title:
Flexible least squares for temporal data mining and statistical
  arbitrage

abstract:
  A number of recent emerging applications call for studying data streams,
potentially infinite flows of information updated in real-time. When multiple
co-evolving data streams are observed, an important task is to determine how
these streams depend on each other, accounting for dynamic dependence patterns
without imposing any restrictive probabilistic law governing this dependence.
In this paper we argue that flexible least squares (FLS), a penalized version
of ordinary least squares that accommodates for time-varying regression
coefficients, can be deployed successfully in this context. Our motivating
application is statistical arbitrage, an investment strategy that exploits
patterns detected in financial data streams. We demonstrate that FLS is
algebraically equivalent to the well-known Kalman filter equations, and take
advantage of this equivalence to gain a better understanding of FLS and suggest
a more efficient algorithm. Promising experimental results obtained from a
FLS-based algorithmic trading system for the S&P 500 Futures Index are
reported.


title:
The study of leading twist light cone wave functions of 2S state
  charmonium mesons

abstract:
  In this paper leading twist light cone wave functions of 2S state charmonium
mesons are studied and models of these functions are built.


title: Loops for ILC

abstract:
  This contribution summarizes the on-going activities connected to the
evaluation of higher order radiative corrections in the context of a future
international linear collider (ILC).


title: Reduce Problems From Braid Groups To Braid Monoids

abstract:
  This paper proposes for every $n$, linear time reductions of the word and
conjugacy problems on the braid groups $B_n$ to the corresponding problems on
the braid monoids $B_n^+$ and moreover only using positive words
representations.


title: Fluctuation Theorems

abstract:
  Fluctuation theorems, which have been developed over the past 15 years, have
resulted in fundamental breakthroughs in our understanding of how
irreversibility emerges from reversible dynamics, and have provided new
statistical mechanical relationships for free energy changes. They describe the
statistical fluctuations in time-averaged properties of many-particle systems
such as fluids driven to nonequilibrium states, and provide some of the very
few analytical expressions that describe nonequilibrium states. Quantitative
predictions on fluctuations in small systems that are monitored over short
periods can also be made, and therefore the fluctuation theorems allow
thermodynamic concepts to be extended to apply to finite systems. For this
reason, fluctuation theorems are anticipated to play an important role in the
design of nanotechnological devices and in understanding biological processes.
These theorems, their physical significance and results for experimental and
model systems are discussed.


title: A Neutrino Factory for both Large and Small theta_13

abstract:
  An analysis of the neutrino oscillation physics capability of a low energy
Neutrino Factory is presented, including a first simulation of the detector
efficiency and event energy threshold. The sensitivity of the physics reach to
the presence of backgrounds is also studied. We consider a representative
baseline of 1480 km, we use muons with 4.12 GeV energy and we exploit a very
conservative estimate of the energy resolution of the detector. Our analysis
suggests an impressive physics reach for this setup, which can eliminate
degenerate solutions, for both large and small values of the mixing angle
theta_13, and can determine leptonic CP violation and the neutrino mass
hierarchy with extraordinary sensitivity.


title: Mass transport and variants of the logarithmic Sobolev inequality

abstract:
  We develop the optimal transportation approach to modified log-Sobolev
inequalities and to isoperimetric inequalities. Various sufficient conditions
for such inequalities are given. Some of them are new even in the classical
log-Sobolev case. The idea behind many of these conditions is that measures
with a non-convex potential may enjoy such functional inequalities provided
they have a strong integrability property that balances the lack of convexity.
In addition, several known criteria are recovered in a simple unified way by
transportation methods and generalized to the Riemannian setting.


title:
A Description of Rotating Multicharged Black Holes in terms of Branes
  and Antibranes

abstract:
  We describe rotating multicharge black holes as stacks of intersecting branes
and antibranes together with massless gases on them. Assuming the energies of
the gases to be equal, we find that their angular momentum parameters,
corresponding to black hole rotations, are also equal. The entropy S of this
model is given by S = X S_{sg} where S_{sg} is the supergravity entropy. One
can obtain X = 1 under an assumption which violates conservation of energy. We
show that X = 1 can also be obtained if one assumes that there is only one
single gas, which is some sort of superposition of the gases mentioned above,
and that the brane tensions are reduced by a factor of four. In this
interpretation, energy is conserved and the unusual assumption that energies,
not temperatures, of the gases are equal becomes superfluous.


title:
AC conductivity of polymer composites: an efficient confirmatory tool
  for qualifying crude multi-walled carbon nanotube-samples

abstract:
  The present communication highlights that ac conductivity measurement of the
multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs)-polymer composites is a very promising
characterizing tool for qualifying any crude MWNT-sample synthesized by
electric arc. It distinguishes graphite structures from that of the MWNTs and
reflects the relative amount of nearly one-dimensional structures and disorders
present within the samples. This new protocol would help in evolving more
direct and quantitative criteria for qualification of MWNTs synthesized through
diverse techniques and will definitely add up to the conceptual understanding
in visualizing the exact roles of different controlling parameters affecting
the growth of MWNTs.


title: Linearization of skew-periodic loops and $\mathbb S^1$-cocycles

abstract:
  We discuss linearization of skew-periodic loops. We generalize the situation
to linearization of non-commutative loops and $\mathbb S^1$-cocycles.


title: Electrically injected cavity polaritons

abstract:
  We have realised a semiconductor quantum structure that produces
electroluminescence while operating in the light-matter strong coupling regime.
The mid-infrared light emitting device is composed of a quantum cascade
structure embedded in a planar microcavity, based on the GaAs/AlGaAs material
system. At zero bias, the structure is characterised using reflectivity
measurements which show, up to room temperature, a wide polariton anticrossing
between an intersubband transition and the resonant cavity photon mode. Under
electrical injection the spectral features of the emitted light change
drastically, as electrons are resonantly injected in a reduced part of the
polariton branches. Our experiment demonstrates that electrons can be
selectively injected into polariton states up to room temperature.


title: Energy Extraction from Black Holes

abstract:
  In this lecture I give an introduction to the rotational energy extraction of
black holes by the electromagnetic Blandford-Znajek process and the generation
of relativistic jets. After some basic material on the electrodynamics of black
hole magnetospheres, we derive the most important results of Blandford and
Znajek by making use of Kerr-Schild coordinates, which are regular on the
horizon. In a final part we briefly describe results of recent numerical
simulations of accretion flows on rotating black holes, the resulting
large-scale outflows, and the formation of collimated relativistic jets with
high Lorentz factors.


title:
Variations and estimators for the selfsimilarity order through Malliavin
  calculus

abstract:
  Using multiple stochastic integrals and the Malliavin calculus, we analyze
the asymptotic behavior of quadratic variations for a specific non-Gaussian
self-similar process, the Rosenblatt process. We apply our results to the
design of strongly consistent statistical estimators for the self-similarity
parameter $H$. Although, in the case of the Rosenblatt process, our estimator
has non-Gaussian asymptotics for all $H>1/2$, we show the remarkable fact that
the process's data at time 1 can be used to construct a distinct, compensated
estimator with Gaussian asymptotics for $H\in(1/2,2/3)$.


title: Microscopic Dynamics of Shape Coexistence Phenomena around 68Se and 72Kr

abstract:
  The adiabatic self-consistent collective coordinate (ASCC) method is applied
to the pairing-plus-quadrupole (P + Q) model Hamiltonian including the
quadrupole pairing, and the oblate-prolate shape coexistence phenomena in
proton-rich nuclei, 68Se and 72Kr, are investigated. It is shown that the
collective path connecting the oblate and prolate local minima runs along a
triaxial valley in the beta-gamma plane. Quantum collective Hamiltonian is
constructed and low-lying energy spectra and E2 transition probabilities are
calculated for the first time using the ASCC method. Basic properties of the
shape coexistence/mixing are well reproduced. We also clarify the effects of
the time-odd pair field on the collective mass (inertial function) for the
large-amplitude vibration and on the rotational moments of inertia about three
principal axes.


title:
Neutrinos from WIMP Annihilations Obtained Using a Full Three-Flavor
  Monte Carlo Approach

abstract:
  Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) are one of the main candidates
for the dark matter in the Universe. If these particles make up the dark
matter, then they can be captured by the Sun or the Earth, sink to the
respective cores, annihilate, and produce neutrinos. Thus, these neutrinos can
be a striking dark matter signature at neutrino telescopes looking towards the
Sun and/or the Earth. Here, we improve previous analyses on computing the
neutrino yields from WIMP annihilations in several respects. We include
neutrino oscillations in a full three-flavor framework as well as all effects
from neutrino interactions on the way through the Sun (absorption, energy loss,
and regeneration from tau decays). In addition, we study the effects of
non-zero values of the mixing angle $\theta_{13}$ as well as the normal and
inverted neutrino mass hierarchies. Our study is performed in an event-based
setting which makes these results very useful both for theoretical analyses and
for building a neutrino telescope Monte Carlo code. All our results for the
neutrino yields, as well as our Monte Carlo code, are publicly available. We
find that the yield of muon-type neutrinos from WIMP annihilations in the Sun
is enhanced or suppressed, depending on the dominant WIMP annihilation channel.
This effect is due to an effective flavor mixing caused by neutrino
oscillations. For WIMP annihilations inside the Earth, the distance from source
to detector is too small to allow for any significant amount of oscillations at
the neutrino energies relevant for neutrino telescopes.


title:
On Third-Order Timelike Splitting Functions and Top-Mediated Higgs Decay
  into Hadrons

abstract:
  We employ relations between spacelike and timelike deep-inelastic processes
in perturbative QCD to calculate the next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO)
contributions to the timelike quark-quark and gluon-gluon splitting functions
for the evolution of flavour-singlet fragmentation distributions. We briefly
address the end-point behaviour and the numerical size of these third-order
corrections, and write down the second moments of all four timelike splitting
functions. In the same manner we re-derive the NNLO result for the Higgs-boson
decay rate into hadrons in the limit of a heavy top quark and five massless
flavours, and confirm the recent N^3LO computation of this quantity.


title: Nonlinear tunneling in two-dimensional lattices

abstract:
  We present thorough analysis of the nonlinear tunneling of Bose-Einstein
condensates in static and accelerating two-dimensional lattices within the
framework of the mean-field approximation. We deal with nonseparable lattices
considering different initial atomic distributions in the highly symmetric
states. For analytical description of the condensate before instabilities are
developed, we derive several few-mode models, analyzing both essentially
nonlinear and quasi-linear regimes of tunneling. By direct numerical
simulations, we show that two-mode models provide accurate description of the
tunneling when either initially two states are populated or tunneling occurs
between two stable states. Otherwise a two-mode model may give only useful
qualitative hints for understanding tunneling but does not reproduce many
features of the phenomenon. This reflects crucial role of the instabilities
developed due to two-body interactions resulting in non-negligible population
of the higher bands. This effect becomes even more pronounced in the case of
accelerating lattices. In the latter case we show that the direction of the
acceleration is a relevant physical parameter which affects the tunneling by
changing the atomic rates at different symmetric states and by changing the
numbers of bands involved in the atomic transfer.


title: Influence of Mn doping on the microstructure and optical property of ZnO

abstract:
  Undoped and Mn doped ZnO samples with different percentage of Mn content (1
mol%, 2 mol% and 3mol%) were synthesized by a simple solvo-thermal method. We
have studied the structural, chemical and optical properties of the samples by
using x-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy
dispersive x-ray (EDX) analysis, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy
and UV-VIS spectroscopy. The XRD spectra show that all the samples are
hexagonal wurtzite structures. The lattice parameters calculated for the Mn
doped ZnO from the XRD pattern were found to be slightly larger than those of
the undoped ZnO, which indicates substitution of Mn in ZnO lattice. SEM
photograph shows the grain size of undoped ZnO is bigger than the Mn doped ZnO
indicating hindrance of grain growth upon Mn doping. As the Mn doping increases
the optical band gap decreases for the range of Mn doping reported here.


title: Optical Stern Gerlach Effect beyond the rotating wave approximation

abstract:
  We show that the inclusion of counter rotating terms, usually dropped, in the
interaction Hamiltonian of the electric dipole of a two level atom with an
electromagnetic field leads to significant modification of the splitting of an
atomic beam known as Optical Stern Gerlach Effect which now acquires a fine
structure.


title: Noncentral convergence of multiple integrals

abstract:
  Fix $\nu>0$, denote by $G(\nu/2)$ a Gamma random variable with parameter
$\nu/2$ and let $n\geq2$ be a fixed even integer. Consider a sequence
$\{F_k\}_{k\geq1}$ of square integrable random variables belonging to the $n$th
Wiener chaos of a given Gaussian process and with variance converging to
$2\nu$. As $k\to\infty$, we prove that $F_k$ converges in distribution to
$2G(\nu/2)-\nu$ if and only if $E(F_k^4)-12E(F_k^3)\to12\nu^2-48\nu$.


title: An Eshelby model for the highly viscous flow

abstract:
  The shear flow and the dielectric alpha-process in molecular glass formers is
modeled in terms of local structural rearrangements which reverse a strong
local shear. Using Eshelby's solution of the corresponding elasticity theory
problem (J. D. Eshelby, Proc. Roy. Soc. A241, 376 (1957)), one can calculate
the recoverable compliance and estimate the lifetime of the symmetric
double-well potential characterizing such a structural rearrangement. A full
modeling of the shear relaxation spectra requires an additional parametrization
of the barrier density of these structural rearrangements. The dielectric
relaxation spectrum can be described as a folding of these relaxations with the
Debye process.


title: On Voevodsky's algebraic K-theory spectrum BGL

abstract:
  Under a certain normalization assumption we prove that the $\Pro^1$-spectrum
$\mathrm{BGL}$ of Voevodsky which represents algebraic $K$-theory is unique
over $\Spec(\mathbb{Z})$. Following an idea of Voevodsky, we equip the
$\Pro^1$-spectrum $\mathrm{BGL}$ with the structure of a commutative
$\Pro^1$-ring spectrum in the motivic stable homotopy category. Furthermore, we
prove that under a certain normalization assumption this ring structure is
unique over $\Spec(\mathbb{Z})$. For an arbitrary Noetherian scheme $S$ of
finite Krull dimension we pull this structure back to obtain a distinguished
monoidal structure on $\mathrm{BGL}$. This monoidal structure is relevant for
our proof of the motivic Conner-Floyd theorem. It has also been used by Gepner
and Snaith to obtain a motivic version of Snaith's theorem.


title:
Fast stable direct fitting and smoothness selection for Generalized
  Additive Models

abstract:
  Existing computationally efficient methods for penalized likelihood GAM
fitting employ iterative smoothness selection on working linear models (or
working mixed models). Such schemes fail to converge for a non-negligible
proportion of models, with failure being particularly frequent in the presence
of concurvity. If smoothness selection is performed by optimizing `whole model'
criteria these problems disappear, but until now attempts to do this have
employed finite difference based optimization schemes which are computationally
inefficient, and can suffer from false convergence. This paper develops the
first computationally efficient method for direct GAM smoothness selection. It
is highly stable, but by careful structuring achieves a computational
efficiency that leads, in simulations, to lower mean computation times than the
schemes based on working-model smoothness selection. The method also offers a
reliable way of fitting generalized additive mixed models.


title:
Continuous Frequency Controllable Nano-electromechanical Systems Based
  on Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes

abstract:
  We demonstrate a class of model nano-electromechanical systems (NEMS) based
on multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) which has longer inner cores coaxially
oscillating inside their respective shorter outer shell holders and can operate
at continuously controllable frequencies up to the gigahertz range when fuelled
by AC electric fields. Its additional attributes include much larger
oscillation amplitudes and forces and much lower rates of thermal dissipation
(Q-factor = 10^5) and air damping (Q-factor = 10^4~10^5) than those of
nano-beam based NEMS. A crucial feature of the conceived model NEMS is that
after having tuned the electric field frequency to any prescribed value within
a permitted range, the NEMS will respond quickly (in sub-nanoseconds) at the
same oscillation frequency. These merits, when contrasted with the nano-beam
resonators developed so far, make it a better potential candidate for the
ongoing miniaturization progress from micro- to nano-electromechanical systems.


title:
Spin dynamics with non-abelian Berry gauge fields as a semiclassical
  constrained hamiltonian system

abstract:
  The dynamics of observables which are matrices depending on \hbar and taking
values in classical phase space is defined retaining the terms up to the first
order in \hbar of the Moyal bracket. Within this semiclassical approach a first
order lagrangian involving gauge fields is studied as a constrained hamiltonian
system. This provides a systematic study of spin dynamics in the presence of
non-abelian Berry gauge fields. We applied the method to various types of
dynamical spin systems and clarified some persisting discussions. In particular
employing the Berry gauge field which generates the Thomas precession, we
calculated the force exerted on an electron in the external electric and
magnetic fields. Moreover, a simple semiclassical formulation of the spin Hall
effect is accomplished.


title: Bell's inequality: Physics meets Probability

abstract:
  We remind the viewpoint that violation of Bell's inequality might be
interpreted not only as an evidence of the alternative -- either nonlocality or
``death of reality'' (under the assumption the quantum mechanics is
incomplete). Violation of Bell's type inequalities is a well known sufficient
condition of incompatibility of random variables -- impossibility to realize
them on a single probability space. Thus, in fact, we should take into account
an additional interpretation of violation of Bell's inequality -- a few pairs
of random variables (two dimensional vector variables) involved in the EPR-Bohm
experiment are incompatible. They could not be realized on a single Kolmogorov
probability space. Thus one can choose between: a) completeness of quantum
mechanics; b) nonlocality; c) `` death of reality''; d) non-Kolmogorovness. In
any event, violation of Bell's inequality has a variety of possible
interpretations. Hence, it could not be used to derive the unique conclusion on
the relation between quantum and classical models.


title: Flavors in an expanding plasma

abstract:
  We consider the effect of an expanding plasma on probe matter by determining
time-dependent D7 embeddings in the holographic dual of an expanding viscous
plasma. We calculate the chiral condensate and meson spectra including
contributions of viscosity. The chiral condensate essentially confirms the
expectation from the static black hole. For the meson spectra we propose a
scheme that is in agreement with the adiabatic approximation. New contributions
arise for the vector mesons at the order of the viscosity terms.


title: Classical Exchange Algebra of the Superstring on S^5 with the AdS-time

abstract:
  A classical exchange algebra of the superstring on S^5 with the AdS-time is
shown on the light-like plane. To this end we use the geometrical method of
which consistency is guaranteed by the classical Yang-Baxter equation. The
Dirac method does not work, there being constraints which contain first-class
and second-class and one can disentangle with each other keeping the isometry
hardly.


title:
Scattering of Long Folded Strings and Mixed Correlators in the
  Two-Matrix Model

abstract:
  We study the interactions of Maldacena's long folded strings in
two-dimensional string theory. We find the amplitude for a state containing two
long folded strings to come and go back to infinity. We calculate this
amplitude both in the worldsheet theory and in the dual matrix model, the
Matrix Quantum Mechanics. The matrix model description allows to evaluate the
amplitudes involving any number of long strings, which are given by the mixed
trace correlators in an effective two-matrix model.


title: Forward-Backward rapidity correlations at all rapidities

abstract:
  We discuss forward-bacward rapidity correlations in the general situation of
asymmetrical collisions, asymmetric rapidity windows, higher rapidities and
higher energy. We give predictions for RHIC and LHC.


title: A Quiver Presentation for Solomon's Descent Algebra

abstract:
  The descent algebra $\Sigma(W)$ is a subalgebra of the group algebra $\Q W$
of a finite Coxeter group $W$, which supports a homomorphism with nilpotent
kernel and commutative image in the character ring of $W$. Thus $\Sigma(W)$ is
a basic algebra, and as such it has a presentation as a quiver with relations.
Here we construct $\Sigma(W)$ as a quotient of a subalgebra of the path algebra
of the Hasse diagram of the Boolean lattice of all subsets of $S$, the set of
simple reflections in $W$. From this construction we obtain some general
information about the quiver of $\Sigma(W)$ and an algorithm for the
construction of a quiver presentation for the descent algebra $\Sigma(W)$ of
any given finite Coxeter group $W$.


title: Guessing Facets: Polytope Structure and Improved LP Decoding

abstract:
  In this paper we investigate the structure of the fundamental polytope used
in the Linear Programming decoding introduced by Feldman, Karger and
Wainwright. We begin by showing that for expander codes, every fractional
pseudocodeword always has at least a constant fraction of non-integral bits. We
then prove that for expander codes, the active set of any fractional
pseudocodeword is smaller by a constant fraction than the active set of any
codeword. We further exploit these geometrical properties to devise an improved
decoding algorithm with the same complexity order as LP decoding that provably
performs better, for any blocklength. It proceeds by guessing facets of the
polytope, and then resolving the linear program on these facets. While the LP
decoder succeeds only if the ML codeword has the highest likelihood over all
pseudocodewords, we prove that the proposed algorithm, when applied to suitable
expander codes, succeeds unless there exist a certain number of
pseudocodewords, all adjacent to the ML codeword on the LP decoding polytope,
and with higher likelihood than the ML codeword. We then describe an extended
algorithm, still with polynomial complexity, that succeeds as long as there are
at most polynomially many pseudocodewords above the ML codeword.


title: Hawking Radiation, Effective Actions and Covariant Boundary Conditions

abstract:
  From appropriate expressions for effective actions, the Hawking radiation
from charged black holes is derived, using only covariant boundary conditions
at the event horizon. The connection of our approach with the Unruh vacuum and
the recent analysis \cite{Robwilczek,Isowilczek,shailesh} of Hawking radiation
using anomalies is established.


title: Groebner bases for spaces of quadrics of codimension 3

abstract:
  Let $R=\oplus_{i\geq 0} R_i$ be an Artinian standard graded $K$-algebra
defined by quadrics. Assume that $\dim R_2\leq 3$ and that $K$ is algebraically
closed of characteristic $\neq 2$. We show that $R$ is defined by a Gr\"obner
basis of quadrics with, essentially, one exception. The exception is given by
$K[x,y,z]/I$ where $I$ is a complete intersection of 3 quadrics not containing
the square of a linear form.


title: Nonthermal dark matter in mirage mediation

abstract:
  In mirage-mediation models there exists a modulus field whose mass is O(1000)
TeV and its late-decay may significantly change the standard thermal relic
scenario of the dark matter. We study nonthermal production of the dark matter
directly from the modulus decay, and find that for some parameter regions
non-thermally produced neutralinos can become the dark matter.


title: Dynamics of the topological structures in inhomogeneous media

abstract:
  We present a general review of the dynamics of topological solitons in 1 and
2 dimensions and then discuss some recent work on the scattering of various
solitonic objects (such as kinks and breathers etc) on potential obstructions.


title: Blind Minimax Estimation

abstract:
  We consider the linear regression problem of estimating an unknown,
deterministic parameter vector based on measurements corrupted by colored
Gaussian noise. We present and analyze blind minimax estimators (BMEs), which
consist of a bounded parameter set minimax estimator, whose parameter set is
itself estimated from measurements. Thus, one does not require any prior
assumption or knowledge, and the proposed estimator can be applied to any
linear regression problem. We demonstrate analytically that the BMEs strictly
dominate the least-squares estimator, i.e., they achieve lower mean-squared
error for any value of the parameter vector. Both Stein's estimator and its
positive-part correction can be derived within the blind minimax framework.
Furthermore, our approach can be readily extended to a wider class of
estimation problems than Stein's estimator, which is defined only for white
noise and non-transformed measurements. We show through simulations that the
BMEs generally outperform previous extensions of Stein's technique.


title: Geographic Gossip: Efficient Averaging for Sensor Networks

abstract:
  Gossip algorithms for distributed computation are attractive due to their
simplicity, distributed nature, and robustness in noisy and uncertain
environments. However, using standard gossip algorithms can lead to a
significant waste in energy by repeatedly recirculating redundant information.
For realistic sensor network model topologies like grids and random geometric
graphs, the inefficiency of gossip schemes is related to the slow mixing times
of random walks on the communication graph. We propose and analyze an
alternative gossiping scheme that exploits geographic information. By utilizing
geographic routing combined with a simple resampling method, we demonstrate
substantial gains over previously proposed gossip protocols. For regular graphs
such as the ring or grid, our algorithm improves standard gossip by factors of
$n$ and $\sqrt{n}$ respectively. For the more challenging case of random
geometric graphs, our algorithm computes the true average to accuracy
$\epsilon$ using $O(\frac{n^{1.5}}{\sqrt{\log n}} \log \epsilon^{-1})$ radio
transmissions, which yields a $\sqrt{\frac{n}{\log n}}$ factor improvement over
standard gossip algorithms. We illustrate these theoretical results with
experimental comparisons between our algorithm and standard methods as applied
to various classes of random fields.


title:
Ambipolar blends of CuPc and C60: charge carrier mobility, electronic
  structure and its implications for solar cell applications

abstract:
  Ambipolar transport has been realised in blends of the molecular hole
conductor Cu-phthalocyanine (CuPc) and the electron conducting fullerene C60.
Charge carrier mobilities and the occupied electronic levels have been analyzed
as a function of the mixing ratio using field-effect transistor measurements
and photoelectron spectroscopy. These results are discussed in the context of
photovoltaic cells based on these materials.


title: On the star formation rate and turbulent dissipation in galactic models

abstract:
  We suggest a model for star formation function and a model for dissipation of
the turbulent energy of interstellar medium. Star formation function takes into
account the effect of turbulization of the ISM. It is shown that application of
mentioned relations to the hierarchical scenario of formation of galaxies
allows to explain the observed delay of star formation in the Galaxy that
corresponds to the range of stellar ages from 8--9 to 10--12 Gyr.


title: The Hubble Constant

abstract:
  I review the current state of determinations of the Hubble constant, which
gives the length scale of the Universe by relating the expansion velocity of
objects to their distance. There are two broad categories of measurements. The
first uses individual astrophysical objects which have some property that
allows their intrinsic luminosity or size to be determined, or allows the
determination of their distance by geometric means. The second category
comprises the use of all-sky cosmic microwave background, or correlations
between large samples of galaxies, to determine information about the geometry
of the Universe and hence the Hubble constant, typically in a combination with
other cosmological parameters. Many, but not all, object-based measurements
give $H_0$ values of around 72-74km/s/Mpc , with typical errors of 2-3km/s/Mpc.
This is in mild discrepancy with CMB-based measurements, in particular those
from the Planck satellite, which give values of 67-68km/s/Mpc and typical
errors of 1-2km/s/Mpc. The size of the remaining systematics indicate that
accuracy rather than precision is the remaining problem in a good determination
of the Hubble constant. Whether a discrepancy exists, and whether new physics
is needed to resolve it, depends on details of the systematics of the
object-based methods, and also on the assumptions about other cosmological
parameters and which datasets are combined in the case of the all-sky methods.


title: Homotopy nilpotent groups

abstract:
  We study the connection between the Goodwillie tower of the identity and the
lower central series of the loop group on connected spaces. We define the
simplicial theory of homotopy n-nilpotent groups. This notion interpolates
between infinite loop spaces and loop spaces. We prove that the set-valued
algebraic theory obtained by applying $\pi_0$ is the theory of ordinary
n-nilpotent groups and that the Goodwillie tower of a connected space is
determined by a certain homotopy left Kan extension. We prove that n-excisive
functors of the form $\Omega F$ have values in homotopy n-nilpotent groups.


title:
Radiation of photons in process of charge particle volume reflection in
  bent single crystal

abstract:
  New type of radiation in crystals is predicted and investigated in computer
simulation. It is shown that process of volume reflection of electrons and
positrons in bent crystals is accomplished with high-power radiation of
photons. Volume reflection radiation has intensity comparable with known
channeling radiation, but it is less sensitive to entrance angle and sign of
charge of a particle. Simulated spectra of radiation power are presented for 10
GeV and 200GeV particles.


title:
Exact relationship between the entanglement entropies of XY and quantum
  Ising chains

abstract:
  We consider two prototypical quantum models, the spin-1/2 XY chain and the
quantum Ising chain and study their entanglement entropy, S(l,L), of blocks of
l spins in homogeneous or inhomogeneous systems of length L. By using two
different approaches, free-fermion techniques and perturbational expansion, an
exact relationship between the entropies is revealed. Using this relation we
translate known results between the two models and obtain, among others, the
additive constant of the entropy of the critical homogeneous quantum Ising
chain and the effective central charge of the random XY chain.


title: On tameness and growth conditions

abstract: We study discrete subsets of C^d, relating "tameness" with growth conditions.


title: On Meromorphic Functions which are Brody Curves

abstract:
  We discuss meromorphic functions on the complex plane which are Brody curves
regarded as holomorphic maps to P_1, i.e., which have bounded spherical
derivative.


title: On supersymmetric $D6$-$\bar D 6$ systems with magnetic fields

abstract:
  We study systems of $D6$ and $\bar D 6$ branes with non zero world-volume
magnetic fields in the weak coupling limit. We find two configurations for
which the conditions for absence of tachyons in the spectra coincide exactly
with those found in the low energy effective theory approach, for the systems
to preserve 1/8 of the supersymmetries of the Type $IIA$ string theory vacuum.
These conditions give rise to a four-parameter family of solutions in each
case. We present further evidence of the stability of these systems by
computing the lowest order interaction amplitude, verifying the no force
condition as well as the supersymmetric character of the spectrum.


title: Kernel methods for in silico chemogenomics

abstract:
  Predicting interactions between small molecules and proteins is a crucial
ingredient of the drug discovery process. In particular, accurate predictive
models are increasingly used to preselect potential lead compounds from large
molecule databases, or to screen for side-effects. While classical in silico
approaches focus on predicting interactions with a given specific target, new
chemogenomics approaches adopt cross-target views. Building on recent
developments in the use of kernel methods in bio- and chemoinformatics, we
present a systematic framework to screen the chemical space of small molecules
for interaction with the biological space of proteins. We show that this
framework allows information sharing across the targets, resulting in a
dramatic improvement of ligand prediction accuracy for three important classes
of drug targets: enzymes, GPCR and ion channels.


title:
Coexisting stochastic and coherence resonance in a mean-field dynamo
  model for Earth's magnetic field reversals

abstract:
  Using a spherical symmetric mean field alpha^2-dynamo model for Earth's
magnetic field reversals, we show the coexistence of the noise-induced
phenomena coherence resonance and stochastic resonance. Stochastic resonance
has been recently invoked to explain the 100 kyr periodicity in the
distribution of the residence time between reversals. The comparison of the
resulting residence time distribution with the paleomagnetic one allows for
some estimate of the effective diffusion time of the Earth's core which may be
100 kyr or slightly below rather than 200 kyr as it would result from the
molecular resistivity.


title:
Understanding the shape of the halo-mass and galaxy-mass
  cross-correlation functions

abstract:
  We use the Millennium Simulation to measure the cross-correlation between
halo centres and mass (or equivalently the average density profiles of dark
haloes) in a LCDM cosmology. We present results for radii in the range 10 kpc/h
< r < 30 Mpc/h for halo masses in the range 4e10 Msol/h < M200 < 4e14 Msol/h.
Both at z=0 and at z=0.76 these cross-correlations are surprisingly well fit by
approximating the inner region by a density profile of NFW or Einasto form, the
outer region by a biased version of the linear mass autocorrelation function,
and by adopting the maximum of the two where they are comparable. We use a
simulation of the formation of galaxies within the Millennium Simulation to
explore how these results are reflected in cross-correlations between galaxies
and mass. These are directly observable through galaxy-galaxy lensing. Here
also we find that simple models can represent the simulation results remarkably
well, typically to < 10%. Such models can be used to extend our results to
other redshifts, to cosmologies with other parameters, and to other assumptions
about how galaxies populate dark haloes. The characteristic features predicted
in the galaxy-galaxy lensing signal should provide a strong test of the LCDM
cosmology as well as a route to understanding how galaxies form within it.


title:
Electromagnetic Field Simulations of Isolated and Periodic 3D Photomask
  Patterns

abstract:
  We present rigorous 3D EMF simulations of isolated features on photomasks
using a newly developed finite-element method. We report on the current status
of the finite-element solver JCMsuite, incorporating higher-order edge
elements, adaptive refinement methods, and fast solution algorithms. We
demonstrate that rigorous and accurate results on light scattering off isolated
features can be achived at relatively low computational cost, compared to the
standard approach of simulations on large-pitch, periodic computational
domains.


title: Infrared Divergences from Soft and Collinear Gauge Bosons

abstract:
  I review the Lee-Nauenberg thereom and discuss its inclusion of photons which
are disconnected at the level of the S-matrix but connected at the level of the
cross-section when there are initial and final state charged particles. I then
expose a new set of soft collinear divergences in massless gauge theories which
are omitted in the standard Lee-Nauenberg approach. It seems that highly
questionable assumptions are needed to obtain finite cross-sections.


title:
Depletion induced isotropic-isotropic phase separation in suspensions of
  rod-like colloids

abstract:
  When non-adsorbing polymers are added to an isotropic suspension of rod-like
colloids, the colloids effectively attract each other via depletion forces. We
performed Monte Carlo simulations to study the phase diagram of such
rod-polymer mixture. The colloidal rods were modelled as hard spherocylinders;
the polymers were described as spheres of the same diameter as the rods. The
polymers may overlap with no energy cost, while overlap of polymers and rods is
forbidden.
  Large amounts of depletant cause phase separation of the mixture. We
estimated the phase boundaries of isotropic-isotropic coexistence both, in the
bulk and in confinement. To determine the phase boundaries we applied the grand
canonical ensemble using successive umbrella sampling [J. Chem. Phys. 120,
10925 (2004)], and we performed a finite-size scaling analysis to estimate the
location of the critical point. The results are compared with predictions of
the free volume theory developed by Lekkerkerker and Stroobants [Nuovo Cimento
D 16, 949 (1994)]. We also give estimates for the interfacial tension between
the coexisting isotropic phases and analyse its power-law behaviour on approach
of the critical point.


title: Discrete behavior of Seshadri constants on surfaces

abstract:
  Working over C, we show that, apart possibly from a unique limit point, the
possible values of multi-point Seshadri constant for general points on smooth
projective surfaces form a discrete set. In addition to its theoretical
interest, this result is of practical value, which we demonstrate by giving
significantly improved explicit lower bounds for Seshadri constants on P^2 and
new results about ample divisors on blow ups of P^2 at general points.


title: Correlations in superstatistical systems

abstract:
  We review some of the properties of higher-dimensional superstatistical
stochastic models. As an example, we analyse the stochastic properties of a
superstatistical model of 3-dimensional Lagrangian turbulence, and compare with
experimental data. Excellent agreement is obtained for various measured
quantities, such as acceleration probability densities, Lagrangian scaling
exponents, correlations between acceleration components, and time decay of
correlations. We comment on how to proceed from superstatistics to a
thermodynamic description.


title: Mutations Vs. Seiberg duality

abstract:
  For a quiver with potential, Derksen, Weyman and Zelevinsky defined a
combinatorial transformation - mutations. Mukhopadhyay and Ray, on the other
hand, tell us how to compute Seiberg dual quivers for some quivers with
potentials through a tilting procedure, thus obtaining derived equivalent
algebras. In this text, we compare mutations with the concept of Seiberg
duality, concluding that for a certain class of potentials (the good ones)
mutations coincide with Seiberg duality, therefore giving derived equivalences.


title:
Constraining the Randall-Sundrum modulus in the light of recent PVLAS
  data

abstract:
  Recent PVLAS data put stringent constraints on the measurement of
birefringence and dichroism of electromagnetic waves travelling in a constant
and homogeneous magnetic field. There have been theoretical predictions in
favour of such phenomena when appropriate axion-electromagnetic coupling is
assumed. Origin of such a coupling can be traced in a low energy string action
from the requirement of quantum consistency. The resulting couplings in such
models are an artifact of the compactification of the extra dimensions present
inevitably in a string scenario. The moduli parameters which encode the compact
manifold therefore play a crucial role in determining the axion-photon
coupling. In this work we examine the possible bounds on the value of compact
modulus that emerge from the experimental limits on the coupling obtained from
the PVLAS data. In particular we focus into the Randall-Sundrum (RS) type of
warped geometry model whose modulus parameter is already restricted from the
requirement of the resolution of gauge hierarchy problem in connection with the
mass of the Higgs. We explore the bound on the modulus for a wide range of the
axion mass for both the birefringence and the dichroism data in PVLAS. We show
that the proposed value of the modulus in the RS scenario can only be
accommodated for axion mass $\gsim$ 0.3 eV.


title:
The Global Renormalization Group Trajectory in a Critical Supersymmetric
  Field Theory on the Lattice Z^3

abstract:
  We consider an Euclidean supersymmetric field theory in $Z^3$ given by a
supersymmetric $\Phi^4$ perturbation of an underlying massless Gaussian measure
on scalar bosonic and Grassmann fields with covariance the Green's function of
a (stable) L\'evy random walk in $Z^3$. The Green's function depends on the
L\'evy-Khintchine parameter $\alpha={3+\epsilon\over 2}$ with $0<\alpha<2$. For
$\alpha ={3\over 2}$ the $\Phi^{4}$ interaction is marginal. We prove for
$\alpha-{3\over 2}={\epsilon\over 2}>0$ sufficiently small and initial
parameters held in an appropriate domain the existence of a global
renormalization group trajectory uniformly bounded on all renormalization group
scales and therefore on lattices which become arbitrarily fine. At the same
time we establish the existence of the critical (stable) manifold. The
interactions are uniformly bounded away from zero on all scales and therefore
we are constructing a non-Gaussian supersymmetric field theory on all scales.
The interest of this theory comes from the easily established fact that the
Green's function of a (weakly) self-avoiding L\'evy walk in $Z^3$ is a second
moment (two point correlation function) of the supersymmetric measure governing
this model. The control of the renormalization group trajectory is a
preparation for the study of the asymptotics of this Green's function. The
rigorous control of the critical renormalization group trajectory is a
preparation for the study of the critical exponents of the (weakly)
self-avoiding L\'evy walk in $Z^3$.


title:
Thermal Dilepton Production Rate from Dropping rho in the Vector
  Manifestation

abstract:
  In this write-up we summarize main points of our recent analysis on the
thermal dilepton production rate from the dropping rho based on the vector
manifestation (VM). In the analysis, we studied the effect of the strong
violation of the vector dominance (VD), which is predicted by the VM, and
showed that the effect of the violation of the VD substantially suppresses the
dilepton production rate compared with the one predicted by assuming the VD
together with the dropping rho.


title:
Constructing QFT's wherein Lorentz Invariance is broken by dissipative
  effects in the UV

abstract:
  There has been a recent interest in considering Quantum Field Theories in
which Lorentz Invariance is broken in the UV sector. However attention has been
mostly limited to dispersive theories. In this work we provide the generalized
settings for studying dissipation. Unitarity is preserved by coupling the
original fields to additional (heavy) fields which induce the dissipation.
Starting with Lagrangians breaking LI in the UV, we learn that dissipative
effects unavoidably develop in the effective theory. We then covariantize these
Lagrangians in order to address the trans-Planckian question of inflation and
black hole physics. The peculiar properties of the additional fields inducing
dissipation is revealed by the covariantization. The links with the
phenomenological approach to Quantum Gravity and with some Brane World
scenarios are also discussed.


title:
Lepton Flavour Violating Decays in the Littlest Higgs Model with
  T-Parity

abstract:
  We present the results of an extensive analysis of lepton flavour violating
decays in the Littlest Higgs model with T-parity (LHT). As lepton flavour
violation is highly suppressed in the Standard Model by small neutrino masses,
the LHT effects turn out to be naturally huge and could be seen in the near
future experiments.


title: Nonlinearly driven Landau-Zener transition with telegraph noise

abstract:
  We study Landau-Zener like dynamics of a qubit influenced by transverse
random telegraph noise. The telegraph noise is characterized by its coupling
strength, $v$ and switching rate, $\gamma$. The qubit energy levels are driven
nonlinearly in time, $\propto \sign(t)|t|^\nu$, and we derive the transition
probability in the limit of sufficiently fast noise, for arbitrary exponent
$\nu$. The longitudinal coherence after transition depends strongly on $\nu$,
and there exists a critical $\nu_c$ with qualitative difference between $\nu<
\nu_c$ and $\nu > \nu_c$. When $\nu<\nu_c$ the end state is always fully
incoherent with equal population of both quantum levels, even for arbitrarily
weak noise. For $\nu>\nu_c$ the system keeps some coherence depending on the
strength of the noise, and in the limit of weak noise no transition takes
place. For fast noise $\nu_c=1/2$, while for slow noise $\nu_c<1/2$ and it
depends on $\gamma$. We also discuss transverse coherence, which is relevant
when the qubit has a nonzero minimum energy gap. The qualitative dependency on
$\nu$ is the same for transverse as for longitudinal coherence. The state after
transition does in general depend on $\gamma$. For fixed $v$, increasing
$\gamma$ decreases the final state coherence when $\nu<1$ and increase the
final state coherence when $\nu>1$. Only the conventional linear driving is
independent of $\gamma$.


title: D* K molecular structure of the Ds1(2460) meson

abstract:
  We discuss a possible interpretation of the Ds1(2460) meson as a hadronic
molecule - a bound state of D* and K mesons. Using a phenomenological
Lagrangian approach we determine the strong Ds1 to Ds* pi0 and radiative Ds1 to
Ds gamma decays. In order of magnitude our results for the partial strong and
radiative decay widths are consistent with previous calculations.


abstract:
  The properties of Lorentz transformations in de Sitter relativity are
studied. It is shown that, in addition to leaving invariant the velocity of
light, they also leave invariant the length-scale related to the curvature of
the de Sitter spacetime. The basic conclusion is that it is possible to have an
invariant length parameter without breaking the Lorentz symmetry. This result
may have important implications for the study of quantum kinematics, and in
particular for quantum gravity.


title:
Rho meson condensation at finite isospin chemical potential in a
  holographic model for QCD

abstract:
  We analyze the effect of an isospin chemical potential \mu_I in the
Sakai-Sugimoto model, which is the string dual of a confining gauge theory
related to large N_c QCD, at temperatures below the chiral symmetry restoration
temperature. For small chemical potentials we show that the results agree with
expectations from the low-energy chiral Lagrangian, and the charged pion
condenses. When the chemical potential reaches a critical value \mu_I =
\mu_{crit} ~ 1.7 m_{\rho}, the lowest vector meson (the "rho meson") becomes
massless, and it condenses (in addition to the pion condensate) for \mu_I >
\mu_{crit}. This spontaneously breaks the rotational symmetry, as well as a
residual U(1) flavor symmetry. We numerically construct the resulting new
ground state for \mu_I > \mu_{crit}.


title: Lyapunov Coefficients for Degenerate Hopf Bifurcations

abstract:
  In this paper are studied the codimensions one, two, three and four Hopf
bifurcations and the pertinent Lyapunov stability coefficients. Algebraic
expressions obtained with computer assisted calculations are displayed.


title: Vacuum configurations for renormalizable non-commutative scalar models

abstract:
  In this paper we find non-trivial vacuum states for the renormalizable
non-commutative $\phi^4$ model. An associated linear sigma model is then
considered. We further investigate the corresponding spontaneous symmetry
breaking.


title:
Geometric Measure of Indistinguishability for Groups of Identical
  Particles

abstract:
  The concept of p-orthogonality (1=< p =< n) between n-particle states is
introduced. It generalizes common orthogonality, which is equivalent to
n-orthogonality, and strong orthogonality between fermionic states, which is
equivalent to 1-orthogonality. Within the class of non p-orthogonal states a
finer measure of non p-orthogonality is provided by Araki's angles between
p-internal spaces. The p-orthogonality concept is a geometric measure of
indistinguishability that is independent of the representation chosen for the
quantum states. It induces a new hierarchy of approximations for group function
methods. The simplifications that occur in the calculation of matrix elements
between p-orthogonal group functions are presented.


title: Gravitino Dark Matter with Stop as the NLSP

abstract:
  Gravitino is one feasible candidate for the dark matter in supergravity
models. With its couplings being suppressed by the Plank mass, gravitino
interacts very weakly with other particles, making its direct detection, or
production at colliders practically impossible. The signatures of this scenario
mainly arise from the next lightest supersymmetric particle (NLSP) which is
metastable due to the very weak coupling. There are many possibilities for the
NLSP, and here I will review the feasibility of stop particle as the NLSP and
discuss its phenomenology.


title: Intersecting Psi-classes on tropical M_{0,n}

abstract:
  We apply the tropical intersection theory developed by L. Allermann and J.
Rau to compute intersection products of tropical Psi-classes on the moduli
space of rational tropical curves. We show that in the case of zero-dimensional
(stable) intersections, the resulting numbers agree with the intersection
numbers of Psi-classes on the moduli space of n-marked rational curves computed
in algebraic geometry.


title: Computational Steering of Cluster Formation in Brownian Suspensions

abstract:
  We simulate cluster formation of model colloidal particles interacting via
DLVO (Derjaguin, Landau, Vervey, Overbeek) potentials. The interaction
potentials can be related to experimental conditions, defined by the pH-value,
the salt concentration and the volume fraction of solid particles suspended in
water. The system shows different structural properties for different
conditions, including cluster formation, a glass-like repulsive structure, or a
liquid suspension. Since many simulations are needed to explore the whole
parameter space, when investigating the properties of the suspension depending
on the experimental conditions, we have developed a steering approach to
control a running simulation and to detect interesting transitions from one
region in the configuration space to another. The advantages of the steering
approach and the restrictions of its applicability due to physical constraints
are illustrated by several example cases.


title:
Statistics of Extreme Values in Time Series with Intermediate-Term
  Correlations

abstract:
  It will be discussed the statistics of the extreme values in time series
characterized by finite-term correlations with non-exponential decay.
Precisely, it will be considered the results of numerical analyses concerning
the return intervals of extreme values of the fluctuations of resistance and
defect-fraction displayed by a resistor with granular structure in a
nonequilibrium stationary state. The resistance and defect-fraction are
calculated as a function of time by Monte Carlo simulations using a resistor
network approach. It will be shown that when the auto-correlation function of
the fluctuations displays a non-exponential and non-power-law decay, the
distribution of the return intervals of extreme values is a stretched
exponential, with exponent largely independent of the threshold. Recently, a
stretched exponential distribution of the return intervals of extreme values
has been identified in long-term correlated time series by Bunde et al. (2003)
and Altmann and Kantz (2005). Thus, the present results show that the stretched
exponential distribution of the return intervals is not an exclusive feature of
long-term correlated time series.


title:
Quantum to Classical Transition of the Charge Relaxation Resistance of a
  Mesoscopic Capacitor

abstract:
  We present an analysis of the effect of dephasing on the single channel
charge relaxation resistance of a mesoscopic capacitor in the linear low
frequency regime. The capacitor consists of a cavity which is via a quantum
point contact connected to an electron reservoir and Coulomb coupled to a gate.
The capacitor is in a perpendicular high magnetic field such that only one
(spin polarized) edge state is (partially) transmitted through the contact. In
the coherent limit the charge relaxation resistance for a single channel
contact is independent of the transmission probability of the contact and given
by half a resistance quantum. The loss of coherence in the conductor is modeled
by attaching to it a fictitious probe, which draws no net current. In the
incoherent limit one could expect a charge relaxation resistance that is
inversely proportional to the transmission probability of the quantum point
contact. However, such a two terminal result requires that scattering is
between two electron reservoirs which provide full inelastic relaxation. We
find that dephasing of a single edge state in the cavity is not sufficient to
generate an interface resistance. As a consequence the charge relaxation
resistance is given by the sum of one constant interface resistance and the
(original) Landauer resistance. The same result is obtained in the high
temperature regime due to energy averaging over many occupied states in the
cavity. Only for a large number of open dephasing channels, describing
spatially homogenous dephasing in the cavity, do we recover the two terminal
resistance, which is inversely proportional to the transmission probability of
the QPC. We compare different dephasing models and discuss the relation of our
results to a recent experiment.


title: A note on the cyclic evolution of the pulsar magnetosphere

abstract:
  Positive and negative pulsar breaking indices suggest that some fraction of
the pulsar spindown torque undergoes a cyclic evolution. The observed strong
correlation of `anomalous' breaking indices with pulsar age implies that the
characteristic periodicity timescale is in the range 100 to 10,000 years
depending on the fraction of the spindown torque that undergoes cyclic
evolution, 1 to 100% respectively. We argue that the longest variability
timescale is consistent with a neutron star magnetic cycle similar to the solar
cycle.


title:
The plane symmetric Einstein-dust system with positive cosmological
  constant

abstract:
  The Einstein equations with a positive cosmological constant are coupled to
the pressureless perfect fluid matter in plane symmetry. Under suitable
restrictions on the initial data, the resulting Einstein-dust system is proved
to have a global classical solution in the future time direction. Some late
time asymptotic properties are obtained as well.


title: Central mass accumulation in nuclear spirals

abstract:
  In central regions of non-axisymmetric galaxies high-resolution
hydrodynamical simulations indicate spiral shocks, which are capable of
transporting gas inwards. The efficiency of transport is lower at smaller
radii, therefore instead of all gas dropping onto the galactic centre, a
roughly uniform distribution of high-density gas develops in the gaseous
nuclear spiral downstream from the shock, and the shear in gas is very low
there. These are excellent conditions for star formation. This mechanism is
likely to contribute to the process of (pseudo-) bulge formation.


title: The Circumnuclear Molecular Gas in the Seyfert Galaxy NGC4945

abstract:
  We have mapped the central region of NGC 4945 in the $J=2\to1$ transition of
$^{12}$CO, $^{13}$CO, and C$^{18}$O, as well as the continuum at 1.3 mm, at an
angular resolution of $5\farc \times 3\farc$ with the Submillimeter Array. The
relative proximity of NGC 4945 (distance of only 3.8 Mpc) permits a detailed
study of the circumnuclear molecular gas and dust in a galaxy exhibiting both
an AGN (classified as a Seyfert 2) and a circumnuclear starburst in an inclined
ring with radius $\sim$2\farcs5 ($\sim$50 pc). We find that all three molecular
lines trace an inclined rotating disk with major axis aligned with that of the
starburst ring and large-scale galactic disk, and which exhibits solid-body
rotation within a radius of $\sim$5\farc ($\sim$95 pc). We infer an inclination
for the nuclear disk of $62^{\circ} \pm 2^{\circ}$, somewhat smaller than the
inclination of the large-scale galactic disk of $\sim$$78^{\circ}$. The
continuum emission at 1.3 mm also extends beyond the starburst ring, and is
dominated by thermal emission from dust. If it traces the same dust emitting in
the far-infrared, then the bulk of this dust must be heated by star-formation
activity rather than the AGN. We discover a kinematically-decoupled component
at the center of the disk with a radius smaller than $1\farcs4$ (27 pc), but
which spans approximately the same range of velocities as the surrounding disk.
This component has a higher density than its surroundings, and is a promising
candidate for the circumnuclear molecular torus invoked by AGN unification
models.


title: Scalable N-body code for the modelling of early-type galaxies

abstract:
  Early-type galaxies exhibit a wealth of photometric and dynamical structures.
These signatures are fossil records of their formation and evolution processes.
In order to examine these structures in detail, we build models aimed at
reproducing the observed photometry and kinematics. The developed method is a
generalization of the one introduced by Syer and Tremaine (1996), consisting in
an N-body representation, in which the weights of the particles are changing
with time. Our code is adapted for integral-field spectroscopic data, and is
able to reproduce the photometric as well as stellar kinematic data of observed
galaxies. We apply this technique on SAURON data of early-type galaxies, and
present preliminary results on NGC 3377.


title: Combinatorial Gelfand Models

abstract:
  A combinatorial construction of a Gelafand model for the symmetric group and
its Iwahori-Hecke algebra is presented.


title: Two-Point Functions of Coulomb Gauge Yang-Mills Theory

abstract:
  The functional approach to Coulomb gauge Yang-Mills theory is considered
within the standard, second order, formalism. The Dyson-Schwinger equations and
Slavnov-Taylor identities concerning the two-point functions are derived
explicitly and one-loop perturbative results are presented.


title: Fast and Slow Rotators: The build-up of the Red Sequence

abstract:
  Using the unique dataset obtained within the course of the SAURON project, a
radically new view of the structure, dynamics and stellar populations of
early-type galaxies has emerged. We show that galaxies come in two broad
flavours (slow and fast rotators), depending on whether or not they exhibit
clear large-scale rotation, as indicated via a robust measure of the specific
angular momentum of baryons. This property is also linked with other physical
characteristics of early-type galaxies, such as: the presence of dynamically
decoupled cores, orbital structure and anisotropy, stellar populations and dark
matter content. I here report on the observed link between this baryonic
angular momentum and a mass sequence, and how this uniquely relates to the
building of the red sequence via dissipative/dissipationless mergers and
secular evolution.


title: Evolving Classifiers: Methods for Incremental Learning

abstract:
  The ability of a classifier to take on new information and classes by
evolving the classifier without it having to be fully retrained is known as
incremental learning. Incremental learning has been successfully applied to
many classification problems, where the data is changing and is not all
available at once. In this paper there is a comparison between Learn++, which
is one of the most recent incremental learning algorithms, and the new proposed
method of Incremental Learning Using Genetic Algorithm (ILUGA). Learn++ has
shown good incremental learning capabilities on benchmark datasets on which the
new ILUGA method has been tested. ILUGA has also shown good incremental
learning ability using only a few classifiers and does not suffer from
catastrophic forgetting. The results obtained for ILUGA on the Optical
Character Recognition (OCR) and Wine datasets are good, with an overall
accuracy of 93% and 94% respectively showing a 4% improvement over Learn++.MT
for the difficult multi-class OCR dataset.


title: Simulation of fluid flow in hydrophobic rough microchannels

abstract:
  Surface effects become important in microfluidic setups because the surface
to volume ratio becomes large. In such setups the surface roughness is not any
longer small compared to the length scale of the system and the wetting
properties of the wall have an important influence on the flow. However, the
knowledge about the interplay of surface roughness and hydrophobic
fluid-surface interaction is still very limited because these properties cannot
be decoupled easily in experiments.
  We investigate the problem by means of lattice Boltzmann (LB) simulations of
rough microchannels with a tunable fluid-wall interaction. We introduce an
``effective no-slip plane'' at an intermediate position between peaks and
valleys of the surface and observe how the position of the wall may change due
to surface roughness and hydrophobic interactions.
  We find that the position of the effective wall, in the case of a Gaussian
distributed roughness depends linearly on the width of the distribution.
Further we are able to show that roughness creates a non-linear effect on the
slip length for hydrophobic boundaries.


title: Classification of Images Using Support Vector Machines

abstract:
  Support Vector Machines (SVMs) are a relatively new supervised classification
technique to the land cover mapping community. They have their roots in
Statistical Learning Theory and have gained prominence because they are robust,
accurate and are effective even when using a small training sample. By their
nature SVMs are essentially binary classifiers, however, they can be adopted to
handle the multiple classification tasks common in remote sensing studies. The
two approaches commonly used are the One-Against-One (1A1) and One-Against-All
(1AA) techniques. In this paper, these approaches are evaluated in as far as
their impact and implication for land cover mapping. The main finding from this
research is that whereas the 1AA technique is more predisposed to yielding
unclassified and mixed pixels, the resulting classification accuracy is not
significantly different from 1A1 approach. It is the authors conclusions that
ultimately the choice of technique adopted boils down to personal preference
and the uniqueness of the dataset at hand.


title: Dynamics with Infinitely Many Derivatives: The Initial Value Problem

abstract:
  Differential equations of infinite order are an increasingly important class
of equations in theoretical physics. Such equations are ubiquitous in string
field theory and have recently attracted considerable interest also from
cosmologists. Though these equations have been studied in the classical
mathematical literature, it appears that the physics community is largely
unaware of the relevant formalism. Of particular importance is the fate of the
initial value problem. Under what circumstances do infinite order differential
equations possess a well-defined initial value problem and how many initial
data are required? In this paper we study the initial value problem for
infinite order differential equations in the mathematical framework of the
formal operator calculus, with analytic initial data. This formalism allows us
to handle simultaneously a wide array of different nonlocal equations within a
single framework and also admits a transparent physical interpretation. We show
that differential equations of infinite order do not generically admit
infinitely many initial data. Rather, each pole of the propagator contributes
two initial data to the final solution. Though it is possible to find
differential equations of infinite order which admit well-defined initial value
problem with only two initial data, neither the dynamical equations of p-adic
string theory nor string field theory seem to belong to this class. However,
both theories can be rendered ghost-free by suitable definition of the action
of the formal pseudo-differential operator. This prescription restricts the
theory to frequencies within some contour in the complex plane and hence may be
thought of as a sort of ultra-violet cut-off.


title: Loss of control in pattern-directed nucleation: a theoretical study

abstract:
  The properties of template-directed nucleation are studied close to the
transition where full nucleation control is lost and additional nucleation
occurs beyond the pre-patterned regions. First, kinetic Monte Carlo simulations
are performed to obtain information on a microscopic level. Here the
experimentally relevant cases of 1D stripe patterns and 2D square lattice
symmetry are considered. The nucleation properties in the transition region
depend in a complex way on the parameters of the system, i.e. the flux, the
surface diffusion constant, the geometric properties of the pattern and the
desorption rate. Second, the properties of the stationary concentration field
in the fully controlled case are studied to derive the remaining nucleation
probability and thus to characterize the loss of nucleation control. Using the
analytically accessible solution of a model system with purely radial symmetry,
some of the observed properties can be rationalized. A detailed comparison to
the Monte Carlo data is included.


title: Integral Field Spectrographs: a user's view

abstract:
  We easily tend to think of Integral-Field Spectrographs (IFS) along two
opposing trends: as either the beautiful combination between photometry and
spectroscopy, or as our worst nightmare including the dark side of both worlds.
I favour a view where each IFS is considered individually, as one instrument
with specific performances which can be used optimally for a certain range of
scientific programs. It is indeed true that data-wise, IFS do sometime merge
the characteristics of classic (e.g., long-slit) spectrographs with annoying
issues associated with Imagers. This is in fact the price to pay to access a
drastically different perspective of our favourite targets. The challenge is
then to provide the necessary tools to properly handle the corresponding data.
However, this should certainly not be thought as something specific to IFS:
such a challenge should be accepted for any instrument, and most importantly
solved prior to its delivery at the telescope.


title:
Inherent stochasticity of superconductive-resistive switching in
  nanowires

abstract:
  Hysteresis in the current-voltage characteristic in a superconducting
nanowire reflects an underlying bistability. As the current is ramped up
repeatedly, the state switches from a superconductive to a resistive one, doing
so at random current values below the equilibrium critical current. Can a
single phase-slip event somewhere along the wire--during which the
order-parameter fluctuates to zero--induce such switching, via the local
heating it causes? We address this and related issues by constructing a
stochastic model for the time-evolution of the temperature in a nanowire whose
ends are maintained at a fixed temperature. The model indicates that although,
in general, several phase-slip events are necessary to induce switching, there
is indeed a temperature- and current-range for which a single event is
sufficient. It also indicates that the statistical distribution of switching
currents initially broadens, as the temperature is reduced. Only at lower
temperatures does this distribution show the narrowing with cooling naively
expected for resistive fluctuations consisting of phase slips that are
thermally activated.


title:
$^{64}$Ni+$^{64}$Ni fusion reaction calculated with the
  density-constrained time-dependent Hartree-Fock formalism

abstract:
  We study fusion reactions of the $^{64}$Ni+$^{64}$Ni system using the
density-constrained time-dependent Hartree-Fock (TDHF) formalism. In this
formalism the fusion barriers are directly obtained from TDHF dynamics. In
addition, we incorporate the entrance channel alignments of the slightly
deformed (oblate) $^{64}$Ni nuclei due to dynamical Coulomb excitation. We show
that alignment leads to a fusion barrier distribution and alters the naive
picture for defining which energies are actually sub-barrier. We also show that
core polarization effects could play a significant role in fusion cross section
calculations.


title:
Spiral structure in the outer Galactic disk. I. The Third Galactic
  Quadrant

abstract:
  We combine optical and radio observations to trace the spiral structure in
the Third Quadrant of the Milky Way. The optical observations consist of a
large sample of young open clusters and associations, whereas the radio
observations consist of a survey of nearby and distant clouds observed in CO.
Both the optical and radio samples are the largest ones insofar present in the
literature. We use this unique material to analyze the behavior of interstellar
extinction and to trace the detailed structure of the Third Galactic Quadrant
(TGQ).We find that the Outer (Cygnus) grand design spiral arm is traced by
stellar and CO components while the Perseus arm is traced solely by CO and is
possibly being disrupted by the crossing of the Local (Orion) arm. The Local
arm is traced by CO and young stars toward l = 240 degrees and extends for over
8 kpc along the line of sight reaching the Outer arm. Finally, we characterize
the Galactic warp and compare the geometries implied by the young stellar and
CO components.


title:
Fitness landscape of the cellular automata majority problem: View from
  the Olympus

abstract:
  In this paper we study cellular automata (CAs) that perform the computational
Majority task. This task is a good example of what the phenomenon of emergence
in complex systems is. We take an interest in the reasons that make this
particular fitness landscape a difficult one. The first goal is to study the
landscape as such, and thus it is ideally independent from the actual
heuristics used to search the space. However, a second goal is to understand
the features a good search technique for this particular problem space should
possess. We statistically quantify in various ways the degree of difficulty of
searching this landscape. Due to neutrality, investigations based on sampling
techniques on the whole landscape are difficult to conduct. So, we go exploring
the landscape from the top. Although it has been proved that no CA can perform
the task perfectly, several efficient CAs for this task have been found.
Exploiting similarities between these CAs and symmetries in the landscape, we
define the Olympus landscape which is regarded as the ''heavenly home'' of the
best local optima known (blok). Then we measure several properties of this
subspace. Although it is easier to find relevant CAs in this subspace than in
the overall landscape, there are structural reasons that prevent a searcher
from finding overfitted CAs in the Olympus. Finally, we study dynamics and
performance of genetic algorithms on the Olympus in order to confirm our
analysis and to find efficient CAs for the Majority problem with low
computational cost.


title:
Observations of Pulsar Wind Nebulae with the VERITAS Array of Imaging
  Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes

abstract:
  Many of the recently discovered galactic very high-energy (VHE) gamma-ray
sources are associated with Pulsar Wind Nebulae, which is the most populous
Galactic source category at TeV energies. The extended synchrotron nebulae of
these objects observed in the X-ray band are a hallmark of the relativistic
winds, generated by the young, energetic neutron stars, that interact with the
matter ejected by the supernova explosion and the surrounding interstellar gas.
Relativistic electrons, or protons, accelerated in the pulsar winds, or at
their shock boundaries, interact with the magnetic field and low energy seed
photons to produce the observed VHE gamma-ray emission. The VERITAS array of
four imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes was designed to study
astrophysical sources of gamma rays in the energy domain from about 100 GeV up
to several tens of TeV. The sensitivity of the VERITAS array allows detailed
studies of the morphology and spectral features of gamma-ray emission from
PWNe. Three northern sky PWNe, G75.2+0.1, G106.6+2.9, and 3C58, were observed
with VERITAS during 2006. No evidence for TeV gamma-ray emission at the
position of the pu lsar associated with these PWNe is demonstrated.


title:
Dynamic Behaviour of the first instrumented building in France: The
  Grenoble Town Hall

abstract:
  The French Accelerometric Network (RAP) launched in November 2004 a marked
operation for the seismic behaviour assessment of a typical French building.
The main goal of this project is to collect accelerometric data in the building
and use them to calibrate models or alternative tools used for the seismic
behaviour assessment. The final goal of this project is to help the
vulnerability assessment of cities in moderate seismic hazard countries. The
French Accelerometric Network (RAP) chose to install a permanent network of 6
accelerometers recording continuously the vibrations of the Grenoble City Hall
at the basement and at the top. The 13-story building is a RC shear walls
building, typical of the RC structures designed at the end of the 60's in
France. All the data collected in the building are available on the online
access database of the RAP. In addition to the permanent network, an ambient
vibration experiment has been performed in 36 points of the whole building.
Using the Frequency Domain Decomposition method, these data allowed estimating
precisely the different modes of vibration of the structure for low amplitudes.
Only the first bending modes in each direction (1.15 and 1.22 Hz) and the first
torsion mode (1.44 Hz) are excited. We compared the frequencies obtained using
ambient vibration to those for a moderate earthquake recorded by the permanent
network. Thanks to the continuous recording, a statistical approach of the
torsion mode pointed out the position of the centre of rotation of the
building. A modal model extracted from ambient vibrations is proposed and
validated thanks to the earthquake recordings collected in the building during
the ML=4.6, September 8th 2005 Vallorcine (Haute-Savoie, France) earthquake.


title: Laser Atmospheric Studies with VERITAS

abstract:
  As a calibrated laser pulse propagates through the atmosphere, the amount of
Rayleigh-scattered light arriving at the VERITAS telescopes can be calculated
precisely. This technique was originally developed for the absolute calibration
of ultra-high-energy cosmic-ray fluorescence telescopes but is also applicable
to imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes (IACTs). In this paper, we present
two nights of laser data taken with the laser at various distances away from
the VERITAS telescopes and compare it to Rayleigh scattering simulations.


title: A very compact polarizer for an X-ray polarimeter calibration

abstract:
  We devised and built a light, compact and transportable X-ray polarized
source based on the Bragg diffraction at nearly 45 degrees. The source is
composed by a crystal coupled to a small power X-ray tube. The angles of
incidence are selected by means of two orthogonal capillary plates which, due
to the small diameter holes (10 um) allow good collimation with limited sizes.
All the orders of diffraction defined by the crystal lattice spacing are
polarized up to the maximum order limited by the X-ray tube voltage. Selecting
suitably the crystal and the X-ray tube, either the line or the continuum
emission can be diffracted, producing polarized photons at different energies.
A very high degree of polarization and reasonable fluxes can be reached with a
suitable choice of the capillary plates collimation.
  We present the source and test its performances with the production of nearly
completely polarized radiation at 2.6, 5.2, 3.7 and 7.4 keV thanks to the
employment of graphite and aluminum crystals, with copper and calcium X-ray
tubes respectively. Triggered by the very compact design of the source, we also
present a feasibility study for an on-board polarized source, coupled to a
radioactive Fe55 nuclide and a PVC thin film, for the calibration of the next
generation space-borne X-ray polarimeters at 2.6 and 5.9 keV.


title:
Spectral spacing correlations of nucleus-nucleus collisions at high
  energies

abstract:
  We propose a novel approach to the analysis of experimental data obtained in
relativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions which borrows from methods developed
within the context of Random Matrix Theory. It is applied to the detection of
correlations in momentum distributions of emitted particles. We find good
agreement between the results obtained in this way and a standard analysis
based on the two-pair correlation function often used in high energy physics.
The method introduced here is free from unwanted background contributions.


title:
Theoretical Spectral Models of the Planet HD 209458b with a Thermal
  Inversion and Water Emission Bands

abstract:
  We find that a theoretical fit to all the HD 209458b data at secondary
eclipse requires that the dayside atmosphere of HD 209458b have a thermal
inversion and a stratosphere. This inversion is caused by the capture of
optical stellar flux by an absorber of uncertain origin that resides at
altitude. One consequence of stratospheric heating and temperature inversion is
the flipping of water absorption features into emission features from the near-
to the mid-infrared and we see evidence of such a water emission feature in the
recent HD 209458b IRAC data of Knutson et al. In addition, an upper-atmosphere
optical absorber may help explain both the weaker-than-expected Na D feature
seen in transit and the fact that the transit radius at 24 $\mu$m is smaller
than the corresponding radius in the optical. Moreover, it may be a factor in
why HD 209458b's optical transit radius is as large as it is. We speculate on
the nature of this absorber and the planets whose atmospheres may, or may not,
be affected by its presence.


title: Nuclear break-up of 11Be

abstract:
  The break-up of 11Be was studied at 41AMeV using a secondary beam of 11Be
from the GANIL facility on a 48Ti target by measuring correlations between the
10Be core, the emitted neutrons and gamma rays. The nuclear break-up leading to
the emission of a neutron at large angle in the laboratory frame is identified
with the towing mode through its characteristic n-fragment correlation. The
experimental spectra are compared with a model where the time dependent
Schrodinger equation (TDSE) is solved for the neutron initially in the 11 Be. A
good agreement is found between experiment and theory for the shapes of neutron
experimental energies and angular distributions. The spectroscopic factor of
the 2s orbital is tentatively extracted to be 0.46+-0.15. The neutron emission
from the 1p and 1d orbitals is also studied.


title:
Anomalous transport in disordered exclusion processes with coupled
  particles

abstract:
  We consider one-dimensional asymmetric exclusion processes with a simple
attractive interaction, where the distance between consecutive particles is not
allowed to exceed a certain limit and investigate the consequences of this
coupling on the transport properties in the presence of random-force type
disorder by means of a phenomenological random trap picture. In the
phase-separated steady state of the model defined on a finite ring, the
properties of the density profile are studied and the exponent governing the
decay of the current with the system size in the biased phase is derived. In
case all consecutive particles are coupled with each other and form a closed
string, the current is found to be enhanced compared to the model without
coupling, while if groups of consecutive particles form finite strings, the
current is reduced. The motion of a semi-infinite string entering an initially
empty lattice is also studied. Here, the diffusion of the head of the string is
found to be anomalous, and two phases can be distinguished, which are
characterised by different functional dependences of the diffusion exponent on
the bias. The obtained results are checked by numerical simulation.


title: Inflation and Unification

abstract:
  Two distinct classes of realistic inflationary models consistent with present
observations are reviewed. The first example relies on the Coleman-Weinberg
potential and is readily realized within the framework of spontaneously broken
global symmetries (for instance, global U(1)_B-L). Depending on the parameters
either new or large field inflation is possible. The second example exploits
supersymmetry which makes implementation of inflation within local gauge
theories much more accessible. An example based on spontaneously broken local
U(1)_B-L is discussed. Leptogenesis is naturally realized in both cases.


title:
The 3.6-8.0 Micron Broadband Emission Spectrum of HD 209458b: Evidence
  for an Atmospheric Temperature Inversion

abstract:
  We estimate the strength of the bandpass-integrated thermal emission from the
extrasolar planet HD 209458b at 3.6, 4.5, 5.8, and 8.0 microns using the
Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) on the Spitzer Space Telescope. We observe a
single secondary eclipse simultaneously in all four bandpasses and find
relative eclipse depths of 0.00094 +/- 0.00009, 0.00213 +/- 0.00015, 0.00301
+/- 0.00043, and 0.00240 +/- 0.00026, respectively. These eclipse depths reveal
that the shape of the inferred emission spectrum for the planet differs
significantly from the predictions of standard atmosphere models; instead the
most plausible explanation would require the presence of an inversion layer
high in the atmosphere leading to significant water emission in the 4.5 and 5.8
micron bandpasses. This is the first clear indication of such a temperature
inversion in the atmosphere of a hot Jupiter, as previous observations of other
planets appeared to be in reasonably good agreement with the predictions of
models without such an inversion layer.


title: Measuring Supersymmetry

abstract:
  If new physics is found at the LHC (and the ILC) the reconstruction of the
underlying theory should not be biased by assumptions about high--scale models.
For the mapping of many measurements onto high--dimensional parameter spaces we
introduce SFitter with its new weighted Markov chain technique. SFitter
constructs an exclusive likelihood map, determines the best--fitting parameter
point and produces a ranked list of the most likely parameter points. Using the
example of the TeV--scale supersymmetric Lagrangian we show how a
high--dimensional likelihood map will generally include degeneracies and strong
correlations. SFitter allows us to study such model--parameter spaces employing
Bayesian as well as frequentist constructions. We illustrate in detail how it
should be possible to analyze high--dimensional new--physics parameter spaces
like the TeV--scale MSSM at the LHC. A combination of LHC and ILC measurements
might well be able to completely cover highly complex TeV--scale parameter
spaces.


title:
On Yamamuro's inverse and implicit function theorems in terms of
  calibrations

abstract:
  For the Frechet space E=C^{\infty}(S^1) and for a smooth \phi: R to R, we
prove that the associated map E to E given by x mapsto\phi\circ x satisfies the
continuous B\Gamma--differentiability condition in Yamamuro's inverse function
theorem only if \phi is affine. Via more complicated examples, we also
generally discuss the importance of testing the applicability of proposed
inverse and implicit function theorems by this kind of simple maps.


title:
Disk Growth in Bulge-Dominated Galaxies: Molecular Gas and Morphological
  Evolution

abstract:
  Substantial numbers of morphologically regular early-type (elliptical and
lenticular) galaxies contain molecular gas, and the quantities of gas are
probably sufficient to explain recent estimates of the current level of star
formation activity. This gas can also be used as a tracer of the processes that
drive the evolution of early-type galaxies. For example, in most cases the gas
is forming dynamically cold stellar disks with sizes in the range of hundreds
of pc to more than one kpc, although there is typically only 1% of the total
stellar mass currently available to form young stars. The numbers are still
small, but the molecular kinematics indicate that some of the gas probably
originated from internal stellar mass loss while some was acquired from
outside. Future studies will help to quantify the role of molecular gas
(dissipational processes) in the formation of early-type galaxies and their
evolution along the red sequence.


title: Do f(R) theories matter?

abstract:
  We consider a modified action functional with a non-minimum coupling between
the scalar curvature and the matter Lagrangian, and study its consequences on
stellar equilibrium. Particular attention is paid to the validity of the
Newtonian regime, and on the boundary and exterior matching conditions, as well
as on the redefinition of the metric components. Comparison with solar
observables is achieved through numerical analysis, and constraints on the
non-minimum coupling are discussed.


title:
Proton-Proton and Proton-Neutron Correlations in Medium-Weight Nuclei:
  Role of the Tensor Force within a Many-Body Cluster Expansion

abstract:
  A detailed analysis of the effect of tensor correlations on one- and two-body
densities and momentum distributions of complex nuclei is presented within a
linked cluster expansion providing reliable results for the ground state
properties of nuclei calculated with realistic interactions.


title:
Fractional Diffusion Processes: Probability Distributions and Continuous
  Time Random Walk

abstract:
  A physical-mathematical approach to anomalous diffusion may be based on
fractional diffusion equations and related random walk models. The fundamental
solutions of these equations can be interpreted as probability densities
evolving in time of peculiar self-similar stochastic processes: an integral
representation of these solutions is here presented. A more general approach to
anomalous diffusion is known to be provided by the master equation for a
continuous time random walk (CTRW). We show how this equation reduces to our
fractional diffusion equation by a properly scaled passage to the limit of
compressed waiting times and jump widths. Finally, we describe a method of
simulation and display (via graphics) results of a few numerical case studies.

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


title:
NEMO: A Project for a km$^3$ Underwater Detector for Astrophysical
  Neutrinos in the Mediterranean Sea

abstract:
  The status of the project is described: the activity on long term
characterization of water optical and oceanographic parameters at the Capo
Passero site candidate for the Mediterranean km$^3$ neutrino telescope; the
feasibility study; the physics performances and underwater technology for the
km$^3$; the activity on NEMO Phase 1, a technological demonstrator that has
been deployed at 2000 m depth 25 km offshore Catania; the realization of an
underwater infrastructure at 3500 m depth at the candidate site (NEMO Phase 2).


title: An X-ray Polarimeter for HXMT Mission

abstract:
  The development of micropixel gas detectors, capable to image tracks produced
in a gas by photoelectrons, makes possible to perform polarimetry of X-ray
celestial sources in the focus of grazing incidence X-ray telescopes. HXMT is a
mission by the Chinese Space Agency aimed to survey the Hard X-ray Sky with
Phoswich detectors, by exploitation of the direct demodulation technique. Since
a fraction of the HXMT time will be spent on dedicated pointing of particular
sources, it could host, with moderate additional resources a pair of X-ray
telescopes, each with a photoelectric X-ray polarimeter in the focal plane. We
present the design of the telescopes and the focal plane instrumentation and
discuss the performance of this instrument to detect the degree and angle of
linear polarization of some representative sources. Notwithstanding the limited
resources the proposed instrument can represent a breakthrough in X-ray
Polarimetry.


title: Plurisubharmonic polynomials and bumping

abstract:
  We wish to study the problem of bumping outwards a pseudoconvex, finite-type
domain \Omega\subset C^n in such a way that pseudoconvexity is preserved and
such that the lowest possible orders of contact of the bumped domain with
bdy(\Omega), at the site of the bumping, are explicitly realised. Generally,
when \Omega\subset C^n, n\geq 3, the known methods lead to bumpings with high
orders of contact -- which are not explicitly known either -- at the site of
the bumping. Precise orders are known for h-extendible/semiregular domains.
This paper is motivated by certain families of non-semiregular domains in C^3.
These families are identified by the behaviour of the least-weight
plurisubharmonic polynomial in the Catlin normal form. Accordingly, we study
how to perturb certain homogeneous plurisubharmonic polynomials without
destroying plurisubharmonicity.


title: Multi-Conjugate Adaptive Optics images of the Trapezium Cluster

abstract:
  Multi-Conjugate Adaptive Optics (MCAO) combines the advantages of standard
adaptive optics, which provides high contrast and high spatial resolution, and
of wide field ~1' imaging. Up to recently, MCAO for astronomy was limited to
laboratory experiments. In this paper, we present the first scientific results
obtained with the first MCAO instrument put on the sky. We present a new study
of the Trapezium cluster using deep MCAO images with a field of view of 1'x1'
obtained at the VLT. We have used deep J, H and Ks images recently obtained
with the prototype MCAO facility MAD at the VLT in order to search for new
members and new multiple systems in the Trapezium cluster. On bright targets
(Ks~9mag), these images allow us to reach DeltaKs~6mag as close as 0.4" We
report the detection of 128 sources, including 10 new faint objects in the
magnitude range between 16.1<Ks<17.9mag. In addition to all previously known
multiple systems with separations greater than 0.1", we confirm the
multiplicity of TCC-055. We also report the detection in J, H and Ks of a very
red extended embedded protostellar object, HC419, previously detected in the
thermal infrared only. The analysis of the first MCAO images obtained on the
sky demonstrates not only the technical feasibility of MCAO but also its great
potential and versatility in terms of scientific outputs.


title: The circular law for random matrices

abstract:
  We consider the joint distribution of real and imaginary parts of eigenvalues
of random matrices with independent entries with mean zero and unit variance.
We prove the convergence of this distribution to the uniform distribution on
the unit disc without assumptions on the existence of a density for the
distribution of entries. We assume that the entries have a finite moment of
order larger than two and consider the case of sparse matrices. The results are
based on previous work of Bai, Rudelson and the authors extending those results
to a larger class of sparse matrices.


title: On the dynamics of a quadratic scalar field potential

abstract:
  We review the attractor properties of the simplest chaotic model of
inflation, in which a minimally coupled scalar field is endowed with a
quadratic scalar potential. The equations of motion in a flat
Friedmann-Robertson-Walker universe are written as an autonomous system of
equations, and the solutions of physical interest appear as critical points.
This new formalism is then applied to the study of inflation dynamics, in which
we can go beyond the known slow-roll formalism of inflation.


title:
Invariant Carnot-Caratheodory metrics on $S^3$, $SO(3)$, $SL(2)$ and
  lens spaces

abstract:
  In this paper we study the invariant Carnot-Caratheodory metrics on
$SU(2)\simeq S^3$, $SO(3)$ and $SL(2)$ induced by their Cartan decomposition
and by the Killing form. Beside computing explicitly geodesics and conjugate
loci, we compute the cut loci (globally) and we give the expression of the
Carnot-Caratheodory distance as the inverse of an elementary function. We then
prove that the metric given on $SU(2)$ projects on the so called lens spaces
$L(p,q)$. Also for lens spaces, we compute the cut loci (globally).
  For $SU(2)$ the cut locus is a maximal circle without one point. In all other
cases the cut locus is a stratified set. To our knowledge, this is the first
explicit computation of the whole cut locus in sub-Riemannian geometry, except
for the trivial case of the Heisenberg group.


title: Face enumeration - from spheres to manifolds

abstract:
  We prove a number of new restrictions on the enumerative properties of
homology manifolds and semi-Eulerian complexes and posets. These include a
determination of the affine span of the fine $h$-vector of balanced
semi-Eulerian complexes and the toric $h$-vector of semi-Eulerian posets.
  The lower bounds on simplicial homology manifolds, when combined with higher
dimensional analogues of Walkup's 3-dimensional constructions \cite{Wal}, allow
us to give a complete characterization of the $f$-vectors of arbitrary
simplicial triangulations of $S^1 \times S^3, \C P^2,$ $ K3$ surfaces, and
$(S^2 \times S^2) # (S^2 \times S^2).$ We also establish a principle which
leads to a conjecture for homology manifolds which is almost logically
equivalent to the $g$-conjecture for homology spheres. Lastly, we show that
with sufficiently many vertices, every triangulable homology manifold without
boundary of dimension three or greater can be triangulated in a 2-neighborly
fashion.


title: Automatically reduced degenerations of automatically normal varieties

abstract:
  Let F be a flat family of projective schemes, whose geometric generic fiber
is reduced and irreducible. We give conditions on a special fiber (a "limit" of
the family) to guarantee that it too is reduced. These conditions often imply
also that the generic fiber is normal. The conditions are particularly easy to
check in the setup of a "geometric vertex decomposition" [Knutson-Miller-Yong
'07].
  The primary tool used is the corresponding limit _branchvariety_
[Alexeev-Knutson '06], which is reduced by construction, and maps to the limit
subscheme; our technique is to use normality to show that the branchvariety map
must be an isomorphism.
  As a demonstration, we give an essentially naive proof that Schubert
varieties in finite type are normal and Cohen-Macaulay. The proof does not
involve any resolution of singularities or cohomology-vanishing techniques
(e.g. appeal to characteristic p).


title: Strangeness -2 and -3 Baryons in a Constituent Quark Model

abstract:
  We apply a quark model developed in earlier work to the spectrum of baryons
with strangeness -2 and -3. The model describes a number of well-established
baryons successfully, and application to cascade baryons allows the quantum
numbers of some known states to be deduced.