  Large Language Models (LLMs) have made the ambitious quest for generalist
agents significantly far from being a fantasy. A key hurdle for building such
general models is the diversity and heterogeneity of tasks and modalities. A
promising solution is unification, allowing the support of a myriad of tasks
and modalities within one unified framework. While few large models (e.g.,
Flamingo (Alayrac et al., 2022), trained on massive datasets, can support more
than two modalities, current small to mid-scale unified models are still
limited to 2 modalities, usually image-text or video-text. The question that we
ask is: is it possible to build efficiently a unified model that can support
all modalities? To answer this, we propose UnIVAL, a step further towards this
ambitious goal. Without relying on fancy datasets sizes or models with billions
of parameters, the ~ 0.25B parameter UnIVAL model goes beyond two modalities
and unifies text, images, video, and audio into a single model. Our model is
efficiently pretrained on many tasks, based on task balancing and multimodal
curriculum learning. UnIVAL shows competitive performance to existing
state-of-the-art approaches, across image and video-text tasks. The feature
representations learned from image and video-text modalities, allows the model
to achieve competitive performance when finetuned on audio-text tasks, despite
not being pretrained on audio. Thanks to the unified model, we propose a novel
study on multimodal model merging via weight interpolation of models trained on
different multimodal tasks, showing their benefits in particular for
out-of-distribution generalization. Finally, we motivate unification by showing
the synergy between tasks. The model weights and code are released here:
https://github.com/mshukor/UnIVAL.


  With considerations of the recently released WMAP year three and supernova
legacy survey (SNLS) data set analysis that favors models similar to the $%
\Lambda CDM$ model by possibly mild fluctuations around the vacuum energy or
the cosmological constant, we extend the original Chaplygin Gas model (ECG) via
modifying the Chaplygin Gas equation of state by two parameters to describe an
entangled mixture state from an available matter and the rest component (which
can take the cosmological constant or dark energy as in the current cosmic
stage, or `curvature-like' term, or radiation component in the early epoch, as
various phases) coexistence. At low redshifts, the connection of the ECG model
and the Born-infeld field is set up. As paradigms, we use the data coming from
the recently released SNLS for the first year and also the famous 157 type Ia
supernova (Ia SNe) gold dataset to constrain the model parameters. The
restricted results demonstrate clearly how large the entangled degree or the
ratio between the energy density parameters of the two entangled phases being.
The fact that the ECG models are consistent with the observations of Ia SNe is
obtained through the redshift-luminosity distance diagram, hence the ECG can be
regarded possible candidates for mimicking the current speed-up expansion of
our universe.


  The purpose of this paper is to introduce the concept of self-cyclic maps,
g-coupling and Banach type g-coupling which is the generalization of couplings
introduced by Choudhury et al. In our main result we prove the existence
theorem of coupled coincidence point for Banach type g-couplings which extends
the results by Choudhury et al. We give an example in support of our result.


  The six independent formfactors describing the weak decay \semi\ are
determined in terms of one universal function when both the $b$ and $c$ quarks
are treated as heavy. The relations between these formfactors are modified by
terms suppressed by inverse powers of the charm quark mass. We compute the
formally leading long-distance corrections to these relations in chiral
perturbation theory both at and away from zero recoil. They arise from the
spin-symmetry breaking $\Sigma_c^* - \Sigma_c$ mass splitting and are
nonanalytic in the pion mass. The correction at the zero-recoil point is found
to be $ - (3.4 \pm 2.0) \times 10^{-4} g_3^2$ for a quark model estimate of
$m_{\Sigma_c^*}-m_{\Sigma_c}$ and where $g_3\sim 1$ is an axial coupling
constant. Further, the formfactors that vanish in the heavy quark limit do not
receive such corrections.


  A simple unitarized quark-meson model, recently applied with success to light
and charmed scalar mesons, is shown to encompass Adler-type zeros in the
amplitude, due to the use of relativistic kinematics in the scattering sector.
These zeros turn out to be crucial for the description of the $K_0^*$(800)
resonance, as well as the new charmed scalar mesons $D_{s0}^*$(2317) and
$D_0^*$(2300). ~


  We propose to study multiple ergodic averages from multifractal analysis
point of view. In some special cases in the symbolic dynamics, Hausdorff
dimensions of the level sets of multiple ergodic average limit are determined
by using Riesz products.


  Based on a result by Yarotsky (J. Stat. Phys. 118, 2005), we prove that
localized but otherwise arbitrary perturbations of weakly interacting quantum
spin systems with uniformly gapped on-site terms change the ground state of
such a system only locally, even if they close the spectral gap. We call this a
strong version of the local perturbations perturb locally (LPPL) principle
which is known to hold for much more general gapped systems, but only for
perturbations that do not close the spectral gap of the Hamiltonian. We also
extend this strong LPPL-principle to Hamiltonians that have the appropriate
structure of gapped on-site terms and weak interactions only locally in some
region of space.
  While our results are technically corollaries to a theorem of Yarotsky, we
expect that the paradigm of systems with a locally gapped ground state that is
completely insensitive to the form of the Hamiltonian elsewhere extends to
other situations and has important physical consequences.


  We revamp the constructive enumeration of 1/16-BPS states in the maximally
supersymmetric Yang-Mills in four dimensions, and search for ones that are not
of multi-graviton form. A handful of such states are found for gauge group
SU(2) at relatively high energies, resolving a decade-old enigma. Along the
way, we clarify various subtleties in the literature, and prove a
non-renormalization theorem about the exactness of the cohomological
enumeration in perturbation theory. We point out a giant-graviton-like feature
in our results, and envision that a deep analysis of our data will elucidate
the fundamental properties of black hole microstates.


  A new measurement of the mean lifetime of the tau lepton is presented. Three
different analysis methods are applied to a sample of 90000 tau pairs,
collected in 1993 and 1994 with the ALEPH detector at LEP. The average of this
measurement and those previously published by ALEPH is tau_tau = 290.1 +- 1.5
+- 1.1 fs.


  In this Tutorial, we describe the use of the quasiharmonic approximation and
first-principles density functional theory (DFT) to calculate and analyze the
thermal expansion of insulating solids. We discuss the theory underlying the
quasiharmonic approximation, and demonstrate its practical use within two
common frameworks for calculating thermal expansion: the Helmholtz free energy
framework and Gr\"{u}neisen theory. Using the example of silicon, we provide a
guide for predicting how the lattice parameter changes as a function of
temperature using DFT, including the calculation of phonon modes and phonon
density of states, elastic constants, and specific heat. We also describe the
calculation and interpretation of Gr\"{u}neisen parameters, as well as how they
relate to coefficients of thermal expansion. The limitations of the
quasiharmonic approximation are briefly touched on, as well as the comparison
of theoretical results with experimental data. Finally, we use the example of
ferroelectric PbTiO$_3$ to illustrate how the methods used can be adapted to
study anisotropic systems.


  Model based reinforcement learning has proven to be more sample efficient
than model free methods. On the other hand, the construction of a dynamics
model in model based reinforcement learning has increased complexity. Data
processing tasks in radio astronomy are such situations where the original
problem which is being solved by reinforcement learning itself is the creation
of a model. Fortunately, many methods based on heuristics or signal processing
do exist to perform the same tasks and we can leverage them to propose the best
action to take, or in other words, to provide a `hint'. We propose to use
`hints' generated by the environment as an aid to the reinforcement learning
process mitigating the complexity of model construction. We modify the soft
actor critic algorithm to use hints and use the alternating direction method of
multipliers algorithm with inequality constraints to train the agent. Results
in several environments show that we get the increased sample efficiency by
using hints as compared to model free methods.


  Recently, Chen et al. derived the generating function for partitions avoiding
right nestings and posed the problem of finding the generating function for
partitions avoiding right crossings. In this paper, we derive the generating
function for partitions avoiding right crossings via an intermediate structure
of partial matchings avoiding 2-right crossings and right nestings. We show
that there is a bijection between partial matchings avoiding 2-right crossing
and right nestings and partitions avoiding right crossings.


  In this article, we consider the quasi-linear stochastic wave and heat
equations on the real line and with an additive Gaussian noise which is white
in time and behaves in space like a fractional Brownian motion with Hurst index
$H\in (0,1)$. The drift term is assumed to be globally Lipschitz. We prove that
the solution of each of the above equations is continuous in terms of the index
$H$, with respect to the convergence in law in the space of continuous
functions.


  This paper reviews the history of mobile learning, provides a definition of
mobile learning. The properties, advantages and disadvantages of mobile
learning, areas of its implementation at the Technical University and mobile
learning tools were specified. The aim of the article is the analysis of the
modern state of mobile learning and the determination of the conditions of its
implementation at the high technical educational institutions. The process of
the mobile learning in the national education system is in its formation stage.
Nowadays the following stages of its development are formed, which are based on
the availability of the technical means for the mobile learning and the mobile
access implementation to educational resources. The mobile learning is the
logical and innovation process in the education system, which is defined as a
learning technology which uses the mobile devices, communication technology and
intelligent user interfaces.


  This work provides a complete rheological characterization of 2D-inks in
electric fields with different intensities and orientations to the imposed flow
field. 2D nanomaterials used in this study are graphene nanoplatelets,
hexagonal boron-nitride, and molybdenum disulfide. These materials with
different electric properties are dispersed in a non-polar solvent (Toluene)
with different concentrations of Ethyl Cellulose (EC), providing Newtonian or
viscoelastic characteristics. Shear rheology tests show that the presence of
nanoparticles barely changes the fluid behavior from the carrier fluid, and the
application of an electric field perpendicular to the flow does not result in
electrorheological behavior. However, extensional experiments, which mimic the
actual EHD jet printing conditions, allowed the observation of the influence of
both the particles and the electric field aligned on the filament thinning
process. It was observed that the electric field generates vortices due to an
electrophoretic effect in the carrier fluid when EC is present in the
formulations, which has severe consequences on the stability of the liquid
bridges, whereas it scarcely affects the shear viscosity; additionally, the
kind of 2D nanoparticles modifies also the conductivity and permittivity of the
solution, inducing Maxwell stresses that also make the filament more stable
against surface tension.


  We report on the creation of a degenerate Fermi gas consisting of a balanced
mixture of atoms in three different hyperfine states of $^6$Li. This new system
consists of three distinguishable Fermions with different and tunable
interparticle scattering lengths $a_{12}$, $a_{13}$ and $a_{23}$. We are able
to prepare samples containing $5 \cdot 10^4$ atoms in each state at a
temperature of about $215 $nK, which corresponds to $T/T_F \approx 0.37$. We
investigated the collisional stability of the gas for magnetic fields between 0
and 600 G and found a prominent loss feature at 130 G. From lifetime
measurements we determined three-body loss coefficients, which vary over nearly
three orders of magnitude.


  Methods based on polynomial chaos expansion allow to approximate the behavior
of systems with uncertain parameters by deterministic dynamics. These methods
are used in a wide range of applications, spanning from simulation of uncertain
systems to estimation and control. For practical purposes the exploited
spectral series expansion is typically truncated to allow for efficient
computation, which leads to approximation errors. Despite the Hilbert space
nature of polynomial chaos, there are only a few results in the literature that
explicitly discuss and quantify these approximation errors. This work derives
error bounds for polynomial chaos approximations of polynomial and
non-polynomial mappings. Sufficient conditions are established, which allow
investigating the question whether zero truncation errors can be achieved and
which series order is required to achieve this. Furthermore, convex quadratic
programs, whose argmin operator is a special case of a piecewise polynomial
mapping, are studied due to their relevance in predictive control. Several
simulation examples illustrate our findings.


  The multiple Try Metropolis (MTM) algorithm is an advanced MCMC technique
based on drawing and testing several candidates at each iteration of the
algorithm. One of them is selected according to certain weights and then it is
tested according to a suitable acceptance probability. Clearly, since the
computational cost increases as the employed number of tries grows, one expects
that the performance of an MTM scheme improves as the number of tries
increases, as well. However, there are scenarios where the increase of number
of tries does not produce a corresponding enhancement of the performance. In
this work, we describe these scenarios and then we introduce possible solutions
for solving these issues.


  Learning on graphs is becoming prevalent in a wide range of applications
including social networks, robotics, communication, medicine, etc. These
datasets belonging to entities often contain critical private information. The
utilization of data for graph learning applications is hampered by the growing
privacy concerns from users on data sharing. Existing privacy-preserving
methods pre-process the data to extract user-side features, and only these
features are used for subsequent learning. Unfortunately, these methods are
vulnerable to adversarial attacks to infer private attributes. We present a
novel privacy-respecting framework for distributed graph learning and
graph-based machine learning. In order to perform graph learning and other
downstream tasks on the server side, this framework aims to learn features as
well as distances without requiring actual features while preserving the
original structural properties of the raw data. The proposed framework is quite
generic and highly adaptable. We demonstrate the utility of the Euclidean
space, but it can be applied with any existing method of distance approximation
and graph learning for the relevant spaces. Through extensive experimentation
on both synthetic and real datasets, we demonstrate the efficacy of the
framework in terms of comparing the results obtained without data sharing to
those obtained with data sharing as a benchmark. This is, to our knowledge, the
first privacy-preserving distributed graph learning framework.


  Physical models for the hemispherical power asymmetry in the cosmic microwave
background (CMB) reported by the Planck Collaboration must satisfy CMB
constraints to the homogeneity of the Universe and quasar constraints to power
asymmetries. We survey a variety of models for the power asymmetry and show
that consistent models include a modulated scale-dependent isocurvature
contribution to the matter power spectrum or a modulation of the reionization
optical depth, gravitational-wave amplitude, or scalar spectral index. We
propose further tests to distinguish between the different scenarios.


  Deep learning (DL) has advanced the field of dense prediction, while
gradually dissolving the inherent barriers between different tasks. However,
most existing works focus on designing architectures and constructing visual
cues only for the specific task, which ignores the potential uniformity
introduced by the DL paradigm. In this paper, we attempt to construct a novel
\underline{ComP}lementary \underline{tr}ansformer, \textbf{ComPtr}, for diverse
bi-source dense prediction tasks. Specifically, unlike existing methods that
over-specialize in a single task or a subset of tasks, ComPtr starts from the
more general concept of bi-source dense prediction. Based on the basic
dependence on information complementarity, we propose consistency enhancement
and difference awareness components with which ComPtr can evacuate and collect
important visual semantic cues from different image sources for diverse tasks,
respectively. ComPtr treats different inputs equally and builds an efficient
dense interaction model in the form of sequence-to-sequence on top of the
transformer. This task-generic design provides a smooth foundation for
constructing the unified model that can simultaneously deal with various
bi-source information. In extensive experiments across several representative
vision tasks, i.e. remote sensing change detection, RGB-T crowd counting,
RGB-D/T salient object detection, and RGB-D semantic segmentation, the proposed
method consistently obtains favorable performance. The code will be available
at \url{https://github.com/lartpang/ComPtr}.


  This work addresses flexibility in deep learning by means of transductive
reasoning. For adaptation to new data and tasks, e.g., in continual learning,
existing methods typically involve tuning learnable parameters or complete
re-training from scratch, rendering such approaches unflexible in practice. We
argue that the notion of separating computation from memory by the means of
transduction can act as a stepping stone for solving these issues. We therefore
propose PARMESAN (parameter-free memory search and transduction), a scalable
method which leverages a memory module for solving dense prediction tasks. At
inference, hidden representations in memory are being searched to find
corresponding patterns. In contrast to other methods that rely on continuous
training of learnable parameters, PARMESAN learns via memory consolidation
simply by modifying stored contents. Our method is compatible with commonly
used architectures and canonically transfers to 1D, 2D, and 3D grid-based data.
The capabilities of our approach are demonstrated at the complex task of
continual learning. PARMESAN learns by 3-4 orders of magnitude faster than
established baselines while being on par in terms of predictive performance,
hardware-efficiency, and knowledge retention.


  We numerically study the scattering coefficients of linear water waves on
stationary flows above a localized obstacle. We compare the scattering on
trans- and subcritical flows, and then focus on the latter which have been used
in recent analog gravity experiments. The main difference concerns the
magnitude of the mode amplification: whereas transcritical flows display a
large amplification (which is generally in good agreement with the Hawking
prediction), this effect is heavily suppressed in subcritical flows. This is
due to the transmission across the obstacle for frequencies less than some
critical value. As a result, subcritical flows display high- and low-frequency
behaviors separated by a narrow band around the critical frequency. In the
low-frequency regime, transmission of long wavelengths is accompanied by
non-adiabatic scattering into short wavelengths, whose spectrum is
approximately linear in frequency. By contrast, in the high-frequency regime,
no simple description seems to exist. In particular, for obstacles similar to
those recently used, we observe that the upstream slope still affects the
scattering on the downstream side because of some residual transmission.


  For any L-infinity algebra L, we construct an A-infinity structure on the
space of symmetric tensors Sym*(L), which generalizes the classical universal
enveloping for Lie algebras. Our construction is based on an invariant homotopy
on a cobar construction of the symmetric coalgebra, which is obtained through
its relation with permutahedra and Young tableaux.


  The EXO-POPP project aims to establish a comprehensive database comprising
300,000 marriage records from Paris and its suburbs, spanning the years 1880 to
1940, which are preserved in over 130,000 scans of double pages. Each marriage
record may encompass up to 118 distinct types of information that require
extraction from plain text. In this paper, we introduce the M-POPP dataset, a
subset of the M-POPP database with annotations for full-page text recognition
and information extraction in both handwritten and printed documents, and which
is now publicly available. We present a fully end-to-end architecture adapted
from the DAN, designed to perform both handwritten text recognition and
information extraction directly from page images without the need for explicit
segmentation. We showcase the information extraction capabilities of this
architecture by achieving a new state of the art for full-page Information
Extraction on Esposalles and we use this architecture as a baseline for the
M-POPP dataset. We also assess and compare how different encoding strategies
for named entities in the text affect the performance of jointly recognizing
handwritten text and extracting information, from full pages.


  Bayesian networks are a class of popular graphical models that encode causal
and conditional independence relations among variables by directed acyclic
graphs (DAGs). We propose a novel structure learning method, annealing on
regularized Cholesky score (ARCS), to search over topological sorts, or
permutations of nodes, for a high-scoring Bayesian network. Our scoring
function is derived from regularizing Gaussian DAG likelihood, and its
optimization gives an alternative formulation of the sparse Cholesky
factorization problem from a statistical viewpoint, which is of independent
interest. We combine global simulated annealing over permutations with a fast
proximal gradient algorithm, operating on triangular matrices of edge
coefficients, to compute the score of any permutation. Combined, the two
approaches allow us to quickly and effectively search over the space of DAGs
without the need to verify the acyclicity constraint or to enumerate possible
parent sets given a candidate topological sort. The annealing aspect of the
optimization is able to consistently improve the accuracy of DAGs learned by
local search algorithms. In addition, we develop several techniques to
facilitate the structure learning, including pre-annealing data-driven tuning
parameter selection and post-annealing constraint-based structure refinement.
Through extensive numerical comparisons, we show that ARCS achieves substantial
improvements over existing methods, demonstrating its great potential to learn
Bayesian networks from both observational and experimental data.


  We study a one-dimensional discrete analog of the von Karman flow, widely
investigated in turbulence. A lattice of anharmonic oscillators is excited by
both ends in order to create a large scale structure in a highly nonlinear
medium, in the presence of a dissipative term similar to the viscous term in a
fluid. This system shows a striking similarity with a turbulent flow both at
local and global scales. The properties of the nonlinear excitations of the
lattice provide a partial understanding of this behavior.


  We obtain modified dispersion relations by requiring the vanishing of
determinant of inverse of modified photon propagators in Lorentz invariance
violation (LIV) theory. Inspired by these dispersion relations, we give a more
general dispersion relation with less assumption and apply it to the recent
observed gamma-ray burst GRB090510 to extract various constraints on LIV
parameters. We find that the constraint on quantum gravity mass is slightly
larger than the Planck mass but is consistent with the other recent
observations, so the corresponding LIV coefficient $\xi_1$ has reached the
natural order ($o(1)$) as one expects. From our analysis, the linear LIV
corrections to photon group velocity might be not excluded yet.


  We discuss experimental signatures capable of nearly immediate study that
would discern/constrain new physics manifested via enhanced gluonic penguin
decays of the $b$.


some errors in equations


  Increasing the speed of computer is one of the important aspects of the
Random Access Memory (RAM) and for better and fast processing it should be
efficient. In this work, the main focus is to design energy efficient RAM and
it also can be accessed through internet. A 128-bit IPv6 address is added to
the RAM in order to control it via internet. Four different types of Low
Voltage CMOS (LCVMOS) IO standards are used to make it low power under five
different WLAN frequencies is taken. At WLAN frequency 2.4GHz, there is maximum
power reduction of 85% is achieved when LVCMOS12 is taken in place of LVCMOS25.
This design is implemented using Virtex-6 FPGA, Device xc6vlx75t and Package
FF484


  This article introduces continuous $H^2$-nonconforming finite elements in two
and three space dimensions which satisfy a strong discrete Miranda--Talenti
inequality in the sense that the global $L^2$ norm of the piecewise Hessian is
bounded by the $L^2$ norm of the piecewise Laplacian. The construction is based
on globally continuous finite element functions with $C^1$ continuity on the
vertices (2D) or edges (3D). As an application, these finite elements are used
to approximate uniformly elliptic equations in non-divergence form under the
Cordes condition without additional stabilization terms. For the biharmonic
equation in three dimensions, the proposed methods has less degrees of freedom
than existing nonconforming schemes of the same order. Numerical results in two
and three dimensions confirm the practical feasibility of the proposed schemes.


  The local density of states of Mn-Mn pairs in GaAs is mapped with
cross-sectional scanning tunneling microscopy and compared with theoretical
calculations based on envelope-function and tight-binding models. These
measurements and calculations show that the crosslike shape of the Mn-acceptor
wavefunction in GaAs persists even at very short Mn-Mn spatial separations. The
resilience of the Mn-acceptor wave-function to high doping levels suggests that
ferromagnetism in GaMnAs is strongly influenced by impurity-band formation. The
envelope-function and tight-binding models predict similarly anisotropic
overlaps of the Mn wave-functions for Mn-Mn pairs. This anisotropy implies
differing Curie temperatures for Mn $\delta$-doped layers grown on differently
oriented substrates.


  We extend the generality of the theory of framed motives by G.~Garkusha and
I.~Panin to the case of an arbitrary base field. This theory plays a
fundamental role and allows to get explicit computations of stable motivic
homotopy types. We prove in the present article the key required result that is
the strict homotopy invariance theorem. The result extends the celebrating
Voevodsky's strict homotopy invariance theorem on $\mathbb A^1$-homotopy
invariant presheaves with transfers to arbitrary fields.


  The relation between early type galaxy size, surface brightness and velocity
dispersion, "the fundamental plane", has long been understood as resulting from
equilibrium in their largely pressure supported stellar dynamics. The
dissipation and feedback involved in reaching such an equilibrium through
merger formation of these galaxies over cosmic time can be responsible for the
orientation of the plane. We see a correlation between surface brightness
enhancement and youth in the 6dF Galaxy Survey. Correlations of this `tilt'
with stellar mass, age, concentration, shape and metallicity now point the
direction for further work on the resolved kinematics and structure of these
nearby galaxies and on their initial mass function and dark matter component.
  On the face of it, the Tully Fisher relation is a simpler one dimensional
scaling relation. However, as late type galaxies have bulges as well as disks,
and, as the surface density of disks is only standard for the more massive
galaxies, additional parameters are involved.


  A description of a ring of functions on the base of a universal formal
deformation for several moduli problems is given. The answer is given in terms
of a homology group of a certain dg Lie algebra canonically (up to an
essentially unique quasi-isomorphism) associated with a problem.


  In this paper, we extend the fractional Sobolev spaces with variable
exponents $W^{s,p(x,y)}$ to include the general fractional case $W^{K,p(x,y)}$,
where $p$ is a variable exponent, $s\in (0,1)$ and $K$ is a suitable kernel. We
are concerned with some qualitative properties of the space $W^{K,p(x,y)}$
(completeness, reflexivity, separability, and density). Moreover, we prove a
continuous and compact embedding theorem of these spaces into variable exponent
Lebesgue spaces. As applications, we discuss the existence of a nontrivial
solution for a nonlocal $p(x,.)$-Kirchhoff type problem. Further, we establish
the existence and uniqueness of a solution for a variational problem involving
the integro-differential operator of elliptic type $\mathcal{L}^{p(x,.)}_K$.


  The use of four Lagrange points of the Sun/Earth system for fundamental
physics experiments in space is presented. L1, L2, L4 and L5 rotating rigidly
together with the Earth form a natural reference frame at the scale of the
inner solar system. The idea which is discussed in the paper considers the
possibility of locating four spacecraft in the four cited Lagrange points and
exchanging electromagnetic pulses among them. Including stations on earth,
various closed paths for the pulses are possible. Time of flight measurements
would be performed. The time of flight difference between right- and
left-handed circuits is proportional to the angular momentum of the Sun and the
detection of the effect would reach accuracies better than 1% depending on the
accuracy of the clock. The four points could also be used as "artificial
pulsars" for a relativistic positioning system at the scale of the solar
system. Additional interesting possibilities include detection of a galactic
gravito-magnetic field and also, using a global configuration as a zero area
Sagnac contour, detection of gravitational waves. More opportunities are also
mentioned.


  The Co-varying Physical Couplings (CPC) framework is a modified gravity set
up assuming Einstein Field Equations wherein the quantities $\{G,c,\Lambda\}$
are promoted to space-time functions. Bianchi identity and the requirement of
stress-energy tensor conservation entangle the possible variations of the
couplings $\{G,c,\Lambda\}$, which are forced to co-vary as dictated by the
General Constraint (GC). In this paper we explore a cosmological model wherein
$G$, $c$ and $\Lambda$ are functions of the redshift respecting the GC of the
CPC framework. We assume a linear parametrization of $\Lambda$ in terms of the
scale factor $a$. We use the ansatz $\dot{G}/G = \sigma \left( \dot{c}/c
\right)$ with $\sigma =$ constant to deduce the functional forms of $c=c(z)$
and $G=G(z)$. We show that this varying-$\{G,c,\Lambda\}$ model fits SNe Ia
data and $H(z)$ data with $\sigma = 3$. The model parameters can be constrained
to describe dark energy at the background level.


  Let $G$ be a connected semisimple algebraic group of adjoint type defined
over an algebraically closed field $K$ of positive characteristic. The
characteristic $p$ is very good for $G$ when $p$ is suitably large and, if $G$
is of type $A_n$, $p$ does not divide $n+1$. The majority of results concerning
the geometric structure of algebraic groups in positive characteristic are
valid only in very good characteristic. We demonstrate that the dual nilcone
$\mathcal{N}^* \subseteq \mathfrak{g}^*$ is a normal variety in certain
characteristics which are not very good for $G$. As an application, we extend
the results of Ardakov and Wadsley on representations of $p$-adic Lie groups.
Under further restrictions on the characteristic, we show that the canonical
dimension of a coadmissible representation of a semisimple $p$-adic Lie group
in a $p$-adic Banach space is either zero or at least half the dimension of a
nonzero coadjoint orbit.


  We study the shock waves in relativistic chiral matter. We argue that the
conventional Rankine-Hugoinot relations are modified due to the presence of
chiral transport phenomena. We show that the entropy discontinuity in a weak
shock wave is quadratic in the pressure discontinuity when the effect of chiral
transport becomes sufficiently large. We also show that rarefaction shock
waves, which do not exist in usual nonchiral fluids, can appear in chiral
matter. The direction of shock wave propagation in a vorticity is found to be
completely determined by the direction of the vorticity and the chirality of
fermions. These features are exemplified by shock propagation in dense neutrino
matter in the hydrodynamic regime.


  The large time behavior of the unique strong solution to the barotropic
compressible Navier-Stokes system is studied with large external forces and
initial data, where the shear viscosity is a positive constant and the bulk one
is proportional to a power of the density. Some uniform estimates on the
Lp-norm of the density are established, and then deduce that the density
converges to its steady state in Lp-spaces, which transforms the large external
force into a small one in some sense. Moreover, to deal with the obstacles
brought by boundary, the conformal mapping and the pull back Green function are
applied to give a point-wise representation of the effective viscous flux, and
then make use of slip boundary conditions to cancel out the singularity.


  The variation of solar irradiance is one of the natural forcing mechanisms of
the terrestrial climate. Hence, the time-dependent solar irradiance is an
important input parameter for climate modelling. The solar surface magnetic
field is a powerful proxy for solar irradiance reconstruction. The analyses of
data obtained with the Michelson Doppler Imager (MDI) on board the SOHO mission
are therefore useful for the identification of solar surface magnetic features
to be used in solar irradiance reconstruction models. However, there is still a
need for automated technologies that would enable the identification of solar
activity features from large databases. To achieve this we present a series of
enhanced segmentation algorithms developed to detect and calculate the area
coverages of specific magnetic features from MDI intensitygrams and
magnetograms. These algorithms are part of the Automated Solar Activity
Prediction (ASAP) tool. The segmentation algorithms allow us to identify the
areas on the solar disk covered by magnetic elements inside and outside
boundaries of active regions. Depending on their contrast properties, magnetic
features within an active region boundary are classified as sunspot umbra and
penumbra, or faculae. Outside an active region boundary magnetic elements are
identified as network. We present the detailed steps involved in the
segmentation process and provide the area coverages of the segmented MDI
intensitygrams and magnetograms. The feature segmentation has been carried out
on daily intensitygrams and magnetograms from April 21, 1996 to April 11, 2011.
This offers an exciting opportunity to undertake further investigations that
benefit from solar features segmentations, such as solar irradiance
reconstruction, which we plan to investigate in the future.


  By using the GRACE-Loop system, we calculate the full $\mathcal{O}(\alpha)$
electroweak radiative corrections to the process $e^+e^- \rightarrow e^+e^-
\gamma$, which is important for future investigations at the International
Linear Collider (ILC). With the GRACE-Loop system, the calculations are checked
numerically by three consistency tests: ultraviolet finiteness, infrared
finiteness, and gauge-parameter independence. The results show good numerical
stability when quadruple precision is used. In the phenomenological results, we
find that the electroweak corrections to the total cross section range from
$\sim -4\%$ to $\sim -21\%$ when $\sqrt{s}$ varies from $250$ GeV to $1$ TeV.
The corrections also significantly affect the differential cross sections,
which are a function of the invariant masses and angles and the final-particle
energies. Such corrections will play an important role for the high-precision
program at the ILC.


  To make precise the sense in which the operational predictions of quantum
theory conflict with a classical worldview, it is necessary to articulate a
notion of classicality within an operational framework. A widely applicable
notion of classicality of this sort is whether or not the predictions of a
given operational theory can be explained by a generalized-noncontextual
ontological model. We here explore what notion of classicality this implies for
the generalized probabilistic theory (GPT) that arises from a given operational
theory, focusing on prepare-measure scenarios. We first show that, when mapping
an operational theory to a GPT by quotienting relative to operational
equivalences, the constraint of explainability by a generalized-noncontextual
ontological model is mapped to the constraint of explainability by an
ontological model. We then show that, under the additional assumption that the
ontic state space is of finite cardinality, this constraint on the GPT can be
expressed as a geometric condition which we term simplex-embeddability. Whereas
the traditional notion of classicality for a GPT is that its state space be a
simplex and its effect space be the dual of this simplex, simplex-embeddability
merely requires that its state space be embeddable in a simplex and its effect
space in the dual of that simplex. We argue that simplex-embeddability
constitutes an intuitive and freestanding notion of classicality for GPTs. Our
result also has applications to witnessing nonclassicality in prepare-measure
experiments.


  We study finite-volume effects on the masses of the ground-state octet
baryons using covariant baryon chiral perturbation theory (ChPT) up to
next-to-leading order by analyzing the latest $n_f=2+1$ lattice Quantum
ChromoDynamics (LQCD) results from the NPLQCD collaboration. Contributions of
virtual decuplet baryons are taken into account using the "consistent" coupling
scheme. We compare our results with those obtained from heavy baryon ChPT and
show that, although both approaches can describe well the lattice data, the
underlying physics is different: In HBChPT, virtual decuplet baryons play a
more important role than they do in covariant ChPT. This is because the virtual
octet baryon contributions to finite-volume corrections are larger in covariant
ChPT than in HBChPT, while the contributions of intermediate decuplet baryons
are smaller, because of relativistic effects. We observe that for the octet
baryon masses, at fixed $m_\pi L$ ($\gg1$) finite-volume corrections decrease
as $m_\pi$ approaches its physical value, provided that the strange quark mass
is at or close to its physical value, as in most LQCD setups.


  The transport dynamics of a quenched Luttinger liquid tunnel-coupled to a
fermionic reservoir is investigated. In the transient dynamics, we show that
for a sudden quench of the electron interaction universal power-law decay in
time of the tunneling current occurs, ascribed to the presence of entangled
compound excitations created by the quench. In sharp contrast to the usual non
universal power-law behavior of a zero-temperature non-quenched Luttinger
liquid, the steady state tunneling current is ohmic and can be explained in
terms of an effective quench-activated heating of the system. Our study unveils
an unconventional dynamics for a quenched Luttinger liquid that could be
identified in quenched cold Fermi gases.


  With high spatial resolution, polarimetric imaging of a supermassive black
hole, like M87$^\star$ or Sgr A$^\star$, by the Event Horizon Telescope can be
used to probe the existence of ultralight bosonic particles, such as axions.
Such particles can accumulate around a rotating black hole through the
superradiance mechanism, forming an axion cloud. When linearly polarized
photons are emitted from an accretion disk near the horizon, their position
angles oscillate due to the birefringent effect when traveling through the
axion background. In particular, the observations of supermassive black holes
M87$^\star$ (Sgr A$^\star$) can probe the dimensionless axion-photon coupling
$c = 2 \pi g_{a \gamma} f_a$ for axions with mass around $O(10^{-20})$~eV ($O(
10^{-17}$)~eV) and decay constant $f_a < O(10^{16})$ GeV, which is
complimentary to other axion measurements.


  Time evolution of electromagnetic field created in heavy-ion collisions
strongly depends on the electromagnetic response of the quark-gluon plasma,
which can be described by the Ohmic and chiral conductivities. The later is
intimately related to the Chiral Magnetic Effect. I argue that a solution to
the classical Maxwell equations at finite chiral conductivity is unstable due
to the soft modes $k<\sigma_\chi$ that grow exponentially with time. In the
kinematical region relevant for the relativistic heavy-ion collisions, I derive
analytical expressions for the magnetic field of a point charge. I show that
finite chiral conductivity causes oscillations of magnetic field at early
times.


  In this paper we focus on the TP-AGB evolution of intermediate-mass stars
experiencing envelope burning (M=4-5Mo). The approach we have adopted is a
semi-analytical one as it combines analytical relationships derived from
complete models of TP-AGB stars with sole envelope models in which the physical
structure is calculated from the photosphere down to the core. Our efforts are
directed to analyse the effects produced by envelope burning, such as: i) the
energy contribution which may drive significant deviations from the standard
core mass-luminosity relationship; and ii) the changes in the surface chemical
composition due to nuclear burning via the CNO cycle. Evolutionary models for
stars with initial mass of 4.0, 4.5, 5.0 Mo and two choices of the initial
chemical composition ([Y=0.28,Z=0.02] and [Y=0.25,Z=0.008]) are calculated from
the first thermal pulse till the complete ejection of the envelope. We find
that massive TP-AGB stars can rapidly reach high luminosities (-6>Mbol>-7),
without exceeding, however, the classical limit to the AGB luminosity of
Mbol~-7.1 corresponding to the Chandrasekhar value of the core mass. No carbon
stars brighter than Mbol~-6.5 are predicted to form (the alternative of a
possible transition from M-star to C-star during the final pulses is also
explored), in agreement with observations which indicate that most of the very
luminous AGB stars are oxygen-rich. Finally, new chemical yields from stars in
the mass range 4-5 Mo are presented, so as to extend the sets of stellar yields
from low-mass stars already calculated by Marigo et al. (1996). For each CNO
element we give both the secondary and the primary components.


  Topological insulators are characterized by a nontrivial band topology driven
by the spin-orbit coupling. To fully explore the fundamental science and
application of topological insulators, material realization is indispensable.
Here we predict, based on tight-binding modeling and first-principles
calculations, that bilayers of perovskite-type transition-metal oxides grown
along the [111] crystallographic axis are potential candidates for
two-dimensional topological insulators. The topological band structure of these
materials can be fine-tuned by changing dopant ions, substrates, and external
gate voltages. We predict that LaAuO$_3$ bilayers have a
topologically-nontrivial energy gap of about 0.15 eV, which is sufficiently
large to realize the quantum spin-Hall effect at room temperature. Intriguing
phenomena, such as fractional quantum Hall effect, associated with the
nearly-flat topologically-nontrivial bands found in $e_g$ systems are also
discussed.


  We introduce the class of multiply constant-weight codes to improve the
reliability of certain physically unclonable function (PUF) response. We extend
classical coding methods to construct multiply constant-weight codes from known
$q$-ary and constant-weight codes. Analogues of Johnson bounds are derived and
are shown to be asymptotically tight to a constant factor under certain
conditions. We also examine the rates of the multiply constant-weight codes and
interestingly, demonstrate that these rates are the same as those of
constant-weight codes of suitable parameters. Asymptotic analysis of our code
constructions is provided.


  We present an analysis of the optical nuclear spectra from the active
galactic nuclei (AGN) in a sample of low surface brightness (LSB) galaxies.
Using data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), we derived the virial
black hole (BH) masses of 24 galaxies from their broad H$\alpha$ parameters. We
find that our estimates of nuclear BH masses lie in the range
$10^{5}-10^{7}~M_{\odot}$, with a median mass of 5.62 x 10$^{6}~M_{\odot}$. The
bulge stellar velocity dispersion $\sigma_{e}$ was determined from the
underlying stellar spectra. We compared our results with the existing BH mass -
velocity dispersion ($M_{BH}-\sigma_{e}$) correlations and found that the
majority of our sample lie in the low BH mass regime and below the
$M_{BH}-\sigma_{e}$ correlation. We analysed the effects of any systematic bias
in the M$_{BH}$ estimates, the effects of galaxy orientation in the measurement
of $\sigma_e$ and the increase of $\sigma_e$ due to the presence of bars and
found that these effects are insufficient to explain the observed offset in
M$_{BH}$ - $\sigma_e$ correlation. Thus the LSB galaxies tend to have low mass
BHs which probably are not in co-evolution with the host galaxy bulges. A
detailed study of the nature of the bulges and the role of dark matter in the
growth of the BHs is needed to further understand the BH-bulge co-evolution in
these poorly evolved and dark matter dominated systems.


  Single-dish far-infrared (far-IR) and sub-millimetre (sub-mm) point source
catalogues and their connections with catalogues at other wavelengths are of
paramount importance. However, due to the large mismatch in spatial resolution,
cross-matching galaxies at different wavelengths is challenging. This work aims
to develop the next-generation deblended far-IR and sub-mm catalogues and
present the first application in the COSMOS field. Our progressive deblending
used the Bayesian probabilistic framework known as XID+. The deblending started
from the Spitzer/MIPS 24 micron data, using an initial prior list composed of
sources selected from the COSMOS2020 catalogue and radio catalogues from the
VLA and the MeerKAT surveys, based on spectral energy distribution modelling
which predicts fluxes of the known sources at the deblending wavelength. To
speed up flux prediction, we made use of a neural network-based emulator. After
deblending the 24 micron data, we proceeded to the Herschel PACS (100 & 160
micron) and SPIRE wavebands (250, 350 & 500 micron). Each time we constructed a
tailor-made prior list based on the predicted fluxes of the known sources.
Using simulated far-IR and sub-mm sky, we detailed the performance of our
deblending pipeline. After validation with simulations, we then deblended the
real observations from 24 to 500 micron and compared with blindly extracted
catalogues and previous versions of deblended catalogues. As an additional
test, we deblended the SCUBA-2 850 micron map and compared our deblended fluxes
with ALMA measurements, which demonstrates a higher level of flux accuracy
compared to previous results.We publicly release our XID+ deblended point
source catalogues. These deblended long-wavelength data are crucial for studies
such as deriving the fraction of dust-obscured star formation and better
separation of quiescent galaxies from dusty star-forming galaxies.


  In this paper we present CRASH_alpha, the first radiative transfer code for
cosmological application that follows the parallel propagation of Ly_alpha and
ionizing photons. CRASH_alpha is a version of the continuum radiative transfer
code CRASH with a new algorithm to follow the propagation of Ly_alpha photons
through a gas configuration whose ionization structure is evolving. The
implementation introduces the time evolution for Ly_alpha photons (a feature
commonly neglected in line radiative transfer codes) and, to reduce the
computational time needed to follow each scattering, adopts a statistical
approach to the Ly_alpha treatment by making extensive use of pre-compiled
tables. With this statistical approach we experience a drastic increase of the
computational speed and, at the same time, an excellent agreement with the full
Ly_alpha radiative transfer computations of the code MCLy_alpha. We find that
the emerging spectra keep memory of the ionization history which generates a
given ionization configuration of the gas and, to properly account for this
effect, a self-consistent joint evolution of line and ionizing continuum
radiation as implemented in CRASH_alpha is necessary. A comparison between the
results from our code and from Ly_alpha scattering alone on a fixed HI density
field shows that the extent of the difference between the emerging spectra
depends on the particular configuration considered, but it can be substantial
and can thus affect the physical interpretation of the problem at hand. These
differences should furthermore be taken into account when computing the impact
of the Ly_alpha radiation on e.g. the observability of the 21 cm line from
neutral hydrogen at epochs preceeding complete reionization.


  The Lovelock gravity consists of the dimensionally extended Euler densities.
The geometry and horizon structure of black hole solutions could be quite
complicated in this gravity, however, we find that some thermodynamic
quantities of the black holes like the mass, Hawking temperature and entropy,
have simple forms expressed in terms of horizon radius. The case with black
hole horizon being a Ricci flat hypersurface is particularly simple. In that
case the black holes are always thermodynamically stable with a positive heat
capacity and their entropy still obeys the area formula, which is no longer
valid for black holes with positive or negative constant curvature horizon
hypersurface. In addition, for black holes in the gravity theory of Ricci
scalar plus a $2n$-dimensional Euler density with a positive coefficient,
thermodynamically stable small black holes always exist in $D=2n+1$ dimensions,
which are absent in the case without the Euler density term, while the
thermodynamic properties of the black hole solutions with the Euler density
term are qualitatively similar to those of black holes without the Euler
density term as $D>2n+1$.


  We explore the heat current in the quantum Hall edge at filling factors $\nu
= 1$ and $\nu = 2$ in the presence of dissipation. Dissipation arises in the
compressible strip forming at the edge in presence of a smooth confining
potential. Such strip was predicted to host an infinite number of hydrodynamic
neutral modes, which however were never observed. A possible explanation may be
in their dissipative nature, which was not fully considered before. Heat
transport measurements are capable of detecting neutral modes and experiment
[H. le Sueur et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 056803 (2010)] at $\nu = 2$ captured
additional degrees of freedom transferring heat at the edge. Surprisingly, the
breakdown of heat current quantization has been found. We conjecture that the
aforementioned dissipative modes might be responsible for this behavior. We
build a low-energy effective model and show that the lowest hydrodynamic mode
carries a portion of the heat flux quantum which is the same both at $\nu = 1$
and $\nu = 2$. Although our results are consistent with the experiment, a
microscopic model of dissipation is needed to confirm the prediction of the
low-energy approximation.


  Classical and quantum solutions for the relativistic straight-line string
with arbitrary dependence on the world surface curvature are obtained. They
differ from the case of the usual Nambu-Goto interaction by the behaviour of
the Regge trajectory which in general can be nonlinear. Regularization of the
action is considered and comparison with relativistic point with curvature is
made.


  Motivated by low energy consumption in geographic routing in wireless
networks, there has been recent interest in determining bounds on the length of
edges in the Delaunay graph of randomly distributed points. Asymptotic results
are known for random networks in planar domains. In this paper, we obtain upper
and lower bounds that hold with parametric probability in any dimension, for
points distributed uniformly at random in domains with and without boundary.
The results obtained are asymptotically tight for all relevant values of such
probability and constant number of dimensions, and show that the overhead
produced by boundary nodes in the plane holds also for higher dimensions. To
our knowledge, this is the first comprehensive study on the lengths of long
edges in Delaunay graphs


  We provide an analytic solution to the first-passage time (FPT) problem of a
piecewise-smooth stochastic model, namely Brownian motion with dry friction,
using two different but closely related approaches which are based on
eigenfunction decompositions on the one hand and on the backward Kolmogorov
equation on the other. For the simple case containing only dry friction, a
phase transition phenomenon in the spectrum is found which relates to the
position of the exit point, and which affects the tail of the FPT distribution.
For the model containing as well a driving force and viscous friction the
impact of the corresponding stick-slip transition and of the transition to
ballistic exit is evaluated quantitatively. The proposed model is one of the
very few cases where FPT properties are accessible by analytical means.


  We give a simplified approach to the Abhyankar--Moh theory of approximate
roots. Our considerations are based on properties of the intersection
multiplicity of local curves.


  Smart indoor tourist attractions, such as smart museums and aquariums,
usually require a significant investment in indoor localization devices. The
smartphone Global Positional Systems use is unsuitable for scenarios where
dense materials such as concrete and metal block weaken the GPS signals, which
is the most common scenario in an indoor tourist attraction. Deep learning
makes it possible to perform region-wise indoor localization using smartphone
images. This approach does not require any investment in infrastructure,
reducing the cost and time to turn museums and aquariums into smart museums or
smart aquariums. This paper proposes using deep learning algorithms to classify
locations using smartphone camera images for indoor tourism attractions. We
evaluate our proposal in a real-world scenario in Brazil. We extensively
collect images from ten different smartphones to classify biome-themed fish
tanks inside the Pantanal Biopark, creating a new dataset of 3654 images. We
tested seven state-of-the-art neural networks, three being transformer-based,
achieving precision around 90% on average and recall and f-score around 89% on
average. The results indicate good feasibility of the proposal in a most indoor
tourist attractions.


  In this technical note, we proffer a very explicit construction of the "dual
cocartesian fibration" $p^{\vee}$ of a cartesian fibration $p$, and we show
they are classified by the same functor to $\mathbf{Cat}_{\infty}$.


  These notes illustrates the power of formulating ideas of commutative algebra
in a homotopy invariant form. They can then be applied to derived categories of
rings or ring spectra. These ideas are powerful in classical algebra, in
representation theory of groups, in classical algebraic topology and elsewhere.
  The notes grew out of a series of lectures given during the `Interactions
between Representation Theory, Algebraic Topology and Commutative Algebra'
(IRTATCA) at the CRM (Barcelona) in Spring 2015.


  Cylindrically reduced Einstein gravity can be regarded as an $SL(2,R)/SO(2)$
sigma model coupled to 2D dilaton gravity. By using the corresponding 2D
diffeomorphism algebra of constraints and the asymptotic behaviour of the Ernst
equation we show that the theory can be mapped by a canonical transformation
into a set of free fields with a Minkowskian target space. We briefly discuss
the quantization in terms of these free-field variables, which is considerably
simpler than in the other approaches.


  The Resonating Valence Bond (RVB) theory for two-dimensional quantum
antiferromagnets is shown to be the correct paradigm for large enough ``quantum
frustration''. This scenario, proposed long time ago but never confirmed by
microscopic calculations, is very strongly supported by a new type of
variational wave function, which is extremely close to the exact ground state
of the $J_1{-}J_2$ Heisenberg model for $0.4 \lesssim J_2/J_1\lesssim 0.5$.
This wave function is proposed to represent the generic spin-half RVB ground
state in spin liquids.


  We reanalyze the dissociation process of the $J/\psi$ by $\pi$ and $\rho$
mesons into $D + \bar{D}$, $D^* + \bar{D}$, $D + \bar{D}^*$, and $D^* +
\bar{D}^*$ within a meson exchange model. In addition to the dissociation
mechanisms considered in the literature, we consider anomalous parity
interactions, whose couplings are constrained by heavy quark spin symmetry and
phenomenology. This opens new dissociation channels and adds new diagrams in
the previously considered processes. Compared to the previous results, we find
that these new additions have only a minor effect on the $\rho + J/\psi$ total
inelastic cross section, but reduce the one for $\pi + J/\psi$ by about 50 %
near the threshold.


  Online interpretation and visualization of project data are gaining
increasing importance on the long road towards predictable and controllable
software project execution. This paper sketches the Sprint I controlling
approach for software development projects and gives first evaluation results.
The approach is grounded on the usage of context-oriented cluster curves and
integrated in the framework of software project control centers.


  We prove that groups in a certain class of metabelian locally compact groups,
have quadratic Dehn function. As an application, we embed the solvable
Baumslag-Solitar groups into finitely presented metabelian groups with
quadratic Dehn function. Also, we prove that Baumslag's finitely presented
metabelian groups, in which the lamplighter groups embed, have quadratic Dehn
function.


  We report on our experiences using the Metsahovi Radio Observatory's (MRO)
VLBI Standard Interface (VSI, Whitney 2002) recorder in a number of
astronomical applications. The PC-EVN device is a direct memory access (DMA)
interface which allows 512 megabit per second (Mbps) or better recording to
"off the shelf" PC components. We have used this setup to record at 640 Mbps
for a pulsar coherent dispersion system and at 256 Mpbs for a global VLBI
session. We have also demonstrated recording at 512 Mbps and will shortly form
cross correlations between the CPSR-II and the PC-EVN systems.


  Quantum spin liquids are topological states of matter that arise in
frustrated quantum magnets at low temperatures. At low energies, such states
exhibit emergent gauge fields and fractionalized quasiparticles and can also
possess enhanced global symmetries compared to their parent microscopic
Hamiltonians. We study the consequences of this emergent gauge and symmetry
structure for the hydrodynamics of quantum spin liquids. Specifically, we
analyze two cases, the $U(1)$ spin liquid with a Fermi surface and the
$SU(4)$-symmetric "algebraic" spin liquid. We show that the emergent degrees of
freedom in the spin liquid phase lead to a variety of additional hydrodynamic
modes compared to the high-temperature paramagnetic phase. We identify a
hydrodynamic regime for the internal $U(1)$ gauge field common to both states,
characterized by slow diffusion of the internal transverse photon.


  An Entropic Dynamics of exchange rates is laid down to model the dynamics of
foreign exchange rates, FX, and European Options on FX. The main objective is
to represent an alternative framework to model dynamics. Entropic inference is
an inductive inference framework equipped with proper tools to handle
situations where incomplete information is available. Entropic Dynamics is an
application of entropic inference, which is equipped with the entropic notion
of time to model dynamics. The scale invariance is a symmetry of the dynamics
of exchange rates, which is manifested in our formalism. To make the formalism
manifestly invariant under this symmetry, we arrive at choosing the logarithm
of the exchange rate as the proper variable to model. By taking into account
the relevant information about the exchange rates, we derive the Geometric
Brownian Motion, GBM, of the exchange rate, which is manifestly invariant under
the scale transformation. Securities should be valued such that there is no
arbitrage opportunity. To this end, we derive a risk-neutral measure to value
European Options on FX. The resulting model is the celebrated Garman-Kohlhagen
model.


  In this work, we introduce a control variate approximation technique for low
error approximate Deep Neural Network (DNN) accelerators. The control variate
technique is used in Monte Carlo methods to achieve variance reduction. Our
approach significantly decreases the induced error due to approximate
multiplications in DNN inference, without requiring time-exhaustive retraining
compared to state-of-the-art. Leveraging our control variate method, we use
highly approximated multipliers to generate power-optimized DNN accelerators.
Our experimental evaluation on six DNNs, for Cifar-10 and Cifar-100 datasets,
demonstrates that, compared to the accurate design, our control variate
approximation achieves same performance and 24% power reduction for a merely
0.16% accuracy loss.


  The notion that Stimulated Brillouin Scattering (SBS) is primarily defined by
bulk material properties has been overturned by recent work on nanoscale
waveguides. It is now understood that boundary forces of radiation pressure and
electrostriction appearing in such highly confined waveguides can make a
significant contribution to the Brillouin gain. Here, this concept is extended
to show that gain enhancement does not require nanoscale or subwavelength
features, but generally appears where optical and acoustic fields are
simultaneously confined near a free surface or material interface. This
situation routinely occurs in whispering gallery resonators (WGRs), making gain
enhancements much more accessible than previously thought. To illustrate this
concept, the first full-vectorial analytic model for SBS in WGRs is developed,
including optical boundary forces, and the SBS gain in common silica WGR
geometries is computationally evaluated. These results predict that gains
$10^4$ times greater than the predictions of scalar theory may appear in WGRs
even in the 100 um size range. Further, trapezoidal cross-section microdisks
can exhibit very large SBS gains approaching $10^2$ m$^{-1}$W$^{-1}$. With
resonant amplification included, extreme gains on the order of $10^{12}$
m$^{-1}$W$^{-1}$ may be realized, which is $10^8$ times greater than the
highest predicted gains in linear waveguide systems.


  We present a new method for computing the Near-To-Far-Field (NTFF)
transformation in FDTD simulations which has an overall scaling of $O(N^3)$
instead of the standard $O(N^4)$. By mapping the far field with a cartesian
coordinate system the 2D surface integral can be split into two successive 1D
integrals. For a near field spanned by $N_X \times N_Y$ discrete sample points,
and a far field spanned by $N_{\theta} \times N_{\phi}$ points, the calculation
can then be performed in $O(N_{\theta}N_X N_Y) + O(N_{\theta}N_{\phi}N_Y)$
operations instead of $O(N_{\theta}N_{\phi}N_X N_Y)$.


  Aims. To search for these rare objects, we study 32 Galactic O-type stars
that were reported as SB1s in the literature. In our sample we include Cyg X-1,
which is known to host an accreting stellar-mass BH, and HD 74194, a supergiant
fast X-ray transient, in order to validate our methodology. The final goal is
to characterise the nature of the unseen companions to determine if they are MS
stars, stripped helium stars, triples, or compact objects such as neutron stars
or stellar-mass BHs. Methods. After measuring radial velocities and deriving
orbital solutions for all the systems in our sample, we performed spectral
disentangling to extract putative signatures of faint secondary companions from
the composite spectra. We derived stellar parameters for the visible stars and
estimated the mass ranges of the secondary stars using the binary mass
function. Variability observed in the photometric TESS light curves was also
searched for indications of the presence of putative companions, degenerate or
not. Results. In 17 of the 32 systems reported as SB1s, we extract secondary
signatures, down to mass ratios of ~0.15. For the 17 newly detected
double-lined spectroscopic binaries (SB2s), we derive physical properties of
the individual components and discuss why they have not been detected as such
before. Among the remaining systems, we identify nine systems with possible NS
or low-mass MS companions. For Cyg X-1 and HD 130298, we are not able to
extract any signatures for the companions, and the minimum masses of their
companions are estimated to be about 7Msun. Our simulations show that
secondaries with such a mass should be detectable from our dataset, no matter
their nature: MS stars, stripped helium stars or even triples. While this is
expected for Cyg X-1, confirming our methodology, our simulations also strongly
suggest that HD 130298 could be another candidate to host a stellar-mass BH.


  We study interactions between shocks and standing-wave patterns in vertically
oscillated layers of granular media using three-dimensional, time-dependent
numerical solutions of continuum equations to Navier-Stokes order. We simulate
a layer of grains atop a plate that oscillates sinusoidally in the direction of
gravity. Standing waves form stripe patterns when the accelerational amplitude
of the plate's oscillation exceeds a critical value. Shocks also form with each
collision between the layer and the plate; we show that pressure gradients
formed by these shocks cause the flow to reverse direction within the layer.
This reversal leads to an oscillatory state of the pattern that is subharmonic
with respect to the plate's oscillation. Finally, we study the relationship
between shocks and patterns in layers oscillated at various frequencies and
show that the pattern wavelength increases monotonically as the shock strength
increases.


  New HI images from the VLA Galactic Plane Survey show prominent absorption
features associated with the supernovae remnant G23.3-0.3 (SNR W41). We
highlight the HI absorption spectra and the $^{13}$CO emission spectra of eight
small regions on the face of W41, including four HII regions, three non-thermal
emission regions and one unclassified region. The maximum velocity of
absorption for W41 is 78$\pm$2 km/s and the CO cloud at radial velocity
95$\pm$5 km/s is behind W41. Because an extended TeV source, a diffuse X-ray
enhancement and a large molecular cloud at radial velocity 77$\pm$5 km/s are
also projected at the center of W41, these yield the kinematic distance of 3.9
to 4.5 kpc for W41. For HII regions, our analyses reveal that both G23.42-0.21
and G23.07+0.25 are at the far kinematic distances ($\sim$9.9 kpc and $\sim$
10.6 kpc respectively) of their recombination-line velocities (103$\pm$0.5 km/s
and 89.6$\pm$2.1 km/s respectively), G23.07-0.37 is at the near kinematic
distance (4.4$\pm$0.3 kpc) of its recombination-line velocity (82.7$\pm$2.0
km/s), and G23.27-0.27 is probably at the near kinematic distance (4.1$\pm$0.3
kpc) of its recombination-line velocity (76.1$\pm$0.6 km/s).


  A search for new physics is performed using events that contain one or more
jets, no isolated leptons, and a large transverse momentum imbalance, as
measured through the MT2 variable, which is an extension of the transverse mass
in events with two invisible particles. The results are based on a sample of
proton-proton collisions collected at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV with
the CMS detector at the LHC, and that corresponds to an integrated luminosity
of 2.3 inverse femtobarns. The observed event yields in the data are consistent
with predictions for the standard model backgrounds. The results are
interpreted using simplified models of supersymmetry and are expressed in terms
of limits on the masses of potential new colored particles. Assuming that the
lightest neutralino is stable and has a mass less than about 500 GeV, gluino
masses up to 1550-1750 GeV are excluded at 95% confidence level, depending on
the gluino decay mechanism. For the scenario of direct production of
squark-antisquark pairs, top squarks with masses up to 800 GeV are excluded,
assuming a 100% branching fraction for the decay to a top quark and neutralino.
Similarly, bottom squark masses are excluded up to 880 GeV, and masses of
light-flavor squarks are excluded up to 600-1260 GeV, depending on the degree
of degeneracy of the squark masses.


  I discuss the shape of the high energy end of the spectrum of particles
arising from diffusive shock acceleration in the presence of (i) additional
diffusive escape from the accelerator, (ii) continuous energy losses, (iii)
energy changes arising from interactions. The form of the spectrum near cut-off
is sensitive to these processes as well as to the momentum-dependence of the
diffusion coefficients and the compression ratio, and so the spectrum of any
radiation emitted by the accelerated particles may reflect the physical
conditions of the acceleration region. Results presented in this paper have
applications in interpreting the spectral energy distributions of many types of
astrophysical object including supernova remnants (SNR), active galactic nuclei
(AGN) and acceleration sources of ultra high energy cosmic rays (UHE CR).
Except for extremely nearby sources, spectral features imprinted on the
spectrum of UHE CR during the acceleration process will be largely eroded
during propagation, but the spectrum of UHE neutrinos produced in interactions
of UHE CR with radiation, both during cosmic ray acceleration and subsequent
propagation through the cosmic microwave background radiation, contains
sufficient information to determine the cut-off momentum of the UHE CR just
after acceleration for reasonable assumptions. Observation of these UHE
neutrinos by the Pierre Auger Observatory may help in identifying the sources
of the highest energy cosmic rays.


  We interpret multi-product supply chains (SCs) as coordinated markets; under
this interpretation, a SC optimization problem is a market clearing problem
that allocates resources and associated economic values (prices) to different
stakeholders that bid into the market (suppliers, consumers, transportation,
and processing technologies). The market interpretation allows us to establish
fundamental properties that explain how physical resources (primal variables)
and associated economic values (dual variables) flow in the SC. We use duality
theory to explain why incentivizing markets by forcing stakeholder
participation (e.g., by imposing demand satisfaction or service provision
constraints) yields artificial price behavior, inefficient allocations, and
economic losses. To overcome these issues, we explore market incentive
mechanisms that use bids; here, we introduce the concept of a stakeholder graph
(a product-based representation of a supply chain) and show that this
representation allows us to naturally determine minimum bids that activate the
market. These results provide guidelines to design SC formulations that
properly remunerate stakeholders and to design policy that foster market
transactions. The results are illustrated using an urban waste management
problem for a city of 100,000 residents.


  We investigate the giant planet-metallicity correlation for a homogeneous,
unbiased set of 217 hot Jupiters taken from nearly 15 years of wide-field
ground-based surveys. We compare the host star metallicity to that of field
stars using the Besan\c{c}on Galaxy model, allowing for a metallicity
measurement offset between the two sets. We find that hot Jupiters
preferentially orbit metal rich stars. However, we find the correlation
consistent, though marginally weaker, for hot Jupiters
($\beta=0.71^{+0.56}_{-0.34}$) than it is for other longer period gas giant
planets from radial velocity surveys. This suggests that the population of hot
Jupiters probably formed in a similar process to other gas giant planets, and
differ only in their migration histories.


  Bayesian optimization is a powerful optimization tool for problems where
native first-order derivatives are unavailable. Recently, constrained Bayesian
optimization (CBO) has been applied to many engineering applications where
constraints are essential. However, several obstacles remain with current CBO
algorithms that could prevent a wider adoption. We propose CBO algorithms using
merit functions, such as the penalty merit function, in acquisition functions,
inspired by nonlinear optimization methods, e.g., sequential quadratic
programming. Merit functions measure the potential progress of both the
objective and constraint functions, thus increasing algorithmic efficiency and
allowing infeasible initial samples. The acquisition functions with merit
functions are relaxed to have closed forms, making its implementation readily
available wherever Bayesian optimization is. We further propose a unified CBO
algorithm that can be seen as extension to the popular expected constrained
improvement (ECI) approach. We demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of
the proposed algorithms through numerical experiments on synthetic problems and
a practical data-driven engineering design problem in the field of plasma
physics.


  A new expression to the total age of the Universe is derived in terms of the
average deceleration parameter. This kinematic result holds regardless of the
curvature of the universe as well as of the underlying gravity theory. It
remains valid even in the context of brane-world motivated cosmologies. Since
the present age parameter of the Universe is accurately adjusted to $H_0t_0 =
1$, it is shown that the time averaged value of the deceleration parameter is
zero. This also means that the cosmic age today is exactly the one predicted by
a relativistic flat cosmological model filled by K-matter, a fluid satisfying
the equation of state $p = -{{1/3}}\rho$. By assuming the validity of this
relation (in an average long time meaning), it is argued that the decelerating
stages of the expansion must exactly be compensated by the accelerated phases,
as if the observed Universe coasts forever. If this is true, the present
accelerating stage must be followed by a subsequent decelerating phase as
predicted by some recent scalar field and brane-world motivated cosmologies.


  Industrial processes produce a considerable volume of data and thus
information. Whether it is structured sensory data or semi- to unstructured
textual data, the knowledge that can be derived from it is critical to the
sustainable development of the industrial process. A key challenge of this
sustainability is the intelligent management of the generated data, as well as
the knowledge extracted from it, in order to utilize this knowledge for
improving future procedures. This challenge is a result of the tailored
documentation methods and domain-specific requirements, which include the need
for quick visibility of the documented knowledge. In this paper, we utilize the
expert knowledge documented in chip-design failure reports in supporting user
access to information that is relevant to a current chip design. Unstructured,
free, textual data in previous failure documentations provides a valuable
source of lessons-learned, which expert design-engineers have experienced,
solved and documented. To achieve a sustainable utilization of knowledge within
the company, not only the inherent knowledge has to be mined from unstructured
textual data, but also the relations between the lessons-learned, uncovering
potentially unknown links. In this research, a knowledge graph is constructed,
in order to represent and use the interconnections between reported design
failures. A search engine is developed and applied onto the graph to answer
queries. In contrast to mere keyword-based searching, the searchability of the
knowledge graph offers enhanced search results beyond direct matches and acts
as a mean for generating explainable results and result recommendations.
Results are provided to the design engineer through an interactive search
interface, in which, the feedback from the user is used to further optimize
relations for future iterations of the knowledge graph.


  We study a quantum analogue of the iterative perturbation theory by
Kolmogorov used in the proof of the Kolmogorov-Arnold-Moser (KAM) theorem. The
method is based on sequent canonical transformations with a "running" coupling
constant $ \lm,\lm^{2},\lm^{4} $ etc. The proposed scheme, as its classical
predecessor, is "superconvergent" in the sense that after the n-th step, a
theory is solved to the accuracy of order $ \lm^{2^{n-1}} $. It is shown that
the Kolmogorov technique corresponds to an infinite resummation of the usual
perturbative series. The corresponding expansion is convergent for the quantum
anharmonic oscillator due to the fact that it turns out to be identical to the
Pade series. The method is easily generalizable to many-dimensional cases. The
Kolmogorov technique is further applied to a non-perturbative treatment of
Yang-Mills quantum mechanics. A controllable expansion for the wave function
near the origin is constructed. For large fields, we build an asymptotic
adiabatic expansion in inverse powers of the field. This asymptotic solution
contains arbitrary constants which are not fixed by the boundary conditions at
infinity. To find them, we approximately match the two expansions in an
intermediate region. We also discuss some analogies between this problem and
the method of QCD sum rules.


  Thermal microwave states are omnipresent noise sources in superconducting
quantum circuits covering all relevant frequency regimes. We use them as a
probe to identify three second-order decoherence mechanisms of a
superconducting transmon. First, we quantify the efficiency of a resonator
filter in the dispersive Jaynes-Cummings regime and find evidence for parasitic
loss channels. Second, we probe second-order noise in the low-frequency regime
and demonstrate the expected $T^{3}$ temperature dependence of the qubit
dephasing rate. Finally, we show that qubit parameter fluctuations due to
two-level states are enhanced under the influence of thermal microwave states.
In particular, we experimentally confirm the $T^{2}$-dependence of the
fluctuation spectrum expected for noninteracting two-level states.


  State-of-the-art neural network models for optical flow estimation require a
dense correlation volume at high resolutions for representing per-pixel
displacement. Although the dense correlation volume is informative for accurate
estimation, its heavy computation and memory usage hinders the efficient
training and deployment of the models. In this paper, we show that the dense
correlation volume representation is redundant and accurate flow estimation can
be achieved with only a fraction of elements in it. Based on this observation,
we propose an alternative displacement representation, named Sparse Correlation
Volume, which is constructed directly by computing the k closest matches in one
feature map for each feature vector in the other feature map and stored in a
sparse data structure. Experiments show that our method can reduce
computational cost and memory use significantly, while maintaining high
accuracy compared to previous approaches with dense correlation volumes. Code
is available at https://github.com/zacjiang/scv .


  Recent research has confirmed the feasibility of backdoor attacks in deep
reinforcement learning (RL) systems. However, the existing attacks require the
ability to arbitrarily modify an agent's observation, constraining the
application scope to simple RL systems such as Atari games. In this paper, we
migrate backdoor attacks to more complex RL systems involving multiple agents
and explore the possibility of triggering the backdoor without directly
manipulating the agent's observation. As a proof of concept, we demonstrate
that an adversary agent can trigger the backdoor of the victim agent with its
own action in two-player competitive RL systems. We prototype and evaluate
BACKDOORL in four competitive environments. The results show that when the
backdoor is activated, the winning rate of the victim drops by 17% to 37%
compared to when not activated.


  We investigate up to which extend the kinematic setting of loop quantum
gravity can be fit into a diffeomorphism invariant setting of algebraic QFT
generalizing the Haag-Kastler setting of Wightman type QFT. The net of local
(Weyl-)algebras resulting from a spin network state of quantum geometry
immediately accommodates isotony and diffeomorphism covariance, and formulation
of causality becomes possible via of diffeomorphism invariant foliations of the
underlying manifold by cones. On a spatial horizon, quantum geometry becomes
asymptotically a genuine QFT with infinitely many degrees of freedom, if the
cylinder functions' supporting graphs intersect the inner boundary spheres in
an infinite number of punctures.


  We develop a mathematical model of information transmission across the
biological neural network of the human brain. The overall function of the brain
consists of the emergent processes resulting from the spread of information
through the neural network. The capacity of the brain is therefore related to
the rate at which it can transmit information through the neural network. The
particular transmission model under consideration allows for information to be
transmitted along multiple paths between points of the cortex. The resulting
transmission rates are governed by potential theory. According to this theory,
the brain has preferred and quantized transmission modes that correspond to
eigenfunctions of the classical Steklov eigenvalue problem, with the reciprocal
eigenvalues quantifying the corresponding transmission rates. We take the model
as a basis for testing the hypothesis that the sulcus pattern of the human
brain has evolved to maximize the rate of transmission of information between
points in the cerebral cortex. We show that the introduction of sulci, or cuts,
in an otherwise smooth domain indeed increases the overall transmission rate.
We demonstrate this result by means of numerical experiments concerned with a
spherical domain with a varying number of slits on its surface.


  The Large Area Telescope aboard the Fermi spacecraft has detected more than
200 $\gamma$-ray pulsars since its launch in 2008. By concurrently fitting
standard geometric model light curves onto Fermi and radio data, researchers
have constrained the inclination and observer angles of a number of pulsars. At
first this was done by comparing observed and modelled light curves by eye, and
later via statistical approaches. We fit modelled light curves of 16 pulsars to
radio and $\gamma$-ray data by optimising a custom test statistic that we have
developed for combining light curves across the two wavebands, taking their
disparate errors into account. We present geometrical constraints found using
this process, and compare them with results found by eye or using other
statistical methods.


  Background Oryzias latipes (Medaka) has been established as a vertebrate
genetic model for over a century, and has recently been rediscovered outside
its native Japan. The power of new sequencing methods now makes it possible to
reinvigorate Medaka genetics, in particular by establishing a near-isogenic
panel derived from a single wild population. Results Here we characterise the
genomes of wild Medaka catches obtained from a single Southern Japanese
population in Kiyosu as a precursor for the establishment of a near isogenic
panel of wild lines. The population is free of significant detrimental
population structure, and has advantageous linkage disequilibrium properties
suitable for establishment of the proposed panel. Analysis of morphometric
traits in five representative inbred strains suggests phenotypic mapping will
be feasible in the panel. In addition high throughput genome sequencing of
these Medaka strains confirms their evolutionary relationships on lines of
geographic separation and provides further evidence that there has been little
significant interbreeding between the Southern and Northern Medaka population
since the Southern/Northern population split. The sequence data suggest that
the Southern Japanese Medaka existed as a larger older population which went
through a relatively recent bottleneck around 10,000 years ago. In addition we
detect patterns of recent positive selection in the Southern population.
Conclusions These data indicate that the genetic structure of the Kiyosu Medaka
samples are suitable for the establishment of a vertebrate near isogenic panel
and therefore inbreeding of 200 lines based on this population has commenced.
Progress of this project can be tracked at
http://www.ebi.ac.uk/birney-srv/medaka-ref-panel


  Supernova remnants (SNRs) are the outcome of supernovae (SNe, either
core-collapse or thermonuclear). The remnant results from the interaction
between the stellar ejecta and the ambient medium around the progenitor star.
Young SNRs are characterized by strong shocks that heat and ionize the gas,
generate magneto-hydrodynamic turbulence, and accelerate particles to
relativistic energies. They radiate at all wavelengths, especially in the X-ray
domain, where spectro-imaging observations can provide a wealth of information.
This paper presents recent progress in the modelling of SNRs, particularly by
the means of numerical simulations, and with a focus on three-dimensional
aspects. In the first part we will consider SNRs as producers of cosmic rays
(CRs). If SNRs are accelerators efficient enough to power the Galactic
component of CRs, this must have a visible impact on their dynamics, and
therefore on the thermal emission from the plasma, as well as on their
non-thermal emission. In the second part we will consider SNRs as probes of the
explosion mechanism. The time has come to connect multi-dimensional simulations
of SNe and simulations of SNRs, opening the possibility to study the explosion
mechanism via the dynamics and morphology of SNRs.


  We determine the wave functions for arbitrarily polarized quantum Hall states
by employing the doublet model which has been proposed recently to describe
arbitrarily polarized quantum Hall states. Our findings recover the well known
fully polarized Laughlin wave functions and unpolarized Halperin wave function
for the filling fraction $\nu =2/5$. We have also confirmed by an explicit
One-loop computation that the Hall conductivity does indeed get quantized at
those filling fractions that follow from the model. Finally, we have given a
physical picture for the non-analytic nature of the wave functions, and shown
that quantum fluctuations restore the Kohn mode.


  Any constructive continuous function must have a gradually varied
approximation in compact space. However, the refinement of domain for
$\sigma-$-net might be very small. Keeping the original discretization (square
or triangulation), can we get some interesting properties related to gradual
variation? In this note, we try to prove that many harmonic functions are
gradually varied or near gradually varied; this means that the value of the
center point differs from that of its neighbor at most by 2. It is obvious that
most of the gradually varied functions are not harmonic.This note discusses
some of the basic harmonic functions in relation to gradually varied functions.


  We study the thick points of branching Brownian motion and branching random
walk with a critical branching mechanism, focusing on the critical dimension $d
= 4$. We determine the exponent governing the probability to hit a small ball
with an exceptionally high number of pioneers, showing that this has a
second-order transition between an exponential phase and a
stretched-exponential phase at an explicit value ($a = 2$) of the thickness
parameter $a$. We apply the outputs of this analysis to prove that the
associated set of thick points $\mathcal{T}(a)$ has dimension $(4-a)_+$, so
that there is a change in behaviour at $a=4$ but not at $a = 2$ in this case.
Along the way, we obtain related results for the nonpositive solutions of a
boundary value problem associated to the semilinear PDE $\Delta v = v^2$ and
develop a strong coupling between tree-indexed random walk and tree-indexed
Brownian motion that allows us to deduce analogues of some of our results in
the discrete case.
  We also obtain in each dimension $d\geq 1$ an infinite-order asymptotic
expansion for the probability that critical branching Brownian motion hits a
distant unit ball, finding that this expansion is convergent when $d\neq 4$ and
divergent when $d=4$. This reveals a novel, dimension-dependent critical
exponent governing the higher-order terms of the expansion, which we compute in
every dimension.


  Dynamic magnetic susceptibility, $\chi$, was studied in several intermetallic
materials exhibiting ferromagnetic, antiferromagnetic and metamagnetic
transitions. Precise measurements by using a 14 MHz tunnel diode oscillator
(TDO) allow detailed insight into the field and temperature dependence of
$\chi$. In particular, local moment ferromagnets show a sharp peak in $\chi(T)$
near the Curie temperature, $T_c$. The peak amplitude decreases and shifts to
higher temperatures with very small applied dc fields. Anisotropic measurements
of CeVSb$_3$ show that this peak is present provided the magnetic easy axis is
aligned with the excitation field. In a striking contrast, small moment,
itinerant ferromagnets (i.e., ZrZn$_2$) show a broad maximum in $\chi(T)$ that
responds differently to applied field. We believe that TDO measurements provide
a very sensitive way to distinguish between local and itinerant moment magnetic
orders. Local moment antiferromagnets do not show a peak at the N\'eel
temperature, $T_N$, but only a sharp decrease of $\chi$ below $T_N$ due to the
loss of spin-disorder scattering changing the penetration depth of the ac
excitation field. Furthermore, we show that the TDO is capable of detecting
changes in spin order as well as metamagnetic transitions. Finally, critical
scaling of $\chi(T,H)$ in the vicinity of $T_C$ is discussed in CeVSb$_3$ and
CeAgSb$_2$.


  Living systems are maintained out-of-equilibrium by external driving forces.
At stationarity, they exhibit emergent selection phenomena that break
equilibrium symmetries and originate from the expansion of the accessible
chemical space due to non-equilibrium conditions. Here, we use the matrix-tree
theorem to derive universal thermodynamic bounds on these symmetry-breaking
features in biochemical systems. Our bounds are independent of the kinetics and
hold for both closed and open reaction networks. We also extend our results to
master equations in the chemical space. Using our framework, we recover the
thermodynamic constraints in kinetic proofreading. Finally, we show that the
contrast of reaction-diffusion patterns can be bounded only by the
non-equilibrium driving force. Our results provide a general framework for
understanding the role of non-equilibrium conditions in shaping the
steady-state properties of biochemical systems.


  Thermoelectric (TE) air cooling is a solid-state technology that has the
potential to replace conventional vapor compression-based air conditioning. In
this paper, we present a detailed system-level modeling for thermoelectric air
conditioning system with position-dependent (graded) and constant material
properties. Strategies for design optimization of the system are provided in
terms of cost-performance trade-off. Realistic convection heat transfer at both
sides of the system are taken into account in our modeling. Effects of
convection heat transfer coefficients, air flowrate, and thermoelectric
material properties are investigated with varying key parameters such as TE leg
thickness, module fill factor, and input current. Both constant material
properties and graded properties are considered for the TE materials, and they
are compared in terms of the degree of cooling, coefficient of performance
(COP), and power consumption. For graded materials, we employ one-dimensional
finite element methods to solve the coupled electrical and thermal current
equations with arbitrary profile of material properties varying with position
along the TE legs. We find that graded materials can enhance the degree of
cooling, but only at the expense of COP, compared to the case of constant
property materials. With constant material properties of ZT = 1 and relatively
low electric current, the power consumption of TE cooler can be lower than
those of conventional air conditioners at an equivalent cooling capacity.
Considering additional advantages such as demand-flexible operation, low noise,
and high scalability, thermoelectric cooling could be a competitive technology
for future air conditioning applications.


  The Einstein-Straus spacetime describes a nonrotating black hole immersed in
a matter-dominated cosmology. It is constructed by scooping out a spherical
ball of the dust and replacing it with a vacuum region containing a black hole
of the same mass. The metric is smooth at the boundary, which is comoving with
the rest of the universe. We study the evolution of a massless scalar field in
the Einstein-Straus spacetime, with a special emphasis on its late-time
behavior. This is done by numerically integrating the scalar wave equation in a
double-null coordinate system that covers both portions (vacuum and dust) of
the spacetime. We show that the field's evolution is governed mostly by the
strong concentration of curvature near the black hole, and the discontinuity in
the dust's mass density at the boundary; these give rise to a rather complex
behavior at late times. Contrary to what it would do in an asymptotically-flat
spacetime, the field does not decay in time according to an inverse power-law.


  Detecting the Maximum Common Subgraph (MCS) between two input graphs is
fundamental for applications in drug synthesis, malware detection, cloud
computing, etc. However, MCS computation is NP-hard, and state-of-the-art MCS
solvers rely on heuristic search algorithms which in practice cannot find good
solution for large graph pairs given a limited computation budget. We propose
GLSearch, a Graph Neural Network (GNN) based learning to search model. Our
model is built upon the branch and bound algorithm, which selects one pair of
nodes from the two input graphs to expand at a time. Instead of using
heuristics, we propose a novel GNN-based Deep Q-Network (DQN) to select the
node pair, allowing the search process faster and more adaptive. To further
enhance the training of DQN, we leverage the search process to provide
supervision in a pre-training stage and guide our agent during an imitation
learning stage. Experiments on synthetic and real-world large graph pairs
demonstrate that our model learns a search strategy that is able to detect
significantly larger common subgraphs given the same computation budget. Our
GLSearch can be potentially extended to solve many other combinatorial problems
with constraints on graphs.


  We present a quantum Monte Carlo study of the quantum correlations in the
parametric luminescence from semiconductor microcavities in the strong
exciton-photon coupling regime. As already demonstrated in recent experiments,
a ring-shaped emission is obtained by applying two identical pump beams with
opposite in-plane wavevectors, providing symmetrical signal and idler beams
with opposite in-plane wavevectors on the ring. We study the squeezing of the
signal-idler difference noise across the parametric instability threshold,
accounting for the radiative and non-radiative losses, multiple scattering and
static disorder. We compare the results of the complete multimode Monte Carlo
simulations with a simplified linearized quantum Langevin analytical model.