaly. In
addition, the flight telemetry files, original project documentation, and newly
developed software tools are now used to reconstruct the engineering history of
both spacecraft. With the help of this information, a thermal model of the
Pioneer vehicles is being developed to study possible contribution of thermal
recoil force acting on the two spacecraft. The ultimate goal of these physics
engineering efforts is to evaluate the effect of on-board systems on the
spacecrafts' trajectories.


  We study the ultrafast Kerr effect and high-harmonic generation in type-II
superconductors by formulating a new model for a time-varying electromagnetic
pulse normally incident on a thin-film superconductor. It is found that type-II
superconductors exhibit exceptionally large $\chi^{(3)}$ due to the progressive
destruction of Cooper pairs, and display high-harmonic generation at low
incident intensities, and the highest nonlinear susceptibility of all known
materials in the THz regime. Our theory opens up new avenues for accessible
analytical and numerical studies of the ultrafast dynamics of superconductors.


  Riemann Poisson manifolds were introduced by the author in [1] and studied in
more details in [2]. K\"ahler-Riemann foliations form an interesting subset of
the Riemannian foliations with remarkable properties (see [3]).
  In this paper we will show that to give a regular Riemann Poisson structure
on a manifold $M$ is equivalent to to give a K\"ahler-Riemann foliation on $M$
such that the leafwise symplectic form is invariant with respect to all local
foliate perpendicular vector fields. We show also that the sum of the vector
space of leafwise cohomology and the vector space of basic forms is a subspace
of the space of Poisson cohomology.


  We investigate the notion of Connes-amenability for dual Banach algebras, as
introduced by Runde, for bidual algebras and weighted semigroup algebras. We
provide some simplifications to the notion of a $\sigma WC$-virtual diagonal,
as introduced by Runde, especially in the case of the bidual of an Arens
regular Banach algebra. We apply these results to discrete, weighted, weakly
cancellative semigroup algebras, showing that these behave in the same way as
C$^*$-algebras with regards Connes-amenability of the bidual algebra. We also
show that for each one of these cancellative semigroup algebras
$l^1(S,\omega)$, we have that $l^1(S,\omega)$ is Connes-amenable (with respect
to the canonical predual $c_0(S)$) if and only if $l^1(S,\omega)$ is amenable,
which is in turn equivalent to $S$ being an amenable group. This latter point
was first shown by Gr{\"o}nb\ae k, but we provide a unified proof. Finally, we
consider the homological notion of injectivity, and show that here, weighted
semigroup algebras do not behave like C$^*$-algebras.


  Network creation games model the creation and usage costs of networks formed
by a set of selfish peers. Each peer has the ability to change the network in a
limited way, e.g., by creating or deleting incident links. In doing so, a peer
can reduce its individual communication cost. Typically, these costs are
modeled by the maximum or average distance in the network. We introduce a
generalized version of the basic network creation game (BNCG). In the BNCG (by
Alon et al., SPAA 2010), each peer may replace one of its incident links by a
link to an arbitrary peer. This is done in a selfish way in order to minimize
either the maximum or average distance to all other peers. That is, each peer
works towards a network structure that allows himself to communicate
efficiently with all other peers. However, participants of large networks are
seldom interested in all peers. Rather, they want to communicate efficiently
only with a small subset of peers. Our model incorporates these (communication)
interests explicitly. In the MAX-version, each node tries to minimize its
maximum distance to nodes it is interested in.
  Given peers with interests and a communication network forming a tree, we
prove several results on the structure and quality of equilibria in our model.
For the MAX-version, we give an upper worst case bound of O(\sqrt{n}) for the
private costs in an equilibrium of n peers. Moreover, we give an equilibrium
for a circular interest graph where a node has private cost \Omega(\sqrt{n}),
showing that our bound is tight. This example can be extended such that we get
a tight bound of \Theta(\sqrt{n}) for the price of anarchy. For the case of
general communication networks we show the price of anarchy to be \Theta(n).
Additionally, we prove an interesting connection between a maximum independent
set in the interest graph and the private costs of the peers.


  The pro-isomorphic zeta function of a finitely generated nilpotent group is a
Dirichlet generating series that enumerates all finite-index subgroups whose
profinite completion is isomorphic to that of the ambient group. We study the
pro-isomorphic zeta functions of $\mathbb{Q}$-indecomposable $D^*$-groups of
even Hirsch length. These groups are building blocks of finitely generated
class-two nilpotent groups with rank-two centre, up to commensurability. Due to
a classification by Grunewald and Segal, they are parameterised by primary
polynomials whose companion matrices define commutator relations for an
explicit presentation. For Grunewald-Segal representatives of even Hirsch
length of type $f(t)=t^m$, we give a complete description of the algebraic
automorphism groups of associated Lie lattices. Utilising the automorphism
groups, we determine the local pro-isomorphic zeta functions of groups
associated to $t^2$ and $t^3$. In both cases, the local zeta functions are
uniform in the prime $p$ and satisfy functional equations. The functional
equations for these groups, not predicted by the currently available theory,
prompt us to formulate a conjecture which prescribes, in particular,
information about the symmetry factor appearing in local functional equations
for pro-isomorphic zeta functions of nilpotent groups. Our description of the
local zeta functions also yields information about the analytic properties of
the corresponding global pro-isomorphic zeta functions. Some of our results for
the $D^*$-groups associated to $t^2$ and $t^3$ generalise to two infinite
families of class-two nilpotent groups that result naturally from the initial
groups via `base extensions'.


  We propose a framework to model ferroelectric negative capacitance:
electrostatic Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) hybrid actuators and
analyze their dynamic (step input) response. Using this framework, we report
the first proposal for reduction in the dynamic pull-in and pull-out voltages
of the hybrid actuators due to the negative capacitance of the ferroelectric.
The proposed model also reveals the effect of ferroelectric thickness on the
dynamic pull-in and pull-out voltages and the effect of ferroelectric damping
on the energy dissipated during actuation. We infer from our analysis that the
hybrid actuators are better than the standalone MEMS actuators in terms of
operating voltage and energy dissipation. Further, we show that one can
trade-off a small part of the reduction in actuation voltage to achieve
identical pull-in times in the hybrid and standalone MEMS actuators, while
still consuming substantially lower energy in the former as compared to the
latter. The circuit compatibility of the proposed hybrid actuator model makes
it suitable for analysis and evaluation of various heterogeneous systems
consisting of hybrid MEMS actuators and other electronic devices.


  We theoretically examined how the dielectric screening of two-dimensional
layered materials affects the dipolar interaction between interlayer excitons
in few-layer van der Waals structures. Our analysis indicates that the dipolar
interaction is largely enhanced by two-dimensional dielectric screening at an
inter-exciton separation of several nanometers or larger. The underlying
mechanism can be attributed to the induced-charge densities in layered
materials, which give rise to induced-dipole densities at large distances with
directions parallel to that of the interlayer exciton. The interaction between
quadrupolar excitons in trilayer structures are found to be enhanced even
larger, with a magnitude one to two orders stronger than that without 2D
dielectric screening. The strengths of these dipolar and quadrupolar
interactions can be further tuned by engineering the dielectric environment.


  Monte Carlo simulations and finite-size scaling analysis have been performed
to study the jamming and percolation behavior of linear $k$-mers (also known as
rods or needles) on the two-dimensional triangular lattice, considering an
isotropic RSA process on a lattice of linear dimension $L$ and periodic
boundary conditions. Extensive numerical work has been done to extend previous
studies to larger system sizes and longer $k$-mers, which enables the
confirmation of a nonmonotonic size dependence of the percolation threshold and
the estimation of a maximum value of $k$ from which percolation would no longer
occurs. Finally, a complete analysis of critical exponents and universality
have been done, showing that the percolation phase transition involved in the
system is not affected, having the same universality class of the ordinary
random percolation.


  Let A be a connected left artinian ring with radical square zero and with n
simple modules. If A is not self-injective, then we show that any module M with
Ext^i(M,A) = 0 for 1 \le i \le n + 1 is projective. We also determine the
structure of the artin algebras with radical square zero and n simple modules
which have a non-projective module M such that Ext^i(M,A) = 0 for 1 \le i \le
n.


  Recovering the original printed texts from a document with added handwritten
annotations in the marginal area is one of the challenging problems, especially
when the original document is not available. Therefore, this paper aims at
salvaging automatically the original document from the annotated document by
detecting and removing any handwritten annotations that appear in the marginal
area of the document without any loss of information. Here a two stage
algorithm is proposed, where in the first stage due to approximate marginal
boundary detection with horizontal and vertical projection profiles, all of the
marginal annotations along with some part of the original printed text that may
appear very close to the marginal boundary are removed. Therefore as a second
stage, using the connected components, a strategy is applied to bring back the
printed text components cropped during the first stage. The proposed method is
validated using a dataset of 50 documents having complex handwritten
annotations, which gives an overall accuracy of 89.01% in removing the marginal
annotations and 97.74% in case of retrieving the original printed text
document.


  We discuss the possibility of creating money that is physically impossible to
counterfeit. Of course, "physically impossible" is dependent on the theory that
is a faithful description of nature. Currently there are several proposals for
quantum money which have their security based on the validity of quantum
mechanics. In this work, we examine Wiesner's money scheme in the framework of
generalised probabilistic theories. This framework is broad enough to allow for
essentially any potential theory of nature, provided that it admits an
operational description. We prove that under a quantifiable version of the
no-cloning theorem, one can create physical money which has an exponentially
small chance of being counterfeited. Our proof relies on cone programming, a
natural generalisation of semidefinite programming. Moreover, we discuss some
of the difficulties that arise when considering non-quantum theories.


  We present in this contribution a theoretical investigation of the
spontaneous emission and energy transfer rates between quantum systems placed
above a monolayer of conducting graphene. The conditions for strong and weak
coupling between a quantum system and the surface plasmon-polariton of graphene
are determined and, subsequently, we focus exclusively on the weak coupling
regime. We then calculate the dispersion relation of the surface plasmon mode
on graphene and, by varying the chemical potential, show a good control of its
resonance frequency. Using a Green's tensor formalism, we calculate the
spontaneous emission and energy transfer rates of quantum systems placed near
the graphene monolayer. The spontaneous emission rate of a single quantum
system is enhanced by several orders of magnitude close to the graphene
monolayer and we show that this enhancement is due almost exclusively to
excitation of the surface plasmon mode. When considering the energy transfer
rate between two quantum systems, we find a similar enhancement of several
orders of magnitude close to the graphene monolayer. The direct interaction
between the donor and acceptor dominates when they are close to each other, but
is modified from its free-space behavior due to the presence of the graphene
monolayer. As the donor-acceptor separation is increased, their direct
interaction is overshadowed by the interaction via the surface plasmon mode.
Due to the large propagation length of surface plasmon mode on graphene --
hundreds of nanometers -- this enhancement of the energy transfer rate holds
over large donor-acceptor separations along the graphene monolayer.


  We prove that a surface in Euclidean $3$-space has Maslovian normal bundle if
and only if it is a part of a round sphere, a circular cylinder, or a circular
cone.


  High precision radio-frequency, microwave and infrared spectroscopic
measurements of the antihydrogen molecular ion $\bar{H}_{2}^{-}$
($\bar{p}\bar{p}e^{+}$) compared with its normal matter counterpart provide
direct tests of the CPT theorem. The sensitivity to a difference between the
positron/antiproton and electron/proton mass ratios, and to a difference
between the positron-antiproton and electron-proton hyperfine interactions, can
exceed that obtained by comparing antihydrogen with hydrogen by several orders
of magnitude. Practical schemes are outlined for measurements on a single
$\bar{H}_{2}^{-}$ ion in a cryogenic Penning trap, that use non-destructive
state identification by measuring the cyclotron frequency and bound-positron
spin-flip frequency; and also for creating an $\bar{H}_{2}^{-}$ ion and
initializing its quantum state.


  We propose an experiment that would produce and measure a large
Aharonov-Casher (A-C) phase in a solid-state system under macroscopic motion. A
diamond crystal is mounted on a spinning disk in the presence of a uniform
electric field. Internal magnetic states of a single NV defect, replacing
interferometer trajectories, are coherently controlled by microwave pulses. The
A-C phase shift is manifested as a relative phase, of up to 17 radians, between
components of a superposition of magnetic substates, which is two orders of
magnitude larger than that measured in any other atom-scale quantum system.


  A new measurement of the neutrino asymmetry parameter B in neutron decay, the
angular correlation between neutron spin and anti-neutrino momentum, is
presented. The result, B=0.9802(50), agrees with the Standard Model expectation
and earlier measurements, and permits improved tests on ``new physics'' in
neutron decay.


  We study inverse problems in anisotropic elasticity using tools from
algebraic geometry. The singularities of solutions to the elastic wave equation
in dimension $n$ with an anisotropic stiffness tensor have propagation
kinematics captured by so-called slowness surfaces, which are hypersurfaces in
the cotangent bundle of $\mathbb{R}^n$ that turn out to be algebraic varieties.
Leveraging the algebraic geometry of families of slowness surfaces we show
that, for tensors in a dense open subset in the space of all stiffness tensors,
a small amount of data around one polarization in an individual slowness
surface uniquely determines the entire slowness surface and its stiffness
tensor. Such partial data arises naturally from geophysical measurements or
geometrized versions of seismic inverse problems. Additionally, we explain how
the reconstruction of the stiffness tensor can be carried out effectively,
using Gr\"obner bases. Our uniqueness results fail for very symmetric (e.g.,
fully isotropic) materials, evidencing the counterintuitive claim that inverse
problems in elasticity can become more tractable with increasing asymmetry.


We study the equations of universal torsors on rational surfaces.


  The impact of thermally activated electrons on superconductivity within the
realm of narrow energy gap semiconductors is investigated, unveiling the
potential emergence of room-temperature superconductivity without the necessity
for extensive doping. This novel mechanism suggests that thermal excitations
can influence carrier concentrations significantly, thus influencing
condensation and affecting superconductivity properties. In this paper, we
explore how the energy gap width and temperature interact to shape carrier
concentrations and subsequently impact the manifestation of superconducting
behavior.


  During the last two decades there has been a growing interest in Particle
Filtering (PF). However, PF suffers from two long-standing problems that are
referred to as sample degeneracy and impoverishment. We are investigating
methods that are particularly efficient at Particle Distribution Optimization
(PDO) to fight sample degeneracy and impoverishment, with an emphasis on
intelligence choices. These methods benefit from such methods as Markov Chain
Monte Carlo methods, Mean-shift algorithms, artificial intelligence algorithms
(e.g., Particle Swarm Optimization, Genetic Algorithm and Ant Colony
Optimization), machine learning approaches (e.g., clustering, splitting and
merging) and their hybrids, forming a coherent standpoint to enhance the
particle filter. The working mechanism, interrelationship, pros and cons of
these approaches are provided. In addition, Approaches that are effective for
dealing with high-dimensionality are reviewed. While improving the filter
performance in terms of accuracy, robustness and convergence, it is noted that
advanced techniques employed in PF often causes additional computational
requirement that will in turn sacrifice improvement obtained in real life
filtering. This fact, hidden in pure simulations, deserves the attention of the
users and designers of new filters.


  An axis-aligned string is a simple polygonal path, where each line segment is
parallel to an axis in $\mathbb{R}^3$. Given a graph $G$, a string contact
representation $\Psi$ of $G$ maps the vertices of $G$ to interior disjoint
axis-aligned strings, where no three strings meet at a point, and two strings
share a common point if and only if their corresponding vertices are adjacent
in $G$. The complexity of $\Psi$ is the minimum integer $r$ such that every
string in $\Psi$ is a $B_r$-string, i.e., a string with at most $r$ bends.
While a result of Duncan et al. implies that every graph $G$ with maximum
degree 4 has a string contact representation using $B_4$-strings, we examine
constraints on $G$ that allow string contact representations with complexity 3,
2 or 1. We prove that if $G$ is Hamiltonian and triangle-free, then $G$ admits
a contact representation where all the strings but one are $B_3$-strings. If
$G$ is 3-regular and bipartite, then $G$ admits a contact representation with
string complexity 2, and if we further restrict $G$ to be Hamiltonian, then $G$
has a contact representation, where all the strings but one are $B_1$-strings
(i.e., $L$-shapes). Finally, we prove some complementary lower bounds on the
complexity of string contact representations.


  We present a method to approximate pairwise distance on a graph, having an
amortized sub-linear complexity in its size. The proposed method follows the so
called heat method due to Crane et al. The only additional input are the values
of the eigenfunctions of the graph Laplacian at a subset of the vertices. Using
these values we estimate a random walk from the source points, and normalize
the result into a unit gradient function. The eigenfunctions are then used to
synthesize distance values abiding by these constraints at desired locations.
We show that this method works in practice on different types of inputs ranging
from triangular meshes to general graphs. We also demonstrate that the
resulting approximate distance is accurate enough to be used as the input to a
recent method for intrinsic shape correspondence computation.


  Nearby blue compact dwarf (BCD) galaxies are arguably our best local
analogues of galaxies in the earlier Universe that may host relics of black
hole (BH) seeds. Here we present high-resolution Chandra X-ray Observatory and
Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) observations of five nearby BCDs with
stellar masses of less than the Small Magellanic Cloud ($M_\star \sim 10^{7} -
10^{8.4}$ $M_\odot$). We search for signatures of accreting massive BHs at
X-ray and radio wavelengths, which are more sensitive to lower BH accretion
rates than optical searches. We detect a total of 10 hard X-ray sources and 10
compact radio sources at luminosities consistent with star-formation-related
emission. We find one case of a spatially-coincident X-ray and radio source
within the astrometric uncertainties. If the X-ray and radio emission are
indeed coming from the same source, the origin of the radiation is plausibly
from an active massive BH with log $(M_{\rm BH}/M_{\odot}) \sim 4.8 \pm 1.1$.
However, given that the X-ray and radio emission are also coincident with a
young star cluster complex, we consider the combination of an X-ray binary and
a supernova remnant (or \HII region) a viable alternative explanation. Overall,
we do not find compelling evidence for active massive BHs in our target BCDs,
which on average have stellar masses more than an order of magnitude lower than
previous samples of dwarf galaxies found to host massive BHs. Our results
suggest that moderately accreting massive BHs in BCDs are not so common as to
permit unambiguous detection in a small sample.


  Steal time is a key performance metric for applications executed in a
virtualized environment. Steal time measures the amount of time the processor
is preempted by code outside the virtualized environment. This, in turn, allows
to compute accurately the execution time of an application inside a virtual
machine (i.e. it eliminates the time the virtual machine is suspended).
Unfortunately, this metric is only available in particular scenarios in which
the host and the guest OS are tightly coupled. Typical examples are the Xen
hypervisor and Linux-based guest OSes. In contrast, in scenarios where the
steal time is not available inside the virtualized environment, performance
measurements are, most often, incorrect.
  In this paper, we introduce a novel and platform agnostic approach to
calculate this steal time within the virtualized environment and without the
cooperation of the host OS. The theoretical execution time of a deterministic
microbenchmark is compared to its execution time in a virtualized environment.
When factoring in the virtual machine load, this solution -as simple as it is-
can compute the steal time. The preliminary results show that we are able to
compute the load of the physical processor within the virtual machine with high
accuracy.


  The aim of the paper is to demonstrate the superiority of Cartan's method
over direct methods based on differential elimination for handling otherwise
intractable equivalence problems. In this sens, using our implementation of
Cartan's method, we establish two new equivalence results. Weestablish when a
system of second order ODE's is equivalent to flat system (second derivations
are zero), and when a system of holomorphic PDE's with two independent
variables and one dependent variables is flat. We consider the problem of
finding transformation that brings a given equation to the target one. We shall
see that this problem becomes algebraic when the symmetry pseudogroup of the
target equation is zerodimensional. We avoid the swelling of the expressions,
by using non-commutative derivations adapted to the problem.


  In this article we consider the parameter risk in the context of internal
modelling of the reserve risk under Solvency II.
  We discuss two opposed perspectives on parameter uncertainty and point out
that standard methods of classical reserving focusing on the estimation error
of claims reserves are in general not appropriate to model the impact of
parameter uncertainty upon the actual risk of economic losses from the
undertakings's perspective.
  Referring to the requirements of Solvency II we assess methods to model
parameter uncertainty for the reserve risk by comparing the probability of
solvency actually attained when modelling the solvency risk capital requirement
based on the respective method to the required confidence level. Using the
simple example of a normal model we show that the bootstrapping approach is not
appropriate to model parameter uncertainty according to this criterion. We then
present an adaptation of the approach proposed in \cite {froehlich2014}.
Experimental results demonstrate that this new method yields a risk capital
model for the reserve risk achieving the required confidence level in good
approximation.


  This paper addresses the problem of Monocular Depth Estimation (MDE).
Existing approaches on MDE usually model it as a pixel-level regression
problem, ignoring the underlying geometry property. We empirically find this
may result in sub-optimal solution: while the predicted depth map presents
small loss value in one specific view, it may exhibit large loss if viewed in
different directions. In this paper, inspired by multi-view stereo (MVS), we
propose an Adversarial View-Consistent Learning (AVCL) framework to force the
estimated depth map to be all reasonable viewed from multiple views. To this
end, we first design a differentiable depth map warping operation, which is
end-to-end trainable, and then propose a pose generator to generate novel views
for a given image in an adversarial manner. Collaborating with the
differentiable depth map warping operation, the pose generator encourages the
depth estimation network to learn from hard views, hence produce
view-consistent depth maps . We evaluate our method on NYU Depth V2 dataset and
the experimental results show promising performance gain upon state-of-the-art
MDE approaches.


  Purpose: To introduce and evaluate the use of stable distributions as a means
of describing the behavior of charged particle pencil beams in a medium, with
specific emphasis on proton beam scanning (PBS). Methods: The proton pencil
beams of a clinically commissioned proton treatment facility are replicated in
a Monte Carlo simulation system (FLUKA). For each available energy the beam
deposition in water medium is characterized by the dose deposition. Using an
alpha--stable distribution methodology each beam with a nominal energy $E$ is
characterized by the lateral spread at depth $z$: $S(z;\alpha,\gamma,E)$ and a
total energy deposition $I_D(z)$. The beams are then described as a function of
the variation of the parameters at depth. Finally, an implementation in a
freely available open source dose calculation suite (matRad, DKFZ, Heidelberg,
Germany) is proposed. Results: Quantitatively, the fit of the stable
distributions, compared to those implemented in standard treatment planning
systems, are equivalent. The efficiency of the representation is better (2
compared to 3 and more parameters needed). The meta--parametrization (i.e. the
description of the dose deposition by only providing the fitted parameters)
allows for interpolation of non--measured data. In the case of the clinical
data used in this paper, it was possible to only commission 1 out of 5 nominal
energies to obtain a viable data set. Conclusions: Alpha--stable distributions
are intrinsically suited to describe charged particle pencil beams in a medium
and can be easily implemented in existing treatment planning systems. The use
of alpha-distributions can easily be extended to other particles.


  We give an extremely short proof that the free-surface incompressible,
irrotational Euler equations with regular initial condition can form a finite
time singularity in 2D or 3D. Thus, we provide a simple view of the problem
studied by Castro, Cordoba, Fefferman, Gancedo, Lopez-Fernadez, Gomez-Serrano
and Coutand, Shkoller.


  Observations conducted with the Fine Guidance Sensor on Hubble Space
Telescope (HST) providing high cadence and precision time-series photometry
were obtained over 10 consecutive days in December 2008 on the host star of the
transiting exoplanet HD 17156b. During this time 10^12 photons (corrected for
detector deadtime) were collected in which a noise level of 163 parts per
million per 30 second sum resulted, thus providing excellent sensitivity to
detection of the analog of the solar 5-minute p-mode oscillations. For HD 17156
robust detection of p-modes supports determination of the stellar mean density
of 0.5301 +/- 0.0044 g/cm^3 from a detailed fit to the observed frequencies of
modes of degree l = 0, 1, and 2. This is the first star for which direct
determination of the mean stellar density has been possible using both
asteroseismology and detailed analysis of a transiting planet light curve.
Using the density constraint from asteroseismology, and stellar evolution
modeling results in M_star = 1.285 +/- 0.026 solar, R_star = 1.507 +/- 0.012
solar, and a stellar age of 3.2 +/- 0.3 Gyr.


  Utilizing the worldline formalism we study the effects of demanding local
interactions on the corresponding vertex factor. We begin by reviewing the
familiar case of a relativistic particle in Minkowksi space, showing that
localization gives rise to the standard conservation of momentum at each
vertex. A generalization to curved geometry is then studied and a notion of
covariant Fourier transform is introduced to aid in the analysis. The vertex
factor is found to coincide with the one derived for flat spacetime. Next, we
apply this formalism to a loop immersed in a gravitational field, demonstrating
that the loop momenta is determined entirely by the external momenta. Finally,
we postulate that the semi--classical effects of quantum gravity on the Feynman
path integral can be accounted for by a modification to the vertex factor which
de-localizes the vertex. We study one particular Lorentz invariant
de-localization which, remarkably, has no effect on conservation of vertex
momenta.


  In this note, we consider the linear topological invariant {\Omega}-tilda for
Fr\'echet spaces of global analytic functions on Stein manifolds. We show that
O(M), for a Stein manifold M, enjoys the property {\Omega}-tilda if and only if
every compact subset of M lies in a relatively compact sublevel set of a
bounded plurisubharmonic function defined on M. We also look at some immediate
implications of this characterization.


  Two-dimensional (2D) elemental semiconductors have great potential for device
applications, but their performance is limited by the lack of efficient doping
methods. Here, combining molecular beam epitaxy, scanning tunneling
microscopy/spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and density
functional theory calculations, we investigate the evolution of the structural
and electronic properties of 2D selenium/tellurium films with increased Se
dosages on graphene/6H-SiC(0001) substrates. We found that Se atoms form
isovalent dopants by replacing surface Te atoms, which introduces efficient
electron doping and lowers the work function of Te films. With the Se dosage
increasing, two types of elemental 2D crystalline Se structures, trigonal Se
and Se8 molecular assembly films, are obtained on ultrathin Te films, which are
distinct from the amorphous Se acquired by depositing Se directly on
graphene/6H-SiC(0001). Our results shed light on tuning the electronic
properties of 2D elemental semiconductors by isovalent doping and constructing
heterostructures of isovalent 2D elemental materials.


  In Chain Inflation the universe tunnels along a series of false vacua of
ever-decreasing energy. The main goal of this paper is to embed Chain Inflation
in high energy fundamental physics. We begin by illustrating a simple effective
formalism for calculating Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) observables in
Chain Inflation. Density perturbations seeding the anisotropies emerge from the
probabilistic nature of tunneling (rather than from quantum fluctuations of the
inflation). To obtain the correct normalization of the scalar power spectrum
and the scalar spectral index, we find an upper limit on the scale of inflation
at horizon crossing of CMB scales, $V_*^{1/4}< 10^{12}$~GeV. We then provide an
explicit realization of chain inflation, in which the inflaton is identified
with an axion in supergravity. The axion enjoys a perturbative shift symmetry
which is broken to a discrete remnant by instantons. The model, which we dub
`natural chain inflation' satisfies all cosmological constraints and can be
embedded into a standard $\Lambda$CDM cosmology. Our work provides a major step
towards the ultraviolet completion of chain inflation in string theory.


  Modern machine learning techniques can be used to construct powerful models
for difficult collider physics problems. In many applications, however, these
models are trained on imperfect simulations due to a lack of truth-level
information in the data, which risks the model learning artifacts of the
simulation. In this paper, we introduce the paradigm of classification without
labels (CWoLa) in which a classifier is trained to distinguish statistical
mixtures of classes, which are common in collider physics. Crucially, neither
individual labels nor class proportions are required, yet we prove that the
optimal classifier in the CWoLa paradigm is also the optimal classifier in the
traditional fully-supervised case where all label information is available.
After demonstrating the power of this method in an analytical toy example, we
consider a realistic benchmark for collider physics: distinguishing quark-
versus gluon-initiated jets using mixed quark/gluon training samples. More
generally, CWoLa can be applied to any classification problem where labels or
class proportions are unknown or simulations are unreliable, but statistical
mixtures of the classes are available.


  The $A_{\alpha}$-matrix of a graph $G$ is the convex linear combination of
the adjacency matrix $A(G)$ and the diagonal matrix of vertex degrees $D(G)$,
i.e., $A_{\alpha}(G) = \alpha D(G) + (1 - \alpha)A(G)$, where $0\leq\alpha
\leq1$. The $\alpha$-index of $G$ is the largest eigenvalue of $A_\alpha(G)$.
Particularly, the matrix $A_0(G)$ (resp. $2A_{\frac{1}{2}}(G)$) is exactly the
adjacency matrix (resp. signless Laplacian matrix) of $G$. He, Li and Feng
[arXiv:2301.06008 (2023)] determined the extremal graphs with maximum adjacency
spectral radius among all graphs of sufficiently large order without
intersecting triangles and quadrangles as a minor, respectively. Motivated by
the above results of He, Li and Feng, in this paper we characterize the
extremal graphs with maximum $\alpha$-index among all graphs of sufficiently
large order without intersecting triangles and quadrangles as a minor for any
$0<\alpha<1$, respectively. As by-products, we determine the extremal graphs
with maximum signless Laplacian radius among all graphs of sufficiently large
order without intersecting triangles and quadrangles as a minor, respectively.


  We derive some q-analogs of Euler-Cassini-type identities and of recurrence
formulas for powers of Fibonacci polynomials.


  Inaccuracies in the initial conditions for cosmological N-body simulations
could easily be the largest source of systematic error in predicting the
non-linear large-scale structure. From the theory side, initial conditions are
usually provided by using low-order truncations of the displacement field from
Lagrangian perturbation theory, with the first and second-order approximations
being the most common ones. Here we investigate the improvement brought by
using initial conditions based on third-order Lagrangian perturbation theory
(3LPT). We show that with 3LPT, truncation errors are vastly suppressed,
thereby opening the portal to initializing simulations accurately as late as
z=12 (for the resolution we consider). We analyse the competing effects of
perturbative truncation and particle discreteness on various summary
statistics. Discreteness errors are essentially decaying modes and thus get
strongly amplified for earlier initialization times. We show that late starting
times with 3LPT provide the most accurate configuration, which we find to
coincide with the continuum fluid limit within 1 per cent for the power- and
bispectrum at z=0 up to the particle Nyquist wave number of our simulations (k
~ 3h/Mpc). In conclusion, to suppress non-fluid artefacts, we recommend
initializing simulations as late as possible with 3LPT. We make our 3LPT
initial condition generator publicly available.


  We show that the Discrete Exterior Calculus (DEC) method can be cast as the
earlier box method for the Poisson problem in the plane. Consequently, error
estimates are established, proving that the DEC method is comparable to the
Finite Element Method with linear elements. We also discuss some virtues,
others than convergence, of the DEC method.


  Comets can exhibit non-gravitational accelerations caused by recoil forces
due to anisotropic mass loss. So might active asteroids. We present an
astrometric investigation of 18 active asteroids in search of non-gravitational
acceleration. Statistically significant (signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) $> 3$)
detections are obtained in three objects: 313P/Gibbs, 324P/La Sagra and (3200)
Phaethon. The strongest and most convincing detection ($>$7$\sigma$ in each of
three orthogonal components of the acceleration), is for the $\sim$1 km
diameter nucleus of 324P/La Sagra. A 4.5$\sigma$ detection of the transverse
component of the acceleration of 313P/Gibbs (also $\sim$1 km in diameter) is
likely genuine too, as evidenced by the stability of the solution to the
rejection or inclusion of specific astrometric datasets. We also find a
3.4$\sigma$ radial-component detection for $\sim$5 km diameter (3200) Phaethon,
but this detection is more sensitive to the inclusion of specific datasets,
suggesting that it is likely spurious in origin. The other 15 active asteroids
in our sample all show non-gravitational accelerations consistent with zero. We
explore different physical mechanisms which may give rise to the observed
non-gravitational effects, and estimate mass-loss rates from the
non-gravitational accelerations. We present a revised momentum-transfer law
based on a physically realistic sublimation model for future work on
non-gravitational forces, but note that it has little effect on the derived
orbital elements.


  We employ the adaptive resolution approach AdResS, in its recently developed
Grand Canonical-like version (GC-AdResS) [Wang et al. Phys.Rev.X 3, 011018
(2013)], to calculate the excess chemical potential, $\mu^{ex}$, of various
liquids and mixtures. We compare our results with those obtained from full
atomistic simulations using the technique of thermodynamic integration and show
a satisfactory agreement. In GC-AdResS the procedure to calculate $\mu^{ex}$
corresponds to the process of standard initial equilibration of the system;
this implies that, independently of the specific aim of the study, $\mu^{ex}$,
for each molecular species, is automatically calculated every time a GC-AdResS
simulation is performed.


  We investigate gas metallicity of narrow-line regions in narrow-line Seyfert
1 galaxies (NLS1s) and broad-line ones (BLS1s) in order to examine whether or
not there is a difference in the gas metallicity between the two populations of
Seyfert 1 galaxies. We apply two methods to study this issue. One is to use the
emission-line flux ratio of [N II]6583/H_alpha in combination with some other
optical emission-line flux ratios. This method, which has been often applied to
Seyfert 2 galaxies, suggests that the gas metallicity of narrow-line regions is
indistinguishable or possibly higher in BLS1s than in NLS1s. On the contrary,
the other method in which only forbidden emission-line fluxes are used results
in that NLS1s tend to possess metal-richer gas in the narrow-line regions than
BLS1s. We point out that this inconsistency may be owing to the contamination
of the broad component of permitted lines into the narrow component of ones in
the first method. Since the results derived by using only forbidden
emission-line fluxes do not suffer from any uncertainty of the fitting function
for the broad component of Balmer lines, the results from this method are more
reliable than those derived by using permitted lines. We thus conclude that the
gas metallicity of narrow-line regions tends to be higher in NLS1s than in
BLS1s.


  AGN are a key ingredient for understanding galactic evolution. AGN-driven
outflows are one of the manifestations of feedback. The AO mode for MUSE at the
VLT permits to study the innermost tens of parsecs of nearby AGN in the
optical. We present a detailed analysis of the ionised gas in the central
regions of NGC 7130, an archetypical composite Seyfert and nuclear starburst
galaxy. We achieve an angular resolution of 0.17$^{\prime\prime}$ (50 pc). We
performed a multi-component analysis of the main ISM lines and identified nine
kinematic components, six of which correspond to the outflow. The outflow is
biconic and has velocities of a few $100\,{\rm km\,s^{-1}}$ with respect to the
disc. We decompose the approaching side of the outflow into a broad and a
narrow component with typical velocity dispersions below and above
$\sim200\,{\rm km\,s^{-1}}$, respectively. The blueshifted narrow component has
substructure, in particular a collimated plume aligned with the radio jet,
indicating that it may be jet-powered. The redshifted lobe is composed of two
Narrow Components and a Broad Component. An additional redshifted component is
seen outside the main outflow axis. Line ratio diagnostics indicate that the
outflow gas in the main axis is AGN-powered whereas the off-axis component has
LINER properties. The ionised gas mass outflow rate is
$\dot{M}=1.2\pm0.7\,M_{\odot}\,{\rm yr^{-1}}$ and the kinetic power is
$\dot{E}_{\rm kin}=(2.7\pm2.0)\times10^{41}\,{\rm erg\,s^{-1}}$, which
corresponds to $F_{\rm kin}=0.12\pm0.09\%$ of the bolometric AGN power. The
combination of high angular resolution integral field spectroscopy and a
careful multi-component decomposition allows a uniquely detailed view of the
outflow in NGC 7130, illustrating that AGN kinematics are more complex than
traditionally derived from less sophisticated data and analyses. (abridged)


  We introduce a non-backtracking Laplace operator for graphs and we
investigate its spectral properties. With the use of both theoretical and
computational techniques, we show that the spectrum of this operator captures
several structural properties of the graph in a more precise way than the
classical operators that have been studied so far in the literature, including
the non-backtracking matrix.


  We present measurements of the branching fractions for J/psi --> e+e- and
mu+mu- using 3M psi(2S) decays collected with the CLEO detector operating at
the CESR e+e- collider. We obtain B(J/psi --> e+e-) = (5.945 +- 0.067 +- 0.042
)% and B(J/psi --> mu+mu-) = (5.960 +- 0.065 +- 0.050)%, leading to an average
of B(J/psi --> l+l-) = (5.953 +- 0.056 +- 0.042)% and a ratio of B(J/psi -->
e+e-) / B(J/psi --> mu+mu-) = (99.7 +- 1.2 +- 0.6)%, all consistent with, but
more precise than, previous measurements.


  Real-time location inference of social media users is the fundamental of some
spatial applications such as localized search and event detection. While tweet
text is the most commonly used feature in location estimation, most of the
prior works suffer from either the noise or the sparsity of textual features.
In this paper, we aim to tackle these two problems. We use topic modeling as a
building block to characterize the geographic topic variation and lexical
variation so that "one-hot" encoding vectors will no longer be directly used.
We also incorporate other features which can be extracted through the Twitter
streaming API to overcome the noise problem. Experimental results show that our
RATE algorithm outperforms several benchmark methods, both in the precision of
region classification and the mean distance error of latitude and longitude
regression.


  Recently, integrated optics has gained interest as a hardware platform for
implementing machine learning algorithms. Of particular interest are artificial
neural networks, since matrix-vector multi- plications, which are used heavily
in artificial neural networks, can be done efficiently in photonic circuits.
The training of an artificial neural network is a crucial step in its
application. However, currently on the integrated photonics platform there is
no efficient protocol for the training of these networks. In this work, we
introduce a method that enables highly efficient, in situ training of a
photonic neural network. We use adjoint variable methods to derive the photonic
analogue of the backpropagation algorithm, which is the standard method for
computing gradients of conventional neural networks. We further show how these
gradients may be obtained exactly by performing intensity measurements within
the device. As an application, we demonstrate the training of a numerically
simulated photonic artificial neural network. Beyond the training of photonic
machine learning implementations, our method may also be of broad interest to
experimental sensitivity analysis of photonic systems and the optimization of
reconfigurable optics platforms.


  We present the brief review of some central problems, anomalies, paradoxes of
Astrophysics, Cosmology and new approaches to its decisions, proposed by the
Wave Universe Concept (WU Concept). All these, anyhow, - Hot Points of modern
science of Universe, about which Standard Model have not authentic answers. The
represented set of brief (justified) Novels reflects very perspective
directions of search. Essential from thems - Headline (and Topics): New
Phenomenon-Megaquantization: Observed Megaquantum Effects in Astronimical
Systems. Internal Structure of Celestial Bodies and Sun. Where is disposes the
Convective Zone? Towards to Stars: Where the Heliopause will be found? Mystery
of the Fine Structure Constant (FSC). Answer of the WU Concept: Theoretical
Representation of the Fine Structure Constant. FSC - As Micro and Mega
Parameter of the Universe. FSC, Orbits, Heliopause. What Quasars with Record
Redshifts will be discovered in Future? Observed Universe: Monotonic
Homogeneity and Anisotropy or Principal Hierarchy? Is the (Large - Scale) Limit
of Universe exist? All answers, proposed by the Wave Universe Concept, in
contrast with speculative schemes of Standard Model, are effectively verified
by experience, including, - and by justified in observations prognoses. It will
be waited, that namely here it is possible the real break in the understanding
of these principal problems and enigmas, which Nature, infinite Universe offers
(to us).


  By performing X-rays measurements in the "cosmic silence" of the underground
laboratory of Gran Sasso, LNGS-INFN, we test a basic principle of quantum
mechanics: the Pauli Exclusion Principle (PEP), for electrons. We present the
achieved results of the VIP experiment and the ongoing VIP2 measurement aiming
to gain two orders of magnitude improvement in testing PEP. We also use a
similar experimental technique to search for radiation (X and gamma) predicted
by continuous spontaneous localization models, which aim to solve the
"measurement problem".


  In this work, we study cosmological and astrophysical applications of the
recently proposed generalized hybrid metric-Palatini gravity theory, which
combines features of both the metric and the Palatini approaches to the
variational method in $f\left(R\right)$ gravity. This theory arises as a
natural generalization of the hybrid metric-Palatini gravity which has been
proven to be the first theory to unify the cosmic acceleration with the solar
system constraints, without resource to the chameleon mechanism.
  In the cosmological point of view, we show using reconstruction methods that
the usual power-law and exponential scale factor behaviors in FLRW universes
exist for various different distributions of matter, along with solutions for
collapsing universes. Using the dynamical system approach, we also show that no
global attractors can exist in the cosmological phase space and that stable
universes can either be described by scale factors that diverge in finite time
or asymptotically approach constant values. Furthermore, we also study the
cosmological phase space of theories of gravity with terms of order six and
eight in the derivatives of the metric and we conclude that the higher-order
terms are not neglectable.
  In the area of astrophysics, we show that using the junction conditions of
the theory it is possible to obtain solutions for compact objects supported by
thin-shells, such as self-gravitating shells with and without perfect fluids on
their exteriors, and also traversable wormhole solutions which satisfy the null
energy condition for the whole spacetime, thus not needing the support of
exotic matter. Furthermore, we show that there exist specific forms of the
action for which the massive scalar degree of freedom of the theory is stable
in the scope of rotating black-holes described by the Kerr metric.


  Droplet impact behavior has attracted much attention recently due to its
academic significance and diverse industrial applications. This study employs
the lattice Boltzmann method to simulate the impact of a droplet on a
hydrophobic plate featuring a square orifice. Unlike previous studies, the
chemical property of the orifice considered in this work is not homogeneous but
heterogeneous, and its cross-sectional wettability changes from hydrophobicity
to hydrophilicity. The study first validates the numerical method against
experimental data, and then investigates in detail the influences of the Weber
number, wettability difference, and pore size. According to the numerical
results, we observed that the evolutionary stages of the impinging droplet
always include the spreading phase and the rebounding phase, while whether
there exists the splitting phase, it depends on the combined effect of the
wettability difference and the Weber number. The impact behavior of droplets is
analyzed by evaluating the underlying mechanisms such as kinetic energy,
surface energy, viscous dissipation energy, and pressure. It is interesting to
note that the existence of wettability-patterned pore tends to promote adhesion
of droplets on the plate, resulting in the droplet impact behaviors are largely
different from that for the case of homogeneous pore. Additionally, a phase
diagram is constructed for various Weber numbers and pore sizes, revealing that
the dynamic behavior of droplets is determined by the competition among dynamic
pressure, capillary pressure, and viscous pressure losses. These insights from
numerical studies guide the development of innovative solid substrates capable
of manipulating droplet motion.


  The refined enumeration of alternating sign matrices (ASMs) of given order
having prescribed behavior near one or more of their boundary edges has been
the subject of extensive study, starting with the Refined Alternating Sign
Matrix Conjecture of Mills-Robbins-Rumsey, its proof by Zeilberger, and more
recent work on doubly-refined and triply-refined enumeration by several
authors. In this paper we extend the previously known results on this problem
by deriving explicit enumeration formulas for the "top-left-bottom"
(triply-refined) and "top-left-bottom-right" (quadruply-refined) enumerations.
The latter case solves the problem of computing the full boundary correlation
function for ASMs. The enumeration formulas are proved by deriving new
representations, which are of independent interest, for the partition function
of the square ice model with domain wall boundary conditions at the
"combinatorial point" 2{\pi}/3.


  Designing devices composed of many small resonators is a challenging problem
that can easily incur significant computational cost. Can asymptotic techniques
be used to overcome this often limiting factor? Integral methods and asymptotic
techniques have been used to derive concise characterisations for scattering by
resonators, but can these be generalised to systems of many dispersive
resonators whose material parameters have highly non-linear frequency
dependence? In this paper, we study halide perovskite resonators as a
demonstrative example. We extend previous work to show how a finite number of
coupled resonators can be modelled concisely in the limit of small radius. We
also show how these results can be used as the basis for an inverse design
strategy, to design resonator systems that resonate at specific frequencies.


  Large Language Models (LLMs) are foundational in language technologies,
particularly in information retrieval (IR). Previous studies have utilized LLMs
for query expansion, achieving notable improvements in IR. In this paper, we
thoroughly explore the best practice of leveraging LLMs for query expansion. To
this end, we introduce a training-free, straightforward yet effective framework
called Multi-Text Generation Integration (\textsc{MuGI}). It leverages LLMs to
generate multiple pseudo-references, integrating them with queries to enhance
both sparse and dense retrievers. Our empirical findings reveal that: (1)
Increasing the number of samples from LLMs benefits IR systems; (2) A balance
between the query and pseudo-documents, and an effective integration strategy,
is critical for high performance; (3) Contextual information from LLMs is
essential, even boost a 23M model to outperform a 7B baseline model; (4) Pseudo
relevance feedback can further calibrate queries for improved performance; and
(5) Query expansion is widely applicable and versatile, consistently enhancing
models ranging from 23M to 7B parameters. Our code and all generated references
are made available at \url{https://github.com/lezhang7/Retrieval_MuGI}


  Wesson obtained a limit on quantum and gravitational mass in the universe by
combining the cosmological constant Lambda, Planck constant, the speed of light
c, and also the gravitational constant G. The corresponding masses are
2.0x10E-62 kg and 2.3E+54 kg respectively, and in general can be obtained with
the help of a generic dimensional analysis, or from an analysis where the
cosmological constant appears in a four dimensional space-time and as a result
of a higher dimensional reduction. In this paper our goal is to establish a
relation for both quantum and gravitational mass as function of the information
number bit N. For this reason, we first derive an expression for the
cosmological constant as a function of information bit, since both masses
depend on it, and then various resulting relations are explored, in relation to
information number of bits N. Fractional information bits imply no information
extraction is possible. We see, that the order of magnitude of the various
parameters as well as their ratios involve the large number 10E+122, that is
produced naturally from the fundamental parameters of modern cosmology.
Finally, we propose that in a complete quantum gravity theory the idea of
information the might have to be included, with the quantum bits of information
(q-bits) as one of its fundamental parameters, resulting thus to a more
complete understanding of the universe, its laws, and its evolution.


  The similarity in the three-dimensional structures of homologous proteins
imposes strong constraints on their sequence variability. It has long been
suggested that the resulting correlations among amino acid compositions at
different sequence positions can be exploited to infer spatial contacts within
the tertiary protein structure. Crucial to this inference is the ability to
disentangle direct and indirect correlations, as accomplished by the recently
introduced Direct Coupling Analysis (DCA) (Weigt et al. (2009) Proc Natl Acad
Sci 106:67). Here we develop a computationally efficient implementation of DCA,
which allows us to evaluate the accuracy of contact prediction by DCA for a
large number of protein domains, based purely on sequence information. DCA is
shown to yield a large number of correctly predicted contacts, recapitulating
the global structure of the contact map for the majority of the protein domains
examined. Furthermore, our analysis captures clear signals beyond intra- domain
residue contacts, arising, e.g., from alternative protein conformations,
ligand- mediated residue couplings, and inter-domain interactions in protein
oligomers. Our findings suggest that contacts predicted by DCA can be used as a
reliable guide to facilitate computational predictions of alternative protein
conformations, protein complex formation, and even the de novo prediction of
protein domain structures, provided the existence of a large number of
homologous sequences which are being rapidly made available due to advances in
genome sequencing.


  In this paper some of the brightest GeV sources observed by the Fermi-LAT
were analysed, focusing on their spectral cut-off region. The sources chosen
for this investigation were the brightest blazar flares of 3C~454.3 and 3C~279
and the Vela pulsar with a reanalysis with the latest Fermi-LAT software. For
the study of the spectral cut-off we first explored the Vela pulsar spectrum,
whose statistics in the time interval of the 3FGL catalog allowed strong
constraints to be obtained on the parameters. We subsequently performed a new
analysis of the flaring blazar SEDs. For these sources we obtained constraints
on the cut-off parameters under the assumption that their underlying spectral
distribution is described by a power-law with a stretched exponential cut-off.
We then highlighted the significant potential improvements on such constraints
by observations with next generation ground based Cherenkov telescopes,
represented in our study by the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA). Adopting
currently available simulations for this future observatory, we demonstrate the
considerable improvement in cut-off constraints achievable by observations with
this new instrument when compared with that achievable by satellite
observations.


  We show \begin{align*} \frac{ \int_{E \cap \theta^+} f(x) dx }{ \int_E f(x)
dx }
  \geq \left(\frac{k \gamma+1}{(n+1) \gamma+1}\right)^{\frac{k
\gamma+1}{\gamma}} \end{align*} for all $k$-dimensional subspaces
$E\subset\mathbb{R}^n$, $\theta\in E\cap S^{n-1}$, and all $\gamma$-concave
functions $f:\mathbb{R}^n\rightarrow [0,\infty)$ with $\gamma >0$, $0<
\int_{\mathbb{R}^n} f(x)\, dx <\infty$, and $\int_{\mathbb{R}^n} x f(x)\, dx$
at the origin $o\in\mathbb{R}^n$. Here, $\theta^+ := \lbrace x\, : \, \langle
x,\theta\rangle \geq 0 \rbrace$. As a consequence of this result, we get the
following generalization of Gr\"unbaum's inequality: \begin{align*} \frac{
\mbox{vol}_k(K\cap E\cap\theta^+) }{ \mbox{vol}_k(K\cap E) } \geq \left(
\frac{k}{n+1} \right)^k \end{align*} for all convex bodies
$K\subset\mathbb{R}^n$ with centroid at the origin, $k$-dimensional subspaces
$E\subset\mathbb{R}^n$, and $\theta\in E\cap S^{n-1}$. The lower bounds in both
of our inequalities are the best possible, and we discuss the equality
conditions.


  The single-particle inclusive differential cross-section for a reaction
$a+b\to c+X$ is written as the imaginary part of a correlation function in a
for ward scattering amplitude for $a+b\to a+b$ in a modified effective theory.
In this modified theory the interaction Hamiltonian $\tilde H_I$ equals $H_I$
in the original theory up to a certain time. Then there is a sign change and
$\tilde H_I$ becomes nonlocal. This is worked out in detail for scalar field
models and for QED plus the abelian gluon model. A suitable path integral for
direct calculations of inclusive cross sections is presented.


  We compute the conformal blocks of the Virasoro minimal model or its W$_N$
extension with large central charge from Wilson line networks in a Chern-Simons
theory including loop corrections. In our previous work, we offered a
prescription to regularize divergences from loops attached to Wilson lines. In
this paper, we generalize our method with the prescription by dealing with more
general operators for $N=3$ and apply it to the identity W$_3$ block. We
further compute general light-light blocks and heavy-light correlators for
$N=2$ with the Wilson line method and compare the results with known ones
obtained using a different prescription. We briefly discuss general W$_3$
blocks.


  In 2005, interferometric observations with VLTI/VINCI and CHARA/FLUOR
revealed the existence of a circumstellar envelope (CSE) around some Cepheids.
This surrounding material is particularly interesting for two reasons: it could
have an impact on the distance estimates and could be linked to a past or
on-going mass loss. The use of Baade-Wesselink methods for independent distance
determinations could be significantly biased by the presence of these
envelopes. Although their observations are difficult because of the high
contrast between the photosphere of the star and the CSE, several observation
techniques have the potential to improve our knowledge about their physical
properties. In this thesis, I discuss in particular high angular resolution
techniques that I applied to the study of several bright Galactic Cepheids.
First, I used adaptive optic observations with NACO of the Cepheid RS Puppis,
in order to deduce the flux ratio between the CSE and the photosphere of the
star. In addition, I could carry out a statistical study of the speckle noise
and inspect a possible asymmetry. Secondly, I analysed VISIR data to study the
spectral energy distribution of a sample of Cepheids. These diffraction-limited
images enabled me to carry out an accurate photometry in the N band and to
detect an IR excess linked to the presence of a circumstellar component. On the
other hand, applying a Fourier analysis I showed that some components are
resolved. I then explored the K' band with the recombination instrument FLUOR
for some bright Cepheids. Thanks to new set of data of Y Oph, I improved the
study of its circumstellar envelope, using a ring-like model for the CSE. For
two other Cepheids, U Vul and S Sge, I applied the interferometric
Baade-Wesselink method in order to estimate their distance.


  If textbook Lorentz invariance is actually a property of the equations
describing a sector of matter above some critical distance scale, several
sectors of matter with different critical speeds in vacuum can coexist and an
absolute rest frame (the vacuum rest frame, possibly related to the local rest
frame of the expanding Universe) may exist without contradicting the apparent
Lorentz invariance felt by "ordinary" particles (particles with critical speed
in vacuum equal to c , the speed of light). The real geometry of space-time
will then be different from standard Lorentz invariance, and the Poincare
relativity principle will be a local (in space and time), approximate sectorial
property. It seems natural to assume that particles with critical speed in
vacuum different from c are superluminal. We illustrate such a scenario using
as an example a spinorial space-time where the modulus of the spinor,
associated to the time variable, is the size of an expanding Universe. Several
properties of superluminal particles, and of matter without a universal
relativity principle, are discussed in view of experimental applications. If
the vacuum rest frame is close to that suggested by the cosmic microwave
background, experimental searches for superluminal particles on earth should
mainly contemplate a laboratory speed range around 10E3 c , even for very high
energy superluminal cosmic rays. The detectability of several consequences of
the new scenario is briefly discussed.


  Blind quantum computation (BQC) allows a client (Alice), who only possesses
relatively poor quantum devices, to delegate universal quantum computation to a
server (Bob) in such a way that Bob cannot know Alice's inputs, algorithm, and
outputs. The quantum channel between Alice and Bob is noisy, and the loss over
the long-distance quantum communication should also be taken into account. Here
we propose to use decoherence-free subspace (DFS) to overcome the collective
noise in the quantum channel for BQC, which we call DFS-BQC. We propose three
variations of DFS-BQC protocols. One of them, a coherent-light-assisted DFS-BQC
protocol, allows Alice to faithfully send the signal photons with a probability
proportional to a transmission rate of the quantum channel. In all cases, we
combine the ideas based on DFS and the Broadbent-Fitzsimons-Kashefi protocol,
which is one of the BQC protocols, without degrading unconditional security.
The proposed DFS-based schemes are generic and hence can be applied to other
BQC protocols where Alice sends quantum states to Bob.


  We present the first weak gravitational lensing analysis of the completed
Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Legacy Survey (CFHTLS). We study the 64 square
degrees W1 field, the largest of the CFHTLS-Wide survey fields, and present the
largest contiguous weak lensing convergence "mass map" yet made. 2.66 million
galaxy shapes are measured, using a KSB pipeline verified against
high-resolution Hubble Space Telescope imaging that covers part of the CFHTLS.
Our i'-band measurements are also consistent with an analysis of independent
r'-band imaging. The reconstructed lensing convergence map contains 301 peaks
with signal-to-noise ratio {\nu}>3.5, consistent with predictions of a
{\Lambda}CDM model. Of these peaks, 126 lie within 3.0' of a BCG identified
from multicolor optical imaging in an independent, red sequence survey. We also
identify 7 counterparts for massive clusters previously seen in X-ray emission
within 6 square degrees XMM-LSS survey. With photometric redshift estimates for
the source galaxies, we use a tomographic lensing method to fit the redshift
and mass of each convergence peak. Matching these to the optical observations,
we confirm 85 groups/clusters with \chi^2 reduced < 3.0, at a mean redshift
<z_c> = 0.36 and velocity dispersion <\sigma_c> = 658.8 km/s. Future surveys,
such as DES, LSST, KDUST and EUCLID, will be able to apply these same
techniques to map clusters in much larger volumes and thus tightly constrain
cosmological models.


  The VO2-based THz metasurface optical switching threshold is reduced by more
than five orders of magnitude to 0.32-0.4 W/cm2 due to the supply of a
subthreshold electric current. Moreover, additional deposition of Au
nanoparticles can further reduce the threshold by 30% due to plasmonic effects.
The proposed designs and a combined approach to controlling the sub-THz/THz
transmission by electric current and light make it possible to overcome the
existing bottleneck in design of dynamically programmable THz mirror array
based on metasurfaces.


  This paper studies quantum symmetric pairs $(\widetilde{\mathbf U},
\widetilde{{\mathbf U}}^\imath )$ associated with quasi-split Satake diagrams
of affine type $A_{2r-1}, D_r, E_{6}$ with a nontrivial diagram involution
fixing the affine simple node. Various real and imaginary root vectors for the
universal $\imath$quantum groups $\widetilde{{\mathbf U}}^\imath$ are
constructed with the help of the relative braid group action, and they are used
to construct affine rank one subalgebras of $\widetilde{{\mathbf U}}^\imath$.
We then establish relations among real and imaginary root vectors in different
affine rank one subalgebras and use them to give a Drinfeld type presentation
of $\widetilde{{\mathbf U}}^\imath$.


  The dynamical properties of an extended Hubbard model, which is relevant to
quarter-filled layered organic molecular crystals, are analyzed. We have
computed the dynamical charge correlation function, spectral density, and
optical conductivity using Lanczos diagonalization and large-N techniques. As
the ratio of the nearest-neighbour Coulomb repulsion, V, to the hopping
integral, t, increases there is a transition from a metallic phase to a charge
ordered phase. Dynamical properties close to the ordering transition are found
to differ from the ones expected in a conventional metal. Large-N calculations
display an enhancement of spectral weight at low frequencies as the system is
driven closer to the charge ordering transition in agreement with Lanczos
calculations. As V is increased the charge correlation function displays a
plasmon-like mode which, for wavevectors close to (pi,pi), increases in
amplitude and softens as the charge ordering transition is approached. We
propose that inelastic X-ray scattering be used to detect this mode. Large-N
calculations predict superconductivity with dxy symmetry close to the ordering
transition. We find that this is consistent with Lanczos diagonalization
calculations, on lattices of 20 sites, which find that the binding energy of
two holes becomes negative close to the charge ordering transition.


  We perform a systematic study of optimization problems in the Wasserstein
spaces that are analogs of infinite horizon, deterministic control problems. We
derive necessary conditions on action minimizing paths and present a sufficient
condition for their existence. We also verify that the corresponding
generalized value functions are a type of viscosity solution of a time
independent, Hamilton-Jacobi equation in the space of probability measures.
Finally, we prove a special case of a conjecture involving the subdifferential
of generalized value functions and their relation to action minimizing paths.


  We study the crossover behavior of the Hall resistance between the integer
quantum Hall regime and a regime dominated by the Aharonov-Bohm oscillations,
in a system of 4-probe quantum dot with an artificial impurity confined inside.
In a previous study [M. Lei, N.J. Zhu and Hong Guo, Phys. Rev. B. 52, 16784,
(1995)], a peculiar set of symmetry relations between various scattering
probabilities were found in this crossover regime. In this paper we examine the
universality of this set of symmetry relations using different shapes of the
quantum dot and positions of the artificial impurity. The symmetry holds for
these changes and we conclude that in this transport regime the general
behavior of the Hall resistance is determined by the competition of the quantum
Hall and Aharonov-Bohm effects, rather than by the detailed shapes of the
structure.


  In this paper, we establish the generalized Hyers-Ulam stability of Jordan
homomorphisms and Jordan derivations between ternary algebras via the
generalized Jensen equation $rf(\frac{sx+ty}{r})=sf(x)+tf(y)$.


  While cross entropy (CE) is the most commonly used loss to train deep neural
networks for classification tasks, many alternative losses have been developed
to obtain better empirical performance. Among them, which one is the best to
use is still a mystery, because there seem to be multiple factors affecting the
answer, such as properties of the dataset, the choice of network architecture,
and so on. This paper studies the choice of loss function by examining the
last-layer features of deep networks, drawing inspiration from a recent line
work showing that the global optimal solution of CE and mean-square-error (MSE)
losses exhibits a Neural Collapse phenomenon. That is, for sufficiently large
networks trained until convergence, (i) all features of the same class collapse
to the corresponding class mean and (ii) the means associated with different
classes are in a configuration where their pairwise distances are all equal and
maximized. We extend such results and show through global solution and
landscape analyses that a broad family of loss functions including commonly
used label smoothing (LS) and focal loss (FL) exhibits Neural Collapse. Hence,
all relevant losses(i.e., CE, LS, FL, MSE) produce equivalent features on
training data. Based on the unconstrained feature model assumption, we provide
either the global landscape analysis for LS loss or the local landscape
analysis for FL loss and show that the (only!) global minimizers are neural
collapse solutions, while all other critical points are strict saddles whose
Hessian exhibit negative curvature directions either in the global scope for LS
loss or in the local scope for FL loss near the optimal solution. The
experiments further show that Neural Collapse features obtained from all
relevant losses lead to largely identical performance on test data as well,
provided that the network is sufficiently large and trained until convergence.


  Explanations for description logic (DL) entailments provide important support
for the maintenance of large ontologies. The "justifications" usually employed
for this purpose in ontology editors pinpoint the parts of the ontology
responsible for a given entailment. Proofs for entailments make the
intermediate reasoning steps explicit, and thus explain how a consequence can
actually be derived. We present an interactive system for exploring description
logic proofs, called Evonne, which visualizes proofs of consequences for
ontologies written in expressive DLs. We describe the methods used for
computing those proofs, together with a feature called signature-based proof
condensation. Moreover, we evaluate the quality of generated proofs using real
ontologies.


  We study finite groups $G$ such that the maximum length of an orbit of the
natural action of the automorphism group $\operatorname{Aut}(G)$ on $G$ is
bounded from above by a constant. Our main results are the following: Firstly,
a finite group $G$ only admits $\operatorname{Aut}(G)$-orbits of length at most
$3$ if and only if $G$ is cyclic of one of the orders $1$, $2$, $3$, $4$ or
$6$, or $G$ is the Klein four group or the symmetric group of degree $3$.
Secondly, there are infinitely many finite ($2$-)groups $G$ such that the
maximum length of an $\operatorname{Aut}(G)$-orbit on $G$ is $8$. Thirdly, the
order of a $d$-generated finite group $G$ such that $G$ only admits
$\operatorname{Aut}(G)$-orbits of length at most $c$ is explicitly bounded from
above in terms of $c$ and $d$. Fourthly, a finite group $G$ such that all
$\operatorname{Aut}(G)$-orbits on $G$ are of length at most $23$ is solvable.


  We investigate the accuracy of prediction in deterministic learning dynamics
of zero-sum games with random initializations, specifically focusing on
observer uncertainty and its relationship to the evolution of covariances.
Zero-sum games are a prominent field of interest in machine learning due to
their various applications. Concurrently, the accuracy of prediction in
dynamical systems from mechanics has long been a classic subject of
investigation since the discovery of the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle. This
principle employs covariance and standard deviation of particle states to
measure prediction accuracy. In this study, we bring these two approaches
together to analyze the Follow-the-Regularized-Leader (FTRL) algorithm in
two-player zero-sum games. We provide growth rates of covariance information
for continuous-time FTRL, as well as its two canonical discretization methods
(Euler and Symplectic). A Heisenberg-type inequality is established for FTRL.
Our analysis and experiments also show that employing Symplectic discretization
enhances the accuracy of prediction in learning dynamics.


  The spectral problem of the Dirac equation in an external quadratic vector
potential is considered using the methods of the perturbation theory. The
problem is singular and the perturbation series is asymptotic, so that the
methods for dealing with divergent series must be used. Among these, the
Distributional Borel Sum appears to be the most well suited tool to give
answers and to describe the spectral properties of the system. A detailed
investigation is made in one and in three space dimensions with a central
potential. We present numerical results for the Dirac equation in one space
dimension: these are obtained by determining the perturbation expansion and
using the Pad\'e approximants for calculating the distributional Borel
transform. A complete agreement is found with previous non-perturbative results
obtained by the numerical solution of the singular boundary value problem and
the determination of the density of the states from the continuous spectrum.


  A velocity of a point particle in the kappa-Minkowski spacetime is
investigated. Characteristic points of the spacetime are that the Poincare
group becomes a quantum group with kappa, which is a mass dimension parameter,
and is a kind of non-commutative geometry. We consider a particle in a
coordinate space instead of it in a momentum space which is discussed in many
articles. We see that the particle's velocity has an uncertainty which depends
on a length of particle's propagation.


  The recent Nobel-prize-winning detections of gravitational waves from merging
black holes and the subsequent detection of the collision of two neutron stars
in coincidence with electromagnetic observations have inaugurated a new era of
multimessenger astrophysics. To enhance the scope of this emergent science, we
proposed the use of deep convolutional neural networks for the detection and
characterization of gravitational wave signals in real-time. This method, Deep
Filtering, was initially demonstrated using simulated LIGO noise. In this
article, we present the extension of Deep Filtering using real data from the
first observing run of LIGO, for both detection and parameter estimation of
gravitational waves from binary black hole mergers with continuous data streams
from multiple LIGO detectors. We show for the first time that machine learning
can detect and estimate the true parameters of a real GW event observed by
LIGO. Our comparisons show that Deep Filtering is far more computationally
efficient than matched-filtering, while retaining similar sensitivity and lower
errors, allowing real-time processing of weak time-series signals in
non-stationary non-Gaussian noise, with minimal resources, and also enables the
detection of new classes of gravitational wave sources that may go unnoticed
with existing detection algorithms. This approach is uniquely suited to enable
coincident detection campaigns of gravitational waves and their multimessenger
counterparts in real-time.


  In trying to generalize the classic Sylvester-Gallai theorem and De
Bruijn-Erd\H{o}s theorem in plane geometry, lines and closure lines were
previously defined for metric spaces and hypergraphs. Both definitions do not
obey the geometric intuition in the sense that two lines (closure lines) may
intersect at more than one point, and one line (closure line) might be the
proper subset of another. In this work, we study the systems where one or both
of the configurations are forbidden. We note that when any two lines intersect
in at most one point, the two classic theorems extend in any metric space. We
study the metric spaces induced by simple graphs where no line is a proper
subset of another, and show that the least number of lines for such a graph
with $n$ vertices is between the order of $n^{4/3}$ and $n^{4/3} \ln^{2/3} n$.


  Hamiltonian approach in quantum theory provides a new thinking for option
pricing with stochastic interest rates. For barrier options, the option price
changing process is similar to the infinite high barrier scattering problem in
quantum mechanics; for double barrier options, the option price changing
process is analogous to a particle moving in a infinite square potential well.
Using Hamiltonian approach, the expressions of pricing kernels and option
prices under Vasicek stochastic interest rate model could be derived. Numerical
results of options price as functions of underlying prices are also shown.


  Quark model results for the $B\to \pi,\rho$ decays are analysed, making use
of the dispersion formulation of the model: The form factors at $q^2>0$ are
expressed as relativistic invariant double spectral representation over
invariant masses of the initial and final mesons through their light--cone wave
functions. The dependence of the results on the quark model parameters is
studied. For various versions of the quark model the ranges $\Gamma(\bar
B^0\to\pi^+e\bar\nu)=(7\pm2)\times10^{12}|V_{ub}|^2\; s^{-1}$, $\Gamma(\bar
B^0\to\rho^+e\bar\nu)/\Gamma(\bar B^0\to\pi^+e\bar\nu)=1.45\pm0.1$, and
$\Gamma_L/\Gamma_T=0.7\pm0.08$ are found. The effects of the constituent quark
transition form factor are briefly discussed.


  Proper motions are computed and collected in a catalog using the Hipparcos
positions (epoch 1991.25) and URAT1 positions (epoch 2012.3 to 2014.6). The
goal is to obtain a significant improvement on the proper motion accuracy of
single stars in the northern hemisphere, and to identify new astrometric
binaries perturbed by orbital motion. For binaries and multiple systems, the
longer baseline of Tycho2 (~ 100 yr) makes it more reliable despite its larger
formal uncertainties. The resulting proper motions obtained for 67,340 stars
have a consequent gain in accuracy by a factor of ~ 3 compared to Hipparcos.
Comparison between UrHip and Hipparcos shows that they are reasonably close,
but also reveals stars with large discrepant proper motions, a fraction of
which are potential binary candidates.


  We comment on the paper by Van Gorder ["Motion of a helical vortex filament
in superfluid ${}^4$He under the extrinsic form of the local induction
approximation", Phys. Fluids 25, 085101 (2013)]. We point out that the flow of
the normal fluid component parallel to the vortex will often lead into the
Donnelly-Glaberson instability, which will cause the amplification of the
Kelvin wave. We explain why the comparison to local nonlinear equation is
unreasonable, and remark that neglecting the motion in the $x$-direction is not
reasonable for a Kelvin wave with an arbitrary wave length and amplitude. The
correct equations in the general case are also derived.


  We establish a class of sufficient conditions, ensuring that a sequence of
multiple integrals with respect to a free Poisson measure converges to a
semicircular limit. We use this result to construct a set of explicit
counterexamples, showing that the transfer principle between classical and free
Brownian motions (recently proved by Kemp, Nourdin, Peccati and Speicher
(2012)) does not extend to the framework of Poisson measures. Our
counterexamples implicitly use kernels appearing in the classical theory of
random geometric graphs. Several new results of independent interest are
obtained as necessary steps in our analysis, in particular: (i) a
multiplication formula for free Poisson multiple integrals, (ii) diagram
formulae and spectral bounds for these objects, and (iii) a counterexample to
the general universality of the Gaussian Wiener chaos in a classical setting.


  In this study, we present the investigation of eleven recurring solar jets
originated from two different sites (site 1 and site 2) close to each other (~
11 Mm) in the NOAA active region (AR) 12035 during 15--16 April 2014. The jets
were observed by the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) telescope onboard the
Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) satellite. Two jets were observed by the
Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES), Nainital,
India telescope in H-alpha. On 15 April flux emergence is important in site 1
while on 16 April flux emergence and cancellation mechanisms are involved in
both sites. The jets of both sites have parallel trajectories and move to the
south with a speed between 100 and 360 km/s. We observed some connection
between the two sites with some transfer of brightening. The jets of site 2
occurred during the second day and have a tendency to move towards the jets of
site 1 and merge with them. We conjecture that the slippage of the jets could
be explained by the complex topology of the region with the presence of a few
low-altitude null points and many quasi-separatrix layers (QSLs), which could
intersect with one another.


  The polarized Raman spectra of stoichiometric LaTiO$_3$ (T$_N = 150$ K) were
measured between 6 and 300 K. In contrast to earlier report on half-metallic
LaTiO$_{3.02}$, neither strong background scattering, nor Fano shape of the
Raman lines was observed. The high frequency phonon line at 655 cm$^{-1}$
exhibits anomalous softening below T$_N$: a signature for structural
rearrangement. The assignment of the Raman lines was done by comparison to the
calculations of lattice dynamics and the nature of structural changes upon
magnetic ordering are discussed. The broad Raman band, which appears in the
antiferromagnetic phase, is assigned to two-magnon scattering. The estimated
superexchange constant $J = 15.4\pm0.5$ meV is in excellent agreement with the
result of neutron scattering studies.


  We explore solutions for automated labeling of content in bug trackers and
customer support systems. In order to do that, we classify content in terms of
several criteria, such as priority or product area. In the first part of the
paper, we provide an overview of existing methods used for text classification.
These methods fall into two categories - the ones that rely on neural networks
and the ones that don't. We evaluate results of several solutions of both
kinds. In the second part of the paper we present our own recurrent neural
network solution based on hierarchical attention paradigm. It consists of
several Hierarchical Attention network blocks with varying Gated Recurrent Unit
cell sizes and a complementary shallow network that goes alongside. Lastly, we
evaluate above-mentioned methods when predicting fields from two datasets -
Arch Linux bug tracker and Chromium bug tracker. Our contributions include a
comprehensive benchmark between a variety of methods on relevant datasets; a
novel solution that outperforms previous generation methods; and two new
datasets that are made public for further research.


  There are hidden observables for inflation, such as features localized in
position space, which do not manifest themselves when only one inflation
trajectory is considered. To address this issue, we investigate inflation
dynamics in a landscape mimicked by a random potential. We calculate the
probability for bifurcation of the inflation trajectory in multi-stream
inflation. Depending on the shape of the random bumps and the distance between
bumps in the potential, there is a phase transition: on one side of the
critical curve in parameter space isocurvature fluctuation are exponentially
amplified and bifurcation becomes very probable. On the other side bifurcation
is dominated by a random walk where bifurcations are less likely to happen.


  Near-field radar imaging systems are used in a wide range of applications
such as concealed weapon detection and medical diagnosis. In this paper, we
consider the problem of reconstructing the three-dimensional (3D)
complex-valued reflectivity distribution of the near-field scene by enforcing
regularization on its magnitude. We solve this inverse problem by using the
alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM) framework. For this, we
provide a general expression for the proximal mapping associated with such
regularization functionals. This equivalently corresponds to the solution of a
complex-valued denoising problem which involves regularization on the
magnitude. By utilizing this expression, we develop a novel and efficient
plug-and-play (PnP) reconstruction method that consists of simple update steps.
Due to the success of data-adaptive deep priors in imaging, we also train a 3D
deep denoiser to exploit within the developed PnP framework. The effectiveness
of the developed approach is demonstrated for multiple-input multiple-output
(MIMO) imaging under various compressive and noisy observation scenarios using
both simulated and experimental data. The performance is also compared with the
commonly used direct inversion and sparsity-based reconstruction approaches.
The results demonstrate that the developed technique not only provides
state-of-the-art performance for 3D real-world targets, but also enables fast
computation. Our approach provides a unified general framework to effectively
handle arbitrary regularization on the magnitude of a complex-valued unknown
and is equally applicable to other radar image formation problems (including
SAR).


  Factor Sequences are stochastic double sequences indexed in time and
cross-section which have a so called factor structure. The term was coined by
Forni and Lippi (2001) who introduced dynamic factor sequences. We introduce
the distinction between dynamic- and static factor sequences which has been
overlooked in the literature. Static factor sequences, where the static factors
are modeled by a dynamic system, are the most common model of macro-econometric
factor analysis, building on Chamberlain and Rothschild (1983a); Stock and
Watson (2002a); Bai and Ng (2002).
  We show that there exist two types of common components - a dynamic and a
static common component. The difference between those consists of the weak
common component, which is spanned by (potentially infinitely many) weak
factors. We also show that the dynamic common component of a dynamic factor
sequence is causally subordinated to the output under suitable conditions. As a
consequence only the dynamic common component can be interpreted as the
projection on the infinite past of the common innovations of the economy, i.e.
the part which is dynamically common. On the other hand the static common
component captures only the contemporaneous co-movement.


  In this paper we present a memristor-inspired computational method for
obtaining a type of running spectrogram or fingerprint of epileptiform activity
generated by rodent hippocampal spheroids. It can be used to compute on the fly
and with low computational cost an alert-level signal for epileptiform events
onset. Here, we describe the computational method behind this fingerprint
technique and illustrate it using epileptiform events recorded from hippocampal
spheroids using a microelectrode array system.