  The morphology and velocity of the pulse wave in the arteries provide
meaningful information about the cardiovascular system. Nowadays, the pulse
wave is usually acquired using common blood pressure cuffs at the extremities.
This work describes a new measurement device which detects changes in
bioimpedance due to the pulse wave. The system is able to measure up to 1000
bioimpedances per second with a resolution of 24 bits. For comparison purposes,
an additional synchronized photoplethysmography circuit is implemented. Initial
measurements proved that the system is able to acquire the pulse wave at the
forearm.


  We analyse the general features of localisation of fermions and scalars in
smoothed field-theoretical versions of the type 2 Randall- Sundrum braneworld
model. A scalar field domain-wall forms the brane, inducing warped gravity, and
we study the mass spectra of the matter fields in the dimensionally reduced
theory. We demonstrate explicitly that both scalar and fermion fields exhibit a
continuum of properly normalisable modes starting at zero mass. If discrete
bound modes are present in the gravity-free case, these become resonances in
the continuum, while off-resonant modes are highly suppressed on the brane. We
describe briefly how another scalar field can be used to break a symmetry on
the domain-wall while leaving it unbroken far from the wall, as has already
been done in the flat space case. Finally we present numerical calculations for
a toy model which demonstrates the decoupling of continuum modes at low
energies, so the theory becomes four dimensional.


  We outline how redshift-space distortions (RSD) can be measured from the
angular correlation function w({\theta}), of galaxies selected from photometric
surveys. The natural degeneracy between RSD and galaxy bias can be minimized by
comparing results from bins with top-hat galaxy selection in redshift, and bins
based on the radial position of galaxy pair centres. This comparison can also
be used to test the accuracy of the photometric redshifts. The presence of RSD
will be clearly detectable with the next generation of photometric redshift
surveys. We show that the Dark Energy Survey (DES) will be able to measure
f(z){\sigma}_8(z) to a 1{\sigma} accuracy of (17 {\times} b)%, using galaxies
drawn from a single narrow redshift slice centered at z = 1. Here b is the
linear bias, and f is the logarithmic rate of change of the linear growth rate
with respect to the scale factor. Extending to measurements of w({\theta}) for
a series of bins of width 0.02(1 + z) over 0.5 < z < 1.4 will measure {\gamma}
to a 1{\sigma} accuracy of 25%, given the model f = {\Omega}_m(z)^{\gamma}, and
assuming a linear bias model that evolves such that b = 0.5 + z (and fixing
other cosmological parameters). The accuracy of our analytic predictions is
confirmed using mock catalogs drawn from simulations conducted by the MICE
collaboration.


  We investigate the ground-state phase diagram of the spinful extended
Haldane-Hubbard model on the honeycomb lattice using an exact-diagonalization,
mean-field variational approach, and further complement it with the infinite
density matrix renormalization group, applied to an infinite honeycomb
cylinder. This model, governed by both on-site and nearest-neighbor
interactions, can result in two types of insulators with finite local order
parameters, either with spin or charge ordering. Moreover, a third one, a
topologically nontrivial insulator with nonlocal order, is also manifest. We
test expectations of previous analyses in spinless versions asserting that once
a local order parameter is formed, the topological characteristics of the
ground state, associated with a finite Chern number, are no longer present,
resulting in a topologically trivial wave function. Our study confirms this
overall picture, and highlights how finite-size effects may result in
misleading conclusions on the coexistence of finite local order parameters and
nontrivial topology in this model.


  Associated production of the Higgs boson with a top-antitop pair is a key
channel to gather further information on the nature of the newly discovered
boson at the LHC. Experimentally, however, its observation is very challenging
due to the combination of small rates, difficult multi-jet final states and
overwhelming backgrounds. In the Standard Model the largest number of events is
expected when h->bb, giving rise to a WWbbbb signature, deluged in tt+jets. A
promising strategy to improve the sensitivity is to maximally exploit the
theoretical information on the signal and background processes by means of the
matrix element method. We show how, despite the complexity of the final state,
the method can be efficiently applied to discriminate the signal against
combinatorial and tt+jets backgrounds. Remarkably, we find that a moderate
integrated luminosity in the next LHC run will be enough to make the signature
involving both W's decaying leptonically as sensitive as the single-lepton one.


  A variant of Phragm\'en's method for proportional representation via approval
voting is briefly explored. Instead of D'Hondt's rule, this variant generalizes
Sainte-Lagu\"e's rule.


  Machine learning is used to compute achievable information rates (AIRs) for a
simplified fiber channel. The approach jointly optimizes the input distribution
(constellation shaping) and the auxiliary channel distribution to compute AIRs
without explicit channel knowledge in an end-to-end fashion.


  After 10 years of steadily increasing the experimental precision at LEP/SLC,
there is a strong demand on an update of existing programs for fermion pair
production. We present a rederivation of the O(alpha) Bremsstrahlung
corrections to e+e- --> f+f- for the semi-analytic program ZFITTER. We focus on
observables like total cross section and forward-backward asymmetry in the
leptonic case with combined cuts on acollinearity angle, acceptance angle, and
minimal energy of the fermions. The outcome of our analysis is a shift of the
predictions by ZFITTER at LEP 1 energies off-resonance of a few per mil while
at the Z resonance numerical changes can be neglected. Thus we obtain for cross
sections and asymmetries at LEP 1 a level of agreement with other programs of
better than per mil, like for the kinematically simpler s' cut option. A
preliminary analysis of ZFITTER, TOPAZ0, and other codes at LEP 2 energies
showing deviations of several per cent with acollinearity cuts enforce a future
examination of higher order effects with different cuts. The predictions by
LEP/SLC data, however, are not affected within the experimental errors.


  Stochastic gradient descent in continuous time (SGDCT) provides a
computationally efficient method for the statistical learning of
continuous-time models, which are widely used in science, engineering, and
finance. The SGDCT algorithm follows a (noisy) descent direction along a
continuous stream of data. The parameter updates occur in continuous time and
satisfy a stochastic differential equation. This paper analyzes the asymptotic
convergence rate of the SGDCT algorithm by proving a central limit theorem
(CLT) for strongly convex objective functions and, under slightly stronger
conditions, for non-convex objective functions as well. An $L^{p}$ convergence
rate is also proven for the algorithm in the strongly convex case. The
mathematical analysis lies at the intersection of stochastic analysis and
statistical learning.


  ER=EPR allows us to think of quantum teleportation as communication of
quantum information through space-time wormholes connecting entangled systems.
The conditions for teleportation render the wormhole traversable so that a
quantum system entering one end of the ERB will, after a suitable time, appear
at the other end. Teleportation requires the transfer of classical information
outside the horizon, but the classical bit-string carries no information about
the teleported system; the teleported system passes through the ERB leaving no
trace outside the horizon. In general the teleported system will retain a
memory of what it encountered in the wormhole. This phenomenon could be
observable in a laboratory equipped with quantum computers.


  Coupled colloidal quantum dot (CQD) dimers represent a new class of
artificial molecules composed of fused core/shell semiconductor nanocrystals.
The electronic coupling and wavefunction hybridization is enabled by the
formation of an epitaxial connection with a coherent lattice between the shells
of the two neighboring quantum dots where the shell material and its dimensions
dictate the quantum barrier characteristics for the charge carriers. Herein we
introduce a colloidal approach to control the neck formation at the interface
between the two CQDs in such artificial molecular constructs. This allows the
tailoring of the neck barrier in pre-linked homodimers formed via fusion of
multifaceted wurtzite CdSe/CdS CQDs. The effects of reaction time, temperature
and excess ligands is studied. The neck filling process follows an
intraparticle ripening mechanism at relatively mild reaction conditions while
avoiding inter-particle ripening. The degree of surface ligand passivation
plays a key role in activating the surface atom diffusion to the neck region.
The degree of neck filling strongly depends also on the initial relative
orientation of the two CQDs, where homonymous plane attachment allows for
facile neck growth, unlike the case of heteronymous plane attachment. Upon
neck-filling, the observed red-shift of the absorption and fluorescence
measured both for ensemble and single dimers, is assigned to enhanced
hybridization of the confined wavefunction in CQD dimer molecules, as supported
by quantum calculations. The fine tuning of the particle interface introduced
herein provides therefore a powerful tool to further control the extent of
hybridization and coupling in CQD molecules.


  We propose the optical trapping of Rayleigh particles using tailored
anisotropic and hyperbolic metasurfaces illuminated with a linearly polarized
Gaussian beam. This platform permits to engineer optical traps at the beam axis
with a response governed by nonconservative and giant recoil forces coming from
the directional excitation of ultra-confined surface plasmons during the light
scattering process. Compared to optical traps set over bulk metals, the
proposed traps are broadband in the sense that can be set with beams
oscillating at any frequency within the wide range in which the metasurface
supports surface plasmons. Over that range, the metasurface evolves from an
anisotropic elliptic to a hyperbolic regime through a topological transition
and enables optical traps with distinctive spatially asymmetric potential
distribution, local potential barriers arising from the momentum imbalance of
the excited plasmons, and an enhanced potential depth that permits the stable
trapping of nanoparticles using low-intensity laser beams. To investigate the
performance of this platform, we develop a rigorous formalism based on the
Lorentz force within the Rayleigh approximation combined with anisotropic
Green's functions and calculate the trapping potential of nonconservative
forces using the Helmholtz-Hodge decomposition method. Tailored anisotropic and
hyperbolic metasurfaces, commonly implemented by nanostructuring thin metallic
layers, enables using low-intensity laser sources operating in the visible or
the IR to trap and manipulate particles at the nanoscale, and may enable a wide
range of applications in bioengineering, physics, and chemistry.


  In this work the dynamic magnetic field within a tearing-unstable
three-dimensional (3D) current sheet about a magnetic null point is described
in detail. We focus on the evolution of the magnetic null points and flux ropes
that are formed during the tearing process. Generally, we find that both
magnetic structures are created prolifically within the layer and are
non-trivially related. We examine how nulls are created and annihilated during
bifurcation processes, and describe how they evolve within the current layer.
The type of null bifurcation first observed is associated with the formation of
pairs of flux ropes within the current layer. We also find that new nulls form
within these flux ropes, both following internal reconnection and as adjacent
flux ropes interact. The flux ropes exhibit a complex evolution, driven by a
combination of ideal kinking and their interaction with the outflow jets from
the main layer. The finite size of the unstable layer also allows us to
consider the wider effects of flux rope generation. We find that the unstable
current layer acts as a source of torsional MHD waves and dynamic braiding of
magnetic fields. The implications of these results to several areas of
heliophysics are discussed.


  We investigate electron-phonon coupling in many-electron systems using
dynamical mean-field theory in combination with the numerical renormalization
group. This non-perturbative method reveals significant precursor effects to
the gap formation at intermediate coupling strengths. The emergence of a soft
phonon mode and very strong lattice fluctuations can be understood in terms of
Kondo-like physics due to the development of a double-well structure in the
effective potential for the ions.


  We present an approach to tackle the speaker recognition problem using
Triplet Neural Networks. Currently, the $i$-vector representation with
probabilistic linear discriminant analysis (PLDA) is the most commonly used
technique to solve this problem, due to high classification accuracy with a
relatively short computation time. In this paper, we explore a neural network
approach, namely Triplet Neural Networks (TNNs), to built a latent space for
different classifiers to solve the Multi-Target Speaker Detection and
Identification Challenge Evaluation 2018 (MCE 2018) dataset. This training set
contains $i$-vectors from 3,631 speakers, with only 3 samples for each speaker,
thus making speaker recognition a challenging task. When using the train and
development set for training both the TNN and baseline model (i.e., similarity
evaluation directly on the $i$-vector representation), our proposed model
outperforms the baseline by 23%. When reducing the training data to only using
the train set, our method results in 309 confusions for the Multi-target
speaker identification task, which is 46% better than the baseline model. These
results show that the representational power of TNNs is especially evident when
training on small datasets with few instances available per class.


  During the lifetime of sun-like or low mass stars a significant amount of
angular momentum is removed through magnetised stellar winds. This process is
often assumed to be governed by the dipolar component of the magnetic field.
However, observed magnetic fields can host strong quadrupolar and/or octupolar
components, which may influence the resulting spin-down torque on the star. In
Paper I, we used the MHD code PLUTO to compute steady state solutions for
stellar winds containing a mixture of dipole and quadrupole geometries. We
showed the combined winds to be more complex than a simple sum of winds with
these individual components. This work follows the same method as Paper I,
including the octupole geometry which increases the field complexity but also,
more fundamentally, looks for the first time at combining the same symmetry
family of fields, with the field polarity of the dipole and octupole geometries
reversing over the equator (unlike the symmetric quadrupole). We show, as in
Paper I, that the lowest order component typically dominates the spin down
torque. Specifically, the dipole component is the most significant in governing
the spin down torque for mixed geometries and under most conditions for real
stars. We present a general torque formulation that includes the effects of
complex, mixed fields, which predicts the torque for all the simulations to
within 20% precision, and the majority to within ~5%. This can be used as an
input for rotational evolution calculations in cases where the individual
magnetic components are known.


  The pomeron structure function is extracted from the latest H1 data and are
subject to a QCD analysis. The result shows evidence for gluon recombination.


  A phase-field study has been conducted to obtain an understanding of the
formation mechanism of the script lamellar pattern of MoSi2/Mo5Si3 eutectic
composite, which is a promising candidate for high-temperature structural
application. The spacing of the lamellar pattern in the simulation results
shows good agreement with that of experimental observations and analytical
solutions under three growth rates: 10 mm/h, 50 mm/h, and 100 mm/h. The
discontinuity of Mo5Si3 rods, in contrast to the regular eutectic with a
continuous pattern, is claimed to be caused by the instability of the
solid-liquid interface. In this study, the implementation of Mo5Si3 nucleation
over the solid-liquid interface has been proposed and successfully reproduced
the characteristic of discontinuity. A highly random and intersected lamellar
pattern similar to that observed in the ternary MoSi2/Mo5Si3 eutectic alloyed
with 0.1at% Co has been obtained in simulation owing to the increase in the
frequency of nucleation. In addition, it has been demonstrated that the
inclination of the Mo5Si3 rod can be reproduced by taking into account the
strong relaxation of lattice strain energy, which is generally considered to be
negligible in eutectic reaction, as the result of the formation of
ledge-terrace structure.


  A \emph{$(k,t)$-track layout} of a graph $G$ consists of a (proper) vertex
$t$-colouring of $G$, a total order of each vertex colour class, and a
(non-proper) edge $k$-colouring such that between each pair of colour classes
no two monochromatic edges cross. This structure has recently arisen in the
study of three-dimensional graph drawings. This paper presents the beginnings
of a theory of track layouts. First we determine the maximum number of edges in
a $(k,t)$-track layout, and show how to colour the edges given fixed linear
orderings of the vertex colour classes. We then describe methods for the
manipulation of track layouts. For example, we show how to decrease the number
of edge colours in a track layout at the expense of increasing the number of
tracks, and vice versa. We then study the relationship between track layouts
and other models of graph layout, namely stack and queue layouts, and geometric
thickness. One of our principle results is that the queue-number and
track-number of a graph are tied, in the sense that one is bounded by a
function of the other. As corollaries we prove that acyclic chromatic number is
bounded by both queue-number and stack-number. Finally we consider track
layouts of planar graphs. While it is an open problem whether planar graphs
have bounded track-number, we prove bounds on the track-number of outerplanar
graphs, and give the best known lower bound on the track-number of planar
graphs.


  In hydrodynamic (HD) turbulence an exact decomposition of the energy flux
across scales has been derived that identifies the contributions associated
with vortex stretching and strain self-amplification (P. Johnson, Phys. Rev.
Lett., 124, 104501 (2020), J. Fluid Mech. 922, A3 (2021)) to the energy flux
across scales. Here we extend this methodology to general coupled
advection-diffusion equations, in particular to homogeneous magnetohydrodynamic
(MHD) turbulence, and we show that several subfluxes are related to each other
by kinematic constraints akin to the Betchov relation in HD. Applied to data
from direct numerical simulations, this decomposition allows for an
identification of physical processes and for the quantification of their
respective contributions to the energy cascade, as well as a quantitative
assessment of their multi-scale nature through a further decomposition into
single- and multi-scale terms. We find that vortex stretching is strongly
depleted in MHD compared to HD, and the kinetic energy is transferred from
large to small scales almost exclusively by the generation of regions of
small-scale intense strain induced by the Lorentz force. In regions of large
strain, current sheets are stretched by large-scale straining motion into
regions of magnetic shear. This magnetic shear in turn drives extensional flows
at smaller scales. Magnetic energy is transferred from large to small scales,
albeit with considerable backscatter, predominantly by the aforementioned
current-sheet thinning in region of high strain while the contribution from
current-filament stretching - the analogue to vortex stretching - is
negligible. Consequences of these results to subgrid-scale turbulence modelling
are discussed.


  In this paper, we prove some interesting identities, among average
representation numbers (associated to definite quaternion algebras) and
`degree' of Hecke correspondences on Shimura curves (associated to indefinite
quaternion algebras).


  We make a comprehensive study of the theory and phenomenology of a low energy
supersymmetric standard model originating from a string-inspired $E_6$ grand
unified gauge group. The Exceptional Supersymmetric Standard Model (ESSM)
considered here is based on the low energy SM gauge group together with an
extra $Z'$ corresponding to an extra $U(1)_{N}$ gauge symmetry under which
right--handed neutrinos have zero charge. The low energy matter content of the
ESSM corresponds to three 27 representations of the $E_6$ symmetry group, to
ensure anomaly cancellation, plus an additional pair of Higgs--like doublets as
required for high energy gauge coupling unification. The ESSM is therefore a
low energy alternative to the MSSM or NMSSM. The ESSM involves extra matter
beyond the MSSM contained in three $5+5^*$ representations of SU(5), plus three
SU(5) singlets which carry $U(1)_{N}$ charges, one of which develops a VEV,
providing the effective $\mu$ term for the Higgs doublets, as well as the
necessary exotic fermion masses. We explore the RG flow of the ESSM and examine
theoretical restrictions on the values of new Yukawa couplings caused by the
validity of perturbation theory up to the Grand Unification scale. We then
discuss electroweak symmetry breaking and Higgs phenomenology, and establish an
upper limit on the mass of the lightest Higgs particle which can be
significantly heavier than in the MSSM and NMSSM, in leading two--loop
approximation. We also discuss the phenomenology of the $Z'$ and the extra
matter, whose discovery will provide a smoking gun signal of the model.


  Vertical field effect transistors (VOFETs) can offer short channel
architecture which can further enhance the performance at low operating
voltages which makes it more viable for organic electronics applications.
VOFETs can be prepared with low-cost techniques which reduce the high
processing costs and can also operate at high current density and relatively
higher frequencies. To further improve the performance, high current density,
and operating frequency the physics of charge carrier transport should be
understood well with the simulation. The main problem with VOFET is the high
off-current which is inevitable due to conduction from source to drain contact.
There have been many efforts in reducing the off-state current by the addition
of an insulating layer on top of the source electrode, which further increases
the complexity and cost of processing. Simulations based on device geometry,
contact barriers, and organic semiconductor parameters are carried out to study
the charge carrier transport in VOFET. The simulation results show that the
most important factor to enhance the performance is the device geometry or
architecture, which requires a specific fill factor, a ratio between the
exposed gate dielectric, and the total length with the source electrode.
Optimized VOFET architecture is then simulated for variation in contact barrier
and semiconductor parameters, which show some enhancement in performance but
also a rise in off-state current density.


  Despite its importance for subjects ranging from cosmology to plasma physics,
first principle simulations of the dynamics associated with a U(1) chiral
anomaly have been started only recently. In this work, we report on the current
status of these investigations. We discuss a possible set-up and highlight some
results. We present a determination of the Chern-Simons diffusion rate, which
shows some discrepancy with the usual effective description which is anomalous
magnetohydrodynamic. We also present some exploratory results on the behaviour
of an initial chiral chemical potential.


  Due to the rising number of sophisticated customer functionalities,
electronic control units (ECUs) are increasingly integrated into modern
automotive systems. However, the high connectivity between the in-vehicle and
the external networks paves the way for hackers who could exploit in-vehicle
network protocols' vulnerabilities. Among these protocols, the Controller Area
Network (CAN), known as the most widely used in-vehicle networking technology,
lacks encryption and authentication mechanisms, making the communications
delivered by distributed ECUs insecure. Inspired by the outstanding performance
of bidirectional encoder representations from transformers (BERT) for improving
many natural language processing tasks, we propose in this paper ``CAN-BERT", a
deep learning based network intrusion detection system, to detect cyber attacks
on CAN bus protocol. We show that the BERT model can learn the sequence of
arbitration identifiers (IDs) in the CAN bus for anomaly detection using the
``masked language model" unsupervised training objective. The experimental
results on the ``Car Hacking: Attack \& Defense Challenge 2020" dataset show
that ``CAN-BERT" outperforms state-of-the-art approaches. In addition to being
able to identify in-vehicle intrusions in real-time within 0.8 ms to 3 ms w.r.t
CAN ID sequence length, it can also detect a wide variety of cyberattacks with
an F1-score of between 0.81 and 0.99.


  We study the effect of isotropic porous walls on a plane Couette flow laden
with spherical and rigid particles. We perform a parametric study varying the
volume fraction between $0$ and $30\%$, the porosity between $0.3$ and $0.9$
and the non-dimensional permeability between $0$ and $7.9 \times 10^{-3}$ We
find that the porous walls induce a progressive decrease in the suspension
effective viscosity as the wall permeability increases. This behavior is
explained by the weakening of the wall-blocking effect and by the appearance of
a slip velocity at the interface of the porous medium, which reduces the shear
rate in the channel. Therefore, particle rotation and the consequent velocity
fluctuations in the two phases are dampened, leading to reduced particle
interactions and particle stresses. Based on our numerical evidence, we provide
a closed set of equations for the suspension viscosity, which can be used to
estimate the suspension rheology in the presence of porous walls.


  With several new large-scale surveys on the horizon, including LSST, TESS,
ZTF, and Evryscope, faster and more accurate analysis methods will be required
to adequately process the enormous amount of data produced. Deep learning, used
in industry for years now, allows for advanced feature detection in minimally
prepared datasets at very high speeds; however, despite the advantages of this
method, its application to astrophysics has not yet been extensively explored.
This dearth may be due to a lack of training data available to researchers.
Here we generate synthetic data loosely mimicking the properties of acoustic
mode pulsating stars and we show that two separate paradigms of deep learning -
the Artificial Neural Network And the Convolutional Neural Network - can both
be used to classify this synthetic data effectively. And that additionally this
classification can be performed at relatively high levels of accuracy with
minimal time spent adjusting network hyperparameters.


  We report the construction and characterization of a comprehensive
magnonic-opto-electronic oscillator (MOEO) system based on 1550-nm photonics
and yttirum iron garnet (YIG) magnonics. The system exhibits a rich and
synergistic parameter space because of the ability to control individual
photonic, electronic, and magnonic components. Taking advantage of the spin
wave dispersion of YIG, the frequency self-generation as well as the related
nonlinear processes become sensitive to the external magnetic field. Besides
being known as a narrowband filter and a delay element, the YIG delayline
possesses spin wave modes that can be controlled to mix with the optoelectronic
modes to generate higher-order harmonic beating modes. With the high
sensitivity and external tunability, the MOEO system may find usefulness in
sensing applications in magnetism and spintronics beyond optoelectronics and
photonics.


  This paper addresses a phenomenon caused by resetting only one of the two
states of a so-called second order "Constant in gain Lead in phase" (CgLp)
element. CgLp is a recently introduced reset-based nonlinear element, bound to
circumvent the well-known linear control limitation -- the waterbed effect. The
ideal behaviour of such a filter in the frequency domain is unity gain while
providing a phase lead for a broad range of frequencies, which clearly violates
the linear Bode's gain phase relationship. However, CgLp's ideal behaviour is
based on a describing function, which is a first order approximation that
neglects the effects of higher order harmonics in the output of the filter.
Consequently, achieving the ideal behaviour is challenging when higher order
harmonics are relatively large. It is shown in this paper that by resetting
only one of the two states of a second order CgLp, the nonlinear filter will
act as a linear one at a certain frequency, provided that some conditions are
met. This phenomenon can be used to the benefit of reducing higher order
harmonics of CgLp's output and achieving the ideal behaviour and thus better
performance in terms of precision.


  The claimed detection of a diffuse galaxy lacking dark matter represents a
possible challenge to our understanding of the properties of these galaxies and
galaxy formation in general. The galaxy, already identified in photographic
plates taken in the summer of 1976 at the UK 48-in Schmidt telescope, presents
normal distance-independent properties (e.g. colour, velocity dispersion of its
globular clusters). However, distance-dependent quantities are at odds with
those of other similar galaxies, namely the luminosity function and sizes of
its globular clusters, mass-to-light ratio and dark matter content. Here we
carry out a careful analysis of all extant data and show that they consistently
indicate a much shorter distance (13 Mpc) than previously indicated (20 Mpc).
With this revised distance, the galaxy appears to be a rather ordinary low
surface brightness galaxy (R_e=1.4+-0.1 kpc; M*=6.0+-3.6x10^7 Msun) with plenty
of room for dark matter (the fraction of dark matter inside the half mass
radius is >75% and M_halo/M*>20) corresponding to a minimum halo mass >10^9
Msun. At 13 Mpc, the luminosity and structural properties of the globular
clusters around the object are the same as those found in other galaxies.


  Plagiarism is a commonly encountered problem in the academia. While there are
several tools and techniques to efficiently determine plagiarism in text, the
same cannot be said about source code plagiarism. To make the existing systems
more efficient, we use several information retrieval techniques to find the
similarity between source code files written in Java. We later use JPlag, which
is a string-based plagiarism detection tool used in academia to match the
plagiarized source codes. In this paper, we aim to generalize on the efficiency
and effectiveness of detecting plagiarism using different information retrieval
models rather than using just string manipulation algorithms.


  We study the contribution of the first galaxies to the
far-infrared/sub-millimeter (FIR/sub-mm) extragalactic background light (EBL)
by implementing an analytical model for dust emission. We explore different
dust models, assuming different grain size distributions and chemical
compositions. According to our findings, observed re-radiated emission from
dust in dwarf-size galaxies at $z \sim 10$ would peak at a wavelength of $\sim
500 \mu {\rm m}$ with observed fluxes of $\sim 10^{-3} - 10^{-2}$ nJy, which is
below the capabilities of current observatories. In order to be detectable,
model sources at these high redshifts should exhibit luminosities of $\gtrsim
10^{12} L_{\odot}$, comparable to that of local ultra-luminous systems. The
FIR/sub-mm EBL generated by primeval galaxies peaks at $\sim 500 \mu {\rm m}$,
with an intensity ranging from $\sim 10^{-4}$ to $10^{-3} {\rm nW \ m^{-2} \
sr^{-1}}$, depending on dust properties. These values are $\sim 3 - 4$ orders
of magnitude below the absolute measured cosmic background level, suggesting
that the first galaxies would not contribute significantly to the observed
FIR/sub-mm EBL. Our model EBL exhibits a strong correlation with the
dust-to-metal ratio, where we assume a fiducial value of $D = 0.005$,
increasing almost proportionally to it. Thus, measurements of the FIR/sub-mm
EBL could provide constraints on the amount of dust in the early Universe. Even
if the absolute signal from primeval dust emission may be undetectable, it
might still be possible to obtain information about it by exploring angular
fluctuations at $\sim 500 \mu {\rm m}$, close to the peak of dust emission from
the first galaxies.


  The CP Violating asymmetry in Bs mixing (beta_s) is one of the most promising
measurements where physics beyond the Standard Model could be revealed. As
such, analyses need to be subjected to great scrutiny. The mode Bs -> J/psi\phi
has been used, and the mode Bs -> \phi \phi proposed for future measurements.
These modes both have two vector particles in the final state and thus angular
analyses must be used to disentangle the contributions from CP+ and CP-
configurations. The angular distributions, however, could be distorted by the
presence of S-waves masquerading as low mass K+K- pairs, that could result in
erroneous values of beta_s. The S-waves could well be the result of a final
state formed from an s-quark anti-s-quark pair in a 0+ spin-parity state, such
as the f0(980) meson. Data driven and theoretical estimates of the Bs decay
rate into the CP+ final state J/psi f0(980) are given, when f0 -> pi+pi-. The
S-wave contribution in J\psi\phi should be taken into account when determining
beta_s by including a K+K- S-wave amplitude in the fit. This may change the
central value of current results and will also increase the statistical
uncertainty. Importantly, the J/psi f0(980) mode has been suggested as an
alternative channel for measuring beta_s.


  In this paper we consider the minimization of the functional \[
J[u]:=\int_\Omega |\Delta u|^2+\chi_{\{u>0\}} \] in the admissible class of
functions \[ \mathcal A:= \left\{u\in W^{2, 2}(\Omega) {\mbox{ s.t. }} u-u_0\in
W^{1,2}_0(\Omega) \right\}. \] Here, $\Omega$ is a smooth and bounded domain
and $u_0\in W^{2,2}(\Omega)$ is a given function defining the Navier type
boundary condition.
  The scale invariance of the problem suggests that, at the singular points of
the free boundary, quadratic growth of $u$ is expected. We prove that $u$ is
quadratically nondegenerate at the singular free boundary points using a
refinement of Whitney's cube decomposition, which applies, if, for instance,
the set $\{ u>0\}$ is a John domain.
  The optimal growth is linked with the approximate symmetries of the free
boundary. More precisely, if at small scales the free boundary can be
approximated by zero level sets of a quadratic degree two homogeneous
polynomial, then we say that $\partial\{ u>0\}$ is rank-2 flat.
  Using a dichotomy method for nonlinear free boundary problems, we also show
that, at the free boundary points $x\in \Omega$ where $\nabla u(x)=0$, the free
boundary is either well approximated by zero sets of quadratic polynomials,
i.e. $\partial\{ u>0\}$ is rank-2 flat, or $u$ has quadratic growth.
  Differently from the classical free boundary problems driven by the Laplacian
operator, the one-phase minimizers present structural differences with respect
to the minimizers, and one notion is not included into the other. In addition,
one-phase minimizers arise from the combination of a volume type free boundary
problem and an obstacle type problem, hence their growth condition is
influenced in a non-standard way by these two ingredients.


  Online social networks (OSNs) such as YoutTube, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook,
etc., serve as important platforms for users to share their information or
content to friends or followers. Oftentimes, users want to enhance their social
visibility, as it can make their contents, i.e., opinions, videos, pictures,
etc., attract attention from more users, which in turn may bring higher
commercial benefit to them. Motivated by this, we propose a mechanism, where
the OSN operator provides a "social visibility boosting service" to incentivize
"transactions" between requesters (users who seek to enhance their social
visibility via adding new "neighbors") and suppliers (users who are willing to
be added as a new "neighbor" of any requester when certain "rewards" is
provided). We design a posted pricing scheme for the OSN provider to charge the
requesters who use such boosting service, and reward the suppliers who
contribute to such boosting service. The OSN operator keeps a fraction of the
payment from requesters and distributes the remaining part to participating
suppliers "fairly" via the Shapley value. The objective of the OSN provider is
to select the price and supplier set to maximize the total amount of revenue
under the budget constraint of requesters. We first show that the revenue
maximization problem is not simpler than an NP-hard problem. We then decomposed
it into two sub-routines, where one focuses on selecting the optimal set of
suppliers, and the other one focuses on selecting the optimal price. We prove
the hardness of each sub-routine, and eventually design a computationally
efficient approximation algorithm to solve the revenue maximization problem
with provable theoretical guarantee on the revenue gap. We conduct extensive
experiments on four public datasets to validate the superior performance of our
proposed algorithms.


  Decentralized optimization for non-convex problems are now demanding by many
emerging applications (e.g., smart grids, smart building, etc.). Though
dramatic progress has been achieved in convex problems, the results for
non-convex cases, especially with non-linear constraints, are still largely
unexplored. This is mainly due to the challenges imposed by the non-linearity
and non-convexity, which makes establishing the convergence conditions
bewildered. This paper investigates decentralized optimization for a class of
structured non-convex problems characterized by: (i) nonconvex global objective
function (possibly nonsmooth) and (ii) coupled nonlinear constraints and local
bounded convex constraints w.r.t. the agents. For such problems, a
decentralized approach called Proximal Linearizationbased Decentralized Method
(PLDM) is proposed. Different from the traditional (augmented) Lagrangian-based
methods which usually require the exact (local) optima at each iteration, the
proposed method leverages a proximal linearization-based technique to update
the decision variables iteratively, which makes it computationally efficient
and viable for the non-linear cases. Under some standard conditions, the PLDM
global convergence and local convergence rate to the epsilon-critical points
are studied based on the Kurdyka-Lojasiewicz property which holds for most
analytical functions. Finally, the performance and efficacy of the method are
illustrated through a numerical example and an application to multi-zone
heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) control.


  We study a number of domain wall forming models where various types of defect
junctions can exist. These illustrate some of the mechanisms that will
determine the evolution of defect networks with junctions. Understanding these
mechanisms is vital for a proper assessment of a number of cosmological
scenarios: we will focus on the issue of whether or not cosmological frustrated
domain wall networks can exist at all, but our results are also relevant for
the dynamics of cosmic (super)strings, where junctions are expected to be
ubiquitous. We also define and discuss the properties that would make up the
ideal model in terms of hypothetical frustrated wall networks, and provide an
explicit construction for such a model. We carry out a number of numerical
simulations of the evolution of these networks, analyze and contrast their
results, and discuss their implications for our no-frustration conjecture.


  Argyres-Douglas theories constitute an important class of superconformal
field theories in $4$d. The main focus of this paper is on two infinite
families of such theories, known as $D^b_p(\mathrm{SO}(2N))$ and $(A_m, D_n)$.
We analyze in depth their conformal manifolds. In doing so we encounter several
theories of class $\mathcal{S}$ of twisted $A_{\text{odd}}$, twisted
$A_{\text{even}}$ and twisted $D$ types associated with a sphere with one
twisted irregular puncture and one twisted regular puncture. These models
include $D_p(G)$ theories, with $G$ non-simply-laced algebras. A number of new
properties of such theories are discussed in detail, along with new SCFTs that
arise from partially closing the twisted regular puncture. Moreover, we
systematically present the $3$d mirror theories, also known as the magnetic
quivers, for the $D^b_p(\mathrm{SO}(2N))$ theories, with $p \geq b$, and the
$(A_m, D_n)$ theories, with arbitrary $m$ and $n$. We also discuss the $3$d
reduction and mirror theories of certain $D^b_p(\mathrm{SO}(2N))$ theories,
with $p < b$, where the former arises from gauging topological symmetries of
some $T^\sigma_\rho[\mathrm{SO}(2M)]$ theories that are not manifest in the
Lagrangian description of the latter.


  We present the study of the emission properties of the quasar PG1211+143,
which belongs to the class of Narrow Line Seyfert 1 galaxies. On the basis of
observational data analyzed by us and collected from the literature, we study
the temporal and spectral variability of the source in the optical/UV/X-ray
bands and we propose a model that explains the spectrum emitted in this broad
energy range. In this model, the intrinsic emission originating in the warm
skin of the accretion disk is responsible for the spectral component that is
dominant in the softest X-ray range. The shape of reflected spectrum as well as
Fe K line detected in hard X-rays require the reflecting medium to be mildly
ionized (xi~500). We identify this reflector with the warm skin of the disk and
we show that the heating of the skin is consistent with the classical alpha
P_{tot} prescription, while alpha P_{gas} option is at least two orders of
magnitude too low to provide the required heating. We find that the mass of the
central black hole is relatively small (M_BH~10^7- 10^8 Msun, which is
consistent with the Broad Line Region mapping results and characteristic for
NLS1 class.


  Mixture models are well-established learning approaches that, in computer
vision, have mostly been applied to inverse or ill-defined problems. However,
they are general-purpose divide-and-conquer techniques, splitting the input
space into relatively homogeneous subsets in a data-driven manner. Not only
ill-defined but also well-defined complex problems should benefit from them. To
this end, we devise a framework for spatial regression using mixture density
networks. We realize the framework for object detection and human pose
estimation. For both tasks, a mixture model yields higher accuracy and divides
the input space into interpretable modes. For object detection, mixture
components focus on object scale, with the distribution of components closely
following that of ground truth the object scale. This practically alleviates
the need for multi-scale testing, providing a superior speed-accuracy
trade-off. For human pose estimation, a mixture model divides the data based on
viewpoint and uncertainty -- namely, front and back views, with back view
imposing higher uncertainty. We conduct experiments on the MS COCO dataset and
do not face any mode collapse.


  A model of the Lu-Hamilton kind is applied to the study of critical behavior
of the magnetized solar atmosphere. The main novelty is that its driving is
done via sources undergoing a diffusion. This mimics the effect of a virtual
turbulent substrate forcing the system. The system exhibits power-law
statistics not only in the size of the flares, but also in the distribution of
the waiting times.


  Using a sample of 123 X-ray clusters and groups drawn from the XMM-Cluster
Survey first data release, we investigate the interplay between the brightest
cluster galaxy (BCG), its black hole, and the intra-cluster/group medium (ICM).
It appears that for groups and clusters with a BCG likely to host significant
AGN feedback, gas cooling dominates in those with Tx > 2 keV while AGN feedback
dominates below. This may be understood through the sub-unity exponent found in
the scaling relation we derive between the BCG mass and cluster mass over the
halo mass range 10^13 < M500 < 10^15Msol and the lack of correlation between
radio luminosity and cluster mass, such that BCG AGN in groups can have
relatively more energetic influence on the ICM. The Lx - Tx relation for
systems with the most massive BCGs, or those with BCGs co-located with the peak
of the ICM emission, is steeper than that for those with the least massive and
most offset, which instead follows self-similarity. This is evidence that a
combination of central gas cooling and powerful, well fuelled AGN causes the
departure of the ICM from pure gravitational heating, with the steepened
relation crossing self-similarity at Tx = 2 keV. Importantly, regardless of
their black hole mass, BCGs are more likely to host radio-loud AGN if they are
in a massive cluster (Tx > 2 keV) and again co-located with an effective fuel
supply of dense, cooling gas. This demonstrates that the most massive black
holes appear to know more about their host cluster than they do about their
host galaxy. The results lead us to propose a physically motivated, empirical
definition of 'cluster' and 'group', delineated at 2 keV.


  The minimum energy paths for the migration of interstitial Mg in wurtzite GaN
are studied through density functional calculations. The study also comprises
Li, Na, and Be dopants to examine the dependence on size and charge of the
dopant species. In all cases considered, the impurities diffuse like ions
without any tendency of localizing charge. Li, Mg, and to some extent Na,
diffuse almost isotropically in GaN, with average diffusion barriers of 1.1,
2.1, and 2.5 eV, respectively. Instead Be shows a marked anisotropy with energy
barriers of 0.76 and 1.88 eV for diffusion paths perpendicular and parallel to
the c-axis. The diffusion barrier generally increases with ionic charge and
ionic radius, but their interplay is not trivial. The calculated migration
barrier for Mg is consistent with the values estimated in a recent beta-
emission channeling experiment.


  Motivated by the theorem of Gy\H ori and Lov\'asz, we consider the following
problem. For a connected graph $G$ on $n$ vertices and $m$ edges determine the
number $P(G,k)$ of unordered solutions of positive integers $\sum_{i=1}^k m_i =
m$ such that every $m_i$ is realized by a connected subgraph $H_i$ of $G$ with
$m_i$ edges such that $\cup_{i=1}^kE(H_i)=E(G)$. We also consider the
vertex-partition analogue.
  We prove various lower bounds on $P(G,k)$ as a function of the number $n$ of
vertices in $G$, as a function of the average degree $d$ of $G$, and also as
the size $\mathrm{CMC}_r(G)$ of $r$-partite connected maximum cuts of $G$.
Those three lower bounds are tight up to a multiplicative constant.
  We also prove that the number $\pi(G,k)$ of unordered $k$-tuples with
$\sum_{i=1}^kn_i=n$, that are realizable by vertex partitions into $k$
connected parts of respective sizes $n_1,n_2,\dots,n_k$, is $\Omega(d^{k-1})$.


  Deviations from axial symmetry are necessary to maintain self-sustained
MRI-turbulence. We define the parameters region where nonaxisymmetric MRI is
excited and study dependence of the unstable modes structure and growth rates
on the relevant parameters. We solve numerically the linear eigenvalue problem
for global axisymmetric and nonaxisymmetric modes of standard-MRI in Keplerian
disks with finite diffusion. For small magnetic Prandtl number the microscopic
viscosity completely drops out from the analysis so that the stability maps and
the growth rates expressed in terms of the magnetic Reynolds number Rm and the
Lundquist number S do not depend on the magnetic Prandtl number Pm. The minimum
magnetic field for onset of nonaxisymmetric MRI grows with Rm. For given S all
nonaxisymmetric modes disappear for sufficiently high Rm. This behavior is a
consequence of the radial fine-structure of the nonaxisymmetric modes resulting
from the winding effect of differential rotation. It is this fine-structure
which presents severe resolution problems for the numerical simulation of MRI
at large Rm. For weak supercritical magnetic fields only axisymmetric modes are
unstable. Nonaxisymmetric modes need stronger fields and not too fast rotation.
If Pm is small its real value does not play any role in MRI.


  Fulton and MacPherson introduced the notion of bivariant theories and
Grothendieck transformations related to Riemann-Roch-theorems. But there are
many situations, where such a bivariant theory or a corresponding Grothendieck
transformation is only partially known: characteristic classes of singular
spaces (e.g. Stiefel-Whitney or Chern classes), cohomology operations (e.g.
singular Adams Riemann-Roch and Steenrod operations for Chow groups) or
equivariant theories (e.g. Lefschetz Riemann-Roch). We introduce in this paper
a simpler notion of partial (weak) bivariant theories and partial Grothendieck
transformations, which applies to all these examples. Our main theorem shows,
that a natural transformation of covariant theories, which commutes with
exterior products, automatically extends (uniquely) to such a partial
Grothendieck transformation of suitable partial (weak) bivariant theories ! In
the above geometric situations one has for example to consider only morphisms,
whose target is a smooth manifold, or more generally, a suitable homology
manifold.


  The star S0-2, orbiting the Galactic central massive black hole candidate Sgr
A*, passed its pericenter in May 2018. This event is the first chance to detect
the general relativistic (GR) effect of a massive black hole, free from
non-gravitational physics. The observable GR evidence in the event is the
difference between the GR redshift and the Newtonian redshift of photons coming
from S0-2. Within the present observational precision, the 1st post-Newtonian
(1PN) GR evidence is detectable. In this paper, we give a theoretical analysis
of the time evolution of the 1PN GR evidence, under a presupposition that is
different from used in previous papers. Our presupposition is that the
GR/Newtonian redshift is always calculated with the parameter values (the mass
of Sgr A*, the initial conditions of S0-2, and so on) determined by fitting the
GR/Newtonian motion of S0-2 with the observational data. It is then revealed
that the difference of the GR redshift and the Newtonian one shows two peaks
before and after the pericenter passage. This double-peak-appearance is due to
our presupposition, and reduces to a single peak if the same parameter values
are used in both GR and Newtonian redshifts as considered in previous papers.
In addition to this theoretical discussion, we report our observational data
obtained with the Subaru telescope by 2018. The quality and the number of
Subaru data in 2018 are not sufficient to confirm the detection of the
double-peak-appearance.


  We investigate the question whether there is a real difference in the light
change between stars classified as semiregular (SRV) or irregular (Lb)
variables by analysing photometric light curves of 12 representatives of each
class. Using Fourier analysis we try to find a periodic signal in each light
curve and determine the S/N of this signal. For all stars, independent of their
variability class we detect a period above the significance threshold. No
difference in the measured S/N between the two classes could be found. We
propose that the Lb stars can be seen as an extension of the SRVs towards
shorter periods and smaller amplitudes. This is in agreement with findings from
other quantities which also showed no marked difference between the two
classes.


  We develop a theory of a quantifier of bipartite Gaussian entanglement called
Gaussian intrinsic entanglement (GIE) which was proposed recently in [L.
Mi\v{s}ta {\it et al.}, Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 117}, 240505 (2016)]. The GIE
provides a compromise between computable and physically meaningful entanglement
quantifiers and so far it was calculated for two-mode Gaussian states including
all symmetric partial minimum-uncertainty states, weakly mixed asymmetric
squeezed thermal states with partial minimum uncertainty, and weakly mixed
symmetric squeezed thermal states. We improve the method of derivation of GIE
and we show, that all previously derived formulas for GIE of weakly mixed
states in fact hold for states with higher mixedness. In addition, we derive
analytical formulas for GIE for several new classes of two-mode Gaussian states
with partial minimum uncertainty. Finally, it is shown, that like for all
previously known states, also for all new states the GIE is equal to Gaussian
R\'{e}nyi-2 entanglement of formation. This finding strengthens a conjecture
about equivalence of GIE and Gaussian R\'{e}nyi-2 entanglement of formation for
all bipartite Gaussian states.


  In this article, the cyclic homology theory of formal deformation
quantizations of the convolution algebra associated to a proper etale Lie
groupoid is studied. We compute the Hochschild cohomology of the convolution
algebra and express it in terms of alternating multi-vector fields on the
associated inertia groupoid. We introduce a noncommutative Poisson homology
whose computation enables us to determine the Hochschild homology of formal
deformations of the convolution algebra. Then it is shown that the cyclic
(co)homology of such formal deformations can be described by an appropriate
sheaf cohomology theory. This enables us to determine the corresponding cyclic
homology groups in terms of orbifold cohomology of the underlying orbifold.
Using the thus obtained description of cyclic cohomology of the deformed
convolution algebra, we give a complete classification of all traces on this
formal deformation, and provide an explicit construction.


  Speech enhancement can potentially benefit from the visual information from
the target speaker, such as lip movement and facial expressions, because the
visual aspect of speech is essentially unaffected by acoustic environment. In
this paper, we address the problem of enhancing corrupted speech signal from
videos by using audio-visual (AV) neural processing. Most of recent AV speech
enhancement approaches separately process the acoustic and visual features and
fuse them via a simple concatenation operation. Although this strategy is
convenient and easy to implement, it comes with two major drawbacks: 1)
evidence in speech perception suggests that in humans the AV integration occurs
at a very early stage, in contrast to previous models that process the two
modalities separately at early stage and combine them only at a later stage,
thus making the system less robust, and 2) a simple concatenation does not
allow to control how the information from the acoustic and the visual
modalities is treated. To overcome these drawbacks, we propose a multi-layer
feature fusion convolution network (MFFCN), which separately process acoustic
and visual modalities for preserving each modality features while fusing both
modalities' features layer by layer in encoding phase for enjoying the human AV
speech perception. In addition, considering the balance between the two
modalities, we design channel and spectral attention mechanisms to provide
additional flexibility in dealing with different types of information expanding
the representational ability of the convolution neural network. Experimental
results show that the proposed MFFCN demonstrates the performance of the
network superior to the state-of-the-art models.


  Finding a maximum or minimum is a fundamental building block in many
mathematical models. Compared with classical algorithms, Durr, Hoyer's quantum
algorithm (DHA) achieves quadratic speed. However, its key step, the quantum
exponential searching algorithm (QESA), which is based on Grover algorithm, is
not a sure-success algorithm. Meanwhile, quantum circuits encounter the gate
decomposition problem due to variation of the scale of data. In this paper, we
propose an optimized quantum algorithm for searching maximum and minimum, based
on DHA and the optimal quantum exact search algorithm. Furthermore, we provide
the corresponding quantum circuits, together with three equivalent
simplifications. In circumstances when we can exactly estimate the ratio of the
number of solutions M and the searched space N, our method can improve the
successful probability close to 100%. Furthermore, compared with DHA, our
algorithm shows an advantage in complexity with large databases and in the gate
complexity of constructing oracles. Experiments have been executed on an IBM
superconducting processor with two qubits, and a practical problem of finding
the minimum from Titanic passengers' age was numerically simulated. Both showed
that our optimized maximum or minimum performs more efficiently compared with
DHA. Our algorithm can serve as an important subroutine in various quantum
algorithms which involves searching maximum or minimum.


  This dissertation entitled "Fatou's No Wandering Domain Conjecture :
Sullivan's Proof" contains a comprehensive study of the Dynamical Partition of
the Riemann Sphere and a complementary analysis of the work done by Dennis
Sullivan.


  In this paper, we introduce VoteCut, an innovative method for unsupervised
object discovery that leverages feature representations from multiple
self-supervised models. VoteCut employs normalized-cut based graph
partitioning, clustering and a pixel voting approach. Additionally, We present
CuVLER (Cut-Vote-and-LEaRn), a zero-shot model, trained using pseudo-labels,
generated by VoteCut, and a novel soft target loss to refine segmentation
accuracy. Through rigorous evaluations across multiple datasets and several
unsupervised setups, our methods demonstrate significant improvements in
comparison to previous state-of-the-art models. Our ablation studies further
highlight the contributions of each component, revealing the robustness and
efficacy of our approach. Collectively, VoteCut and CuVLER pave the way for
future advancements in image segmentation.


  We demonstrate existence of non-pairwise interaction forces between vortices
in multicomponent and layered superconducting systems. That is, in contrast to
most common models, the interactions in a group of such vortices is not a
universal superposition of Coulomb or Yukawa forces. Next we consider the
properties of vortex clusters in Semi-Meissner state of type-1.5 two-component
superconductors. We show that under certain condition non-pairwise forces can
contribute to formation of very complex vortex states in type-1.5 regimes.


  Using the Plateau de Bure interferometer, we observed the 3mm absorption
lines of CN, HCN and HNC from some of the diffuse clouds which lie toward our
well-studied sample of compact extragalactic mm-wave continuum sources. The
column densities of these species all vary by a factor of about fifty and are
prominent in only a limited subset of the clouds seen in the most ubiquitous
species such as OH, HCO+, C2H and C3H2. The CN, HCN, and HNC column densities
vary in fixed proportion to each other, with <N(HNC)/N(HCN)> = 0.21+/-0.05 and
<N(CN)/N(HCN)> = 6.8+/-1. We searched unsuccessfully for CH3CN and N2H+, which
are underabundant compared to dark clouds, by factors of at least 10 and 100,
respectively.


  This work considers millimeter-wave channel estimation in a setting where
parameters of the underlying mmWave channels are varying dynamically over time
and there is a single drifting path. In this setting, channel estimates at time
block $k$ can be used as side information (SI) when estimating the channel at
block $k+1$. To estimate channel parameters, we employ an SI-aided (complex)
approximate message passing algorithm and compare its performance to a
benchmark based on orthogonal matching pursuit.


  We consider an electroweak model based on the gauge symmetry SU(2)_L X
U(1)_Y' X U(1)_B-L which has right-handed neutrinos with different exotic B-L
quantum numbers. Because of this particular feature we are able to write Yukawa
terms, and right-handed neutrino mass terms, with scalar fields that can
develop vacuum expectation values belonging to different energy scales. We make
a detailed study of the scalar and the Yukawa neutrino sectors to show that
this model is compatible with the observed solar and atmospheric neutrino mass
scales and the tribimaximal mixing matrix.We also show that there are dark
matter candidates if a Z_2 symmetry is included.


  We study an $\ell$-adic Galois analogue of the distribution formulas for
polylogarithms with special emphasis on path dependency and arithmetic
behaviors. As a goal, we obtain a notion of certain universal Kummer-Heisenberg
measures that enable interpolating the $\ell$-adic polylogarithmic distribution
relations for all degrees.


  Hybrid inflation within supersymmetric grand unified theories, as well as
inflation through brane collisions within braneworld cosmological models, lead
to the formation of one-dimensional defects. Observational data, mainly from
the cosmic microwave background temperature anisotropies but also from the
gravitational wave background, impose constraints on the free parameters of the
models. I review these inflationary models and discuss the constraints from the
currently available data.


  Class-incremental semantic image segmentation assumes multiple model updates,
each enriching the model to segment new categories. This is typically carried
out by providing expensive pixel-level annotations to the training algorithm
for all new objects, limiting the adoption of such methods in practical
applications. Approaches that solely require image-level labels offer an
attractive alternative, yet, such coarse annotations lack precise information
about the location and boundary of the new objects. In this paper we argue
that, since classes represent not just indices but semantic entities, the
conceptual relationships between them can provide valuable information that
should be leveraged. We propose a weakly supervised approach that exploits such
semantic relations to transfer objectness prior from the previously learned
classes into the new ones, complementing the supervisory signal from
image-level labels. We validate our approach on a number of continual learning
tasks, and show how even a simple pairwise interaction between classes can
significantly improve the segmentation mask quality of both old and new
classes. We show these conclusions still hold for longer and, hence, more
realistic sequences of tasks and for a challenging few-shot scenario.


  Recent advances in foundation models, especially in large multi-modal models
and conversational agents, have ignited interest in the potential of generally
capable embodied agents. Such agents will require the ability to perform new
tasks in many different real-world environments. However, current foundation
models fail to accurately model physical interactions and are therefore
insufficient for Embodied AI. The study of causality lends itself to the
construction of veridical world models, which are crucial for accurately
predicting the outcomes of possible interactions. This paper focuses on the
prospects of building foundation world models for the upcoming generation of
embodied agents and presents a novel viewpoint on the significance of causality
within these. We posit that integrating causal considerations is vital to
facilitating meaningful physical interactions with the world. Finally, we
demystify misconceptions about causality in this context and present our
outlook for future research.


  We find the spectrum and wave functions of the heavy-light mesons in $(1 +
1)$-dimensional QCD in the 't Hooft limit, both in the rest frame, using the
Coulomb (axial) gauge, and on the light cone. Our emphasis is on the effects of
chiral symmetry breaking on the spectrum. While dynamical equations in both
cases look different, the results for the spectrum are identical. The chiral
symmetry breaking is clearly seen from the gap and Bethe--Salpeter equations in
the laboratory frame. At the same time, while vacuum is trivial on the light
cone (no chiral condensate), the effects of the spontaneous breaking of the
chiral symmetry manifest themselves in the same way, as it follows from the
coincidence of the spectra obtained from the laboratory-frame Bethe--Salpeter
equation on the one hand, and the light-cone 't Hooft-type equation on the
other.


  We derive a lower bound for the optimal fidelity for deterministic cloning a
set of n pure states. In connection with states estimation, we obtain a lower
bound about average maximum correct states estimation probability.


  This paper develops a data-driven inverse reinforcement learning technique
for a class of linear systems to estimate the cost function of an agent online,
using input-output measurements. A simultaneous state and parameter estimator
is utilized to facilitate output-feedback inverse reinforcement learning, and
cost function estimation is achieved up to multiplication by a constant.


  Scaling properties of galaxy cluster observables with mass provide central
insights into the processes shaping clusters. Calibrating proxies for cluster
mass will be crucial to cluster cosmology with upcoming surveys like eROSITA
and Euclid. The recent Planck results led to suggestions that X-ray masses
might be biased low by $\sim\!40$ %, more than previously considered. We extend
the direct calibration of the weak lensing -- X-ray mass scaling towards lower
masses (as low as $1\!\times\!10^{14}\,\mathrm{M}_{\odot}$) in a sample
representative of the $z\!\sim\!0.4$--$0.5$ population. We investigate the
scaling of MMT/Megacam weak lensing (WL) masses for $8$ clusters at
$0.39\!\leq\!z\!\leq\!0.80$ as part of the \emph{400d} WL programme with
hydrostatic \textit{Chandra} X-ray masses as well as those based on the
proxies, e.g. $Y_{\mathrm{X}}\!=\!T_{\mathrm{X}}M_{\mathrm{gas}}$. Overall, we
find good agreement between WL and X-ray masses, with different mass bias
estimators all consistent with zero. Subdividing the sample, we find the
high-mass subsample to show no significant mass bias while for the low-mass
subsample, there is a bias towards overestimated X-ray masses at the
$\sim\!2\sigma$ level for some mass proxies. The overall scatter in the
mass-mass scaling relations is surprisingly low. Neither observation can be
traced back to the parameter settings in the WL analysis. We do not find
evidence for a strong ($\sim\!40$ %) underestimate in the X-ray masses, as
suggested to reconcile Planck cluster counts and cosmological constraints. For
high-mass clusters, our measurements are consistent with studies in the
literature. The mass dependent bias, significant at $\sim\!2\sigma$, may hint
at a physically different cluster population (less relaxed clusters with more
substructure and mergers); or it may be due to small number statistics.


  Popov has recently introduced an analogue of Jordan classes (packets, or
decomposition classes) for the action of a theta-group (G_0,V), showing that
they are finitely-many, locally-closed, irreducible unions of G_0-orbits of
constant dimension partitioning V. We carry out a local study of their closures
showing that Jordan classes are smooth and that their closure is a union of
Jordan classes. We parametrize Jordan classes and G_0-orbits in a given class
in terms of the action of subgroups of Vinberg's little Weyl group, and include
several examples and counterexamples underlying the differences with the
symmetric case and the critical issues arising in the theta-situation.


  We propose a kinetic equation for a special kind of acceleration: chaotic gun
effect. Then we infer a distribution function which can depict the instability
condition. With this distribution function we derive the power spectrum of the
synchrotron emission and we prove the power law form of the power spectrum. We
show that the spectral index of the emission spectrum is related to the
spectral index of the number of the charged particles in the beam. Our numeric
simulations show that the spectrum has a break at a frequency threshold where
the chaotic acceleration becomes efficient. Assuming this threshold to the set
on of the efficient chaotic gun effect we estimate the magnetic strength .Our
paper advocates an electromagnetic process able to accelerate charged particles
to high energies starting from low energies. Assuming the high-energy particles
spectra of Mkn 501 to be produced by the synchrotron emission during chaotic
gun effect we estimate some parameters of the source.


  This is a review of the theory of toric Landau-Ginzburg models - the
effective approach to mirror symmetry for Fano varieties. We mainly focus on
the cases of dimensions 2 and 3, as well as on the case of complete
intersections in weighted projective spaces and Grassmannians. Conjectures that
relate invariants of Fano varieties and their Landau--Ginzburg models, such as
Katzarkov-Kontsevich-Pantev conjectures, are also studied.


  We propose a new discrete model---the twisted quantum double model---of 2D
topological phases based on a finite group $G$ and a 3-cocycle $\alpha$ over
$G$. The detailed properties of the ground states are studied, and we find that
the ground--state subspace can be characterized in terms of the twisted quantum
double $D^{\alpha}(G)$ of $G$. When $\alpha$ is the trivial 3-cocycle, the
model becomes Kitaev's quantum double model based on the finite group $G$, in
which the elementary excitations are known to be classified by the quantum
double $D(G)$ of $G$. Our model can be viewed as a Hamiltonian extension of the
Dijkgraaf--Witten topological gauge theories to the discrete graph case with
gauge group being a finite group. We also demonstrate a duality between a large
class of Levin-Wen string-net models and certain twisted quantum double models,
by mapping the string--net 6j symbols to the corresponding 3-cocycles. The
paper is presented in a way such that it is accessible to a wide range of
physicists.


  Objects sensed by laser interferometers are usually not stable in position or
orientation. This angular instability can lead to a coupling of angular tilt to
apparent longitudinal displacement -- tilt-to-length coupling (TTL). In LISA
this is a potential noise source for both the test mass interferometer and the
long-arm interferometer. We have experimentally investigated TTL coupling in a
setup representative for the LISA test mass interferometer and used this system
to characterise two different imaging systems (a two-lens design and a
four-lens design) both designed to minimise TTL coupling. We show that both
imaging systems meet the LISA requirement of +-25 um/rad for interfering beams
with relative angles of up to +-300 urad. Furthermore, we found a dependency of
the TTL coupling on beam properties such as the waist size and location, which
we characterised both theoretically and experimentally.


  We present some reverse Young-type inequalities for the Hilbert-Schmidt norm
as well as any unitarily invariant norm. Furthermore, we give some inequalities
dealing with operator means. More precisely, we show that if $A, B\in
{\mathfrak B}(\mathcal{H})$ are positive operators and $r\geq 0$,
$A\nabla_{-r}B+2r(A\nabla B-A\sharp B)\leq A\sharp_{-r}B$ and prove that
equality holds if and only if $A=B$. We also establish several reverse
Young-type inequalities involving trace, determinant and singular values. In
particular, we show that if $A, B$ are positive definite matrices and $r\geq
0$, then $\label{reverse_trace} \mathrm{tr}((1+r)A-rB)\leq
\mathrm{tr}|A^{1+r}B^{-r} |-r(\sqrt{\mathrm{tr} A} - \sqrt{\mathrm{tr}
B})^{2}$.


  We present an error analysis of various tomographic protocols based on the
linear inversion for the reconstruction of an unknown two-qubit state. We solve
the problem of finding a tomographic protocol which is the most robust against
errors in terms of the lowest value (i.e., equal to 1) of a condition number,
as required by the Gastinel-Kahan theorem. In contrast, standard tomographic
protocols, including those based on mutually unbiased bases, are nonoptimal for
determining all 16 elements of an unknown two-qubit density matrix. Our method
is based on the measurements of the 16 generalized Pauli operators, where
twelve of them can be locally measured, and the other four require nonlocal
Bell measurements. Our method corresponds to selectively measuring, one by one,
all of the real and imaginary elements of an unknown two-qubit density matrix.
We describe two experimentally feasible setups of this protocol for the optimal
reconstruction of two photons in an unknown polarization state using
conventional detectors and linear-optical elements. Moreover, we define the
operators for the optimal reconstruction of the states of multiqubit or
multilevel (qudit) systems.


  Marine shells are designed by nature to ensure mechanical protection from
predators and shelter for mollusks living inside them. A large amount of work
has been done to study the multiscale mechanical properties of their complex
microstructure and to draw inspiration for the design of impact-resistant
biomimetic materials. Less is known regarding the dynamic behavior related to
their structure at multiple scales. Here, we present a combined experimental
and numerical study of the shells of two different species of gastropod sea
snail belonging to the Turritellidae family, featuring a peculiar helicoconic
shape with hierarchical spiral elements. The proposed procedure involves the
use of micro-Computed Tomography scans for the accurate determination of
geometry, Atomic Force Microscopy and Nanoindentation to evaluate local
mechanical properties, surface morphology and heterogeneity, as well as
Resonant Ultrasound Spectroscopy coupled with Finite Element Analysis
simulations to determine global modal behavior. Results indicate that the
specific features of the considered shells, in particular their helicoconic and
hierarchical structure, can also be linked to their vibration attenuation
behavior. Moreover, the proposed investigation method can be extended to the
study of other natural systems, to determine their structure-related dynamic
properties, ultimately aiding the design of bioinspired metamaterials and of
structures with advanced vibration control.


  The AdS/CFT correspondence establishes a string representation for Wilson
loops in N=4 SYM theory at large N and large 't Hooft coupling. One of the
clearest manifestations of the stringy behaviour in Wilson loop correlators is
the string-breaking phase transition. It is shown that resummation of planar
diagrams without internal vertices predicts the strong-coupling phase transtion
in exactly the same setting in which it arises from the string representation.


  We present a numerically exact approach for evaluating vibrationally resolved
electronic spectra at finite temperatures using the coherence thermofield
dynamics. In this method, which avoids implementing an algorithm for solving
the von Neumann equation for coherence, the thermal vibrational ensemble is
first mapped to a pure-state wavepacket in an augmented space, and this
wavepacket is then propagated by solving the standard, zero-temperature
Schr\"odinger equation with the split-operator Fourier method. We show that the
finite-temperature spectra obtained with the coherence thermofield dynamics in
a Morse potential agree exactly with those computed by Boltzmann-averaging the
spectra of individual vibrational levels. Because the split-operator
thermofield dynamics on a full tensor-product grid is restricted to
low-dimensional systems, we briefly discuss how the accessible dimensionality
can be increased by various techniques developed for the zero-temperature
split-operator Fourier method.


  Infrared and visible image fusion (IVIF) is used to generate fusion images
with comprehensive features of both images, which is beneficial for downstream
vision tasks. However, current methods rarely consider the illumination
condition in low-light environments, and the targets in the fused images are
often not prominent. To address the above issues, we propose an
Illumination-Aware Infrared and Visible Image Fusion Network, named as IAIFNet.
In our framework, an illumination enhancement network first estimates the
incident illumination maps of input images. Afterwards, with the help of
proposed adaptive differential fusion module (ADFM) and salient target aware
module (STAM), an image fusion network effectively integrates the salient
features of the illumination-enhanced infrared and visible images into a fusion
image of high visual quality. Extensive experimental results verify that our
method outperforms five state-of-the-art methods of fusing infrared and visible
images.


  Kirkwood-Buff (KB) integrals are notoriously difficult to converge from a
canonical simulation because they require estimating the grand-canonical radial
distribution. The same essential difficulty is encountered when attempting to
estimate the direct correlation function of Ornstein-Zernike theory by
inverting the pair correlation functions. We present a new theory that applies
to the entire, finite, simulation volume, so that no cutoff issues arise at
all. The theory gives the direct correlation function for closed systems, while
smoothness of the direct correlation function in reciprocal space allows
calculating canonical KB integrals via a well-posed extrapolation to the
origin. The present analysis method represents an improvement over previous
work because it makes use of the entire simulation volume and its convergence
can be accelerated using known properties of the direct correlation function.
Using known interaction energy functions can make this extrapolation near
perfect accuracy in the low-density case. Because finite size effects are
stronger in the canonical than the grand-canonical ensemble, we state ensemble
correction formulas for the chemical potential and the KB coefficients. The new
theory is illustrated with both analytical and simulation results on the 1D
Ising model and a supercritical Lennard-Jones fluid. For the latter, the
finite-size corrections are shown to be small.


  When $A$ and $B$ are subsets of the integers in $[1,X]$ and $[1,Y]$
respectively, with $|A| \geq \alpha X$ and $|B| \geq \beta X$, we show that the
number of rational numbers expressible as $a/b$ with $(a,b)$ in $A \times B$ is
$\gg (\alpha \beta)^{1+\epsilon}XY$ for any $\epsilon > 0$, where the implied
constant depends on $\epsilon$ alone. We then construct examples that show that
this bound cannot in general be improved to $\gg \alpha \beta XY$. We also
resolve the natural generalisation of our problem to arbitrary subsets $C$ of
the integer points in $[1,X] \times [1,Y]$. Finally, we apply our results to
answer a question of S\'ark\"ozy concerning the differences of consecutive
terms of the product sequence of a given integer sequence.


  We examine the behavior of multi-agent networks where information-sharing is
subject to a positive communications cost over the edges linking the agents. We
consider a general mean-square-error formulation where all agents are
interested in estimating the same target vector. We first show that, in the
absence of any incentives to cooperate, the optimal strategy for the agents is
to behave in a selfish manner with each agent seeking the optimal solution
independently of the other agents. Pareto inefficiency arises as a result of
the fact that agents are not using historical data to predict the behavior of
their neighbors and to know whether they will reciprocate and participate in
sharing information. Motivated by this observation, we develop a reputation
protocol to summarize the opponent's past actions into a reputation score,
which can then be used to form a belief about the opponent's subsequent
actions. The reputation protocol entices agents to cooperate and turns their
optimal strategy into an action-choosing strategy that enhances the overall
social benefit of the network. In particular, we show that when the
communications cost becomes large, the expected social benefit of the proposed
protocol outperforms the social benefit that is obtained by cooperative agents
that always share data. We perform a detailed mean-square-error analysis of the
evolution of the network over three domains: far field, near-field, and
middle-field, and show that the network behavior is stable for sufficiently
small step-sizes. The various theoretical results are illustrated by numerical
simulations.


  The old pulsar PSR B0943+10 (P=1.1 s, characteristic age tau=5 Myr) is the
best example of mode-switching radio pulsar. Its radio emission alternates
between a highly organized state with regular drifting subpulses (B mode) and a
chaotic emission pattern (Q mode). We present the results of XMM-Newton
observations showing that the X-ray properties of PSR B0943+10 depend on its
radio state (Hermsen et al. 2013). During the radio fainter state (Q mode) the
X-ray flux is more than a factor two larger than during the B-mode and X-ray
pulsations with about 50% pulsed fraction are detected. The X-ray emission of
PSR B0943+10 in the B-mode is well described by thermal emission with blackbody
temperature kT=0.26 keV coming from a small hot spot with luminosity of 7x10^28
erg/s, in good agreement with the prediction of the partially screened gap
model, which also explains the properties of the radio emission in this mode.
We derived an upper limit of 46% on the X-ray pulsed fraction in the B-mode,
consistent with the geometry and viewing angle of PSR B0943+10 inferred from
the radio data. The higher flux observed during the Q-mode is consistent with
the appearance of an additional component with a power-law spectrum with photon
index 2.2. We interpret it as pulsed non-thermal X-rays produced in the star
magnetosphere. A small change in the beaming pattern or in the efficiency of
acceleration of the particles responsible for the non-thermal emission can
explain the reduced flux of this component during the radio B-mode.


  A Latin square has six conjugate Latin squares obtained by uniformly
permuting its (row, column, symbol) triples. We say that a Latin square has
conjugate symmetry if at least two of its six conjugates are equal. We
enumerate Latin squares with conjugate symmetry and classify them according to
several common notions of equivalence. We also do similar enumerations under
additional hypotheses, such as assuming the Latin square is reduced, diagonal,
idempotent or unipotent.
  Our data corrected an error in earlier literature and suggested several
patterns that we then found proofs for, including (1) The number of isomorphism
classes of semisymmetric idempotent Latin squares of order $n$ equals the
number of isomorphism classes of semisymmetric unipotent Latin squares of order
$n+1$, and (2) Suppose $A$ and $B$ are totally symmetric Latin squares of order
$n\not\equiv0\bmod3$. If $A$ and $B$ are paratopic then $A$ and $B$ are
isomorphic.


  We present discovery images, together with follow-up imaging and
spectroscopy, of two large separation gravitational lenses found by our survey
for wide arcs (the CASSOWARY). The survey exploits the multicolor photometry of
the Sloan Digital Sky Survey to find multiple blue components around red
galaxies. CASSOWARY~2 (or "the Cheshire Cat") is composed of two massive
early-type galaxies at z = 0.426 and 0.432 respectively lensing two background
sources, the first a star-forming galaxy at z = 0.97 and the second a high
redshift galaxy (z> 1.4). There are at least three images of the former source
and probably four or more of the latter, arranged in two giant arcs. The mass
enclosed within the larger arc of radius 11 arcsecs is about 33 x 10^{12} solar
masses. CASSOWARY~3 comprises an arc of three bright images of a z = 0.725
source, lensed by a foreground elliptical at z = 0.274. The radius of the arc
is about 4 arcsecs and the enclosed mass is 2.5 x 10^{12} solar masses.
Together with earlier discoveries like the Cosmic Horseshoe and the 8 O'Clock
Arc, these new systems, with separations intermediate between the arcsecond
separation lenses of typical strong galaxy lensing and the larger separation
cluster lenses, probe the very high end of the galaxy mass function.


  We report on progress applying the stochastic LapH method to estimate
all-to-all propagators required in correlation functions of multi-hadron
operators relevant for pion-pion scattering. Large-volume results for $I=2$ and
$I=1$ pion-pion scattering phase shifts with good statistical precision are
obtained from an $N_{\rm f} = 2+1$ anisotropic Wilson clover ensemble with
$m_{\pi} = 240\mathrm{MeV}$. We also present a preliminary determination of the
$I=1$ pion-pion scattering phase shift and timelike pion form factor on an
isotropic $N_{\rm f}=2+1$ flavour ensemble generated by the Coordinated Lattice
Simulation (CLS) community effort.


  The upscaling of Large Language Models (LLMs) has yielded impressive advances
in natural language processing, yet it also poses significant deployment
challenges. Weight quantization has emerged as a widely embraced solution to
reduce memory and computational demands. This paper introduces BitDistiller, a
framework that synergizes Quantization-Aware Training (QAT) with Knowledge
Distillation (KD) to boost the performance of LLMs at ultra-low precisions
(sub-4-bit). Specifically, BitDistiller first incorporates a tailored
asymmetric quantization and clipping technique to maximally preserve the
fidelity of quantized weights, and then proposes a novel Confidence-Aware
Kullback-Leibler Divergence (CAKLD) objective, which is employed in a
self-distillation manner to enable faster convergence and superior model
performance. Empirical evaluations demonstrate that BitDistiller significantly
surpasses existing methods in both 3-bit and 2-bit configurations on general
language understanding and complex reasoning benchmarks. Notably, BitDistiller
is shown to be more cost-effective, demanding fewer data and training
resources. The code is available at https://github.com/DD-DuDa/BitDistiller.


  We use concepts from statistical physics to transform the original evolution
equation for the sea ice thickness distribution $g(h)$ due to Thorndike et al.,
(1975) into a Fokker-Planck like conservation law. The steady solution is $g(h)
= {\cal N}(q) h^q \mathrm{e}^{-~ h/H}$, where $q$ and $H$ are expressible in
terms of moments over the transition probabilities between thickness
categories. The solution exhibits the functional form used in observational
fits and shows that for $h \ll 1$, $g(h)$ is controlled by both thermodynamics
and mechanics, whereas for $h \gg 1$ only mechanics controls $g(h)$. Finally,
we derive the underlying Langevin equation governing the dynamics of the ice
thickness $h$, from which we predict the observed $g(h)$. The genericity of our
approach provides a framework for studying the geophysical scale structure of
the ice pack using methods of broad relevance in statistical mechanics.


  Estimating failure probabilities of engineering systems is an important
problem in many engineering fields. In this work we consider such problems
where the failure probability is extremely small (e.g $\leq10^{-10}$). In this
case, standard Monte Carlo methods are not feasible due to the extraordinarily
large number of samples required. To address these problems, we propose an
algorithm that combines the main ideas of two very powerful failure probability
estimation approaches: the subset simulation (SS) and the multicanonical Monte
Carlo (MMC) methods. Unlike the standard MMC which samples in the entire domain
of the input parameter in each iteration, the proposed subset MMC algorithm
adaptively performs MMC simulations in a subset of the state space and thus
improves the sampling efficiency. With numerical examples we demonstrate that
the proposed method is significantly more efficient than both of the SS and the
MMC methods. Moreover, the proposed algorithm can reconstruct the complete
distribution function of the parameter of interest and thus can provide more
information than just the failure probabilities of the systems.


  We have examined the possible construction of a stationary, spherically
symmetric and spatially inhomogeneous wormhole spacetime supported by the
phantom energy. The later is supposed to be represented by the modified
Chaplygin gas equation of state. The solutions so obtained satisfy the flare
out and the asymptotic flatness conditions. It is also shown that the averaged
null energy condition has to be violated for the existence of the wormhole.


  Graph-based frames have been introduced as a logical framework which
internalizes an inherent boundary to knowability. They also support the
interpretation of lattice-based (modal) logics as hyper-constructive logics of
evidential reasoning. Conceptually, the present paper proposes graph-based
frames as a formal framework suitable for generalizing Pawlak's rough set
theory to a setting in which inherent limits to knowability need to be
considered. Technically, the present paper establishes systematic connections
between the first-order correspondents of Sahlqvist modal reduction principles
on Kripke frames, and on the more general relational environments of
graph-based and polarity-based frames. This work is part of a research line
aiming at: (a) comparing and inter-relating the various (first-order)
conditions corresponding to a given (modal) axiom in different relational
semantics (b) recognizing when first-order sentences in the
frame-correspondence languages of different relational structures encode the
same modal content (c) meaningfully transferring relational properties across
different semantic contexts. The present paper develops these results for the
graph-based semantics, polarity-based semantics, and all Sahlqvist modal
reduction principles. As an application, we study well known modal axioms in
rough set theory on graph-based frames and show that, although these axioms
correspond to different first-order conditions on graph-based frames, their
intuitive meaning is retained.This allows us to introduce the notion of
hyperconstructivist approximation spaces as the subclass of graph-based frames
defined by the first-order conditions corresponding to the same modal axioms
defining classical generalized approximation spaces, and to transfer the
properties and the intuitive understanding of different approximation spaces to
graph-based frames.


  A referring expression (RE) is a description that identifies a set of
instances unambiguously. Mining REs from data finds applications in natural
language generation, algorithmic journalism, and data maintenance. Since there
may exist multiple REs for a given set of entities, it is common to focus on
the most intuitive ones, i.e., the most concise and informative. In this paper
we present REMI, a system that can mine intuitive REs on large RDF knowledge
bases. Our experimental evaluation shows that REMI finds REs deemed intuitive
by users. Moreover we show that REMI is several orders of magnitude faster than
an approach based on inductive logic programming.


  We show that a dilute ensemble of epoxy-bonded adatoms on graphene has a
tendency to form a spatially correlated state accompanied by a gap in
graphene's electron spectrum. This effect emerges from the electron-mediated
interaction between adatoms with a peculiar $1/r^3$ distance dependence. The
partial ordering transition is described by a random bond three state Potts
model.


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


  From the distributional characterizations that lie at the heart of Stein's
method we derive explicit formulae for the mass functions of discrete
probability laws that identify those distributions. These identities are
applied to develop tools for the solution of statistical problems. Our
characterizations, and hence the applications built on them, do not require any
knowledge about normalization constants of the probability laws. To demonstrate
that our statistical methods are sound, we provide comparative simulation
studies for the testing of fit to the Poisson distribution and for parameter
estimation of the negative binomial family when both parameters are unknown. We
also consider the problem of parameter estimation for discrete
exponential-polynomial models which generally are non-normalized.


  We study the SU(2) gluon and ghost propagators in Landau gauge on lattices up
to a size of 112^4. A comparison with the SU(3) case is made and finite-volume
effects are then investigated. We find that for a large range of momenta the
SU(2) and SU(3) propagators are remarkably alike. In the low-momentum region we
compare with recent results obtained in DSE studies on a 4-torus.


  A person's interests exist as an internal state and are difficult to define.
Since only external actions are observable, a proxy must be used that
represents someone's interests. Techniques like collaborative filtering,
behavioral targeting, and hashtag analysis implicitly model an individual's
interests. I argue that these models are limited to shallow, temporary
interests, which do not reflect people's deeper interests or passions. I
propose an alternative model of interests that takes advantage of a user's
social graph. The basic principle is that people only follow those that
interest them, so the social graph is an effective and robust proxy for
people's interests.


  Spatial confounding is a fundamental issue in regression models for spatially
indexed data. It arises because spatial random effects, included to approximate
unmeasured spatial variation, are typically not independent of the covariates
in the model. This can lead to significant bias in covariate effect estimates.
Despite extensive research, it is still a topic of much confusion with
sometimes puzzling and seemingly contradictory results. In this paper we
develop a broad theoretical framework that brings mathematical clarity to the
mechanisms of spatial confounding, providing explicit and interpretable
analytical expressions for the resulting bias. From these, we see that it is a
problem directly linked to spatial smoothing, and we can identify exactly how
the features of the model and the data generation process affect the size and
occurrence of bias. We also use our framework to understand and generalise some
of the main results on spatial confounding in the past, including suggested
methods for bias adjustment. Thus, our comprehensive and mathematically
explicit approach clears up existing confusion and, indeed, demystifies the
issue of spatial confounding.


  Industrial automation systems (IASs) are traditionally developed using a
sequential approach where the automation software, which is commonly based on
the IEC 61131 languages, is developed when the design and in many cases the
implementation of mechanical parts have been completed. However, it is claimed
that this approach does not lead to the optimal system design and that the IEC
61131 does not meet new challenges in this domain. In this paper, a system
engineering process based on the new version of IEC 61131, which supports
Object Orientation, is presented. SysML and UML are utilized to introduce a
higher layer of abstraction in the design space of IAS and Internet of Things
(IoT) is considered as an enabling technology for the integration of Cyber and
Cyber-physical components of the system, bringing into the industrial
automation domain the benefits of these technologies.


  The purpose of this communication is to point out the connection between a 1D
quantum Hamiltonian involving the fourth Painleve transcendent P$_{\rm IV}$,
obtained in the context of second-order supersymmetric quantum mechanics and
third-order ladder operators, with a hierarchy of families of quantum systems
called $k$-step rational extensions of the harmonic oscillator and related with
multi-indexed $X_{m_{1},m_{2},...,m_{k}}$ Hermite exceptionnal orthogonal
polynomials of type III. The connection between these exactly solvable models
is established at the level of the equivalence of the Hamiltonians using
rational solutions of the fourth Painleve equation in terms of generalized
Hermite and Okamoto polynomials. We also relate the different ladder operators
obtained by various combinations of supersymmetric constructions involving
Darboux-Crum and Krein-Adler supercharges, their zero modes and the
corresponding energies. These results will demonstrate and clarify the relation
observed for a particular case in previous papers.