title:
Physical parameters of evolved stars in clusters and in the field from
  line-depth ratios

abstract:
  We present a high-resolution spectroscopic analysis of two samples of evolved
stars selected in the field and in the intermediate-age open cluster IC 4651,
for which detailed measurements of chemical composition were made in the last
few years. Applying the Gray's method based on ratios of line depths, we
determine the effective temperature and compare our results with previous ones
obtained by means of the curves of growth of iron lines. The knowledge of the
temperature enables us to estimate other fundamental stellar parameters, such
as color excess, age, and mass.


title: Large deviations of Poisson cluster processes

abstract:
  In this paper we prove scalar and sample path large deviation principles for
a large class of Poisson cluster processes. As a consequence, we provide a
large deviation principle for ergodic Hawkes point processes.


title: Distributed quantum information processing with minimal local resources

abstract:
  We present a protocol for growing graph states, the resource for one-way
quantum computing, when the available entanglement mechanism is highly
imperfect. The distillation protocol is frugal in its use of ancilla qubits,
requiring only a single ancilla qubit when the noise is dominated by one Pauli
error, and two for a general noise model. The protocol works with such scarce
local resources by never post-selecting on the measurement outcomes of
purification rounds. We find that such a strategy causes fidelity to follow a
biased random walk, and that a target fidelity is likely to be reached more
rapidly than for a comparable post-selecting protocol. An analysis is presented
of how imperfect local operations limit the attainable fidelity. For example, a
single Pauli error rate of 20% can be distilled down to $\sim 10$ times the
imperfection in local operations.


title: X-Raying the MOJAVE Sample of Compact Extragalactic Radio Jets

abstract:
  The MOJAVE sample is the first large radio-selected, VLBI-monitored AGN
sample for which complete X-ray spectral information is being gathered. We
report on the status of Swift survey observations which complement the
available archival X-ray data at 0.3-10 keV and in the UV with its XRT and UVOT
instruments. Many of these 133 radio-brightest AGN in the northern sky are now
being observed for the first time at these energies. These and complementary
other multi-wavelength observations provide a large statistical sample of
radio-selected AGN whose spectral energy distributions are measured from radio
to gamma-ray wavelengths, available at the beginning of GLAST operations in
2008. Here, we report the X-ray spectral characteristics of 36 of these
previously unobserved MOJAVE sources. In addition, the number of MOJAVE sources
detected by the BAT instrument in the hard X-ray band is growing: we report the
detection of five new blazars with BAT.


title:
Sparse Estimators and the Oracle Property, or the Return of Hodges'
  Estimator

abstract:
  We point out some pitfalls related to the concept of an oracle property as
used in Fan and Li (2001, 2002, 2004) which are reminiscent of the well-known
pitfalls related to Hodges' estimator. The oracle property is often a
consequence of sparsity of an estimator. We show that any estimator satisfying
a sparsity property has maximal risk that converges to the supremum of the loss
function; in particular, the maximal risk diverges to infinity whenever the
loss function is unbounded. For ease of presentation the result is set in the
framework of a linear regression model, but generalizes far beyond that
setting. In a Monte Carlo study we also assess the extent of the problem in
finite samples for the smoothly clipped absolute deviation (SCAD) estimator
introduced in Fan and Li (2001). We find that this estimator can perform rather
poorly in finite samples and that its worst-case performance relative to
maximum likelihood deteriorates with increasing sample size when the estimator
is tuned to sparsity.


title:
Capillary ordering and layering transitions in two-dimensional hard-rod
  fluids

abstract:
  In this article we calculate the surface phase diagram of a two-dimensional
hard-rod fluid confined between two hard lines. In a first stage we study the
semi-infinite system consisting of an isotropic fluid in contact with a single
hard line. We have found complete wetting by the columnar phase at the
wall-isotropic fluid interface. When the fluid is confined between two hard
walls, capillary columnar ordering occurs via a first-order phase transition.
For higher chemical potentials the system exhibits layering transitions even
for very narrow slits (near the one-dimensional limit). The theoretical model
used was a density-functional theory based on the Fundamental-Measure
Functional applied to a fluid of hard rectangles in the restricted-orientation
approximation (Zwanzig model). The results presented here can be checked
experimentally in two-dimensional granular media made of rods, where vertical
motions induced by an external source and excluded volume interactions between
the grains allow the system to explore those stationary states which
entropically maximize packing configurations. We claim that some of the surface
phenomena found here can be present in two-dimensional granular-media fluids.


title: Generation of Entanglement Outside of the Light Cone

abstract:
  The Feynman propagator has nonzero values outside of the forward light cone.
That does not allow messages to be transmitted faster than the speed of light,
but it is shown here that it does allow entanglement and mutual information to
be generated at space-like separated points. These effects can be interpreted
as being due to the propagation of virtual photons outside of the light cone or
as a transfer of pre-existing entanglement from the quantum vacuum. The
differences between these two interpretations are discussed.


title:
Monte Carlo Simulations of Quantum Spin Systems in the Valence Bond
  Basis

abstract:
  We discuss a projector Monte Carlo method for quantum spin models formulated
in the valence bond basis, using the S=1/2 Heisenberg antiferromagnet as an
example. Its singlet ground state can be projected out of an arbitrary basis
state as the trial state, but a more rapid convergence can be obtained using a
good variational state. As an alternative to first carrying out a time
consuming variational Monte Carlo calculation, we show that a very good trial
state can be generated in an iterative fashion in the course of the simulation
itself. We also show how the properties of the valence bond basis enable
calculations of quantities that are difficult to obtain with the standard basis
of Sz eigenstates. In particular, we discuss quantities involving
finite-momentum states in the triplet sector, such as the dispersion relation
and the spectral weight of the lowest triplet.


title: N-dimensional sl(2)-coalgebra spaces with non-constant curvature

abstract:
  An infinite family of ND spaces endowed with sl(2)-coalgebra symmetry is
introduced. For all these spaces the geodesic flow is superintegrable, and the
explicit form of their common set of integrals is obtained from the underlying
sl(2)-coalgebra structure. In particular, ND spherically symmetric spaces with
Euclidean signature are shown to be sl(2)-coalgebra spaces. As a byproduct of
this construction we present ND generalizations of the classical Darboux
surfaces, thus obtaining remarkable superintegrable ND spaces with non-constant
curvature.


title:
The Generalized PT-Symmetric Sinh-Gordon Potential Solvable within
  Quantum Hamilton-Jacobi Formalism

abstract:
  The generalized Sinh-Gordon potential is solved within quantum Hamiltonian
Jacobi approach in the framework of PT symmetry. The quasi exact solutions of
energy eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of the generalized Sinh-Gordon potential
are found for n=0,1 states.


title: Emergence of U(1) symmetry in the 3D XY model with Zq anisotropy

abstract:
  We study the three-dimensional XY model with a Z_q anisotropic term. At
temperatures T < Tc this dangerously irrelevant perturbation is relevant only
above a length scale Lambda, which diverges as a power of the correlation
length; Lambda ~ xi^a_q. Below Lambda the order parameter is U(1) symmetric. We
derive the full scaling function controlling the emergence of U(1) symmetry and
use Monte Carlo results to extract the exponent a_q for q=4,...,8. We find that
a_q = a_4 (q/4)^2, with a_4 only marginally larger than 1. We discuss these
results in the context of U(1) symmetry at "deconfined" quantum critical points
separating antiferromagnetic and valence-bond-solid states in quantum spin
systems.


title: Existence of Universal Entangler

abstract:
  A gate is called entangler if it transforms some (pure) product states to
entangled states. A universal entangler is a gate which transforms all product
states to entangled states. In practice, a universal entangler is a very
powerful device for generating entanglements, and thus provides important
physical resources for accomplishing many tasks in quantum computing and
quantum information. This Letter demonstrates that a universal entangler always
exists except for a degenerated case. Nevertheless, the problem how to find a
universal entangler remains open.


title: Fan-shaped and toric textures of mesomorphic oxadiazoles

abstract:
  When a family of non symmetrical heterocycled compounds is investigated, a
variety of mesophases can be observed with rather different features. Here we
report the behaviour of seven different members among a family of such
materials, that consists of mesomorphic oxadiazole compounds. In two of these
compounds, the optical microscope investigation shows very interesting
behaviours. In their smectic phases, fan-shaped and toric textures, sometimes
with periodic instability, are observed. Moreover, the nematic phase displays a
texture transition. Texture transitions have been previously observed only
inside the nematic phase of some compounds belonging to the families of the
oxybenzoic and cyclohexane acids. In these two oxadiazole compounds we can
observe what we define as a "toric nematic phase", heating the samples from the
smectic phase. The toric nematic texture disappears as the sample is further
heated, changing into a smooth texture.


title:
Williams' decomposition of the L\'evy continuous random tree and
  simultaneous extinction probability for populations with neutral mutations

abstract:
  We consider an initial Eve-population and a population of neutral mutants,
such that the total population dies out in finite time. We describe the
evolution of the Eve-population and the total population with continuous state
branching processes, and the neutral mutation procedure can be seen as an
immigration process with intensity proportional to the size of the population.
First we establish a Williams' decomposition of the genealogy of the total
population given by a continuous random tree, according to the ancestral
lineage of the last individual alive. This allows us give a closed formula for
the probability of simultaneous extinction of the Eve-population and the total
population.


title:
TeV-scale gravity in Horava-Witten theory on a compact complex
  hyperbolic threefold

abstract:
  The field equations and boundary conditions of Horava-Witten theory,
compactified on a smooth compact spin quotient of CH^3, where CH^3 denotes the
hyperbolic cousin of CP^3, are studied in the presence of Casimir energy
density terms. If the Casimir energy densities near one boundary result in a
certain constant of integration taking a value greater than around 10^5 in
units of the d = 11 gravitational length, a form of thick pipe geometry is
found that realizes TeV-scale gravity by the ADD mechanism, with that boundary
becoming the inner surface of the thick pipe, where we live. Three alternative
ways in which the outer surface of the thick pipe might be stabilized
consistent with the observed value of the effective d = 4 cosmological constant
are considered. In the first alternative, the outer surface is stabilized in
the classical region and the constant of integration is fixed at around 10^{13}
in units of the d = 11 gravitational length for consistency with the observed
cosmological constant. In the second alternative, the four observed dimensions
have reduced in size down to the d = 11 gravitational length at the outer
surface, and there are Casimir effects near the outer surface. In the third
alternative, the outer surface is stabilized in the classical region by extra
fluxes of the three-form gauge field, whose four-form field strength wraps
three-cycles of the compact six-manifold times the radial dimension of the
thick pipe. Some problems related to fitting the strong/electroweak Standard
Model are considered.


title: Balance of forces in simulated bilayers

abstract:
  Two kinds of simulated bilayers are described and the results are reported
for lateral tension and for partial contributions of intermolecular forces to
it.Data for a widest possible range of areas per surfactant head, from tunnel
formation through tensionless state, transition to floppy bilayer,to its
disintegration, are reported and discussed. The significance of the tensionless
state, is discussed. Conclusions: (1) the tensionless state is a
coincidence;(2) the transition from extended to floppy bilayer occurs nearby
and has hallmarks of a phase transition (3) there is no theory of that
transition.(4)The lateral tension of the floppy bilayer scales with size; that
of the extended bilayer does not depend on size. (4) The drumhead model not
appropriate for interfaces as these fluctuate via diffusion.(5) The radius of
gyration also! shows a discontinuity.


title: Search for the radiative leptonic decay B+ --> gamma l+ nu

abstract:
  We present the results of a search for $B^{+}\to\gamma \ell^{+}\nu_{\ell}$,
where $\ell = e, \mu$. We use a sample of 232 million $B\bar{B}$ pairs recorded
at the $\Upsilon(4S)$ with the BaBar detector at the PEP-II $B$ Factory. We
measure a partial branching fraction $\Delta\mathcal{B}$ in a restricted region
of phase space that reduces the effect of theoretical uncertainties, requiring
the lepton energy to be between 1.875 and 2.850GeV, the photon energy to be
between 0.45 and 2.35GeV, and the cosine of the angle between the lepton and
photon momenta to be less than -0.36, with all quantities computed in the
$\Upsilon(4S)$ center-of-mass frame. We find $\Delta\mathcal{B}(B^{+}\to\gamma
\ell^{+}\nu_{\ell}) = (-0.3^{+1.3}_{-1.5} ({stat}) \pm 0.6 ({syst}) \pm 0.1
({th})) \times 10^{-6}$, assuming lepton universality. Interpreted as a 90%
C.L. Bayesian upper limit, the result corresponds to $1.7\times10^{-6}$ for a
prior flat in amplitude, and $2.3\times10^{-6}$ for a prior flat in branching
fraction.


title: Possible experimental manifestations of the many-body localization

abstract:
  Recently, it was predicted that if all one-electron states in a
non-interacting disordered system are localized, the interaction between
electrons in the absence of coupling to phonons leads to a finite-temperature
metal-insulator trnasition. Here we show that even in the presence of a weak
coupling to phonons the transition manifests itself (i) in the nonlinear
conduction, leading to a bistable $I$-$V$ curve, (ii) by a dramatic enhancement
of the nonequilibrium current noise near the transition.


title: Magnetic structure of Sm2IrIn8

abstract:
  The magnetic structure of the intermetallic antiferromagnet Sm2IrIn8 was
determined using x-ray resonant magnetic scattering (XRMS). Below TN = 14.2,
Sm2IrIn8 has a commensurate antiferromagnetic structure with a propagation
vector (1/2,0,0). The Sm magnetic moments lie in the ab plane and are rotated
roughly 18 degrees away from the a axis. The magnetic structure of this
compound was obtained by measuring the strong dipolar resonant peak whose
enhancement was of over two orders of magnitude at the L2 edge. At the L3 edge
both quadrupolar and dipolar features were observed in the energy line shape.
The magnetic structure and properties of Sm2IrIn8 are found to be consistent
with the general trend already seen for the Nd-, Tb- and the Ce-based compounds
from the RmMnIn3m+2n family (R = rare earth; M=Rh or Ir, m = 1, 2; n = 0, 1),
where the crystalline electrical field (CEF) effects determine the direction of
magnetic moments and the TN evolution in the series. The measured Neel
temperature for Sm2IrIn8 is slightly suppressed when compared to the TN of the
parent cubic compound SmIn3.


title: TEXES Observations of Pure Rotational H2 Emission From AB Aurigae

abstract:
  We present observations of pure rotational molecular hydrogen emission from
the Herbig Ae star, AB Aurigae. Our observations were made using the Texas
Echelon Cross Echelle Spectrograph (TEXES) at the NASA Infrared Telescope
Facility and the Gemini North Observatory. We searched for H2 emission in the
S(1), S(2), and S(4) lines at high spectral resolution and detected all three.
By fitting a simple model for the emission in the three transitions, we derive
T = 670 +/- 40 K and M = 0.52 +/- 0.15 earth masses for the emitting gas. Based
on the 8.5 km/s FWHM of the S(2) line, assuming the emission comes from the
circumstellar disk, and with an inclination estimate of the AB Aur system taken
from the literature, we place the location for the emission near 18 AU.
Comparison of our derived temperature to a disk structure model suggests that
UV and X-ray heating are important in heating the disk atmosphere.


title: Deciphering top flavor violation at the LHC with B factories

abstract:
  The LHC will have unprecedented sensitivity to flavor-changing neutral
current (FCNC) top quark decays, whose observation would be a clear sign of
physics beyond the standard model. Although many details of top flavor
violation are model dependent, the standard model gauge symmetries relate top
FCNCs to other processes, which are strongly constrained by existing data. We
study these constraints in a model independent way, using a low energy
effective theory from which the new physics is integrated out. We consider the
most important operators which contribute to top FCNCs and analyze the current
constraints on them. We find that the data rule out top FCNCs at a level
observable at the LHC due to most of the operators comprising left-handed first
or second generation quark fields, while there remains a substantial window for
top decays mediated by operators with right-handed charm or up quarks. If FCNC
top decays are observed at the LHC, such an analysis may help decipher the
underlying physics.


title: Exploring Infrared Properties of Giant Low Surface Brightness Galaxies

abstract:
  Abridged: We present analysis of Spitzer Space Telescope observations of the
three low surface brightness (LSB) optical giant galaxies Malin 1, UGC 6614 and
UGC 9024. Mid- and far-infrared morphology, spectral energy distributions, and
integrated colors are used to derive the dust mass, dust-to-gas mass ratio,
total infrared luminosity, and star formation rate (SFR). The 8 micron images
indicate that polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon molecules are present in the
central regions of all three metal-poor LSB galaxies. The diffuse optical disks
of Malin 1 and UGC 9024 remain undetected at mid- and far-infrared wavelengths.
The dustiest of the three LSB galaxies, UGC 6614, has infrared morphology that
varies significantly with wavelength. The 8 and 24 micron emission is
co-spatial with H\alpha emission previously observed in the outer ring of UGC
6614. The estimated dust-to-gas ratios, from less than 10^{-3} to 10^{-2},
support previous indications that the LSB galaxies are relatively dust poor
compared to the HSB galaxies. The total infrared luminosities are approximately
1/3 to 1/2 the blue band luminosities, suggesting that old stellar populations
are the primary source of dust heating in these LSB objects. The SFR estimated
from the infrared data ranges ~0.01-0.88 M_sun yr^{-1}, consistent with results
from optical studies.


title: One-time pad booster for Internet

abstract:
  One-time pad encrypted files can be sent through Internet channels using
current Internet protocols. However, the need for renewing shared secret keys
make this method unpractical. This work shows how users can use a fast physical
random generator based on fluctuations of a light field and the Internet
channel to directly boost key renewals. The transmitted signals are
deterministic but carries imprinted noise that cannot be eliminated by the
attacker. Thus, a one-time pad for Internet can be made practical. Security is
achieved without third parties and not relying on the difficulty of factoring
numbers in primes. An informational fragility to be avoided is discussed.
Information-theoretic analysis is presented and bounds for secure operation are
determined.


title: A Local Concept of Wave Velocities

abstract:
  The classical characterization of \wp, as a typical concept for far field
phenomena, has been successfully applied to many \w phenomena in past decades.
The recent reports of superluminal tunnelling times and negative group
velocities challenged this concept. A new local approach for the definition of
\wvs avoiding these difficulties while including the classical definitions as
particular cases is proposed here. This generalisation of the conventional
non-local approach can be applied to arbitrary \w forms and propagation media.
Some applications of the formalism are presented and basic properties of the
concept are summarized.


title:
Nodal/Antinodal Dichotomy and the Two Gaps of a Superconducting Doped
  Mott Insulator

abstract:
  We study the superconducting state of the hole-doped two-dimensional Hubbard
model using Cellular Dynamical Mean Field Theory, with the Lanczos method as
impurity solver. In the under-doped regime, we find a natural decomposition of
the one-particle (photoemission) energy-gap into two components. The gap in the
nodal regions, stemming from the anomalous self-energy, decreases with
decreasing doping. The antinodal gap has an additional contribution from the
normal component of the self-energy, inherited from the normal-state pseudogap,
and it increases as the Mott insulating phase is approached.


title:
Wavelet frames, Bergman spaces and Fourier transforms of Laguerre
  functions

abstract:
  The Fourier transforms of Laguerre functions play the same canonical role in
wavelet analysis as do the Hermite functions in Gabor analysis. We will use
them as analyzing wavelets in a similar way the Hermite functions were recently
by K. Groechenig and Y. Lyubarskii in "Gabor frames with Hermite functions, C.
R. Acad. Sci. Paris, Ser. I 344 157-162 (2007)". Building on the work of K.
Seip, "Beurling type density theorems in the unit disc, Invent. Math., 113,
21-39 (1993)", concerning sampling sequences on weighted Bergman spaces, we
find a sufficient density condition for constructing frames by translations and
dilations of the Fourier transform of the nth Laguerre function. As in
Groechenig-Lyubarskii theorem, the density increases with n, and in the special
case of the hyperbolic lattice in the upper half plane it is given by b\log
a<\frac{4\pi}{2n+\alpha}, where alpha is the parameter of the Laguerre
function.


title: On Beltrami fields with nonconstant proportionality factor on the plane

abstract:
  We consider the equation rotB+aB=0 (1) in the plane with a being a
real-valued function and show that it can be reduced to a Vekua equation of a
special form. In the case when a depends on one Cartesian variable a complete
system of exact solutions of the Vekua equation and hence of equation (1) is
constructed based on L. Bers' theory of formal powers.


title: Where the monotone pattern (mostly) rules

abstract:
  We consider pattern containment and avoidance with a very tight definition
that was used first by Riordan more than 60 years ago. Using this definition,
we prove the monotone pattern is easier to avoid than almost any other pattern
of the same length.
  We also show that with this definition, almost all patterns of length $k$ are
avoided by the same number of permutations of length $n$. The corresponding
statements are not known to be true for more relaxed definitions of pattern
containment. This is the first time we know of that expectations are used to
compare numbers of permutations avoiding certain patterns.


title: Staggered Heavy Baryon Chiral Perturbation Theory

abstract:
  Although taste violations significantly affect the results of staggered
calculations of pseudoscalar and heavy-light mesonic quantities, those entering
staggered calculations of baryonic quantities have not been quantified. Here I
develop staggered chiral perturbation theory in the light-quark baryon sector
by mapping the Symanzik action into heavy baryon chiral perturbation theory.
For 2+1 dynamical quark flavors, the masses of flavor-symmetric nucleons are
calculated to third order in partially quenched and fully dynamical staggered
chiral perturbation theory. To this order the expansion includes the leading
chiral logarithms, which come from loops with virtual decuplet-like states, as
well as terms the order of the cubed pion mass, which come from loops with
virtual octet-like states. Taste violations enter through the meson propagators
in loops and tree-level terms the order of the squared lattice spacing. The
pattern of taste symmetry breaking and the resulting degeneracies and mixings
are discussed in detail. The resulting chiral forms are appropriate to lattice
results obtained with operators already in use and could be used to study the
restoration of taste symmetry in the continuum limit. I assume that the fourth
root of the fermion determinant can be incorporated in staggered chiral
perturbation theory using the replica method.


title: Imaging Magnetic Focusing of Coherent Electron Waves

abstract:
  The magnetic focusing of electrons has proven its utility in fundamental
studies of electron transport. Here we report the direct imaging of magnetic
focusing of electron waves, specifically in a two-dimensional electron gas
(2DEG). We see the semicircular trajectories of electrons as they bounce along
a boundary in the 2DEG, as well as fringes showing the coherent nature of the
electron waves. Imaging flow in open systems is made possible by a cooled
scanning probe microscope. Remarkable agreement between experiment and theory
demonstrates our ability to see these trajectories and to use this system as an
interferometer. We image branched electron flow as well as the interference of
electron waves. This technique can visualize the motion of electron waves
between two points in an open system, providing a straightforward way to study
systems that may be useful for quantum information processing and spintronics.


title:
On the solution of the static Maxwell system in axially symmetric
  inhomogeneous media

abstract:
  We consider the static Maxwell system with an axially symmetric dielectric
permittivity and construct complete systems of its solutions which can be used
for analytic and numerical solution of corresponding boundary value problems.


title: On a {K_4,K_{2,2,2}}-ultrahomogeneous graph

abstract:
  The existence of a connected 12-regular $\{K_4,K_{2,2,2}\}$-ultrahomogeneous
graph $G$ is established, (i.e. each isomorphism between two copies of $K_4$ or
$K_{2,2,2}$ in $G$ extends to an automorphism of $G$), with the 42 ordered
lines of the Fano plane taken as vertices. This graph $G$ can be expressed in a
unique way both as the edge-disjoint union of 42 induced copies of $K_4$ and as
the edge-disjoint union of 21 induced copies of $K_{2,2,2}$, with no more
copies of $K_4$ or $K_{2,2,2}$ existing in $G$. Moreover, each edge of $G$ is
shared by exactly one copy of $K_4$ and one of $K_{2,2,2}$. While the line
graphs of $d$-cubes, ($3\le d\in\ZZ$), are $\{K_d, K_{2,2}\}$-ultrahomogeneous,
$G$ is not even line-graphical. In addition, the chordless 6-cycles of $G$ are
seen to play an interesting role and some self-dual configurations associated
to $G$ with 2-arc-transitive, arc-transitive and semisymmetric Levi graphs are
considered.


title:
Unconventional approaches to combine optical transparency with
  electrical conductivity

abstract:
  Combination of electrical conductivity and optical transparency in the same
material -- known to be a prerogative of only a few oxides of post-transition
metals, such as In, Sn, Zn and Cd -- manifests itself in a distinctive band
structure of the transparent conductor host. While the oxides of other elements
with $s^2$ electronic configuration, for example, Mg, Ca, Sc and Al, also
exhibit the desired optical and electronic features, they have not been
considered as candidates for achieving good electrical conductivity because of
the challenges of efficient carrier generation in these wide-bandgap materials.
Here we demonstrate that alternative approaches to the problem not only allow
attaining the transport and optical properties which compete with those in
currently utilized transparent conducting oxides (TCO), but also significantly
broaden the range of materials with a potential of being developed into novel
functional transparent conductors.


title:
Exponential Decay of Correlations for Randomly Chosen Hyperbolic Toral
  Automorphisms

abstract:
  We consider pairs of toral automorphisms (A,B) satisfying an invariant cone
property. At each iteration, A acts with probability p and B with probability
1-p. We prove exponential decay of correlations for a class of Holder
continuous observables.


title:
Follow-up observations of pulsating subdwarf B stars: Multisite
  campaigns on PG 1618+563B and PG 0048+091

abstract:
  We present follow-up observations of pulsating subdwarf B (sdB) stars as part
of our efforts to resolve the pulsation spectra for use in asteroseismological
analyses. This paper reports on multisite campaigns of the pulsating sdB stars
PG 1618+563B and PG 0048+091. Data were obtained from observatories placed
around the globe for coverage from all longitudes. For PG 1618+563B, our
five-site campaign uncovered a dichotomy of pulsation states: Early during the
campaign the amplitudes and phases (and perhaps frequencies) were quite
variable while data obtained late in the campaign were able to fully resolve
five stable pulsation frequencies. For PG 0048+091, our five-site campaign
uncovered a plethora of frequencies with short pulsation lifetimes. We find
them to have observed properties consistent with stochastically excited
oscillations, an unexpected result for subdwarf B stars. We discuss our
findings and their impact on subdwarf B asteroseismology.


title:
Connecting microscopic simulations with kinetically constrained models
  of glasses

abstract:
  Kinetically constrained spin models are known to exhibit dynamical behavior
mimicking that of glass forming systems. They are often understood as
coarse-grained models of glass formers, in terms of some "mobility" field. The
identity of this "mobility" field has remained elusive due to the lack of
coarse-graining procedures to obtain these models from a more microscopic point
of view. Here we exhibit a scheme to map the dynamics of a two-dimensional soft
disc glass former onto a kinetically constrained spin model, providing an
attempt at bridging these two approaches.


title:
DIRBE Minus 2MASS: Confirming the CIRB in 40 New Regions at 2.2 and 3.5
  Microns

abstract:
  With the release of the 2MASS All-Sky Point Source Catalog, stellar fluxes
from 2MASS are used to remove the contribution due to Galactic stars from the
intensity measured by DIRBE in 40 new regions in the North and South Galactic
polar caps. After subtracting the interplanetary and Galactic foregrounds, a
consistent residual intensity of 14.69 +/- 4.49 kJy/sr at 2.2 microns is found.
Allowing for a constant calibration factor between the DIRBE 3.5 microns and
the 2MASS 2.2 microns fluxes, a similar analysis leaves a residual intensity of
15.62 +/- 3.34 kJy/sr at 3.5 microns. The intercepts of the DIRBE minus 2MASS
correlation at 1.25 microns show more scatter and are a smaller fraction of the
foreground, leading to a still weak limit on the CIRB of 8.88 +/- 6.26 kJy/sr
(1 sigma).


title:
Averaging of the electron effective mass in multicomponent transparent
  conducting oxides

abstract:
  We find that layered materials composed of various oxides of cations with
$s^2$ electronic configuration, $XY_2$O$_4$, $X$=In or Sc, $Y$=Ga, Zn, Al, Cd
and/or Mg, exhibit isotropic electron effective mass which can be obtained via
averaging over those of the corresponding single-cation oxide constituents.
This effect is due to a hybrid nature of the conduction band formed from the
s-states of {\it all} cations and the oxygen p-states. Moreover, the observed
insensitivity of the electron effective mass to the oxygen coordination and to
the distortions in the cation-oxygen chains suggests that similar behavior can
be expected in technologically important amorphous state. These findings
significantly broaden the range of materials as efficient transparent conductor
hosts.


title:
A Search for Electron Neutrino Appearance at the Delta m**2 ~ 1 eV**2
  Scale

abstract:
  The MiniBooNE Collaboration reports first results of a search for $\nu_e$
appearance in a $\nu_\mu$ beam. With two largely independent analyses, we
observe no significant excess of events above background for reconstructed
neutrino energies above 475 MeV. The data are consistent with no oscillations
within a two neutrino appearance-only oscillation model.


title: Surface Structure Analysis of Atomically Smooth BaBiO$_3$ Films

abstract:
  Using low energy Time-of-Flight Scattering and Recoil Spectroscopy (TOF-SARS)
and Mass Spectroscopy of Recoiled Ions (MSRI) we analyze the surface structure
of an atomically smooth BaBiO$_3$ film grown by molecular beam epitaxy. We
demonstrate high sensitivity of the TOF-SARS and MSRI spectra to slight changes
in the orientation of the ion scattering plane with respect to the
crystallographic axes. The observed angle dependence allows us to clearly
identify the termination layer as BiO$_2$. Our data also indicate that
angle-resolved MSRI data can be used for high resolution studies of surface
structure of complex oxide thin films.


title:
Evolution of Magnetic Fields in Stars Across the Upper Main Sequence:
  II. Observed distribution of the magnetic field geometry

abstract:
  We re-discuss the evolutionary state of upper main sequence magnetic stars
using a sample of Ap and Bp stars with accurate Hipparcos parallaxes and
definitely determined longitudinal magnetic fields. We confirm our previous
results obtained from the study of Ap and Bp stars with accurate measurements
of the mean magnetic field modulus and mean quadratic magnetic fields that
magnetic stars of mass M < 3 M_sun are concentrated towards the centre of the
main-sequence band. In contrast, stars with masses M > 3 M_sun seem to be
concentrated closer to the ZAMS. The study of a few known members of nearby
open clusters with accurate Hipparcos parallaxes confirms these conclusions.
Stronger magnetic fields tend to be found in hotter, younger and more massive
stars, as well as in stars with shorter rotation periods. No evidence is found
for any loss of angular momentum during the main-sequence life. The magnetic
flux remains constant over the stellar life time on the main sequence. An
excess of stars with large obliquities beta is detected in both higher and
lower mass stars. The obliquity angle distribution as inferred from the
distribution of r-values appears random at the time magnetic stars become
observable on the H-R diagram. After quite a short time spent on the main
sequence, the obliquity angle beta tends to reach values close to either 90 deg
or 0 deg for M < 3 M_sun. The evolution of the obliquity angle beta seems to be
somewhat different for low and high mass stars. While we find a strong hint for
an increase of beta with the elapsed time on the main sequence for stars with M
> 3 M_sun, no similar trend is found for stars with M < 3 M_sun. However, the
predominance of high values of beta at advanced ages in these stars is notable.


title: A Diagrammatic Category for the Representation Theory of U_q(sl_n)

abstract:
  This thesis provides a partial answer to a question posed by Greg Kuperberg
in q-alg/9712003 and again by Justin Roberts as problem 12.18 in "Problems on
invariants of knots and 3-manifolds", math.GT/0406190, essentially: "Can one
describe the category of representations of the quantum group U_q(sl_n)
(thought of as a spherical category) via generators and relations?"
  For each n \geq 0, I define a certain tensor category of trivalent graphs,
modulo isotopy, and construct a functor from this category onto (a full
subcategory of) the category of representations of the quantum group U_q(sl_n).
One would like to describe completely the kernel of this functor, by providing
generators. The resulting quotient of the diagrammatic category would then be a
category equivalent to the representation category of U_q(sl_n).
  I make significant progress towards this, describing certain generators of
the kernel, and some obstructions to further elements. It remains a conjecture
that these relations generate the kernel. My results extend those of
q-alg/9712003, MR1659228, math.QA/0310143 and math.GT/0506403.
  The argument is essentially by constructing a diagrammatic version of the
forgetful functor coming from the inclusion of U_q(sl_{n-1}) in U_q(sl_n}. We
know this functor is faithful, so a diagram is in the kernel for n exactly if
its image under the diagrammatic forgetful functor is in the kernel for n-1.
This allows us to perform inductive calculations, both establishing families of
elements of the kernel, and finding obstructions.


title: The Formation of Lake Stars

abstract:
  Star patterns, reminiscent of a wide range of diffusively controlled growth
forms from snowflakes to Saffman-Taylor fingers, are ubiquitous features of ice
covered lakes. Despite the commonality and beauty of these ``lake stars'' the
underlying physical processes that produce them have not been explained in a
coherent theoretical framework. Here we describe a simple mathematical model
that captures the principal features of lake-star formation; radial fingers of
(relatively warm) water-rich regions grow from a central source and evolve
through a competition between thermal and porous media flow effects in a
saturated snow layer covering the lake. The number of star arms emerges from a
stability analysis of this competition and the qualitative features of this
meter-scale natural phenomena are captured in laboratory experiments.


title: A Higgs-Higgs bound state due to New Physics at a TeV

abstract:
  We examine the effects of new physics effecting the Higgs sector of the
standard model, focusing on the effects on the Higgs self couplings. We
demonstrate that a low mass higgs, m_h < 2 m_t, can have a strong effective
self coupling due to the effects of a new interaction at a TeV. We investigate
the possibility that the first evidence of such an interaction could be a
higgs-higgs bound state. To this end, we construct an effective field theory
formalism to examine the physics of such a low mass higgs boson. We explore the
possibility of a non relativistic bound state of the higgs field (Higgsium) at
LHC and construct a non relativistic effective field theory of the higgs sector
that is appropriate for such studies (NRHET).


title: Measuring two-photon orbital angular momentum entanglement

abstract:
  We put forward an approach to estimate the amount of bipartite spatial
entanglement of down-converted photon states correlated in orbital angular
momentum and the magnitude of the transverse (radial) wave vectors. Both
degrees of freedom are properly considered in our framework, which only
requires azimuthal local linear optical transformations and mode selection
analysis with two fiber detectors. The coincidence distributions predicted by
our approach give an excellent fit to the distributions measured in a recent
experiment aimed to show the very high-dimensional transverse entanglement of
twin photons from a down-conversion source. Our estimate for the Schmidt number
is substantially lower but still confirms the presence of high-dimensional
entanglement.


title: HST/ACS Coronagraphic Observations of the Dust Surrounding HD 100546

abstract:
  We present ACS/HST coronagraphic observations of HD 100546, a B9.5 star, 103
pc away from the sun, taken in the F435W, F606W, and F814W bands. Scattered
light is detected up to 14'' from the star. The observations are consistent
with the presence of an extended flattened nebula with the same inclination as
the inner disk. The well-known ``spiral arms'' are clearly observed and they
trail the rotating disk material. Weaker arms never before reported are also
seen. The inter-arm space becomes brighter, but the structures become more
neutral in color at longer wavelengths, which is not consistent with models
that assume that they are due to the effects of a warped disk. Along the major
disk axis, the colors of the scattered-light relative to the star are \Delta
(F435W-F606W) ~ 0.0--0.2 mags and \Delta (F435W-F814W)~0.5--1 mags. To explain
these colors, we explore the role of asymmetric scattering, reddening, and
large minimum sizes on ISM-like grains. We conclude each of these hypotheses by
itself cannot explain the colors. The disk colors are similar to those derived
for Kuiper Belt objects, suggesting that the same processes responsible for
their colors may be at work here. We argue that we are observing only the
geometrically thick, optically thin envelope of the disk, while the optically
thick disk responsible for the far-IR emission is undetected. The observed
spiral arms are then structures on this envelope. The colors indicate that the
extended nebulosity is not a remnant of the infalling envelope but reprocessed
disk material.


title:
Anomalous diffusion and stretched exponentials in heterogeneous
  glass-forming liquids: Low-temperature behavior

abstract:
  We propose a model of a heterogeneous glass forming liquid and compute the
low-temperature behavior of a tagged molecule moving within it. This model
exhibits stretched-exponential decay of the wavenumber-dependent, self
intermediate scattering function in the limit of long times. At temperatures
close to the glass transition, where the heterogeneities are much larger in
extent than the molecular spacing, the time dependence of the scattering
function crosses over from stretched-exponential decay with an index $b=1/2$ at
large wave numbers to normal, diffusive behavior with $b = 1$ at small
wavenumbers. There is a clear separation between early-stage, cage-breaking
$\beta$ relaxation and late-stage $\alpha$ relaxation. The spatial
representation of the scattering function exhibits an anomalously broad
exponential (non-Gaussian) tail for sufficiently large values of the molecular
displacement at all finite times.


title: Modeling the Solar Chromosphere

abstract:
  Spectral diagnostic features formed in the solar chromosphere are few and
difficult to interpret -- they are neither formed in the optically thin regime
nor in local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE). To probe the state of the
chromosphere, both from observations and theory, it is therefore necessary with
modeling. I discuss both traditional semi-empirical modeling, numerical
experiments illustrating important ingredients necessary for a self-consistent
theoretical modeling of the solar chromosphere and the first results of such
models.


title: A compact star rotating at 1122 Hz and the r-mode instability

abstract:
  We show that r-mode instabilities severely constraint the composition of a
compact star rotating at a submillisecond period. In particular, the only
viable astrophysical scenario for such an object, present inside the Low Mass
X-ray Binary associated with the x-ray transient XTE J1739-285, is that it has
a strangeness content. Since previous analysis indicate that hyperonic stars or
stars containing a kaon condensate are not good candidates, the only remaining
possibility is that such an object is either a strange quark star or a hybrid
quark-hadron star. We also discuss under which conditions sub-millisecond
pulsars are rare.


title: 3d Numerical Models of the Chromosphere, Transition Region, and Corona

abstract:
  A major goal in solar physics has during the last five decades been to find
how energy flux generated in the solar convection zone is transported and
dissipated in the outer solar layers. Progress in this field has been slow and
painstaking. However, advances in computer hardware and numerical methods,
vastly increased observational capabilities and growing physical insight seem
finally to be leading towards understanding. Here we present exploratory
numerical MHD models that span the entire solar atmosphere from the upper
convection zone to the lower corona. These models include non-grey, non-LTE
radiative transport in the photosphere and chromosphere, optically thin
radiative losses as well as magnetic field-aligned heat conduction in the
transition region and corona.


title:
Gauge Invariant Factorisation and Canonical Quantisation of
  Topologically Massive Gauge Theories in Any Dimension

abstract:
  Abelian topologically massive gauge theories (TMGT) provide a topological
mechanism to generate mass for a bosonic p-tensor field in any spacetime
dimension. These theories include the 2+1 dimensional Maxwell-Chern-Simons and
3+1 dimensional Cremmer-Scherk actions as particular cases. Within the
Hamiltonian formulation, the embedded topological field theory (TFT) sector
related to the topological mass term is not manifest in the original phase
space. However through an appropriate canonical transformation, a gauge
invariant factorisation of phase space into two orthogonal sectors is feasible.
The first of these sectors includes canonically conjugate gauge invariant
variables with free massive excitations. The second sector, which decouples
from the total Hamiltonian, is equivalent to the phase space description of the
associated non dynamical pure TFT. Within canonical quantisation, a likewise
factorisation of quantum states thus arises for the full spectrum of TMGT in
any dimension. This new factorisation scheme also enables a definition of the
usual projection from TMGT onto topological quantum field theories in a most
natural and transparent way. None of these results rely on any gauge fixing
procedure whatsoever.


title:
Compensation of loss in propagating surface plasmon polariton by gain in
  adjacent dielectric medium

abstract:
  We report the suppression of loss of surface plasmon polariton propagating at
the interface between silver film and optically pumped polymer with dye. Large
magnitude of the effect enables a variety of applications of "active"
nanoplasmonics. The experimental study is accompanied by the development of the
analytical description of the phenomenon and the solution of the controversy
regarding the direction of the wavevector of a wave with a strong evanescent
component in an active medium.


title: Towards Functional Flows for Hierarchical Models

abstract:
  The recursion relations of hierarchical models are studied and contrasted
with functional renormalisation group equations in corresponding
approximations. The formalisms are compared quantitatively for the Ising
universality class, where the spectrum of universal eigenvalues at criticality
is studied. A significant correlation amongst scaling exponents is pointed out
and analysed in view of an underlying optimisation. Functional flows are
provided which match with high accuracy all known scaling exponents from
Dyson's hierarchical model for discrete block-spin transformations.
Implications of the results are discussed.


title: High Precision CTE-Measurement of SiC-100 for Cryogenic Space-Telescopes

abstract:
  We present the results of high precision measurements of the thermal
expansion of the sintered SiC, SiC-100, intended for use in cryogenic
space-telescopes, in which minimization of thermal deformation of the mirror is
critical and precise information of the thermal expansion is needed for the
telescope design. The temperature range of the measurements extends from room
temperature down to $\sim$ 10 K. Three samples, #1, #2, and #3 were
manufactured from blocks of SiC produced in different lots. The thermal
expansion of the samples was measured with a cryogenic dilatometer, consisting
of a laser interferometer, a cryostat, and a mechanical cooler. The typical
thermal expansion curve is presented using the 8th order polynomial of the
temperature. For the three samples, the coefficients of thermal expansion
(CTE), $\bar{\alpha}_{#1}$, $\bar{\alpha}_{#2}$, and $\bar{\alpha}_{#3}$ were
derived for temperatures between 293 K and 10 K. The average and the dispersion
(1 $\sigma$ rms) of these three CTEs are 0.816 and 0.002 ($\times 10^{-6}$/K),
respectively. No significant difference was detected in the CTE of the three
samples from the different lots. Neither inhomogeneity nor anisotropy of the
CTE was observed. Based on the obtained CTE dispersion, we performed an
finite-element-method (FEM) analysis of the thermal deformation of a 3.5 m
diameter cryogenic mirror made of six SiC-100 segments. It was shown that the
present CTE measurement has a sufficient accuracy well enough for the design of
the 3.5 m cryogenic infrared telescope mission, the Space Infrared telescope
for Cosmology and Astrophysics (SPICA).


title: Compton Scattering of Fe K alpha Lines in Magnetic Cataclysmic Variables

abstract:
  Compton scattering of X-rays in the bulk flow of the accretion column in
magnetic cataclysmic variables (mCVs) can significantly shift photon energies.
We present Monte Carlo simulations based on a nonlinear algorithm demonstrating
the effects of Compton scattering on the H-like, He-like and neutral Fe K alpha
lines produced in the post-shock region of the accretion column. The peak line
emissivities of the photons in the post-shock flow are taken into consideration
and frequency shifts due to Doppler effects are also included. We find that
line profiles are most distorted by Compton scattering effects in strongly
magnetized mCVs with a low white dwarf mass and high mass accretion rate and
which are viewed at an oblique angle with respect to the accretion column. The
resulting line profiles are most sensitive to the inclination angle. We have
also explored the effects of modifying the accretion column width and using a
realistic emissivity profile. We find that these do not have a significant
overall effect on the resulting line profiles. A comparison of our simulated
line spectra with high resolution Chandra/HETGS observations of the mCV GK Per
indicates that a wing feature redward of the 6.4 keV line may result from
Compton recoil near the base of the accretion column.


title: The Limits of Special Relativity

abstract:
  The Special Theory of Relativity and the Theory of the Electron have had an
interesting history together. Originally the electron was studied in a non
relativistic context and this opened up the interesting possibility that lead
to the conclusion that the mass of the electron could be thought of entirely in
electromagnetic terms without introducing inertial considerations. However the
application of Special Relativity lead to several problems, both for an
extended electron and the point electron. These inconsistencies have, contrary
to popular belief not been resolved satisfactorily today, even within the
context of Quantum Theory. Nevertheless these and subsequent studies bring out
the interesting result that Special Relativity breaks down within the Compton
scale or when the Compton scale is not neglected. This again runs contrary to
an uncritical notion that Special Relativity is valid for point particles.


title:
Crystalline silicates and dust processing in the protoplanetary disks of
  the Taurus young cluster

abstract:
  We characterize the crystalline silicate content and spatial distribution of
small dust grains in a large sample of protoplanetary disks in the
Taurus-Auriga young cluster, using Spitzer Space Telescope mid-infrared
spectra. In turn we use the results to analyze the evolution of structure and
composition of these 1-2 Myr-old disks around Solar- and later-type young
stars, and test the standard models of dust processing which result in the
conversion of originally amorphous dust into minerals. We find strong evidence
of evolution of the dust crystalline mass fraction in parallel with that of the
structure of the disks, in the sense that increasing crystalline mass fraction
is strongly linked to dust settling to the disk midplane. We also confirm that
the crystalline silicates are confined to small radii, r < 10 AU. However, we
see no significant correlation of crystalline mass fraction with stellar mass
or luminosity, stellar accretion rate, disk mass, or disk/star mass ratio, as
would be expected in the standard models of dust processing based upon
photo-evaporation and condensation close to the central star,
accretion-heating-driven annealing at r < 1 AU, or spiral-shock heating at r <
10 AU, with or without effective radial mixing mechanisms. Either another
grain-crystallizing mechanism dominates over these, or another process must be
at work within the disks to erase the correlations they produce. We propose one
of each sort that seem to be worth further investigation, namely X-ray heating
and annealing of dust grains, and modulation of disk structure by
giant-planetary formation and migration.


title: Comprehensive simulations of superhumps

abstract:
  (Abridged) We use 3D SPH calculations with higher resolution, as well as with
more realistic viscosity and sound-speed prescriptions than previous work to
examine the eccentric instability which underlies the superhump phenomenon in
semi-detached binaries. We illustrate the importance of the two-armed spiral
mode in the generation of superhumps. Differential motions in the fluid disc
cause converging flows which lead to strong spiral shocks once each superhump
cycle. The dissipation associated with these shocks powers the superhump. We
compare 2D and 3D results, and conclude that 3D simulations are necessary to
faithfully simulate the disc dynamics. We ran our simulations for unprecedented
durations, so that an eccentric equilibrium is established except at high mass
ratios where the growth rate of the instability is very low. Our improved
simulations give a closer match to the observed relationship between superhump
period excess and binary mass ratio than previous numerical work. The observed
black hole X-ray transient superhumpers appear to have systematically lower
disc precession rates than the cataclysmic variables. This could be due to
higher disc temperatures and thicknesses. The modulation in total viscous
dissipation on the superhump period is overwhelmingly from the region of the
disc within the 3:1 resonance radius. As the eccentric instability develops,
the viscous torques are enhanced, and the disc consequently adjusts to a new
equilibrium state, as suggested in the thermal-tidal instability model. We
quantify this enhancement in the viscosity, which is ~10 per cent for q=0.08.
We characterise the eccentricity distributions in our accretion discs, and show
that the entire body of the disc partakes in the eccentricity.


title: Singular Energy Distributions in Granular Media

abstract:
  We study the kinetic theory of driven granular gases, taking into account
both translational and rotational degrees of freedom. We obtain the high-energy
tail of the stationary bivariate energy distribution, depending on the total
energy E and the ratio x=sqrt{E_w/E} of rotational energy E_w to total energy.
Extremely energetic particles have a unique and well-defined distribution f(x)
which has several remarkable features: x is not uniformly distributed as in
molecular gases; f(x) is not smooth but has multiple singularities. The latter
behavior is sensitive to material properties such as the collision parameters,
the moment of inertia and the collision rate. Interestingly, there are
preferred ratios of rotational-to-total energy. In general, f(x) is strongly
correlated with energy and the deviations from a uniform distribution grow with
energy. We also solve for the energy distribution of freely cooling Maxwell
Molecules and find qualitatively similar behavior.


title:
Cosmological Shock Waves in the Large Scale Structure of the Universe:
  Non-gravitational Effects

abstract:
  Cosmological shock waves result from supersonic flow motions induced by
hierarchical clustering of nonlinear structures in the universe. These shocks
govern the nature of cosmic plasma through thermalization of gas and
acceleration of nonthermal, cosmic-ray (CR) particles. We study the statistics
and energetics of shocks formed in cosmological simulations of a concordance
$\Lambda$CDM universe, with a special emphasis on the effects of
non-gravitational processes such as radiative cooling, photoionization/heating,
and galactic superwind feedbacks. Adopting an improved model for gas
thermalization and CR acceleration efficiencies based on nonlinear diffusive
shock acceleration calculations, we then estimate the gas thermal energy and
the CR energy dissipated at shocks through the history of the universe. Since
shocks can serve as sites for generation of vorticity, we also examine the
vorticity that should have been generated mostly at curved shocks in
cosmological simulations. We find that the dynamics and energetics of shocks
are governed primarily by the gravity of matter, so other non-gravitational
processes do not affect significantly the global energy dissipation and
vorticity generation at cosmological shocks. Our results reinforce scenarios in
which the intracluster medium and warm-hot intergalactic medium contain
energetically significant populations of nonthermal particles and turbulent
flow motions.


title: Outstanding Issues in Our Understanding of L, T, and Y Dwarfs

abstract:
  Since the discovery of the first L dwarf 19 years ago and the discovery of
the first T dwarf 7 years after that, we have amassed a large list of these
objects, now numbering almost six hundred. Despite making headway in
understanding the physical chemistry of their atmospheres, some important
issues remain unexplained. Three of these are the subject of this paper: (1)
What is the role of "second parameters" such as gravity and metallicity in
shaping the emergent spectra of L and T dwarfs? Can we establish a robust
classification scheme so that objects with unusual values of log(g) or [M/H],
unusual dust content, or unresolved binarity are easily recognized? (2) Which
physical processes drive the unusual behavior at the L/T transition? Which
observations can be obtained to better confine the problem? (3) What will
objects cooler than T8 look like? How will we know a Y dwarf when we first
observe one?


title:
The orbit, mass, size, albedo, and density of (65489) Ceto/Phorcys: A
  tidally-evolved binary Centaur

abstract:
  Hubble Space Telescope observations of Uranus- and Neptune-crossing object
(65489) Ceto/Phorcys (provisionally designated 2003 FX128) reveal it to be a
close binary system. The mutual orbit has a period of 9.554 +/- 0.011 days and
a semimajor axis of 1840 +/- 48 km. These values enable computation of a system
mass of (5.41 +/- 0.42) 10^18 kg. Spitzer Space Telescope observations of
thermal emission at 24 and 70 microns are combined with visible photometry to
constrain the system's effective radius (109 +10/-11 km) and geometric albedo
(0.084 +0.021/-0.014). We estimate the average bulk density to be 1.37
+0.66/-0.32 g cm^-3, consistent with ice plus rocky and/or carbonaceous
materials. This density contrasts with lower densities recently measured with
the same technique for three other comparably-sized outer Solar System binaries
(617) Patroclus, (26308) 1998 SM165, and (47171) 1999 TC36, and is closer to
the density of the saturnian irregular satellite Phoebe. The mutual orbit of
Ceto and Phorcys is nearly circular, with an eccentricity <= 0.015. This
observation is consistent with calculations suggesting that the system should
tidally evolve on a timescale shorter than the age of the solar system.


title: GLRT-Optimal Noncoherent Lattice Decoding

abstract:
  This paper presents new low-complexity lattice-decoding algorithms for
noncoherent block detection of QAM and PAM signals over complex-valued fading
channels. The algorithms are optimal in terms of the generalized likelihood
ratio test (GLRT). The computational complexity is polynomial in the block
length; making GLRT-optimal noncoherent detection feasible for implementation.
We also provide even lower complexity suboptimal algorithms. Simulations show
that the suboptimal algorithms have performance indistinguishable from the
optimal algorithms. Finally, we consider block based transmission, and propose
to use noncoherent detection as an alternative to pilot assisted transmission
(PAT). The new technique is shown to outperform PAT.


title:
Distributions of H2O and CO2 ices on Ariel, Umbriel, Titania, and Oberon
  from IRTF/SpeX observations

abstract:
  We present 0.8 to 2.4 micron spectral observations of uranian satellites,
obtained at IRTF/SpeX on 17 nights during 2001-2005. The spectra reveal for the
first time the presence of CO2 ice on the surfaces of Umbriel and Titania, by
means of 3 narrow absorption bands near 2 microns. Several additional, weaker
CO2 ice absorptions have also been detected. No CO2 absorption is seen in
Oberon spectra, and the strengths of the CO2 ice bands decline with
planetocentric distance from Ariel through Titania. We use the CO2 absorptions
to map the longitudinal distribution of CO2 ice on Ariel, Umbriel, and Titania,
showing that it is most abundant on their trailing hemispheres. We also examine
H2O ice absorptions in the spectra, finding deeper H2O bands on the leading
hemispheres of Ariel, Umbriel, and Titania, but the opposite pattern on Oberon.
Potential mechanisms to produce the observed longitudinal and planetocentric
distributions of the two ices are considered.


title: Proof of the Labastida-Marino-Ooguri-Vafa Conjecture

abstract:
  Based on large N Chern-Simons/topological string duality, in a series of
papers, J.M.F. Labastida, M. Marino, H. Ooguri and C. Vafa conjectured certain
remarkable new algebraic structure of link invariants and the existence of
infinite series of new integer invariants. In this paper, we provide a proof of
this conjecture. Moreover, we also show these new integer invariants vanish at
large genera.


title: Study of exotic hadrons in s-wave chiral dynamics

abstract:
  We study the exotic hadrons in s-wave scattering of the Nambu-Goldstone boson
with a target hadron based on chiral dynamics. Utilizing the low energy theorem
of chiral symmetry, we show that the s-wave interaction is not strong enough to
generate bound states in exotic channels in flavor SU(3) symmetric limit,
although the interaction is responsible for generating some nonexotic hadron
resonances dynamically. We discuss the renormalization condition adopted in
this analysis.


title:
Extremely strong-coupling superconductivity and anomalous lattice
  properties in the beta-pyrochlore oxide KOs2O6

abstract:
  Superconducting and normal-state properties of the beta-pyrochlore oxide
KOs2O6 are studied by means of thermodynamic and transport measurements. It is
shown that the superconductivity is of conventional s-wave type and lies in the
extremely strong-coupling regime. Specific heat and resistivity measurements
reveal that there are characteristic low-energy phonons that give rise to
unusual scattering of carriers due to strong electron-phonon interactions. The
entity of the low-energy phonons is ascribed to the heavy rattling of the K ion
confined in an oversized cage made of OsO6 octahedra. It is suggested that this
electron-rattler coupling mediates the Cooper pairing, resulting in the
extremely strong-coupling superconductivity.


title: Analysis of low energy pion spectra

abstract:
  The transverse mass spectra and the rapidity distributions of $\pi^+$ and
$\pi^-$ in Au-Au collisions at 2, 4, 6, and 8 GeV$\cdot$A by E895 collaboration
are fitted using an elliptically expanding fireball model with the contribution
from the resonance decays and the final state Coulomb interaction. The ratio of
the total number of produced $\pi^-$ and $\pi^+$ is used to fit the data. The
resulting freeze-out temperature is rather low($T_f < 60$ MeV) with large
transverse flow and thus resonance contribution is very small. The difference
in the shape of $m_t$ spectra of the oppositely charged pions are found to be
due to the Coulomb interaction of the pions.


abstract:
  A study of the $p d \to p d \eta$ reaction in the energy range where the
recent data from Uppsala are available, is done in the two-step model of $\eta$
production including the final state interaction. The $\eta -d$ final state
interaction is incorporated through the solution of the Lippmann Schwinger
equation using an elastic scattering matrix element, $T_{\eta d \to \eta d}$,
which is required to be half off-shell. It is written in a factorized form,
with an off-shell form factor multiplying an on-shell part given by an
effective range expansion up to the fourth power in momentum. The parameters of
this expansion have been taken from an existing recent relativistic Faddeev
equation solution for the $\eta NN$ system corresponding to different $\eta-N$
scattering amplitudes. Calculations have also been done using few body
equations within a finite rank approximation (FRA) to generate $T_{\eta d \to
\eta d}$. The $p-d$ final state interaction is included in the spirit of the
Watson-Migdal prescription by multiplying the matrix element by the inverse of
the Jost function. The $\eta-d$ interaction is found to be dominant in the
region of small invariant $\eta -d$ mass, $M_{\eta d}$. The $p-d$ interaction
enhances the cross section in the whole region of $M_{\eta d}$, but is larger
for large $M_{\eta d}$. We find nearly isotropic angular distributions of the
proton and the deuteron in the final state. All the above observations are in
agreement with data. The production mechanism for the entire range of the
existing data on the $p d \to p d \eta$ reaction seems to be dominated by the
two-step model of $\eta$ production.


title:
On the exact formula for neutrino oscillation probability by Kimura,
  Takamura and Yokomakura

abstract:
  The exact formula for the neutrino oscillation probability in matter with
constant density, which was discovered by Kimura, Takamura and Yokomakura, has
been applied mostly to the standard case with three flavor neutrino so far. In
this paper applications of their formula to more general cases are discussed.
It is shown that this formalism can be generalized to various cases where the
matter potential have off-diagonal components, and the two non-trivial examples
are given: the case with magnetic moments and a magnetic field and the case
with non-standard interactions. It is pointed out that their formalism can be
applied also to the case in the long baseline limit with matter whose density
varies adiabatically as in the case of solar neutrino.


title:
Absolute measurement of the nitrogen fluorescence yield in air between
  300 and 430 nm

abstract:
  The nitrogen fluorescence induced in air is used to detect ultra-high energy
cosmic rays and to measure their energy. The precise knowledge of the absolute
fluorescence yield is the key quantity to improve the accuracy on the cosmic
ray energy. The total yield has been measured in dry air using a 90Sr source
and a [300-430 nm] filter. The fluorescence yield in air is 4.23 $\pm$ 0.20
photons per meter when normalized to 760 mmHg, 15 degrees C and with an
electron energy of 0.85 MeV. This result is consistent with previous
experiments made at various energies, but with an accuracy improved by a factor
of about 3. For the first time, the absolute continuous spectrum of nitrogen
excited by 90Sr electrons has also been measured with a spectrometer. Details
of this experiment are given in one of the author's PhD thesis [32].


title:
Concrete Classification and Centralizers of Certain $\mathbb{Z}^2
  \rtimes {\rm SL}(2,\mathbb{Z})$-actions

abstract:
  We introduce a new class of actions of the group $\G$ on finite von Neumann
algebras and call them twisted Bernoulli shift actions. We classify these
actions up to conjugacy and give an explicit description of their centralizers.
We also distinguish many of those actions on the AFD $\mathrm{II}_1$ factor in
view of outer conjugacy.


title: The Phase-resolved High Energy Spectrum of the Crab Pulsar

abstract:
  We present a modified outer gap model to study the phase-resolved spectra of
the Crab pulsar. A theoretical double peak profile of the light curve
containing the whole phase is shown to be consistent with the observed light
curve of the Crab pulsar by shifting the inner boundary of the outer gap
inwardly to $\sim 10$ stellar radii above the neutron star surface. In this
model, the radial distances of the photons corresponding to different phases
can be determined in the numerical calculation. Also the local electrodynamics,
such as the accelerating electric field, the curvature radius of the magnetic
field line and the soft photon energy, are sensitive to the radial distances to
the neutron star. Using a synchrotron self-Compton mechanism, the
phase-resolved spectra with the energy range from 100 eV to 3 GeV of the Crab
pulsar can also be explained.


title: Massive N=1 supermultiplets with arbitrary superspins

abstract:
  In this paper we give explicit construction of massive N=1 supermultiplets in
flat d=4 Minkowski space-time. We work in a component on-shell formalism based
on gauge invariant description of massive integer and half-integer spin
particles where massive supermultiplets are constructed out of appropriate set
of massless ones.


title: Critical Current of Type-II Superconductors in a Broken Bose Glass State

abstract:
  The tilt modulus of a defective Abrikosov vortex lattice pinned by material
line defects is computed using the boson analogy. It tends to infinity at long
wavelength, which yields a Bose glass state that is robust to the addition of
weak point-pinning centers, and which implies a restoring force per vortex line
for rigid translations about mechanical equilibrium that is independent of
magnetic field. It also indicates that the Bose glass state breaks into pieces
along the direction of the correlated pinning centers if the latter have finite
length. The critical current is predicted to crossover from two dimensional to
three dimensional behavior as a function of sample thickness along the
correlated pinning centers in such case. That crossover notably can occur at a
film thickness that is much larger than that expected from point pins of
comparable strength. The above is compared to the dependence on thickness shown
by the critical current in certain films of high-temperature superconductors
currently being developed for wire technology.


title: Estimates for singular integrals and extrapolation

abstract:
  We prove a sharp Lp estimate for a singular Radon transform according to a
size condition of its kernel, which is useful for extrapolation.


title:
Rounding of first-order phase transitions and optimal cooperation in
  scale-free networks

abstract:
  We consider the ferromagnetic large-$q$ state Potts model in complex evolving
networks, which is equivalent to an optimal cooperation problem, in which the
agents try to optimize the total sum of pair cooperation benefits and the
supports of independent projects. The agents are found to be typically of two
kinds: a fraction of $m$ (being the magnetization of the Potts model) belongs
to a large cooperating cluster, whereas the others are isolated one man's
projects. It is shown rigorously that the homogeneous model has a strongly
first-order phase transition, which turns to second-order for random
interactions (benefits), the properties of which are studied numerically on the
Barab\'asi-Albert network. The distribution of finite-size transition points is
characterized by a shift exponent, $1/\tilde{\nu}'=.26(1)$, and by a different
width exponent, $1/\nu'=.18(1)$, whereas the magnetization at the transition
point scales with the size of the network, $N$, as: $m\sim N^{-x}$, with
$x=.66(1)$.


title:
A New Monte Carlo Method and Its Implications for Generalized Cluster
  Algorithms

abstract:
  We describe a novel switching algorithm based on a ``reverse'' Monte Carlo
method, in which the potential is stochastically modified before the system
configuration is moved. This new algorithm facilitates a generalized
formulation of cluster-type Monte Carlo methods, and the generalization makes
it possible to derive cluster algorithms for systems with both discrete and
continuous degrees of freedom. The roughening transition in the sine-Gordon
model has been studied with this method, and high-accuracy simulations for
system sizes up to $1024^2$ were carried out to examine the logarithmic
divergence of the surface roughness above the transition temperature, revealing
clear evidence for universal scaling of the Kosterlitz-Thouless type.


title:
The Orbifolds of Permutation-Type as Physical String Systems at
  Multiples of $c=26$ III. The Spectra of $\hat{c}=52$ Strings

abstract:
  In the second paper of this series, I obtained the twisted BRST systems and
extended physical-state conditions of all twisted open and closed $\hat{c} =
52$ strings. In this paper, I supplement the extended physical-state conditions
with the explicit form of the extended (twisted) Virasoro generators of all
$\hat{c} = 52$ strings, which allows us to discuss the physical spectra of
these systems. Surprisingly, all the $\hat{c}=52$ spectra admit an equivalent
description in terms of generically-unconventional Virasoro generators at
$c=26$. This description strongly supports our prior conjecture that the
$\hat{c}=52$ strings are free of negative-norm states, and moreover shows that
the spectra of some of the simpler cases are equivalent to those of ordinary
untwisted open and closed $c=26$ strings.


title:
Riemannian and Lorentzian structures on the non symmetric space
  SO(2m)/Sp(m)

abstract:
  In this work, we are interested in a non symmetric homogeneous space, namely
$SO(2m)/Sp(m)$. We show that this space admits a structure of $Z_2^2$-symmetric
space. We describe all the non degenerated metrics and classify the Riemannian
and Lorentzian ones.


title: Quasiparticles in Neon using the Faddeev Random Phase Approximation

abstract:
  The spectral function of the closed-shell Neon atom is computed by expanding
the electron self-energy through a set of Faddeev equations. This method
describes the coupling of single-particle degrees of freedom with correlated
two-electron, two-hole, and electron-hole pairs. The excitation spectra are
obtained using the Random Phase Approximation, rather than the Tamm-Dancoff
framework employed in the third-order algebraic diagrammatic contruction
[ADC(3)] method. The difference between these two approaches is studied, as
well as the interplay between ladder and ring diagrams in the self-energy.
Satisfactory results are obtained for the ionization energies as well as the
energy of the ground state with the Faddeev-RPA scheme that is also appropriate
for the high-density electron gas.


title: Discrete Nonholonomic Lagrangian Systems on Lie Groupoids

abstract:
  This paper studies the construction of geometric integrators for nonholonomic
systems. We derive the nonholonomic discrete Euler-Lagrange equations in a
setting which permits to deduce geometric integrators for continuous
nonholonomic systems (reduced or not). The formalism is given in terms of Lie
groupoids, specifying a discrete Lagrangian and a constraint submanifold on it.
Additionally, it is necessary to fix a vector subbundle of the Lie algebroid
associated to the Lie groupoid. We also discuss the existence of nonholonomic
evolution operators in terms of the discrete nonholonomic Legendre
transformations and in terms of adequate decompositions of the prolongation of
the Lie groupoid. The characterization of the reversibility of the evolution
operator and the discrete nonholonomic momentum equation are also considered.
Finally, we illustrate with several classical examples the wide range of
application of the theory (the discrete nonholonomic constrained particle, the
Suslov system, the Chaplygin sleigh, the Veselova system, the rolling ball on a
rotating table and the two wheeled planar mobile robot).


title: Pseudogap and charge density waves in two dimensions

abstract:
  An interaction between electrons and lattice vibrations (phonons) results in
two fundamental quantum phenomena in solids: in three dimensions it can turn a
metal into a superconductor whereas in one dimension it can turn a metal into
an insulator. In two dimensions (2D) both superconductivity and charge-density
waves (CDW) are believed to be anomalous. In superconducting cuprates, critical
transition temperatures are unusually high and the energy gap may stay unclosed
even above these temperatures (pseudogap). In CDW-bearing dichalcogenides the
resistivity below the transition can decrease with temperature even faster than
in the normal phase and a basic prerequisite for the CDW, the favourable
nesting conditions (when some sections of the Fermi surface appear shifted by
the same vector), seems to be absent. Notwithstanding the existence of
alternatives to conventional theories, both phenomena in 2D still remain the
most fascinating puzzles in condensed matter physics. Using the latest
developments in high-resolution angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy
(ARPES) here we show that the normal-state pseudogap also exists in one of the
most studied 2D examples, dichalcogenide 2H-TaSe2, and the formation of CDW is
driven by a conventional nesting instability, which is masked by the pseudogap.
Our findings reconcile and explain a number of unusual, as previously believed,
experimental responses as well as disprove many alternative theoretical
approaches. The magnitude, character and anisotropy of the 2D-CDW pseudogap are
intriguingly similar to those seen in superconducting cuprates.


title: Supersymmetric Field Theory Based on Generalized Uncertainty Principle

abstract:
  We construct a quantum theory of free fermion field based on the generalized
uncertainty principle using supersymmetry as a guiding principle. A
supersymmetric field theory with a real scalar field and a Majorana fermion
field is given explicitly and we also find that the supersymmetry algebra is
deformed from an usual one.


title: Optimal flexibility for conformational transitions in macromolecules

abstract:
  Conformational transitions in macromolecular complexes often involve the
reorientation of lever-like structures. Using a simple theoretical model, we
show that the rate of such transitions is drastically enhanced if the lever is
bendable, e.g. at a localized "hinge''. Surprisingly, the transition is fastest
with an intermediate flexibility of the hinge. In this intermediate regime, the
transition rate is also least sensitive to the amount of "cargo'' attached to
the lever arm, which could be exploited by molecular motors. To explain this
effect, we generalize the Kramers-Langer theory for multi-dimensional barrier
crossing to configuration dependent mobility matrices.


title:
AFM Imaging of SWI/SNF action: mapping the nucleosome remodeling and
  sliding

abstract:
  We propose a combined experimental (Atomic Force Microscopy) and theoretical
study of the structural and dynamical properties of nucleosomes. In contrast to
biochemical approaches, this method allows to determine simultaneously the DNA
complexed length distribution and nucleosome position in various contexts.
First, we show that differences in the nucleo-proteic structure observed
between conventional H2A and H2A.Bbd variant nucleosomes induce quantitative
changes in the in the length distribution of DNA complexed with histones. Then,
the sliding action of remodeling complex SWI/SNF is characterized through the
evolution of the nucleosome position and wrapped DNA length mapping. Using a
linear energetic model for the distribution of DNA complexed length, we extract
the net wrapping energy of DNA onto the histone octamer, and compare it to
previous studies.


title:
When the orbit algebra of group is an integral domain? Proof of a
  conjecture of P.J. Cameron

abstract:
  P.J.Cameron introduced the orbit algebra of a permutation group and
conjectured that this algebra is an integral domain if and only if the group
has no finite orbit. We prove that this conjecture holds and in fact that the
age algebra of a relational structure $R$ is an integral domain if and only if
$R$ is age-inexhaustible. We deduce these results from a combinatorial lemma
asserting that if a product of two non-zero elements of a set algebra is zero
then there is a finite common tranversal of their supports. The proof is built
on Ramsey theorem and the integrity of a shuffle algebra.


title: Saturated actions by finite dimensional Hopf *-algebras on C*-algebras

abstract:
  If a finite group action $\alpha$ on a unital $C^*$-algebra $M$ is saturated,
the canonical conditional expectation $E:M\to M^\alpha$ onto the fixed point
algebra is known to be of index finite type with $Index(E)=|G|$ in the sense of
Watatani. More generally if a finite dimensional Hopf $*$-algebra $A$ acts on
$M$ and the action is saturated, the same is true with $Index (E)=\dim(A)$. In
this paper we prove that the converse is true. Especially in case $M$ is a
commutative $C^*$-algebra $C(X)$ and $\alpha$ is a finite group action, we give
an equivalent condition in order that the expectation $E:C(X)\to C(X)^\alpha$
is of index finite type, from which we obtain that $\alpha$ is saturated if and
only if $G$ acts freely on $X$.
  Actions by compact groups are also considered to show that the gauge action
$\gamma$ on a graph $C^*$-algebra $C^*(E)$ associated with a locally finite
directed graph $E$ is saturated.


title:
The electronic structures, the equilibrium geometries and finite
  temperature properties of Na_n (n=39-55)

abstract:
  Density-functional theory has been applied to investigate systematics of
sodium clusters Na_n in the size range of n= 39-55. A clear evolutionary trend
in the growth of their ground-state geometries emerges. The clusters at the
beginning of the series (n=39-43) are symmetric and have partial icosahedral
(two-shell) structure. The growth then goes through a series of disordered
clusters (n=44-52) where the icosahedral core is lost. However, for n>52 a
three shell icosahedral structure emerges. This change in the nature of the
geometry is abrupt. In addition, density-functional molecular dynamics has been
used to calculate the specific heat curves for the representative sizes n= 43,
45, 48 and 52. These results along with already available thermodynamic
calculations for n= 40, 50, and 55 enable us to carry out a detailed comparison
of the heat capacity curves with their respective geometries for the entire
series. Our results clearly bring out strong correlation between the evolution
of the geometries and the nature of the shape of the heat capacities. The
results also firmly establish the size-sensitive nature of the heat capacities
in sodium clusters.


title: Quantum Zeno Effect in the Decoherent Histories

abstract:
  The quantum Zeno effect arises due to frequent observation. That implies the
existence of some experimenter and its interaction with the system. In this
contribution, we examine what happens for a closed system if one considers a
quantum Zeno type of question, namely: "what is the probability of a system,
remaining always in a particular subspace". This has implications to the
arrival time problem that is also discussed. We employ the decoherent histories
approach to quantum theory, as this is the better developed formulation of
closed system quantum mechanics, and in particular, dealing with questions that
involve time in a non-trivial way. We get a very restrictive decoherence
condition, that implies that even if we do introduce an environment, there will
be very few cases that we can assign probabilities to these histories, but in
those cases, the quantum Zeno effect is still present.


title:
Green function theory versus Quantum Monte Carlo calculations for thin
  magnetic films

abstract:
  In this work we compare numerically exact Quantum Monte Carlo (QMC)
calculations and Green function theory (GFT) calculations of thin ferromagnetic
films including second order anisotropies. Thereby we concentrate on easy plane
systems, i.e. systems for which the anisotropy favors a magnetization parallel
to the film plane. We discuss these systems in perpendicular external field,
i.e. B parallel to the film normal. GFT results are in good agreement with QMC
for high enough fields and temperatures. Below a critical field or a critical
temperature no collinear stable magnetization exists in GFT. On the other hand
QMC gives finite magnetization even below those critical values. This indicates
that there occurs a transition from non-collinear to collinear configurations
with increasing field or temperature. For slightly tilted external fields a
rotation of magnetization from out-of-plane to in-plane orientation is found
with decreasing temperature.


title: Matrix Ordered Operator Algebras

abstract:
  We study the question when for a given *-algebra $\mathcal{A}$ a sequence of
cones $C_n\in M_n(\mathcal{A})$ can be realized as cones of positive operators
in a faithful *-representation of $\mathcal{A}$ on a Hilbert space. A
characterization of operator algebras which are completely boundedly isomorphic
to $C\sp*$-algebras is presented.


title: Properly infinite C(X)-algebras and K_1-injectivity

abstract:
  We investigate if a unital C(X)-algebra is properly infinite when all its
fibres are properly infinite. We show that this question can be rephrased in
several different ways, including the question if every unital properly
infinite C*-algebra is K_1-injective. We provide partial answers to these
questions, and we show that the general question on proper infiniteness of
C(X)-algebras can be reduced to establishing proper infiniteness of a specific
C([0,1])-algebra with properly infinite fibres.


title:
An information-based traffic control in a public conveyance system:
  reduced clustering and enhanced efficiency

abstract:
  A new public conveyance model applicable to buses and trains is proposed in
this paper by using stochastic cellular automaton. We have found the optimal
density of vehicles, at which the average velocity becomes maximum,
significantly depends on the number of stops and passengers behavior of getting
on a vehicle at stops. The efficiency of the hail-and-ride system is also
discussed by comparing the different behavior of passengers. Moreover, we have
found that a big cluster of vehicles is divided into small clusters, by
incorporating information of the number of vehicles between successive stops.


title: A separable deformation of the quaternion group algebra

abstract:
  The Donald-Flanigan conjecture asserts that for any finite group and for any
field, the corresponding group algebra can be deformed to a separable algebra.
The minimal unsolved instance, namely the quaternion group over a field of
characteristic 2 was considered as a counterexample. We present here a
separable deformation of the quaternion group algebra. In a sense, the
conjecture for any finite group is open again.


title: On the residue fields of Henselian valued stable fields, II

abstract:
  Let $E$ be a primarily quasilocal field, $M/E$ a finite Galois extension and
$D$ a central division $E$-algebra of index divisible by $[M\colon E]$. In
addition to the main result of Part I, this part of the paper shows that if the
Galois group $G(M/E)$ is not nilpotent, then $M$ does not necessarily embed in
$D$ as an $E$-subalgebra. When $E$ is quasilocal, we find the structure of the
character group of its absolute Galois group; this enables us to prove that if
$E$ is strictly quasilocal and almost perfect, then the divisible part of the
multiplicative group $E ^{\ast}$ equals the intersection of the norm groups of
finite Galois extensions of $E$.


title: Chromospheric Cloud-Model Inversion Techniques

abstract:
  Spectral inversion techniques based on the cloud model are extremely useful
for the study of properties and dynamics of various chromospheric cloud-like
structures. Several inversion techniques are reviewed based on simple (constant
source function) and more elaborated cloud models, as well as on grids of
synthetic line profiles produced for a wide range of physical parameters by
different NLTE codes. Several examples are shown of how such techniques can be
used in different chromospheric lines, for the study of structures of the quiet
chromosphere, such as mottles/spicules, as well as for active region structures
such as fibrils, arch filament systems (AFS), filaments and flares.


title:
Dust covering factor, silicate emission and star formation in luminous
  QSOs

abstract:
  We present Spitzer IRS low resolution, mid-IR spectra of a sample of 25 high
luminosity QSOs at 2<z<3.5. When combined with archival IRS observations of
local, low luminosity type-I AGNs, the sample spans five orders of magnitude in
luminosity. We find that the continuum dust thermal emission at
lambda(rest)=6.7um is correlated with the optical luminosity, following the
non-linear relation L(6.7um) propto L(5100A)^0.82. We also find an anti
correlation between the ratio L(6.7um)/L(5100A) and the [OIII]5007A line
luminosity. These effects are interpreted as a decreasing covering factor of
the circumnuclear dust as a function of luminosity. Such a result is in
agreement with the decreasing fraction of absorbed AGNs as a function of
luminosity recently found in various surveys. We clearly detect the silicate
emission feature in the average spectrum, but also in four individual objects.
These are the Silicate emission in the most luminous objects obtained so far.
When combined with the silicate emission observed in local, low luminosity
type-I AGNs, we find that the silicate emission strength is correlated with
luminosity.
  The silicate strength of all type-I AGNs also follows a positive correlation
with the black hole mass and with the accretion rate. The Polycyclic Aromatic
Hydrocarbon (PAH) emission features, expected from starburst activity, are not
detected in the average spectrum of luminous, high-z QSOs. The upper limit
inferred from the average spectrum points to a ratio between PAH luminosity and
QSO optical luminosity significantly lower than observed in lower luminosity
AGNs, implying that the correlation between star formation rate and AGN power
saturates at high luminosities.


title:
Generating entanglement of photon-number states with coherent light via
  cross-Kerr nonlinearity

abstract:
  We propose a scheme for generating entangled states of light fields. This
scheme only requires the cross-Kerr nonlinear interaction between coherent
light-beams, followed by a homodyne detection. Therefore, this scheme is within
the reach of current technology. We study in detail the generation of the
entangled states between two modes, and that among three modes. In addition to
the Bell states between two modes and the W states among three modes, we find
plentiful new kinds of entangled states. Finally, the scheme can be extend to
generate the entangled states among more than three modes.


title:
A parachute for the degree of a polynomial in algebraically independent
  ones

abstract:
  We give a simpler proof as well as a generalization of the main result of an
article of Shestakov and Umirbaev. This latter article being the first of two
that solve a long-standing conjecture about the non-tameness, or "wildness", of
Nagata's automorphism. As corollaries we get interesting informations about the
leading terms of polynomials forming an automorphism in any dimension and
reprove the tameness of automorphisms in dimension two.


title:
Galaxy evolution in the infra-red: comparison of a hierarchical galaxy
  formation model with SPITZER data

abstract:
  We present predictions for the evolution of the galaxy luminosity function,
number counts and redshift distributions in the IR based on the Lambda-CDM
cosmological model. We use the combined GALFORM semi-analytical galaxy
formation model and GRASIL spectrophotometric code to compute galaxy SEDs
including the reprocessing of radiation by dust. The model, which is the same
as that in Baugh et al (2005), assumes two different IMFs: a normal solar
neighbourhood IMF for quiescent star formation in disks, and a very top-heavy
IMF in starbursts triggered by galaxy mergers. We have shown previously that
the top-heavy IMF seems to be necessary to explain the number counts of faint
sub-mm galaxies. We compare the model with observational data from the SPITZER
Space Telescope, with the model parameters fixed at values chosen before
SPITZER data became available. We find that the model matches the observed
evolution in the IR remarkably well over the whole range of wavelengths probed
by SPITZER. In particular, the SPITZER data show that there is strong evolution
in the mid-IR galaxy luminosity function over the redshift range z ~ 0-2, and
this is reproduced by our model without requiring any adjustment of parameters.
On the other hand, a model with a normal IMF in starbursts predicts far too
little evolution in the mid-IR luminosity function, and is therefore excluded.


title: Use of Triangular Elements for Nearly Exact BEM Solutions

abstract:
  A library of C functions yielding exact solutions of potential and flux
influences due to uniform surface distribution of singularities on flat
triangular and rectangular elements has been developed. This library, ISLES,
has been used to develop the neBEM solver that is both precise and fast in
solving a wide range of problems of scientific and technological interest. Here
we present the exact expressions proposed for computing the influence of
uniform singularity distributions on triangular elements and illustrate their
accuracy. We also present a study concerning the time taken to evaluate these
long and complicated expressions \textit{vis a vis} that spent in carrying out
simple quadratures. Finally, we solve a classic benchmark problem in
electrostatics, namely, estimation of the capacitance of a unit square plate
raised to unit volt. For this problem, we present the estimated values of
capacitance and compare them successfully with some of the most accurate
results available in the literature. In addition, we present the variation of
the charge density close to the corner of the plate for various degrees of
discretization. The variations are found to be smooth and converging. This is
in clear contrast to the criticism commonly leveled against usual BEM solvers.


title: Entropy of eigenfunctions

abstract:
  We study the high--energy limit for eigenfunctions of the laplacian, on a
compact negatively curved manifold. We review the recent result of
Anantharaman-Nonnenmacher giving a lower bound on the Kolmogorov-Sinai entropy
of semiclassical measures, and improve this lower bound in the case of variable
negative curvature.


title: Vector meson production from a polarized nucleon

abstract:
  We provide a framework to analyze the electroproduction process ep -> ep rho
with a polarized target, writing the angular distribution of the rho decay
products in terms of spin density matrix elements that parameterize the
hadronic subprocess gamma* p -> rho p. Using the helicity basis for both photon
and meson, we find a representation in which the expressions for a polarized
and unpolarized target are related by simple substitution rules.


title:
The effect of the solar corona on the attenuation of small-amplitude
  prominence oscillations. I. Longitudinal magnetic field

abstract:
  Context. One of the typical features shown by observations of solar
prominence oscillations is that they are damped in time and that the values of
the damping times are usually between one and three times the corresponding
oscillatory period. However, the mechanism responsible for the attenuation is
still not well-known. Aims. Thermal conduction, optically thin or thick
radiation and heating are taken into account in the energy equation, and their
role on the attenuation of prominence oscillations is evaluated. Methods. The
dispersion relation for linear non-adiabatic magnetoacoustic waves is derived
considering an equilibrium made of a prominence plasma slab embedded in an
unbounded corona. The magnetic field is orientated along the direction parallel
to the slab axis and has the same strength in all regions. By solving the
dispersion relation for a fixed wavenumber, a complex oscillatory frequency is
obtained, and the period and the damping time are computed. Results. The effect
of conduction and radiation losses is different for each magnetoacoustic mode
and depends on the wavenumber. In the observed range of wavelengths the
internal slow mode is attenuated by radiation from the prominence plasma, the
fast mode by the combination of prominence radiation and coronal conduction and
the external slow mode by coronal conduction. The consideration of the external
corona is of paramount importance in the case of the fast and external slow
modes, whereas it does not affect the internal slow modes at all. Conclusions.
Non-adiabatic effects are efficient damping mechanisms for magnetoacoustic
modes, and the values of the obtained damping times are compatible with those
observed.


title: Energy and Momentum Distributions of Kantowski and Sachs Space-time

abstract:
  We use the Einstein, Bergmann-Thomson, Landau-Lifshitz and Papapetrou
energy-momentum complexes to calculate the energy and momentum distributions of
Kantowski and Sachs space-time. We show that the Einstein and Bergmann-Thomson
definitions furnish a consistent result for the energy distribution, but the
definition of Landau-Lifshitz do not agree with them. We show that a signature
switch should affect about everything including energy distribution in the case
of Einstein and Papapetrou prescriptions but not in Bergmann-Thomson and
Landau-Lifshitz prescriptions.