title: Adjoints of Composition Operators on Hardy Spaces of the Half-Plane

abstract:
  Building on techniques used in the case of the disc, we use a variety of
methods to develop formulae for the adjoints of composition operators on Hardy
spaces of the upper half-plane. In doing so, we prove a slight extension of a
known necessary condition for the boundedness of such operators, and use it to
provide a complete classification of the bounded composition operators with
rational symbol. We then consider some specific examples, comparing our
formulae with each other, and with other easily deduced formulae for simple
cases.


title:
Linear high-resolution schemes for hyperbolic conservation laws: TVB
  numerical evidence

abstract:
  The Osher-Chakrabarthy family of linear flux-modification schemes is
considered. Improved lower bounds on the compression factors are provided,
which suggest the viability of using the unlimited version. The LLF flux
formula is combined with these schemes in order to obtain efficient
finite-difference algorithms. The resulting schemes are applied to a battery of
numerical tests, going from advection and Burgers equations to Euler and MHD
equations, including the double Mach reflection and the Orszag-Tang 2D vortex
problem. Total-variation-bounded behavior is evident in all cases, even with
time-independent upper bounds. The proposed schemes, however, do not deal
properly with compound shocks, arising from non-convex fluxes, as shown by
Buckley-Leverett test simulations.


title: Catching the zitterbewegung

abstract:
  We demonstrate how the zitterbewegung charge oscillations can be detected
through a charge conductance measurement in a three-terminal junction. By
tuning the spin-orbit interaction strength or an external magnetic field the
zitterbewegung period can be modulated, translating into complementary
conductance oscillations in the two outgoing leads of the junction. The
proposed experimental setup is within the reach of demonstrated technology and
material parameters, and enables the observation of the so far elusive
zitterbewegung phenomenon.


title: Improving the Hadronization of QCD currents in TAUOLA and PHOKHARA

abstract:
  We present our study of the hadronization structure of both vector and
axial-vector currents leading to decays of the tau into two kaons and a pion.
The cornerstones of our framework are the large-N_C limit of QCD, the chiral
structure exhibited at low energies and the proper asymptotic behaviour, ruled
by QCD, that is demanded to the associated form factors. The couplings of the
theory are mostly constrained by this procedure and upon the analysis of BaBar
data on e^+e^- -> KK pi we are able to predict the hadronic spectra.


title: Discrete complex analysis on isoradial graphs

abstract:
  We study discrete complex analysis and potential theory on a large family of
planar graphs, the so-called isoradial ones. Along with discrete analogues of
several classical results, we prove uniform convergence of discrete harmonic
measures, Green's functions and Poisson kernels to their continuous
counterparts. Among other applications, the results can be used to establish
universality of the critical Ising and other lattice models.


title: AGILE observation of a gamma-ray flare from the blazar 3C 279

abstract:
  Context. We report the detection by the AGILE satellite of an intense
gamma-ray flare from the gamma-ray source 3EG J1255-0549, associated to the
Flat Spectrum Radio Quasar 3C 279, during the AGILE pointings towards the Virgo
Region on 2007 July 9-13.
  Aims. The simultaneous optical, X-ray and gamma-ray covering allows us to
study the spectral energy distribution (SED) and the theoretical models
relative to the flaring episode of mid-July.
  Methods. AGILE observed the source during its Science Performance
Verification Phase with its two co-aligned imagers: the Gamma- Ray Imaging
Detector (GRID) and the hard X-ray imager (Super-AGILE) sensitive in the 30 MeV
- 50 GeV and 18 - 60 keV respectively. During the AGILE observation the source
was monitored simultaneously in optical band by the REM telescope and in the
X-ray band by the Swift satellite through 4 ToO observations.
  Results. During 2007 July 9-13 July 2007, AGILE-GRID detected gamma-ray
emission from 3C 279, with the source at ~2 deg from the center of the Field of
View, with an average flux of (210+-38) 10^-8 ph cm^-2 s^-1 for energy above
100 MeV. No emission was detected by Super-AGILE, with a 3-sigma upper limit of
10 mCrab. During the observation lasted about 4 days no significative gamma-ray
flux variation was observed.
  Conclusions. The Spectral Energy Distribution is modelled with a homogeneous
one-zone Synchrotron Self Compton emission plus the contributions by external
Compton scattering of direct disk radiation and, to a lesser extent, by
external Compton scattering of photons from the Broad Line Region.


title: Eigenfunctions in a two-particle Anderson tight binding model

abstract:
  We establish the phenomenon of Anderson localisation for a quantum
two-particle system on a d-dimensional lattice with short-range interaction and
in presence of an IID external potential with sufficiently regular marginal
distribution.


title: A study of binary constraints for seismology of delta Scuti stars

abstract:
  Seismology of single delta Scuti stars has mainly been inhibited by failing
to detect many of the theoretically predicted pulsation modes, resulting in
difficulties with mode identification. Theoretical and observational advances
have, however, helped to overcome this problem, but the following questions
then remain: do we know enough about the star to either use the (few)
identified mode(s) to probe the structure of the star? or improve the
determination of the stellar parameters? It is now generally accepted that for
the observed frequencies to be used successfully as seismic probes for these
objects, we need to concentrate on stars where we can constrain the number of
free parameters in the problem, such as in binary systems or open clusters. The
work presented here, investigates how much is gained in our understanding of
the star, by comparing the information we obtain from a single star with that
of an eclipsing binary system. Singular Value Decomposition is the technique
used to explore the precision we expect in terms of stellar parameters (such as
mass, age and chemical composition).


title: Noncovariant gauges at zero and nonzero temperature

abstract:
  I review the formalism for gauge-field perturbation theory in noncovariant
gauges, particularly the temporal axial gauge. I show that, even at zero
temperature, there are complications and it is not known whether a formalism
exists for handling these that is correct for all calculations. For thermal
field theory in the imaginary time formalism, there are different difficulties,
whose solution so far is known only up to lowest order in the coupling $g$.


title: The shear diffusion coefficient for generalized theories of gravity

abstract:
  Near the horizon of a black brane in Anti-de Sitter (AdS) space and near the
AdS boundary, the long-wavelength fluctuations of the metric exhibit
hydrodynamic behaviour. The gauge-gravity duality then relates the boundary
hydrodynamics for generalized gravity to that of gauge theories with large
finite values of 't Hooft coupling. We discuss, for this framework, the
hydrodynamics of the shear mode in generalized theories of gravity in d+1
dimensions. It is shown that the shear diffusion coefficients of the
near-horizon and boundary hydrodynamics are equal and can be expressed in a
form that is purely local to the horizon. We find that the Einstein-theory
relation between the shear diffusion coefficient and the shear viscosity to
entropy ratio is modified for generalized gravity theories: Both can be
explicitly written as the ratio of a pair of polarization-specific
gravitational couplings but implicate differently polarized gravitons. Our
analysis is restricted to the shear-mode fluctuations for simplicity and
clarity; however, our methods can be applied to the hydrodynamics of all
gravitational and matter fluctuation modes.


title: Soft Leptogenesis without singlet

abstract: This paper has been withdrawn by the author due to crucial errors.


title: Frobenius map on local Calabi-Yau manifolds

abstract:
  We prove results that, for a certain class of non-compact Calabi-Yau
threefolds, relate the Frobenius action on their $p$-adic cohomology to the
Frobenius action on the $p$-adic cohomology of the corresponding curves. In the
appendix, we describe our interpretation of the Griffiths-Dwork method.


title: Relevant energy scale in hybrid mesoscopic Josephson junctions

abstract:
  Transport properties of high quality Nb/semiconductor/Nb long Josephson
junctions based on metamorphic In_0.75Ga_0.25As epitaxial layers are reported.
Different junction geometries and fabrication procedures are presented that
allow a systematic comparison with quasiclassical theory predictions. The
impact of junction transparency is highlighted and a procedure capable of
yielding a high junction quality factor is identified.


title: AC electrolyte conductivity in the $\omega\tau <1$ regime

abstract:
  Details of the dynamic behaviour of different charged clusters in liquids are
discussed. Their associated mass is considered which possesses a number of
interesting features in a normal viscous liquid.


title: Dark companion of baryonic matter

abstract:
  Whenever and wherever one talks of dark matter, one does so when and where
there is a luminous matter and a dynamical issue to be settled. We promote this
observation to the status of an axiom and assume that there is a dark companion
to every luminous matter and there are orders to this companionship. To pursue
the proposition in a formal and quantitative manner, we consider the anomalous
rotation curves of spiral galaxies. From the available observations, we infer
the gravitational potential prevailing in the outer parts of the galaxy and,
thereof, construct the tt- component of the metric of the embedding spacetime.
Next we examine a perfect fluid candidate as the dark companion and solve the
relevant GR equations. We are able to determine the strength and the
distribution of the dark fluid that accompanies a point baryonic mass. Finally,
we argue that the whole paradigm can be explained just as well in terms of an
alternative theory.
  Keywords: Dark matter; Alternative GR; Spiral galaxies, rotation curves of


title: NLO contributions in the pQCD approach

abstract:
  The NLO contributions to some two-body charmless hadronic B meson decays,
such as those from the QCD vertex corrections, the quark loops and the
chromo-magnetic penguins, have been calculated in the pQCD factorization
approach.


title: On the Crepant Resolution Conjecture in the Local Case

abstract:
  In this paper we analyze four examples of birational transformations between
local Calabi-Yau 3-folds: two crepant resolutions, a crepant partial
resolution, and a flop. We study the effect of these transformations on
genus-zero Gromov-Witten invariants, proving the
Coates-Corti-Iritani-Tseng/Ruan form of the Crepant Resolution Conjecture in
each case. Our results suggest that this form of the Crepant Resolution
Conjecture may also hold for more general crepant birational transformations.
They also suggest that Ruan's original Crepant Resolution Conjecture should be
modified, by including appropriate "quantum corrections", and that there is no
straightforward generalization of either Ruan's original Conjecture or the
Cohomological Crepant Resolution Conjecture to the case of crepant partial
resolutions. Our methods are based on mirror symmetry for toric orbifolds.


title:
Lightest Scalar Resonances and the Dynamics of the \gamma\gamma\to\pi\pi
  Reactions

abstract:
  The high-statistics Belle data on the \gamma\gamma\to\pi^+\pi^- and
\gamma\gamma\to\pi^0\pi^0 reactions have been jointly analyzed. The main
dynamical mechanisms of these reactions for energies below 1.5 GeV have been
revealed. It has been shown that the direct coupling constants of the
\sigma(600) and f_0(980) resonances with a \gamma\gamma pair are small and that
the \sigma(600)\to\gamma\gamma and f_0(980)\to\gamma\gamma decays are
four-quark transitions due primarily to \pi^+\pi^- and K^+K^- loop mechanisms,
respectively. The role of the chiral shielding of the \sigma(600) resonance is
emphasized. The widths of the f_0(980)\to\gamma\gamma and
\sigma(600)\to\gamma\gamma decays averaged over the resonance mass
distributions, as well as the width of the f_2(1270)\to\gamma\gamma decay, are
estimated as (\Gamma_{f_0\to\gamma\gamma})_{\pi\pi}\approx 0.19 keV,
(\Gamma_{\sigma \to\gamma\gamma})_{\pi\pi}\approx 0.45 keV, and
\Gamma_{f_2\to\gamma\gamma}(m^2_{f_2})\approx 3.8$ keV.


title:
A parsec scale X-ray extended structure from the X-ray binary Circinus
  X-1

abstract:
  We present the results of the analysis of two Chandra observations of
Circinus X-1 performed in 2007, for a total exposure time of ~50 ks. The source
was observed with the High Resolution Camera during a long X-ray low-flux state
of the source. Cir X-1 is an accreting neutron-star binary system that exhibits
ultra-relativistic arcsec-scale radio jets and an extended arcmin-scale radio
nebula. Furthermore, a recent paper has shown an X-ray excess on arcmin-scale
prominent on the side of the receding radio jet. In our images we clearly
detect X-ray structures both on the side of the receding and the approaching
radio jet. The X-ray emission is consistent with being from synchrotron origin.
Our detection is consistent with neutron-star binaries being as efficient as
black-hole binaries in producing X-ray outflows, despite their shallower
gravitational potential.


title:
On the classification of geometric families of 4-dimensional Galois
  representations

abstract:
  We give a classification theorem for certain four-dimensional families of
geometric $\lambda$-adic Galois representations attached to a pure motive. More
precisely, we consider families attached to the cohomology of a smooth
projective variety defined over $\Q$ with coefficients in a quadratic imaginary
field, non-selfdual and with four different Hodge-Tate weights. We prove that
the image is as large as possible for almost every $\lambda$ provided that the
family is irreducible and not induced from a family of smaller dimension. If we
restrict to semistable families an even simpler classification is given. A
version of the main result is given for the case where the family is attached
to an automorphic form.


title:
In memory of Paco Yndurain: A precise determination of pion-pion
  scattering from experiment and dispersion relations

abstract:
  This talk is dedicated to the memory of Paco Yndurain, the original speaker
in the conference. After a short account of his scientific career, we briefly
review our ongoing collaboration to determine precisely the $\pi\pi$ scattering
amplitude including the most recent data by means of Forward Dispersion
Relations and Roy Equations. A remarkable improvement in precision over the
intermediate energy region is obtained by using once-subtracted Roy Equations
in addition to the standard twice-subtracted ones.


title: Travelling with/against the flow. Deterministic diffusive driven systems

abstract:
  We introduce and study a deterministic lattice model describing the motion of
an infinite system of oppositely charged particles under the action of a
constant electric field. As an application this model represents a traffic flow
of cars moving in opposite directions along a narrow road. Our main results
concern the Fundamental diagram of the system describing the dependence of
average particle velocities on their densities and the Phase diagram describing
the partition of the space of particle configurations into regions having
different qualitative properties, which we identify with free, jammed and
hysteresis phases.

categories: math.DS cond-mat.stat-mech math-ph math.MP math.PR


title: Roma-BZCAT: A multifrequency catalogue of Blazars

abstract:
  We present a new catalogue of blazars based on multi-frequency surveys and on
an extensive review of the literature. Blazars are classified as BL Lacertae
objects, as flat spectrum radio quasars or as blazars of uncertain/transitional
type. Each object is identified by a root name, coded as BZB, BZQ and BZU for
these three subclasses respectively, and by its coordinates. This catalogue is
being built as a tool useful for the identification of the extragalactic
sources that will be detected by present and future experiments for X and
gamma-ray astronomy, like Swift, AGILE, Fermi-GLAST and Simbol-X. An electronic
version is available from the ASI Science Data Center web site at
http://www.asdc.asi.it/bzcat


title: On the combinatorial classification of toric log del Pezzo surfaces

abstract:
  Toric log del Pezzo surfaces correspond to convex lattice polygons containing
the origin in their interior and having only primitive vertices. An upper bound
on the volume and on the number of boundary lattice points of these polygons is
derived in terms of the index l. Techniques for classifying these polygons are
also described: a direct classification for index two is given, and a
classification for all l<17 is obtained.


title: Multipath Channels of Unbounded Capacity

abstract:
  The capacity of discrete-time, noncoherent, multipath fading channels is
considered. It is shown that if the variances of the path gains decay faster
than exponentially, then capacity is unbounded in the transmit power.


title: Modeling usual and unusual anisotropic spheres

abstract:
  In this paper, we study anisotropic spheres built from known static spherical
solutions. In particular, we are interested in the physical consequences of a
"small" departure from a physically sensible configuration. The obtained
solutions smoothly depend on free parameters. By setting these parameters to
zero, the starting seed solution is regained. We apply our procedure in detail
by taking as seed solutions the Florides metrics, and the Tolman IV solution.
We show that the chosen Tolman IV, and also Heint IIa Durg IV,V perfect fluid
solutions, can be used to generate a class of parametric solutions where the
anisotropic factor has features recalling boson stars. This is an indication
that boson stars could emerge by "perturbing" appropriately a perfect fluid
solution (at least for the seed metrics considered). Finally, starting with
Tolman IV, Heint IIa and Durg IV,V solutions, we build anisotropic
gravastar-like sources with the appropriate boundary conditions.


title: Born-Oppenheimer approximation for a harmonic molecule

abstract:
  We apply the Born--Oppenheimer approximation to a harmonic diatomic molecule
with one electron. We compare the exact and approximate results not only for
the internal degrees of freedom but also for the motion of the center of mass.
We address the problem of the permutation symmetry of identical nuclei and
discuss other applications of the model and its limitations.


title: DAFNE Operating Experience with Crab Waist Collisions

abstract:
  The Phi-factory DAFNE was upgraded in the second half of 2007 in order to
implement a recently proposed scheme of crab waist collisions aimed at
substantial luminosity increase. Commissioning of the modified collider started
in November 2007. In this paper we briefly describe the crab waist collision
concept and discuss in detail the DAFNE hardware upgrade and obtained
experimental results.


title: Electroweak constraints from HERA

abstract: A summary of the electroweak results at HERA is presented.


title: Wolfgang Pauli and Modern Physics

abstract:
  In this written version of a pre-dinner-speech at the workshop "The Nature of
Gravity" at ISSI I illustrate Pauli's science primarily with material that has
not formally been published by him, but was communicated in detailed letters to
eminent colleagues and friends.


title: On the existence of k-homogeneous Latin bitrades

abstract:
  Following the earlier work on {homogeneous Latin bitrades by Cavenagh,
Donovan, and Dr'apal (2003 and 2004) Bean, Bidkhori, Khosravi, and E. S.
Mahmoodian (2005) we prove the following results. All k-homogeneous Latin
bitrades of volume km exist, for 1) all odd number k and m is greater than or
equal to k, 2) all even number k > 2 and m is greater than or equal to min{k
+u,3k/2}, where u is any odd number which divides k, 3) all m is greater than
or equal to k, where k is greater than or equal to 3 and is lesser than or
equal to 37.


title:
Dynamical next-to-next-to-leading order parton distributions and the
  perturbative stability of F_L(x,Q^2)

abstract:
  It is shown that the previously noted extreme perturbative instability of the
longitudinal structure function F_L(x,Q^2) in the small Bjorken-$x$ region, is
a mere artefact of the commonly utilized `standard' gluon distributions. In
particular it is demonstrated that using the appropriate -- dynamically
generated -- parton distributions at NLO and NNLO, F_L(x,Q^2) turns out to be
perturbatively rather stable already for Q^2 $\geq$ O(2-3 GeV^2).


title:
Conformational transformations induced by the charge-curvature
  interaction at finite temperature

abstract:
  The role of thermal fluctuations on the conformational dynamics of a single
closed filament is studied. It is shown that, due to the interaction between
charges and bending degrees of freedom, initially circular aggregates may
undergo transformation to polygonal shape. The transition occurs both in the
case of hardening and softening charge-bending interaction. In the former case
the charge and curvature are smoothly distributed along the chain while in the
latter spontaneous kink formation is initiated. The transition to a
non-circular conformation is analogous to the phase transition of the second
kind.


title: A Dissipative Tonks-Girardeau Gas of Molecules

abstract:
  Strongly correlated states in many-body systems are traditionally created
using elastic interparticle interactions. Here we show that inelastic
interactions between particles can also drive a system into the strongly
correlated regime. This is shown by an experimental realization of a specific
strongly correlated system, namely a one-dimensional molecular Tonks-Girardeau
gas.


title:
A Direct Derivation of the Griffith-Irwin Relationship using a Crack tip
  Unloading Stress Wave Model

abstract:
  It is the purpose of this short paper to show that the well known Griffiths
theory of brittle fracture can be re-interpreted as a simple case of a modified
Hamiltonian, and corresponds to a stationary action solution using the
Euler-Lagrange equations. In this derivation it is still necessary to employ
the equivalence with Irwins stress intensity factor approach to obtain the
Griffith-Irwin equation. It is then shown that if physics of fracture is
modelled using a simplified crack tip stress wave unloading model, then the
Griffith-Irwin relationship can be derived in a single process, which is a
major simplification of the procedure. Also the simplified crack tip stress
wave unloading model employed gives a much clearer view of the basic physics of
fracture.
  Keywords: Fracture, Griffiths, Hamiltonians, stress waves.


title:
On the possible observational manifestation of supernova shock impact on
  the neutron star magnetosphere

abstract:
  Impact of supernova explosion on the neutron star magnetosphere in a massive
binary system is considered. The supernova shock striking the NS magnetosphere
filled with plasma can lead to the formation of a magnetospheric tail with
significant magnetic energy. The magnetic field reconnection in the current
sheet formed can convert the magnetic energy stored in the tail into kinetic
energy of accelerated charged particles. Plasma instabilities excited by beams
of relativistic particles can lead to the formation of a short pulse of
coherent radio emission with parameters similar to those of the observed bright
extragalactic millisecond radio burst (Lorimer et al. 2007).


title: Status of the T2K 280m Near Detector

abstract:
  The Tokai-to-Kamioka (T2K) long-baseline neutrino-oscillation experiment is
being prepared for start of operations in Fall 2009. The purpose of T2K is to
measure the oscillation parameters from an intense muon neutrino beam. In order
to make precision measurements of muon neutrino disappearence a new detector
complex (ND280) will be used to identify the profile and composition of the
neutrino beam near its production site. ND280 will also be used to study
important background processes in the measurement of an electron neutrino
appearance signal at Super-K. We will describe the physics goals and technology
choices of ND280.


title: Cancellation of nonlinear Zeeman shifts with light shifts

abstract:
  Nonlinear Zeeman (NLZ) shifts arising from magnetic-field mixing of the two
hyperfine ground-states in alkali atoms lead to splitting of magnetic-resonance
lines. This is a major source of sensitivity degradation and the so-called
"heading errors" of alkali-vapor atomic magnetometers operating in the
geophysical field range (B approx. 0.2-0.7 G). Here, it is shown theoretically
and experimentally that NLZ shifts can be effectively canceled by light shifts
caused by a laser field of appropriate intensity, polarization and frequency, a
technique that can be readily applied in practical situations.


title:
A Numerical Testbed for Hypotheses of Extraterrestrial Life and
  Intelligence

abstract:
  The search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) has been heavily
influenced by solutions to the Drake Equation, which returns an integer value
for the number of communicating civilisations resident in the Milky Way, and by
the Fermi Paradox, glibly stated as: "If they are there, where are they?". Both
rely on using average values of key parameters, such as the mean signal
lifetime of a communicating civilisation. A more accurate answer must take into
account the distribution of stellar, planetary and biological attributes in the
galaxy, as well as the stochastic nature of evolution itself. This paper
outlines a method of Monte Carlo realisation which does this, and hence allows
an estimation of the distribution of key parameters in SETI, as well as
allowing a quantification of their errors (and the level of ignorance therein).
Furthermore, it provides a means for competing theories of life and
intelligence to be compared quantitatively.


title:
Double relics in Abell 2345 and Abell 1240: spectral index and
  polarization analysis

abstract:
  The aim of the present work is to study the radio properties of double relics
in Abell 1240 and Abell 2345 in the framework of double relic formation models.
We present new Very Large Array observations at 20 and 90 cm for these two
clusters. We performed spectral index and polarization analysis and compared
our results with expectations from theoretical models. The presence of double
relics in these two cluster is confirmed by these new observations. Double
relics in Abell 1240 show radio morphology, spectral index and polarization
values in agreement with "outgoing merger shocks" models. One of the relics of
Abell 2345 shows a peculiar morphology and spectral index profile, that are
difficult to reconcile with present scenarios. We suggest a possible origin for
this peculiar relic.


title:
Anomalous Behavior of the Diffusion Coefficient in Interacting
  Adsorbates

abstract:
  Langevin simulations provide an effective way to study collective effects of
Brownian particles immersed in a two-dimensional periodic potential. In this
paper, we concentrate essentially on the behaviour of the tracer (DTr) and bulk
(DB) diffusion coefficients as function of friction. Our simulations show that
in the high friction limit, the two physical quantities DTr and DB present
qualitatively the same behaviour, for both coupled and decoupled substrate
potentials. However, for the low friction regime, and especially for the
coupled potential case, an anomalous diffusion behaviour is found. We also
found that in the case of weak dynamical coupling between the ad-particles and
the substrate, the exponents are not universal and rather depend on the
potentials. Moreover, changes in the inter-particle potentials may reverse the
behaviour to a normal one.


title: Large-Scale Magnetic-Field Generation by Randomly Forced Shearing Waves

abstract:
  A rigorous theory for the generation of a large-scale magnetic field by
random non-helically forced motions of a conducting fluid combined with a
linear shear is presented in the analytically tractable limit of low Rm and
weak shear. The dynamo is kinematic and due to fluctuations in the net
(volume-averaged) electromotive force. This is a minimal proof-of-concept
quasilinear calculation aiming to put the shear dynamo, a new effect recently
found in numerical experiments, on a firm theoretical footing. Numerically
observed scalings of the wavenumber and growth rate of the fastest growing
mode, previously not understood, are derived analytically. The simplicity of
the model suggests that shear dynamo action may be a generic property of
sheared magnetohydrodynamic turbulence.


title:
Enabling Lock-Free Concurrent Fine-Grain Access to Massive Distributed
  Data: Application to Supernovae Detection

abstract:
  We consider the problem of efficiently managing massive data in a large-scale
distributed environment. We consider data strings of size in the order of
Terabytes, shared and accessed by concurrent clients. On each individual
access, a segment of a string, of the order of Megabytes, is read or modified.
Our goal is to provide the clients with efficient fine-grain access the data
string as concurrently as possible, without locking the string itself. This
issue is crucial in the context of applications in the field of astronomy,
databases, data mining and multimedia. We illustrate these requiremens with the
case of an application for searching supernovae. Our solution relies on
distributed, RAM-based data storage, while leveraging a DHT-based, parallel
metadata management scheme. The proposed architecture and algorithms have been
validated through a software prototype and evaluated in a cluster environment.


title:
Distributed Management of Massive Data: an Efficient Fine-Grain Data
  Access Scheme

abstract:
  This paper addresses the problem of efficiently storing and accessing massive
data blocks in a large-scale distributed environment, while providing efficient
fine-grain access to data subsets. This issue is crucial in the context of
applications in the field of databases, data mining and multimedia. We propose
a data sharing service based on distributed, RAM-based storage of data, while
leveraging a DHT-based, natively parallel metadata management scheme. As
opposed to the most commonly used grid storage infrastructures that provide
mechanisms for explicit data localization and transfer, we provide a
transparent access model, where data are accessed through global identifiers.
Our proposal has been validated through a prototype implementation whose
preliminary evaluation provides promising results.


title:
EK Eridani: the tip of the iceberg of giants which have evolved from
  magnetic Ap stars

abstract:
  We observe the slowly-rotating, active, single giant, EK Eri, to study and
infer the nature of its magnetic field directly. We used the spectropolarimeter
NARVAL at the Telescope Bernard Lyot, Pic du Midi Observatory, and the Least
Square Deconvolution method to create high signal-to-noise ratio Stokes V
profiles. We fitted the Stokes V profiles with a model of the large-scale
magnetic field. We studied the classical activity indicators, the CaII H and K
lines, the CaII infrared triplet, and H\alpha line. We detected the Stokes V
signal of EK Eri securely and measured the longitudinal magnetic field Bl for
seven individual dates spanning 60% of the rotational period. The measured
longitudinal magnetic field of EK Eri reached about 100 G and was as strong as
fields observed in RSCVn or FK Com type stars: this was found to be
extraordinary when compared with the weak fields observed at the surfaces of
slowly-rotating MS stars or any single red giant previously observed with
NARVAL. From our modeling, we infer that the mean surface magnetic field is
about 270 G, and that the large scale magnetic field is dominated by a poloidal
component. This is compatible with expectations for the descendant of a
strongly magnetic Ap star.


title: Rare events, escape rates and quasistationarity: some exact formulae

abstract:
  We present a common framework to study decay and exchanges rates in a wide
class of dynamical systems. Several applications, ranging form the metric
theory of continuons fractions and the Shannon capacity of contrained systems
to the decay rate of metastable states, are given.


title:
Entire functions in weighted $L_2$ and zero modes of the Pauli operator
  with non-signdefinite magnetic field

abstract:
  For a real non-signdefinite function $B(z)$, $z\in \C$, we investigate the
dimension of the space of entire analytical functions square integrable with
weight $e^{\pm 2F}$, where the function $F(z)=F(x_1,x_2)$ satisfies the Poisson
equation $\D F=B$. The answer is known for the function $B$ with constant sign.
We discuss some classes of non-signdefinite positively homogeneous functions
$B$, where both infinite and zero dimension may occur. In the former case we
present a method of constructing entire functions with prescribed behavior at
infinity in different directions. The topic is closely related with the
question of the dimension of the zero energy subspace (zero modes) for the
Pauli operator.


title: Two-dimensional spanning webs as (1,2) logarithmic minimal model

abstract:
  A lattice model of critical spanning webs is considered for the finite
cylinder geometry. Due to the presence of cycles, the model is a generalization
of the known spanning tree model which belongs to the class of logarithmic
theories with central charge $c=-2$. We show that in the scaling limit the
universal part of the partition function for closed boundary conditions at both
edges of the cylinder coincides with the character of symplectic fermions with
periodic boundary conditions and for open boundary at one edge and closed at
the other coincides with the character of symplectic fermions with antiperiodic
boundary conditions.

categories: cond-mat.stat-mech hep-th math-ph math.MP


title: Non-Markovian fluctuations in Markovian models of protein dynamics

abstract:
  Recent experiments using fluorescence spectroscopy have been able to probe
the dynamics of conformational fluctuations in proteins. The fluctuations are
Gaussian but do not decay exponentially, and are therefore, non-Markovian. We
present a theory where non-Markovian fluctuation dynamics emerges naturally
from the superposition of the Markovian fluctuations of the normal modes of the
protein. A Rouse-like dynamics of the normal modes provides very good agreement
to the experimentally measured correlation functions. We provide simple scaling
arguments rationalising our results.


title:
An alternative construction of B-M and B-T unitals in Desarguesian
  planes

abstract:
  We present a new construction of non-classical unitals from a classical
unital $U$ in $PG(2,q^2)$. The resulting non-classical unitals are B-M unitals.
The idea is to find a non-standard model $\Pi$ of $PG(2,q^2)$ with the
following three properties: 1. points of $\Pi$ are those of $PG(2,q^2)$; 2.
lines of $\Pi$ are certain lines and conics of $PG(2,q^2)$; 3. the points in
$U$ form a non-classical B-M unital in $\Pi$.
  Our construction also works for the B-T unital, provided that conics are
replaced by certain algebraic curves of higher degree.


title:
Geometry of Third-Order Ordinary Differential Equations and Its
  Applications in General Relativity

abstract:
  A PhD thesis written under supervision of Pawel Nurowski and defended at the
Faculty of Physics of the University of Warsaw.
  We adress the problems of local equivalence and geometry of third order ODEs
modulo contact, point and fibre-preserving transformations of variables.
Several new and already known geometries are described in a uniform manner by
the Cartan method of equivalence. This includes conformal, Weyl and metric
geometries in three and six dimensions and contact projective geometry in
dimension three. Respective connections for these geometries are given and
their curvatures are expressed by contact, point or fibre-preserving relative
invariants of the ODEs.
  We construct Cartan coframes which yield the full set of local invariants and
solve the local problem of contact and point equivalence of the ODEs. We
explicitly describe ODEs admitting at least four-dimensional Lie group of
contact or point symmetries and real ODEs fibre-preserving equivalent to II,
IV, V, VI, VII and XI Chazy classes.


title:
A lower bound for the error term in Weyl's law for certain Heisenberg
  manifolds, II

abstract:
  This article is concerned with estimations from below for the remainder term
in Weyl's law for the spectral counting function of certain rational
(2l+1)-dimensional Heisenberg manifolds. Concentrating on the case of odd l, it
continues the work done in part I which dealt with even l.


title: The Ricci flow on Riemann surfaces

abstract:
  We establish a 1-to-1 relation between metrics on compact Riemann surfaces
without boundary, and mechanical systems having those surfaces as configuration
spaces.


title: Propagation of High Frequency Waves in the Quiet Solar Atmosphere

abstract:
  High-frequency waves (5 mHz to 20mHz) have previously been suggested as a
source of energy accounting partial heating of the quiet solar atmosphere. The
dynamics of previously detected high-frequency waves is analysed here. Image
sequences are taken using the German Vacuum Tower Telescope (VTT), Observatorio
del Teide, Izana, Tenerife, with a Fabry-Perot spectrometer. The data were
speckle reduced and analyzed with wavelets. Wavelet phase-difference analysis
is performed to determine whether the waves propagate. We observe the
propagation of waves in the frequency range 10mHz to 13mHz. We also observe
propagation of low-frequency waves in the ranges where they are thought to be
evanescent in regions where magnetic structures are present.


title: Angular Diameters of the Hyades Giants Measured with the CHARA Array

abstract:
  We present angular diameters of the Hyades giants, gamma, delta^1, epsilon,
and theta^1 Tau from interferometric measurements with the CHARA Array. Our
errors in the limb-darkened angular diameters for these stars are all less than
2%, and in combination with additional observable quantities, we determine the
effective temperatures, linear radii and absolute luminosities for each of
these stars. Additionally, stellar masses are inferred from model isochrones to
determine the surface gravities. These data show that a new calibration of
effective temperatures with errors well under 100K is now possible from
interferometric angular diameters of stars.


title:
Single-photon cooling at the limit of trap dynamics: Maxwell's Demon
  near maximum efficiency

abstract:
  We demonstrate a general and efficient informational cooling technique for
atoms which is an experimental realization of a one-dimensional Maxwell's
Demon. The technique transfers atoms from a magnetic trap into an optical trap
via a single spontaneous Raman transition which is discriminatively driven near
each atom's classical turning point. In this way, nearly all of the atomic
ensemble's kinetic energy in one dimension is removed. We develop a simple
analytical model to predict the efficiency of transfer between the traps and
provide evidence that the performance is limited only by particle dynamics in
the magnetic trap. Transfer efficiencies up to 2.2% are reported. We show that
efficiency can be traded for phase-space compression, and we report compression
up to a factor of 350. Our results represent a 15-fold improvement over our
previous demonstration of the cooling technique.


title: Physics of the central region in the quasar 0850+581

abstract:
  The apparent position of the origin (core) of extragalactic radio jets shifts
with the observing frequency, owing to synchrotron self-absorption and external
absorption. One of the largest core shifts was detected by us in the quasar
0850+581 between 2 and 8 GHz. We have followed this up recently by a dedicated
VLBA experiment at 5, 8, 15, 24, and 43 GHz. First results from this study
enabled estimating the absolute geometry and physical conditions in the
parsec-scale jet origin.


title:
The global covariance matrix of tracks fitted with a Kalman filter and
  an application in detector alignment

abstract:
  We present an expression for the covariance matrix for the set of state
vectors describing a track fitted with a Kalman filter. We demonstrate that
this expression facilitates the use of a Kalman filter track model in a minimum
$\chi^2$ algorithm for the alignment of tracking detectors. We also show that
it allows to incorporate vertex constraints in such a procedure without
refitting the tracks.


title:
Mobility of D atoms on porous amorphous water ice surfaces under
  interstellar conditions

abstract:
  Aims. The mobility of H atoms on the surface of interstellar dust grains at
low temperature is still a matter of debate. In dense clouds, the hydrogenation
of adsorbed species (i.e., CO), as well as the subsequent deuteration of the
accreted molecules depend on the mobility of H atoms on water ice.
Astrochemical models widely assume that H atoms are mobile on the surface of
dust grains even if controversy still exists. We present here direct
experimental evidence of the mobility of H atoms on porous water ice surfaces
at 10 K. Methods. In a UHV chamber, O2 is deposited on a porous amorphous water
ice substrate. Then D atoms are deposited onto the surface held at 10 K.
Temperature-Programmed Desorption (TPD) is used and desorptions of O2 and D2
are simultaneously monitored. Results. We find that the amount of O2 that
desorb during the TPD diminishes if we increase the deposition time of D atoms.
O2 is thus destroyed by D atoms even though these molecules have previously
diffused inside the pores of thick water ice. Our results can be easily
interpreted if D is mobile at 10 K on the water ice surface. A simple rate
equation model fits our experimental data and best fit curves were obtained for
a D atoms diffusion barrier of 22(+-)2 meV. Therefore hydrogenation can take
place efficiently on interstellar dust grains. These experimental results are
in line with most calculations and validate the hypothesis used in several
models.


title: Transit timing effects due to an exomoon

abstract:
  As the number of known exoplanets continues to grow, the question as to
whether such bodies harbour satellite systems has become one of increasing
interest. In this paper, we explore the transit timing effects that should be
detectable due to an exomoon and predict a new observable. We first consider
transit time variation (TTV), where we update the model to include the effects
of orbital eccentricity. We draw two key conclusions: 1) In order to maintain
Hill stability, the orbital frequency of the exomoon will always be higher than
the sampling frequency. Therefore, the period of the exomoon cannot be reliably
determined from TTV, only a set of harmonic frequencies. 2) The TTV amplitude
is proportional to M_S a_S where M_S is the exomoon mass and a_S is the
semi-major axis of the moon's orbit. Therefore, M_S and a_S cannot be
separately determined. We go on to predict a new observable due to exomoons -
transit duration variation (TDV). We derive the TDV amplitude and conclude that
its amplitude is not only detectable, but the TDV signal will provide two
robust advantages: 1) The TDV amplitude is proportional to M_S a_S^{-1/2} and
therefore the ratio of TTV and TDV allows for a separate determination of M_S
and a_S. 2) TDV has a 90 degrees phase difference to the TTV signal, making it
an excellent complementary technique.


title: XROM and RCOM: Two New OGLE-III Real Time Data Analysis Systems

abstract:
  We describe two new OGLE-III real time data analysis systems: XROM and RCOM.
The XROM system has been designed to provide continuous real time photometric
monitoring of the optical counterparts of X-ray sources while RCOM system
provides real time photometry of R Coronae Borealis variable stars located in
the OGLE-III fields. Both systems can be used for triggering follow-up
observations in crucial phases of variability episodes of monitored objects.


title:
The zCOSMOS redshift survey: the three-dimensional classification cube
  and bimodality in galaxy physical properties

abstract:
  Aims. We investigate the relationships between three main optical galaxy
observables (spectral properties, colours, and morphology), exploiting the data
set provided by the COSMOS/zCOSMOS survey. The purpose of this paper is to
define a simple galaxy classification cube, using a carefully selected sample
of around 1000 galaxies. Methods. Using medium resolution spectra of the first
1k zCOSMOS-bright sample, optical photometry from the Subaru/COSMOS
observations, and morphological measurements derived from ACS imaging, we
analyze the properties of the galaxy population out to z~1. Applying three
straightforward classification schemes (spectral, photometric, and
morphological), we identify two main galaxy types, which appear to be linked to
the bimodality of galaxy population. The three parametric classifications
constitute the axes of a "classification cube". Results. A very good agreement
exists between the classification from spectral data (quiescent/star-forming
galaxies) and that based on colours (red/blue galaxies). The third parameter
(morphology) is less well correlated with the first two: in fact a good
correlation between the spectral classification and that based on morphological
analysis (early-/late-type galaxies) is achieved only after partially
complementing the morphological classification with additional colour
information. Finally, analyzing the 3D-distribution of all galaxies in the
sample, we find that about 85% of the galaxies show a fully concordant
classification, being either quiescent, red, bulge-dominated galaxies (~20%) or
star-forming, blue, disk-dominated galaxies (~65%). These results imply that
the galaxy bimodality is a consistent behaviour both in morphology, colour and
dominant stellar population, at least out to z~1.


title: Atom-atom entanglement generated at early times by two photon emission

abstract:
  We analyze entanglement generation between a pair of neutral two level atoms
that are initially excited in a common electromagnetic vacuum. The nonlocal
correlations that appear due to the interaction with the field can become
entanglement when the field state is known. We distinguish two different
situations: in the first, the field remains in the vacuum state, and second two
photons are present in the final state. In both cases we study the dependence
of the entanglement with time and interatomic distance, at ranges related with
locality issues.


title:
The q-Log-convexity of the Generating Functions of the Squares of
  Binomial Coefficients

abstract:
  We prove a conjecture of Liu and Wang on the q-log-convexity of the
polynomial sequence $\{\sum_{k=0}^n{n\choose k}^2q^k\}_{n\geq 0}$. By using
Pieri's rule and the Jacobi-Trudi identity for Schur functions, we obtain an
expansion of a sum of products of elementary symmetric functions in terms of
Schur functions with nonnegative coefficients. Then the principal
specialization leads to the q-log-convexity. We also prove that a technical
condition of Liu and Wang holds for the squares of the binomial coefficients.
Hence we deduce that the linear transformation with respect to the triangular
array $\{{n\choose k}^2\}_{0\leq k\leq n}$ is log-convexity preserving.


title:
MCAO near-IR photometry of the Globular Cluster NGC 6388: MAD
  observations in crowded fields

abstract:
  Deep photometry of crowded fields, such as Galactic Globular Clusters, is
severely limited by the actual resolution of ground-based telescopes. On the
other hand, the Hubble Space Telescope does not provide the near-infrared (NIR)
filters needed to allow large color baselines. In this work we aim at
demonstrating how ground based observations can reach the required resolution
when using Multi-Conjugated Adaptive Optic (MCAO) devices in the NIR, such as
the experimental infrared camera (MAD) available on the VLT. This is
particularly important since these corrections are planned to be available on
all ground--based telescopes in the near future. We do this by combining the
infrared photometry obtained by MAD/VLT with ACS/HST optical photometry of our
scientific target, the bulge globular cluster NGC 6388, in which we imaged two
fields. In particular, we constructed color-magnitude diagrams with an
extremely wide color baseline in order to investigate the presence of multiple
stellar populations in this cluster. From the analysis of the external field,
observed with better seeing conditions, we derived the deepest optical-NIR CMD
of NGC 6388 to date. The high-precision photometry reveals that two distinct
sub-giant branches are clearly present in this cluster. We also use the CMD
from the central region to estimate the distance ((m-M)=15.33) and the
reddening (E(B-V)=0.38) for this cluster. We estimate the age to be ~11.5+/-
1.5 Gyr. The large relative-age error reflects the bimodal distribution of the
SGB stars. This study clearly demonstrates how MCAO correction in the NIR bands
implemented on ground based telescopes can complement the high-resolution
optical data from HST.


title: Growth estimates for Dyson-Schwinger equations

abstract:
  Dyson-Schwinger equations are integral equations in quantum field theory that
describe the Green functions of a theory and mirror the recursive decomposition
of Feynman diagrams into subdiagrams. Taken as recursive equations, the
Dyson-Schwinger equations describe perturbative quantum field theory. However,
they also contain non-perturbative information.
  Using the Hopf algebra of Feynman graphs we will follow a sequence of
reductions to convert the Dyson-Schwinger equations to the following system of
differential equations,
  \[
  \gamma_1^r(x) = P_r(x) - \sgn(s_r)\gamma_1^r(x)^2 + (\sum_{j \in
\mathcal{R}}|s_j|\gamma_1^j(x)) x \partial_x \gamma_1^r(x) \] where $r \in
\mathcal{R}$, $\mathcal{R}$ is the set of amplitudes of the theory which need
renormalization, $\gamma_1^r$ is the anomalous dimension associated to $r$,
$P_r(x)$ is a modified version of the function for the primitive skeletons
contributing to $r$, and $x$ is the coupling constant. Next, we approach the
new system of differential equations as a system of recursive equations by
expanding $\gamma_1^r(x) = \sum_{n \geq 1}\gamma^r_{1,n} x^n$. We obtain the
radius of convergence of $\sum \gamma^r_{1,n}x^n/n!$ in terms of that of $\sum
P_r(n)x^n/n!$. In particular we show that a Lipatov bound for the growth of the
primitives leads to a Lipatov bound for the whole theory. Finally, we make a
few observations on the new system considered as differential equations.


title:
Gamma-Ray Burst afterglow scaling coefficients for general density
  profile

abstract:
  Gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglows are well described by synchrotron emission
originating from the interaction between a relativistic blast wave and the
external medium surrounding the GRB progenitor. We introduce a code to
reconstruct spectra and light curves from arbitrary fluid configurations,
making it especially suited to study the effects of fluid flows beyond those
that can be described using analytical approximations. As a check and first
application of our code we use it to fit the scaling coefficients of
theoretical models of afterglow spectra. We extend earlier results of other
authors to general circumburst density profiles. We rederive the physical
parameters of GRB 970508 and compare with other authors


title:
Effect of multiple reusing of simulated air showers in detector
  simulations

abstract:
  The study of high energy cosmic rays requires detailed Monte Carlo
simulations of both, extensive air showers and the detectors involved in their
detection. In particular, the energy calibration of several experiments is
obtained from simulations. Also, in composition studies simulations play a
fundamental role because the primary mass is determined by comparing
experimental with simulated data. At the highest energies the detailed
simulation of air showers is very costly in processing time and disk space due
to the large number of secondary particles generated in interactions with the
atmosphere. Therefore, in order to increase the statistics, it is quite common
to recycle single showers many times to simulate the detector response. As a
result, the events of the Monte Carlo samples generated in this way are not
fully independent. In this work we study the artificial effects introduced by
the multiple use of single air showers for the detector simulations. In
particular, we study in detail the effects introduced by the repetitions in the
kernel density estimators which are frequently used in composition studies.


title: Approximate forms of the density of states

abstract:
  We compare MC calculations of the density of states in SU(2) pure gauge
theory with the weak and strong coupling expansions. Surprisingly, the range of
validity of the two approximations overlap significantly, however the large
order behavior of both expansions appear to be similar to the corresponding
expansions of the plaquette. We discuss the implications for the calculation of
the Fisher's zeros of the partition function.


title: The Geometry of Filtering

abstract:
  Geometry arising from two diffusion operators (smooth semi-elliptic, second
order differential operators) on different spaces but intertwined by a smooth
map is described. Particular cases arise from Riemannian submersions when the
operators are Laplace-Beltrami operators, from equivariant operators on the
total space of a principal bundle, and for the operators on the diffeomorphism
group arising from stochastic flows. Classical non-linear filtering problems
also lead to such conffigurations. A basic tool is the, possibly, non-linear
"semi-connection" induced by this set up, leading to a canonical decomposition
of the operator on the domain space. Topics discussed include: generalised
Wietzenbock curvatures arising in the equivariant case, skew -product
decompositions of diffusion processes, conditioned processes, classical
filtering, decomposition of stochastic flows, and connections determined by
stochastic differential equations.


title: Tunable Hydrogen Storage in Magnesium - Transition Metal Compounds

abstract:
  Magnesium dihydride ($\mgh$) stores 7.7 weight % hydrogen, but it suffers
from a high thermodynamic stability and slow (de)hydrogenation kinetics.
Alloying Mg with lightweight transition metals (TM = Sc, Ti, V, Cr) aims at
improving the thermodynamic and kinetic properties. We study the structure and
stability of Mg$_x$TM$_{1-x}$H$_2$ compounds, $x=[0$-1], by first-principles
calculations at the level of density functional theory. We find that the
experimentally observed sharp decrease in hydrogenation rates for $x\gtrsim0.8$
correlates with a phase transition of Mg$_x$TM$_{1-x}$H$_2$ from a fluorite to
a rutile phase. The stability of these compounds decreases along the series Sc,
Ti, V, Cr. Varying the transition metal (TM) and the composition $x$, the
formation enthalpy of Mg$_x$TM$_{1-x}$H$_2$ can be tuned over the substantial
range 0-2 eV/f.u. Assuming however that the alloy Mg$_x$TM$_{1-x}$ does not
decompose upon dehydrogenation, the enthalpy associated with reversible
hydrogenation of compounds with a high magnesium content ($x=0.75$) is close to
that of pure Mg.


title: On a Quantum Action Principle

abstract:
  A quantum version of the action principle is formulated in terms of real
parameters of a wave functional. The classical limit of the quantum action of a
harmonic oscillator is obtained.


title: Tachyon Couplings to Fermion

abstract:
  By fixing the internal CP factor of tachyon and massless Ramond vertex
operators in different pictures, we have shown that the internal CP factor of
the disk level S-matrix elements of two fermions and odd number of tachyon
vertex operators in the world volume of non-BPS D-branes/D-brane-anti-D-brane
is zero. We have calculated the S-matrix element of two fermions and two
tachyons which has non vanishing internal CP factor, and found the momentum
expansion of this amplitude. In the abelian case, we have compared the
two-fermion-two-tachyon coupling at low energy with the corresponding coupling
in the gauge-fixed supersymmetric tachyon DBI action. The couplings in the two
cases are exactly the same.


title: The gl_2 Bethe algebra associated with a nilpotent element

abstract:
  To any 2x2-matrix K one assigns a commutative subalgebra B^{K}\subset
U(gl_2[t]) called a Bethe algebra. We describe relations between the Bethe
algebras, associated with the zero matrix and a nilpotent matrix.


title: Properties of the phi meson at high temperatures and densities

abstract:
  We calculate the spectral density of the phi meson in a hot bath of nucleons
and pions using a general formalism relating self-energy to the forward
scattering amplitude (FSA). In order to describe the low energy FSA, we use
experimental data along with a background term. For the high energy FSA, a
Regge parameterization is employed. We verify the resulting FSA using
dispersion techniques. We find that the position of the peak of the spectral
density is slightly shifted from its vacuum position and that its width is
considerably increased. The width of the spectral density at a temperature of
150 MeV and at normal nuclear density is more than 90 MeV.


title: Hadronic quarkonium decays at order v^7

abstract:
  We compute the complete imaginary part of the NRQCD Lagrangian at order 1/M^4
in the heavy-quark mass expansion, which includes center of mass operators, and
at order alpha_s^2 in the matching coefficients. We also compute the imaginary
part of the NRQCD Lagrangian at order 1/M^6 and at order alpha_s^2 that
contributes to the S-wave and P-wave inclusive decay widths of heavy quarkonium
into light hadrons at order v^7 in the heavy-quark velocity expansion. If we
count alpha_s(M) ~ v^2, the calculation provides the complete next-to-leading
order corrections to the P-wave hadronic widths, and in the original NRQCD
power counting, the complete next-to-leading order corrections to the vector
S-wave widths, and part of the next-to-next-to leading order corrections to the
pseudoscalar S-wave widths. In the S-wave case, we confirm previous findings
and add new terms in a more conservative power counting. In the P-wave case,
our results are in disagreement with previous ones. Constraints induced by
Poincare' invariance on the NRQCD four-fermion sector are studied for the first
time and provide an additional check of the calculation. Perspectives for
phenomenological applications are discussed.


title: Rational functions with real multipliers

abstract:
  Let f be a rational function such that the multipliers of all repelling
periodic points are real. We prove that the Julia set of such a function
belongs to a circle. Combining this with a result of Fatou we conclude that
whenever J(f) belongs to a smooth curve, it also belongs to a circle. Then we
discuss rational functions whose Julia sets belong to a circle.


title: Measurement of Charmless B to Vector-Vector decays at BaBar

abstract:
  We present results of B -> vector-vector (VV) and B -> vector-axial vector
(VA) decays B0 -> phi X (X = phi, rho+ or rho0), B+ -> phi K(*)+, B0 -> K*K*,
B0 -> rho+b_1- and B+ -> K*0a_1+. The largest dataset used for these results is
based on 465 * 10^6 Y(4S) -> BB decays, collected with the BABAR detector at
the PEP-II B meson factory located at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center
(SLAC).


title: On freeze-out problem in relativistic hydrodynamics

abstract:
  A finite unbound system which is equilibrium in one reference frame is in
general nonequilibrium in another frame. This is a consequence of the relative
character of the time synchronization in the relativistic physics. This puzzle
was a prime motivation of the Cooper--Frye approach to the freeze-out in
relativistic hydrodynamics. Solution of the puzzle reveals that the
Cooper--Frye recipe is far not a unique phenomenological method that meets
requirements of energy-momentum conservation. Alternative freeze-out recipes
are considered and discussed.


title: A continuous rating method for preferential voting

abstract:
  A method is given for quantitatively rating the social acceptance of
different options which are the matter of a preferential vote. The proposed
method is proved to satisfy certain desirable conditions, among which there is
a majority principle, a property of clone consistency, and the continuity of
the rates with respect to the data. One can view this method as a quantitative
complement for a qualitative method introduced in 1997 by Markus Schulze. It is
also related to certain methods of one-dimensional scaling or cluster analysis.


title:
Gravitational Wave Burst Source Direction Estimation using Time and
  Amplitude Information

abstract:
  In this article we study two problems that arise when using timing and
amplitude estimates from a network of interferometers (IFOs) to evaluate the
direction of an incident gravitational wave burst (GWB). First, we discuss an
angular bias in the least squares timing-based approach that becomes
increasingly relevant for moderate to low signal-to-noise ratios. We show how
estimates of the arrival time uncertainties in each detector can be used to
correct this bias. We also introduce a stand alone parameter estimation
algorithm that can improve the arrival time estimation and provide
root-sum-squared strain amplitude (hrss) values for each site. In the second
part of the paper we discuss how to resolve the directional ambiguity that
arises from observations in three non co-located interferometers between the
true source location and its mirror image across the plane containing the
detectors. We introduce a new, exact relationship among the hrss values at the
three sites that, for sufficiently large signal amplitudes, determines the true
source direction regardless of whether or not the signal is linearly polarized.
Both the algorithm estimating arrival times, arrival time uncertainties, and
hrss values and the directional follow-up can be applied to any set of
gravitational wave candidates observed in a network of three non co-located
interferometers. As a case study we test the methods on simulated waveforms
embedded in simulations of the noise of the LIGO and Virgo detectors at design
sensitivity.


title: Microlensing of close binary stars

abstract:
  The gravity due to a multiple-mass system has a remarkable gravitational
effect: the extreme magnification of background light sources along extended
so-called caustic lines. This property has been the channel for some remarkable
astrophysical discoveries over the past decade, including the detection and
characterisation of extra-solar planets, the routine analysis of
limb-darkening, and, in one case, limits set on the apparent shape of a star
several kiloparsec distant. In this paper we investigate the properties of the
microlensing of close binary star systems. We show that in some cases it is
possible to detect flux from the Roche lobes of close binary stars. Such
observations could constrain models of close binary stellar systems.


title: Exotic phases of finite temperature SU(N) gauge theories

abstract:
  We calculate the phase diagrams at high temperature of SU(N) gauge theories
with massive fermions by minimizing the one-loop effective potential.
Considering fermions in the adjoint (Adj) representation at various N we
observe a variety of phases when Nf >= 2 Majorana flavours and periodic
boundary conditions are applied to fermions. Also the confined phase is
perturbatively accessible. For N = 3, we add Fundamental (F) representation
fermions with antiperiodic boundary conditions to adjoint QCD to show how the
Z(3)-symmetry breaks in the confined phase.


title: Non-supersymmetric Orientifolds of Gepner Models

abstract:
  Starting from a previously collected set of tachyon-free closed strings, we
search for N=2 minimal model orientifold spectra which contain the standard
model and are free of tachyons and tadpoles at lowest order. For each class of
tachyon-free closed strings -- bulk supersymmetry, automorphism invariants or
Klein bottle projection -- we do indeed find non-supersymmetric and tachyon
free chiral brane configurations that contain the standard model. However, a
tadpole-cancelling hidden sector could only be found in the case of bulk
supersymmetry. Although about half of the examples we have found make use of
branes that break the bulk space-time supersymmetry, the resulting massless
open string spectra are nevertheless supersymmetric in all cases. Dropping the
requirement that the standard model be contained in the spectrum, we find
chiral tachyon and tadpole-free solutions in all three cases, although in the
case of bulk supersymmetry all massless spectra are supersymmetric. In the
other two cases we find truly non-supersymmetric spectra, but a large fraction
of them are nevertheless partly or fully supersymmetric at the massless level.


title: Photon data shed new light upon the GDR spreading width in heavy nuclei

abstract:
  A global study of the electric dipole strength in and below the isovector
giant dipole resonance (GDR) is presented for mass numbers A>80. It relies on
the recently established remarkably good match between data for the nuclear
photo effect to novel photon scattering data covering the region below the
neutron emission threshold as well as by average resonance neutron capture
(ARC). From the wide energy coverage of these data the correlation of the GDR
spreading width with energy can be studied with remarkable accuracy. A clear
sensitivity to details of the nuclear shape, i.e. the beta- and
gamma-deformations, is demonstrated. Based hereon a new parameterization of the
energy dependence of the nuclear electric-dipole strength is proposed which -
with only two new parameters - allows to describe the dipole strength in all
heavy nuclei with A>80. Although it differs significantly from previous
parameterizations it holds for spherical, transitional, triaxial and well
deformed nuclei. The GDR spreading width depends in a regular way on the
respective resonance energy, but it is independent of the photon energy.


title:
The nonlocal correlation: A key to the solution of the CO adsorption
  puzzle

abstract:
  We study the chemisorption of CO molecule into sites of different
coordination on (111) surfaces of late 4d and 5d transition metals. In an
attempt to solve the well-known CO adsorption puzzle we have applied the
relatively new vdW-DF theory of nonlocal correlation. The application of the
vdW-DF functional in all considered cases improves or completely solves the
discrepancies of the adsorption site preference and improves the value of the
adsorption energy. By introducing a cutoff distance for nonlocal interaction we
pinpoint the length scale at which the correlation plays a major role in the
systems considered.


title: The reducts of equality up to primitive positive interdefinability

abstract:
  We initiate the study of reducts of relational structures up to primitive
positive interdefinability: After providing the tools for such a study, we
apply these tools in order to obtain a classification of the reducts of the
logic of equality. It turns out that there exists a continuum of such reducts.
Equivalently, expressed in the language of universal algebra, we classify those
locally closed clones over a countable domain which contain all permutations of
the domain.


title: Earth: 15 Million Years Ago

abstract:
  In Einstein's general relativity theory the metric component gxx in the
direction of motion (x-direction) of the sun deviates from unity due to a
tensor potential caused by the black hole existing around the center of the
galaxy. Because the solar system is orbiting around the galactic center at 200
km/s, the theory shows that the Newtonian gravitational potential due to the
sun is not quite radial. At the present time, the ecliptic plane is almost
perpendicular to the galactic plane, consistent with this modification of the
Newtonian gravitational force. The ecliptic plane is assumed to maintain this
orientation in the galactic space as it orbits around the galactic center, but
the rotational angular momentum of the earth around its own axis can be assumed
to be conserved. The earth is between the sun and the galactic center at the
summer solstice all the time. As a consequence, the rotational axis of the
earth would be parallel to the axis of the orbital rotation of the earth 15
million years ago, if the solar system has been orbiting around the galactic
center at 200 km/s. The present theory concludes that the earth did not have
seasons 15 million years ago. Therefore, the water on the earth was accumulated
near the poles as ice and the sea level was very low. Geological evidence
exists that confirms this effect. The resulting global ice-melting started 15
million years ago and is ending now.


title:
Reflection dominated X-ray spectra of Narrow Line Seyfert 1 Galaxies:
  Mrk 478 and EXO 1346.2+2645

abstract:
  Multi-epoch XMM-Newton spectra of the two Narrow Line Seyfert 1 (NLS1), Mrk
478 and EXO 1346.2+2645, are presented. The data were fitted with different
models, including the relativistically-blurred reflection model reflionx, which
was found to give a good description of both spectra in all epochs. The two
sources are reflection dominated with the illuminating continuum hidden from
view. This can be explained either in terms of a corrugated disc or strong
gravitational light bending effects. The emission from these two sources comes
from a very small region (few gravitational radii), very close to a rapidly
spinning black hole.
  Spectral variability analysis show that both sources have constant RMS
spectra, and constant hardness ratios in all epochs, in agreement with a single
spectral component. The constancy the spectrum between high and low states
rules out alternative models such as partial covering.


title:
JuNoLo - Julich Non Local code for parallel calculation of vdW-DF
  nonlocal density functional theory

abstract:
  Nowadays the state of the art Density Functional Theory (DFT) codes are based
on local (LDA) or semilocal (GGA) energy functionals. Recently the theory of a
truly nonlocal energy functional has been developed. It has been used mostly as
a post DFT calculation approach, i.e. by applying the functional on the charge
density calculated using any standard DFT code, thus obtaining a new improved
value for the total energy of the system. Nonlocal calculation is
computationally quite expensive and scales as N^2 where N is the number of
points in which charge density is defined, and a massively parallel calculation
is essential for a wider applicability of the new approach. In this article we
present a code which acomplishes this goal.


title:
Observation of a Fractional Quantum Hall State at $\nu=1/4$ in a Wide
  GaAs Quantum Well

abstract:
  We report the observation of an even-denominator fractional quantum Hall
(FQH) state at $\nu=1/4$ in a high quality, wide GaAs quantum well. The sample
has a quantum well width of 50 nm and an electron density of
$n_e=2.55\times10^{11}$ cm$^{-2}$. We have performed transport measurements at
$T\sim35$ mK in magnetic fields up to 45 T. When the sample is perpendicular to
the applied magnetic field, the diagonal resistance displays a kink at
$\nu=1/4$. Upon tilting the sample to an angle of $\theta=20.3^o$ a clear FQH
state at emerges at $\nu=1/4$ with a plateau in the Hall resistance and a
strong minimum in the diagonal resistance.


title: Our climate fix must be big and quick

abstract:
  We need enough new carbon sinks to 1) cancel out any continuing use of fossil
fuels, 2) overcome the delayed effect of earlier excesses, and then 3) lower
atmospheric CO2 concentrations to the old maximum value of 280 ppm. We need to
sink about 25 billion tonnes of carbon each year, half to counter current
emissions and commitments, and half for drawing down the CO2 concentrations
within a few decades. A very large carbon sink could be created by sinking
sewage in offshore dead zones. Half of all people live close enough to a coast
to personally contribute, making the sink size close to half the annual food
production.


title:
A generalized portmanteau test of independence between two stationary
  time series

abstract:
  We propose generalized portmanteau-type test statistics in the frequency
domain to test independence between two stationary time series. The test
statistics are formed analogous to the one in Chen and Deo (2004, Econometric
Theory 20, 382-416), who extended the applicability of portmanteau
goodness-of-fit test to the long memory case. Under the null hypothesis of
independence, the asymptotic standard normal distributions of the proposed
statistics are derived under fairly mild conditions. In particular, each time
series is allowed to possess short memory, long memory or anti-persistence. A
simulation study shows that the tests have reasonable size and power
properties.


title:
Collective States of Interacting Anyons, Edge States, and the Nucleation
  of Topological Liquids

abstract:
  Quantum mechanical systems, whose degrees of freedom are so-called su(2)_k
anyons, form a bridge between ordinary SU(2) spin systems and systems of
interacting non-Abelian anyons. Such a connection can be made for arbitrary
spin-S systems, and we explicitly discuss spin-1/2 and spin-1 systems. Anyonic
spin-1/2 chains exhibit a topological protection mechanism that stabilizes
their gapless ground states and which vanishes only in the limit (k to
infinity) of the ordinary spin-1/2 Heisenberg chain. For anyonic spin-1 chains
we find their phase diagrams to closely mirror the one of the biquadratic SU(2)
spin-1 chain. Our results describe at the same time nucleation of different 2D
topological quantum fluids within a `parent' non-Abelian quantum Hall state,
arising from a macroscopic occupation of localized, interacting anyons. The
edge states between the `nucleated' and the `parent' liquids are neutral, and
correspond precisely to the gapless modes of the anyonic chains.


title: Heavy B Hadrons

abstract:
  The CDF and D0 experiments have successfully collected data since start of
the Run II at the Tevatron Collider in 2001. The large B-meson production
cross-section and the possibility to produce all kind of B hadron states,
opened to the two collaborations the possibility to study with high precision
the tiny effects of CP-violation in the Heavy B hadrons system, and to search
for new physics effects in rare decays, in a way unavailable to the previous
generation experiments. A new and largely unknown sector of the Heavy Flavor
physics, complementary to the one already tested with precision at the
B-factories, as recently pointed out by I. Bigi, has begun to be explored in
search of possible signs of new physics. In this short note a selection of the
most recent results on heavy B hadrons (mostly Bs mesons) from the Fermilab
Tevatron, and from the Belle experiment running at the Y(5S) are reviewed.


title: On finite functions with non-trivial arity gap

abstract:
  Given an $n$-ary
  $k-$valued function $f$, $gap(f)$ denotes the minimal number of essential
variables in $f$ which become fictive when identifying any two distinct
essential variables in $f$.
  We particularly solve a problem concerning the explicit determination of
$n$-ary
  $k-$valued functions $f$ with $2\leq gap(f)\leq n\leq k$. Our methods yield
new combinatorial results about the number of such functions.


title: He3 bi-layers as a simple example of de-confinement

abstract:
  We consider the recent experiments on He3 bi-layers, showing evidence for a
quantum critical point (QCP) at which the first layer localizes. Using the
Anderson lattice in two dimensions with the addition of a small dispersion of
the f-fermion, we modelize the system of adsorbed He3 layers. The first layer
represents the f-fermions at the brink of localization while the second layer
behaves as a free Fermi sea. We study the quantum critical regime of this
system, evaluate the effective mass in the Fermi liquid phase and the coherence
temperature and give a fit of the experiments and interpret its main features.
Our model can serve as well as a predictive tool used for better determination
of the experimental parameters.


title: LHC Phenomenology for Physics Hunters

abstract:
  Welcome to the 2008 TASI lectures on the exciting topic of `tools and
technicalities' (original title). Technically, LHC physics is really all about
perturbative QCD in signals or backgrounds. Whenever we look for interesting
signatures at the LHC we get killed by QCD. Therefore, I will focus on QCD
issues which arise for example in Higgs searches or exotics searches at the
LHC, and ways to tackle them nowadays. In the last section you will find a few
phenomenological discussions, for example on missing energy or helicity
amplitudes.


title:
Three-Dimensional N \geq 5 Superconformal Chern-Simons Gauge Theories
  And Their Relations

abstract:
  We propose three-dimensional N=6 superconformal U(N) X U(M) and SU(N) X SU(N)
Chern-Simons gauge theories with two pairs of bifundamental chiral superfields
in the (N, M) and (\overline{N}, \overline{M}) representations and in the (N,
N) and (\overline{N}, \overline{N}) representations, respectively. We also
propose the superconformal U(1) X U(1) gauge theories that have n pairs of
bifundamental chiral superfields with U(1) X U(1) charges (\pm 1, \mp 1) or
(\pm 1, \pm 1). Although these U(1) X U(1) gauge theories have global symmetry
SU(2n), the R-symmetry is SO(6) for n=2, and might be SO(2n) or SO(2n+1) for 3
\leq n \leq 8. In addition, we show that from either the generalized ABJM
theories, or our U(N) X U(M) theories, or the N=5 superconformal O(N) X USp(2M)
gauge theories, we can derive all the N \geq 5 superconformal Chern-Simons
gauge theories except the N=5 superconformal G_2 X USp(2) gauge theory and our
U(1) X U(1) gauge theories with n \not= 2 and 4. Furthermore, we derive the
three-dimensional N=8 superconformal U(1) X U(1) gauge theory from the BLG
theory, and study the corresponding moduli space. With the novel Higgs
mechanism in the unitary gauge, we suggest that it describes a D2-brane and a
decoupled D2-brane.


title: Gamow vectors and Supersymmetric Quantum Mechanics

abstract:
  Gamow solutions are used to transform self-adjoint energy operators by means
of factorization (supersymmetric) techniques. The transformed non-hermitian
operators admit a discrete real spectrum which is occasionally extended by a
single complex eigenvalue associated to normalized eigensolutions. These new
Hamiltonians are not pseudo-hermitian operators and also differ from those
obtained by means of complex-scaling transformations. As an example,
Coulomb-like potentials are studied.


title: Calibration of Tethered Particle Motion Experiments

abstract:
  The Tethered Particle Motion (TPM) method has been used to observe and
characterize a variety of protein-DNA interactions including DNA looping and
transcription. TPM experiments exploit the Brownian motion of a DNA-tethered
bead to probe biologically relevant conformational changes of the tether. In
these experiments, a change in the extent of the bead's random motion is used
as a reporter of the underlying macromolecular dynamics and is often deemed
sufficient for TPM analysis. However, a complete understanding of how the
motion depends on the physical properties of the tethered particle complex
would permit more quantitative and accurate evaluation of TPM data. For
instance, such understanding can help extract details about a looped complex
geometry (or multiple coexisting geometries) from TPM data. To better
characterize the measurement capabilities of TPM experiments involving DNA
tethers, we have carried out a detailed calibration of TPM magnitude as a
function of DNA length and particle size. We also explore how experimental
parameters such as acquisition time and exposure time affect the apparent
motion of the tethered particle. We vary the DNA length from 200bp to 2.6kbp
and consider particle diameters of 200, 490 and 970nm. We also present a
systematic comparison between measured particle excursions and theoretical
expectations, which helps clarify both the experiments and models of DNA
conformation.


title: An elementary derivation of the Deutsch-Jozsa algorithm

abstract:
  Quantum computing takes fully advantage of the superposition principle to
increase greatly (even exponentially) the speed of calculations, relative to
the classical approach. The Deutsch-Jozsa algorithm is the simplest quantum
algorithm illustrating this power. Unfortunately, the standard derivation
involves several ingenious steps which usually leave students feeling that they
could never have figured out the algorithm by themselves. We present here a
different formulation of the problem which allows students to derive the
algorithm using only basic knowledge of quantum mechanics and linear algebra.


title: Global uniqueness from partial Cauchy data in two dimensions

abstract:
  We prove for a two dimensional bounded domain that the Cauchy data for the
Schroedinger equation measured on an arbitrary open subset of the boundary
determines uniquely the potential. This implies, for the conductivity equation,
that if we measure the current fluxes at the boundary on an arbitrary open
subset of the boundary produced by voltage potentials supported in the same
subset, we can determine uniquely the conductivity. We use Carleman estimates
with degenerate weight functions to construct appropriate complex geometrical
optics solutions to prove the results.


title:
Reconstructing fossil sub-structures of the Galactic disk: clues from
  abundance patterns of old open clusters and moving groups

abstract:
  The long term goal of large-scale chemical tagging is to use stellar
elemental abundances as a tracer of dispersed substructures of the Galactic
disk. The identification of such lost stellar aggregates and the exploration of
their chemical properties will be key in understanding the formation and
evolution of the disk. Present day stellar structures such as open clusters and
moving groups are the ideal testing grounds for the viability of chemical
tagging, as they are believed to be the remnants of the original larger
starforming aggregates. Until recently, high accuracy elemental abundance
studies of open clusters and moving groups having been lacking in the
literature. In this paper we examine recent high resolution abundance studies
of open clusters to explore the various abundance trends and reasses the
prospects of large-scale chemical tagging.


title:
Is it necessary to go beyond the ponctual mass approximation for tidal
  perturber in close systems?

abstract:
  With the discoveries of very close star-planet systems with planet orbiting
sometimes at several star radius but also with well-known situations in our
solar system where natural satellites are very close to their parent planet the
validity of the ponctual mass approximation for the tidal perturber
(respectively the parent star or planet when we study the close planet or
natural satellite dynamics) has to be examined. In this short paper, we
consider this problematic using results coming from a complete formalism that
allows to treat the tidal interaction between extended bodies. We focus on its
application to a simplified configuration.


title: Upward and Downward Runs on Partially Ordered Sets

abstract:
  We consider Markov chains on partially ordered sets that generalize the
success-runs and remaining life chains in reliability theory. We find
conditions for recurrence and transience and give simple expressions for the
invariant distributions. We study a number of special cases, including rooted
trees, uniform posets, and posets associated with positive semigroups.


title: VBS State Induced by Impurity Frustration in Cr8Ni

abstract:
  We provide a physically meaningful picture of the nature of the ground state
of the Cr8Ni compound in the regime where it is a spin singlet. According to
this picture, the anisotropy of the $Ni$ atom in the $Cr$ ring induces a
dimerization in the molecule that makes the ground state to stabilize in a
Valence Bond Solid phase of virtual spins. We characterize rigorously this
phase by means of a particular non-local order parameter denoted the
generalized string order parameter. In the completely antiferromagnetic regime,
the system becomes frustrated. We have performed a numerical real-time
evolution study of the correlations between the spin of the $Ni$ impurity and
the rest of the spins in order to show the reaction of the system under this
frustration. We provide results that manifestly show the agreement with the
Valence Bond Solid picture introduced.


title: Elegant vector normal modes at a dielectric interface

abstract:
  Reflection and transmission of narrow beams at a dielectric interface is
analysed. It is confirmed that for arbitrary incidence two types of beams -
Elegant Hermite-Gaussians of linear polarization and Elegant Laguerre-Gaussians
of circular polarization, both defined in the interface plane - can be treated
as vector normal modes of the interface. Excitation of higher-order modes by
cross-polarization coupling is described by changes of mode indices induced by
generalised transmission and reflection matrices. It is explicitly shown that,
off-axis in general, spectral placements of the excited optical vortices are
determined by elements of these matrices, depended in turn on beam incidence.
Numerical simulations of beam reflection entirely confirm theoretical
predictions. The current paper is a continuation and extension of a previous
work by W. Nasalski [Phys. Rev. E 74, 056613 (2006)].


title:
Distribution of values of $L$-functions at the edge of the critical
  strip

abstract:
  We prove several results on the distribution of values of $L$-functions at
the edge of the critical strip, by constructing and studying a large class of
random Euler products. Among new applications, we study families of symmetric
power $L$-functions of holomorphic cusp forms in the level aspect (assuming the
automorphy of these $L$-functions) at $s=1$, functions in the Selberg class (in
the height aspect), and quadratic twists of a fixed $GL(m)/{\Bbb
Q}$-automorphic cusp form at $s=1$.


title: Instanton-induced crossover in dense QCD

abstract:
  We study the properties of an instanton ensemble in three-flavor dense QCD
which can be regarded as an instanton plasma weakly interacting by exchanging
the eta' mesons. Based on this description, we explore the chiral phase
transition induced by the instanton ensemble at high baryon density in analogy
with the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless transition. Using the renormalization
group approach, we show that the instanton ensemble always behaves as a
screened and unpaired plasma. We also demonstrate that the chiral condensate in
dense QCD is proportional to the instanton density.


title: The Dispersed Young Population in Orion

abstract:
  The Orion OB1 Association, at a distance of roughly 400 pc and spanning over
~200 deg^2 on the sky, is one of the largest and nearest OB associations. With
a wide range of ages and environmental conditions, Orion is an ideal laboratory
for investigating fundamental questions related to the birth of stars and
planetary systems. This rich region exhibits all stages of the star formation
process, from very young, embedded clusters, to older, fully exposed young
stars; it also harbors dense clusters and widely spread populations in vast,
low stellar density areas. This review focuses on the later, namely, the
low-mass (M ~< 2 Mo), pre-main sequence population spread over wide spatial
scales in Orion OB1, mostly in the off-cloud areas. As ongoing studies yield
more complete censa it becomes clearer that this "distributed" or non-clustered
population, is as numerous as that located in the molecular clouds; modern
studies of star formation in Orion would be incomplete if they did not include
this widely spread population.


title:
Unconventional London penetration depth in Ba(Fe0.93Co0.07)2As2 single
  crystals

abstract:
  The London penetration depth, $\lambda(T)$, has been measured in several
single crystals of Ba(Fe$_{0.93}$Co$_{0.07}$)$_2$As$_2$. Thermodynamic,
electromagnetic, and structural characterization measurements confirm that
these crystals are of excellent quality. The observed low temperature variation
of $\lambda(T)$ follows a power-law, $\Delta \lambda (T) \sim T^n$ with $n=2.4
\pm 0.1$, indicating the existence of normal quasiparticles down to at least
$0.02T_c$. This is in contrast to recent penetration depth measurements on
single crystals of NdFeAsO$_{1-x}$F$_x$ and SmFeAsO$_{1-x}$F$_x$, which
indicate an anisotropic but nodeless gap. We propose that a more
three-dimensional character in the electronic structure of
Ba(Fe$_{0.93}$Co$_{0.07}$)$_2$As$_2$ may lead to an anisotropic $s-$wave gap
with point nodes that would explain the observed $\lambda(T)$.


title: The Size Distribution of Kuiper belt objects for D> 10 km

abstract:
  We have performed a survey of the Kuiper belt covering ~ 1/3 a square degree
of the sky using Suprime-cam on the Subaru telescope, to a limiting magnitude
of m(R)~ 26.8 (50% threshold) and have found 36 new KBOs. We have confirmed
that the luminosity function of the Kuiper belt must break as previously
observed (Bernstein et al. 2004; Fuentes & Holman 2008). From the luminosity
function, we have inferred the underlying size distribution and find that it is
consistent with a large object power-law slope q1~4.8 that breaks to a slope
q2~1.9 at object diameter Db~60 km assuming 6% albedos. We have found no
conclusive evidence that the size distribution of KBOs with inclinations i<5 is
different than that of those with i>5. We discuss implications of this
measurement for early accretion in the outer solar system and Neptune migration
scenarios.


title: Nonstandard neutrino-neutrino refractive effects in dense neutrino gases

abstract:
  We investigate the effects of nonstandard four-fermion neutrino-neutrino
interactions on the flavor evolution of dense neutrino gases. We find that in
the regions where the neutrino-neutrino refractive index leads to collective
flavor oscillations, the presence of new neutrino interactions can produce
flavor equilibration in both normal and inverted neutrino mass hierarchy. In
realistic supernova environments, these effects are significant if the
nonstandard neutrino-neutrino interaction strength is comparable to the one
expected in the standard case, dominating the ordinary matter potential.
However, very small nonstandard neutrino-neutrino couplings are enough to
trigger the usual collective neutrino flavor transformations in the inverted
neutrino mass hierarchy, even if the mixing angle vanishes exactly.


title: Turbulent dynamos with shear and fractional helicity

abstract:
  Dynamo action owing to helically forced turbulence and large-scale shear is
studied using direct numerical simulations. The resulting magnetic field
displays propagating wave-like behavior. This behavior can be modelled in terms
of an \alpha\Omega dynamo. In most cases super-equipartition fields are
generated. By varying the fraction of helicity of the turbulence the
regeneration of poloidal fields via the helicity effect (corresponding to the
\alpha-effect) is regulated. The saturation level of the magnetic field in the
numerical models is consistent with a linear dependence on the ratio of the
fractional helicities of the small and large-scale fields, as predicted by a
simple nonlinear mean-field model. As the magnetic Reynolds number (Rm) based
on the wavenumber of the energy-carrying eddies is increased from 1 to 180, the
cycle frequency of the large-scale field is found to decrease by a factor of
about 6 in cases where the turbulence is fully helical. This is interpreted in
terms of the turbulent magnetic diffusivity, which is found to be only weakly
dependent on Rm.


title:
Evolution of the curvature perturbation during and after multi-field
  inflation

abstract:
  We study the evolution of the curvature perturbation on the super-horizon
scales starting from the inflationary epoch until there remains only a single
dynamical degree of freedom, presureless matter, in the universe. We consider
the cosmic inflation driven by a multiple number of the inflaton fields, which
decay into both radiation and pressureless matter components. We present a
complete set of the exact background and perturbation equations which describe
the evolution of the universe throughout its history. By applying these
equations to the simple but reasonable model of multi-field chaotic inflation,
we explicitly show that the total curvature perturbation is continuously
varying because of the non-adiabatic components of the curvature perturbation
generated by the multiple inflaton fields throughout the whole evolution of the
universe. We also provide an useful analytic estimation of the total as well as
matter and radiation curvature perturbations, assuming that matter is
completely decoupled from radiation from the beginning. The resulting
isocurvature perturbation between matter and radiation is at most sub-percent
level when the masses of the inflaton fields are distributed between
$10^{-6}m_{pl}$ and $10^{-5}m_{pl}$. We find that this result is robust unless
we use non-trivial decay rates, and that thus, in general, it is hard to obtain
large matter-radiation isocurvature perturbation. Also, by using the
$\delta{N}$ formalism, we point out that the inflationary calculation,
especially when involving multiple inflaton fields, is likely to lose the
potentially important post-inflationary evolution which can modify the
resulting curvature perturbation.


title:
Mock galaxy redshift catalogues from simulations: implications for
  Pan-STARRS1

abstract:
  We describe a method for constructing mock galaxy catalogues which are well
suited for use in conjunction with large photometric surveys. We use the
semi-analytic galaxy formation model of Bower et al. implemented in the
Millennium simulation. We apply our method to the specific case of the surveys
soon to commence with PS1, the first of 4 telescopes planned for the Pan-STARRS
system. PS1 has 5 photometric bands (grizy), and will carry out an all-sky 3pi
survey and a medium deep survey (MDS) over 84 sq.deg. We calculate the expected
magnitude limits for extended sources in the two surveys. We find that, after 3
years, the 3pi survey will have detected over 10^8 galaxies in all 5 bands, 10
million of which will lie at redshift z>0.9, while the MDS will have detected
over 10^7 galaxies with 0.5 million lying at z>2. These numbers at least double
if detection in the shallowest band, y is not required. We then evaluate the
accuracy of photometric redshifts estimated using an off-the-shelf photo-z
code. With the grizy bands alone it is possible to achieve an accuracy in the
3pi survey of Delta z/(1+z)~0.06 for 0.25<z<0.8, which could be reduced by
about 15% using near infrared photometry from the UKIDDS survey, but would
increase by about 25% for the deeper sample without the y band photometry. For
the MDS an accuracy of Delta z/(1+z)~0.05 is achievable for 0.02<z<1.5 using
grizy. A dramatic improvement in accuracy is possible by selecting only red
galaxies. In this case, Delta z/(1+z)~0.02-0.04 is achievable for ~100 million
galaxies at 0.4<z<1.1 in the 3pi survey and for 30 million galaxies in the MDS
at 0.4<z<2. We investigate the effect of using photo-z in the estimate of the
baryonic acoustic oscillation scale. We find that PS1 will achieve a similar
accuracy in this estimate as a spectroscopic survey of 20 million galaxies.


title:
Dark matter halo merger and accretion probabilities in the excursion set
  formalism

abstract:
  The merger and accretion probabilities of dark matter halos have so far only
been calculated for an infinitesimal time interval. This means that a
Monte-Carlo simulation with very small time steps is necessary to find the
merger history of a parent halo. In this paper we use the random walk formalism
to find the merger and accretion probabilities of halos for a finite time
interval. Specifically, we find the number density of halos at an early
redshift that will become part of a halo with a specified final mass at a later
redshift, given that they underwent $n$ major mergers, $n=0,1,2,...$ . We
reduce the problem into an integral equation which we then solve numerically.
To ensure the consistency of our formalism we compare the results with
Monte-Carlo simulations and find very good agreement. Though we have done our
calculation assuming a flat barrier, the more general case can easily be
handled using our method. This derivation of finite time merger and accretion
probabilities can be used to make more efficient merger trees or implemented
directly into analytical models of structure formation and evolution.


title:
Density Reduction and Diffusion in Driven 2d-Colloidal Systems Through
  Microchannels

abstract:
  The behavior of particles driven through a narrow constriction is
investigated in experiment and simulation. The system of particles adapts to
the confining potentials and the interaction energies by a self-consistent
arrangement of the particles. It results in the formation of layers throughout
the channel and of a density gradient along the channel. The particles
accommodate to the density gradient by reducing the number of layers one by one
when it is energetically favorable. The position of the layer reduction zone
fluctuates with time while the particles continuously pass this zone. The flow
behavior of the particles is studied in detail. The velocities of the particles
and their diffusion behavior reflect the influence of the self-organized order
of the system.