  We propose a novel zero-shot learning method for semantic utterance
classification (SUC). It learns a classifier $f: X \to Y$ for problems where
none of the semantic categories $Y$ are present in the training set. The
framework uncovers the link between categories and utterances using a semantic
space. We show that this semantic space can be learned by deep neural networks
trained on large amounts of search engine query log data. More precisely, we
propose a novel method that can learn discriminative semantic features without
supervision. It uses the zero-shot learning framework to guide the learning of
the semantic features. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the zero-shot
semantic learning algorithm on the SUC dataset collected by (Tur, 2012).
Furthermore, we achieve state-of-the-art results by combining the semantic
features with a supervised method.


  Nonholonomic mechanics describes the motion of systems constrained by
nonintegrable constraints. One of its most remarkable properties is that the
derivation of the nonholonomic equations is not variational in nature.
{However, in} this paper, we prove (Theorem 1.1) that for kinetic nonholonomic
{systems}, the solutions starting from a fixed point $q$ are true geodesics for
a family of Riemannian metrics on the image submanifold ${\mathcal M}^{nh}_q$
of the nonholonomic exponential map. This implies a surprising result: the
kinetic nonholonomic trajectories with starting point $q$, for sufficiently
small times, minimize length in ${\mathcal M}^{nh}_q$!


  We present an analysis of BeppoSAX observations of the IC1262 galaxy cluster
and report the first temperature and abundance measurements, along with
preliminary indications of diffuse, nonthermal emission. By fitting a 6' (~360
h_50^-1 kpc) region with a single Mewe-Kaastra-Liedahl model with photoelectric
absorption, we find a temperature of 2.1 - 2.3 keV, and abundance of 0.45 -
0.77 (both 90% confidence). We find the addition of a power-law component
provides a statistically significant improvement (F-test = 90%) to the fit. The
addition of a second thermal component also improves the fit but we argue that
it is physically implausible. The power-law component has a photon index
(Gamma_X) of 0.4 - 2.8 and a nonthermal flux of (4.1 - 56.7) x 10-5 photons
cm^-2 s^-1 over the 1.5 - 10.5 keV range in the Medium Energy Concentrator
spectrometer detector. An unidentified X-ray source found in the ROSAT High
Resolution Imager observation (~0'.9 from the center of the cluster) is a
possible explanation for the nonthermal flux; however, additional evidence of
diffuse, nonthermal emission comes from the NRAO VLA Sky Survey and the
Westerbork Northern Sky Survey radio measurements, in which excess diffuse,
radio flux is observed after point-source subtraction. The radio excess can be
fitted to a simple power law with a spectral index of ~1.8, which is consistent
with the nonthermal X-ray emission spectral index. The steep spectrum is
typical of diffuse emission and the size of the radio source implies that it is
larger than the cD galaxy and not due to a discreet source.


  This paper studies Byzantine-robust stochastic optimization over a
decentralized network, where every agent periodically communicates with its
neighbors to exchange local models, and then updates its own local model by
stochastic gradient descent (SGD). The performance of such a method is affected
by an unknown number of Byzantine agents, which conduct adversarially during
the optimization process. To the best of our knowledge, there is no existing
work that simultaneously achieves a linear convergence speed and a small
learning error. We observe that the learning error is largely dependent on the
intrinsic stochastic gradient noise. Motivated by this observation, we
introduce two variance reduction methods, stochastic average gradient algorithm
(SAGA) and loopless stochastic variance-reduced gradient (LSVRG), to
Byzantine-robust decentralized stochastic optimization for eliminating the
negative effect of the stochastic gradient noise. The two resulting methods,
BRAVO-SAGA and BRAVO-LSVRG, enjoy both linear convergence speeds and stochastic
gradient noise-independent learning errors. Such learning errors are optimal
for a class of methods based on total variation (TV)-norm regularization and
stochastic subgradient update. We conduct extensive numerical experiments to
demonstrate their effectiveness under various Byzantine attacks.


  We report the first high-energy detection of PG 1700+518, a well-known
low-ionization broad absorption line quasar (QSO). Due to previous X-ray
non-detection, it was classified as soft X-ray weak QSO. We observed PG
1700+518 with XMM-Newton for about 60 ksec divided in three exposures. The
spectrum below 2 keV is very steep, Gamma ~ 2.4-3.8, while at higher energies
the extremely flat emission (photon index Gamma ~ 0.15, when modelled with a
power law) suggests the presence of strong absorption (NH,pl ~ 2\times10^23
cm-2, Gamma fixed to 1.8), or a reflection-dominated continuum. The broad-band
flux is consistent with previous non-detection. Simultaneous EPIC and OM data
confirm its X-ray weakness (alpha_ox = -2.2). The level of obscuration derived
from the X-ray spectra of PG 1700+518 cannot explain its soft X-ray nuclear
weakness unless a column density of NH >~ 2\times10^24 cm-2 is present.


  In graphene, we report the first theoretical demonstration of how the
intrinsic spin orbit interaction can be deduced from the theory and how it can
be controlled by tuning a uniform magnetic field, and/or by changing the
strength of a long range Coulomb like impurity (adatom), as well as gap
parameter. In the impurity context, we find that intrinsic spin-orbit
interaction energy may be enhanced by increasing the strength of magnetic field
and/or by decreasing the band gap mass term. Additionally, it may be strongly
enhanced by increasing the impurity strength. Furthermore, from the proposal of
Kane and Mele [Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 226801 (2005)], it was discussed that the
pristine graphene has a quantized spin Hall effect regime where the Rashba type
spin orbit interaction term is smaller than that of intrinsic one. Our analysis
suggest the nonexistence of such a regime in the ground state of flat graphene.


  The possibility of low-energy surface plasmon amplification by optically
excited excitons in small-diameter single wall carbon nanotubes is
theoretically demonstrated. The nonradiative exciton-plasmon energy transfer
causes the buildup of the macroscopic population numbers of coherent localized
surface plasmons associated with high-intensity coherent local fields formed at
nanoscale throughout the nanotube surface. These strong local fields can be
used in a variety of new optoelectronic applications of carbon nanotubes,
including near-field nonlinear-optical probing and sensing, optical switching,
enhanced electromagnetic absorption, and materials nanoscale modification.


  It has been conjectured by Gene Freudenburg that for a polynomial ring, the
triangular Lie algebra is the maximal Lie algebra which lies in the set of
locally nilpotent derivations of the ring. Also it was conjectured that each
other maximal Lie algebra which lies in the set of locally nilpotent
derivations of the polynomial ring is conjugated to the triangular Lie algebra.
In the present work we prove the first part of this conjecture and provide the
counterexample to the second part. Also we show that the second part of the
conjecture holds for the maximal Lie algebras among locally nilpotent
derivations with some natural additional properties.


  Question answering (QA) systems provide a way of querying the information
available in various formats including, but not limited to, unstructured and
structured data in natural languages. It constitutes a considerable part of
conversational artificial intelligence (AI) which has led to the introduction
of a special research topic on Conversational Question Answering (CQA), wherein
a system is required to understand the given context and then engages in
multi-turn QA to satisfy the user's information needs. Whilst the focus of most
of the existing research work is subjected to single-turn QA, the field of
multi-turn QA has recently grasped attention and prominence owing to the
availability of large-scale, multi-turn QA datasets and the development of
pre-trained language models. With a good amount of models and research papers
adding to the literature every year recently, there is a dire need of arranging
and presenting the related work in a unified manner to streamline future
research. This survey, therefore, is an effort to present a comprehensive
review of the state-of-the-art research trends of CQA primarily based on
reviewed papers from 2016-2021. Our findings show that there has been a trend
shift from single-turn to multi-turn QA which empowers the field of
Conversational AI from different perspectives. This survey is intended to
provide an epitome for the research community with the hope of laying a strong
foundation for the field of CQA.


  We present the results of our studies on accretion disks in the proximity of
astrophysical black holes. These disks can be of varying degrees of opacity,
geometrical shapes, sizes, and volumes. The central compact object is a
Schwarzschild or a Kerr black hole of various spin parameters. We describe the
environment and the physics of the systems under examination and the disk
models considered. We first investigate the effects of the {spacetime} rotation
on photon trajectories. We then examine the radiation forces recorded at
various points of the arrangement inside and outside the disk material, and in
the inner, outer, and off-equatorial material orbits. We document and explore
the radiation effects, which are revealed to be significant and {positively}
consequential. Afterward, we inspect the possible imaging outcome of various
types of black hole and accretion disk configurations, and we show our results
for plots that could be used to estimate the central black hole spin in a
system. Finally, we show results regarding the disk material orbit degradation
due to its thermal radiation.


  The concept of "multiplicity of solutions" was developed in
arXiv:1509.02603v2 which is based on the theory of energy operators in the
Schwartz space S^-(R) and some subspaces called energy spaces first defined in
arXiv:1208.3385 and arXiv:1308.0874. The main idea is to look for solutions of
a given linear PDE in those subspaces. Here, this work extends previous
developments in S^-(R^m) (m in Z^+) using the theory of Sobolev spaces, and in
a special case the Hilbert spaces. Furthermore, we also define the concept of
"Energy Parallax", which is the inclusion of additional solutions when varying
the energy of a predefined system locally by taking into account additional
smaller quantities. We show that it is equivalent to take into account
solutions in other energy subspaces. To illustrate the theory, one of our
examples is based on the variation of ElectroMagnetic (EM) energy density
within the skin depth of a conductive material, leading to take into account
derivatives of EM evanescent waves, particular solutions of the wave equation.
The last example is the derivation of the Woodward effect with the variations
of the EM energy density under strict assumptions in general relativity. It
finally leads to a theoretical definition of an electromagnetic and
gravitational (EMG) coupling.


  Invited talk at Second Workshop on JINR CTau Factory, Dubna, April 1993,
updated version of earlier review given at Second Workshop on Tau Lepton
Physics, Ohio, september 1992


  We present a new model of sequential adsorption in which the adsorbing
particles experience dipolar interactions. We show that in the presence of
these long-range interactions, highly ordered structures in the adsorbed layer
may be induced at low temperatures. The new phenomenology manifests through
significant variations of the pair correlation function and the jamming limit,
with respect to the case of noninteracting particles. Our study could be
relevant in understanding the adsorption of magnetic colloidal particles in
presence of a magnetic field.


  We report nanocrystalline carbon impurities coexisting with graphene
synthesized via chemical vapor deposition (CVD) on platinum. We observe
micron-size island-like impurity layers, which can easily be mistaken for
second graphene layers in optical microscopy or secondary electron microscopy
(SEM). The island orientation depends on the crystalline orientation of the Pt,
as shown by electron backscatter diffraction(EBSD), indicating growth of
amorphous carbon below graphene. Dark-field TEM indicates that in addition to
uniform single-crystal graphene, our sample is decorated with nanocrystalline
carbon impurities with a spatially inhomogeneous distribution. Raman spectra
show a large D peak, however electrical characterization shows high mobility
(~6,000 cm2/Vs), indicating a limitation for Raman spectroscopy in
characterizing the electronic quality of graphene.


  Conventional imaging of diagnostic ultrasound is widely used. Although it
makes the differences in the soft tissues echogenicities' apparent and clear,
it fails in describing and estimating the soft tissue mechanical properties. It
cannot portray their mechanical properties, such as the elasticity and
stiffness. Estimating the mechanical properties increases chances of the
identification of lesions or any pathological changes. Physicians are now
characterizing the tissue's mechanical properties as diagnostic metrics.
Estimating the tissue's mechanical properties is achieved by applying an
Acoustic Radiation Force Impulse (ARFI) on the tissue and calculating the
resulted shear wave speed. Due to the difficulty of calculating the shear wave
speed precisely inside the tissue, it is estimated by analyzing ultrasound
images of the tissue at a very high frame rate. In this study, the shear wave
speed is estimated using finite element analysis. A two-dimensional model is
constructed to simulate the tissue's mechanical properties. For a generalized
soft tissue model, Agar-gelatine model is used because it has similar
properties to the soft tissue. A point force is applied at the center of the
proposed model. As a result of this force, a deformation is caused. Peak
displacements are tracked along the lateral dimension of the model to estimate
the shear wave speed of the propagating wave using the Time-To-Peak
displacement (TTP) method.


  Building upon recent work, we present an improved effective-one-body (EOB)
model for spin-aligned, coalescing, black hole binaries with generic orbital
configurations, i.e. quasi-circular, eccentric or hyperbolic orbits. The model
relies on the idea of incorporating general Newtonian prefactors, instead of
the usual quasi-circular ones, in both radiation reaction and waveform. The
major advance with respect to previous work is that the quasi-circular limit of
the model is now correctly informed by numerical relativity (NR) quasi-circular
simulation. This provides EOB/NR unfaithfulness for the dominant quadrupolar
waveform, calculated with Advanced LIGO noise, at most of the order of $1\%$
over a meaningful portion of the quasi-circular NR simulations calculated by
the Simulating eXtreme Spacetime (SXS) collaboration. In the presence of
eccentricity, the model is similarly NR-faithful, $\lesssim 1\%$, all over the
28 public SXS NR datasets, with initial eccentricity up to $\simeq 0.2$ , mass
ratio up to $q=3$ and dimensionless spin magnitudes as large as $+0.7$. Higher
multipoles, up to $\ell=5$ are also reliably modeled through the eccentric
inspiral, plunge merger and ringdown. For hyperbolic-like configurations, we
also show that the EOB computed scattering angle is in excellent agreement with
all currently available NR results.


  The theory of the solar/stellar activity cycles is presented, based on the
mean-field concept in magnetohydrodynamics. A new approach to the formulation
of the electromotive force and the theory of differential rotation and
meridional circulation is described. Dynamo cycles in the overshoot layer and
distributed dynamos are compared, with the latter including the influence of
meridional flow. The overshoot layer dynamo reproduces the solar cycle periods
and the butterfly diagram only if alpha=0 in the convection zone (CZ). The
distributed dynamo including meridional flows shows the observed butterfly
diagram even with a positive dynamo-alpha in CZ. The nonlinear feedback of
strong magnetic fields on differential rotation leads to grand minima in the
cyclic activity similar to those observed. Our 2D model contains the large- and
small-scale feedback of magnetic fields on diff. rotation and induction in a
mean-field formulation (Lambda-, alpha-quenching). Grand minima may also occur
if a dynamo occasionally falls below its critical eigenvalue. We never found
any indication that such an on-off dynamo collapses by this effect after being
excited. The full quenching of turbulence by strong magnetic fields as reduced
induction (alpha) and reduced turbulent diffusivity (eta_T) is studied in 1D.
We find a stronger dependence of cycle period on dynamo number compared with a
pure alpha-quenching model giving a very weak cycle period dependence. Also the
temporal fluctuations of alpha and eta_T from a random-vortex simulation were
applied to a dynamo. Then the low `quality' of the solar cycle can be explained
with a small number of giant cells as dynamo-active turbulence. The transition
from almost regular magnetic oscillations (many vortices) to a more or less
chaotic time series (very few vortices) is shown.


  We prove that radial, monotonic, superexponentially decaying potentials in
R^n, n greater than or equal to 1 odd, are determined by the resonances of the
associated semiclassical Schrodinger operator among all superexponentially
decaying potentials in R^n.


  In this paper we study 3D Navier-Stokes (NS) equation driven by space-time
white noise by using regularity structure theory introduced in [Hai14] and
paracontrolled distribution proposed in [GIP13]. We obtain local existence and
uniqueness of solutions to the 3D Navier-Stokes equation driven by space-time
white noise.


  We consider the metallicities and kinematics of nearby stars known to have
planetary-mass companions in the general context of the overall properties of
the local Galactic Disk. We have used Stromgren photometry to determine
abundances for both the extrasolar-planet host stars and for a volume-limited
sample of 486 F, G and K stars selected from the Hipparcos catalogue. The
latter data show that the Sun lies near the modal abundance of the disk, with
over 45% of local stars having super-solar metallicities. Twenty of the latter
stars (4.1%) are known to have planetary-mass companions. Using that ratio to
scale data for the complete sample of planetary host stars, we find that the
fraction of stars with extrasolar planets rises sharply with increasing
abundance, confirming previous results. However, the frequency remains at the
3-4% level for stars within 0.15 dex of solar abundance, and falls to ~1% only
for stars with abundances less than half solar. Given the present observational
constraints, both in velocity precision and in the available time baseline,
these numbers represent a lower limit to the frequency of extrasolar planetary
systems. A comparison between the kinematics of the planetary host stars and a
representative sample of disk stars suggests that the former have an average
age which is ~60% of the latter.


  Influenza-like illness (ILI) places a heavy social and economic burden on our
society. Traditionally, ILI surveillance data is updated weekly and provided at
a spatially coarse resolution. Producing timely and reliable high-resolution
spatiotemporal forecasts for ILI is crucial for local preparedness and optimal
interventions. We present TDEFSI (Theory Guided Deep Learning Based Epidemic
Forecasting with Synthetic Information), an epidemic forecasting framework that
integrates the strengths of deep neural networks and high-resolution
simulations of epidemic processes over networks. TDEFSI yields accurate
high-resolution spatiotemporal forecasts using low-resolution time series data.
During the training phase, TDEFSI uses high-resolution simulations of epidemics
that explicitly model spatial and social heterogeneity inherent in urban
regions as one component of training data. We train a two-branch recurrent
neural network model to take both within-season and between-season
low-resolution observations as features, and output high-resolution detailed
forecasts. The resulting forecasts are not just driven by observed data but
also capture the intricate social, demographic and geographic attributes of
specific urban regions and mathematical theories of disease propagation over
networks. We focus on forecasting the incidence of ILI and evaluate TDEFSI's
performance using synthetic and real-world testing datasets at the state and
county levels in the USA. The results show that, at the state level, our method
achieves comparable/better performance than several state-of-the-art methods.
At the county level, TDEFSI outperforms the other methods. The proposed method
can be applied to other infectious diseases as well.


  In this paper, we present results from a human-subject study designed to
explore two facets of human mental models of robots---inferred capability and
intention---and their relationship to overall trust and eventual decisions. In
particular, we examine delegation situations characterized by uncertainty, and
explore how inferred capability and intention are applied across different
tasks. We develop an online survey where human participants decide whether to
delegate control to a simulated UAV agent. Our study shows that human
estimations of robot capability and intent correlate strongly with overall
self-reported trust. However, overall trust is not independently sufficient to
determine whether a human will decide to trust (delegate) a given task to a
robot. Instead, our study reveals that estimations of robot intention,
capability, and overall trust are integrated when deciding to delegate. From a
broader perspective, these results suggest that calibrating overall trust alone
is insufficient; to make correct decisions, humans need (and use) multi-faceted
mental models when collaborating with robots across multiple contexts.


  The canonical models for studying the unjamming scenario in systems of soft
repulsive particles assume pairwise potentials with a sharp cut-off in the
interaction range. The sharp cut-off renders the potential non-analytic, but
makes it possible to describe many properties of the solid in terms of the
coordination number $z$, which has an unambiguous definition in these cases.
Pairwise potentials without a sharp cut-off in the interaction range have not
been considered in this context, but are of interest for understanding the
relevance of the unjamming phenomenology to systems in which such a cut-off
cannot be assumed. In this work we explore two systems with such interactions:
an inverse power law and an exponentially decaying pairwise potential, with the
control parameters being the exponent (of the inverse power-law) for the former
and the number density for the latter. Both systems are shown to exhibit the
characteristic features of the unjamming transition, among which are the
vanishing of the shear to bulk modulus ratio and the emergence of an excess of
low-frequency vibrational modes. We establish a relation between the
hydrostatic pressure to bulk modulus ratio and the distance to unjamming in
each of our model systems. This allows us to predict the dependence of other
key observables on the distance to unjamming. Our results provide the means for
a quantitative estimation of the proximity of generic glass forming models to
the unjamming transition in the absence of a clear-cut definition of the
coordination number, and highlight the general irrelevance of nonaffine
contributions to the bulk modulus.


  For given depth of a we derive a formula for the depth of the image of that
term under a given hypersubstitution.


  Contrastive learning-based vision-language pre-training approaches, such as
CLIP, have demonstrated great success in many vision-language tasks. These
methods achieve cross-modal alignment by encoding a matched image-text pair
with similar feature embeddings, which are generated by aggregating information
from visual patches and language tokens. However, direct aligning cross-modal
information using such representations is challenging, as visual patches and
text tokens differ in semantic levels and granularities. To alleviate this
issue, we propose a Finite Discrete Tokens (FDT) based multimodal
representation. FDT is a set of learnable tokens representing certain
visual-semantic concepts. Both images and texts are embedded using shared FDT
by first grounding multimodal inputs to FDT space and then aggregating the
activated FDT representations. The matched visual and semantic concepts are
enforced to be represented by the same set of discrete tokens by a sparse
activation constraint. As a result, the granularity gap between the two
modalities is reduced. Through both quantitative and qualitative analyses, we
demonstrate that using FDT representations in CLIP-style models improves
cross-modal alignment and performance in visual recognition and vision-language
downstream tasks. Furthermore, we show that our method can learn more
comprehensive representations, and the learned FDT capture meaningful
cross-modal correspondence, ranging from objects to actions and attributes.


  Machine learning has proved to be a useful tool for extracting knowledge from
scientific data in numerous research fields, including astrophysics, genomics,
and molecular dynamics. Often, data sets from these research areas need to be
processed in distributed platforms due to their magnitude. This can be done
using one of the various distributed machine learning libraries available. One
of these libraries is dislib, a distributed machine learning library for Python
especially designed to process large scale data sets on HPC clusters, which
makes dislib an ideal candidate for analyzing scientific data. However,
dislib's main distributed data structure, called Dataset, has some limitations,
including poor performance in certain operations and low flexibility and
usability. In this paper, we propose a novel distributed data structure for
dislib, called ds-array, that addresses dislib's main limitations in data
management. Ds-arrays simplify distributed data management in dislib by
exposing a NumPy-like API, provide more flexibility, and reduce the
computational complexity of some operations. This results in performance
improvements of up to two orders of magnitude over Datasets, while also greatly
improving scalability and usability.


  The Hilbert space of a free massless particle moving on a group manifold is
studied in details using canonical quantisation. While the simplest model is
invariant under a global symmetry, $G \times G$, there is a very natural way to
``factorise" the theory so that only one copy of the global symmetry is
preserved. In the case of $G=SU(2)$, a simple deformation of the quantised
theory is proposed to give a realisation of the quantum group, $U_t(SL(2))$.
The symplectic structures of the corresponding classical theory is derived.
This can be used, in principle, to obtain a Lagrangian formulation for the
$U_t(SL(2))$ symmetry.


  Retrieval augmented generation (RAG) for technical documents creates
challenges as embeddings do not often capture domain information. We review
prior art for important factors affecting RAG and perform experiments to
highlight best practices and potential challenges to build RAG systems for
technical documents.


  The ANAIS (Annual modulation with NaI(Tl) Scintillators) experiment aims at
the confirmation or refutation of theDAMA/LIBRA positive annual modulation
signal in the low energy detection rate, using the same target and technique,
at the Canfranc Underground Laboratory (LSC) in Spain. ANAIS-112, consisting of
nine 12.5 kg NaI(Tl) modules produced by Alpha Spectra Inc. in a 3x3matrix
configuration, is taking data smoothly in "dark matter search" mode since
August, 2017, after a commissioning phase and operation of the first detectors
during the last years in various setups. A large effort has been carried out
withinANAIS to characterize the background of sodium iodide detectors, before
unblinding the data and performing the first annual modulation analysis. Here,
the background models developed for all the nine ANAIS-112 detectors are
presented. Measured spectra from threshold to high energy in different
conditions are well described by the models based on quantified activities
independently estimated following several approaches. In the region from 1 to 6
keVee the measured, efficiency corrected background level is 3.58+-0.02 keV-1
kg-1 day-1; NaI crystal bulk contamination is the dominant background source
being 210Pb, 40K, 22Na and 3H contributions the most relevant ones. This
background level, added to the achieved 1 keVee analysis threshold (thanks to
the outstanding light collection and robust filtering procedures developed),
allow ANAIS-112 to be sensitive to the modulation amplitude measured by
DAMA/LIBRA, and able to explore at three sigma level in 5 years the WIMP
parameter region singled out by this experiment.


  Solid-state spin qubits within silicon crystals at mK temperatures show great
promise in the realisation of a fully scalable quantum computation platform.
Qubit coherence times are limited in natural silicon owing to coupling to the
isotope ${ }^{29} \mathrm{Si}$ which has a non-zero nuclear spin. This work
presents a method for the depletion of ${ }^{29} \mathrm{Si}$ in localised
volumes of natural silicon wafers by irradiation using a 45 keV ${ }^{28}
\mathrm{Si}$ focused ion beam with fluences above $1 \times 10^{19} \,
\mathrm{ions} \, \mathrm{cm}^{-2}$. Nanoscale secondary ion mass spectrometry
analysis of the irradiated volumes shows unprecedented quality enriched silicon
that reaches a minimal residual ${ }^{29} \mathrm{Si}$ value of 2.3 $\pm$ 0.7
ppm and with residual C and O comparable to the background concentration in the
unimplanted wafer. Transmission electron microscopy lattice images confirm the
solid phase epitaxial re-crystallization of the as-implanted amorphous enriched
volume extending over 200 nm in depth upon annealing. The ease of fabrication,
requiring only commercially available natural silicon wafers and ion sources,
opens the possibility for co-integration of qubits in localised highly enriched
volumes with control circuitry in the surrounding natural silicon for
large-scale devices.


  Entangling independent photons is not only of fundamental interest but also
of crucial importance for quantum information science. Two-photon interference
is a major method to entangle independent identical photons. If two photons are
color-different, perfect two-photon coalescence cannot happen anymore, which
makes the entangling of color-different photons difficult to realize. In this
letter by exploring and developing time-resolved measurement and active
feed-forward, we have entangled two independent photons of different colors for
the first time. We find that entanglement with a varying form can be identified
for different two-photon temporal modes through time-resolved measurement. By
using active feed-forward we are able to convert the varying entanglement into
uniform. Adopting these measures, we have successfully entangled two photons
with a frequency separation of 16 times larger than their linewidths. In
addition to its fundamental interest, our work also provides an approach to
solve the frequency mismatch problem for future quantum networks.


  The structural origin of Cu+ ions conductivity in Cu6PS5I single crystals is
described in terms of structural phase transitions studied by X-ray
diffraction, polarizing microscope and calorimetric measurements. Below the
phase transition at Tc=(144-169) K Cu6PS5I belongs to monoclinic, ferroelastic
phase, space group Cc. Above Tc crystal changes the symmetry to cubic
superstructure, space group F-43c (a=19.528); finally at 274K disordering of
the Cu+ ions increases the symmetry to F-43m, (a=9.794). The phase transition
at 274K coincides well with a strong anomaly in electrical conductivity
observed in the Arrhenius plot. Diffusion paths for Cu+ ions are evidenced by
means of the atomic displacement factors and split model. Influence of the
copper stechiometry on the Tc is also discussed.


  Using the concept of inner integral curves defined by Hirschowitz we
generalize a recent result by Kim, Levenberg and Yamaguchi concerning the
obstruction of a pseudoconvex domain spread over a complex homogeneous manifold
to be Stein. This is then applied to study the holomorphic reduction of
pseudoconvex complex homogeneous manifolds X=G/H. Under the assumption that G
is solvable or reductive we prove that X is the total space of a G-equivariant
holomorphic fiber bundle over a Stein manifold such that all holomorphic
functions on the fiber are constant.


  We measure how effective Privacy Enhancing Technologies (PETs) are at
protecting users from website fingerprinting. Our measurements use both
experimental and observational methods. Experimental methods allow control,
precision, and use on new PETs that currently lack a user base. Observational
methods enable scale and drawing from the browsers currently in real-world use.
By applying experimentally created models of a PET's behavior to an
observational data set, our novel hybrid method offers the best of both worlds.
We find the Tor Browser Bundle to be the most effective PET amongst the set we
tested. We find that some PETs have inconsistent behaviors, which can do more
harm than good.


  The generation of non-classical states of large quantum systems has attracted
much interest from a foundational perspective, but also because of the
significant potential of such states in emerging quantum technologies. In this
paper we consider the possibility of generating non-classical states of a
system of spins by interaction with an ancillary system, starting from an
easily prepared initial state . We extend previous results for an ancillary
system comprising a single spin to bigger ancillary systems and the interaction
strength is enhanced by a factor of the number of ancillary spins. Depending on
initial conditions, we find -- by a combination of approximation and numerics
-- that the system of spins can evolve to spin cat states, spin squeezed states
or to multiple cat states. We also discuss some candidate systems for
implementation of the Hamiltonian necessary to generate these non-classical
states.


  The concept of a polar metal proposes new approach of current-induced
polarization control for ferroelectrics. We fabricate SnSe/WTe$_2$
heterostructure to experimentally investigate charge transport between two
ferroelectric van der Waals materials with different polarization directions.
WTe$_2$ is a polar metal with out-of-plane ferroelectric polarization, while
SnSe ferroelectric semiconductor is polarized in-plane, so one should expect
complicated polarization structure at the SnSe/WTe$_2$ interface. We study
$dI/dV(V)$ curves, which demonstrate sharp symmetric drop to zero $dI/dV$
differential conductance at some threshold bias voltages $\pm V_{th}$, which
are nearly symmetric in respect to the bias sign. While the gate electric field
is too small to noticeably affect the carrier concentration, the positive and
negative threshold positions are sensitive to the gate voltage. Also,
SnSe/WTe$_2$ heterostructure shows re-entrant transition to the low-conductive
$dI/dV=0$ state for abrupt change of the bias voltage even below the threshold
values. This behavior can not be observed for single SnSe or WTe$_2$ flakes, so
we interpret it as a result of the SnSe/WTe$_2$ interface coupling. In this
case, some threshold value of the electric field at the SnSe/WTe$_2$ interface
is enough to drive 90$^\circ$ change of the initial SnSe in-plane polarization
in the overlap region. The polarization mismatch leads to the significant
interface resistance contribution, analogously to the scattering of the charge
carriers on the domain walls. Thus, we demonstrate polarization state control
by electron transport through the SnSe/WTe$_2$ interface.


  We calculate the transverse momentum distribution of low-mass Drell-Yan pairs
in QCD perturbation theory with all-order resummation. We demonstrate that the
transverse momentum distribution of low-mass Drell-Yan pairs is an advantageous
source of constraints on the gluon distribution and its nuclear dependence.
With the reduction in background, we argue that low-mass Drell-Yan pairs in the
forward region provide a good and clean probe of small-x gluons at RHIC and
LHC.


  In this paper we consider a massless scalar field, with a possible coupling
$\xi$ to the Ricci scalar in a $D$ dimensional FLRW spacetime with a constant
deceleration parameter $q=\epsilon-1$, $\epsilon=-{\dot{H}}/{H^2}$. Correlation
functions for the Bunch-Davies vacuum of such a theory have long been known to
be infrared divergent for a wide range of values of $\epsilon$. We resolve
these divergences by explicitly matching the spacetime under consideration to a
spacetime without infrared divergencies. Such a procedure ensures that all
correlation functions with respect to the vacuum in the spacetime of interest
are infrared finite. In this newly defined vacuum we construct the coincidence
limit of the propagator and as an example calculate the expectation value of
the stress energy tensor. We find that this approach gives both in the
ultraviolet and in the infrared satisfactory results. Moreover, we find that,
unless the effective mass due to the coupling to the Ricci scalar $\xi R$ is
negative, quantum contributions to the energy density always dilute away
faster, or just as fast, as the background energy density. Therefore, quantum
backreaction is insignificant at the one loop order, unless $\xi R$ is
negative. Finally we compare this approach with known results where the
infrared is regulated by placing the Universe in a finite box. In an
accelerating universe, the results are qualitatively the same, provided one
identifies the size of the Universe with the physical Hubble radius at the time
of the matching. In a decelerating universe however, the two schemes give
different late time behavior for the quantum stress energy tensor. This happens
because in this case the length scale at which one regulates the infrared
becomes sub-Hubble at late times.


  Recent measurements at RHIC suggest that a nearly perfect fluid of quarks and
gluons is produced in AA collisions. Moreover the passage of supersonic partons
through this medium seems to produce waves. These waves might pile up and form
Mach cones, which would manifest themselves in the so called away-side jets,
forming a broad structure in the angular distribution of the particles
recoiling against a trigger jet of moderate energy. In most of the theoretical
descriptions of these phenomena, the hydrodynamic equations are linearized for
simplicity. We propose an alternative explanation for the observed broadening
of the away-side peak. It is based on hydrodynamics but it is a consequence of
the non-linearities of the equations, which instead of simple waves may lead to
localized waves or even solitons.
  We investigate in detail the consequences of including the non-linear terms.
We use a simple equation of state for the QGP and expand the hydrodynamic
equations around equilibrium configurations. The resulting differential
equations describe the propagation of perturbations in the energy density. We
solve them numerically and find that localized perturbations can propagate for
long distances in the plasma. Under certain conditions our solutions mimick the
propagation of Korteweg - de Vries solitons.


  Electrical currents at the surface or edge of a topological insulator are
intrinsically spin-polarized. We show that such surface/edge currents can be
used to switch the orientation of a molecular magnet weakly coupled to the
surface or edge of a topological insulator. For the edge of a two-dimensional
topological insulator as well as for the surface of a three-dimensional
topological insulator the application of a well-chosen surface/edge current can
lead to a complete polarization of the molecule if the molecule's magnetic
anisotropy axis is appropriately aligned with the current direction. For a
generic orientation of the molecule a nonzero but incomplete polarization is
obtained. We calculate the probability distribution of the magnetic states and
the switching rates as a function of the applied current.


  The study of $n$-Selmer group of elliptic curve over number field in recent
past has led to the discovery of some deep results in the arithmetic of
elliptic curves. Given two elliptic curves $E_1$ and $E_2$ over a number field
$K$, Mazur-Rubin\cite{mr} have defined them to be {\it $n$-Selmer companion} if
for every quadratic twist $\chi$ of $K$, the $n$-Selmer groups of $E_1^\chi $
and $E_2^\chi$ over $K$ are isomorphic. Given a prime $p$, they have given
sufficient conditions for two elliptic curves to be $p^r$-Selmer companion in
terms of mod-$p^r$ congruences between the curves. We discuss an analogue of
this for Bloch-Kato $p^r$-Selmer group of modular forms. We compare the
Bloch-Kato Selmer groups of a modular form respectively with the Greenberg
Selmer group when the modular form is $p$-ordinary and with the signed Selmer
group of Lei-Loeffler-Zerbes when the modular form is non-ordinary at $p$. We
also indicate the corresponding results over $\Q_\cyc$ and its relation with
the well known congruence results of the special values of the corresponding
$L$-functions due to Vatsal.


  Trace Anomaly Dominance in weak $K$-decays successfully reproduces the
$\Delta I = {1\over 2}$ selection rule results, as observed in $K_S \to \pi\pi,
K_L \to \pi\pi\pi, K_S \to \gamma\gamma$ and $K_L \to \pi^0 \gamma\gamma$.


  In minimal SUSY GUT models the $R$-parity breaking terms are severely
constrained by SU(5) gauge invariance. We consider the particular case where
the explicit $R$-parity breaking occurs only via dimension 2 terms of the
superpotential. This model possesses only three R-parity breaking parameters.
We have studied the predictions of this model for the neutrino masses and
mixing angles at the one-loop level within the framework of a radiatively
broken unified supergravity model. We find that this model naturally yields
masses and mixing angles that can explain the solar and atmospheric neutrino
problems. In addition, there are regions in parameter space where the solution
to the solar neutrino puzzle is compatible with either the LSND result or the
existence of significant hot dark matter neutrinos.


  Half-Heusler alloys such as the (Zr,Hf)NiSn intermetallic compounds are
important thermoelectric materials for converting waste heat into electricity.
Reduced electrical resistivity at the hot interface between the half-Heusler
material and a metal contact is critical for device performance, however this
has yet to be achieved in practice. Recent experimental work suggests that a
coherent interface between half-Heusler and full-Heusler compounds can form due
to diffusion of transition metal atoms into the vacant sublattice of the
half-Heusler lattice. We study theoretically the structural and electronic
properties of such an interface using a first-principles based approach that
combines {\it ab initio} calculations with macroscopic modeling. We find that
the prototypical interface HfNi$_2$Sn/HfNiSn provides very low contact
resistivity and almost ohmic behavior over a wide range of temperatures and
doping levels. Given the potential of these interfaces to remain stable over a
wide range of temperatures, our study suggests that full-Heuslers might provide
nearly ideal electrical contacts to half-Heuslers that can be harnessed for
efficient thermoelectric generator devices.


  Indoor coverage is a major challenge for 5G millimeter waves (mmWaves). In
this paper, we address this problem through a novel theoretical framework that
combines stochastic indoor environment modeling with advanced physical
propagation simulation. This approach is particularly adapted to investigate
indoor-to-indoor 5G mmWave propagation. Its system implementation, so-called
iGeoStat, generates parameterized typical environments that account for the
indoor spatial variations, then simulates radio propagation based on the
physical interaction between electromagnetic waves and material properties.
This framework is not dedicated to a particular environment, material,
frequency or use case and aims to statistically understand the influence of
indoor environment parameters on mmWave propagation properties, especially
coverage and path loss. Its implementation raises numerous computational
challenges that we solve by formulating an adapted link budget and designing
new memory optimization algorithms. The first simulation results for two major
5G applications are validated with measurement data and show the efficiency of
iGeoStat to simulate multiple diffusion in realistic environments, within a
reasonable amount of time and memory resources. Generated output maps confirm
that diffusion has a critical impact on indoor mmWave propagation and that
proper physical modeling is of the utmost importance to generate relevant
propagation models.


  Reinforcement learning with human feedback (RLHF) fine-tunes a pretrained
large language model (LLM) using preference datasets, enabling the LLM to
generate outputs that align with human preferences. Given the sensitive nature
of these preference datasets held by various clients, there is a need to
implement RLHF within a federated learning (FL) framework, where clients are
reluctant to share their data due to privacy concerns. To address this, we
introduce a feasible framework in which clients collaboratively train a binary
selector with their preference datasets using our proposed FedBis. With a
well-trained selector, we can further enhance the LLM that generates
human-preferred completions. Meanwhile, we propose a novel algorithm,
FedBiscuit, that trains multiple selectors by organizing clients into balanced
and disjoint clusters based on their preferences. Compared to the FedBis,
FedBiscuit demonstrates superior performance in simulating human preferences
for pairwise completions. Our extensive experiments on federated human
preference datasets -- marking the first benchmark to address heterogeneous
data partitioning among clients -- demonstrate that FedBiscuit outperforms
FedBis and even surpasses traditional centralized training.


  We present a comparison between stochastic simulations and mean-field
theories for the epidemic threshold of the susceptible-infected-susceptible
(SIS) model on correlated networks (both assortative and disassortative) with
power-law degree distribution $P(k)\sim k^{-\gamma}$. We confirm the vanishing
of the threshold regardless of the correlation pattern and the degree exponent
$\gamma$. Thresholds determined numerically are compared with quenched
mean-field (QMF) and pair quenched mean-field (PQMF) theories. Correlations do
not change the overall picture: QMF and PQMF provide estimates that are
asymptotically correct for large size for $\gamma<5/2$, while they only capture
the vanishing of the threshold for $\gamma>5/2$, failing to reproduce
quantitatively how this occurs. For a given size, PQMF is more accurate. We
relate the variations in the accuracy of QMF and PQMF predictions with changes
in the spectral properties (spectral gap and localization) of standard and
modified adjacency matrices, which rule the epidemic prevalence near the
transition point, depending on the theoretical framework. We also show that,
for $\gamma<5/2$, while QMF provides an estimate of the epidemic threshold that
is asymptotically exact, it fails to reproduce the singularity of the
prevalence around the transition.


  We consider the third quantization in quantum cosmology of a minisuperspace
extended by the Eisenhart-Duval lift. We study the third quantization based on
both Klein-Gordon type and Dirac-type equations in the extended minisuperspace.
Spontaneous creation of "universes" is investigated upon the quantization of a
simple model. We find that the quantization of the Dirac-type wave function
reveals that the number density of universes is expressed by the Fermi-Dirac
distribution. We also calculate the entanglement entropy of the multi-universe
system.


  The energy consumption of buildings is increasing at a rapid pace due to
urbanization, while net-zero energy buildings powered by renewable sources
offer a green and sustainable solution. However, the limited rooftop space
available on skyscrapers and multi-story buildings poses a challenge for
large-scale integration of solar photovoltaic modules. Conventional
photovoltaics solutions such as silicon solar panels block the visible light
from entering the building rending them unfeasible to cover all building
surfaces. Here, we demonstrate a novel dielectric metasurface (based-on silicon
nitride grating) acting as a planar light concentrator. We integrate this
functional device onto a window glass transmitting visible light while
simultaneously guiding the near infrared portion (NIR) of sunlight to the edges
of the glass window where it can be converted to electricity by a small PV
module. Utilizing the grating design flexibility, we tune the spectra to enable
guiding of the near NIR sunlight portion and realize polarization independence
demonstrated using finite difference time domain simulations. Experimentally,
we observe about 5.25% of optical guiding efficiency in the NIR region
(700-1000 nm), leaving majority of the visible portion to be transmitted for
natural room lighting. Integrating the solar cell at the window edge, we find a
power conversion efficiency of about 4.2% of NIR light on a prototype of area
25 mm 2. We confirm that the majority of the loss is due to the absorption,
scattering and fabrication non-uniformity over large area which can be further
optimized in future. Such a functional window combining renewable energy
generation, with room lighting, and building-envelope reduction could mitigate
urban heat-islanding issues of modern cities.


  The correct identification of topological magnetic objects in experiments is
an important issue. In the present work we report on the characterization of
metastable skyrmionic spin structures with various topological charges
($Q=-3,-2,-1,0,+1,+2$) in the (Pt$_{1-x}$Ir$_{x}$)Fe/Pd(111) ultrathin magnetic
film by performing spin-polarized scanning tunneling microscopy (SP-STM)
calculations. We find that an out-of-plane magnetized tip already results in
distinguished SP-STM contrasts for the different skyrmionic structures
corresponding to their symmetries. Our work also establishes an understanding
of the relationship between in-plane SP-STM contrasts and skyrmionic topologies
through an investigation of the variation of the in-plane angle between the
spins along the perimeter of the structures, which can be characterized by the
local vorticity or linear density of the winding number. For spin structures
exhibiting a uniform sign of the local vorticity throughout the whole
skyrmionic area, we demonstrate that (i) $|Q|$ can be determined from a single
SP-STM image taken by any in-plane magnetized tip, and (ii) an in-plane tip
magnetization rotation provides the sign of $Q$ independently of the sign of
the effective spin polarization in the tunnel junction. We also discuss cases
where the local vorticity is changing sign. Finally, by increasing the Ir
content of the PtIr overlayer, we find an appearing secondary outer ring
in-plane SP-STM contrast that is indicative of attractive skyrmions or
antiskyrmions.


  The supernovae are typical complex phenomena in fluid mechanics with very
different time scales. We describe them in the light of catastrophe theory,
assuming that successive equilibria between pressure and gravity present a
saddle-node bifurcation. In the early stage we show that the loss of
equilibrium may be described by a generic equation of the Painlev\'e I form. In
the final stage of the collapse, just before the divergence of the central
density, we show that the existence of a self-similar collapsing solution
compatible with the numerical observations imposes that the gravity forces are
stronger than the pressure ones. This situation differs drastically in its
principle from the one generally admitted where pressure and gravity forces are
assumed to be of the same order. Our new self-similar solution (based on the
hypothesis of dominant gravity forces) which matches the smooth solution of the
outer core solution, agrees globally well with our numerical results. Whereas
some differences with the earlier self-similar solutions are minor, others are
very important. For example, we find that the velocity field becomes singular
at the collapse time, diverging at the center, and decreasing slowly outside
the core, whereas previous works described a finite velocity field in the core
which tends to a supersonic constant value at large distances. This discrepancy
should be important for explaining the emission of remnants in the
post-collapse regime. Finally we describe the post-collapse dynamics, when mass
begins to accumulate in the center, also within the hypothesis that gravity
forces are dominant.


  We classify all closed non-orientable P2-irreducible 3-manifolds with
complexity up to 7, fixing two mistakes in our previous complexity-up-to-6
classification. We show that there is no such manifold with complexity less
than 6, five with complexity 6 (the four flat ones and the filling of the
Gieseking manifold, which is of type Sol, and three with complexity 7 (one
manifold of type Sol, and the two manifolds of type H2xR with smallest base
orbifolds).


  Maximally random jammed states of hard spheres are prototypical glasses. We
study the small wavenumber $k$ behavior of the structure factor $S(k)$ of
overcompressed million-sphere packings as a function of density up to the
jammed state. We find both a precursor to the glassy jammed state evident long
before the jamming density is reached and an associated growing length scale,
extracted from the volume integral of the direct correlation function $c(r)$,
which diverges at the "critical" jammed state. We also define a nonequilibrium
index $X$ and use it to demonstrate that the packings studied are intrinsically
nonequilibrium in nature well before the critical point is reached.


  We review the differences between bubble formation in champagne and other
carbonated drinks, and stout beers which contain a mixture of dissolved
nitrogen and carbon dioxide. The presence of dissolved nitrogen in stout beers
gives them a number of properties of interest to connoisseurs and physicists.
These remarkable properties come at a price: stout beers do not foam
spontaneously and special technology, such as the widgets used in cans, is
needed to promote foaming. Nevertheless the same mechanism, nucleation by gas
pockets trapped in cellulose fibres, responsible for foaming in carbonated
drinks is active in stout beers, but at an impractically slow rate. This gentle
rate of bubble nucleation makes stout beers an excellent model system for the
scientific investigation of the nucleation of gas bubbles. The equipment needed
is very modest, putting such experiments within reach of undergraduate
laboratories. Finally we consider the suggestion that a widget could be
constructed by coating the inside of a beer can with cellulose fibres.


  Summation-by-parts (SBP) finite difference methods have several desirable
properties for second-order wave equations. They combine the computational
efficiency of narrow-stencil finite difference operators with provable
stability on curvilinear multiblock grids. While several techniques for
boundary and interface conditions exist, weak imposition via simultaneous
approximation terms (SATs) is perhaps the most flexible one. Although SBP
methods have been applied to elastic wave equations many times, an SBP-SAT
method for general anisotropic elastic wave equations has not yet been
presented in the literature. We fill this gap by deriving energy-stable
self-adjoint SBP-SAT methods for general anisotropic materials on curvilinear
multiblock grids. The methods are based on fully compatible SBP operators.
Although this paper focuses on classical SBP finite difference operators, the
presented boundary and interface treatments are general and apply to a range of
methods that satisfy an SBP property. We demonstrate the stability and accuracy
properties of a particular set of fully compatible SBP-SAT schemes using the
method of manufactured solutions. We also demonstrate the utility of the new
method in elastodynamic cloaking and seismic imaging in mountainous regions.


  This article is based on the study of wormhole geometries in the context of
symmetric teleparallel gravity or $f(Q)$ gravity, where $Q$ is the
non-metricity scalar, and it is responsible for the gravitational interaction.
To discuss the wormhole solutions, we consider spherically symmetric static
spacetime metric with anisotropic matter contents under well-known
non-commutative distributions known as Gaussian and Lorentzian distributions
with an extra condition of permitting conformal killing vectors (CKV). This
work aims to obtain wormhole solutions under these distributions, and through
we found that wormhole solutions exist under these Gaussian and Lorentzian
sources with viable physical properties. Further, we examine the stability of
our obtained solutions through Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkoff (TOV) equation and
found that our calculated results are stable.


  We present a multi-conjugate adaptive optics (MCAO) system simulator bench,
HeNOS (Herzberg NFIRAOS Optical Simulator). HeNOS is developed to validate the
performance of the MCAO system for the Thirty Meter Telescope, as well as to
demonstrate techniques critical for future AO developments. In this paper, we
focus on describing the derivations of parameters that scale the 30-m telescope
AO system down to a bench experiment and explain how these parameters are
practically implemented on an optical bench. While referring other papers for
details of AO technique developments using HeNOS, we introduce the
functionality of HeNOS, in particular, three different single-conjugate AO
modes that HeNOS currently offers: a laser guide star AO with a Shack-Hartmann
wavefront sensor, a natural guide star AO with a pyramid wavefront sensor, and
a laser guide star AO with a sodium spot elongation on the Shack-Hartmann
corrected by a truth wavefront sensing on a natural guide star. Laser
tomography AO and ultimate MCAO are being prepared to be implemented in the
near future.


  We consider U(n+1) Yang-Mills instantons on the space \Sigma\times S^2, where
\Sigma is a compact Riemann surface of genus g. Using an SU(2)-equivariant
dimensional reduction, we show that the U(n+1) instanton equations on
\Sigma\times S^2 are equivalent to non-Abelian vortex equations on \Sigma.
Solutions to these equations are given by pairs (A,\phi), where A is a gauge
potential of the group U(n) and \phi is a Higgs field in the fundamental
representation of the group U(n). We briefly compare this model with other
non-Abelian Higgs models considered recently. Afterwards we show that for g>1,
when \Sigma\times S^2 becomes a gravitational instanton, the non-Abelian vortex
equations are the compatibility conditions of two linear equations (Lax pair)
and therefore the standard methods of integrable systems can be applied for
constructing their solutions.


  Polarizability tensor of a strongly magnetized plasma and the polarization
vectors and opacities of normal electromagnetic waves are studied for the
conditions typical of neutron star atmospheres, taking account of partial
ionization effects. Vacuum polarization is also included using a new set of
fitting formulae that are accurate for wide range of field strengths. The full
account of the coupling of the quantum mechanical structure of the atoms to
their center-of-mass motion across the magnetic field is shown to be crucial
for the correct evaluation of the polarization properties and opacities of the
plasma. The self-consistent treatment of the polarizability and absorption
coefficients proves to be necessary if the ionization degree of the plasma is
low, which can occur in the atmospheres of cool or ultramagnetized neutron
stars. Atmosphere models and spectra are presented to illustrate the importance
of such self-consistent treatment.


  The recent discovery of extraordinary-log universality has generated intense
interest in classical and quantum boundary critical phenomena. Despite
tremendous efforts, the existence of quantum extraordinary-log universality
remains extremely controversial. Here, by utilizing quantum Monte Carlo
simulations, we study the quantum edge criticality of a two-dimensional
Bose-Hubbard model featuring emergent bulk criticality. On top of an insulating
bulk, the open edges experience a Kosterlitz-Thouless-like transition into the
superfluid phase when the hopping strength is sufficiently enhanced on edges.
At the bulk critical point, the open edges exhibit the special, ordinary, and
extraordinary critical phases. In the extraordinary phase, logarithms are
involved in the finite-size scaling of two-point correlation and superfluid
stiffness, which admit a classical-quantum correspondence for the
extraordinary-log universality. Thanks to modern quantum emulators for
interacting bosons in lattices, the edge critical phases might be realized in
experiments.


  We show how quark-hadron duality can emerge for valence spin averaged
structure functions, and for the non-forward distributions of Deeply Virtual
Compton Scattering. Novel factorisations of the non-forward amplitudes are
proposed. Some implications for large angle scattering and deviations from the
quark counting rules are illustrated.


  The boundary of a M\"obius manifold carries a canonical M\"obius structure.
This enables one to define the cobordism group of $n$-dimensional (closed)
M\"obius manifolds. The purpose of this note is to show that the cobordism
group of M\"obius circles is zero, i.e., every M\"obius circle bounds a
M\"obius surface. We also complete N. Kuiper's classification of projective
structures on $S^1$ (we show that there are in fact two series of projective
circles with parabolic holonomy, and not one).


  We study the isoperimetric problem in product spaces equipped with the
uniform distance. Our main result is a characterization of isoperimetric
inequalities which, when satisfied on a space, are still valid for the product
spaces, up a to a constant which does not depend on the number of factors. Such
dimension free bounds have applications to the study of influences of
variables.


  We present the catalogue of gamma-ray bursts observed with the WATCH all-sky
monitor on board the GRANAT satellite during the period December 1989 to
September 1994. The cosmic origin of 95 bursts comprising the catalogue is
confirmed either by their localization with WATCH or by their detection with
other GRB experiments. For each burst its time history and information on its
intensity in the two energy ranges 8-20 keV and 20-60 keV are presented. Most
events show hardening of the energy spectrum near the burst peak. In part of
the bursts an X-ray precursor or a tail is seen at 8-20 keV. We have determined
the celestial positions of the sources of 47 bursts. Their localization regions
(at 3-sigma confidence level) are equivalent in area to circles with radii
ranging from 0.2 to 1.6 deg. The burst sources appear isotropically distributed
on the sky on large angular scales.


  In this article, the structure of the incremental quasistatic contact problem
with Coulomb friction in linear elasticity (Signorini-Coulomb problem) is
unraveled and optimal existence results are proved for the most general
bidimensional problem with arbitrary geometry and elasticity modulus tensor.
The problem is reduced to a variational inequality involving a nonlinear
operator which handles both elasticity and friction. This operator is proved to
fall into the class of the so-called Leray-Lions operators, so that a result of
Br\'ezis can be invoked to solve the variational inequality. It turns out that
one property in the definition of Leray-Lions operators is difficult to check
and requires proving a new fine property of the linear elastic
Neumann-to-Dirichlet operator. This fine property is only established in the
case of the bidimensional problem, limiting currently our existence result to
that case. In the case of isotropic elasticity, either homogeneous or
heterogeneous, the existence of solutions to the Signorini-Coulomb problem is
proved for arbitrarily large friction coefficient. In the case of anisotropic
elasticity, an example of nonexistence of a solution for large friction
coefficient is exhibited and the existence of solutions is proved under an
optimal condition for the friction coefficient.


  Generalised Heegner cycles are associated to a pair of an elliptic newform
and a Hecke character over an imaginary quadratic extension $K/\Q$. The cycles
live in a middle dimensional Chow group of a Kuga-Sato variety arising from an
indefinite Shimura curve over the rationals and a self product of a CM abelian
surface. Let $p$ be an odd prime split in $K/\Q$. We prove the non-triviality
of the $p$-adic Abel-Jacobi image of generalised Heegner cycles modulo $p$ over
the $\Z_p$-anticylotomic extension of $K$. The result implies the
non-triviality of the generalised Heegner cycles in the top graded piece of the
coniveau filtration on the Chow group and proves a higher weight analogue of
Mazur's conjecture. In the case of two, the result provides a refinement of the
results of Cornut-Vatsal and Aflalo-Nekov\'{a}\v{r} on the non-triviality of
Heegner points over the $\Z_p$-anticylotomic extension of $K$.


  The off-diagonal magneto-impedance in Co-based amorphous ribbons was measured
using a pick-up coil wound around the sample. The ribbons were annealed in air
or in vacuum in the presence of a weak magnetic field. The evolution of the
first and second harmonics in the pick-up coil voltage as a function of the
current amplitude was studied. At low current amplitudes, the first harmonic
dominates in the frequency spectrum of the voltage, and at sufficiently high
current amplitudes, the amplitude of the second harmonic becomes higher than
that of the first harmonic. For air-annealed ribbons, the asymmetric two-peak
behaviour of the field dependences of the harmonic amplitudes was observed,
which is related to the coupling between the amorphous phase and surface
crystalline layers appearing after annealing. For vacuum-annealed samples, the
first harmonic has a maximum at zero external field, and the field dependence
of the second harmonic exhibits symmetric two-peak behaviour. The experimental
results are interpreted in terms of a quasi-static rotational model. It is
shown that the appearance of the second harmonic in the pick-up coil voltage is
related to the anti-symmetrical distribution of the transverse field induced by
the current. The calculated dependences are in a qualitative agreement with the
experimental data.


  Mixtures of ideal polymers with hard spheres whose diameters are smaller than
the radius of gyration of the polymer, exhibit extensive immiscibility. The
interfacial tension between demixed phases of these mixtures is estimated, as
is the barrier to nucleation. The barrier is found to scale linearly with the
radius of the polymer, causing it to become large for large polymers. Thus for
large polymers nucleation is suppressed and phase separation proceeds via
spinodal decomposition, as it does in polymer blends.


  A class of variational schemes for the hydrodynamic-electrodynamic model of
lossless free-electron gas in a quasineutral background is developed for
high-quality simulations of surface plasmon polaritons. The Lagrangian density
of lossless free-electron gas with a self-consistent electromagnetic field is
established, and the dynamical equations with the associated constraints are
obtained via a variational principle. Based on discrete exterior calculus, the
action functional of this system is discretized and minimized to obtain the
discrete dynamics. Newton-Raphson iteration and the biconjugate gradient
stabilized method are equipped as a hybrid nonlinear-linear algebraic solver.
Instead of discretizing the partial differential equations, the variational
schemes have better numerical properties in secular simulations, as they
preserve the discrete Lagrangian symplectic structure, gauge symmetry, and
general energy-momentum density. Two numerical experiments were performed. The
numerical results reproduce characteristic dispersion relations of bulk
plasmons and surface plasmon polaritons, and the numerical errors of conserved
quantities in all experiments are bounded by a small value after long-term
simulations.


  We present a high-pressure NMR study of the overdoped iron pnictide
superconductor NaFe$_{0.94}$Co$_{0.06}$As. The low-energy antiferromagnetic
spin fluctuations in the normal state, manifest as the Curie-Weiss upturn in
the spin-lattice relaxation rate $1/^{75}T_1T$, first increase strongly with
pressure but fall again at $P > P_{\rm opt} =$ 2.2 GPa. Neither long-ranged
magnetic order nor a structural phase transition is encountered up to 2.5 GPa.
The superconducting transition temperature $T_c$ shows a pressure-dependence
identical to the spin fluctuations. Our observations demonstrate that magnetic
correlations and superconductivity are optimized simultaneously as a function
of the electronic structure, thereby supporting very strongly a magnetic origin
of superconductivity.


  We investigate the pulsation properties of stellar models representative of
$\delta$ Scuti and $\gamma$ Doradus variables. We have calculated a grid of
stellar models from 1.2 to 2.2 M$_{\odot}$, including the effects of both
rotation and convective overshoot using MESA, and we investigate the pulsation
properties of these models using GYRE. We discuss observable patterns in the
frequency spacing for $p$ modes and the period spacings for g modes. Using the
observable patterns in g mode period spacings, it may be possible to
observationally constrain the convective overshoot and rotation of a model. We
also calculate the pulsation constant (Q) for all models in our grid, and
investigate the variation with convective overshoot and rotation. The variation
in Q values of radial modes can be used to place constraints on the convective
overshoot and rotation of stars in this region. As a test case, we apply this
method to a sample of 22 high amplitude $\delta$ Scuti stars (HADS), and
provide estimates for the convective overshoot of the sample.


  Convolutional neural networks (CNNs) with log-mel spectrum features have
shown promising results for acoustic scene classification tasks. However, the
performance of these CNN based classifiers is still lacking as they do not
generalise well for unknown environments. To address this issue, we introduce
an acoustic spectrum transformation network where traditional log-mel spectrums
are transformed into imagined visual features (IVF). The imagined visual
features are learned by exploiting the relationship between audio and visual
features present in video recordings. An auto-encoder is used to encode images
as visual features and a transformation network learns how to generate imagined
visual features from log-mel. Our model is trained on a large dataset of
Youtube videos. We test our proposed method on the scene classification task of
DCASE and ESC-50, where our method outperforms other spectrum features,
especially for unseen environments.


  We calculate the mean density profiles for luminous and dark matter on
distance scales $D \sim(1 - 100)$ Mpc around us using recent all-sky catalogs
of galaxy groups. Within the Local Volume $( D < 11 ~\rm Mpc)$ we derived the
mean stellar density $\Omega_*= 0.44\%$ in the critical density units and the
mean total matter density $\Omega_m = 0.17$. In the sphere with a radius of 40
Mpc these quantities drop to $\Omega_* = 0.24 - 0.32\%$ and $\Omega_m = 0.09 -
0.14$. In a larger volume within $D\sim135$ Mpc the discussed densities become
more uncertain: $\Omega_* = 0.20 - 0.24\%$ and $\Omega_m = 0.05 - 0.16$. We
summarize that the major part of the cosmic dark matter locates outside the
virial and collapsing zones of groups and clusters.


  We introduce a new method to reconstruct unknown quantum states out of
incomplete and noisy information. The method is a linear convex optimization
problem, therefore with a unique minimum, which can be efficiently solved with
Semidefinite Programs. Numerical simulations indicate that the estimated state
does not overestimate purity, and neither the expectation value of optimal
entanglement witnesses. The convergence properties of the method are similar to
compressed sensing approaches, in the sense that, in order to reconstruct low
rank states, it needs just a fraction of the effort correspondig to an
informationally complete measurement.


  Neural networks can achieve excellent results in a wide variety of
applications. However, when they attempt to sequentially learn, they tend to
learn the new task while catastrophically forgetting previous ones. We propose
a model that overcomes catastrophic forgetting in sequential reinforcement
learning by combining ideas from continual learning in both the image
classification domain and the reinforcement learning domain. This model
features a dual memory system which separates continual learning from
reinforcement learning and a pseudo-rehearsal system that "recalls" items
representative of previous tasks via a deep generative network. Our model
sequentially learns Atari 2600 games without demonstrating catastrophic
forgetting and continues to perform above human level on all three games. This
result is achieved without: demanding additional storage requirements as the
number of tasks increases, storing raw data or revisiting past tasks. In
comparison, previous state-of-the-art solutions are substantially more
vulnerable to forgetting on these complex deep reinforcement learning tasks.


  We show how the general and basic asymmetry between two fundamental degrees
of freedom present in strongly correlated oxides, spin and orbital, has very
profound repercussions on the elementary spin and orbital excitations. Whereas
the magnons remain largely unaffected, orbitons become inherently coupled with
spin fluctuations in spin-orbital models with antiferromagnetic and
ferroorbital ordered ground states. The composite orbiton-magnon modes that
emerge fractionalize again in one dimension, giving rise to spin-orbital
separation in the peculiar regime where spinons are faster than orbitons.


  The study of NLS1s using ASCA has many advantages. A representative sample
can be studied; to date, observations of more than 30 NLS1s have been made.
ASCA observations are conducted contiguously, so their X-ray variability
properties can be studied systematically. ASCA detectors have a broad band pass
and moderate energy resolution, properties which allow their complex X-ray
spectrum to be deconvolved. ASCA observations have revealed that a soft excess
extending up to 1 keV is frequently found in the X-ray spectra from NLS1s. The
hard X-ray photon index has been shown to be systematically steeper than in
Seyfert 1 galaxies with broad optical lines. NLS1s also exhibit larger
amplitude variability than broad-line Seyferts of similar hard X-ray
luminosity. On occasion, features in the soft X-ray band have been detected
that appear to be specific to NLS1s; ionized iron lines have also been
observed. These results have been fundamental for building our current picture
of the X-ray emission from NLS1s. Many of the properties can be explained if
the specific accretion rate is larger in NLS1s than in Seyfert 1 galaxies with
broad optical lines. NLS1s may exemplify an extreme state of an intrinsic
physical parameter and therefore their study may lead to an enhanced
understanding of AGN in general. This proceedings contribution has two parts.
First I describe and discuss some of the results obtained from a study of the
X-ray variability in NLS1s using ASCA data (Leighly 1999ab). Then, I discuss
the results from our HST observations of NLS1s that were first presented during
this meeting (Leighly & Halpern 2000).


  This work presents a practical solution to the problem of call center agent
malpractice. A semi-supervised framework comprising of non-linear power
transformation, neural feature learning and k-means clustering is outlined. We
put these building blocks together and tune the parameters so that the best
performance was obtained. The data used in the experiments is obtained from our
in-house call center. It is made up of recorded agent-customer conversations
which have been annotated using a convolutional neural network based segmenter.
The methods provided a means of tuning the parameters of the neural network to
achieve a desirable result. We show that, using our proposed framework, it is
possible to significantly reduce the malpractice classification error of a
k-means-only clustering model which would serve the same purpose. Additionally,
by presenting the amount of silence per call as a key performance indicator, we
show that the proposed system has enhanced agents performance at our call
center since deployment.


  Demonstration of Majorana non-Abelian properties is a major challenge in the
field of topological superconductivity. In this work, we propose a minimal
device and protocol for testing non-Abelian properties using charge-transfer
operations between a quantum dot and two Majorana bound states combined with
reading the parity state using a second dot. We use an adiabatic perturbation
theory to find fast adiabatic paths to perform operations and to account for
nonadiabatic errors. We find the ideal parameter sweep and a region in
parameter space which reduces the charge-transfer operation time 1-2 orders of
magnitude with respect to constant velocity driving. Using realistic
parameters, we estimate that the lower bound for the time scale can be reduced
to $\sim10$ ns. Deviations from the ideal parameters lead to the accumulation
of an undesired dynamical phase, affecting the outcome of the proposed
protocol. We furthermore suggest to reduce the influence from the dynamical
phase using a flux echo. The echo protocol is based on the $4\pi$-periodicity
of the topological state, absent for trivial bound states.


  Current networks more and more rely on virtualized middleboxes to flexibly
provide security, protocol optimization, and policy compliance functionalities.
As such, delivering these services requires that the traffic be steered through
the desired sequence of virtual appliances. Current solutions introduce a new
logically centralized entity, often called orchestrator, needing to build its
own holistic view of the whole network so to decide where to direct the
traffic. We advocate that such a centralized orchestration is not necessary and
that, on the contrary, the same objectives can be achieved by augmenting the
network layer routing so to include the notion of service and its chaining. In
this paper, we support our claim by designing such a system. We also present an
implementation and an early evaluation, showing that we can easily steer
traffic through available resources. This approach also offers promising
features such as incremental deployability, multi-domain service chaining,
failure resiliency, and easy maintenance.


  An effective formalism for white noise analysis, conceptually equivalent to
Wilsonian renormalization theory, is introduced. Space-time gets represented by
a boolean lattice of coarse regions, energy scales become space-time partitions
by lattice regions, and observables are elements of a projective limit with
connecting maps given by partial integration of high-energy degrees of freedom.
The framework allows for a seamless generalization of the Wick product and the
$\mathcal S$-transform to essentially arbitrary L\'evy noises, and we provide a
tool to make explicit calculations in several cases of interest, including
Gauss, Poisson and Gamma noises (we shall thereby encounter pretty familiar
polynomials, like falling factorials and Hermite polynomials).
  Armed with this, we turn to constructive quantum field theory. We adopt an
Euclidean approach and introduce a sufficient condition for reflection
positivity, based on our $\mathcal S$-transform, enabling us to construct
non-trivial quantum fields by simply specifying compatible families of
effective connected $n$-point functions. We exemplify this by producing a field
with quartic interaction in dimension $d\leq 8$. Its connected $n$-point
functions vanish except for the propagator and the connected $4$-point
function, which is that of the $\phi^4$ field up to order $\hbar$. This model
satisfies all the physical requirements of a non-trivial quantum field theory.


  We present APEX observations of HCN (9-8) and (4-3) lines toward a sample of
hot cores. The spectral shapes of the main transitions are asymmetric and
self-absorbed, as expected for high optical depth in a possibly infalling
envelope. For spherical symmetry, the large column densities of these sources
would mean that the central region is obscured by dust above a certain
frequency. However, we detected the vibrationally excited satellite lines
(v_2=1; J=9-8) at 797 GHz, which originate from the inner regions. This
indicates that high-frequency ALMA observations of hot core centers will be
feasible.


  Multicolor (BVRI) light curves of the eclipsing novalike variable TT Tri are
presented and analyzed with a parameter-fitting eclipse model. The mass ratio
of TT Tri is poorly constrained, but must lie roughly in the range
0.3<q(=M_2/M_1)<0.9. Models characterized by mass ratios of q=0.3 (i=76.1 deg),
q=0.6 (i=72.6 deg), and q=0.9 (i=70.4 deg) were all capable of providing
acceptable fits to the data, although the best fits were achieved for mass
ratios near the upper end of the permitted range. The values of the remaining
fitting parameters were found to be insensitive to the adopted mass ratio and
rim thickness. The accretion disk was found to extend to ~50-60% of the
distance to the inner Lagrangian point in all models, but came closer to
reaching the tidal limit in the higher mass ratio models. The same behavior was
found for the radial temperature profile of the disk, which increased with mass
ratio, becoming more consistent with that expected for steady state accretion
in the q=0.6 and q=0.9 models. Models with a truncated inner disk (R_in>>R_1)
generally resulted in a higher white dwarf temperature, and a steepening of the
disk temperature profile, but were not required to achieve a viable
steady-state disk solution. No evidence was found for a luminous bright spot in
the system, which is not surprising given the lack of a pre-eclipse "hump" in
the light curve. A total of 22 eclipse timings were measured for the system,
which yielded an ephemeris for the times of mid-eclipse given by HJD =
2,453,618.953(3) + 0.1396369(4) E. A comparison of the observed brightness and
color at mid-eclipse with the photometric properties of the best-fitting model
suggests that TT Tri lies at a distance of ~400-500 pc. (abstract abridged)


  We follow and modify the Feshbach-Villars formalism by separating the
Klein-Gordon equation into two coupled time-dependent Schroedinger equations
for particle and antiparticle wave function components with positive
probability densities. We find that the equation of motion for the probability
densities is in the form of relativistic hydrodynamics where various forces
have their classical counterparts, with the additional element of the quantum
stress tensor that depends on the derivatives of the amplitude of the wave
function. We derive the equation of motion for the Wigner function and we find
that its approximate classical weak-field limit coincides with the equation of
motion for the distribution function in the collisionless kinetic theory.


  We present the first analytical study of phase transitions in
ferroelastic-ferroelectric epitaxial thin films on exactly solvable model. The
emerging domain structure with domains of equal width (which may be
exponentially large on a "soft" substrate) always remains stable irrespective
of the film thickness. The dielectric response of an epitaxial film is {\em
smaller} than that of a free film, in striking contrast with assertions in the
literature.


  We construct a set of quasi-local measurement operators in 2D CFT, and then
use them to proceed the quantum energy teleportation (QET) protocol and show it
is viable. These measurement operators are constructed out of the projectors
constructed from shadow operators, but further acting on the product of two
spatially separated primary fields. They are equivalently the OPE blocks in the
large central charge limit up to some UV-cutoff dependent normalization but the
associated probabilities of outcomes are UV-cutoff independent. We then adopt
these quantum measurement operators to show that the QET protocol is viable in
general. We also check the CHSH inequality a la OPE blocks.


  Strong, stable, and organised magnetic fields are present at the surfaces of
a small fraction of OBA stars. These "fossil fields" exhibit uniform
characteristics in stars over a tremendous range of stellar mass, age,
temperature, and rotation rate. In hot O- and B-type stars, these magnetic
fields couple efficiently to the stellar radiatively driven winds, strongly
influencing stellar mass loss and rotation. In this article we review the
characteristics of the known magnetic hot stars, discuss recent discoveries and
insights, and describe recent theoretical progress toward understanding basic
field properties and the influence of magnetic fields on hot star evolution.


  Andrei Okounkov received the Fields Medal at the ICM 2006 in Madrid "for his
contributions bridging probability, representation theory and algebraic
geometry". This is a brief account of his work.


  The capacity has recently been characterized for the private information
retrieval (PIR) problem as well as several of its variants. In every case it is
assumed that all the queries are generated by the user simultaneously. Here we
consider multiround PIR, where the queries in each round are allowed to depend
on the answers received in previous rounds. We show that the capacity of
multiround PIR is the same as the capacity of single-round PIR (the result is
generalized to also include $T$-privacy constraints). Combined with previous
results, this shows that there is no capacity advantage from multiround over
single-round schemes, non-linear over linear schemes or from $\epsilon$-error
over zero-error schemes. However, we show through an example that there is an
advantage in terms of storage overhead. We provide an example of a multiround,
non-linear, $\epsilon$-error PIR scheme that requires a strictly smaller
storage overhead than the best possible with single-round, linear, zero-error
PIR schemes.


  In this paper, a joint power allocation algorithm with minimum mean-squared
error (MMSE) receiver for a cooperative Multiple-Input and Multiple-Output
(MIMO) network which employs multiple relays and a Decode-and-Forward (DF)
strategy is proposed. A Distributed Space-Time Coding (DSTC) scheme is applied
in each relay node. We present a joint constrained optimization algorithm to
determine the power allocation parameters and the MMSE receive filter parameter
vectors for each transmitted symbol in each link, as well as the channel
coefficients matrix. A Stochastic Gradient (SG) algorithm is derived for the
calculation of the joint optimization in order to release the receiver from the
massive calculation complexity for the MMSE receive filter and power allocation
parameters. The simulation results indicate that the proposed algorithm obtains
gains compared to the equal power allocation system.


  We compare mechanisms for compensation handling and dynamic update in calculi
for concurrency. These mechanisms are increasingly relevant in the
specification of reliable communicating systems. Compensations and updates are
intuitively similar: both specify how the behavior of a concurrent system
changes at runtime in response to an exceptional event. However, calculi with
compensations and updates are technically quite different. We investigate the
relative expressiveness of these calculi: we develop encodings of core process
languages with compensations into a calculus of adaptable processes developed
in prior work. Our encodings shed light on the (intricate) semantics of
compensation handling and its key constructs. They also enable the transference
of existing verification and reasoning techniques for adaptable processes to
core languages with compensation handling.


  We present the results of the analysis of gamma-ray and X-ray data of GRB
050401 taken with the Swift satellite, together with a series of ground-based
follow-up observations. The Swift X-ray light curve shows a clear break at
about 4900 seconds after the GRB. The decay indices before and after the break
are consistent with a scenario of continuous injection of radiation from the
'central engine' of the GRB to the fireball. Alternatively, this behaviour
could result if ejecta are released with a range of Lorentz factors with the
slower shells catching up the faster at the afterglow shock position. The two
scenarios are observationally indistinguishable. The GRB 050401 afterglow is
quite bright in the X-ray band but weak in the optical, with an optical to
X-ray flux ratio similar to those of 'dark bursts'. We detect a significant
amount of absorption in the X-ray spectrum, with N_H = (1.7 +/- 0.2) x 10^22
cm^-2 at a redshift of z=2.9, which is typical of a dense circumbust medium.
Such high column density implies an unrealistic optical extinction of 30
magnitudes if we adopt the Galactic extinction law, which would not consistent
with optical detection of the afterglow. This suggests that the extinction law
is different from the Galactic one.


  Let $G$ be a permutation group acting on a set $V$. A partition $\pi$ of $V$
is distinguishing if the only element of $G$ that fixes each cell of $\pi$ is
the identity. The distinguishing number of $G$ is the minimum number of cells
in a distinguishing partition. We prove that if $G$ is a primitive permutation
group and $|V|\ge336$, its distinguishing number is two.


  Text-conditioned image generation models have recently achieved astonishing
results in image quality and text alignment and are consequently employed in a
fast-growing number of applications. Since they are highly data-driven, relying
on billion-sized datasets randomly scraped from the internet, they also suffer,
as we demonstrate, from degenerated and biased human behavior. In turn, they
may even reinforce such biases. To help combat these undesired side effects, we
present safe latent diffusion (SLD). Specifically, to measure the inappropriate
degeneration due to unfiltered and imbalanced training sets, we establish a
novel image generation test bed-inappropriate image prompts (I2P)-containing
dedicated, real-world image-to-text prompts covering concepts such as nudity
and violence. As our exhaustive empirical evaluation demonstrates, the
introduced SLD removes and suppresses inappropriate image parts during the
diffusion process, with no additional training required and no adverse effect
on overall image quality or text alignment.


  We describe the modular operad structure on the moduli spaces of pointed
stable curves equipped with an admissible $G$-cover. To do this we are forced
to introduce the notion of an operad colored not by a set but by the objects of
a category. This construction interpolates in a sense between `framed' and
`colored' versions of operads; we hope that it will be of independent interest.
An algebra over this operad is the same thing as a $G$-equivariant CohFT, as
defined by Jarvis, Kaufmann and Kimura. We prove that the (orbifold)
Gromov--Witten invariants of global quotients $[X/G]$ give examples of
$G$-CohFTs.


  Using first-principles approaches, we have investigated the thermoelectric
properties and the energy conversion efficiency of the paired metal-Br-Al
junction. Owing to the narrow states in the vicinity of the chemical potential,
the nanojunction has large Seebeck coefficients such that it can be considered
an efficient thermoelectric power generator. We also consider the nanojunction
in a three-terminal geometry, where the current, voltage, power, and efficiency
can be efficiently modulated by the gate voltages. Such current-voltage
characteristics could be useful in the design of nano-scale electronic devices
such, as a transistor or switch. Notably, the nanojunction as a transistor with
a fixed finite temperature difference between electrodes can power itself using
the Seebeck effect.


  In the dynamical gauge-Higgs unification, it is shown that the mass of the
Higgs boson (4D scalar field) in U(1) gauge theory in $M^4 \times T^n$
($n=1,2,3,...$) is finite to all order in perturbation theory as a consequence
of the large gauge invariance. It is conjectured that the Higgs boson mass is
finite in non-Abelian gauge theory in $M^4 \times S^1$, $M^4 \times (S^1/Z_2)$
and the Randall-Sundrum warped spacetime to all order in the rearranged
perturbation theory where the large gauge invariance is maintained.


  We applied the method of continuous wavelet-transform to the time-frequency
analysis to the sets of observations of relative sunspot numbers, sunspot areas
and to 6 Mount Wilson HK-project stars with well-defined magnetic cycles.
Wavelet analysis of these data reveals the following pattern: at the same time
there are several activity cycles whose periods vary widely from the
quasi-biennial up to the centennial period for the Sun and vary significant
during observations time of the HK-project stars. These relatively
low-frequency periodic variations of the solar and stellar activity gradually
change the values of periods of different cycles in time. This phenomenon can
be observed in every cycles of activity


  We consider the dynamics of a meromorphic map on a compact kahler surface
whose topological degree is smaller than its first dynamical degree. The latter
quantity is the exponential rate at which its iterates expand the cohomology
class of a kahler form. Our goal in this article and its sequels is to carry
out a conjectural program for constructing and analyzing a natural measure of
maximal entropy for each such map. Here we take the first step, converting
information about the linear action of the map on cohomology to invariant
currents with special geometric structure. We also give some examples and
identify some additional properties of maps on irrational surfaces and of maps
whose invariant cohomology classes have vanishing self-intersection.


  In connection with the optimization problem $$\inf_{x\in argmin
\Psi}\{\Phi(x)+\Theta(x)\},$$ where $\Phi$ is a proper, convex and lower
semicontinuous function and $\Theta$ and $\Psi$ are convex and smooth functions
defined on a real Hilbert space, we investigate the asymptotic behavior of the
trajectories of the nonautonomous Levenberg-Marquardt dynamical system
\begin{equation*}\left\{ \begin{array}{ll} v(t)\in\partial\Phi(x(t))\\
\lambda(t)\dot x(t) + \dot v(t) + v(t) + \nabla \Theta(x(t))+\beta(t)\nabla
\Psi(x(t))=0, \end{array}\right.\end{equation*} where $\lambda$ and $\beta$ are
functions of time controlling the velocity and the penalty term, respectively.
We show weak convergence of the generated trajectory to an optimal solution as
well as convergence of the objective function values along the trajectories,
provided $\lambda$ is monotonically decreasing, $\beta$ satisfies a growth
condition and a relation expressed via the Fenchel conjugate of $\Psi$ is
fulfilled. When the objective function is assumed to be strongly convex, we can
even show strong convergence of the trajectories.


  We propose a Class-Based Styling method (CBS) that can map different styles
for different object classes in real-time. CBS achieves real-time performance
by carrying out two steps simultaneously. While a semantic segmentation method
is used to obtain the mask of each object class in a video frame, a styling
method is used to style that frame globally. Then an object class can be styled
by combining the segmentation mask and the styled image. The user can also
select multiple styles so that different object classes can have different
styles in a single frame. For semantic segmentation, we leverage DABNet that
achieves high accuracy, yet only has 0.76 million parameters and runs at 104
FPS. For the style transfer step, we use a popular real-time method proposed by
Johnson et al. [7]. We evaluated CBS on a video of the CityScapes dataset and
observed high-quality localized style transfer results for different object
classes and real-time performance.


  The usability of small devices such as smartphones or interactive watches is
often hampered by the limited size of command vocabularies. This paper is an
attempt at better understanding how finger identification may help users invoke
commands on touch screens, even without recourse to multi-touch input. We
describe how finger identification can increase the size of input vocabularies
under the constraint of limited real estate, and we discuss some visual cues to
communicate this novel modality to novice users. We report a controlled
experiment that evaluated, over a large range of input-vocabulary sizes, the
efficiency of single-touch command selections with vs. without finger
identification. We analyzed the data not only in terms of traditional time and
error metrics, but also in terms of a throughput measure based on Shannon's
theory, which we show offers a synthetic and parsimonious account of users'
performance. The results show that the larger the input vocabulary needed by
the designer, the more promising the identification of individual fingers.