  We consider models of light dark matter coupled to quarks through a vector
current interaction. For low energies, these models must be treated through the
effective couplings to mesons, which are implemented here through the chiral
Lagrangian. We find the rates of dark matter annihilation and decay to the
light mesons, and find the expected photon spectrum from the decay of the
hadrons. We compare to current and future observations, and show that there is
a significant discovery reach for these models.


  We describe a quantum black-box network computing the majority of N bits with
zero-sided error eps using only 2N/3 + O(sqrt{N (log log N + log 1/eps)})
queries: the algorithm returns the correct answer with probability at least 1 -
eps, and "I don't know" otherwise. Our algorithm is given as a randomized "XOR
decision tree" for which the number of queries on any input is strongly
concentrated around a value of at most 2N/3. We provide a nearly matching lower
bound of 2N/3 - O(sqrt(N)) on the expected number of queries on a worst-case
input in the randomized XOR decision tree model with zero-sided error o(1). Any
classical randomized decision tree computing the majority on N bits with
zero-sided error 1/2 has cost N.


  We present new distributed algorithms for constructing a Steiner Forest in
the CONGEST model. Our deterministic algorithm finds, for any given constant
$\epsilon>0$, a $(2+\epsilon)$-approximation in
$\tilde{O}(sk+\sqrt{\min(st,n)})$ rounds, where $s$ is the shortest path
diameter, $t$ is the number of terminals, $k$ is the number of terminal
components in the input, and $n$ is the number of nodes. Our randomized
algorithm finds, with high probability, an $O(\log n)$- approximation in time
$\tilde{O}(k+\min(s,\sqrt n)+D)$, where $D$ is the unweighted diameter of the
network. We also prove a matching lower bound of
$\tilde{\Omega}(k+\min(s,\sqrt{n})+D)$ on the running time of any distributed
approximation algorithm for the Steiner Forest problem. Previous algorithms
were randomized, and obtained either an $O(\log n)$-approximation in
$\tilde{O}(sk)$ time, or an $O(1/\epsilon)$-approximation in
$\tilde{O}((\sqrt{n}+t)^{1+\epsilon}+D)$ time.


  Various studies have shown that characteristic Artificial Immune System (AIS)
operators such as hypermutations and ageing can be very efficient at escaping
local optima of multimodal optimisation problems. However, this efficiency
comes at the expense of considerably slower runtimes during the exploitation
phase compared to standard evolutionary algorithms. We propose modifications to
the traditional `hypermutations with mutation potential' (HMP) that allow them
to be efficient at exploitation as well as maintaining their effective
explorative characteristics. Rather than deterministically evaluating fitness
after each bitflip of a hypermutation, we sample the fitness function
stochastically with a `parabolic' distribution which allows the `stop at first
constructive mutation' (FCM) variant of HMP to reduce the linear amount of
wasted function evaluations when no improvement is found to a constant. By
returning the best sampled solution during the hypermutation, rather than the
first constructive mutation, we then turn the extremely inefficient HMP
operator without FCM, into a very effective operator for the standard Opt-IA
AIS using hypermutation, cloning and ageing. We rigorously prove the
effectiveness of the two proposed operators by analysing them on all problems
where the performance of HPM is rigorously understood in the literature. %


  Isostable reduction is a powerful technique that can be used to characterize
behaviors of nonlinear dynamical systems in a basis of slowly decaying
eigenfunctions of the Koopman operator. When the underlying dynamical equations
are known, previously developed numerical techniques allow for high-order
accuracy computation of isostable reduced models. However, in situations where
the dynamical equations are unknown, few general techniques are available that
provide reliable estimates of the isostable reduced equations, especially in
applications where large magnitude inputs are considered. In this work, a
purely data-driven inference strategy yielding high-accuracy isostable reduced
models is developed for dynamical systems with a fixed point attractor. By
analyzing steady state outputs of nonlinear systems in response to sinusoidal
forcing, both isostable response functions and isostable-to-output
relationships can be estimated to arbitrary accuracy in an expansion performed
in the isostable coordinates. Detailed examples are considered for a population
of synaptically coupled neurons and for the one-dimensional Burgers' equation.
While linear estimates of the isostable response functions are sufficient to
characterize the dynamical behavior when small magnitude inputs are considered,
the high-accuracy reduced order model inference strategy proposed here is
essential when considering large magnitude inputs.


  We analyze the stability and magnetic properties of infinite zigzag atomic
chains of a large number of late third, fourth and fifth-row transition metal
atoms, as well as of the Group IV elements Si, Ge, Sn and Pb. We find that
zigzag chains of third- and fourth-row elements are not stable, while those
made of Si, Ge, Sn, Pb, W, Os, Ir, Pt and Au are. These results correlate well
with known data in Mechanically Controllable Break Junction experiemnts
(MCBJE). We therefore conjecture that the stability of an infinite chain is at
least a necessary condition for the formation of a finite sized one in MCBJE.
We therefore predict that Sn and Os, and possibly W and Pb chains may be found
in those experiments. We also find that the bonds in Hg chains are extremely
soft. We finally show that the magnetic moments and anisotropies of Ir and Pt
chains show a non-trivial behavior.


  Converting modulo flows into integer-valued flows is one of the most critical
steps in the study of integer flows. Tutte and Jaeger's pioneering work shows
the equivalence of modulo flows and integer-valued flows for ordinary graphs.
However, such equivalence does not hold any more for signed graphs. This
motivates us to study how to convert modulo flows into integer-valued flows for
signed graphs. In this paper, we generalize some early results by Xu and Zhang
(Discrete Math.~299, 2005), Schubert and Steffen (European J. Combin.~48,
2015), and Zhu (J. Combin. Theory Ser. B~112, 2015), and show that, for signed
graphs, every modulo $(2+\frac{1}{p})$-flow with $p \in {\mathbb Z}^+ \cup
\{\infty\}$ can be converted/extended into an integer-valued flow.


  We report on the properties of the most massive ultra-compact dwarf galaxy
(UCD) in the nearby Virgo Cluster of galaxies using imaging from the Next
Generation Virgo Cluster Survey (NGVS) and spectroscopy from Keck/DEIMOS. This
object (M59-UCD3) appears to be associated with the massive Virgo galaxy M59
(NGC 4621), has an integrated velocity dispersion of 78 km/s, a dynamical mass
of $3.7\times10^8 M_\odot$, and an effective radius ($R_e$) of 25 pc. With an
effective surface mass density of $9.4\times10^{10} M_\odot/kpc^2$, it is the
densest galaxy in the local Universe discovered to date, surpassing the density
of the luminous Virgo UCD, M60-UCD1. M59-UCD3 has a total luminosity of
$M_{g'}=-14.2$ mag, and a spectral energy distribution consistent with an old
(14 Gyr) stellar population with [Fe/H]=0.0 and [$\alpha$/Fe]=+0.2. We also
examine deep imaging around M59 and find a broad low surface brightness stream
pointing towards M59-UCD3, which may represent a tidal remnant of the UCD
progenitor. This UCD, along with similar objects like M60-UCD1 and M59cO,
likely represents an extreme population of tidally stripped galaxies more akin
to larger and more massive compact early-type galaxies than to nuclear star
clusters in present-day dwarf galaxies.


  Let V be an open manifold with complete nonnegatively curved metric such that
the normal sphere bundle to a soul has no section. We prove that the souls of
nearby nonnegatively curved metrics on V are smoothly close. Combining this
result with some topological properties of pseudoisotopies we show that for
many V the space of complete nonnegatively curved metrics has infinite higher
homotopy groups.


  Standard Control Chart techniques to detect level shift in data streams
assume independence between observations. As data today is collected with high
frequency, this assumption is seldom valid. To overcome this, we propose to
adapt the off-line test procedure for detection of outliers based on one-step
prediction errors proposed by Tsay (1988) into an on-line framework by
considering a moving window. Further, we present two algorithms, that in
combination, estimate an appropriate test value for our control chart. We test
our method on AR(1) processes exposed to level shifts of different sizes and
compare it to CUSUM applied to one-step prediction errors. We find that, even
though both methods perform comparable when tuned correctly, our method has
higher probability of identifying the correct change point of the process.
Furthermore, for more complicated processes our method is easier to tune, as
the range of window size to be tested is independent of the process.


  We define the Anderson hamiltonian on the two dimensional torus $\mathbb
R^2/\mathbb Z^2$. This operator is formally defined as $\mathscr H:= -\Delta +
\xi$ where $\Delta$ is the Laplacian operator and where $\xi$ belongs to a
general class of singular potential which includes the Gaussian white noise
distribution. We use the notion of paracontrolled distribution as introduced by
Gubinelli, Imkeller and Perkowski in [14]. We are able to define the
Schr\"odinger operator $\mathscr H$ as an unbounded self-adjoint operator on
$L^2(\mathbb T^2)$ and we prove that its real spectrum is discrete with no
accumulation points for a general class of singular potential $\xi$. We also
establish that the spectrum is a continuous function of a sort of enhancement
$\Xi(\xi)$ of the potential $\xi$. As an application, we prove that a correctly
renormalized smooth approximations $\mathscr H_\varepsilon:= -\Delta +
\xi_\varepsilon+c_\varepsilon$ (where $\xi_\varepsilon$ is a smooth
mollification of the Gaussian white noise $\xi$ and $c_\varepsilon$ an explicit
diverging renormalization constant) converge in the sense of the resolvent
towards the singular operator $\mathscr H$. In the case of a Gaussian white
noise $\xi$, we obtain exponential tail bounds for the minimal eigenvalue
(sometimes called ground state) of the operator $\mathscr H$ as well as its
order of magnitude $\log L$ when the operator is considered on a large box
$\mathbb T_L:= \mathbb R^2/(L\mathbb Z)^2$ with $L\to \infty$.


  The quantization of Einstein-Maxwell theory with a cosmological constant is
considered. We obtain all logarithmically divergent terms in the one-loop
effective action that involve only the background electromagnetic field. This
includes Lee-Wick type terms, as well as those responsible for the
renormalization group behaviour of the electric charge (or fine structure
constant). Of particular interest is the possible gauge condition dependence of
the results, and we study this in some detail. We show that the traditional
background-field method, that is equivalent to a more traditional Feynman
diagram calculation, does result in gauge condition dependent results in
general. One resolution of this is to use the Vilkovisky-DeWitt effective
action method, and this is presented here. Quantum gravity is shown to lead to
a contribution to the running charge not present when the cosmological constant
vanishes. This re-opens the possibility, suggested by Robinson and Wilczek, of
altering the scaling behaviour of gauge theories at high energies although our
result differs. We show the possibility of an ultraviolet fixed point that is
linked directly to the cosmological constant.


  A significant fraction of high redshift starburst galaxies presents strong Ly
alpha emission. Understanding the nature of these galaxies is important to
assess the role they played in the early Universe and to shed light on the
relation between the narrow band selected Lyalpha emitters and the Lyman break
galaxies: are the Lyalpha emitters a subset of the general LBG population? or
do they represent the youngest galaxies in their early phases of formation? We
studied a sample of UV continuum selected galaxies from z~2.5 to z~6 (U, B, V
and i-dropouts) from the GOODS-South survey, that have been observed
spectroscopically. Using the GOODS-MUSIC catalog we investigated their physical
properties, such as total masses, ages, SFRs, extinction etc as determined from
a spectrophotometric fit to the multi-wavelength (U band to mid-IR) SEDs, and
their dependence on the emission line characteristics. In particular we
determined the nature of the LBGs with Lyalpha in emission and compared them to
the properties of narrow band selected Lyalpha emitters. For U and B-dropouts
we also compared the properties of LBGs with and without the Lyalpha emission
line.


  We completely describe in terms of Hausdorff measures the size of the set of
points of the circle that are covered infinitely often by a sequence of random
arcs with given lengths. We also show that this set is a set with large
intersection.


  Free-electron lasers (FELs) operate at wavelengths down to hard x-rays, and
are either seeded or start from noise. There is increasing interest in x-ray
FELs that rely on Self-Amplified Spontaneous Emission (SASE), and this involves
increasing simulation activity in the design, optimization, and
characterization of these x-ray FELs. Most of the simulation codes in use rely
on the Slowly-Varying Envelope Approximation (SVEA) in which Maxwell's
equations are averaged over the fast time scale resulting in relatively small
computational requirements. While the SVEA codes are generally successful, the
predictions of these codes sometimes differ in various aspects of the FEL
interaction. In contrast, Particle-in-Cell (PiC) simulation codes do not
average Maxwell's equations and are considered to be a more complete model of
the underlying physics.Unfortunately, they require much longer run times than
SVEA codes and have not been validated by comparison with experiment as often
as the SVEA codes. In order to remedy this, and to resolve issues that arise
due to different predictions between the SVEA codes, we present a comparison
between one SVEA code (MINERVA) and a PiC simulation code (PUFFIN) with the
experimental measurements obtained at the SPARC SASE FEL experiment at ENEA
Frascati. The results show good agreement between the two codes and between the
codes and the experiment. Since the formulations of the two codes share no
common elements, this validates both formulations and demonstrates the
capability to model the FEL interaction from the start of teh undulator through
the undulator and into deep saturation.


  In this paper, we first present spectral conditions for the existence of
$C_{n-1}$ in graphs (2-connected graphs) of order $n$, which are motivated by a
conjecture of Erd\H{o}s. Then we prove spectral conditions for the existence of
Hamilton cycles in balanced bipartite graphs. This result presents a spectral
analog of Moon-Moser's theorem on Hamilton cycles in balanced bipartite graphs,
and extends a previous theorem due to Li and the second author for $n$
sufficiently large. We conclude this paper with two problems on tight spectral
conditions for the existence of long cycles of given lengths.


  A new mathematical notation is proposed for the iteration of functions. It
facilitates the application of the iteration of functions in mathematical and
logical expressions, definitions of sets, and formulations of algorithms.
Illustrations of the notation include definitions of constant points, periodic
points, a filled-in Julia set, the Mandelbrot set, iterations of a logistic
map, the double-approximating procedure for solving the Lorenz equations, a
description of a financial time series, and reordering nonnegative integers
useful for the investigation of the Collatz's (3x+1)/2 convergence problem. The
terms iteral and iteral of function are suggested to name the new denomination.


  In this paper, the necessary and sufficient conditions for Matsumoto metrics
$F=\frac{\alpha^2}{\alpha-\beta}$ to be Einstein are given. It is shown that if
the length of $\beta$ with respect to $\alpha$ is constant, then the Matsumoto
metric $F$ is an Einstein metric if and only if $\alpha$ is Ricci-flat and
$\beta$ is parallel with respect to $\alpha$. A nontrivial example of Ricci
flat Matsumoto metrics is given.


  This study investigated whether and how Learning Assistant (LA) support is
linked to student outcomes in Physics courses nationwide. Paired student
concept inventory scores were collected over three semesters from 3,753
students, representing 69 courses, and 40 instructors, from 17 LA Alliance
member institutions. Each participating student completed an online concept
inventory at the beginning (pre) and end (post) of each term. The physics
concept inventories tested included the Force Concept Inventory (FCI),
Conceptual Survey of Electricity and Magnetism (CSEM), Force and Motion Concept
Evaluation (FMCE) and the Brief Electricity and Magnetism Assessment (BEMA).
Across instruments, Cohen's d effect sizes were 1.4 times higher, on average,
for courses supported by LAs compared to courses without LA support.
Preliminary findings indicate that physics students' outcomes may be most
effective when LA support is utilized in laboratory settings (1.9 times higher
than no LA support) in comparison to lecture (1.4 times higher), recitations
(1.5 times higher), or unknown uses (1.3 times higher). Additional research
will inform LA-implementation best practices across disciplines.


  The magnetic and magnetocaloric (MCE) properties were studied in a stuffed
honeycomb antiferromagnet GdInO3 polycrystalline. No long-range magnetic
ordering was observed with only a sharp upturn in the temperature dependent
magnetization curves at TN ~ 2.1 K. The large value of frustration index value
~ 5.0 suggests short-range antiferromagnetic interactions existing between the
Gd3+ moments in this frustrated magnetic system. Negligible thermal and
magnetic hysteresis suggest a second-order feature of phase transition and a
reversible magnetocaloric effect (MCE) in GdInO3 compound. In the magnetic
field changes of 0-50 kOe and 0-70 kOe, the maximum magnetic entropy change
values are 9.31 J/kg K and 17.53 J/kg K near the liquid helium temperature,
with the corresponding RCP values of 106.61 and 196.38 J/kg, respectively. The
relative lower MCE performance of GdInO3 polycrystalline than the other
Gd-based magnetocaloric effect is understood by the high magnetic frustration
in this system. Our investigation results reveal GdInO3 polycrystalline has a
large reversible MCE, which not only provides another possibility of exploiting
magnetocaloric refrigerants in the frustrated magnetic systems near the
cryogenic temperature region, but also serves to excavate more exotic
properties in the frustrated stuffed honeycomb magnetic systems.


  We use recently developed strong-coupling expansion methods to study the
two-particle spectra for the frustrated alternating Heisenberg model,
consisting of an alternating nearest neighbor antiferromagnetic exchange and a
uniform second neighbor antiferromagnetic exchange. Starting from the limit of
weakly coupled dimers, we develop high order series expansions for the
effective Hamiltonian in the two-particle subspace. In the limit of a strong
applied dimerization, we calculate accurately various properties of singlet and
triplet bound states and quintet antibound states. We also develop series
expansions for bound state energies in various sectors, which can be
extrapolated using standard methods to cases where the external
bond-alternation goes to zero. We study the properties of singlet and triplet
bound states in the latter limit and suggest a crucial role for the bound
states in the unbinding of triplets and deconfinement of spin-half excitations.


  For $n\leq d$, a family ${\cal F}=\{C_0,C_1,\ldots, C_n\}$ of compact convex
sets in $R^d$ is called an $n$-critical family provided any $n$ members of
${\cal F}$ have a non-empty intersection, but $\bigcap_{i=0}^n
C_i=\varnothing$. If $n=d$ then a lemma on the intersection of convex sets due
to Klee implies that the $d+1$ members of the $d$-critical family enclose a
`hollow' in $R^d$, a bounded connected component of
$R^d\setminus\bigcup_{i=0}^n C_i.$ Here we prove that the closure of the convex
hull of a hollow in $R^d$ is a $d$-simplex.


  This paper develops a unified general framework for designing convergent
finite difference and discontinuous Galerkin methods for approximating
viscosity and regular solutions of fully nonlinear second order PDEs. Unlike
the well-known monotone (finite difference) framework, the proposed new
framework allows for the use of narrow stencils and unstructured grids which
makes it possible to construct high order methods. The general framework is
based on the concepts of consistency and g-monotonicity which are both defined
in terms of various numerical derivative operators. Specific methods that
satisfy the framework are constructed using numerical moments. Admissibility,
stability, and convergence properties are proved, and numerical experiments are
provided along with some computer implementation details.


  We study superfluidlike spin transport facilitated by thermal diffusion of
magnetic domain walls, where the positive and negative chiralities of domain
walls act as opposite topological charges. The topological charge conservation
leads to algebraic decay of spin current carried by domain walls, allowing for
the transport of spin over extended distances. We demonstrate that the presence
of the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction can lead to nonreciprocity in spin
flow, thus effectively realizing a spin ratchet. In one scenario, the
nonreciprocity arises due to diode-like behavior where the nucleation of domain
walls is governed by thermal activation for one direction of spin current and
by viscous injection for the other direction of spin current. We confirm our
predictions by micromagnetic simulations of domain walls in TmIG nanowire.


  We study the specific heat of the $x-y$ model on lattices $L \times L \times
H$ with $L \gg H$ (i.e. on lattices representing a film geometry) using the
Cluster Monte--Carlo method. In the $H$--direction we apply Dirichlet boundary
conditions so that the order parameter in the top and bottom layers is zero. We
find that our results for the specific heat of various thickness size $H$
collapse on the same universal scaling function. The extracted scaling function
of the specific heat is in good agreement with the experimentally determined
universal scaling function using no free parameters.


  Inflationary cosmologies predict Gaussian primordial fluctuations, but
subsequent gravitational lensing of the CMB disturbs its Gaussianity. Knowledge
of the specific signature of lensing is necessary to distinguish a lensed
Gaussian sky from an intrinsically non-Gaussian one. In this paper we
investigate the pattern of non-Gaussian features in the CMB resulting from
gravitational lensing, both analytically and numerically. We describe the
lensed CMB temperature distribution using the formalism of generating
functionals and obtain the complete picture of emerging non-Gaussian effects.
To test for the signature of lensing in practice, we propose a scale-dependent
statistic based on cumulants of the CMB temperature, and we compute that
statistic numerically for typical inflationary models. The effect is expected
to be most significant at angular scales $\sim 10^\prime$ and its magnitude is
within observational capabilities of future satellite missions.


  In this paper we study a maximization version of the classical Feedback
Vertex Set (FVS) problem, namely, the Max Min FVS problem, in the realm of
parameterized complexity. In this problem, given an undirected graph $G$, a
positive integer $k$, the question is to check whether $G$ has a minimal
feedback vertex set of size at least $k$. We obtain following results for Max
Min FVS.
  1) We first design a fixed parameter tractable (FPT) algorithm for Max Min
FVS running in time $10^kn^{\mathcal{O}(1)}$.
  2) Next, we consider the problem parameterized by the vertex cover number of
the input graph (denoted by $\mathsf{vc}(G)$), and design an algorithm with
running time $2^{\mathcal{O}(\mathsf{vc}(G)\log
\mathsf{vc}(G))}n^{\mathcal{O}(1)}$. We complement this result by showing that
the problem parameterized by $\mathsf{vc}(G)$ does not admit a polynomial
compression unless coNP $\subseteq$ NP/poly.
  3) Finally, we give an FPT-approximation scheme (fpt-AS) parameterized by
$\mathsf{vc}(G)$. That is, we design an algorithm that for every $\epsilon >0$,
runs in time $2^{\mathcal{O}\left(\frac{\mathsf{vc}(G)}{\epsilon}\right)}
n^{\mathcal{O}(1)}$ and returns a minimal feedback vertex set of size at least
$(1-\epsilon){\sf opt}$.


  We introduce StaccaToe, a human-scale, electric motor-powered single-leg
robot designed to rival the agility of human locomotion through two distinctive
attributes: an actuated toe and a co-actuation configuration inspired by the
human leg. Leveraging the foundational design of HyperLeg's lower leg
mechanism, we develop a stand-alone robot by incorporating new link designs,
custom-designed power electronics, and a refined control system. Unlike
previous jumping robots that rely on either special mechanisms (e.g., springs
and clutches) or hydraulic/pneumatic actuators, StaccaToe employs electric
motors without energy storage mechanisms. This choice underscores our ultimate
goal of developing a practical, high-performance humanoid robot capable of
human-like, stable walking as well as explosive dynamic movements. In this
paper, we aim to empirically evaluate the balance capability and the exertion
of explosive ground reaction forces of our toe and co-actuation mechanisms.
Throughout extensive hardware and controller development, StaccaToe showcases
its control fidelity by demonstrating a balanced tip-toe stance and dynamic
jump. This study is significant for three key reasons: 1) StaccaToe represents
the first human-scale, electric motor-driven single-leg robot to execute
dynamic maneuvers without relying on specialized mechanisms; 2) our research
provides empirical evidence of the benefits of replicating critical human leg
attributes in robotic design; and 3) we explain the design process for creating
agile legged robots, the details that have been scantily covered in academic
literature.


  The dynamics of spatiotemporal patterns in oscillatory reaction-diffusion
systems subject to periodic forcing with a spatially random forcing amplitude
field are investigated. Quenched disorder is studied using the resonantly
forced complex Ginzburg-Landau equation in the 3:1 resonance regime. Front
roughening and spontaneous nucleation of target patterns are observed and
characterized. Time dependent spatially varying forcing fields are studied in
the 3:1 forced FitzHugh-Nagumo system. The periodic variation of the spatially
random forcing amplitude breaks the symmetry among the three quasi-homogeneous
states of the system, making the three types of fronts separating phases
inequivalent. The resulting inequality in the front velocities leads to the
formation of ``compound fronts'' with velocities lying between those of the
individual component fronts, and ``pulses'' which are analogous structures
arising from the combination of three fronts. Spiral wave dynamics is studied
in systems with compound fronts.


  In this paper, we propose a hybrid lattice Boltzmann method (HLBM) for
solving fluid-structure interaction problems. The proposed numerical approach
is applied to model the flow induced by a vibrating thin lamina submerged in a
viscous quiescent fluid. The hydrodynamic force exerted by the fluid on the
solid body is described by means of a complex hydrodynamic function, whose real
and imaginary parts are determined via parametric analysis. Numerical results
are validated by comparison with those from other numerical as well as
experimental works available in the literature. The proposed hybrid approach
enhances the capability of lattice Boltzmann methods to solve fluid dynamic
problems involving moving geometries.


  Semi-supervised medical image segmentation studies have shown promise in
training models with limited labeled data. However, current dominant
teacher-student based approaches can suffer from the confirmation bias. To
address this challenge, we propose AD-MT, an alternate diverse teaching
approach in a teacher-student framework. It involves a single student model and
two non-trainable teacher models that are momentum-updated periodically and
randomly in an alternate fashion. To mitigate the confirmation bias from the
diverse supervision, the core of AD-MT lies in two proposed modules: the Random
Periodic Alternate (RPA) Updating Module and the Conflict-Combating Module
(CCM). The RPA schedules the alternating diverse updating process with
complementary data batches, distinct data augmentation, and random switching
periods to encourage diverse reasoning from different teaching perspectives.
The CCM employs an entropy-based ensembling strategy to encourage the model to
learn from both the consistent and conflicting predictions between the
teachers. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness and superiority of
our AD-MT on the 2D and 3D medical segmentation benchmarks across various
semi-supervised settings.


  One essential question in material sciences is how to bridge the gap between
the microscopic picture and a macroscopic description. The former involves
contact forces and deformations, whereas the latter concerns tensorial
quantities like the stress or the velocity gradient. A two-dimensional
shear-cell filled with disks of different sizes is examined by means of a
``microscopic'' discrete element method (DEM). Applying a consistent averaging
formalism, one can obtain scalar- and vector-fields as well as classical
tensorial macroscopic quantities like fabric, stress or velocity gradient and,
in addition, micropolar quantities like curvature or couple-stress.


  Using recent techniques introduced by Jones we prove that a large family of
discrete groups and groupoids have the Haagerup property. In particular, we
show that if G is a discrete group with the Haagerup property, then the wreath
product $\oplus_{Q_2}G\rtimes V$ obtained from the group G and the usual action
of Thompson's group V on the dyadic rational $Q_2$ of the unit interval has the
Haagerup property.


  Space-time is spherically symmetric if it admits the group of SO(3) as a
group of isometries,with the group orbits spacelike two-surfaces. These orbits
are necessarily two-surface of constant positive curavture. One commonly
chooses coordinate ${t,r,\theta,\phi}$ so that the group orbits become surfaces
${t,r = const.}$ and the radial coordinate r is defined by the requirment that
$4\pi r^2$ is the area of these spacelike two-surfaces with the range of zero
to infinity. According to the Birkhoff's theorem upon the above assumptions,
the Schwarzschild metric is the only soltion of the vacuum Einstein field
equations. Our aim is to reconsider the solution of the sperically symmetric
vacuum Einstein field equtions by regarding a weaker requirement. We admit the
evident fact that in the completely empty sace the radial coordinate r may be
defined so that $4\pi r^2$ becomes the area of spacelike two-surfaces ${t,r =
const.}$ with the range of zero to infinity. This is not necessarily to be true
in the presence of a material point mass M. It turns out that inspite of
imposing asymptotically flatness and staticness as initial conditions the
equations have general classes of solutions which the Schwarzschild metric is
the only member of them which has an intrinsic singularity at the location of
the point mass M. The area of ${t,r = const.}$ is $4\pi(r +\alpha M)^2$ in one
class and $4\pi(r^2 + a_1 Mr +a_2 M^2)$ in the other class while the center of
symmetry is at r = 0.


  Fan-shaped jets can be observed above light bridges and are driven by
reconnection of the vertical umbral field with the more horizontal field above
the light bridges. Because these jets are not fully opaque in chromospheric
lines, one cannot study their spectra without the highly complex considerations
of radiative transfer in spectral lines from the atmosphere behind the fan. We
get around this by taking advantage of a unique set of observations of the
H$\alpha$ line along with the Ca II 8542 and Ca II K lines obtained with the
Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope where a fan-shaped jet was backlit by an X9.3
flare. The H$\alpha$ flare ribbon emission profiles from behind the fan are
highly broadened and flattened, allowing us to investigate the fan as if it
were backlit by continuous emission. Using this model we derived the opacity
and velocity of the material in the jet and what we believe to be the first
observationally derived estimate of the mass and density of material in a
fan-shaped jet. Using inversions of Ca II 8542 emission via STiC, we were also
able to estimate the temperature in the jet. Finally, we use the masses and POS
and LOS velocities as functions of time to investigate the downward supply of
energy and momentum to the photosphere in the collapse of this jet, and
evaluate it as a potential driver for a sunquake beneath. We found that the
physical properties of the fan material are reasonably chromospheric in nature,
with a temperature of 7050 $\pm$ 250 K and a mean density of 2 $\pm$ 0.3
$\times$ 10$^{-11}$ g cm$^{-3}$. The total mass observed in $\mathrm{H\alpha}$
was found to be 3.9 $\pm$ 0.7 $\times$ 10$^{13}$g and the kinetic energy
delivered to the base of the fan in its collapse was nearly two orders of
magnitude below typical sunquake energies. We therefore rule out this jet as
the sunquake driver, but cannot completely rule out larger fan jets as
potential drivers.


  Comment on "Gapless Spin-1 Neutral Collective Mode Branch for Graphite" by G.
Baskaran and S.A. Jafari [cond-mat/0110022; Physical Review Letters, 89, 016402
(2002)].


  We study Na ion diffusion and electrochemical performance of NaVO$_3$ (NVO)
as anode material in Li/Na--ion batteries with the specific capacity of
$\approx$350 mAhg$^{-1}$ at the current density 11~mAg$^{-1}$ after 300 cycles.
Remarkably, the capacity retains $\ge$200~mAhg$^{-1}$ even after 400~cycles at
44~mAg$^{-1}$ with Coulombic efficiency $>$99\%. The deduced diffusion
coefficient from galvanostatic intermittent titration technique (GITT),
electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and cyclic voltammetry (CV)
measurements for NVO as anode in Li--ion battery is in the range of
10$^{-10}$--10$^{-12}$~cm$^2$s$^{-1}$. In case of Na-ion batteries, the NVO
electrode exhibits initial capacity of 385~mAhg$^{-1}$ at 7~mAg$^{-1}$ current
rate, but the capacity degradation is relatively faster in subsequent cycles.
We find the diffusion coefficient of NVO--Na cells similar to that of NVO--Li.
On the other hand, our charge discharge measurements suggest that the overall
performance of NVO anode is better in Li--ion battery than Na-ion. Moreover, we
use the density functional theory to simulate the energetics of Na vacancy
formation in the bulk of the NVO structure, which is found to be 0.88~eV higher
than that of the most stable (100) surface. Thus, the Na ion incorporation at
the surface of the electrode material is more facile compared to the bulk.


  We consider a phenomenological continuum model for an active nematic fluid
and show a universal, model independent, instability which renders the
homogeneous nematic state unstable to order fluctuations. Using numerical and
analytic tools we show that, for low energy excitations in the vicinity of a
critical point, this instability leads to a phase separation in which the
ordered regions form bands with the direction of nematic order being
perpendicular to the direction of density gradient. We argue that this
mechanism of phase separation, which we term self-regulation, is a universal
feature of active fluids.


  The nonadiabatic geometric quantum computation may be achieved using coupled
low-capacitance Josephson juctions. We show that the nonadiabtic effects as
well as the adiabatic condition are very important for these systems. Moreover,
we find that it may be hard to detect the adiabatic Berry's phase in this kind
of superconducting nanocircuits; but the nonadiabatic phase may be measurable
with current techniques. Our results may provide useful information for the
implementation of geometric quantum computation.


  We represent closed subspaces of the Hardy space that are invariant under
finite-rank perturbations of the backward shift. We apply this to classify
almost invariant subspaces of the backward shift and represent a more refined
version of nearly invariant subspaces. Kernels of certain perturbed Toeplitz
operators are examples of the newly introduced nearly invariant subspaces.


  Autonomous crop monitoring is a difficult task due to the complex structure
of plants. Occlusions from leaves can make it impossible to obtain complete
views about all fruits of, e.g., pepper plants. Therefore, accurately
estimating the shape and volume of fruits from partial information is crucial
to enable further advanced automation tasks such as yield estimation and
automated fruit picking. In this paper, we present an approach for mapping
fruits on plants and estimating their shape by matching superellipsoids. Our
system segments fruits in images and uses their masks to generate point clouds
of the fruits. To combine sequences of acquired point clouds, we utilize a
real-time 3D mapping framework and build up a fruit map based on truncated
signed distance fields. We cluster fruits from this map and use optimized
superellipsoids for matching to obtain accurate shape estimates. In our
experiments, we show in various simulated scenarios with a robotic arm equipped
with an RGB-D camera that our approach can accurately estimate fruit volumes.
Additionally, we provide qualitative results of estimated fruit shapes from
data recorded in a commercial glasshouse environment.


  We study the extension of the Chambolle--Pock primal-dual algorithm to
nonsmooth optimization problems involving nonlinear operators between function
spaces. Local convergence is shown under technical conditions including metric
regularity of the corresponding primal-dual optimality conditions. We also show
convergence for a Nesterov-type accelerated variant provided one part of the
functional is strongly convex.
  We show the applicability of the accelerated algorithm to examples of inverse
problems with $L^1$- and $L^\infty$-fitting terms as well as of
state-constrained optimal control problems, where convergence can be guaranteed
after introducing an (arbitrary small, still nonsmooth) Moreau--Yosida
regularization. This is verified in numerical examples.


  Entwined space-time paths are bound pairs of trajectories which are traversed
in opposite directions with respect to macroscopic time. In this paper we show
that ensembles of entwined paths on a discrete space-time lattice are simply
described by coupled difference equations which are discrete versions of the
Dirac equation. There is no analytic continuation, explicit or forced, involved
in this description. The entwined paths are `self-quantizing'. We also show
that simple classical stochastic processes that generate the difference
equations as ensemble averages are stable numerically and converge at a rate
governed by the details of the stochastic process. This result establishes the
Dirac equation in one dimension as a phenomenological equation describing an
underlying classical stochastic process in the same sense that the Diffusion
and Telegraph equations are phenomenological descriptions of stochastic
processes.


  The majority of mass in the universe has not been observed optically and is
termed dark matter. The supersymmetric neutralino provides an interesting dark
matter candidate, which may self-annihilate in our galaxy, producing particles
visible in the cosmic ray spectrum. During a ten day space shuttle flight, the
AMS-01 detector recorded over 100 million cosmic ray events. This analysis
searches for the products of neutralino annihilation in the AMS-01 Z=-1
spectrum, and uses the results to place limits on which supersymmetric and dark
matter halo distribution models are compatible.


  It is known that Liouville theory can be represented as an SL(2,R) gauged WZW
model. We study a two dimensional field theory which can be obtained by
analytically continuing some of the variables in the SL(2,R) gauged WZW model.
We can derive Liouville theory from the analytically continued model, ( which
is a gauged SL(2,C)/SU(2) model, ) in a similar but more rigorous way than from
the original gauged WZW model. We investigate the observables of this gauged
SL(2,C)/SU(2) model. We find infinitely many extra observables which can not be
identified with operators in Liouville theory. We concentrate on observables
which are $(1,1)$ forms and the correlators of their integrals over two
dimensional spacetime. At a special value of the coupling constant of our
model, the correlators of these integrals on the sphere coincide with the
results from matrix models.


  Recent studies have delved into constructing generalist agents for open-world
embodied environments like Minecraft. Despite the encouraging results, existing
efforts mainly focus on solving basic programmatic tasks, e.g., material
collection and tool-crafting following the Minecraft tech-tree, treating the
ObtainDiamond task as the ultimate goal. This limitation stems from the
narrowly defined set of actions available to agents, requiring them to learn
effective long-horizon strategies from scratch. Consequently, discovering
diverse gameplay opportunities in the open world becomes challenging. In this
work, we introduce ODYSSEY, a new framework that empowers Large Language Model
(LLM)-based agents with open-world skills to explore the vast Minecraft world.
ODYSSEY comprises three key parts: (1) An interactive agent with an open-world
skill library that consists of 40 primitive skills and 183 compositional
skills. (2) A fine-tuned LLaMA-3 model trained on a large question-answering
dataset with 390k+ instruction entries derived from the Minecraft Wiki. (3) A
new open-world benchmark includes thousands of long-term planning tasks, tens
of dynamic-immediate planning tasks, and one autonomous exploration task.
Extensive experiments demonstrate that the proposed ODYSSEY framework can
effectively evaluate the planning and exploration capabilities of agents. All
datasets, model weights, and code are publicly available to motivate future
research on more advanced autonomous agent solutions.


  In this paper we describe an algorithm for aligning sentences with their
translations in a bilingual corpus using lexical information of the languages.
Existing efficient algorithms ignore word identities and consider only the
sentence lengths (Brown, 1991; Gale and Church, 1993). For a sentence in the
source language text, the proposed algorithm picks the most likely translation
from the target language text using lexical information and certain heuristics.
It does not do statistical analysis using sentence lengths. The algorithm is
language independent. It also aids in detecting addition and deletion of text
in translations. The algorithm gives comparable results with the existing
algorithms in most of the cases while it does better in cases where statistical
algorithms do not give good results.


  We have studied the star formation history and the initial mass function
(IMF) using the age and mass derived from spectral energy distribution (SED)
fitting and from color-magnitude diagrams. We also examined the physical and
structural parameters of more than 1,000 pre-main sequence stars in NGC 2264
using the on-line SED fitting tool (SED fitter) of Robitaille et al.
  The cumulative distribution of stellar ages showed a distinct difference
among SFRs. The results indicate that star formation in NGC 2264 started at the
surface region (Halo and Field regions) about 6 - 7 Myr ago, propagated into
the molecular cloud and finally triggered the recent star formation in the
Spokes cluster. The kind of sequential star formation that started in the
low-density surface region (Halo and Field regions) implies that star formation
in NGC 2264 was triggered by an external source.
  The IMF of NGC 2264 was determined in two different ways. The slope of the
IMF of NGC 2264 for massive stars (log m >= 0.5) is -1.7 \pm 0.1, which is
somewhat steeper than the so-called standard "Salpeter-Kroupa" IMF. We also
present data for 79 young brown dwarf candidates.


  We report a measurement of anisotropy in the cosmic microwave background
radiation (CMBR) on 7-22 arcminute scales. Observations of 36 fields near the
North Celestial Pole (NCP) were made at 31.7 and 14.5 GHz, using the 5.5-meter
and 40-meter telescopes at the Owens Valley Radio Observatory (OVRO) from 1993
to 1996.
  Multi-epoch VLA observations at 8.5 and 15 GHz allow removal of discrete
source contamination. After point-source subtraction, we detect significant
structure, which we identify with emission from a combination of a
steep-spectrum foreground and the CMBR. The foreground component is found to
correlate with IRAS 100 micron dust emission. Lack of H-alpha emission near the
NCP suggests that this foreground is either high-temperature thermal
bremsstrahlung (T_e ~ 10^6 K), flat-spectrum synchrotron or an exotic component
of dust emission. On the basis of low-frequency maps of the NCP, we can
restrict the spectral index of the foreground to beta >= -2.2.
  Although the foreground signal dominates at 14.5 GHz, the extracted CMBR
component contributes 88\% of the variance at 31.7 GHz, yielding an rms
fluctuation amplitude of 82^{+12.1}_{-9.1} microKelvin, including 4.3%
calibration uncertainty and 12% sample variance (68% confidence). The
equivalent broadband amplitude is dT_{l_e} = 59^{+8.6}_{-6.5} microKelvin at
l_e = 589. This measurement, when combined with small angular-scale upper
limits obtained at the OVRO, indicates that the CMBR angular power spectrum
decreases between l ~ 600 and l ~ 2000 and is consistent with flat cosmological
models.


  Materials that exhibit high nonlinear optical (NLO) susceptibilities are
considered as promising candidates for a wide range of photonic and electronic
applications. Here we argue that the ferroelectric nematic (NF) materials have
sufficient potentialities to become materials for the next-generation of NLO
devices. We have carried out a study of the efficiency of optical
second-harmonic generation in a prototype NF material, finding a nonlinear
susceptibility of 5.6 pmV-1 in the transparent regime, one of the highest ever
reported in ferroelectric liquid crystals. Given the fact that the studied
molecule was not specifically designed for NLO applications we conclude there
is still margin to obtain NF materials with enhanced properties that should
allow their practical use.


  It is believed that quantum communication is not possible with a pure
ensemble of states because quantum entropy of pure state is zero. This is
indeed possible due to geometric consequence of entanglement.


  This paper presents the contribution to the third 'CHiME' speech separation
and recognition challenge including both front-end signal processing and
back-end speech recognition. In the front-end, Multi-channel Wiener filter
(MWF) is designed to achieve background noise reduction. Different from
traditional MWF, optimized parameter for the tradeoff between noise reduction
and target signal distortion is built according to the desired noise reduction
level. In the back-end, several techniques are taken advantage to improve the
noisy Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) performance including Deep Neural
Network (DNN), Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) and Long short-term memory
(LSTM) using medium vocabulary, Lattice rescoring with a big vocabulary
language model finite state transducer, and ROVER scheme. Experimental results
show the proposed system combining front-end and back-end is effective to
improve the ASR performance.


  Let $B$ be a Borel subgroup of a semisimple algebraic group $G$ and let
$\mathfrak m$ be an abelian nilradical in $\mathfrak b={\rm Lie} (B)$. Using
subsets of strongly orthogonal roots in the subset of positive roots
corresponding to $\mathfrak m$, D. Panyushev \cite{Pan} gives in particular
classification of $B-$orbits in $\mathfrak m$ and ${\mathfrak m}^*$ and states
general conjectures on the closure and dimensions of the $B-$orbits in both
$\mathfrak m$ and ${\mathfrak m}^*$ in terms of involutions of the Weyl group.
Using Pyasetskii correspondence between $B-$orbits in $\mathfrak m$ and
${\mathfrak m}^*$ he shows the equivalence of these two conjectures. In this
Note we prove his conjecture in types $B_n, C_n$ and $D_n$ for adjoint case.


  We analyzed the occurrence rates of flares on stars of spectral types K, G,
F, and A, observed by Kepler. We found that the histogram of occurrence
frequencies of stellar flares is systematically shifted towards a high-energy
tail for A-type stars compared to stars of cooler spectral types. We
extrapolated the fitted power laws towards flares with smaller energies
(nanoflares) and made estimates for total energy flux to stellar atmospheres by
flares. We found that for A-type stars the total energy flux density was at
least 4-times smaller than for G-stars. We speculate that this deficit in
energy supply may explain the lack of hot coronae on A-type stars. Our results
indicate an importance of nanoflares for heating and formation of the solar
corona.


  Spatially homogeneous field theories are studied in the framework of
dynamical system theory. In particular we consider a model of inflationary
cosmology and a Yang-Mills-Higgs system. We discuss also the role of quantum
chaos and its application to field theories.


  In this note we take up the classical sup-norm problem for automorphic forms
and view it from a new angle. Given a twist minimal automorphic representation
$\pi$ we consider a special small $GL_2(\mathbb{Z}_p)$-type $V$ in $\pi$ and
proof global sup-norm bounds for an average over an orthonormal basis of $V$.
We achieve a non-trivial saving when the dimension of $V$ grows.


  In this work we study the $\pi N$ scattering process within the Baryon Chiral
Perturbation Theory framework in the covariant scheme of Extended-On-Mass-Shell
(EOMS).
  We compare the description obtained in this scheme with the previously
obtained using the Infrared Regularization scheme and show that EOMS
accomplishes the best convergence, being able to extract from partial wave
analyses reliable values of important quantities as the Goldberger-Treiman
deviation. In regard to the latter, we solve the long-standing problem
concerning to the extraction of the Goldberger-Treiman deviation with covariant
ChPT that jeopardized the applicability of ChPT to the $\pi N$ system.
  We also show the potential of the unitarization techniques applied to the
perturbative calculation in the EOMS scheme, that allow us to increase the
range of validity of our description up to $\approx 200$ MeV in $\sqrt{s}$.


  In 2016, Hopkins, McConville, and Propp proved that labeled chip-firing on a
line always leaves the chips in sorted order if the number of chips is even. We
present a novel proof of this result. We then apply our methods to resolve a
number of related conjectures concerning the confluence of labeled chip-firing
systems.


  In Machine Learning, a benchmark refers to an ensemble of datasets associated
with one or multiple metrics together with a way to aggregate different systems
performances. They are instrumental in (i) assessing the progress of new
methods along different axes and (ii) selecting the best systems for practical
use. This is particularly the case for NLP with the development of large
pre-trained models (e.g. GPT, BERT) that are expected to generalize well on a
variety of tasks. While the community mainly focused on developing new datasets
and metrics, there has been little interest in the aggregation procedure, which
is often reduced to a simple average over various performance measures.
However, this procedure can be problematic when the metrics are on a different
scale, which may lead to spurious conclusions. This paper proposes a new
procedure to rank systems based on their performance across different tasks.
Motivated by the social choice theory, the final system ordering is obtained
through aggregating the rankings induced by each task and is theoretically
grounded. We conduct extensive numerical experiments (on over 270k scores) to
assess the soundness of our approach both on synthetic and real scores (e.g.
GLUE, EXTREM, SEVAL, TAC, FLICKR). In particular, we show that our method
yields different conclusions on state-of-the-art systems than the
mean-aggregation procedure while being both more reliable and robust.


  We consider minimization of the sum of a large number of convex functions,
and we propose an incremental aggregated version of the proximal algorithm,
which bears similarity to the incremental aggregated gradient and subgradient
methods that have received a lot of recent attention. Under cost function
differentiability and strong convexity assumptions, we show linear convergence
for a sufficiently small constant stepsize. This result also applies to
distributed asynchronous variants of the method, involving bounded
interprocessor communication delays.
  We then consider dual versions of incremental proximal algorithms, which are
incremental augmented Lagrangian methods for separable equality-constrained
optimization problems. Contrary to the standard augmented Lagrangian method,
these methods admit decomposition in the minimization of the augmented
Lagrangian, and update the multipliers far more frequently. Our incremental
aggregated augmented Lagrangian methods bear similarity to several known
decomposition algorithms, including the alternating direction method of
multipliers (ADMM) and more recent variations. We compare these methods in
terms of their properties, and highlight their potential advantages and
limitations.
  We also address the solution of separable inequality-constrained optimization
problems through the use of nonquadratic augmented Lagrangiias such as the
exponential, and we dually consider a corresponding incremental aggregated
version of the proximal algorithm that uses nonquadratic regularization, such
as an entropy function. We finally propose a closely related linearly
convergent method for minimization of large differentiable sums subject to an
orthant constraint, which may be viewed as an incremental aggregated version of
the mirror descent method.


  Static recrystallization is an important aspect of metal processing. The
initial stage of recrystallization - nucleation of new grains - determines its
later stages. The accepted mechanisms of recrystallization nucleation are based
on the assumption that embryos with orientations of the nuclei preexist in the
deformed matrix. However, this standard picture seems to be incomplete. There
are indications that, in some cases, the deformed matrix has no orientations
observed in recrystallized material. Therefore a mechanism of early stage
recrystallization without preexisting embryos is considered. Since the
recrystallization growth shows strong orientation selection, and the
recrystallization front is believed to migrate through collective shuffling of
atoms, it is postulated that the shuffling mechanism responsible for oriented
growth of a recrystallizing grain extends to the very beginning of the grain's
existence, i.e., that a new orientation can be created via rearrangement of
atoms in a strained region. The postulate explains the formation of new
orientations, and it has the potential to significantly change the
understanding of the early phase of recrystallization.


  The problem of cosmic acceleration and dark energy is one of the mysteries
presently posed in the scientific society that general relativity has not been
able to solve. In this work, we have considered alternative models to explain
this late-time acceleration in a flat Friedmann-Lema\^i% tre-Robertson-Walker
(FLRW) Universe within the framework of the $% f\left(Q,T\right) $\ modified
gravity theory (where $Q$ is the non-metricity and $T$ is the trace of the
energy-momentum tensor) recently proposed by Xu et al. (Eur. Phys. J. C 79
(2019) 708), which is an extension of $f\left( Q\right) $ gravity with the
addition of the $T$ term. Here, we presume a specific form of $f\left(
Q,T\right) =\alpha Q+\beta Q^{2}+\gamma T$ where $% \alpha $, $\beta $ and
$\gamma $ are free model parameters, and obtained the exact solutions by
assuming the cosmic time-redshift relation as $t(z)=\frac{% nt_{0}}{m}g(z)$
which produces the Hubble parameter of the form $H(z)=\frac{%
mH_{0}}{m+n}\left[ \frac{1}{g(z)}+1\right] $ where $m$ and $n$ are the
non-negative constants, we find the best values for them using 57 data points
of the Hubble parameter $H\left( z\right) $. Also, we find the behavior of
different cosmological parameters as the deceleration parameter $% \left(
q\right) $, energy density $\left( \rho \right) $, pressure $% \left(p\right) $
and EoS parameter $\left( \omega \right) $ and compare them with the
observational results. To ensure the validity of the results, we studied the
energy conditions along with jerk parameter. Finally, we find that our model
behaves similarly to the quintessence Universe.


  Chirality refers to the asymmetry of objects that cannot be superimposed on
their mirror image. It is a concept that exists in various scientific fields
and has profound consequences. Although these are perhaps most widely
recognized within biology, chemistry, and pharmacology, recent advances in
chiral phonons, topological systems, crystal enantiomorphic materials, and
magneto-chiral materials have brought this topic to the forefront of condensed
matter physics research. Our review discusses the symmetry requirements and the
features associated with structural chirality in inorganic materials. This
allows us to explore the nature of phase transitions in these systems, the
coupling between order parameters, and their impact on the material's physical
properties. We highlight essential contributions to the field, particularly
recent progress in the study of chiral phonons, altermagnetism,
magnetochirality between others. Despite the rarity of naturally occurring
inorganic chiral crystals, this review also highlights a significant knowledge
gap, presenting challenges and opportunities for structural chirality mostly at
the fundamental level, e.g., chiral displacive phase transitions and
ferrochirality, possibilities of tuning and switching structural chirality by
external means (electric, magnetic, or strain fields), whether chirality could
be an independent order parameter, and whether structural chirality could be
quantified, etc. Beyond simply summarising this field of research, this review
aims to inspire further research in materials science by addressing future
challenges, encouraging the exploration of chirality beyond traditional
boundaries, and seeking the development of innovative materials with superior
or new properties.


  We present a new approach to fault tolerance for High Performance Computing
system. Our approach is based on a careful adaptation of the Algorithmic Based
Fault Tolerance technique (Huang and Abraham, 1984) to the need of parallel
distributed computation. We obtain a strongly scalable mechanism for fault
tolerance. We can also detect and correct errors (bit-flip) on the fly of a
computation. To assess the viability of our approach, we have developed a fault
tolerant matrix-matrix multiplication subroutine and we propose some models to
predict its running time. Our parallel fault-tolerant matrix-matrix
multiplication scores 1.4 TFLOPS on 484 processors (cluster jacquard.nersc.gov)
and returns a correct result while one process failure has happened. This
represents 65% of the machine peak efficiency and less than 12% overhead with
respect to the fastest failure-free implementation. We predict (and have
observed) that, as we increase the processor count, the overhead of the fault
tolerance drops significantly.


  Physical effects in brane worlds models emerge by the incorporation of field
modes coming from extra dimensions with the usual four dimensional ones. Such
effects can be tested with well established experiments to set bounds on the
parameters of the brane models. In this work we extend a previous result which
gave finite electromagnetic potentials and self energies for a source looking
pointlike to an observer sitting in a 4D Minkowski subspace of a single brane
of a Randall-Sundrum spacetime including compact dimensions, and along which
the source stretches uniformly. We show that a scalar particle produces a
nonsingular static potential, possess a finite self-energy and that technically
its analysis is very similar to the electrostatic case. As for the latter, we
use the deviations from the Coulomb potential to set bounds on the anti de
Sitter radius of the brane model on the basis of two experiments, namely, one
of the Cavendish type and other being the scattering of electrons by Helium
atoms. We found these are less stringent than others previously obtained using
the Lamb shift in Hydrogen.


  A measurement of the top-antitop production cross section in proton-proton
collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV has been performed at the LHC
with the CMS detector. The analysis uses a data sample corresponding to an
integrated luminosity of 36 inverse picobarns and is based on the
reconstruction of the final state with one isolated, high transverse-momentum
electron or muon and three or more hadronic jets. The kinematic properties of
the events are used to separate the top-antitop signal from W+jets and QCD
multijet background events. The measured cross section is 173 + 39 - 32 (stat.
+ syst.) pb, consistent with standard model expectations.


  We use a suite of hydrodynamical cosmological simulations from the Evolution
and Assembly of GaLaxies and their Environments (EAGLE) project to investigate
the formation of hot hydrostatic haloes and their dependence on feedback
mechanisms. We find that the appearance of a strong bimodality in the
probability density function (PDF) of the ratio of the radiative cooling and
dynamical times for halo gas provides a clear signature of the formation of a
hot corona. Haloes of total mass $10^{11.5}-10^{12}{\rm{M}}_{\odot}$ develop a
hot corona independent of redshift, at least in the interval $z=0-4$ where the
simulation has sufficiently good statistics. We analyse the build up of the hot
gas mass in the halo, $M_{\rm{hot}}$, as a function of halo mass and redshift
and find that while more energetic galactic winds powered by SNe increases
$M_{\rm{hot}}$, AGN feedback reduces it by ejecting gas from the halo. We also
study the thermal properties of gas accreting onto haloes and measure the
fraction of shock-heated gas as a function of redshift and halo mass. We
develop analytic and semianalytic approaches to estimate a `critical halo
mass', $M_{\rm{crit}}$, for hot halo formation. We find that the mass for which
the heating rate produced by accretion shocks equals the radiative cooling
rate, reproduces the mass above which haloes develop a significant hot
atmosphere. This yields a mass estimate of $M_{\rm{crit}} \approx
10^{11.7}{\rm{M}}_{\odot}$ at $z=0$, which agrees with the simulation results.
The value of $M_{\rm{crit}}$ depends more strongly on the cooling rate than on
any of the feedback parameters.


  We have made an analysis of limits on the neutrino mass based upon the
formation of large-scale structure in the presence of a primordial magnetic
field. We find that a new upper bound on the neutrino mass is possible based
upon fits to the cosmic microwave background and matter power spectrum when the
existing independent constraints on the matter density fluctuation parameter
$\sigma_8$ and the primordial magnetic field are taken into account.


  This paper proposes a novel feature called spectrum congruency for describing
edges in images. The spectrum congruency is a generalization of the phase
congruency, which depicts how much each Fourier components of the image are
congruent in phase. Instead of using fixed bases in phase congruency, the
spectrum congruency measures the congruency of the energy distribution of
multiscale patches in a data-driven transform domain, which is more adaptable
to the input images. Multiscale image patches are used to acquire different
frequency components for modeling the local energy and amplitude. The spectrum
congruency coincides nicely with human visions of perceiving features and
provides a more reliable way of detecting edges. Unlike most existing
differential-based multiscale edge detectors which simply combine the
multiscale information, our method focuses on exploiting the correlation of the
multiscale patches based on their local energy. We test our proposed method on
synthetic and real images, and the results demonstrate that our approach is
practical and highly robust to noise.


  This letter characterizes the exact distribution function of a typical
Voronoi area in a $K$-tier Poisson network. The users obey a generalized
association (GA) rule, which is a superset of nearest base station association
and maximum received power based association (with arbitrary fading) rules that
are commonly adopted in the literature. Combining the Robbins' theorem and the
probability generating functional of a Poisson point process, we obtain the
exact moments of a typical $k$-th tier Voronoi area, $k \in \{1,...,K\}$ under
the GA rule. We apply this result in several special cases. For example, we
prove that in multi-tier networks with the GA rule, the mean of $k$-th tier
Voronoi area can exactly be expressed in a closed-form. We also obtain
simplified expressions of its higher-order moments for both average and
instantaneous received power based user association. In single-tier networks
with exponential fading, the later association rule provides closed-form
expression of the second-order moment of a typical Voronoi area. We numerically
evaluate this exact expression and compare it with an approximated result.


  Real-world image recognition is often challenged by the variability of visual
styles including object textures, lighting conditions, filter effects, etc.
Although these variations have been deemed to be implicitly handled by more
training data and deeper networks, recent advances in image style transfer
suggest that it is also possible to explicitly manipulate the style
information. Extending this idea to general visual recognition problems, we
present Batch-Instance Normalization (BIN) to explicitly normalize unnecessary
styles from images. Considering certain style features play an essential role
in discriminative tasks, BIN learns to selectively normalize only disturbing
styles while preserving useful styles. The proposed normalization module is
easily incorporated into existing network architectures such as Residual
Networks, and surprisingly improves the recognition performance in various
scenarios. Furthermore, experiments verify that BIN effectively adapts to
completely different tasks like object classification and style transfer, by
controlling the trade-off between preserving and removing style variations. BIN
can be implemented with only a few lines of code using popular deep learning
frameworks.


  We study the role of fermionic resonances in realistic composite Higgs
models. We consider the low energy effective description of a model in which
the Higgs arises as the pseudo-Goldstone boson of an SO(5)/SO(4) global
symmetry breaking pattern. Assuming that only fermionic resonances are present
below the cut-off of our effective theory, we perform a detailed analysis of
the electroweak constraints on such a model. This includes the exact one-loop
calculation of the T parameter and the anomalous Zbb coupling for arbitrary new
fermions and couplings. Other relevant observables, like b to s gamma and Delta
B=2 processes have also been examined. We find that, while minimal models are
difficult to make compatible with electroweak precision tests, models with
several fermionic resonances, such as the ones that appear in the spectrum of
viable composite Higgs models from warped extra dimensions, are fully realistic
in a large region of parameter space. These fermionic resonances could be the
first observable signature of the model at the LHC.


  We study ordered configuration spaces $C(n;p,q)$ of $n$ hard squares in a $p
\times q$ rectangle, a generalization of the well-known "15 Puzzle". Our main
interest is in the topology of these spaces. Our first result is to describe a
cubical cell complex and prove that is homotopy equivalent to the configuration
space. We then focus on determining for which $n$, $j$, $p$, and $q$ the
homology group $H_j [ C(n;p,q) ]$ is nontrivial. We prove three
homology-vanishing theorems, based on discrete Morse theory on the cell
complex. Then we describe several explicit families of nontrivial cycles, and a
method for interpolating between parameters to fill in most of the picture for
"large-scale" nontrivial homology.


  Various condensed phases of water, spanning from the liquid state to multiple
ice phases, have been systematically investigated under extreme conditions of
pressure and temperature to delineate their stability boundaries. This study
focuses on probing the mechanical stability of liquid water through
path-integral molecular dynamics simulations, employing the q-TIP4P/F potential
to model interatomic interactions in flexible water molecules. Temperature and
pressure conditions ranging from 250 to 375 K and -0.3 to 1 GPa, respectively,
are considered. This comprehensive approach enables a thorough exploration of
nuclear quantum effects on various physical properties of water through direct
comparisons with classical molecular dynamics results employing the same
potential model. Key properties such as molar volume, intramolecular bond
length, H--O--H angle, internal and kinetic energy are analyzed, with a
specific focus on the effect of tensile stress. Particular attention is devoted
to the liquid-gas spinodal pressure, representing the limit of mechanical
stability for the liquid phase, at several temperatures. The quantum
simulations reveal a spinodal pressure for water of -286 and -236 MPa at
temperatures of 250 and 300 K, respectively. At these temperatures, the
discernible shifts induced by nuclear quantum motion are quantified at 15 and
10 MPa, respectively. These findings contribute valuable insights into the
interplay of quantum effects on the stability of liquid water under diverse
thermodynamic conditions.


  In this paper, we introduce a novel approach to deductive databases meant to
take into account the needs of current applications in the area of data
integration. To this end, we extend the formalism of standard deductive
databases to the context of Four-valued logic so as to account for unknown,
inconsistent, true or false information under the open world assumption. In our
approach, a database is a pair (E,R) where E is the extension and R the set of
rules. The extension is a set of pairs of the form (f, v) where f is a fact and
v is a value that can be true, inconsistent or false - but not unknown (that
is, unknown facts are not stored in the database). The rules follow the form of
standard Datalog{neg} rules but, contrary to standard rules, their head may be
a negative atom. Our main contributions are as follows: (i) we give an
expression of first-degree entailment in terms of other connectors and exhibit
a functionally complete set of basic connectors not involving first-degree
entailment, (ii) we define a new operator for handling our new type of rules
and show that this operator is monotonic and continuous, thus providing an
effective way for defining and computing database semantics, and (iii) we argue
that our framework allows for the definition of a new type of updates that can
be used in most standard data integration applications.


  We report the realization of tunable spin-dependent splitting in intrinsic
photonic spin Hall effect. By breaking the rotational symmetry of a cylindrical
vector beam, the intrinsic vortex phases that the two spin components of the
vector beam carries, which is similar to the geometric Pancharatnam-Berry
phase, is no longer continuous in the azimuthal direction, and leads to
observation of spin accumulation at the opposite edge of the beam. Due to the
inherent nature of the phase and independency of light-matter interaction, the
observed photonic spin Hall effect is intrinsic. Modulating the topological
charge of the vector beam, the spin-dependent splitting can be enhanced and the
direction of spin accumulation is switchable. Our findings may provide a
possible route for generation and manipulation of spin-polarized photons, and
enables spin-based photonics applications.


  We present numerical exact results for the polaronic band structure of the
Holstein molecular crystal model in one and two dimensions. The use of direct
Lanczos diagonalization technique, preserving the full dynamics and quantum
nature of phonons, allows us to analyze in detail the renormalization of both
quasiparticle bandwidth and dispersion by the electron-phonon interaction. For
the two-dimensional case some of our exact data are compared with the results
obtained in the framework of a recently developed finite cluster
strong-coupling perturbation theory.


  The Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST) is an observatory designed
to perform gamma-ray astronomy in the energy range 20 MeV to 300 GeV, with
supporting measurements for gamma-ray bursts from 10 keV to 25 MeV. GLAST will
be launched at the end of 2007, opening a new and important window on a wide
variety of high energy astrophysical phenomena . The main instrument of GLAST
is the Large Area Telescope (LAT), which provides break-through high-energy
measurements using techniques typically used in particle detectors for collider
experiments. The LAT consists of 16 identical towers in a four-by-four grid,
each one containing a pair conversion tracker and a hodoscopic crystal
calorimeter, all covered by a segmented plastic scintillator anti-coincidence
shield. The scientific return of the instrument depends very much on how
accurately we know its performance, and how well we can monitor it and correct
potential problems promptly. We report on a novel technique that we are
developing to help in the characterization and monitoring of LAT by using the
power of classification trees to pinpoint in a short time potential problems in
the recorded data. The same technique could also be used to evaluate the effect
on the overall LAT performance produced by potential instrumental problems.


  Inverse text normalization (ITN) converts spoken-domain automatic speech
recognition (ASR) output into written-domain text to improve the readability of
the ASR output. Many state-of-the-art ITN systems use hand-written weighted
finite-state transducer(WFST) grammars since this task has extremely low
tolerance to unrecoverable errors. We introduce an open-source Python
WFST-based library for ITN which enables a seamless path from development to
production. We describe the specification of ITN grammar rules for English, but
the library can be adapted for other languages. It can also be used for
written-to-spoken text normalization. We evaluate the NeMo ITN library using a
modified version of the Google Text normalization dataset.


  We consider two families of weighted zero-sum constants for finite abelian
groups. For a finite abelian group $( G , + )$, a set of weights $W \subset
\mathbb{Z}$, and an integral parameter $m$, the $m$-wise Davenport constant
with weights $W$ is the smallest integer $n$ such that each sequence over $G$
of length $n$ has at least $m$ disjoint zero-subsums with weights $W$. And, for
an integral parameter $d$, the $d$-constrained Davenport constant with weights
$W$ is the smallest $n$ such that each sequence over $G$ of length $n$ has a
zero-subsum with weights $W$ of size at most $d$. First, we establish a link
between these two types of constants and several basic and general results on
them. Then, for elementary $p$-groups, establishing a link between our
constants and the parameters of linear codes as well as the cardinality of cap
sets in certain projective spaces, we obtain various explicit results on the
values of these constants.


  Dempster-Shafer theory (D-S theory) is widely used in decision making under
the uncertain environment. Ranking basic belief assignments (BBAs) now is an
open issue. Existing evidence distance measures cannot rank the BBAs in the
situations when the propositions have their own ranking order or their inherent
measure of closeness. To address this issue, a new ranking evidence distance
(RED) measure is proposed. Compared with the existing evidence distance
measures including the Jousselme's distance and the distance between betting
commitments, the proposed RED measure is much more general due to the fact that
the order of the propositions in the systems is taken into consideration. If
there is no order or no inherent measure of closeness in the propositions, our
proposed RED measure is reduced to the existing evidence distance. Numerical
examples show that the proposed RED measure is an efficient alternative to rank
BBAs in decision making under uncertain environment.


  The ability to detect and discriminate DNA bases by reading it directly using
simple and cost-effective methods is an important problem whose solution can
produce significant value for areas such as cancer and human genetic disorders.
Two-dimensional (2D) materials have emerged as revolutionary materials for
electronic DNA sequencing with strong potentials for fast, single-nucleotide
direct-read DNA sequencing with a minimum amount of consumables. Among 2D
materials, graphene is the most explored for DNA sequencing. This is due to its
commercial availability. The major hindrance of graphene is its hydrophobicity,
which causes DNA bases to stick to its surface, slowing down translocation
speed, and making single-base discrimination difficult as multiple bases
interact with graphene at any given time. It is therefore essential that other
elemental 2D materials beyond graphene be investigated. Using density
functional theory (DFT), we studied the electronic interaction of DNA bases
physisorped onto the surface of nanoribbons from graphene, phosphorene, and
silicene. By comparing the change in energy band gap, binding energy and
density of states (DOS), we observe that phosphorene performs better than
graphene and silicene for DNA sequencing using the physisorption modality.


  COVID-19, a global pandemic of unprecedented scale, has had a profound impact
on nations worldwide, resulting in the tragic loss of nearly 1.1 million lives
in the United States and a staggering 7 million worldwide. In the absence of
effective vaccines, governments across the globe resorted to the implementation
of lockdown measures as a vital strategy to mitigate the virus's relentless
spread. While these restrictions were widely enforced, crucial sectors like
public health and safety remained operational, ensuring the continuity of
essential services. The timing and stringency of lockdown measures in various
U.S. states were intricately tailored to the severity of the outbreak within
their respective regions. Lockdowns effectively curtailed social interactions,
thereby significantly reducing virus transmission. However, it is essential to
strike a balance, as prolonged lockdowns can sow apprehension among the
populace, impeding the resumption of normal social activities due to the
persistent fear of contracting COVID-19. These prolonged restrictions have
reverberated throughout the business landscape, resulting in reduced consumer
and employee participation, ultimately denting long-term profitability
sustainability. Businesses that lacked the resilience of adequate inventory
faced the dire prospect of permanent closure. Regrettably, the absence of
substantial government financial support has made business closure an all too
common outcome, with the arduous task of revival to former employment levels.


  After a brief introduction to the black hole stability problem, we outline
our recent proof of the linear stability of the non-extreme Kerr geometry.


  This article deals with the numerical calculation of eigenvalues of perturbed
periodic Schr\"odinger operators located in spectral gaps. Such operators are
encountered in the modeling of the electronic structure of crystals with local
defects, and of photonic crystals. The usual finite element Galerkin
approximation is known to give rise to spectral pollution. In this article, we
give a precise description of the corresponding spurious states. We then prove
that the supercell model does not produce spectral pollution. Lastly, we extend
results by Lewin and S\'er\'e on some no-pollution criteria. In particular, we
prove that using approximate spectral projectors enables one to eliminate
spectral pollution in a given spectral gap of the reference periodic
Sch\"odinger operator.


  In the last decade, advances in molecular dynamics (MD) and Markov State
Model (MSM) methodologies have made possible accurate and efficient estimation
of kinetic rates and reactive pathways for complex biomolecular dynamics
occurring on slow timescales. A promising approach to enhanced sampling of MSMs
is to use so-called "adaptive" methods, in which new MD trajectories are
"seeded" preferentially from previously identified states. Here, we investigate
the performance of various MSM estimators applied to reseeding trajectory data,
for both a simple 1D free energy landscape, and for mini-protein folding MSMs
of WW domain and NTL9(1-39). Our results reveal the practical challenges of
reseeding simulations, and suggest a simple way to reweight seeding trajectory
data to better estimate both thermodynamic and kinetic quantities.


  We develop from first principles Markovian master equations suited for
studying the time evolution of a system evolving adiabatically while coupled
weakly to a thermal bath. We derive two sets of equations in the adiabatic
limit, one using the rotating wave (secular) approximation that results in a
master equation in Lindblad form, the other without the rotating wave
approximation but not in Lindblad form. The two equations make markedly
different predictions depending on whether or not the Lamb shift is included.
Our analysis keeps track of the various time- and energy-scales associated with
the various approximations we make, and thus allows for a systematic inclusion
of higher order corrections, in particular beyond the adiabatic limit. We use
our formalism to study the evolution of an Ising spin chain in a transverse
field and coupled to a thermal bosonic bath, for which we identify four
distinct evolution phases. While we do not expect this to be a generic feature,
in one of these phases dissipation acts to increase the fidelity of the system
state relative to the adiabatic ground state.


  Several problems in magnetically confined fusion, such as the computation of
exterior vacuum fields or the decomposition of the total magnetic field into
separate contributions from the plasma and the external sources, are best
formulated in terms of integral equation expressions. Based on Biot-Savart-like
formulae, these integrals contain singular integrands. The regularization
method commonly used to address the computation of various singular surface
integrals along general toroidal surfaces is low-order accurate, and therefore
requires a dense computational mesh in order to obtain sufficient accuracy. In
this work, we present a fast, high-order quadrature scheme for the efficient
computation of these integrals. Several numerical examples are provided
demonstrating the computational efficiency and the high-order accurate
convergence. A corresponding code for use in the community has been publicly
released.


  We compute the mod(p) homotopy groups of the continuous homotopy fixed point
spectrum E_2^{hH_2} for p>2, where E_n is the Landweber exact spectrum whose
coefficient ring is the ring of functions on the Lubin-Tate moduli space of
lifts of the height n Honda formal group law over F_{p^n}, and H_n is the
subgroup WF^x_{p^n} wreath product Gal(F_{p^n}/F_p) of the extended Morava
stabilizer group G_n. We examine some consequences of this related to
Brown-Comenetz duality and to finiteness properties of homotopy groups of
K(n)_*-local spectra. We also indicate a plan for computing pi_*(E_n^{hH_n}
smash V(n-2)), where V(n-2) is an E_{n*}-local Toda complex.


  In recent years, the shortcomings of Bayes posteriors as inferential devices
has received increased attention. A popular strategy for fixing them has been
to instead target a Gibbs measure based on losses that connect a parameter of
interest to observed data. While existing theory for such inference procedures
relies on these losses to be analytically available, in many situations these
losses must be stochastically estimated using pseudo-observations. The current
paper fills this research gap, and derives the first asymptotic theory for
Gibbs measures based on estimated losses. Our findings reveal that the number
of pseudo-observations required to accurately approximate the exact Gibbs
measure depends on the rates at which the bias and variance of the estimated
loss converge to zero. These results are particularly consequential for the
emerging field of generalised Bayesian inference, for estimated intractable
likelihoods, and for biased pseudo-marginal approaches. We apply our results to
three Gibbs measures that have been proposed to deal with intractable
likelihoods and model misspecification.


  Red supergiant stars are surrounded by a gaseous and dusty circumstellar
environment created by their mass loss which spreads heavy elements into the
interstellar medium. The structure and the dynamics of this envelope are
crucial to understand the processes driving the red supergiant mass loss and
the shaping of the pre-supernova ejecta. We have observed the emission from the
CO $J = 2-1$ line from the red supergiant star $\mu$~Cep with the NOEMA
interferometer. In the line the synthesized beam was $0.92 \times 0.72$~arcsec
($590 \times 462$~au at 641~pc). The continuum map shows only the unresolved
contribution of the free-free emission of the star chromosphere. The
continuum-subtracted channel maps reveal a very inhomogeneous and clumpy
circumstellar environment. In particular, we detected a bright CO clump, as
bright as the central source in the line, at 1.80~arcsec south-west from the
star, in the blue channel maps. After a deprojection of the radial velocity
assuming two different constant wind velocities, the observations were modelled
using the 3D radiative transfer code \textsc{lime} to derive the
characteristics of the different structures. We determine that the gaseous
clumps observed around $\mu$~Cep are responsible for a mass loss rate of $(4.9
\pm 1.0) \times 10^{-7}~{\rm M}_\odot\,{\rm yr}^{-1}$, in addition to a
spatially unresolved wind component with an estimated mass-loss rate of $2.0
\times 10^{-6}~{\rm M}_\odot\,{\rm yr}^{-1}$. Therefore, the clumps have a
significant role in $\mu$~Cep's mass loss ($\ge 25 \%$). We cannot exclude that
the unresolved central outflow may be made of smaller unresolved clumps.


  For two solutions of the WDVV equations that are related by the inversion
symmetry, we show that the associated principal hierarchies of integrable
systems are related by a reciprocal transformation, and the tau functions of
the hierarchies are related by a Legendre type transformation. We also consider
relationships between the Virasoro constraints and the topological deformations
of the principal hierarchies.


  Methanol masers at 6.7 GHz have been found exclusively towards high-mass star
forming regions. Recently, some Class 0 protostars have been found to display
conditions similar to what are found in hot cores that are associated with
massive star formation. These hot corino sources have densities, gas
temperatures, and methanol abundances that are adequate for exciting strong 6.7
GHz maser emission. This raises the question of whether 6.7 GHz methanol masers
can be found in both hot corinos and massive star forming regions, and if not,
whether thermal methanol emission can be detected. We searched for the 6.7 GHz
methanol line towards five hot corino sources in the Perseus region using the
Arecibo radio telescope. To constrain the excitation conditions of methanol, we
observed thermal submillimeter lines of methanol in the NGC1333-IRAS 4 region
with the APEX telescope. We did not detect 6.7 GHz emission in any of the
sources, but found absorption against the cosmic microwave background in
NGC1333-IRAS 4A and NGC1333-IRAS 4B. Using a large velocity gradient analysis,
we modeled the excitation of methanol over a wide range of physical parameters,
and verify that the 6.7 GHz line is indeed strongly anti-inverted for densities
lower than 10^6 cm^-3. We used the submillimeter observations of methanol to
verify the predictions of our model for IRAS 4A by comparison with other CH3OH
transitions. Our results indicate that the methanol observations from the APEX
and Arecibo telescopes are consistent with dense (n ~ 10^6 cm^-3), cold (T ~
15-30 K) gas. The lack of maser emission in hot corinos and low-mass
protostellar objects in general may be due to densities that are much higher
than the quenching density in the region where the radiation field is conducive
to maser pumping.


  The Tycho-Gaia Astrometric Solution (TGAS) subset of the first Gaia catalogue
contains an unprecedented sample of proper motions and parallaxes for two
million stars brighter than G~12 mag. We take advantage of the full astrometric
solution available for those stars to identify the members of known open
clusters and compute mean cluster parameters using either TGAS or UCAC4 proper
motions, and TGAS parallaxes. We apply an unsupervised membership assignment
procedure to select high probability cluster members, we use a Bayesian/MCMC
technique to fit stellar isochrones to the observed 2MASS JHK$_s$ magnitudes of
the member stars and derive cluster parameters (age, metallicity, extinction,
distance modulus), and we combine TGAS data with spectroscopic radial
velocities to compute full Galactic orbits. We obtain mean astrometric
parameters (proper motions and parallaxes) for 128 clusters closer than about 2
kpc, and cluster parameters from isochrone fitting for 26 of them located
inside 1 kpc from the Sun. We show the orbital parameters obtained from
integrating 36 orbits in a Galactic potential.


  We consider a dispersive equation of Schr{\"o}dinger type with a
non-linearity slightly larger than cubic by a logarithmic factor. This equation
is supposed to be an effective model for stable two dimensional quantum
droplets with LHY correction. Mathematically, it is seen to be mass
supercritical and energy subcritical with a sign-indefinite nonlinearity. For
the corresponding initial value problem, we prove global in-time existence of
strong solutions in the energy space. Furthermore, we prove the existence and
uniqueness (up to symmetries) of nonlinear ground states and the orbital
stability of the set of energy minimizers. We also show that for the
corresponding model in 1D a stronger stability result is available.


  In autonomous mobility-on-demand systems, effectively managing vehicle flows
to mitigate induced congestion and ensure efficient operations is imperative
for system performance and positive customer experience. Against this
background, we study the potential of staggered routing, i.e., purposely
delaying trip departures from a system perspective, in order to reduce
congestion and ensure efficient operations while still meeting customer time
windows. We formalize the underlying planning problem and show how to
efficiently model it as a mixed integer linear program. Moreover, we present a
matheuristic that allows us to efficiently solve large-scale real-world
instances both in an offline full-information setting and its online rolling
horizon counterpart. We conduct a numerical study for Manhattan, New York City,
focusing on low- and highly-congested scenarios. Our results show that in
low-congestion scenarios, staggering trip departures allows mitigating, on
average, 94% of the induced congestion in a full information setting. In a
rolling horizon setting, our algorithm allows us to reduce 90% of the induced
congestion. In high-congestion scenarios, we observe an average reduction of
66% as the full information bound and an average reduction of 56% in our online
setting. Surprisingly, we show that these reductions can be reached by shifting
trip departures by a maximum of six minutes in both the low and high-congestion
scenarios.


  Deep reinforcement learning has shown an ability to achieve super-human
performance in solving complex reinforcement learning (RL) tasks only from
raw-pixels. However, it fails to reuse knowledge from previously learnt tasks
to solve new, unseen ones. Generalizing and reusing knowledge are the
fundamental requirements for creating a truly intelligent agent. This work
proposes a general method for one-to-one transfer learning based on generative
adversarial network model tailored to RL task.


  In this paper we address speaker-independent multichannel speech enhancement
in unknown noisy environments. Our work is based on a well-established
multichannel local Gaussian modeling framework. We propose to use a neural
network for modeling the speech spectro-temporal content. The parameters of
this supervised model are learned using the framework of variational
autoencoders. The noisy recording environment is supposed to be unknown, so the
noise spectro-temporal modeling remains unsupervised and is based on
non-negative matrix factorization (NMF). We develop a Monte Carlo
expectation-maximization algorithm and we experimentally show that the proposed
approach outperforms its NMF-based counterpart, where speech is modeled using
supervised NMF.


  Extreme learning machine (ELM) is an extremely fast learning method and has a
powerful performance for pattern recognition tasks proven by enormous
researches and engineers. However, its good generalization ability is built on
large numbers of hidden neurons, which is not beneficial to real time response
in the test process. In this paper, we proposed new ways, named "constrained
extreme learning machines" (CELMs), to randomly select hidden neurons based on
sample distribution. Compared to completely random selection of hidden nodes in
ELM, the CELMs randomly select hidden nodes from the constrained vector space
containing some basic combinations of original sample vectors. The experimental
results show that the CELMs have better generalization ability than traditional
ELM, SVM and some other related methods. Additionally, the CELMs have a similar
fast learning speed as ELM.


  Context. A derivation of a generalized sqrt(epsilon)-law for nonthermal
collisional rates of excitation by charged perturbers is presented. Aims. Aim
of this paper is to find a more general analytical expression for a surface
value of the source function which can be used as an addtional tool for
verification of the non-LTE radiative transfer codes. Methods. Under the impact
approximation hypothesis, static, one-dimensional, plane-parallel atmosphere,
constant magnetic field of arbitrary strength and direction, two-level atom
model with unpolarized lower level and stimulated emission neglected, we
introduce the unphysical terms into the equations of statistical equilibrium
and solve the appropriate non-LTE integral equations. Results. We derive a new
analytical condition for the surface values of the source function components
expressed in the basis of irreducible spherical tensors.


  The information-theoretic unconditional security offered by quantum key
distribution has spurred the development of larger quantum communication
networks. However, as these networks grow so does the strong need to reduce
complexity and overheads. Polarization based entanglement distribution networks
are a promising approach due to their scalability and lack of trusted nodes.
Nevertheless, they are only viable if the birefringence of all optical
distribution fibres in the network is compensated to preserve the polarization
based quantum state. The brute force approach would require a few hundred fibre
polarization controllers for even a moderately sized network. Instead, we
propose and investigate four different methods of polarization compensation. We
compare them based on complexity, effort, level of disruption to network
operations and performance.


  We use Naito-Sagaki's work [S. Naito & D. Sagaki, J. Algebra 245 (2001)
395--412, J. Algebra 251 (2002) 461--474] on Lakshmibai-Seshadri paths fixed by
diagram automorphisms to study the partitions fixed by Mullineux involution. We
characterize the set of Mullineux-fixed partitions in terms of crystal graphs
of basic representations of twisted affine Lie algebras of type
$A_{2\ell}^{(2)}$ and of type $D_{\ell+1}^{(2)}$. We set up bijections between
the set of symmetric partitions and the set of partitions into distinct parts.
We propose a notion of double restricted strict partitions. Bijections between
the set of restricted strict partitions (resp., the set of double restricted
strict partitions) and the set of Mullineux-fixed partitions in the odd case
(resp., in the even case) are obtained.


  Momenta spectra of protons emitted following the capture of $K^-$ in $^6$Li
and $^{12}$C have been measured with 1% resolution. The $^{12}$C spectrum is
smooth whereas for $^6$Li a well defined peak appears at about 500 MeV/$c$. The
first observation of a structure in this region was identified as a strange
tribaryon or, possibly, a $\bar K$-nuclear state. The peak is correlated with a
$\pi^-$ coming from $\Sigma^-$ decay in flight, selected by setting momenta
larger than 275 MeV/$c$. The $\Sigma^-$ could be produced, together with a 500
MeV/$c$ proton, by the capture of a $K^-$ in a deuteron-cluster substructure of
the $^6$Li nucleus. The capture rate for such a reaction is $(1.62\pm
0.23_{stat} ^{+0.71}_{-0.44}(sys))%/K^-_{stop}$, in agreement with the existing
observations on $^4$He targets and with the hypothesis that the $^6$Li nucleus
can be interpreted as a $(d+\alpha)$ cluster.