  Dilated Convolution with Learnable Spacings (DCLS) is a recently proposed
variation of the dilated convolution in which the spacings between the non-zero
elements in the kernel, or equivalently their positions, are learnable.
Non-integer positions are handled via interpolation. Thanks to this trick,
positions have well-defined gradients. The original DCLS used bilinear
interpolation, and thus only considered the four nearest pixels. Yet here we
show that longer range interpolations, and in particular a Gaussian
interpolation, allow improving performance on ImageNet1k classification on two
state-of-the-art convolutional architectures (ConvNeXt and Conv\-Former),
without increasing the number of parameters. The method code is based on
PyTorch and is available at
https://github.com/K-H-Ismail/Dilated-Convolution-with-Learnable-Spacings-PyTorch


  I present some results for the next-to-next-to-leading order expansions of
the resummed cross sections for heavy quark and direct photon production near
threshold in hadronic collisions.


  We view web forums as virtual living organisms feeding on user's attention
and investigate how these organisms grow at the expense of collective
attention. We find that the "body mass" ($PV$) and "energy consumption" ($UV$)
of the studied forums exhibits the allometric growth property, i.e., $PV_t \sim
UV_t ^ \theta$. This implies that within a forum, the network transporting
attention flow between threads has a structure invariant of time, despite of
the continuously changing of the nodes (threads) and edges (clickstreams). The
observed time-invariant topology allows us to explain the dynamics of networks
by the behavior of threads. In particular, we describe the clickstream
dissipation on threads using the function $D_i \sim T_i ^ \gamma$, in which
$T_i$ is the clickstreams to node $i$ and $D_i$ is the clickstream dissipated
from $i$. It turns out that $\gamma$, an indicator for dissipation efficiency,
is negatively correlated with $\theta$ and $1/\gamma$ sets the lower boundary
for $\theta$. Our findings have practical consequences. For example, $\theta$
can be used as a measure of the "stickiness" of forums, because it quantifies
the stable ability of forums to convert $UV$ into $PV$, i.e., to remain users
"lock-in" the forum. Meanwhile, the correlation between $\gamma$ and $\theta$
provides a convenient method to evaluate the `stickiness" of forums. Finally,
we discuss an optimized "body mass" of forums at around $10^5$ that minimizes
$\gamma$ and maximizes $\theta$.


  Boundary value problems for non-linear parabolic equations with singular
potentials are considered. Existence and non-existence results as an
application of different Hardy inequalities are proved. Blow-up conditions are
investigated too.


  We have measured the influence of shot noise on hysteretic Josephson
junctions initially in macroscopic quantum tunnelling (MQT) regime. Escape
threshold current into the resistive state decreases monotonically with
increasing average current through the scattering conductor, which is another
tunnel junction. Escape is predominantly determined by excitation due to the
wide-band shot noise. This process is equivalent to thermal activation (TA)
over the barrier at temperatures up to about four times above the critical
temperature of the superconductor. The presented TA model is in excellent
agreement with the experimental results.


  We study spontaneously generated entanglement (SGE) between two identical
multilevel atoms in free space via vacuum-induced radiative coupling. We show
that the SGE in two-atom systems may initially increase with time but
eventually vanishes in the time scale determined by the excited state lifetime
and radiative coupling strength between the two atoms. We demonstrate that a
steady-state SGE can be established by incoherently pumping the excited states
of the two-atom system. We have shown that an appropriate rate of incoherent
pump can help producing optimal SGE. The multilevel systems offer us more
chanel to establish entanglement. The system under consideration could be
realized in a tight trap or atoms/ions doped in a solid substrate.


  This paper discusses match result prediction ability of ATP ranking points,
which is official ranking points for men's professional tennis players. The
structure of overall ATP World Tour and the ranking point attribution system
leads that the ranking point ratio between two players is an essential
variable. The match result prediction model is a logistic model. The fact is
verified using statistics of over 24000 matches from 2009.


  With the aim of assessing internal wave-driven mixing in the ocean, we
develop a new technique for direct numerical simulations of stratified
turbulence. Since the spatial scale of oceanic internal gravity waves is
typically much larger than that of turbulence, fully incorporating both in a
model would require a high computational cost, and is therefore out of our
scope. Alternatively, we cut out a small domain periodically distorted by an
unresolved large-scale internal wave and locally simulate the energy cascade to
the smallest scales. In this model, even though the Froude number of the outer
wave, $Fr$, is small such that density overturn or shear instability does not
occur, a striped pattern of disturbance is exponentially amplified through a
parametric subharmonic instability. When the disturbance amplitude grows
sufficiently large, secondary instabilities arise and produce much
smaller-scale fluctuations. Passing through these two stages, wave energy is
transferred into turbulence energy and will be eventually dissipated. Different
from the conventional scenarios of vertical shear-induced instabilities, a
large part of turbulent potential energy is supplied from the outer wave and
directly used for mixing. The mixing coefficient $\Gamma=\epsilon_P/\epsilon$,
where $\epsilon$ is the dissipation rate of kinetic energy and $\epsilon_P$ is
that of available potential energy, is always greater than 0.5 and tends to
increase with $Fr$. Although our results are mostly consistent with the
recently proposed scaling relationship between $\Gamma$ and the turbulent
Froude number, $Fr_t$, the values of $\Gamma$ obtained here are larger by a
factor of about two than previously reported.


  M. Picantin introduced the notion of Garside groups of spindle type,
generalizing the 3-strand braid group. We show that, for linear Garside groups
of spindle type, a normal form and a solution to the conjugacy problem are
logspace computable. For linear Garside groups of spindle type with homogenous
presentation we compute a geodesic normal form in logspace.


  We develop a technique for automatically detecting the classification errors
of a pre-trained visual classifier. Our method is agnostic to the form of the
classifier, requiring access only to classifier responses to a set of inputs.
We train a parametric binary classifier (error/correct) on a representation
derived from a set of classifier responses generated from multiple copies of
the same input, each subject to a different natural image transformation. Thus,
we establish a measure of confidence in classifier's decision by analyzing the
invariance of its decision under various transformations. In experiments with
multiple data sets (STL-10,CIFAR-100,ImageNet) and classifiers, we demonstrate
new state of the art for the error detection task. In addition, we apply our
technique to novelty detection scenarios, where we also demonstrate state of
the art results.


  While quantum computers provide exciting opportunities for information
processing, they currently suffer from noise during computation that is not
fully understood. Incomplete noise models have led to discrepancies between
quantum program success rate (SR) estimates and actual machine outcomes. For
example, the estimated probability of success (ESP) is the state-of-the-art
metric used to gauge quantum program performance. The ESP suffers poor
prediction since it fails to account for the unique combination of circuit
structure, quantum state, and quantum computer properties specific to each
program execution. Thus, an urgent need exists for a systematic approach that
can elucidate various noise impacts and accurately and robustly predict quantum
computer success rates, emphasizing application and device scaling. In this
article, we propose quantum vulnerability analysis (QVA) to systematically
quantify the error impact on quantum applications and address the gap between
current success rate (SR) estimators and real quantum computer results. The QVA
determines the cumulative quantum vulnerability (CQV) of the target quantum
computation, which quantifies the quantum error impact based on the entire
algorithm applied to the target quantum machine. By evaluating the CQV with
well-known benchmarks on three 27-qubit quantum computers, the CQV success
estimation outperforms the estimated probability of success state-of-the-art
prediction technique by achieving on average six times less relative prediction
error, with best cases at 30 times, for benchmarks with a real SR rate above
0.1%. Direct application of QVA has been provided that helps researchers choose
a promising compiling strategy at compile time.


  We report the results of a low-temperature (300K-15K) high-pressure (up to
22GPa) Raman study of the Verwey transition in magnetite (Fe3O4). We use
additional Raman modes observed below the Verwey transition to determine how
the transition temperature changes with the quasihydrostatic pressure. Increase
of the pressure results in the linear decrease of the Verwey transition
temperature, with no discontinuity. The corresponding pressure coefficient
dTV/dP is found to be ~ -5.2 K/GPa. Such a decrease is substantially larger
than the one predicted by the mean-field Coulomb interaction model of the
transition.


  Digraphs are generalizations of graphs in which each edge is assigned with a
direction or two directions. In this paper, we define discrete Morse functions
on digraphs, and prove that the homology of the Morse complex and the path
homology are isomorphic for a transitive digraph. We also study the collapses
defined by discrete gradient vector fields. Let $G$ be a digraph and $f$ a
discrete Morse function. Assume the out-degree and in-degree of any zero-point
of $f$ on $G$ are both 1. We prove that the original digraph $G$ and its
$\mathcal{M}$-collapse $\tilde{G}$ have the same path homology groups.


  This program can be used to simulate polarised nucleon - nucleon collisions
at high energies. Spins of colliding particles are taken into account. The
program allows to calculate cross sections for various processes.


  Here we describe an ultra-low-cost origami-based approach for large-scale
manufacturing of microscopes, specifically demonstrating brightfield,
darkfield, and fluorescence microscopes. Merging principles of optical design
with origami enables high-volume fabrication of microscopes from 2D media.
Flexure mechanisms created via folding enable a flat compact design. Structural
loops in folded paper provide kinematic constraints as a means for passive
self-alignment. This light, rugged instrument can survive harsh field
conditions while providing a diversity of imaging capabilities, thus serving
wide-ranging applications for cost-effective, portable microscopes in science
and education.


  In academia, plagiarism is certainly not an emerging concern, but it became
of a greater magnitude with the popularisation of the Internet and the ease of
access to a worldwide source of content, rendering human-only intervention
insufficient. Despite that, plagiarism is far from being an unaddressed
problem, as computer-assisted plagiarism detection is currently an active area
of research that falls within the field of Information Retrieval (IR) and
Natural Language Processing (NLP). Many software solutions emerged to help
fulfil this task, and this paper presents an overview of plagiarism detection
systems for use in Arabic, French, and English academic and educational
settings. The comparison was held between eight systems and was performed with
respect to their features, usability, technical aspects, as well as their
performance in detecting three levels of obfuscation from different sources:
verbatim, paraphrase, and cross-language plagiarism. An indepth examination of
technical forms of plagiarism was also performed in the context of this study.
In addition, a survey of plagiarism typologies and classifications proposed by
different authors is provided.


  Medium-energy electron beam-dump experiments provide an intense sources of
secondary muons. These particles can be used to search for muon-coupling light
dark scalars that may explain the $(g-2)_\mu$ anomaly. We applied this idea to
SLAC E137 experiment deriving new exclusion limits and evaluated the expected
sensitivity for the planned Jefferson Lab BDX experiment (in case of null
result report). The calculation is based on numerical simulations that include
a realistic description of secondary muons generation in the dump, dark scalar
production, propagation, and decay, and, finally, the decay products
(electrons, positrons, or photons) interaction with the detector. For both
experiments, exclusion limits were extended to cover a broader area in the
scalar-to-muon coupling vs. scalar mass parameter space. This study
demonstrates that electron beam-dump experiments have an enhanced sensitivity
to new physics in processes that are usually studied using proton beams.


  Recent advances in 2D/3D generative models enable the generation of dynamic
3D objects from a single-view video. Existing approaches utilize score
distillation sampling to form the dynamic scene as dynamic NeRF or dense 3D
Gaussians. However, these methods struggle to strike a balance among reference
view alignment, spatio-temporal consistency, and motion fidelity under
single-view conditions due to the implicit nature of NeRF or the intricate
dense Gaussian motion prediction. To address these issues, this paper proposes
an efficient, sparse-controlled video-to-4D framework named SC4D, that
decouples motion and appearance to achieve superior video-to-4D generation.
Moreover, we introduce Adaptive Gaussian (AG) initialization and Gaussian
Alignment (GA) loss to mitigate shape degeneration issue, ensuring the fidelity
of the learned motion and shape. Comprehensive experimental results demonstrate
that our method surpasses existing methods in both quality and efficiency. In
addition, facilitated by the disentangled modeling of motion and appearance of
SC4D, we devise a novel application that seamlessly transfers the learned
motion onto a diverse array of 4D entities according to textual descriptions.


  As light travels through a disordered medium such as biological tissues, it
undergoes multiple scattering events. This phenomenon is detrimental to
in-depth optical microscopy, as it causes a drastic degradation of contrast,
resolution and brightness of the resulting image beyond a few scattering mean
free paths. However, the information about the inner reflectivity of the sample
is not lost; only scrambled. To recover this information, a matrix approach of
optical imaging can be fruitful. Here we report on a de-scanned measurement of
a high-dimension reflection matrix R via low coherence interferometry. Then, we
show how the time-gated transmission matrix linking each camera sensor and each
medium voxel can be extracted through an iterative multi-scale analysis of wave
distortions contained in R. This transmission matrix is the Holy Grail for
volumetric imaging since it enables an optimal compensation of forward multiple
scattering paths and provides a three-dimensional confocal image of the sample
as the latter one had become digitally transparent. The proof-of-concept
experiment is performed on a human opaque cornea and an extension of the
penetration depth by a factor five is demonstrated compared to the
state-of-the-art.


  The gravitational capture of a stellar-mass object by a supermassive black
hole represents a unique probe of warped spacetime. The small object, typically
a stellar-mass black hole, describes a very large number of cycles before
crossing the event horizon. Because of the mass difference, we call these
captures extreme-mass ratio inspirals (EMRIs). Their merger event rate at the
Galactic Centre is negligible, but the amount of time spent in the early
inspiral is not. Early EMRIs (E-EMRIs) spend hundreds of thousands of years in
band during this phase. At very early stages, the peak of the frequency will
not change during an observational time. At later stages, it will change a bit
and finally the EMRI explores a wide range of them when it is close to merger.
We distinguish between "monocromatic" E-EMRIs, which do not change their (peak)
frequency, oligochromatic E-EMRIs, which explore a short range and
polychromatic ones, the EMRIs which have been discussed so far in the
literature. We derive the number of E-EMRIs at the Galactic Centre, and their
signal-to-noise ratios (SNR) and perform a study of parameter extraction. We
show that parameters such as the spin and the mass can be extracted with an
error which can be as small as $10^{-11}$ and $10^{-5}\,M_{\odot}$. There are
between hundreds and thousands of E-EMRIs in their monochromatic stage at the
GC, and tens in their oligochromatic phase. The SNR ranges from a minimum of
$10$ (larger likelihood) to a maximum of $10^6$ (smaller likelihood). Moreover,
we derive the contribution signal corresponding to the incoherent sum of
continuous with two representatives masses; $10\,M_{\odot}$ and $40\,M_{\odot}$
and show that their curves will cover a significant part of LISA's sensitivity
curve. Depending on their level of circularisation, they might be detected as
individual sources or form a foreground population.


  In recent years, two-player zero-sum games with multiple objectives have
received a lot of interest as a model for the synthesis of complex reactive
systems. In this framework, Player 1 wins if he can ensure that all objectives
are satisfied against any behavior of Player 2. When this is not possible to
satisfy all the objectives at once, an alternative is to use some preorder on
the objectives according to which subset of objectives Player 1 wants to
satisfy. For example, it is often natural to provide more significance to one
objective over another, a situation that can be modelled with lexicographically
ordered objectives for instance. Inspired by recent work on concurrent games
with multiple {\omega}-regular objectives by Bouyer et al., we investigate in
detail turned-based games with monotonically ordered and {\omega}-regular
objectives. We study the threshold problem which asks whether player 1 can
ensure a payoff greater than or equal to a given threshold w.r.t. a given
monotonic preorder. As the number of objectives is usually much smaller than
the size of the game graph, we provide a parametric complexity analysis and we
show that our threshold problem is in FPT for all monotonic preorders and all
classical types of {\omega}-regular objectives. We also provide polynomial time
algorithms for B\"uchi, coB\"uchi and explicit Muller objectives for a large
subclass of monotonic preorders that includes among others the lexicographic
preorder. In the particular case of lexicographic preorder, we also study the
complexity of computing the values and the memory requirements of optimal
strategies.


  A wide range of networked systems exhibit highly connected nodes (hubs) as
prominent structural elements. The functional roles of hubs in the collective
nonlinear dynamics of many such networks, however, are not well understood.
Here we propose that hubs in neural circuits may activate local signal
transmission along sequences of specific subnetworks. Intriguingly, in contrast
to previous suggestions of the functional roles of hubs, here not the hubs
themselves, but non-hub subnetworks transfer the signals. The core mechanism
relies on hubs and non-hubs providing activating feedback to each other. It may
thus induce the propagation of specific pulse and rate signals in neuronal and
other communication networks.


  The study of the intensity fluctuation power spectrum of individual supernova
remnants (SNRs) can reveal the structures present at sub-pc scales, and also
constrain the physical process that generates those structures. There are
various effects, such as the remnant shell thickness, projection of a
three-dimensional structure onto a two-dimensional observational plane, and the
presence of diffuse "foreground" emission, which causes the observed power
spectrum to deviate from the intrinsic power spectrum of the fluctuations.
Here, we report results from a systematic study of these effects, using direct
numerical simulations, in the measured power spectrum. For an input power-law
power spectrum, independent of the power-law index, we see a break in the
observed power law at a scale which depends on the shell thickness of a
shell-type SNR, and the three-dimensional turbulence changes to two-dimensional
turbulence beyond that scale. We also report how the estimated power spectrum
is expected to deviate from the intrinsic SNR power spectrum in the presence of
additional diffuse Galactic synchrotron emission (DGSE) around the remnant
shell. For a reasonable choice of the parameters, if the intrinsic SNR power
spectrum is shallower than the DGSE power spectrum, the SNR contribution
dominates at small angular scales of the estimated power spectra. On the other
hand, if the SNR power spectrum is relatively steeper, the original power
spectra is recovered only over a small window of angular scales. This study
shows how detailed modeling may be used to infer the true power spectrum from
the observed SNR intensity fluctuations power spectrum, which in turn can be
used to constrain the nature of the turbulence that gives rise to these small
scale structures.


  Lie group theory states that knowledge of a $m$-parameters solvable group of
symmetries of a system of ordinary differential equations allows to reduce by
$m$ the number of equations. We apply this principle by finding some
\emph{affine derivations} that induces \emph{expanded} Lie point symmetries of
considered system. By rewriting original problem in an invariant coordinates
set for these symmetries, we \emph{reduce} the number of involved parameters.
We present an algorithm based on this standpoint whose arithmetic complexity is
\emph{quasi-polynomial} in input's size.


  As the Earth rotates, the Coriolis force causes several oceanic and
atmospheric waves to be trapped along the equator, including Kelvin, Yanai,
Rossby, and Poincar\'e modes. It has been demonstrated that the mathematical
origin of these waves is related to the nontrivial topology of the underlying
hydrodynamic equations. Inspired by recent observations of Bose-Einstein
condensation (BEC) in bubble-shaped traps in microgravity ultracold quantum gas
experiments, we show that equatorial modes are supported by a rapidly rotating
condensate in a spherical geometry. Based on a zero-temperature coarse-grained
hydrodynamic framework, we reformulate the coupled oscillations of the
superfluid and the Abrikosov vortex lattice resulting from rotation by a
Schr\"odinger-like eigenvalue problem. The obtained non-Hermitian Hamiltonian
is topologically nontrivial. Furthermore, we solve the hydrodynamic equations
for a spherical geometry and find that the rotating superfluid hosts Kelvin,
Yanai, and Poincar\'e equatorial modes, but not the Rossby mode. Our
predictions can be tested with state-of-the-art bubble-shaped trapped BEC
experiments.


  Due to their accuracies, methods based on ensembles of regression trees are a
popular approach for making predictions. Some common examples include Bayesian
additive regression trees, boosting and random forests. This paper focuses on
honest random forests, which add honesty to the original form of random forests
and are proved to have better statistical properties. The main contribution is
a new method that quantifies the uncertainties of the estimates and predictions
produced by honest random forests. The proposed method is based on the
generalized fiducial methodology, and provides a fiducial density function that
measures how likely each single honest tree is the true model. With such a
density function, estimates and predictions, as well as their
confidence/prediction intervals, can be obtained. The promising empirical
properties of the proposed method are demonstrated by numerical comparisons
with several state-of-the-art methods, and by applications to a few real data
sets. Lastly, the proposed method is theoretically backed up by a strong
asymptotic guarantee.


  We discuss a time-splitting spectral method for the solution of the
Klein--Gordon--Maxwell system in quantum electrodynamics. The convergence in
Hilbert space is proven theoretically and charge conservation is established.
The theoretical order two for the Strang splitting is illustrated by numerical
examples in 1D and 3D.


  We determine which orthogonal representations V of GL(n,q) lift to the double
cover Pin(V ) of the orthogonal group O(V ). We cover all n and prime powers q,
except for (n; q) =(3,4).


  We consider a nonlinear singularly perturbed PDE leaning on a complex
perturbation parameter $\epsilon$. The problem possesses an irregular
singularity in time at the origin and involves a set of so-called moving
turning points merging to 0 with $\epsilon$. We construct outer solutions for
time located in complex sectors that are kept away from the origin at a
distance equivalent to a positive power of $|\epsilon|$ and we build up a
related family of sectorial holomorphic inner solutions for small time inside
some boundary layer. We show that both outer and inner solutions have Gevrey
asymptotic expansions as $\epsilon$ tends to 0 on appropriate sets of sectors
that cover a neighborhood of the origin in $\mathbb{C}^{\ast}$. We observe that
their Gevrey orders are distinct in general.


  We consider one-loop tensor and scalar integrals, which occur in a massless
quantum field theory and we report on the implementation into a numerical
program of an algorithm for the automated computation of these one-loop
integrals. The number of external legs of the loop integrals is not restricted.
All calculations are done within dimensional regularization.


  We show a reduction method to construct a code for the Gray-Wyner (GW)
network from a given code for the Wyner-Ahlswede-K\"orner (WAK) network. By
combining this reduction with a converse bound on the GW network, we derive a
converse bound on the WAK network. The derived bound gives an alternative proof
of the strong converse theorem for the WAK network.


  The results for searches for Supersymmetry (SUSY) at the Tevatron Collider
are summarized in this paper. We focus here on searches for trileptons and the
lightest stop, as well as scenarios with R-parity violation and split
supersymmetry. No significant excesses with respect to the Standard Model were
observed and constraints are set on the SUSY parameter space.


  We prove a central limit theorem for the algebraic and dynamical degrees of a
random composition of Cremona transformations.


  In this paper, we show that for every locally compact abelian group G, the
following statements are equivalent:
  (i) G contains no sequence {x_n} such that {0} \cup {\pm x_n : n \in N} is
infinite and quasi-convex in G, and x_n --> 0;
  (ii) one of the subgroups {g \in G : 2g=0 and {g \in G : 3g=0} is open in G;
  (iii) G contains an open compact subgroup of the form Z_2^\kappa or
Z_3^\kappa for some cardinal \kappa.


  We suggest a renewed view on non-renormalizable interactions treated
perturbatively within a kinematically dependent renormalization procedure. It
is based on the usual BPHZ R-operation which is equally applicable to any local
QFT independently whether it is renormalizable or not. The key point is that
the renormalization constant becomes the function of kinematical variables
acting as an operator on the amplitude. The procedure is demonstrated by the
example of D=8 supersymmetric gauge theory considered within the spinor
helicity formalism.


  An expression for the electromagnetic field energy density in a dispersive,
lossy, left-handed metamaterial, consisting of an array of split-ring
resonators and an array of wires is derived. An electromagnetic field with
general time-dependence is considered. The outcome is compared with previously
published results. In the absence of losses, agreement with the general result
for the energy density in a dispersive material is obtained. The formulae are
verified using the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) numerical method. The
applicability of two commonly used permeability models to the problem of
calculating the energy stored in an array of split-ring resonators is
discussed.


  In this paper we argue that the well-known maximal extensions of the Kerr and
Kerr-Newman spacetimes characterized by a specific gluing (on disks) of two
asymptotically flat regions with ADM masses of opposite signs are physically
inconsistent and actually non-analytic. We also discover a correct geometrical
interpretation of the surface $r=0$, $t={\rm const}$ - a dicone in the case of
the Kerr solution and a more sophisticated surface of non-zero Gaussian
curvature in the case of the Kerr-Newman solution - which suggests that the
problem of constructing the maximal analytic extensions for these stationary
spacetimes is likely to be performed within the models with only one
asymptotically flat region, in which case a smooth crossing of the ring
singularity becomes possible, for instance, after carrying out an appropriate
transformation of the radial coordinate.


  We have performed a spectral decomposition to search for dual active galactic
nuclei (DAGNs) in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) quasars with $z<0.25$.
Potential DAGN candidates are searched by referencing velocity offsets and
spectral shapes of double-peaked [O III] lines of known DAGNs. Out of 1271 SDSS
quasars, we have identified 77 DAGN candidates. Optical and mid-infrared
diagnostic diagrams are used to investigate the ionizing source in the DAGN
candidates. The optical diagnostic analysis suggests 93\% of them are powered
by AGNs, and mid-infrared diagnostic analysis suggests 97\% are powered by
AGNs. About 1/3 of the SDSS images of the DAGN candidates show signs of tidal
interaction, but we are unable to identify double nuclei in most of them due to
the low spatial resolution of the archival imaging data available for most of
the sample. The radio-loud fraction of the DAGN candidates ($\sim$10\%) is
similar to that of typical AGNs.


  Using angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy measurements and first
principle calculations, we report that the possible unconventional 2q
antiferromagnetic (AFM) order in NdSb can induce unusual modulation on its
electronic structure. The obvious extra bands observed in the AFM phase of NdSb
are well reproduced by theoretical calculations, in which the Fermi-arc-like
structures and sharp extra bands are originated from the in-gap surface states.
However, they are demonstrated to be topological trivial. By tuning the
chemical potential, the AFM phase of NdSb would go through a topological phase
transition, realizing a magnetic topological insulator phase. Hence, our study
sheds new light on the rare earth monopnictides for searching unusual AFM
structure and the potential of intrinsic magnetic topological materials.


  Ambient backscatter communication (AmBC) enables a passive backscatter device
to transmit information to a reader using ambient RF signals, and has emerged
as a promising solution to green Internet-of-Things (IoT). Conventional AmBC
receivers are interested in recovering the information from the ambient
backscatter device (A-BD) only. In this paper, we propose a cooperative AmBC
(CABC) system in which the reader recovers information not only from the A-BD,
but also from the RF source. We first establish the system model for the CABC
system from spread spectrum and spectrum sharing perspectives. Then, for flat
fading channels, we derive the optimal maximum-likelihood (ML) detector,
suboptimal linear detectors as well as successive interference-cancellation
(SIC) based detectors. For frequency-selective fading channels, the system
model for the CABC system over ambient orthogonal frequency division
multiplexing (OFDM) carriers is proposed, upon which a low-complexity optimal
ML detector is derived. For both kinds of channels, the bit-error-rate (BER)
expressions for the proposed detectors are derived in closed forms. Finally,
extensive numerical results have shown that, when the A-BD signal and the
RF-source signal have equal symbol period, the proposed SIC-based detectors can
achieve near-ML detection performance for typical application scenarios, and
when the A-BD symbol period is longer than the RF-source symbol period, the
existence of backscattered signal in the CABC system can enhance the ML
detection performance of the RF-source signal, thanks to the beneficial effect
of the backscatter link when the A-BD transmits at a lower rate than the RF
source.


  In this paper we study the question of fragility and robustness of leafwise
intersections of coisotropic submanifolds. Namely, we construct a closed
hypersurface and a sequence of Hamiltonians $C^0$-converging to zero such that
the hypersurface and its images have no leafwise intersections, showing that
some form of the contact type condition on the hypersurface is necessary in
several persistence results. In connection with recent results in continuous
symplectic topology, we also show that $C^0$-convergence of hypersurfaces,
Hamiltonian diffeomorphic to each other, does not in general force
$C^0$-convergence of the characteristic foliations.


  We propose a theoretical framework for formulating language model decoder
algorithms with dynamic programming and information theory. With dynamic
programming, we lift the design of decoder algorithms from the logit space to
the action-state value function space, and show that the decoding algorithms
are consequences of optimizing the action-state value functions. Each component
in the action-state value function space has an information theoretical
interpretation. With the lifting and interpretation, it becomes evident what
the decoder algorithm is optimized for, and hence facilitating the arbitration
of the tradeoffs in sensibleness, diversity, and attribution.


  Existing generalization bounds for deep neural networks require data to be
independent and identically distributed (iid). This assumption may not hold in
real-life applications such as evolutionary biology, infectious disease
epidemiology, and stock price prediction. This work establishes a
generalization bound of feed-forward neural networks for non-stationary
$\phi$-mixing data.


  Eigenvalue interlacing is a versatile technique for deriving results in
algebraic combinatorics. In particular, it has been successfully used for
proving a number of results about the relation between the (adjacency matrix or
Laplacian) spectrum of a graph and some of its properties. For instance, some
characterizations of regular partitions, and bounds for some parameters, such
as the independence and chromatic numbers, the diameter, the bandwidth, etc.,
have been obtained. For each parameter of a graph involving the cardinality of
some vertex sets, we can define its corresponding weight parameter by giving
some "weights" (that is, the entries of the positive eigenvector) to the
vertices and replacing cardinalities by square norms. The key point is that
such weights "regularize" the graph, and hence allow us to define a kind of
regular partition, called "pseudo-regular," intended for general graphs. Here
we show how to use interlacing for proving results about some weight parameters
and pseudo-regular partitions of a graph. For instance, generalizing a
well-known result of Lov\'asz, it is shown that the weight Shannon capacity
$\Theta^*$ of a connected graph $\G$, with $n$ vertices and (adjacency matrix)
eigenvalues $\lambda_1>\lambda_2\ge\...\ge \lambda_n$, satisfies $$ \Theta\le
\Theta^* \le \frac{\|\vecnu\|^2}{1-\frac{\lambda_1}{\lambda_n}} $$ where
$\Theta$ is the (standard) Shannon capacity and $\vecnu$ is the positive
eigenvector normalized to have smallest entry 1. In the special case of regular
graphs, the results obtained have some interesting corollaries, such as an
upper bound for some of the multiplicities of the eigenvalues of a
distance-regular graph. Finally, some results involving the Laplacian spectrum
are derived. spectrum are derived.


  We establish an analytical link between the level density obtained by means
of the Strutinsky averaging method, and the semiclassical level density. This
link occurs only in the so-called "asymptotic limit". It turns out that the
Strutinsky method amounts to an approximation to the semiclassical method. This
approximation contains an unavoidable remainder which constitutes an intrinsic
noise in comparison to the semiclassical method. Thus, the "old" problem of the
dependency of the Strutinsky procedure on the two free smoothing parameters of
the averaging is intimately connected to this noise. On the other hand, we
demonstrate that the noise of the method is small in the average density of
states and in the average energy, whereas it might be non-negligible in the
shell correction itself. In order to improve this method, we give a "rule"
which consists simply of minimizing the relative error made on the average
energy.


  Ultrasound and magnetization studies of bond-frustrated ZnCr2S4 spinel are
performed in static magnetic fields up to 18 T and in pulsed fields up to 62 T.
At temperatures below the antiferromagnetic transition at T_N1 14 K the sound
velocity as function of magnetic field reveals a sequence of steps followed by
plateaus indicating a succession of crystallographic structures with constant
stiffness. At the same time, the magnetization evolves continuously with field
up to full magnetic polarization without any plateaus in contrast to
geometrically frustrated chromium oxide spinels. The observed high-field
magneto-structural states are discussed within a H-T phase diagram taking into
account the field and temperature evolution of three coexisting spin structures
and subsequent lattice transformations induced by magnetic field.


  We propose Banker Online Mirror Descent (Banker-OMD), a novel framework
generalizing the classical Online Mirror Descent (OMD) technique in the online
learning literature. The Banker-OMD framework almost completely decouples
feedback delay handling and the task-specific OMD algorithm design, thus
facilitating the design of new algorithms capable of efficiently and robustly
handling feedback delays. Specifically, it offers a general methodology for
achieving $\widetilde{\mathcal O}(\sqrt{T} + \sqrt{D})$-style regret bounds in
online bandit learning tasks with delayed feedback, where $T$ is the number of
rounds and $D$ is the total feedback delay. We demonstrate the power of
\texttt{Banker-OMD} by applications to two important bandit learning scenarios
with delayed feedback, including delayed scale-free adversarial Multi-Armed
Bandits (MAB) and delayed adversarial linear bandits. \texttt{Banker-OMD} leads
to the first delayed scale-free adversarial MAB algorithm achieving
$\widetilde{\mathcal O}(\sqrt{K}L(\sqrt T+\sqrt D))$ regret and the first
delayed adversarial linear bandit algorithm achieving $\widetilde{\mathcal
O}(\text{poly}(n)(\sqrt{T} + \sqrt{D}))$ regret. As a corollary, the first
application also implies $\widetilde{\mathcal O}(\sqrt{KT}L)$ regret for
non-delayed scale-free adversarial MABs, which is the first to match the
$\Omega(\sqrt{KT}L)$ lower bound up to logarithmic factors and can be of
independent interest.


  This text is a summary (in french) of recent works in collaboration with
Mathieu Lewin, on the modelling of polarons in quantum crystals.


  Let $\cM$ be a Brakke flow of $n$-dimensional surfaces in $R^N$. The singular
set $\cS\subset\cM$ has a stratification $\cS^0\subset\cS^1\subset...\cS$,
where $X\in \cS^j$ if no tangent flow at $X$ has more than $j$ symmetries.
Here, we define quantitative singular strata $\cS^j_{\eta,r}$ satisfying
$\cup_{\eta>0}\cap_{0<r} \cS^j_{\eta,r}=\cS^j$. Sharpening the known parabolic
Hausdorff dimension bound $\dim \cS^j\leq j$, we prove the effective Minkowski
estimates that the volume of $r$-tubular neighborhoods of $\cS^j_{\eta,r}$
satisfies $\Vol (T_r(\cS^j_{\eta,r})\cap B_1)\leq Cr^{N+2-j-\varepsilon}$. Our
primary application of this is to higher regularity of Brakke flows starting at
$k$-convex smooth compact embedded hypersurfaces. To this end, we prove that
for the flow of $k$-convex hypersurfaces, any backwards selfsimilar limit flow
with at least $k$ symmetries is in fact a static multiplicity one plane. Then,
denoting by $\cB_r\subset\cM$ the set of points with regularity scale less than
$r$, we prove that $\Vol(T_r(\cB_r))\leq C r^{n+4-k-\varepsilon}$. This gives
$L^p$-estimates for the second fundamental form for any $p<n+1-k$. In fact, the
estimates are much stronger and give $L^p$-estimates for the inverse of the
regularity scale. These estimates are sharp. The key technique that we develop
and apply is a parabolic version of the quantitative stratification method
introduced in Cheeger and Naber (arXiv:1103.1819v3) and Cheeger and Naber
(arXiv:1107.3097v1).


  We analyse the violations of lepton-flavour universality in the ratios B(P ->
l nu)/B(P -> l' nu) using a general effective theory approach, discussing
various flavour-symmetry breaking patterns of physics beyond the SM. We find
that in models with Minimal Lepton Flavour Violation the effects are too small
to be observed in the next generations of experiments in all relevant meson
systems (P = Pi, K, B). In a Grand Unified framework with a minimal breaking of
the flavour symmetry, the effects remain small in Pi and K decays while large
violations of lepton-flavour universality are possible in B -> l nu decays.


  We investigate the precession motion of the exotic torus configuration in
high-spin excited states of $^{40}$Ca. For this aim, we use the
three-dimensional time-dependent Hartree-Fock (TDHF) method. Although the
high-spin torus isomer is a unique quantum object characterized by the
alignment of angular momenta of independent single-particle motions, we find
that the obtained moment of inertia for rotations about an axis perpendicular
to the symmetry axis is close to the rigid-body value. We also analyze the
microscopic structure of the precession motion using the random-phase
approximation (RPA) method for high-spin states. In the RPA calculation, the
precession motion of the torus isomer is generated by coherent superposition of
many one-particle-one-hole excitations across the sloping Fermi surface that
strongly violates the time-reversal symmetry. By comparing results of the TDHF
and the RPA calculations, we find that the precession motion obtained by the
TDHF calculation is a pure collective motion well decoupled from other
collective modes.


  Statistical models with constrained probability distributions are abundant in
machine learning. Some examples include regression models with norm constraints
(e.g., Lasso), probit, many copula models, and latent Dirichlet allocation
(LDA). Bayesian inference involving probability distributions confined to
constrained domains could be quite challenging for commonly used sampling
algorithms. In this paper, we propose a novel augmentation technique that
handles a wide range of constraints by mapping the constrained domain to a
sphere in the augmented space. By moving freely on the surface of this sphere,
sampling algorithms handle constraints implicitly and generate proposals that
remain within boundaries when mapped back to the original space. Our proposed
method, called {Spherical Augmentation}, provides a mathematically natural and
computationally efficient framework for sampling from constrained probability
distributions. We show the advantages of our method over state-of-the-art
sampling algorithms, such as exact Hamiltonian Monte Carlo, using several
examples including truncated Gaussian distributions, Bayesian Lasso, Bayesian
bridge regression, reconstruction of quantized stationary Gaussian process, and
LDA for topic modeling.


  During recent decades, the automatic train operation (ATO) system has been
gradually adopted in many subway systems for its low-cost and intelligence.
This paper proposes two smart train operation algorithms by integrating the
expert knowledge with reinforcement learning algorithms. Compared with previous
works, the proposed algorithms can realize the control of continuous action for
the subway system and optimize multiple critical objectives without using an
offline speed profile. Firstly, through learning historical data of experienced
subway drivers, we extract the expert knowledge rules and build inference
methods to guarantee the riding comfort, the punctuality, and the safety of the
subway system. Then we develop two algorithms for optimizing the energy
efficiency of train operation. One is the smart train operation (STO) algorithm
based on deep deterministic policy gradient named (STOD) and the other is the
smart train operation algorithm based on normalized advantage function (STON).
Finally, we verify the performance of proposed algorithms via some numerical
simulations with the real field data from the Yizhuang Line of the Beijing
Subway and illustrate that the developed smart train operation algorithm are
better than expert manual driving and existing ATO algorithms in terms of
energy efficiency. Moreover, STOD and STON can adapt to different trip times
and different resistance conditions.


  In this paper, we formulate acoustic howling suppression (AHS) as a
supervised learning problem and propose a deep learning approach, called Deep
AHS, to address it. Deep AHS is trained in a teacher forcing way which converts
the recurrent howling suppression process into an instantaneous speech
separation process to simplify the problem and accelerate the model training.
The proposed method utilizes properly designed features and trains an attention
based recurrent neural network (RNN) to extract the target signal from the
microphone recording, thus attenuating the playback signal that may lead to
howling. Different training strategies are investigated and a streaming
inference method implemented in a recurrent mode used to evaluate the
performance of the proposed method for real-time howling suppression. Deep AHS
avoids howling detection and intrinsically prohibits howling from happening,
allowing for more flexibility in the design of audio systems. Experimental
results show the effectiveness of the proposed method for howling suppression
under different scenarios.


  A previous study of the Kawai, Lewellen and Tye (KLT) relations between
gravity and gauge theories, imposed by the relationship of closed and open
strings, are here extended in the light of general relativity and Yang-Mills
theory as effective field theories. We discuss the possibility of generalizing
the traditional KLT mapping in this effective setting. A generalized mapping
between the effective Lagrangians of gravity and Yang-Mills theory is
presented, and the corresponding operator relations between gauge and gravity
theories at the tree level are further explored. From this generalized mapping
remarkable diagrammatic relations are found, -- linking diagrams in gravity and
Yang-Mills theory, -- as well as diagrams in pure effective Yang-Mills theory.
Also the possibility of a gravitational coupling to an antisymmetric field in
the gravity scattering amplitude is considered, and shown to allow for mixed
open-closed string solutions, i.e., closed heterotic strings.


  We present a new method to estimate the Hubble constant H_0 from the measured
time delays in quadruply imaged gravitational lens systems. We show how it is
possible to get an estimate of H_0 without the need to completely reconstruct
the lensing potential thus avoiding any a priori hypotheses on the expression
of the galaxy lens model. Our method only needs to assume that the lens
potential may be expressed as r^{\alpha} F(\theta), whatever the shape function
F(\theta) is, and it is thus able to fully explore the degeneracy in the mass
models taking also into account the presence of an external shear. We test the
method on simulated cases and show that it does work well in recovering the
correct value of the slope \alpha of the radial profile and of the Hubble
constant H_0. Then, we apply the same method to the real quadruple lenses
PG1115+080 and B1422+231 obtaining H_0 = 58_{-15}^{+17} km/s/Mpc (68% CL).


  In order to study the interplay between localized and dispersive orbital
states in a system of ultracold atoms in an optical lattice, we investigate the
possibility to coherently couple the lowest two Bloch bands by means of
resonant periodic forcing. Considering bosons in one dimension, it is shown
that a strongly interacting Floquet system can be realized, where at every
lattice site two (and only two) near-degenerate orbital states are relevant. By
smoothly tuning both states into resonance we find that the system can undergo
an orbital-driven Mott-insulator-to-superfluid transition. As an intriguing
consequence of the kinetic frustration in the system, this transition can be
either continuous or first-order, depending on parameters such as lattice depth
and filling.


  In this paper, a unified approach is proposed to derive the exact local
asymptotic power for panel unit root tests, which is one of the most important
issues in nonstationary panel data literature. Two most widely used panel unit
root tests known as Levin-Lin-Chu (LLC, Levin, Lin and Chu (2002)) and
Im-Pesaran-Shin (IPS, Im, Pesaran and Shin (2003)) tests are systematically
studied for various situations to illustrate our method. Our approach is
characteristic function based, and can be used directly in deriving the moments
of the asymptotic distributions of these test statistics under the null and the
local-to-unity alternatives. For the LLC test, the approach provides an
alternative way to obtain the results that can be derived by the existing
method. For the IPS test, the new results are obtained, which fills the gap in
the literature where few results exist, since the IPS test is non-admissible.
Moreover, our approach has the advantage in deriving Edgeworth expansions of
these tests, which are also given in the paper. The simulations are presented
to illustrate our theoretical findings.


  We study the effects of hybridization between the two electron pockets in
Fe-based superconductors with s-wave gap with accidental nodes. We argue that
hybridization reconstructs the Fermi surfaces and also induces an additional
inter-pocket pairing component. We analyze how these two effects modify the gap
structure by tracing the position of the nodal points of the energy dispersions
in the superconducting state. We find three possible outcomes. In the first,
the nodes simply shift their positions in the Brillouin zone; in the second,
the nodes merge and disappear, in which case the gap function has either equal
or opposite signs on the electron pockets; in the third, a new set of nodal
points emerges, doubling the original number of nodes.


  Electronic instabilities at the crossing of the Fermi energy with a Van Hove
singularity in the density of states often lead to new phases of matter such as
superconductivity, magnetism or density waves. However, in most materials this
condition is difficult to control. In the case of single-layer graphene, the
singularity is too far from the Fermi energy and hence difficult to reach with
standard doping and gating techniques. Here we report the observation of
low-energy Van Hove singularities in twisted graphene layers seen as two
pronounced peaks in the density of states measured by scanning tunneling
spectroscopy. We demonstrate that a rotation between stacked graphene layers
can generate Van Hove singularities, which can be brought arbitrarily close to
the Fermi energy by varying the angle of rotation. This opens intriguing
prospects for Van Hove singularity engineering of electronic phases.


  The disassembly of the Unilac prestripper linac of the Wideroe type took
place at the beginning of 1999. An increase of more than two orders of
magnitude in particle number for the most heavy elements in the SIS had to be
gained. Since that time the new High Current Injector (HSI) consisting of
H-type RFQ and DTL-structures for dual beam operation was installed and
successfully commissioned. The High Charge Injector (HLI) supplied the main
linac during that time. Simultaneously conditioning and running in of the
rf-transmitters and rf-structures were done. The HSI commissioning strategy
included beam investigation after each transport and acceleration section,
using a versatile diagnostic test stand. Results of the extensive commissioning
measurements (e.g. transverse emittance, bunch width, beam transmission) behind
LEBT, RFQ, Super Lens, IH tank I and II and stripping section will be
discussed. An 40Ar1+ beam coming from a MUCIS ion source was used to fill the
linac up to the theoretical space charge limit. Routine operation started in
November 1999.


  Low-frequency gravitational wave experiments such as the Laser Interferometer
Space Antenna and pulsar timing arrays are expected to detect individual
massive black hole (MBH) binaries and mergers. However, secure methods of
identifying the exact host galaxy of each MBH merger amongst the large number
of galaxies in the gravitational wave localization region are currently
lacking. We investigate the distinct morphological signatures of MBH merger
host galaxies, using the Romulus25 cosmological simulation. We produce mock
telescope images of 201 simulated galaxies in Romulus25 hosting recent MBH
mergers, through stellar population synthesis and dust radiative transfer.
Based on comparisons to mass- and redshift-matched control samples, we show
that combining multiple morphological statistics via a linear discriminant
analysis enables identification of the host galaxies of MBH mergers, with
accuracies that increase with chirp mass and mass ratio. For mergers with high
chirp masses (>10^8.2 Msun) and high mass ratios (>0.5), the accuracy of this
approach reaches >80%, and does not decline for at least >1 Gyr after numerical
merger. We argue that these trends arise because the most distinctive
morphological characteristics of MBH merger and binary host galaxies are
prominent classical bulges, rather than relatively short-lived morphological
disturbances from their preceding galaxy mergers. Since these bulges are formed
though major mergers of massive galaxies, they lead to (and become permanent
signposts for) MBH binaries and mergers that have high chirp masses and mass
ratios. Our results suggest that galaxy morphology can aid in identifying the
host galaxies of future MBH binaries and mergers.


  We provide a brief review and detailed analysis of the spin-orbit density
wave (SODW), proposed as a possible explanation to the `hidden order' phase of
URu2Si2. Due to the interplay between inter-orbital Coulomb interaction and
spin-orbit coupling (SOC) in this compound, the SODW is shown to arise from
Fermi surface nesting instability between two spin-orbit split bands. An
effective low-energy Hamiltonian including single-particle SOC and two-particle
SODW is derived, while numerical results are calculated by using
density-functional theory (DFT) based band structure input. Computed gapped
quasiparticle spectrum, entropy loss and spin-excitation spectrum are in
detailed agreement with experiments. Interestingly, despite the fact that SODW
governs dynamical spin-excitations, the static magnetic moment is calculated to
be zero, owing to the time-reversal invariance imposed by SOC. As a
consequence, SODW can be destroyed by finite magnetic field even at zero
temperature. Our estimation of the location of the quantum critical point is
close to the experimental value of Bc ~ 35 T. Finally, we extend the idea of
SODW to other SOC systems including iridium oxides (iridates) and
two-dimensional electronic systems such as BiAg2 surface and LaAlO3/SrTiO3
interface. We show hints of quasiparticle gapping, reduction of preexisting
magnetic moment, large magneto-resistance etc. in these systems which can be
explained consistently within the SODW theory.


  Power-law correlations have been observed in packet flow over the Internet.
The possible origin of these correlations includes demand for Internet
services. We observe the demand for e-mail services in an organization, and
analyze correlations in the flow and the sequence of send requests using a
Detrended Fluctuation Analysis (DFA). The correlation in the flow is found to
be weaker than that in the send requests. Four types of artificial flow are
constructed to investigate the effects of fluctuations in e-mail sizes. As a
result, we find that the correlation in the flow originates from that in the
sequence of send requests. The strength of the power-law correlation decreases
as a function of the ratio of the standard deviation of e-mail sizes to their
average.


  Predicting student performance is a fundamental task in Intelligent Tutoring
Systems (ITSs), by which we can learn about students' knowledge level and
provide personalized teaching strategies for them. Researchers have made plenty
of efforts on this task. They either leverage educational psychology methods to
predict students' scores according to the learned knowledge proficiency, or
make full use of Collaborative Filtering (CF) models to represent latent
factors of students and exercises. However, most of these methods either
neglect the exercise-specific characteristics (e.g., exercise materials), or
cannot fully explore the high-order interactions between students, exercises,
as well as knowledge concepts. To this end, we propose a Graph-based Exercise-
and Knowledge-Aware Learning Network for accurate student score prediction.
Specifically, we learn students' mastery of exercises and knowledge concepts
respectively to model the two-fold effects of exercises and knowledge concepts.
Then, to model the high-order interactions, we apply graph convolution
techniques in the prediction process. Extensive experiments on two real-world
datasets prove the effectiveness of our proposed Graph-EKLN.


  As an introduction to NuFact '99, the ICFA/ECFA Workshop on Neutrino
Factories Based on Muon Storage Rings, I place the issues of neutrino
properties and neutrino oscillations in the broader context of fermion flavor.


  We present the analysis of the radio jet evolution of the radio galaxy 3C 120
during a period of prolonged gamma-ray activity detected by the Fermi satellite
between December 2012 and October 2014. We find a clear connection between the
gamma-ray and radio emission, such that every period of gamma-ray activity is
accompanied by the flaring of the mm-VLBI core and subsequent ejection of a new
superluminal component. However, not all ejections of components are associated
with gamma-ray events detectable by Fermi. Clear gamma-ray detections are
obtained only when components are moving in a direction closer to our line of
sight.This suggests that the observed gamma-ray emission depends not only on
the interaction of moving components with the mm-VLBI core, but also on their
orientation with respect to the observer. Timing of the gamma-ray detections
and ejection of superluminal components locate the gamma-ray production to
within almost 0.13 pc from the mm-VLBI core, which was previously estimated to
lie about 0.24 pc from the central black hole. This corresponds to about twice
the estimated extension of the broad line region, limiting the external photon
field and therefore suggesting synchrotron self Compton as the most probable
mechanism for the production of the gamma-ray emission. Alternatively, the
interaction of components with the jet sheath can provide the necessary photon
field to produced the observed gamma-rays by Compton scattering.


  The thermoelectric behaviour of quark-gluon plasma has been studied within
the framework of an effective kinetic theory by adopting a quasiparticle model
to incorporate the thermal medium effects. The thermoelectric response of the
medium has been quantified in terms of the Seebeck coefficient. The dependence
of the collisional aspects of the QCD medium on the Seebeck coefficient has
been estimated by utilizing relaxation time approximation and
Bhatnagar-Gross-Krook collision kernels in the effective Boltzmann equation.
The thermoelectric coefficient is seen to depend on the quark chemical
potential and collision aspects of the medium. Besides, the thermoelectric
effect has been explored in a magnetized medium and the respective transport
coefficients, such as magnetic field-dependent Seebeck coefficient and Nernst
coefficient, have been estimated. The impacts of hot QCD medium interactions
incorporated through the effective model and the magnetic field on the
thermoelectric responses of the medium have been observed to be more prominent
in the temperature regimes not very far from the transition temperature.


  We show that shape moduli in sub-millimeter extra dimensional scenarios,
addressing the gauge hierarchy problem, can dominate the energy density of the
universe today. In our scenario, the volume of the extra dimensions is
stabilized at a sufficiently high scale to avoid conflicts with nucleosynthesis
and solar-system precision gravity experiments, while the shape moduli remain
light but couple extremely weakly to brane-localized matter and easily avoid
these bounds. Nonlocal effects in the bulk of the extra dimension generate a
potential for the shape moduli. The potential has the right form and order of
magnitude to account for the present day cosmic acceleration, in a way
analogous to models of quintessence as a pseudo Nambu-Goldstone boson.


  We explore the possibility of decelerating and Doppler cooling an ensemble of
tree-level $\Lambda$-type atoms by a coherent train of short, non-overlapping
laser pulses. We show that $\Lambda$-atoms can be Doppler cooled without
additional repumping of the population from the intermediate ground state. We
derive analytical expression for the scattering force in the quasi-steady-state
regime and analyze its dependence on pulse train parameters. Based on this
analysis we propose a method of choosing pulse train parameters to optimize the
cooling process.


  We use a five percent sample of Americans' credit bureau data, combined with
a regression discontinuity approach, to estimate the effect of universal health
insurance at age 65-when most Americans become eligible for Medicare-at the
national, state, and local level. We find a 30 percent reduction in debt
collections-and a two-thirds reduction in the geographic variation in
collections-with limited effects on other financial outcomes. The areas that
experienced larger reductions in collections debt at age 65 were concentrated
in the Southern United States, and had higher shares of black residents, people
with disabilities, and for-profit hospitals.


  Consider the Grassmann graph formed by $k$-dimensional subspaces of an
$n$-dimensional vector space over the field of $q$ elements ($1<k<n-1$) and
denote by $\Pi(n,k)_q$ the restriction of this graph to the set of projective
$[n,k]_q$ codes. In the case when $q\ge \binom{n}{2}$, we show that the graph
$\Pi(n,k)_q$ is connected, its diameter is equal to the diameter of the
Grassmann graph and the distance between any two vertices coincides with the
distance between these vertices in the Grassmann graph. Also, we give some
observations concerning the graphs of simplex codes. For example, binary
simplex codes of dimension $3$ are precisely maximal singular subspaces of a
non-degenerate quadratic form.


  The LCLS beam is meant for a single user, but the baseline undulator is long
enough to serve two users simultaneously. To this end, we propose a setup
composed of two elements: an X-ray mirrors pair for X-ray beam deflection, and
a 4 m-long magnetic chicane, which creates an offset for mirrors pair
installation in the middle of the baseline undulator. The insertable mirrors
pair can separate spatially the X-ray beams generated in the first and in the
second half of the baseline undulator. Rapid switching of the FEL amplification
process allows deactivating one half and activating another half of the
undulator. As proposed elsewhere, using a kicker installed upstream of the LCLS
baseline undulator and an already existing corrector in the first half of the
undulator, it is possible to rapidly switch the X-ray beam from one user to
another. We present simulation results for the LCLS baseline, and show that it
is possible to generate two saturated SASE X-ray beams in the whole 0.8-8 keV
photon energy range in the same baseline undulator. These can serve two users.
Our technique does not perturb the baseline mode of operation of the LCLS
undulator. Also, the magnetic chicane setup is very flexible, and can be used
as a self-seeding setup too. We present simulation results for the LCLS
baseline undulator with SHAB. One can produce monochromatic radiation at the
2nd harmonic as well as at the 1st. We describe an efficient way for obtaining
multi-user operation at the LCLS hard X-ray FEL. To this end, a photon beam
distribution system based on the use of crystals in the Bragg reflection
geometry is proposed. The reflectivity of crystal deflectors can be switched
fast enough by flipping the crystals with piezoelectric devices. Monochromatic
hard X-rays can then be distributed among 6 independent experiments, thereby
enabling 6 users to work in parallel in the near and far experimental halls.


  We study the large-scale dynamics of charged particles in a rapidly
oscillating field and formulate its classical and quantum effective theory
description. The high-order perturbative results for the effective action are
presented. Remarkably, the action models the effects of general relativity on
the motion of nonrelativistic particles, with the values of the emergent
curvature and speed of light determined by the field spatial distribution and
frequency. Our results can be applied to a wide range of physical problems
including the high-precision analysis and design of the charged particle traps
and Floquet quantum materials.


  We investigate the preservation of unitarity in a Lorentz and CPT-violating
QED model containing higher-order operators. In particular, we consider
modifications in the fermion sector with dimension-five operators. The
higher-order operators lead to an indefinite metric and a pseudo-unitarity
relation for the $S$-matrix. However, we show that the pseudo-unitarity
condition can be promoted to a genuine unitarity relation by i) restricting the
energies to the effective region far below the Planck mass and ii) considering
stable particles to have positive metric. In the context of the optical
theorem, we focus on the one-loop Bhabha and Compton scattering processes. We
show that no ghost states get propagated through the cuts, thus satisfying the
unitarity condition. Further, we show that discontinuities of propagators are
equivalent to replacing physical Dirac functionals in the cutting equation. The
physical Dirac functionals are defined to select only mode solutions of stable
particles. The provided extension of Cutkosky rule may be helpful for analyzing
perturbative unitarity in higher-order diagrams.


  The existence of Kahler-Einstein metrics on a Fano manifold is characterized
in terms of a uniform gap between 0 and the first positive eigenvalue of the
Cauchy-Riemann operator on smooth vector fields. It is also characterized by a
similar gap between 0 and the first positive eigenvalue for Hamiltonian vector
fields. The underlying tool is a compactness criterion for suitably bounded
subsets of the space of Kahler potentials which implies a positive gap.


  This work explores the effect of noisy sample selection in active learning
strategies. We show on both synthetic problems and real-life use-cases that
knowledge of the sample noise can significantly improve the performance of
active learning strategies. Building on prior work, we propose a robust
sampler, Incremental Weighted K-Means that brings significant improvement on
the synthetic tasks but only a marginal uplift on real-life ones. We hope that
the questions raised in this paper are of interest to the community and could
open new paths for active learning research.


  The Kechris-Pestov-Todor\v{c}evi\'c correspondence (KPT-correspondence for
short) is a surprising correspondence between model theory, combinatorics and
topological dynamics. In this paper we present a categorical re-interpretation
of (a part of) the KPT-correspondence with the aim of proving a dual statement.
Our strategy is to take a "direct" result and then analyze the necessary
infrastructure that makes the result true by providing a purely categorical
proof of the categorical version of the result. We can then capitalize on the
Duality Principle to obtain the dual statements almost for free. We believe
that the dual version of the KPT-correspondence can not only provide the new
insights into the interplay of combinatorial, model-theoretic and topological
phenomena this correspondence binds together, but also explores the limits to
which categorical treatment of combinatorial phenomena can take us.


  Contrary to traditional transit services, supply in ridesourcing systems
emerges from individual labour decisions of gig workers. The effect of
decentralisation in supply on the evolution of on-demand transit services is
largely unknown. To this end, we propose a dynamic model comprising of the
subsequent supply-side processes: (i) initial exposure to information about the
platform, (ii) a long-term registration decision, and (iii) daily participation
decisions, subject to day-to-day learning based on within-day matching
outcomes. We construct a series of experiments to study the effect of supply
market properties and pricing strategies. We find that labour supply in
ridesourcing may be non-linear and undergo several transitions, inducing
significant variations in income levels and level of service over time. Our
results provide indications that the ridesourcing market may benefit from a cap
in supply and regulation of the commission fee.


  Computation capabilities of recent mobile devices enable natural feature
processing for Augmented Reality (AR). However, mobile AR applications are
still faced with scalability and performance challenges. In this paper, we
propose CloudAR, a mobile AR framework utilizing the advantages of cloud and
edge computing through recognition task offloading. We explore the design space
of cloud-based AR exhaustively and optimize the offloading pipeline to minimize
the time and energy consumption. We design an innovative tracking system for
mobile devices which provides lightweight tracking in 6 degree of freedom
(6DoF) and hides the offloading latency from users' perception. We also design
a multi-object image retrieval pipeline that executes fast and accurate image
recognition tasks on servers. In our evaluations, the mobile AR application
built with the CloudAR framework runs at 30 frames per second (FPS) on average
with precise tracking of only 1~2 pixel errors and image recognition of at
least 97% accuracy. Our results also show that CloudAR outperforms one of the
leading commercial AR framework in several performance metrics.


  Optical beams propagating through air acquire phase distortions from
turbulent fluctuations in the refractive index. While these distortions are
usually deleterious to propagation, beams reflected in a turbulent medium can
undergo a local recovery of spatial coherence and intensity enhancement
referred to as enhanced backscatter (EBS). Using a combination of lab-scale
experiments and simulations, we investigate the EBS of optical beams reflected
from corner cubes and rough surfaces, and identify the regimes in which EBS is
most distinctly observed.


  We consider an extension of Leo Breiman's thesis from "Statistical Modeling:
The Two Cultures" to include a bifurcation of algorithmic modeling, focusing on
parametric regressions, interpretable algorithms, and complex (possibly
explainable) algorithms.


  The existence problem for mutually unbiased bases is an unsolved problem in
quantum information theory. A related question is whether every pair of bases
admits vectors that are unbiased to both. Mathematically this translates to the
question whether two Lagrangian Clifford tori intersect, and a body of results
exists concerning it. These (deep!) results are however rather weak when viewed
from the point of view of the first problem. We make a detailed study of how
the intersections behave in the simplest non-trivial case, that of complex
projective 2-space (the qutrit), for which the set of Clifford tori can be
usefully parametrized by the unistochastic subset of Birkhoff's polytope. An
interesting picture emerges. A foray into higher dimensions is included.


  We have considered precession in accretion disks in which a second moment of
inertia relative to an axis perpendicular to the axis of rotation may be very
important. This formalism, that takes into account the precession contribution
to the angular momentum, is based on the existence of a parameter $\it p$ which
determines three characteristic densities resulting from the averaging process
and imposes constraints on the actual disk density. It is shown that the
precession velocity will lie in a three branch solution, and depends on how
large is the disk actual density as compared to the characteristic densities.
Besides the large spread on the solution for the precession velocity, depending
on the density strength, it may be prograde and retrograde. It is shown that
the keplerian thin disk, with very large density values compared to
characteristic ones, only precesses very far away from the primary object,
which implies very large precession periods. For other models, the disk will
thicken, with large deviations from the keplerian approximation. Constraints on
the density only will be effective for very large values of the ratio ${{\dot
M} \over M_{p}}$, respectively, accretion rate and mass of the primary. Under
this condition, the structure of the precessing region is found. Lower bounds
on the precession period are found for not so large values of this ratio.
Deviations from the mean precessional motion are considered. It is shown that
these deviations result in periodic motions as long as the time scales
associated to them are comparable to the remaining time scales. Otherwise, they
result in misalignment motions, forcing the plane of the disk to become normal
to the orbital plane of the secondary.


  A new sandpile model is studied in which bonds of the system are inhibited
for activity after a certain number of transmission of grains. This condition
impels an unstable sand column to distribute grains only to those neighbours
which have toppled less than m times. In this non-Abelian model grains
effectively move faster than the ordinary diffusion (super-diffusion). A novel
system size dependent cross-over from Abelian sandpile behaviour to a new
critical behaviour is observed for all values of the parameter m.


  In this paper, a new global exponential stability criterion is obtained for a
general multidimensional delay difference equation using induction arguments.
In the cases that the difference equation is periodic, we prove the existence
of a periodic solution by constructing a type of Poincar\'e map. The results
are used to obtain stability criteria for a general discrete-time neural
network model with a delay in the leakage terms. As particular cases, we obtain
new stability criteria for neural network models recently studied in the
literature, in particular for low-order and high-order Hopfield and
Bidirectional Associative Memory(BAM).


  We extend the analysis of \cite{Bezrukov:2008ej} of the Standard Model Higgs
inflation accounting for two-loop radiative corrections to the effective
potential. As was expected, higher loop effects result in some modification of
the interval for allowed Higgs masses m_min<m_H<m_max, which somewhat exceeds
the region in which the Standard Model can be considered as a viable effective
field theory all the way up to the Planck scale. The dependence of the index
n_s of scalar perturbations on the Higgs mass is computed in two different
renormalization procedures, associated with the Einstein (I) and Jordan (II)
frames. In the procedure I the predictions of the spectral index of scalar
fluctuations and of the tensor-to-scalar ratio practically do not depend on the
Higgs mass within the admitted region and are equal to n_s=0.97 and r=0.0034
respectively. In the procedure II the index n_s acquires the visible dependence
on the Higgs mass and and goes out of the admitted interval at m_H below m_min.
We compare our findings with the results of \cite{DeSimone:2008ei}.


  We show that a massive black hole binary might resonantly trap a small third
body (e.g. a neutron star) down to a stage when the binary becomes relativistic
due to its orbital decay by gravitational radiation. The final fate of the
third body would be quite interesting for relativistic astrophysics. For
example, the parent binary could expel the third body with a velocity more than
10% of the speed of light. We also discuss the implications of this three-body
system for direct gravitational wave observation.


  We consider the 3D quantum BBGKY hierarchy which corresponds to the
$N$-particle Schr\"{o}dinger equation. We assume the pair interaction is
$N^{3\beta -1}V(N^{\beta}\bullet).$ For interaction parameter $\beta
\in(0,\frac23)$, we prove that, as $N\rightarrow \infty ,$ the limit points of
the solutions to the BBGKY hierarchy satisfy the space-time bound conjectured
by Klainerman-Machedon in 2008. This allows for the application of the
Klainerman-Machedon uniqueness theorem, and hence implies that the limit is
uniquely determined as a tensor product of solutions to the Gross-Pitaevski
equation when the $N$-body initial data is factorized. The first result in this
direction in 3D was obtained by T. Chen and N. Pavlovi\'{c} (2011) for $\beta
\in (0,\frac14)$ and subsequently by X. Chen (2012) for $\beta\in (0,\frac27]$.
We build upon the approach of X. Chen but apply frequency localized
Klainerman-Machedon collapsing estimates and the endpoint Strichartz estimate
in the estimate of the potential part to extend the range to $\beta\in
(0,\frac23)$. Overall, this provides an alternative approach to the mean-field
program by Erd\"os-Schlein-Yau (2007), whose uniqueness proof is based upon
Feynman diagram combinatorics.


  Network theory has unveiled the underlying structure of complex systems such
as the Internet or the biological networks in the cell. It has identified
universal properties of complex networks, and the interplay between their
structure and dynamics. After almost twenty years of the field, new challenges
lie ahead. These challenges concern the multilayer structure of most of the
networks, the formulation of a network geometry and topology, and the
development of a quantum theory of networks. Making progress on these aspects
of network theory can open new venues to address interdisciplinary and physics
challenges including progress on brain dynamics, new insights into quantum
technologies, and quantum gravity.


  The large-scale magnetic fields arising from the quantum mechanical
fluctuations of the hypercharge are investigated when the evolution of the
gauge coupling is combined with a sufficiently long inflationary stage. In this
framework the travelling waves associated with the quantum mechanical initial
conditions turn asymptotically into standing waves which are the gauge analog
of the Sakharov oscillations. Even if the rate of dilution of the hypermagnetic
and hyperelectric fields seems to be superficially smaller than expected from
the covariant conservation of the energy-momentum tensor, the standard
evolution for wavelengths larger than the Hubble radius fully accounts for this
anomalous scaling which is anyway unable to increase the amplitude of the
magnetic power spectra after symmetry breaking. An effective amplification of
the gauge power spectra may instead occur when the post-inflationary expansion
rate is slower than radiation. We stress that the modulations of the gauge
power spectra freeze as soon as the relevant wavelengths reenter the Hubble
radius and not at the end of inflation. After the Mpc scale crosses the
comoving Hubble radius the scaling of the magnetic power spectrum follows from
the dominance of the conductivity. From these two observations the late-time
values of the magnetic power spectra are accurately computed in the case of a
nearly scale-invariant slope and contrasted with the situation where the phases
of Sakharov oscillations are not evaluated at horizon crossing but at the end
of inflation, i.e. when all the wavelengths relevant for magnetogenesis are
still larger than the comoving horizon.


  The sensitivity properties of an SU(1,1) interferometer made of two cascaded
parametric amplifiers, as well as of an ordinary SU(2) interferometer preceded
by a squeezer and followed by an anti-squeezer, are theoretically investigated.
Several possible experimental configurations are considered, such as the
absence or presence of a seed beam, direct or homodyne detection scheme. In all
cases we formulate the optimal conditions to achieve phase super-sensitivity,
meaning a sensitivity overcoming the shot-noise limit. We show that for a given
gain of the first parametric amplifier, unbalancing the interferometer by
increasing the gain of the second amplifier improves the interferometer
properties. In particular, a broader super-sensitivity phase range and a better
overall sensitivity can be achieved by gain unbalancing.


  Accretion onto a highly-magnetised neutron star runs through a magnetospheric
flow, where the plasma follows the magnetic field lines in the force-free
regime. The flow entering the magnetosphere is accelerated by the gravity of
the star and then abruptly decelerated in a shock located above the surface of
the star. For large enough mass accretion rates, most of the radiation comes
from the radiation-pressure-dominated region below the shock, known as
accretion column. Though the one-dimensional, stationary structure of this flow
has been studied for many years, its global dynamics was hardly ever considered
before. Considering the time-dependent structure of an accretion column allows
us to test the stability of the existing stationary analytic solution, as well
as its possible variability modes, and check the validity of its boundary
conditions. Using a conservative scheme, we perform one-dimensional
time-dependent simulations of an ideal radiative MHD flow inside an aligned
dipolar magnetosphere. Whenever thermal pressure locally exceeds magnetic
pressure, the flow is assumed to lose mass. Position of the shock agrees well
with the theoretical predictions below a limit likely associated with advection
effects: if more than $2/3$ of the released power is advected with the flow,
the analytic solution becomes self-inconsistent, and the column starts leaking
at a finite height. Depending on the geometry, this breakdown may broaden the
column, mass-load the field lines, and produce radiation-driven, mildly
relativistic ejecta. Evolving towards the equilibrium position, the shock front
experiences damped oscillations at a frequency close to the inverse sound
propagation time.


  In this paper we show some remarkable consequences of the method which proves
that every bisymmetric, symmetric, reflexive, strictly monotonic binary map on
a proper interval is continuous, in particular it is a quasi-arithmetic mean.
Now we demonstrate that this result can be refined in the way that the symmetry
condition can be weakened by assuming symmetry only for a pair of distinct
points of an interval.


  We report a search for first generation scalar leptoquarks using 1.03 fb^-1
of proton-proton collisions data produced by the Large Hadron Collider at
sqrt(s)=7 TeV and recorded by the ATLAS experiment. Leptoquarks are sought via
their decay into an electron or neutrino and a quark, producing events with two
oppositely charged electrons and at least two jets, or events with an electron,
missing transverse momentum and at least two jets. Control data samples are
used to validate background predictions from Monte Carlo simulation. In the
signal region, the observed event yields are consistent with the background
expectations. We exclude at 95% confidence level the production of first
generation scalar leptoquark with masses m_LQ < 660 (607) GeV when assuming the
branching fraction of a leptoquark to a charged lepton is equal to 1.0 (0.5).


  We develop a unified treatment of the non-Abelian Aharonov-Bohm (AB) effect
in isotropic multiband systems, namely, the scattering of particles on a gauge
field corresponding to a noncommutative Lie group. We present a complex contour
integral representation of the scattering states for such systems, and, using
their asymptotic form, we calculate the differential scattering cross section.
The angular dependence of the cross section turns out to be the same as that
obtained originally by Aharonov and Bohm in their seminal paper, but this time
it depends on the polarization of the incoming plane wave. As an application of
our theory, we perform the contour integrals for the wave functions explicitly
and calculate the corresponding cross section for three non-trivial isotropic
multiband systems relevant to condensed matter and particle physics. To have a
deeper insight into the nature of the scattering, we plot the probability and
current distributions for different incoming waves. This paper is a
generalization of our recent results on the Abelian AB effect providing an
extension of exactly solvable AB scattering problems.


  We present a function which connects the parameter of a previously published
short sequence of selective number-dependent arbitrary phase (SNAP) and
displacement gates acting on a qudit encoded into the Fock states of a
superconducting cavity,
$V_k(\alpha)=D(\alpha)R_\pi(k)D(-2\alpha)R_\pi(k)D(\alpha)$ to the angle of the
Givens rotation $G(\theta)$ on levels $|k\rangle,|k+1\rangle$ that sequence
approximates, namely $\alpha=\Phi(\theta) = \frac{\theta}{4\sqrt{k+1}}$.
Previous publications left the determination of an appropriate $\alpha$ to
numerical optimization at compile time. The map $\Phi$ gives us the ability to
compile directly any $d$-dimensional unitary into a sequence of SNAP and
displacement gates in $O(d^3)$ complex floating point operations with low
constant prefactor, avoiding the need for numerical optimization. Numerical
studies demonstrate that the infidelity of the generated gate sequence $V_k$
per Givens rotation $G$ scales as approximately $O(\theta^6)$. We find
numerically that the error on compiled circuits can be made arbitrarily small
by breaking each rotation into $m$ $\theta/m$ rotations, with the full $d\times
d$ unitary infidelity scaling as approximately $O(m^{-4})$. This represents a
significant reduction in the computational effort to compile qudit unitaries
either to SNAP and displacement gates or to generate them via direct low-level
pulse optimization via optimal control.


  We develop a quantum information protocol that models the biological
behaviors of individuals living in a natural selection scenario. The
artificially engineered evolution of the quantum living units shows the
fundamental features of life in a common environment, such as self-replication,
mutation, interaction of individuals, and death. We propose how to mimic these
bio-inspired features in a quantum-mechanical formalism, which allows for an
experimental implementation achievable with current quantum platforms. This
result paves the way for the realization of artificial life and embodied
evolution with quantum technologies.


  In this paper we present Deep Secure Encoding: a framework for secure
classification using deep neural networks, and apply it to the task of
biometric template protection for faces. Using deep convolutional neural
networks (CNNs), we learn a robust mapping of face classes to high entropy
secure codes. These secure codes are then hashed using standard hash functions
like SHA-256 to generate secure face templates. The efficacy of the approach is
shown on two face databases, namely, CMU-PIE and Extended Yale B, where we
achieve state of the art matching performance, along with cancelability and
high security with no unrealistic assumptions. Furthermore, the scheme can work
in both identification and verification modes.


  In the context of quantum field theory, we derive flavor energy uncertainty
relations for neutrino oscillations. By identifying the non conserved flavor
charges with the clock observables, we arrive at the Mandelstam Tamm version of
time energy uncertainty relations. In the ultrarelativistic limit these
relations yield the well known condition for neutrino oscillations. Ensuing non
relativistic corrections to the latter are explicitly evaluated. The analogy
among flavor states and unstable particles and a novel interpretation of our
uncertainty relations, based on the unitary inequivalence of Fock spaces for
flavor and massive neutrinos, are also discussed.


  We analyse and clarify the finite-size scaling of the weakly-coupled
hierarchical $n$-component $|\varphi|^4$ model for all integers $n \ge 1$ in
all dimensions $d\ge 4$, for both free and periodic boundary conditions. For
$d>4$, we prove that for a volume of size $R^{d}$ with periodic boundary
conditions the infinite-volume critical point is an effective finite-volume
critical point, whereas for free boundary conditions the effective critical
point is shifted smaller by an amount of order $R^{-2}$. For both boundary
conditions, the average field has the same non-Gaussian limit within a critical
window of width $R^{-d/2}$ around the effective critical point, and in that
window we compute the universal scaling profile for the susceptibility. In
contrast, and again for both boundary conditions, the average field has a
massive Gaussian limit when above the effective critical point by an amount
$R^{-2}$. In particular, at the infinite-volume critical point the
susceptibility scales as $R^{d/2}$ for periodic boundary conditions and as
$R^{2}$ for free boundary conditions. We identify a mass generation mechanism
for free boundary conditions that is responsible for this distinction and which
we believe has wider validity, in particular to Euclidean (non-hierarchical)
models on $\mathbb{Z}^d$ in dimensions $d \ge 4$. For $d=4$ we prove a similar
picture with logarithmic corrections. Our analysis is based on the rigorous
renormalisation group method of Bauerschmidt, Brydges and Slade, which we
improve and extend.


  Fully cooperative multiagent systems - those in which agents share a joint
utility model- is of special interest in AI. A key problem is that of ensuring
that the actions of individual agents are coordinated, especially in settings
where the agents are autonomous decision makers. We investigate approaches to
learning coordinated strategies in stochastic domains where an agent's actions
are not directly observable by others. Much recent work in game theory has
adopted a Bayesian learning perspective to the more general problem of
equilibrium selection, but tends to assume that actions can be observed. We
discuss the special problems that arise when actions are not observable,
including effects on rates of convergence, and the effect of action failure
probabilities and asymmetries. We also use likelihood estimates as a means of
generalizing fictitious play learning models in our setting. Finally, we
propose the use of maximum likelihood as a means of removing strategies from
consideration, with the aim of convergence to a conventional equilibrium, at
which point learning and deliberation can cease.


  Let F be a p-adic field with residue class field k. We investigate the
structure of certain mod p universal modules for GL(3,F) over the corresponding
Hecke algebras. To this end, we first study the structure of some mod p
universal modules for the finite group GL(n,k) as modules over the
corresponding Hecke algebras. We then relate this finite case to the p-adic one
by using homological coefficient systems on the the affine Bruhat-Tits building
of GL(3). Suppose now that k has cardinality p. We prove that the mod p
universal module of GL(3,F) relative to the Iwahori subroup is flat and
projective over the Iwahori-Hecke algebra. When replacing the Iwahori subgroup
of GL(3,F) by its pro-p-radical, we prove that the corresponding module is flat
over the pro-p Iwahori-Hecke algebra if and only if p=2.


  Stochastic learning to rank (LTR) is a recent branch in the LTR field that
concerns the optimization of probabilistic ranking models. Their probabilistic
behavior enables certain ranking qualities that are impossible with
deterministic models. For example, they can increase the diversity of displayed
documents, increase fairness of exposure over documents, and better balance
exploitation and exploration through randomization. A core difficulty in LTR is
gradient estimation, for this reason, existing stochastic LTR methods have been
limited to differentiable ranking models (e.g., neural networks). This is in
stark contrast with the general field of LTR where Gradient Boosted Decision
Trees (GBDTs) have long been considered the state-of-the-art. In this work, we
address this gap by introducing the first stochastic LTR method for GBDTs. Our
main contribution is a novel estimator for the second-order derivatives, i.e.,
the Hessian matrix, which is a requirement for effective GBDTs. To efficiently
compute both the first and second-order derivatives simultaneously, we
incorporate our estimator into the existing PL-Rank framework, which was
originally designed for first-order derivatives only. Our experimental results
indicate that stochastic LTR without the Hessian has extremely poor
performance, whilst the performance is competitive with the current
state-of-the-art with our estimated Hessian. Thus, through the contribution of
our novel Hessian estimation method, we have successfully introduced GBDTs to
stochastic LTR.


  A tractable N-state Rabi Hamiltonian is introduced by extending the parity
symmetry of the two-state model. The single-mode case provides a few-parameter
description of a novel class of periodic systems, predicting that the ground
state of certain four-state atom-cavity systems will undergo parity change at
strong coupling. A group-theoretical treatment provides physical insight into
dynamics and a modified rotating wave approximation obtains accurate analytical
energies. The dissipative case can be applied to study excitation energy
transfer in molecular rings or chains.


  The paper describes a novel approach to Spoken Term Detection (STD) in large
spoken archives using deep LSTM networks. The work is based on the previous
approach of using Siamese neural networks for STD and naturally extends it to
directly localize a spoken term and estimate its relevance score. The phoneme
confusion network generated by a phoneme recognizer is processed by the deep
LSTM network which projects each segment of the confusion network into an
embedding space. The searched term is projected into the same embedding space
using another deep LSTM network. The relevance score is then computed using a
simple dot-product in the embedding space and calibrated using a sigmoid
function to predict the probability of occurrence. The location of the searched
term is then estimated from the sequence of output probabilities. The deep LSTM
networks are trained in a self-supervised manner from paired recognition
hypotheses on word and phoneme levels. The method is experimentally evaluated
on MALACH data in English and Czech languages.


  We present 1.4 GHz catalogs for the cluster fields Abell 370 and Abell 2390
observed with the Very Large Array. These are two of the deepest radio images
of cluster fields ever taken. The Abell 370 image covers an area of 40'x40'
with a synthesized beam of ~1.7" and a noise level of ~5.7 uJy near field
center. The Abell 2390 image covers an area of 34'x34' with a synthesized beam
of ~1.4" and a noise level of ~5.6 uJy near field center. We catalog 200
redshifts for the Abell 370 field. We construct differential number counts for
the central regions (radius < 16') of both clusters. We find that the faint
(S_1.4GHz < 3 mJy) counts of Abell 370 are roughly consistent with the highest
blank field number counts, while the faint number counts of Abell 2390 are
roughly consistent with the lowest blank field number counts. Our analyses
indicate that the number counts are primarily from field radio galaxies. We
suggest that the disagreement of our counts can be largely attributed to cosmic
variance.


  A search for the production of a top quark in association with a photon and
additional jets via flavor changing neutral current interactions is presented.
The analysis uses proton-proton collision data recorded by the CMS detector at
a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of
138 fb$^{-1}$. The search is performed by looking for processes where a single
top quark is produced in association with a photon, or a pair of top quarks
where one of the top quarks decays into a photon and an up or charm quark.
Events with an electron or a muon, a photon, one or more jets, and missing
transverse momentum are selected. Multivariate analysis techniques are used to
discriminate signal and standard model background processes. No significant
deviation is observed over the predicted background. Observed (expected) upper
limits are set on the branching fractions of top quark decays: $\mathcal{B}$(t
$\to$ u$\gamma$) $\lt$ 0.95 $\times$ 10$^{-5}$ (1.20 $\times$ 10$^{-5}$) and
$\mathcal{B}$(t $\to$ c$\gamma$) $\lt$ 1.51 $\times$ 10$^{-5}$ (1.54 $\times$
10$^{-5}$) at 95% confidence level, assuming a single nonzero coupling at a
time. The obtained limit for $\mathcal{B}$(t $\to$ u$\gamma$) is similar to the
current best limit, while the limit for $\mathcal{B}$(t $\to$ c$\gamma$) is
significantly tighter than previous results.