  This article introduces an analytic formula for entraining convective
available potential energy (ECAPE) with an entrainment rate that is determined
directly from the storm environment. Extending previous formulas derived in
Peters et al. (2020), entrainment is connected to the background environment
via an analytic manipulation of the equations of motion that yields a direct
correspondence between the storm relative flow and the updraft radius, and an
inverse scaling between the updraft radius squared and entrainment rate. These
concepts, combined with the assumption of adiabatic conservation of moist
static energy, yield an explicit analytic equation for ECAPE that depends
entirely on state variables in an atmospheric profile and a few constant
parameters with values that are established in past literature. Using a
simplified Bernoulli-like equation, a second formula is derived that accounts
for updraft enhancement via kinetic energy extracted from the cloud's
background environment. CAPE and ECAPE can be viewed as predictors of the
maximum vertical velocity $w_{max}$ in an updraft. Hence, these formulas are
evaluated using $w_{max}$ from past numerical modeling studies. Both of the new
formulas improve predictions of $w_{max}$ substantially over undiluted CAPE,
ECAPE with a prescribed entrainment rate, and the ECAPE formula from Peters et
al. (2020). The formula that incorporates environmental kinetic energy
contribution to the updraft correctly predicts instances of exceedance of
$\sqrt{2\text{CAPE}}$ by $w_{max}$ in simulations, and provides a conceptual
explanation for why such exceedance is rare among past simulations. These
formulas are potentially useful in nowcasting and forecasting thunderstorms and
as thunderstorm proxies in climate change studies.


  In this paper we mainly investigate the initial value problem of the periodic
Euler-Poincar\'e equations. We first present a new blow-up result to the system
for a special class of smooth initial data by using the rotational invariant
properties of the system. Then, we prove that the periodic Euler-Poincar\'e
equations is ill-posed in critical Besov spaces by a contradiction argument.
Finally, we verify the system possesses a class of peakon solutions in the
sense of distributions.


  A vortex line passes through as many pinning centers as possible on its way
from one extremety of the superconductor to the other at the expense of
increasing its self-energy. In the framework of the Ginzburg-Landau theory we
study the relative growth in length, with respect to the straight line, of a
vortex near a zigzag of defects. The defects are insulating pinning spheres
that form a three-dimensional cubic array embedded in the superconductor. We
determine the depinning transition beyond which the vortex line no longer
follows the critical zigzag path of defects.


  We study the evaporation of black holes in space-times with extra dimensions
of size L. We first obtain a potential which describes the expected behaviors
of very large and very small black holes and then show that a (first order)
phase transition, possibly signaled by an outburst of energy, occurs in the
system when the horizon shrinks below L from a larger value. This is related to
both a change in the topology of the horizon and the restoring of the
translational symmetry along the extra dimensions.


  The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) will be both the largest radio telescope
ever constructed and the largest Big Data project in the known Universe. The
first phase of the project will generate on the order of 5 zettabytes of data
per year. A critical task for the SKA will be its ability to process data for
science, which will need to be conducted by science pipelines. Together with
polarization data from the LOFAR Multifrequency Snapshot Sky Survey (MSSS), we
have been developing a realistic SKA-like science pipeline that can handle the
large data volumes generated by LOFAR at 150 MHz. The pipeline uses task-based
parallelism to image, detect sources, and perform Faraday Tomography across the
entire LOFAR sky. The project thereby provides a unique opportunity to
contribute to the technological development of the SKA telescope, while
simultaneously enabling cutting-edge scientific results. In this paper, we
provide an update on current efforts to develop a science pipeline that can
enable tight constraints on the magnetised large-scale structure of the
Universe.


  Centrality definition in A$+$A collisions at colliders such as RHIC and LHC
suffers from a correlated systematic uncertainty caused by the efficiency of
detecting a p$+$p collision ($50\pm 5\%$ for PHENIX at RHIC). In A$+$A
collisions where centrality is measured by the number of nucleon collisions,
$N_{\rm coll}$, or the number of nucleon participants, $N_{\rm part}$, or the
number of constituent quark participants, $N_{\rm qp}$, the error in the
efficiency of the primary interaction trigger (Beam-Beam Counters) for a p$+$p
collision leads to a correlated systematic uncertainty in $N_{\rm part}$,
$N_{\rm coll}$ or $N_{\rm qp}$ which reduces binomially as the A$+$A collisions
become more central. If this is not correctly accounted for in projections of
A$+$A to p$+$p collisions, then mistaken conclusions can result. A recent
example is presented in whether the mid-rapidity charged multiplicity per
constituent quark participant $({dN_{\rm ch}/d\eta})/{N_{\rm qp}}$ in Au$+$Au
at RHIC was the same as the value in p$+$p collisions.


  Preserving cultural heritage is of paramount importance. In the domain of art
restoration, developing a computer vision model capable of effectively
restoring deteriorated images of art pieces was difficult, but now we have a
good computer vision state-of-art. Traditional restoration methods are often
time-consuming and require extensive expertise. The aim of this work is to
design an automated solution based on computer vision models that can enhance
and reconstruct degraded artworks, improving their visual quality while
preserving their original characteristics and artifacts. The model should
handle a diverse range of deterioration types, including but not limited to
noise, blur, scratches, fading, and other common forms of degradation. We adapt
the current state-of-art for the image super-resolution based on the Diffusion
Model (DM) and fine-tune it for Image art restoration. Our results show that
instead of fine-tunning multiple different models for different kinds of
degradation, fine-tuning one super-resolution. We train it on multiple datasets
to make it robust. code link: https://github.com/Naagar/art_restoration_DM


  We study time-dependent backgrounds in the low energy regimes of string
theories. In particular the emphasis is on the general study of exotic
phenomena such as positive acceleration and gravitational bounces. We
generalize the usual Hawking-Penrose cosmological singularity theorems to
higher-dimensional spacetimes and discuss their implications for time-dependent
solutions in supergravity theories. The explicit examples we consider fall in
two categories. First we consider effective lower-dimensional gravitational
theories obtained from compactifications of ten and eleven-dimensional
supergravity. We argue and explain why non-singular solutions (e.g., with
positive acceleration and possibly a bounce) can in principle be obtained.
However we show that their uplift to higher dimensions is always singular as
predicted by the theorems. Secondly we revisit the issue of supergravity
s-branes. Our main result is to propose a generic mechanism by which the usual
singularities can be resolved.


  Machine learning is driving development across many fields in science and
engineering. A simple and efficient programming language could accelerate
applications of machine learning in various fields. Currently, the programming
languages most commonly used to develop machine learning algorithms include
Python, MATLAB, and C/C ++. However, none of these languages well balance both
efficiency and simplicity. The Julia language is a fast, easy-to-use, and
open-source programming language that was originally designed for
high-performance computing, which can well balance the efficiency and
simplicity. This paper summarizes the related research work and developments in
the application of the Julia language in machine learning. It first surveys the
popular machine learning algorithms that are developed in the Julia language.
Then, it investigates applications of the machine learning algorithms
implemented with the Julia language. Finally, it discusses the open issues and
the potential future directions that arise in the use of the Julia language in
machine learning.


  In this paper we study triharmonic hypersurfaces immersed in a space form
$N^{n+1}(c)$. We prove that any proper CMC triharmonic hypersurface in the
sphere $\mathbb S^{n+1}$ has constant scalar curvature; any CMC triharmonic
hypersurface in the hyperbolic space $\mathbb H^{n+1}$ is minimal. Moreover, we
show that any CMC triharmonic hypersurface in the Euclidean space $\mathbb
R^{n+1}$ is minimal provided that the multiplicity of the principal curvature
zero is at most one. In particular, we are able to prove that every CMC
triharmonic hypersurface in the Euclidean space $\mathbb R^{6}$ is
minimal.These results extend some recent works due to Montaldo-Oniciuc-Ratto
and Chen-Guan, and give affirmative answer to the generalized Chen's
conjecture.


  We develop a simulator for quantum computers composed of superconducting
transmon qubits. The simulation model supports an arbitrary number of transmons
and resonators. Quantum gates are implemented by time-dependent pulses.
Nontrivial effects such as crosstalk, leakage to non-computational states,
entanglement between transmons and resonators, and control errors due to the
pulses are inherently included. The time evolution of the quantum computer is
obtained by solving the time-dependent Schr\"odinger equation. The simulation
algorithm shows excellent scalability on high-performance supercomputers. We
present results for the simulation of up to 16 transmons and resonators.
Additionally, the model can be used to simulate environments, and we
demonstrate the transition from an isolated system to an open quantum system
governed by a Lindblad master equation. We also describe a procedure to extract
model parameters from electromagnetic simulations or experiments. We compare
simulation results to experiments on several NISQ processors of the IBM Q
Experience. We find nearly perfect agreement between simulation and experiment
for quantum circuits designed to probe crosstalk in transmon systems. By
studying common gate metrics such as the fidelity or the diamond distance, we
find that they cannot reliably predict the performance of repeated gate
applications or practical quantum algorithms. As an alternative, we find that
the results from two-transmon gate set tomography have an exceptional
predictive power. Finally, we test a protocol from the theory of quantum error
correction and fault tolerance. We find that the protocol systematically
improves the performance of transmon quantum computers in the presence of
characteristic control and measurement errors.


  Robotic pick-and-place has been researched for a long time to cope with
uncertainty of novel objects and changeable environments. Past works mainly
focus on learning-based methods to achieve high precision. However, they have
difficulty being generalized for the limitation of specified training models.
To break through this drawback of learning-based approaches, we introduce a new
perspective of similarity matching between novel objects and a known database
based on category-association to achieve pick-and-place tasks with high
accuracy and stabilization. We calculate the category name similarity using
word embedding to quantify the semantic similarity between the categories of
known models and the target real-world objects. With a similar model identified
by a similarity prediction function, we preplan a series of robust grasps and
imitate them to plan new grasps on the real-world target object. We also
propose a distance-based method to infer the in-hand posture of objects and
adjust small rotations to achieve stable placements under uncertainty. Through
a real-world robotic pick-and-place experiment with a dozen of in-category and
out-of-category novel objects, our method achieved an average success rate of
90.6% and 75.9% respectively, validating the capacity of generalization to
diverse objects.


  We study a tractable opinion dynamics model that generates long-run
disagreements and persistent opinion fluctuations. Our model involves an
inhomogeneous stochastic gossip process of continuous opinion dynamics in a
society consisting of two types of agents: regular agents, who update their
beliefs according to information that they receive from their social neighbors;
and stubborn agents, who never update their opinions. When the society contains
stubborn agents with different opinions, the belief dynamics never lead to a
consensus (among the regular agents). Instead, beliefs in the society fail to
converge almost surely, the belief profile keeps on fluctuating in an ergodic
fashion, and it converges in law to a non-degenerate random vector. The
structure of the network and the location of the stubborn agents within it
shape the opinion dynamics. The expected belief vector evolves according to an
ordinary differential equation coinciding with the Kolmogorov backward equation
of a continuous-time Markov chain with absorbing states corresponding to the
stubborn agents and converges to a harmonic vector, with every regular agent's
value being the weighted average of its neighbors' values, and boundary
conditions corresponding to the stubborn agents'. Expected cross-products of
the agents' beliefs allow for a similar characterization in terms of coupled
Markov chains on the network. We prove that, in large-scale societies which are
highly fluid, meaning that the product of the mixing time of the Markov chain
on the graph describing the social network and the relative size of the
linkages to stubborn agents vanishes as the population size grows large, a
condition of \emph{homogeneous influence} emerges, whereby the stationary
beliefs' marginal distributions of most of the regular agents have
approximately equal first and second moments.


  We introduce a generalized approach to characterize the non-Markovianity of
quantum dynamical maps via breakdown of monotonicity of thermodynamic
functions. By adopting an entropy-based formulation of quantum thermodynamics,
we use the relationship between heat and entropy to propose a measure of
non-Markovianity based on the heat flow for single-qubit quantum evolutions.
This measure can be applied for unital dynamical maps that do not invert the
sign of the internal energy. Under certain conditions, it can also be extended
for other thermodynamic functions, such as internal energy and work flows. In
this context, a natural connection between heat and quantum coherence can be
identified for dynamical maps that are both unital and incoherent. As
applications, we explore dissipative and non-dissipative quantum dynamical
processes, illustrating the compatibility between our thermodynamic quantifiers
and the well-establish measure defined via quantum coherence.


  Noisy computation and reversible computation have been studied separately,
and it is known that they are as powerful as unrestricted computation. We study
the case where both noise and reversibility are combined and show that the
combined model is weaker than unrestricted computation. In our noisy reversible
circuits, each wire is flipped with probability p each time step, and all the
inputs to the circuit are present in time 0. We prove that any noisy reversible
circuit must have size exponential in its depth in order to compute a function
with high probability. This is tight as we show that any circuit can be
converted into a noise-resistant reversible one with a blow up in size which is
exponential in the depth. This establishes that noisy reversible computation
has the power of the complexity class NC^1.
  We extend this to quantum circuits(QC). We prove that any noisy QC which is
not worthless, and for which all inputs are present at time 0, must have size
exponential in its depth. (This high-lights the fact that fault tolerant QC
must use a constant supply of inputs all the time.) For the lower bound, we
show that quasi-polynomial noisy QC are at least powerful as logarithmic depth
QC, (or QNC^1). Making these bounds tight is left open in the quantum case.


  We revisit the evolution of generalised parton distributions (GPDs) in
momentum space. We formulate the evolution kernels at one-loop in perturbative
QCD (pQCD) in a form suitable for numerical implementation and that allows for
an accurate study of their properties. This leads to the first open-source
implementation of GPD evolution equations able to cover the entire kinematic
region and allowing for heavy-quark-threshold crossings. The numerical
implementation of the GPD evolution equations is publicly accessible through
the APFEL++ evolution library and is available within the PARTONS framework.
  Our formulation makes use of the operator definition of GPDs in light-cone
gauge renormalised in the $\overline{\mbox{MS}}$ scheme. For the sake of
clarity, we recompute the evolution kernels at one-loop in pQCD, confirming
previous calculations. We obtain general conditions on the evolution kernels
deriving from the GPD sum rules and show that our formulation obeys these
conditions. We analytically show that our calculation reproduces the DGLAP and
the ERBL equations in the appropriate limits and that it guarantees the
continuity of GPDs. We numerically check that the evolved GPDs fulfil DGLAP and
ERBL limits, continuity, and polynomiality. We benchmark our numerical
implementation against analytical evolution in conformal space. Finally, we
perform a numerical comparison to an existing implementation of GPD evolution
finding a general good agreement on the kinematic region accessible to the
latter.
  This work provides a pedagogical description of GPD evolution equations which
benefits from a renewed interest as future colliders, such as the electron-ion
colliders in the US and in China, are being designed. It also paves the way to
the extension of GPD evolution codes to higher accuracies in pQCD desirable for
precision phenomenology at these facilities.


  We theoretically consider temperature and density-dependent electron-phonon
interaction induced many-body effects in the two-dimensional (2D) metallic
carriers confined on the surface of the 3D topological insulator (e.g.
Bi$_2$Se$_3$). We calculate the temperature and the carrier density dependence
of the real and imaginary parts of the electronic self-energy, the interacting
spectral function, and the phonon-induced velocity renormalization, enabling us
to obtain a simple density and temperature dependent effective dimensionless
electron-phonon coupling constant parameter, which increases (decreases)
strongly with increasing density (temperature). Our theoretical results can be
directly and quantitatively compared with experimental ARPES or STS studies of
the 2D spectral function of topological insulator surface carriers. In
particular, we predict the possible existence of surface superconductivity in
Bi$_2$Se$_3$ induced by strong electron-phonon interaction.


  The PVLAS signal has renewed the interest in light bosons coupled to the
electromagnetic field. However, astrophysical bounds coming from the lifetime
of the sun and the CAST experiment are seemingly in conflict with this result.
We discuss effective models that allow to suppress production of axion-like
particles in the sun and thereby relax the bounds by some orders of magnitude.
This stresses the importance of laboratory searches.


  We study a model of power-law inflationary inflation using the
Space-Time-Matter (STM) theory of gravity for a five dimensional (5D) canonical
metric that describes an apparent vacuum. In this approach the expansion is
governed by a single scalar (neutral) quantum field. In particular, we study
the case where the power of expansion of the universe is $p \gg 1$. This kind
of model is more successful than others in accounting for galaxy formation.


  Graph clustering is widely used in analysis of biological networks, social
networks and etc. For over a decade many graph clustering algorithms have been
published, however a comprehensive and consistent performance comparison is not
available. In this paper we benchmarked more than 70 graph clustering programs
to evaluate their runtime and quality performance for both weighted and
unweighted graphs. We also analyzed the characteristics of ground truth that
affects the performance. Our work is capable to not only supply a start point
for engineers to select clustering algorithms but also could provide a
viewpoint for researchers to design new algorithms.


  Poisson noise commonly occurs in images captured by photon-limited imaging
systems such as in astronomy and medicine. As the distribution of Poisson noise
depends on the pixel intensity value, noise levels vary from pixels to pixels.
Hence, denoising a Poisson-corrupted image while preserving important details
can be challenging. In this paper, we propose a Poisson denoising model by
incorporating the weighted anisotropic-isotropic total variation (AITV) as a
regularization. We then develop an alternating direction method of multipliers
with a combination of a proximal operator for an efficient implementation.
Lastly, numerical experiments demonstrate that our algorithm outperforms other
Poisson denoising methods in terms of image quality and computational
efficiency.


  This work is concerned to study the bouncing nature of the universe for an
isotropic configuration of fluid $\mathcal{T}_{\alpha\beta}$ and
Friedmann-Lema\^{i}tre-Robertson-Walker metric scheme. This work is carried out
under the novel $f(\mathcal{G},\mathcal{T}_{\alpha \beta} \mathcal{T}^{\alpha
\beta})$ gravitation by assuming a specific model i.e,
$f(\mathcal{G},\mathcal{T}^2)=\mathcal{G}+\alpha \mathcal{G}^2+2\lambda
\mathcal{T}^2$ with $\alpha$ and $\lambda$ are constants, serving as free
parameters. {The terms $\mathcal{G}$ and $\mathcal{T}^2$ served as an
Gauss-Bonnet invariant and square of the energy-momentum trace term as an
inclusion in the gravitational action respectively, and is proportional to
$\mathcal{T}^2=\mathcal{T}_{\alpha \beta} \mathcal{T}^{\alpha \beta}$.} A
specific functional form of the Hubble parameter is taken to provide the
evolution of cosmographic parameters. A well known equation of state parameter,
$\omega(t)=-\frac{k \log (t+\epsilon )}{t}-1$ is used to represent the
dynamical behavior of energy density, matter pressure and energy conditions. A
detailed graphical analysis is also provided to review the bounce. Furthermore,
all free parameters are set in a way, to make the supposed Hubble parameter act
as the bouncing solution and ensure the viability of energy conditions.
Conclusively, all necessary conditions for a bouncing model are checked.


  We demonstrate that Andreev modes that propagate along a transparent
Josephson junction have a perfect transmission at the point where three
junctions meet. The chirality and the number of quantized transmission channels
is determined by the topology of the Fermi surface and the vorticity of the
superconducting phase differences at the trijunction. We explain this chiral
adiabatic transmission (CAT) as a consequence of the adiabatic evolution of the
scattering modes both in momentum and real space. We identify an effective
energy barrier that guarantees quantized transmission. We expect that CAT is
observable in nonlocal conductance and thermal transport measurements.
Furthermore, because it does not rely on particle-hole symmetry, CAT is also
possible to observe directly in metamaterials.


  A number of topics involving metrics and measures are discussed, including
some of the special structure associated with ultrametrics.


  For many diseases it is reasonable to assume that the hazard rate is not
constant across time, but also that it changes in different time intervals. To
capture this, we work here with a piecewise survival model. One of the major
problems in such piecewise models is to determine the time points of change of
the hazard rate. From the practical point of view this can provide very
important information as it may reflect changes in the progress of a disease.
We present piecewise Weibull regression models with covariates. The time points
where change occurs are assumed unknown and need to be estimated. The equality
of hazard rates across the distinct phases is also examined to verify the exact
number of phases. An example based on herpes zoster data has been used to
demonstrate the usefulness of the developed methodology.


  The J-region Asymptotic Giant Branch (JAGB) method is a standard candle that
leverages the constant luminosities of color-selected, carbon-rich AGB stars,
measured in the near infrared at 1.2 microns. The Chicago-Carnegie Hubble
Program (CCHP) has obtained JWST imaging of the SN Ia host galaxies NGC 7250,
NGC 4536, and NGC 3972. With these observations, the JAGB method can be studied
for the first time using JWST. Lee et al. 2022 [arXiv:2205.11323] demonstrated
the JAGB magnitude is optimally measured in the outer disks of galaxies,
because in the inner regions the JAGB magnitude can vary significantly due to a
confluence of reddening, blending, and crowding effects. However, determining
where the 'outer disk' lies can be subjective. Therefore, we introduce a novel
method for systematically selecting the outer disk. In a given galaxy, the JAGB
magnitude is first separately measured in concentric regions, and the 'outer
disk' is then defined as the first radial bin where the JAGB magnitude
stabilizes to a few hundredths of a magnitude. After successfully employing
this method in our JWST galaxy sample, we find the JAGB stars are
well-segregated from other stellar populations in color-magnitude space, and
have observed dispersions about their individual F115W modes of
$\sigma_{N7250}=0.32$ mag, $\sigma_{N4536}=0.34$ mag, and $\sigma_{N3972}=0.35$
mag. These measured dispersions are similar to the scatter measured for the
JAGB stars in the LMC using 2MASS data ($\sigma=0.33$ mag, Weinberg & Nikolaev
2001 [arXiv:astro-ph/0003204 ). In conclusion, the JAGB stars as observed with
JWST clearly demonstrate their considerable power both as high-precision
extragalactic distance indicators and as SN Ia supernova calibrators.


  Differentially private training algorithms like DP-SGD protect sensitive
training data by ensuring that trained models do not reveal private
information. An alternative approach, which this paper studies, is to use a
sensitive dataset to generate synthetic data that is differentially private
with respect to the original data, and then non-privately training a model on
the synthetic data. Doing so has several advantages: synthetic data can be
reused for other tasks (including for hyper parameter tuning), retained
indefinitely, and shared with third parties without sacrificing privacy.
However, generating private synthetic data is much harder than training a
private model. To improve performance on text data, recent work has utilized
public data by starting with a pre-trained generative language model and
privately fine-tuning it on sensitive data. This model can be used to sample a
DP synthetic dataset. While this strategy seems straightforward, executing it
has proven problematic. Previous approaches either show significant performance
loss, or have, as we show, critical design flaws. In this paper we demonstrate
that a proper training objective along with tuning fewer parameters results in
excellent DP synthetic data quality. Our approach is competitive with direct
DP-training of downstream classifiers in terms of performance on downstream
tasks. Further, we demonstrate that our DP synthetic data is not only useful
for downstream classifier training, but also to tune those same models.


  Near-infrared color-excess and extinction ratios are essential for
establishing the cosmic distance scale and probing the Galaxy, particularly
when analyzing targets attenuated by significant dust. A robust determination
of those ratios followed from leveraging new infrared observations from the VVV
survey, wherein numerous bulge RR Lyrae and Type II Cepheids were discovered,
in addition to $BVJHK_{s}(3.4\rightarrow22)\mu m$ data for classical Cepheids
and O-stars occupying the broader Galaxy. The apparent optical color-excess
ratios vary significantly with Galactic longitude ($\ell$), whereas the
near-infrared results are comparatively constant with $\ell$ and Galactocentric
distance ($\langle E(J-\overline{3.5\mu m})/E(J-K_s) \rangle =1.28\pm0.03$).
The results derived imply that classical Cepheids and O-stars display separate
optical trends ($R_{V,BV}$) with $\ell$, which appear to disfavor theories
advocating a strict and marked decrease in dust size with increasing
Galactocentric distance. The classical Cepheid, Type II Cepheid, and RR Lyrae
variables are characterized by $\langle A_{J}/E(J-K_s) \rangle = \langle
R_{J,JK_s} \rangle =1.49\pm0.05$ ($\langle A_{K_s}/A_J \rangle =0.33\pm0.02$),
whereas the O-stars are expectedly impacted by emission beyond $3.6 \mu m$. The
mean optical ratios characterizing classical Cepheids and O-stars are
approximately $\langle R_{V,BV} \rangle \sim3.1$ and $\langle R_{V,BV} \rangle
\sim3.3$, respectively.


  Network localization is capable of providing accurate and ubiquitous position
information for numerous wireless applications. This paper studies the accuracy
of cooperative network localization in large-scale wireless networks. Based on
a decomposition of the equivalent Fisher information matrix (EFIM), we develop
a random-walk-inspired approach for the analysis of EFIM, and propose a
position information routing interpretation of cooperative network
localization. Using this approach, we show that in large lattice and stochastic
geometric networks, when anchors are uniformly distributed, the average
localization error of agents grows logarithmically with the reciprocal of
anchor density in an asymptotic regime. The results are further illustrated
using numerical examples.


  An Euclidean bounce describing vacuum decay can be considered as an infinite
stack of concentric thin shells to which a thin-wall action can be assigned.
The integral over all shells produces then a tunneling action that is precisely
the action functional in field space of the so-called tunneling potential
formalism. This procedure, which works also when gravity is included, gives the
simplest derivation of such actions.


  Subsystem symmetries are intermediate between global and gauge symmetries.
One can treat these symmetries either like global symmetries that act on
subregions of a system, or gauge symmetries that act on the regions transverse
to the regions acted upon by the symmetry. We show that this latter
interpretation can lead to an understanding of global, topology-dependent
features in systems with subsystem symmetries. We demonstrate this with an
exactly-solvable lattice model constructed from a 2D system of bosons coupled
to a vector field with a 1D subsystem symmetry. The model is shown to host a
robust ground state degeneracy that depends on the spatial topology of the
underlying manifold, and localized zero energy modes on corners of the system.
A continuum field theory description of these phenomena is derived in terms of
an anisotropic, modified version of the Abelian K-matrix Chern-Simons field
theory. We show that this continuum description can lead to geometric-type
effects such as corner states and edge states whose character depends on the
orientation of the edge.


  We consider the problem of timely exchange of updates between a central
station and a set of ground terminals $V$, via a mobile agent that traverses
across the ground terminals along a mobility graph $G = (V, E)$. We design the
trajectory of the mobile agent to minimize peak and average age of information
(AoI), two newly proposed metrics for measuring timeliness of information. We
consider randomized trajectories, in which the mobile agent travels from
terminal $i$ to terminal $j$ with probability $P_{i,j}$. For the information
gathering problem, we show that a randomized trajectory is peak age optimal and
factor-$8\mathcal{H}$ average age optimal, where $\mathcal{H}$ is the mixing
time of the randomized trajectory on the mobility graph $G$. We also show that
the average age minimization problem is NP-hard. For the information
dissemination problem, we prove that the same randomized trajectory is
factor-$O(\mathcal{H})$ peak and average age optimal. Moreover, we propose an
age-based trajectory, which utilizes information about current age at
terminals, and show that it is factor-$2$ average age optimal in a symmetric
setting.


  For the most general off-shell N = 2 supersymmetric sigma model in projective
superspace, we elaborate on its formulation in terms of N = 1 chiral
superfields. A universal (model-independent) expression is obtained for the
holomorphic symplectic two-form, which determines the second supersymmetry
transformation. This two-form is associated with the two complex structures of
the hyperkahler target space, which are complimentary to the one used to
realize the target space as a Kahler manifold.


  We report a complete implementation of the coupled-cluster method with
single, double, and triple excitations (CCSDT) where tensor decompositions are
used to reduce its scaling and overall computational costs. For the
decomposition of the electron repulsion integrals the standard density fitting
(or Cholesky decomposition) format is used. The coupled-cluster single and
double amplitudes are treated conventionally, and for the triple amplitudes
tensor we employ the Tucker-3 compression formula, $t_{ijk}^{abc} \approx
t_{XYZ} \,U^X_{ai}\,U^Y_{bj} \,U^Z_{ck}$. The auxiliary quantities $U^X_{ai}$
come from singular value decomposition (SVD) of an approximate triple
amplitudes tensor based on perturbation theory. The efficiency of the proposed
method relies on an observation that the dimension of the "compressed" tensor
$t_{XYZ}$ sufficient to deliver a constant relative accuracy of the correlation
energy grows only linearly with the size of the system, $N$. This fact,
combined with proper factorization of the coupled-cluster equations, leads to
practically $N^6$ scaling of the computational costs of the proposed method, as
illustrated numerically for linear alkanes with increasing chain length. This
constitutes a considerable improvement over the $N^8$ scaling of the
conventional (uncompressed) CCSDT theory. The accuracy of the proposed method
is verified by benchmark calculations of total and relative energies for
several small molecular systems and comparison with the exact CCSDT method. The
accuracy levels of 1 kJ/mol are easily achievable with reasonable SVD subspace
size, and even more demanding levels of accuracy can be reached with a
considerable reduction of the computational costs. Extensions of the proposed
method to include higher excitations are briefly discussed, along with possible
strategies of reducing other residual errors.


  We evaluate the cross sections for charmed hadron production from
proton-proton reactions $pp\to\bar D^0p\Lambda_c^+$ and $pp\to\bar
D^{*0}p\Lambda_c^+$ using a hadronic Lagrangian. With empirical coupling
constants and cutoff parameters in the form factors, sum of their cross
sections at center-of-mass energy of 11.5 GeV is about 1 $\mu$b and is
comparable to measured inclusive cross section for charmed hadron production
from proton-proton reactions. The cross section decreases to about 1 nb at 40
MeV above threshold.


  Numerably contractible spaces play an important role in the theory of
homotopy pushouts and pullbacks. The corresponding results imply that a number
of well known weak homotopy equivalences are genuine ones if numerably
contractible spaces are involved. In this paper we give a first systematic
investigation of numerably contractible spaces. We list the elementary
properties of the category of these spaces. We then study simplicial objects in
this category. In particular, we show that the topological realization functor
preserves fibration sequences if the base is path-connected and numerably
contractible in each dimension. Consequently, the loop space functor commutes
with realization up to homotopy. We give simple conditions which assure that
free algebras over a topological operad are numerably contractible.


  Compact connected abelian groups, or protori, have intrinsic structural
characteristics that present for the entire category. In the case of
finite-dimensional torus-free protori, The Resolution Theorem for Compact
Abelian Groups sets the stage for demonstrating that the profinite subgroups
inducing tori quotients comprise an isogeny class of finitely generated modules
over the profinite integers, which is a lattice under intersection (meet) and +
(join). The structural results enable the formulation of a universal resolution
in the category of protori under morphisms of compact abelian groups. A single
profinite subgroup from the lattice in the Resolution Theorem is replaced by
the direct limit of the lattice of such subgroups and effects a covering
morphism in which the discrete torsion-free Pontryagin dual of the protorus
organically emerges as the kernel of the quotient map resolving the protorus.
Among other advantages, this enables the study of a finite rank torsion-free
abelian group as a canonical subgroup of its dual protorus, with the
concomitant topological, analytical, and number-theoretic insights availed by
the compact abelian setting.


  We investigate the problem of synthesizing T-depth optimal quantum circuits
over the Clifford+T gate set. First we construct a special subset of T-depth 1
unitaries, such that it is possible to express the T-depth-optimal
decomposition of any unitary as product of unitaries from this subset and a
Clifford (up to global phase). The cardinality of this subset is at most
$n\cdot 2^{5.6n}$. We use nested meet-in-the-middle (MITM) technique to develop
algorithms for synthesizing provably \emph{depth-optimal} and
\emph{T-depth-optimal} circuits for exactly implementable unitaries.
Specifically, for synthesizing T-depth-optimal circuits, we get an algorithm
with space and time complexity $O\left(\left(4^{n^2}\right)^{\lceil
d/c\rceil}\right)$ and $O\left(\left(4^{n^2}\right)^{(c-1)\lceil
d/c\rceil}\right)$ respectively, where $d$ is the minimum T-depth and $c\geq 2$
is a constant. This is much better than the complexity of the algorithm by Amy
et al.(2013), the previous best with a complexity $O\left(\left(3^n\cdot
2^{kn^2}\right)^{\lceil \frac{d}{2}\rceil}\cdot 2^{kn^2}\right)$, where $k>2.5$
is a constant. We design an even more efficient algorithm for synthesizing
T-depth-optimal circuits. The claimed efficiency and optimality depends on some
conjectures, which have been inspired from the work of Mosca and Mukhopadhyay
(2020). To the best of our knowledge, the conjectures are not related to the
previous work. Our algorithm has space and time complexity $poly(n,2^{5.6n},d)$
(or $poly(n^{\log n},2^{5.6n},d)$ under some weaker assumptions).


  Quantum random number generators (QRNGs) promise perfectly unpredictable
random numbers. However, the security certification of the random numbers in
form of a stochastic model often introduces assumptions that are either hardly
justified or indeed unnecessary. Two important examples are the restriction of
an adversary to the classical regime as well as negligible correlations between
consecutive measurement outcomes. Additionally, non-rigorous system
characterization opens a security loophole. In this work we experimentally
realize a QRNG that does not rely on the aforementioned assumptions and whose
stochastic model is established by a rigorous -- metrological -- approach.
Based on quadrature measurements of vacuum fluctuations, we demonstrate a
real-time random number generation rate of 8 \,GBit/s. Our security
certification approach offers a number of practical benefits and will therefore
find widespread applications in quantum random number generators. In
particular, our generated random numbers are well suited for today's
conventional and quantum cryptographic solutions.


  In this paper, we give an open book decomposition for the contact structures
on some Brieskorn manifolds, in particular for the contact structures of
Ustilovsky. The decomposition uses right-handed Dehn twists as conjectured by
Giroux.


  We extend a linear version of the liquidity risk model of Cetin et al. (2004)
to allow for price impacts. We show that the impact of a market order on prices
depends on the size of the transaction and the level of liquidity. We obtain a
simple characterization of self-financing trading strategies and a sufficient
condition for no arbitrage. We consider a stochastic volatility model in which
the volatility is partly correlated with the liquidity process and show that,
with the use of variance swaps, contingent claims whose payoffs depend on the
value of the asset can be approximately replicated in this setting. The
replicating costs of such payoffs are obtained from the solutions of BSDEs with
quadratic growth and analytical properties of these solutions are investigated.


  In [SZ], Soprunov and Zvavitch have translated the Bezout inequalities (from
Algebraic Geometry) into inequalities of mixed volumes satisfied by the
simplex. They conjecture this set of inequalities characterizes the simplex,
among all convex bodies in R^n. Together with Saroglou, they proved the
characterization among all polytopes [SSZ1] and, for a larger set of
inequalities, among all convex bodies [SSZ2]. The conjecture remains open for n
\geq 4. In this work, we investigate necessary conditions on the structure of
the boundary of a convex body K, for K to satisfy all inequalities. In
particular, we obtain a new solution of the 3-dimensional case.


  We derive a realistic microscopic model for doped colossal magnetoresistance
manganites, which includes the dynamics of charge, spin, orbital and lattice
degrees of freedom on a quantum mechanical level. The model respects the SU(2)
spin symmetry and the full multiplet structure of the manganese ions within the
cubic lattice. Concentrating on the hole doped domain ($0\le x\le 0.5$) we
study the influence of the electron-lattice interaction on spin and orbital
correlations by means of exact diagonalisation techniques. We find that the
lattice can cause a considerable suppression of the coupling between spin and
orbital degrees of freedom and show how changes in the magnetic correlations
are reflected in dynamic phonon correlations. In addition, our calculation
gives detailed insights into orbital correlations and demonstrates the
possibility of complex orbital states.


  Going back to the early days in the history of quantum mechanics, the
interaction of quantum and classical systems stands among the most intriguing
open questions in science and makes its appearance in several fields, from
physics to chemistry. Recently, a new perspective on this problem was unfolded
by an unprecedented combination of symplectic geometry and Koopman's
formulation of classical mechanics.


  We investigate the decoupling properties of the Higgs-sector-induced one-loop
corrections in the lightest Higgs-boson self-couplings, in the framework of the
Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM). The renormalized n-point vertex
functions with external Higgs particles in the MSSM and in the SM are derived
to the one-loop level and compared in the MA >> MZ limit. The computation has
been done in a general R_{xi} gauge and the on-shell renormalization scheme is
chosen. By a comparison of the renormalized lightest Higgs-boson h^0 vertex
functions with respect to the corresponding SM ones, we find that the
differences between the predictions of both models are summarized in the
lightest Higgs-boson mass correction Delta Mh. Consequently, the radiative
corrections are absorbed in the Higgs-boson mass, and the trilinear and quartic
h^0 self-couplings acquire the same structure as the couplings of the SM
Higgs-boson. Therefore, decoupling of the heavy MSSM Higgs bosons occurs and
the MSSM h^0 self-interactions converge to the SM ones in the MA >> MZ limit.


  Periodically driven quantum systems can be used to realize quantum pumps,
ratchets, artificial gauge fields and novel topological states of matter.
Starting from the Keldysh approach, we develop a formalism, the
Floquet-Boltzmann equation, to describe the dynamics and the scattering of
quasiparticles in such systems. The theory builds on a separation of
time-scales. Rapid, periodic oscillations occurring on a time scale $T_0=2
\pi/\Omega$, are treated using the Floquet formalism and quasiparticles are
defined as eigenstates of a non-interacting Floquet Hamiltonian. The dynamics
on much longer time scales, however, is modelled by a Boltzmann equation which
describes the semiclassical dynamics of the Floquet-quasiparticles and their
scattering processes. As the energy is conserved only modulo $\hbar \Omega$,
the interacting system heats up in the long-time limit. As a first application
of this approach, we compute the heating rate for a cold-atom system, where a
periodical shaking of the lattice was used to realize the Haldane model.


  We present an on-line database of computed molecular properties for a large
sample of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in four charge states: -1, 0,
+1, and +2. At present our database includes 40 molecules ranging in size from
naphthalene and azulene (C10H8) up to circumovalene (C66H20). We performed our
calculations in the framework of the density functional theory (DFT) and the
time-dependent DFT to obtain the most relevant molecular parameters needed for
astrophysical applications. For each molecule in the sample, our database
presents in a uniform way the energetic, rotational, vibrational, and
electronic properties. It is freely accessible on the web at
http://astrochemistry.ca.astro.it/database/ and
http://www.cesr.fr/~joblin/database/.


  The 248nm and 193nm photodissociation of submonolayer quantities of CH$_3$Br
and CH$_3$I adsorbed on thin layers of n-hexane indicate that the dissociation
is caused by dissociative electron attachment from sub-vacuum level
photoelectrons created in the copper substrate. The characteristics of this
photodissociation-- translation energy distributions and coverage dependences
show that the dissociation is mediated by an image potential state which
temporarily traps the photoelectrons near the n-hexane--vacuum interface, and
then the charge transfers from this image state to the affinity level of a
co-adsorbed halomethane which then dissociates.


  One of the main virtues of string gas cosmology is that it resolves
cosmological singularities. Since the Universe can be approximated by a locally
asymptotically de Sitter spacetime by the end of the inflationary era, a
singularity theorem implies that these cosmologies effectively violate the Null
Energy Condition [not just the Strong Energy Condition]. We stress that this is
an extremely robust result, which does not depend on assuming that the spatial
sections remain precisely flat in the early Universe. This means, however, that
it must be possible for string cosmologies to cross the recently much-discussed
"phantom divide" [from w < -1 to w > -1, where w is the equation-of-state
parameter]. This naturally raises the question as to whether the phantom divide
can be crossed again, to account for recent observations suggesting that w < -1
at the present time. We argue that non-perturbative string effects rule out
this possibility, even if the NEC violation in question is only "effective".


  This paper explores the rising concern of utilizing Large Language Models
(LLMs) in spear phishing message generation, and their performance compared to
human-authored counterparts. Our pilot study compares the effectiveness of
smishing (SMS phishing) messages created by GPT-4 and human authors, which have
been personalized to willing targets. The targets assessed the messages in a
modified ranked-order experiment using a novel methodology we call TRAPD
(Threshold Ranking Approach for Personalized Deception). Specifically, targets
provide personal information (job title and location, hobby, item purchased
online), spear smishing messages are created using this information by humans
and GPT-4, targets are invited back to rank-order 12 messages from most to
least convincing (and identify which they would click on), and then asked
questions about why they ranked messages the way they did. They also guess
which messages are created by an LLM and their reasoning. Results from 25
targets show that LLM-generated messages are most often perceived as more
convincing than those authored by humans, with messages related to jobs being
the most convincing. We characterize different criteria used when assessing the
authenticity of messages including word choice, style, and personal relevance.
Results also show that targets were unable to identify whether the messages was
AI-generated or human-authored and struggled to identify criteria to use in
order to make this distinction. This study aims to highlight the urgent need
for further research and improved countermeasures against personalized
AI-enabled social engineering attacks.


  Studies of shocks have long suggested that a shock can undergo cyclically
self-reformation in a time scale of ion cyclotron period. This process has been
proposed as a primary mechanism for energy dissipation and energetic particle
acceleration at shocks. Unambiguous observational evidence, however, has
remained elusive. Here, we report direct observations for the self-reformation
process of a collisionless, high Mach number, quasi-perpendicular shock using
MMS measurements. We find that reflected ions by the old shock ramp form a
clear phase-space vortex, which gives rise to a new ramp. The new ramp observed
by MMS2 has not yet developed to a mature stage during the self-reformation,
and is not strong enough to reflect incident ions. Consequently, these ions are
only slightly slowed down and show a flat velocity profile from the new ramp
all the way to the old one. The present results provide direct evidence for
shock self-reformation, and also shed light on energy dissipation and energetic
particle acceleration at collisionless shocks throughout the universe.


  Using the frame formalism we determine some possible metrics and
metric-compatible connections on the noncommutative differential geometry of
the real quantum plane. By definition a metric maps the tensor product of two
1-forms into a `function' on the quantum plane. It is symmetric in a modified
sense, namely in the definition of symmetry one has to replace the permutator
map with a deformed map \sigma fulfilling some suitable conditions.
Correspondingly, also the definition of the hermitean conjugate of the tensor
product of two 1-forms is modified (but reduces to the standard one if \sigma
coincides with the permutator). The metric is real with respect to such
modified *-structure.


  Let $V$ be a vertex algebra and $M$ a $V$-module. We define the first and
second cohomology of $V$ with coefficients in $M$, and we show that the second
cohomology $H^{2}(V, M)$ corresponds bijectively to the set of equivalence
classes of square-zero extensions of $V$ by $M$. In the case that $M=V$, we
show that the second cohomology $H^{2}(V, V)$ corresponds bijectively to the
set of equivalence classes of first order deformations of $V$.


  Various alleged indirect dark matter search signals, such as the 511 keV line
from galaxy center or the PAMELA/AMS02 signal, are often challenged by the
absence of corresponding signal from dwarf galaxies and/or from the absence of
an impact on CMB through delayed recombination. We propose a novel scenario
that can avoid these bounds based on the decay of dark matter, X, to a pair of
intermediate particles C and \bar{C} with a lifetime much greater than the age
of universe. The annihilation of these intermediate particles eventually leads
to a dark matter signal. The bounds from CMB can be easily avoided by the fact
that at the time of recombination, not enough C particles had been accumulated.
In order to keep C particles from leaving the galaxy, we assume the particles
have a small electric charge so in the galactic disk, the magnetic field keeps
the C particles in the vicinity of their production. However, they can escape
the dwarf galaxies and the dark matter halo where the magnetic field is weak,
leading to null signal from these regions. The small charge can have
interesting consequences including a signal in direct dark matter searches.


  Quasiperiodic systems are neither randomly disordered nor translationally
invariant in the absence of periodic length scales. Based on their
incommensurate order, novel physical properties such as critical states and
self-similar wavefunctions have been actively discussed. However, in open
systems generally described by the non-Hermitian Hamiltonians, it is hardly
known how such quasiperiodic order would lead to new phenomena. In this work,
we show for the first time that the intertwined quasiperiodicity and
non-Hermiticity can give rise to striking effects: perfect delocalization of
the critical and localized states to the extended states. In particular, we
explore the wave function localization character in the Aubry-Andre-Fibonacci
(AAF) model where non-reciprocal hopping phases are present. Here, the AAF
model continuously interpolates the two different limit between metal to
insulator transition and critical states, and the nonHermiticity is encoded in
the hopping phase factors. Surprisingly, their interplay results in the perfect
delocalization of the states, which is never allowed in quasiperiodic systems
with Hermiticity. By quantifying the localization via inverse participation
ratio and the fractal dimension, we discuss that the non-Hermitian hopping
phase leads to delicate control of localization characteristics of the wave
function. Our work offers (1) emergent delocalization transition in
quasiperiodic systems via non-Hermitian hopping phase, (2) detailed
localization control of the critical states, In addition, we suggest an
experimental realization of controllable localized, critical and delocalized
states, using photonic crystals.


  Schr\"{o}dinger equation in Lobachevsky and Riemann 4-spaces has been solved
in the presence of external magnetic field that is an analog of a uniform
magnetic field in the flat space. Generalized Landau levels have been found,
modified by the presence of the space curvature. In Lobachevsky4-model the
energy spectrum contains discrete and continuous parts, the number of bound
states is finite; in Riemann 4-model all energy spectrum is discrete.
Generalized Landau levels are determined by three parameters, the magnitude of
the magnetic field $B$, the curvature radius $\rho$ and the magnetic quantum
number $m$. It has been shown that in presence of an additional external
electric field the energy spectrum in the Riemann model can be also obtained
analytically.


  Inelastic neutron scattering is used to probe the collective spin excitations
of the near optimally-doped superconductor Ba(Fe1-xCox)2As2 ($x$=0.065).
Previous measurements on the antiferromagnetically ordered parents of this
material show a strongly anisotropic spin-wave velocity. Here we measure the
magnetic excitations up to 80 meV and show that a similar anisotropy persists
for superconducting compositions. The dispersive mode measured here connects
directly with the spin resonance previously observed in this compound. When
placed on an absolute scale, our measurements show that the local- or
wavevector- integrated susceptibility is larger in magnitude than that of the
ordered parents over the energy range probed.


  We present an optical spectroscopy study on P-doped CaFe$_2$As$_2$ which
experiences a structural phase transition from tetragonal to collapsed
tetragonal (cT) phase near 75 K. The measurement reveals a sudden reduction of
low frequency spectral weight and emergence of a new feature near 3200 \cm (0.4
eV) in optical conductivity across the transition, indicating an abrupt
reconstruction of band structure. The appearance of new feature is related to
the interband transition arising from the sinking of hole bands near $\Gamma$
point below Fermi level in the cT phase, as expected from the density function
theory calculations in combination with the dynamical mean field theory.
However, the reduction of Drude spectral weight is at variance with those
calculations. The measurement also indicates an absence of the abnormal
spectral weight transfer at high energy (near 0.5-0.7 eV) in the cT phase,
suggesting a suppression of electron correlation effect.


  Let $C$ be a semidualizing module. We first investigate the properties of
finitely generated $G_C$-projective modules. Then, relative to $C$, we
introduce and study the rings of Gorenstein (weak) global dimensions at most 1,
which we call $C$-Gorenstein (semi)hereditary rings, and prove that every
$C$-Gorenstein hereditary ring is both coherent and $C$-Gorenstein
semihereditary.


  Thermofield dynamics has proven to be a very useful theory in high-energy
physics, particularly since it permits the treatment of both time- and
temperature-dependence on an equal footing. We here show that it also has an
excellent potential for studying thermal properties of electronic systems in
physics and chemistry. We describe a general framework for constructing finite
temperature correlated wave function methods typical of ground state methods.
We then introduce two distinct approaches to the resulting imaginary time
Schrodinger equation, which we refer to as fixed-reference and covariant
methods. As an example, we derive the two corresponding versions of thermal
configuration interaction theory, and apply them to the Hubbard model, while
comparing with exact benchmark results.


  Accelerator driven system (ADS) subcritical nuclear reactors are under
development around the world. They will be intense sources of free, 30-50 MeV
antimuon decay at rest antimuon neutrinos. These ADS reactor neutrinos can
provide a robust test of the LSND anomaly and a precise measurement of the
leptonic CP-violating phase delta, including sign(cos(delta)). The first phase
of many ADS programs includes the construction of a low energy, high intensity
proton or deuteron accelerator, which can yield competitive bounds on sterile
neutrinos.


  The model which is the generalization of the one-dimensional XY-spin chain
for the case of the two-dimensional square lattice is considered. The subspace
of the ``string'' states is studied. The solution to the eigenvalue problem is
obtained for the single ``string'' in cases of the ``string'' with fixed ends
and ``string'' of types (1,1) and (1,2) living on the torus. The latter case
has the features of a self-interacting system and looks not to be integrable
while the previous two cases are equivalent to the free-fermion model.


  In recent work, the notion of Double Convexity for a foliation of a conical
null hypersurface was introduced to give a proof, if satisfied, of the Null
Penrose Inequality. Double Convexity constrains the geometry of a Marginally
Outer Trapped Surface (MOTS), called a quasi-round MOTS. In the first part of
this paper, for a class of strictly stable Weakly Isolated Horizons, we show
the existence of a unique foliation by quasi-round MOTS. In the second part, we
show that any subsequent space-time perturbation continues to admit a
quasi-round MOTS. Finally, for perturbations of the quasi-round MOTS in
Schwarzschild, we identify sufficient conditions on the asymptotics of any
past-pointing null hypersurface that yields the Null Penrose Inequality.


  When the core hydrogen is exhausted during stellar evolution, the central
region of a star contracts and the outer envelope expands and cools, giving
rise to a red giant, in which convection occupies a large fraction of the star.
Conservation of angular momentum requires that the cores of these stars rotate
faster than their envelopes, and indirect evidence supports this. Information
about the angular momentum distribution is inaccessible to direct observations,
but it can be extracted from the effect of rotation on oscillation modes that
probe the stellar interior. Here, we report the detection of non-rigid rotation
in the interiors of red-giant stars by exploiting the rotational frequency
splitting of recently detected mixed modes. We demonstrate an increasing
rotation rate from the surface of the star to the stellar core. Comparing with
theoretical stellar models, we conclude that the core must rotate at least ten
times faster than the surface. This observational result confirms the
theoretical prediction of a steep gradient in the rotation profile towards the
deep stellar interior.


  Concepts of consistency have long played a key role in constraint programming
but never developed in integer programming (IP). Consistency nonetheless plays
a role in IP as well. For example, cutting planes can reduce backtracking by
achieving various forms of consistency as well as by tightening the linear
programming (LP) relaxation. We introduce a type of consistency that is
particularly suited for 0-1 programming and develop the associated theory. We
define a 0-1 constraint set as LP-consistent when any partial assignment that
is consistent with its linear programming relaxation is consistent with the
original 0-1 constraint set. We prove basic properties of LP-consistency,
including its relationship with Chvatal-Gomory cuts and the integer hull. We
show that a weak form of LP-consistency can reduce or eliminate backtracking in
a way analogous to k-consistency but is easier to achieve. In so doing, we
identify a class of valid inequalities that can be more effective than
traditional cutting planes at cutting off infeasible 0-1 partial assignments.


  Modern systems evolve in unpredictable environments and have to continuously
adapt their behavior to changing conditions. The "DReAM" (Dynamic
Reconfigurable Architecture Modeling) framework, has been designed for modeling
reconfigurable dynamic systems. It provides a rule-based language, inspired
from Interaction Logic, which is expressive and easy to use encompassing all
aspects of dynamicity including parametric multi-modal coordination with
creation/deletion of components as well as mobility. Additionally, it allows
the description of both endogenous/modular and exogenous/centralized
coordination styles and sound transformations from one style to the other. The
DReAM framework is implemented in the form of a Java API bundled with an
execution engine. It allows to develop runnable systems combining the
expressiveness of the rule-based notation together with the flexibility of this
widespread programming language.


  We present a simple method to stabilize the optical path length of an optical
fiber to an accuracy of about 1/100 of the laser wavelength. We study the
dynamic response of the path length to modulation of an electrically conductive
heater layer of the fiber. The path length is measured against the laser
wavelength by use of the Pound-Drever-Hall method; negative feedback is applied
via the heater. We apply the method in the context of a cryogenic resonator
frequency standard.


  We present a general equilibrium macro-finance model with a positive feedback
loop between capital investment and land price. As leverage is relaxed beyond a
critical value, through the financial accelerator, a phase transition occurs
from balanced growth where land prices reflect fundamentals (present value of
rents) to unbalanced growth where land prices grow faster than rents,
generating land price bubbles. Unbalanced growth dynamics and bubbles are
associated with financial loosening and technological progress. In an
analytically tractable two-sector large open economy model with unique
equilibria, financial loosening simultaneously leads to low interest rates,
asset overvaluation, and top-end wealth concentration.


  High-resolution LCDM cosmological N-body simulations are used to study the
properties of galaxy-size dark halos in different environments (cluster, void,
and "field"). Halos in clusters and their surroundings have a median spin
parameter ~1.3 times lower, and tend to be more spherical and to have less
aligned internal angular momentum than halos in voids and the field. For halos
in clusters the concentration parameters decrease on average with mass with a
slope of ~0.1; for halos in voids these concentrations do not change with mass.
For masses <5 10^11 M_sh^-1, halos in clusters are on average ~30-40% more
concentrated and have ~2 times higher central densities than halos in voids.
When comparing only parent halos, the differences are less pronounced but they
are still significant. The Vmax-and Vrms-mass relations are shallower and more
scattered for halos in clusters than in voids, and for a given Vmax or Vrms,
the mass is smaller at z=1 than at z=0 in all the environments. At z=1, the
differences in the halo properties with environment almost dissapear,
suggesting this that the differences were stablished mainly after z~1. The
halos in clusters undergo more dramatic changes than those in the field or the
voids. The differences with environment are owing to (i) the dependence of halo
formation time on environment, and (ii) local effects as tidal stripping and
the tumultuos histories that halos suffer in high-density regions. We calculate
seminumerical models of disk galaxy evolution in halos with the properties
found for the different environments. For a given disk mass, the galaxy disks
have higher surface density, larger Vd,max and secular bulge-to-disk ratio,
lower gas fraction, and are redder as one goes from cluster to void
environments, in rough agreement with observations. (abridged)


  Aeolian-erosion is a destructive process which can erode small-size planetary
objects through their interaction with a gaseous environment. Aeolian-erosion
operates in a wide range of environments and under various conditions.
Aeolian-erosion has been extensively explored in the context of geophysics in
terrestrial planets. Here we show that aeolian-erosion of cobbles, boulders and
small planetesimals in protoplanetary-discs can constitute a significant
barrier for the early stages of planet formation. We use analytic calculations
to show that under the conditions prevailing in protoplanetary-discs small
bodies ($10-10^4 \rm{m}$) are highly susceptible to gas-drag aeolian-erosion.
At this size-range aeolian-erosion can efficiently erode the planetesimals down
to tens-cm size and quench any further growth of such small bodies. It thereby
raises potential difficulties for channels suggested to alleviate the
metre-size barrier. Nevertheless, the population of $\sim$decimetre-size
cobbles resulting from aeolian-erosion might boost the growth of larger (>km
size) planetesimals and planetary embryos through increasing the efficiency of
pebble-accretion, once/if such large planetesimals and planetary embryos exist
in the disc.


  A function $f:R\to R$, where $R$ is a commutative ring with unit element, is
called polyfunction if it admits a polynomial representative $p\in R[x]$. Based
on this notion we introduce ring invariants which associate to $R$ the numbers
$s(R)$ and $s(R';R)$, where $R'$ is the subring generated by $1$. For the ring
$R=\mathbb Z/n\mathbb Z$ the invariant $s(R)$ coincides with the number
theoretic \emph{Smarandache function} $s(n)$. If every function in a ring $R$
is a polyfunction, then $R$ is a finite field according to the R\'edei-Szele
theorem, and it holds that $s(R)=|R|$. However, the condition $s(R)=|R|$ does
not imply that every function $f:R\to R$ is a polyfunction. We classify all
finite commutative rings $R$ with unit element which satisfy $s(R)=|R|$. For
infinite rings $R$, we obtain a bound on the cardinality of the subring $R'$
and for $s(R';R)$ in terms of $s(R)$. In particular we show that $|R'|\leqslant
s(R)!$. We also give two new proofs for the R\'edei-Szele theorem which are
based on our results.


  Counterfactual text generation aims to minimally change a text, such that it
is classified differently. Judging advancements in method development for
counterfactual text generation is hindered by a non-uniform usage of data sets
and metrics in related work. We propose CEval, a benchmark for comparing
counterfactual text generation methods. CEval unifies counterfactual and text
quality metrics, includes common counterfactual datasets with human
annotations, standard baselines (MICE, GDBA, CREST) and the open-source
language model LLAMA-2. Our experiments found no perfect method for generating
counterfactual text. Methods that excel at counterfactual metrics often produce
lower-quality text while LLMs with simple prompts generate high-quality text
but struggle with counterfactual criteria. By making CEval available as an
open-source Python library, we encourage the community to contribute more
methods and maintain consistent evaluation in future work.


  This paper offers an electromagnetic, more specifically array theory,
perspective on understanding strong instrumental polarization effects for
planar low-frequency "aperture arrays" with the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA)
as an example. A long-standing issue that has been seen here is significant
instrumental Stokes leakage after calibration, particularly in Stokes Q at high
frequencies. A simple model that accounts for inter-element mutual coupling is
presented which explains the prominence of Q leakage seen when the array is
scanned away from zenith in the principal planes. On these planes, the model
predicts current imbalance in the X (E-W) and Y (N-S) dipoles and hence the Q
leakage. Although helpful in concept, we find that this model is inadequate to
explain the full details of the observation data. This finding motivates
further experimentation with more rigorous models that account for both mutual
coupling and embedded element patterns. Two more rigorous models are discussed:
the "full" and "average" embedded element patterns. The viability of the "full"
model is demonstrated by simulating current MWA practice of using a Hertzian
dipole model as a Jones matrix estimate. We find that these results replicate
the observed Q leakage to approximately 2 to 5%. Finally, we offer more direct
indication for the level of improvement expected from upgrading the Jones
matrix estimate with more rigorous models. Using the "average" embedded pattern
as an estimate for the "full" model, we find that Q leakage of a few percent is
achievable.


  With the recent emergence and the explosion of users in social networks,
Internet users have come to know more about other people or companies through
information obtained from online groups or communities and therefore meet new
opportunities. An avalanche of diverse and unstructured information is created
every minute, for billions of devices connected to the Internet all the time.
Analyze, process, understand and evaluate these data, it is a challenging task,
given the volume, velocity and variety of information from these social
networks. However, a better understanding of the process of monitoring networks
and the use of tools of this kind are essential for people, companies and the
academic world. The application of monitoring systems, information management
and the possibility of bringing brands to people, are some positives that this
research will provide better knowledge of the problems. In this research will
be analyzed monitoring tool of social networks SCUP, its details, its features
and the tool related to business management. In conclusion, we present all the
peculiarities of the software and the possibilities applicable in the corporate
environment, as aid to decision making.


  We determined the eigenstates of a single electron in a parabolic anisotropic
2D quantum dot in a magnetic field. Using obtained expressions for these
eigenstates, we study the spin coupling J between two electrons located in two
laterally coupled anisotropic quantum dots (QD). The exhange coupling J is
calculated using the Heitler-London and Hund-Mulliken approaches. We found that
the exhange J changes sign at certain values of parameters of the system, in
particular at certain anisotropy of the QD. Therefore, we present a new method
to switch on and off the spin coupling between QD: switching by means of
changing shape of the QD. Switching the spin coupling is essential for quantum
computation using electronic spins as qubits. We note that our calculations can
be applied to the system of vertically coupled QD as well.


  This paper describes a universal model for paraphrasing that transforms
according to defined criteria. We showed that by using different criteria we
could construct different kinds of paraphrasing systems including one for
answering questions, one for compressing sentences, one for polishing up, and
one for transforming written language to spoken language.


  Circumstellar disks are the sites of planet formation, and the very high
incidence of extrasolar planets implies that most of them actually form
planetary systems. Studying the structure and evolution of protoplanetary disks
can thus place important constraints on the conditions, timescales, and
mechanisms associated with the planet formation process. In this review, we
discuss observational results from infrared and submillimeter wavelength
studies. We review disk lifetimes, transition objects, disk demographics, and
highlight a few remarkable results from ALMA Early Science observations. We
finish with a brief discussion of ALMA's potential to transform the field in
near future.


  We apply Connes-Chamseddine spectral action to the $U(1)_{\rm B-L}$-
extension of the Standard Model. We show that in order for the scalar potential
to reach its minimum for a non-zero value of the new complex scalar field, thus
triggering the breaking of B-L symmetry, a constraint on the quartic coupling
constants must be satisfied at unification scale. We then explore the
renormalization flow of this model in two opposite scenarios for the neutrino
sector, and show that this constraint is not compatible with the pole masses of
the top quark and SM Higgs boson. We also show that the model suffers from a
mass-splitting problem similar to the doublet-triplet splitting problem of
Grand Unified Theories. We discuss potential implications for the
Noncommutative Geometry program.


  A rigorous runtime analysis of evolutionary multi-objective optimization for
the classical vertex cover problem in the context of parameterized complexity
analysis has been presented by Kratsch and Neumann (2013). In this paper, we
extend the analysis to the weighted vertex cover problem and provide a fixed
parameter evolutionary algorithm with respect to OPT, the cost of the the
optimal solution for the problem. Moreover, using a diversity mechanisms, we
present a multi-objective evolutionary algorithm that finds a 2-approximation
in expected polynomial time and introduce a population-based evolutionary
algorithm which finds a $(1+\varepsilon)$-approximation in expected time
$O(n\cdot 2^{\min \{n,2(1- \varepsilon)OPT \}} + n^3)$.


  The Tevatron experiments CDF and D0 investigated the top quark decay in
search of deviations from the Standard Model. Rare processes expected in the
Standard Model as well as decays including hypothetical particles of models
beyond the Standard Model were investigated. This contribution gives an
overview of the studies that were performed with datasets of up to 7.5fb^-1 of
integrated luminosity.


  We consider the reaction (gamma p) to (pi+ pi- p) at high energies. Our
description includes dipion production via the resonances rho, omega, rho-prime
and f2, and via non-resonant mechanisms. The calculation is based on a model of
high energy scattering with the exchanges of photon, pomeron, odderon and
reggeons. The pomeron and the C=+1 reggeons are described as effective tensor
exchanges, the odderon and the C=-1 reggeons as effective vector exchanges. We
obtain a gauge-invariant version of the Drell-Soeding mechanism which produces
the skewing of the rho-meson shape. Starting from the explicit formulae for the
matrix element for dipion production we construct an event generator which
comprises all contributions mentioned above and includes all interference
terms. We give examples of total and differential cross sections and discuss
asymmetries which are due to interference of C=+1 and C=-1 exchange
contributions. These asymmetries can be used to search for odderon effects. Our
model is intended to provide all necessary theoretical tools for a detailed
experimental analysis of elastic dipion production for which data exist from
fixed target experiments, from HERA, and are now being collected by LHC
experiments.


  An antiferro-magnetic (AF) low moment solution, 0.4 $\mu_\mathrm{B}$/Fe, is
found in the case of LaOFeAs for an intermediately strong Coulomb interaction
$U$ of 2.5--3.0 eV. This solution is stabilized over a large moment solution
due to the gain in exchange energy in the formation of large multipoles of the
spin magnetization density. The multipoles are of rank four and can be
understand as a kind of spin-orbital ordering. Parallels can be drawn to the
stabilization of the AF order in e.g. CaCuO$_2$.


  For a class of locally (but not necessarily uniformly) Lipschitz continuous
$d$-dimensional observables over a Gibbs-Markov system, we show that
convergence of (suitably normalized and centered) ergodic sums to a
non-Gaussian stable vector is equivalent to the distribution belonging to the
classical domain of attraction, and that it implies a weak invariance principle
in the (strong) Skorohod $\mathcal{J}_{1}$-topology on
$\mathcal{D}([0,\infty),\mathbb{R}^{d})$. The argument uses the classical
approach via finite-dimensional marginals and $\mathcal{J}_{1}$-tightness. As
applications, we record a Spitzer-type arcsine law for certain $\mathbb{Z}%
$-extensions of Gibbs-Markov systems, and prove an asymptotic independence
property of excursion processes of intermittent interval maps.


  By characterizing the dynamics of idealized lattice models with a tunable
kinetic constraint, we explore the different ways in which dynamical
facilitation manifests itself within the local dynamics of glassy materials.
Dynamical facilitation is characterized both by a mobility transfer function,
the propensity for highly-mobile regions to arise near regions that were
previously mobile, and by a facilitation volume, the effect of an initial
dynamical event on subsequent dynamics within a region surrounding it.
Sustained bursts of dynamical activity -- avalanches -- are shown to occur in
kinetically constrained models, but, contrary to recent claims, we find that
the decreasing spatiotemporal extent of avalanches with increased supercooling
previously observed in granular experiments does not imply diminishing
facilitation. Viewed within the context of existing simulation and experimental
evidence, our findings show that dynamical facilitation plays a significant
role in the dynamics of systems investigated over the range of state points
accessible to molecular simulations and granular experiments.


  We argue and numerically substantiate that the real-space entanglement
spectrum (RSES) of composite fermion quantum Hall states is given by the
spectrum of a local boundary perturbation of a $(1+1)$d conformal field theory
(CFT), which describes an effective edge dynamics along the real-space cut. The
cut-and-glue approach suggests that the low-lying RSES is equivalent to the
low-lying modes of some effective edge action. The general structure of this
action is deduced by mapping to a boundary critical problem, generalizing work
of Dubail, Read, and Rezayi [PRB 85, 11531 (2012)]. Using trial wave functions
we numerically test our model of the RSES for the $\nu = 2/3$ bosonic composite
fermion state.


  Periodic driving has emerged as a powerful experimental tool to engineer
physical properties of isolated, synthetic quantum systems. However, due to the
lack of energy conservation and heating effects, non-trivial (e.g.,
topological) many-body states in periodically driven (Floquet) systems are
generally metastable. Therefore it is necessary to find strategies for
preparing long-lived many-body states in Floquet systems. We develop a
theoretical framework for describing the dynamical preparation of states in
Floquet systems by a slow turn-on of the drive. We find that the dynamics of
the system is well approximated by the initial state evolving under a slowly
varying effective Hamiltonian $H_{\rm eff}^{(s)}(t)$, provided the ramp speed
$s \gg t_*^{-1} \sim e^{-{\mathcal{C} \frac{\omega}{J}}}$, the inverse of the
characteristic heating time-scale in the Floquet system. At such ramp speeds,
the heating effects due to the drive are exponentially suppressed. We compute
the slowly varying effective Hamiltonian $H_{\rm eff}^{(s)}(t)$, and show that
at the end of the ramp it is identical to the effective Hamiltonian of the
unramped Floquet system, up to small corrections of the order $O(s)$.
Therefore, the system effectively undergoes a slow quench from $H_0$ to $H_{\rm
eff}$. As an application, we consider the passage of the slow quench through a
quantum critical point (QCP), and estimate the energy absorbed due to the
non-adiabatic passage through the QCP via a Kibble-Zurek mechanism. By
minimizing the energy absorbed due to both the drive and the ramp, we find an
optimal ramp speed $s_* \sim t_*^{-z/({d+2z})}$ for which both heating effects
are exponentially suppressed. Our results bridge the gap between the numerous
proposals to obtain interesting systems via Floquet engineering, and the actual
preparation of such systems in their effective ground states.


  We construct a holographic model for the
superconductor-insulator-superconductor (SIS) Josephson junction at zero
temperature by considering a complex scalar field coupled with a Maxwell field
in the four-dimensional anti-de Sitter soliton background. From the gravity
side we reproduce the sine relation between the Josephson current and the phase
difference across the junction. We also study the dependence of the maximal
current on the dimension of the condensate operator and on the width of the
junction, and obtain expected results.


  In the recent note we argued that most of the available positive and negative
neutrino oscillation data can be incorporated in a four-neutrino weak
interaction model with one physical condition: thorough maximal mixing of the
neutrino components in each of the two mass doublets. On the level of
CP-invariance an extended Pontecorvo analogy between the neutrino oscillations
and the K^0-meson oscillations, which implied maximal violation of the lepton
charge conservation in the neutrino mass matrix exclusively, can afford a
physical clue to the three data dictated assumptions in a model with three
lepton flavors and only two 4-component neutrino generations: four
phenomenological neutrinos with two neutrino mass doublets, one sterile
neutrino in the oscillations, and thorough maximal neutrino doublet mixing.
This analogy predicts that all the four neutrino mass eigenstates are of the
Majorana type.


  Approximation fixpoint theory (AFT) is an abstract and general algebraic
framework for studying the semantics of non-monotonic logics. In recent work,
AFT was generalized to non-deterministic operators, i.e.\ operators whose range
are sets of elements rather than single elements. In this paper, we make three
further contributions to non-deterministic AFT: (1) we define and study
ultimate approximations of non-deterministic operators, (2) we give an
algebraic formulation of the semi-equilibrium semantics by Amendola, et al.,
and (3) we generalize the characterisations of disjunctive logic programs to
disjunctive logic programs with aggregates.


  Adiabatic time-dependent density functional theory fails for excitations of a
heteroatomic molecule composed of two open-shell fragments at large separation.
Strong frequency-dependence of the exchange-correlation kernel is necessary for
both local and charge-transfer excitations. The root of this is static
correlation created by the step in the exact Kohn-Sham ground-state potential
between the two fragments. An approximate non-empirical kernel is derived for
excited molecular dissociation curves at large separation. Our result is also
relevant for the usual local and semi-local approximations for the ground-state
potential, as static correlation there arises from the coalescence of the
highest occupied and lowest unoccupied orbital energies as the molecule
dissociates.


  Monolayers of transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) hold great promise as
future nanoelectronic and optoelectronic devices. An essential feature for
achieving high device performance is the use of suitable supporting substrates,
which can affect the electronic and optical properties of these two-dimensional
(2D) materials. Here, we perform many-body GW calculations using the
SternheimerGW method to investigate the quasiparticle band structure of
monolayer MoS2 subject to an effective dielectric screening model, which is
meant to approximately describe substrate polarization in real device
applications. We show that, within this model, the dielectric screening has a
sizable effect on the quasiparticle band gap; for example, the gap
renormalization is as large as 250 meV for MoS2 with model screening
corresponding to SiO2. Within the G0W0 approximation, we also find that the
inclusion of the effective screening induces a direct band gap, in contrast to
the unscreened monolayer. We also find that the dielectric screening induces an
enhancement of the carrier effective masses by as much as 27% for holes, shifts
plasmon satellites, and redistributes quasiparticle weight. Our results
highlight the importance of the dielectric environment in the design of 2D
TMD-based devices.


  Automated vascular segmentation on optical coherence tomography angiography
(OCTA) is important for the quantitative analyses of retinal microvasculature
in neuroretinal and systemic diseases. Despite recent improvements, artifacts
continue to pose challenges in segmentation. Our study focused on removing the
speckle noise artifact from OCTA images when performing segmentation. Speckle
noise is common in OCTA and is particularly prominent over large non-perfusion
areas. It may interfere with the proper assessment of retinal vasculature. In
this study, we proposed a novel Supervision Vessel Segmentation network
(SVS-net) to detect vessels of different sizes. The SVS-net includes a new
attention-based module to describe vessel positions and facilitate the
understanding of the network learning process. The model is efficient and
explainable and could be utilized to reduce the need for manual labeling. Our
SVS-net had better performance in accuracy, recall, F1 score, and Kappa score
when compared to other well recognized models.


  We study perimeters of connecting cycles for concentric circles. More
precisely, we are interested in characterization of those connecting cycles
which are critical points of perimeter considered as a function on the product
of given circles. Specifically, we aim at showing that, generically, perimeter
is a Morse function on the configuration space, and computing Morse indices of
critical configurations. In particular, we prove that the diametrically aligned
configurations are critical and their indices can be calculated from an
explicitly given tridiagonal matrix. For four concentric circles, we give
examples of non-generic collections of radii and describe a pitchfork type
bifurcation of stationary connecting cycles.


  Intelligent agents such as robots are increasingly deployed in real-world,
safety-critical settings. It is vital that these agents are able to explain the
reasoning behind their decisions to human counterparts; however, their behavior
is often produced by uninterpretable models such as deep neural networks. We
propose an approach to generate natural language explanations for an agent's
behavior based only on observations of states and actions, thus making our
method independent from the underlying model's representation. For such models,
we first learn a behavior representation and subsequently use it to produce
plausible explanations with minimal hallucination while affording user
interaction with a pre-trained large language model. We evaluate our method in
a multi-agent search-and-rescue environment and demonstrate the effectiveness
of our explanations for agents executing various behaviors. Through user
studies and empirical experiments, we show that our approach generates
explanations as helpful as those produced by a human domain expert while
enabling beneficial interactions such as clarification and counterfactual
queries.


  We study a simple extension of the Standard Model that accounts for neutrino
masses and dark matter. The Standard Model is augmented by two Higgs doublets
and one Dirac singlet fermion, all charged under a new dark global symmetry. It
is a generalised version of the Scotogenic Model with Dirac fermion dark
matter. Masses for two neutrinos are generated radiatively at one-loop level.
We study the case where the singlet fermion constitutes the dark matter of the
Universe. We study in depth the phenomenology of the model, in particular the
complementarity between dark matter direct detection and charged lepton flavour
violation observables. Due to the strong limits from the latter, dark matter
annihilations are suppressed and the relic abundance is set by coannihilations
with (and annihilations of) the new scalars if the latter and the Dirac fermion
are sufficiently degenerate in mass. We discuss how different ratios of charged
lepton flavour violating processes can be used to test the model. We also
discuss the detection prospects of the charged scalars at colliders. In some
cases these leave ionising tracks and in others have prompt decays, depending
on the flavour in the final state and neutrino mass orderings.


  The EXTraS project (Exploring the X-ray Transient and variable Sky) will
characterise the temporal behaviour of the largest ever sample of objects in
the soft X-ray range (0.1-12 keV) with a complex, systematic and consistent
analysis of all data collected by the European Photon Imaging Camera (EPIC)
instrument onboard the ESA XMM-Newton X-ray observatory since its launch. We
will search for, and characterize variability (both periodic and aperiodic) in
hundreds of thousands of sources spanning more than nine orders of magnitude in
time scale and six orders of magnitude in flux. We will also search for fast
transients, missed by standard image analysis. Our analysis will be completed
by multiwavelength characterization of new discoveries and phenomenological
classification of variable sources. All results and products will be made
available to the community in a public archive, serving as a reference for a
broad range of astrophysical investigations.


  Nuclear quadrupole resonance measurements were performed on the heavy fermion
superconductor Ce2PdIn8. Above the Kondo coherence temperature T_coh \simeq
30K, the spin-lattice relaxation rate 1/T_1 is temperature independent, whereas
at lower temperatures, down to the onset of superconductivity at T_c = 0.64K,
it is nearly proportional to T^{1/2}. Below T_c, 1/T_1 shows no coherence peak
and decreases as T^3 down to 75mK. All these findings indicate that Ce2PdIn8 is
close to the antiferromagnetic quantum critical point, and the superconducting
state has an unconventional character with line nodes in the superconducting
gap.


  We present a theoretical approach to infer information about RR Lyrae
variables from the morphology of their light curves. The method, already
successfully applied to the field first overtone variable U Comae, is now
tested on a RR$_{\mathrm ab}$ variable in the globular cluster $\omega$ Cen. We
show that, with this method, it could be possible to give an estimate of the
distance modulus of the cluster with an uncertainty not larger than $\pm$0.1
mag. The predicted variable luminosity and mass are well within the range of
theoretical evolutionary expectations giving the ``feeling'' of a full
compatibility between pulsational and evolutionary theory. However, before
completely relying on the method, further tests are needed; the goal is that a
well tested and well calibrated pulsational theory could provide reliable
distance moduli from just one (or few) RR Lyrae stars.


  In this paper we analyze the boundary treatment of the lattice Boltzmann
method (LBM) for simulating 3D flows with free surfaces. The widely used free
surface boundary condition of K\"orner et al. (2005) is shown to be first order
accurate. The article presents a new free surface boundary scheme that is
suitable for second order accurate simulations based on the LBM. The new method
takes into account the free surface position and its orientation with respect
to the computational lattice. Numerical experiments confirm the theoretical
findings and illustrate the different behavior of the original method and the
new method.


  In many real-world scenarios, multiple data providers need to collaboratively
perform analysis of their private data. The challenges of these applications,
especially at the big data scale, are time and resource efficiency as well as
end-to-end privacy with minimal loss of accuracy. Existing approaches rely
primarily on cryptography, which improves privacy, but at the expense of query
response time. However, current big data analytics frameworks require fast and
accurate responses to large-scale queries, making cryptography-based solutions
less suitable. In this work, we address the problem of combining Approximate
Query Processing (AQP) and Differential Privacy (DP) in a private federated
environment answering range queries on horizontally partitioned
multidimensional data. We propose a new approach that considers a data
distribution-aware online sampling technique to accelerate the execution of
range queries and ensure end-to-end data privacy during and after analysis with
minimal loss in accuracy. Through empirical evaluation, we show that our
solution is able of providing up to 8 times faster processing than the basic
non-secure solution while maintaining accuracy, formal privacy guarantees and
resilience to learning-based attacks.


  The importance of wireless communication is increasing day by day throughout
the world due to cellular and broadband technologies. Everyone around the world
would like to be connected seamlessly anytime anywhere through the best
network. The 4G wireless system must have the capability to provide high data
transfer rates, quality of services and seamless mobility. In 4G, there are a
large variety of heterogeneous networks. The users for variety of applications
would like to utilize heterogeneous networks on the basis of their preferences
such as real time, high availability and high bandwidth. When connections have
to switch between heterogeneous networks for performance and high availability
reasons, seamless vertical handoff is necessary. The requirements like
capability of the network, handoff latency, network cost, network conditions,
power consumption and user's preferences must be taken into consideration
during vertical handoff. In this paper, we have extracted the requirements of a
vertical handoff from the literature surveyed. The evaluation of the existing
work is also being done on the basis of required parameters for vertical
handoff. A sophisticated, adaptive and intelligent approach is required to
implement the vertical handoff mechanism in 4G wireless networks to produce an
effective service for the user by considering dynamic and non dynamic
parameters.


  We propose a joint channel estimation and data detection algorithm for
massive multilple-input multiple-output systems based on diffusion models. Our
proposed method solves the blind inverse problem by sampling from the joint
posterior distribution of the symbols and channels and computing an approximate
maximum a posteriori estimation. To achieve this, we construct a diffusion
process that models the joint distribution of the channels and symbols given
noisy observations, and then run the reverse process to generate the samples. A
unique contribution of the algorithm is to include the discrete prior
distribution of the symbols and a learned prior for the channels. Indeed, this
is key as it allows a more efficient exploration of the joint search space and,
therefore, enhances the sampling process. Through numerical experiments, we
demonstrate that our method yields a lower normalized mean squared error than
competing approaches and reduces the pilot overhead.


  When transient events are observed with multiple sensors, it is often
necessary to establish the significance of coincident events. We derive a
universal null test for an arbitrary number of sensors motivated by the
archetypal detection problem for independent Poisson-distributed events in
gravitational-wave detectors such as LIGO and Virgo. In these detectors,
transient events may be witnessed by myriad channels that record
interferometric signals and the surrounding physical environment. We apply our
null test to a broad set of simulated gravitational-wave events as well as to a
real gravitational-wave detection to determine which auxiliary channels do and
do not witness real gravitational waves, and therefore which are safe to use
when constructing vetoes. We also describe how our approach can be used to
study detector artifacts and their origin, as well as to quantify the
statistical independence of candidate GW signals from noise artifacts observed
in auxiliary channels.


  We study time ordering corrections to the description of spontaneous
parametric down-conversion (SPDC), four wave mixing (SFWM) and frequency
conversion (FC) using the Magnus expansion. Analytic approximations to the
evolution operator that are unitary are obtained. They are Gaussian preserving,
and allow us to understand order-by-order the effects of time ordering. We show
that the corrections due to time ordering vanish exactly if the phase matching
function is sufficiently broad. The calculation of the effects of time ordering
on the joint spectral amplitude of the photons generated in spontaneous SPDC
and SFWM are reduced to quadrature.