title: Geometry of a Centrosymmetric Electric Charge

abstract:
  The gravitational description given for an electric on the basis of exact
solution of the Einstein-Maxwell equations eliminates Coulomb divergence. The
internal pulsating semiconfined world formed by neutral dust is smoothly joined
with parallel Reissner-Nordstrem vacuum worlds via two static bottlenecks. The
charge, rest mass, and electric field are expressed in terms of the space
curvatures. The internal and external parameters of the maximon, electron, and
the universe form a power series.


title:
About the Minimal Resolution of Space-Time Grains in Experimental
  Quantum Gravity

abstract:
  We critically analyse and compare various recent thought experiments,
performed by Amelino-Camelia, Ng et al., Baez et al., Adler et al., and
ourselves, concerning the (thought)experimental accessibility of the Planck
scale by space-time measurements. We show that a closer inspection of the
working of the measuring devices, by taking their microscopic quantum many-body
nature in due account, leads to deeper insights concerning the extreme limits
of the precision of space-time measurements. Among other things, we show how
certain constraints like e.g. the Schwarzschild constraint can be circumvented
and that quantum fluctuations being present in the measuring devices can be
reduced by designing more intelligent measuring instruments. Consequences for
various phenomenological quantum gravity models are discussed.


title: Conditions for Existence of Compact Stationary Relativistic Beam Torus

abstract:
  Conditions for obtaining the absolute magnetic trap (AMT) to be used for the
controlled fusion by means of high power relativistic charged beam have been
considered. It is shown that AMT can not be created by external electromagnetic
fields. Also the virial theorem implies that strict stationary state of the
system does not exist in empty flat Minkowski space-time in case of positive
beam pressure and positive electromagnetic field energy density.


title: Substitutional dynamical systems, Bratteli diagrams and dimension groups

abstract:
  The present paper explores substitution minimal systems and their relation to
stationary Bratteli diagrams and stationary dimension groups. The constructions
involved are algorithmic and explicit, and render an effective method to
compute an invariant of (ordered) $K$-theoretic nature for these systems. This
new invariant is independent of spectral invariants which have previously been
extensively studied. Before we state the main results we give some background.


title:
TuLiPA: Towards a Multi-Formalism Parsing Environment for Grammar
  Engineering

abstract:
  In this paper, we present an open-source parsing environment (Tuebingen
Linguistic Parsing Architecture, TuLiPA) which uses Range Concatenation Grammar
(RCG) as a pivot formalism, thus opening the way to the parsing of several
mildly context-sensitive formalisms. This environment currently supports
tree-based grammars (namely Tree-Adjoining Grammars, TAG) and Multi-Component
Tree-Adjoining Grammars with Tree Tuples (TT-MCTAG)) and allows computation not
only of syntactic structures, but also of the corresponding semantic
representations. It is used for the development of a tree-based grammar for
German.


title:
First order ferromagnetic phase transition in the low electronic density
  regime of a biased graphene bilayer

abstract:
  The phase diagram of a biased graphene bilayer is computed and the existence
of a ferromagnetic phase is discussed both in the critical on-site interaction
$U_{c}$ versus doping density and versus temperature. We show that in the
ferromagnetic phase the two planes have unequal magnetization and that the
electronic density is hole like in one plane and electron like in the other. We
give evidence for a \emph{first-order} phase transition between paramagnetic
and ferromagnetic phases induced by doping at zero temperature.


title:
Identifying XMM-Newton observations affected by solar wind charge
  exchange - Part I

abstract:
  We describe a method for identifying XMM-Newton observations that have been
affected by Solar Wind Charge Exchange (SWCX) emission and present preliminary
results of previously unidentified cases of such emission within the XMM-Newton
Science Archive. The method is based on detecting temporal variability in the
diffuse X-ray background. We judge the variability of a low energy band, taken
to represent the key indicators of charge exchange emission. We compare this to
the variability of a continuum band, which is expected to be non-varying, even
in the case when SWCX enhancement has occurred. We discuss previously published
results with SWCX contamination that have been tested with the above method. We
present a selection of observations that we consider to show previously
unpublished SWCX enhancements, and further investigate these observations for
correlation with data from the solar wind observatory, ACE. We also consider
the geometry and viewing angle of XMM-Newton at the time of the observation to
examine the origin of the charge exchange emission, whether it be from
interactions with geocoronal neutrals in Earth's magnetosheath or from the
heliosphere and heliopause.


title: Magnetocapacitance in non-magnetic inhomogeneous media

abstract:
  The dielectric response in a magnetic field is routinely used to probe the
existence of coupled magnetic and elastic order in the multiferroics. However,
here we demonstrate that magnetism is not necessary to produce a
magnetocapacitance when the material is inhomogeneous. By considering a
two-dimensional, two-component composite medium, we find a characteristic
dielectric resonance that depends on magnetic field. We propose this as a
possible signature of inhomogeneities and we argue that this behavior has
already been observed in nanoporous silicon and some manganites.


title: Massive black hole binaries in gaseous nuclear discs

abstract:
  We study the evolution of a massive black hole pair in a rotationally
supported nuclear disc. The distributions of stars and gas mimic the nuclear
region of a gas-rich galaxy merger remnant. Using high-resolution SPH
simulations, we follow the black hole dynamics and trace the evolution of the
underlying background, until the black holes form a binary. We find that the
gravitational perturbation of the pair creates a core in the disc density
profile, hence decreasing the gas-dynamical drag. This leads the newly formed
binary to stall at a separation of ~5 pc. In the early phases of the sinking,
black holes lose memory of their initial orbital eccentricity if they co-rotate
with the disc, as rotation of the gaseous background promotes circularization
of the black hole orbits. Circularization is efficient until the black holes
bind in a binary, though in the latest stages of the simulations a residual
eccentricity > 0.1 is still present. Black holes are treated as sink particles,
allowing for gas accretion. We find that accretion strongly depends on the
dynamical properties of the black holes, and occurs preferentially after
circularization.


title:
Tunneling-induced damping of phase coherence revivals in deep optical
  lattices

abstract:
  We consider phase coherence collapse and revival in deep optical lattices,
and calculate within the Bose-Hubbard model the revival amplitude damping
incurred by a finite tunneling coupling of the lattice wells (after sweeping
from the superfluid to the Mott phase). Deriving scaling laws for the
corresponding decay of first-order coherence revival in terms of filling
factor, final lattice depth, and number of tunneling coupling partners, we
estimate whether revival-damping related to tunneling between sites can be or
even has already been observed in experiment.


title:
Characterizing star formation activity in infrared dark cloud MSXDC
  G048.65-00.29

abstract:
  Infrared Dark Clouds (IRDCs), condensed regions of the ISM with high column
densities, low temperatures and high masses, are suspected sites of star
formation. Thousands of IRDCs have already been identified. To date, it has not
been resolved whether IRDCs always show star formation activity and, if so, if
massive star formation (> 8 solar masses) is the rule or the exception in
IRDCs. Previous analysis of sub-millimeter cores in the cloud MSXDC
G048.65-00.29 (G48.65) indicates embedded star formation activity. To
characterize this activity in detail, mid-infrared photometry (3-30 micron) has
been obtained with the Spitzer Space Telescope. This paper analyzes the point
sources seen in the 24 micron band, combined with counterparts or upper limits
at shorter and longer wavelengths. Data points in wavelength bands ranging from
1 up to 850 micron are used to compare each 24 micron source to a set of
Spectral Energy Distributions of Young Stellar Object (YSO) models. By
assessing the models that fit the data, an attempt is made to identify YSOs as
such and determine their evolutionary stages and stellar masses. A total of 17
sources are investigated, 13 of which are classified as YSOs, primarily - but
not exclusively - in an early embedded phase of star formation. The modeled
masses of the central stellar objects range from sub-solar to ~8 solar masses.
Every YSO is at less than 1 pc projected distance from its nearest YSO
neighbor. We conclude that IRDC G48.65 is a region of active star formation. We
find YSOs in various evolutionary phases, indicating that the star formation in
this cloud is not an instantaneous process. The inferred masses of the central
objects suggest that this IRDC hosts only low to intermediate mass YSOs and
none with masses exceeding ~8 solar masses.


title:
Intriguing electron correlation effects in the photoionization of
  metallic quantum--dot nanorings

abstract:
  We report detailed results on ionization in metallic quantum--dot (QD)
nanorings described by the extended Hubbard model at half filling obtained by
exact numerical diagonalization. In spite of very strong electron correlations,
the ionization spectra are astonishingly scarce. We attribute this scarcity to
a hidden quasi--symmetry, generalizing thereby similar results on optical
absorption recently reported [I. Baldea and L. S. Cederbaum, \prb {\bf 75},
125323 (2007); {\bf 77}, 165339 (2008)]. Numerical results indicate that this
hidden quasi--symmetry of the extended Hubbard model does not evolve into a
true (hidden) symmetry but remains a quasi--symmetry in the case of the
restricted Hubbard model as well. Based on the observation on the number of
significant ionization signals per each spatial symmetry, we claim the
existence of a one--to--one map between the relevant ionization signals of the
correlated half-filled nanorings and the one-hole and two-hole--one-particle
processes possible in the noninteracting case. Similar to the case of optical
absorption, numerous avoided crossings (anticrossings) are present in the
ionization spectra, which often involve more than two states. The present
results demonstrate that ionization could be a useful tool to study electron
correlations in metallic QD--nanoarrays, providing information that is
complementary to optical absorption.


title: Gauge approach to the specific heat in the normal state of cuprates

abstract:
  Many experimental features of the electronic specific heat and entropy of
high Tc cuprates in the normal state, including the nontrivial temperature
dependence of the specific heat coefficient and negative intercept of the
extrapolated entropy to T=0 for underdoped cuprates, are reproduced using the
spin-charge gauge approach to the t-J model. The entropy turns out to be
basically due to fermionic excitations, but with a temperature dependence of
the specific heat coefficient controlled by fluctuations of a gauge field
coupling them to gapful bosonic excitations. In particular the negative
intercept of the extrapolated entropy at T=0 in the pseudogap ``phase'' is
attributed to the scalar component of the gauge field, which implements the
local no-double occupancy constraint.


title:
Reliable determination of vortex parameters from measurements of the
  microwave complex resistivity

abstract:
  We discuss and propose a complete data treatment, in close contact to typical
microwave experimental data, in order to derive vortex parameters, such as
pinning constant and viscous drag coefficient (also referred to as ``vortex
viscosity''), in a way as model-independent as possible. We show that many of
the accepted models for the complex resistivity can be described by a single,
very general analytical expression. Using typical measurements of real and
imaginary resistivity as a function of the applied field, we show that, even
for single-frequency measurements, it is always possible to obtain (a)
estimates of viscous drag coefficient and pinning constant with well-defined
upper and lower bounds and (b) quantitative information about thermal creep. It
turns out that neglecting thermal creep, in particular and counterintuitively
at low temperatures, might result in a severe overestimation of the viscous
drag coefficient. We also discuss the impact of thermal creep on the
determination of the pinning constant. The present results might lead to a
reconsideration of several estimates of the vortex parameters.


title: How to Compute Times of Random Walks based Distributed Algorithms

abstract:
  Random walk based distributed algorithms make use of a token that circulates
in the system according to a random walk scheme to achieve their goal. To study
their efficiency and compare it to one of the deterministic solutions, one is
led to compute certain quantities, namely the hitting times and the cover time.
Until now, only bounds on these quantities were defined. First, this paper
presents two generalizations of the notions of hitting and cover times to
weighted graphs. Indeed, the properties of random walks on symmetrically
weighted graphs provide interesting results on random walk based distributed
algorithms, such as local load balancing. Both of these generalization are
proposed to precisely represent the behaviour of these algorithms, and to take
into account what the weights represent. Then, we propose an algorithm to
compute the n^2 hitting times on a weighted graph of n vertices, which we
improve to obtain a O(n^3) complexity. This complexity is the lowest up to now.
This algorithm computes both of the generalizations that we propose for the
hitting times on a weighted graph. Finally, we provide the first algorithm to
compute the cover time (in both senses) of a graph. We improve it to achieve a
complexity of O(n^3 2^n). The algorithms that we present are all robust to a
topological change in a limited number of edges. This property allows us to use
them on dynamic graphs.


title: Vortex Lattice in a Rotating Bose-Einstein Condensate

abstract:
  Numerical simulations of vortex motion in a trapped Bose-Einstein condensate
were performed by solving the two-dimensional Gross-Pitaevskii equation in the
presence of a simple phenomenological model of interaction between the
condensate and the finite temperature thermal cloud. The log (base e) of total
energy, trap energy, quantum energy, kinetic energy, internal energy and
z-component of the angular momentum vs time were compared with f(x)=a+bx for
that time when the vortices come in in the condensate. The increasing/decay
rate of these energies and L_{z} were studied as a function of dissipation.


title:
Fluorescent oxide nanoparticles adapted to active tips for near-field
  optics

abstract:
  We present a new kind of fluorescent oxide nanoparticles with properties well
suited to active-tip based near-field optics. These particles with an average
diameter in the range 5-10 nm are produced by Low Energy Cluster Beam
Deposition (LECBD) from a YAG:Ce3+ target. They are studied by transmission
electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), classical
photoluminescence, cathodoluminescence and near-field scanning optical
microscopy (NSOM). Particles of extreme photo-stability as small as 10 nm in
size are observed. These emitters are validated as building blocks of active
NSOM tips by coating a standard optical tip with a 10 nm thick layer of
YAG:Ce3+ particles directly in the LECBD reactor and by subsequently performing
NSOM imaging of test surfaces.


title:
Geodesic flows on semidirect-product Lie groups: geometry of singular
  measure-valued solutions

abstract:
  The EPDiff equation (or dispersionless Camassa-Holm equation in 1D) is a well
known example of geodesic motion on the Diff group of smooth invertible maps
(diffeomorphisms). Its recent two-component extension governs geodesic motion
on the semidirect product ${\rm Diff}\circledS{\cal F}$, where $\mathcal{F}$
denotes the space of scalar functions. This paper generalizes the second
construction to consider geodesic motion on ${\rm Diff} \circledS\mathfrak{g}$,
where $\mathfrak{g}$ denotes the space of scalar functions that take values on
a certain Lie algebra (for example,
$\mathfrak{g}=\mathcal{F}\otimes\mathfrak{so}(3)$). Measure-valued delta-like
solutions are shown to be momentum maps possessing a dual pair structure,
thereby extending previous results for the EPDiff equation. The collective
Hamiltonians are shown to fit into the Kaluza-Klein theory of particles in a
Yang-Mills field and these formulations are shown to apply also at the
continuum PDE level. In the continuum description, the Kaluza-Klein approach
produces the Kelvin circulation theorem.


title: Normal-Superfluid Interface for Polarized Fermion Gases

abstract:
  Recent experiments on imbalanced fermion gases have proved the existence of a
sharp interface between a superfluid and a normal phase. We show that, at the
lowest experimental temperatures, a temperature difference between N and SF
phase can appear as a consequence of the blocking of energy transfer across the
interface. Such blocking is a consequence of the existence of a SF gap, which
causes low-energy normal particles to be reflected from the N-SF interface. Our
quantitative analysis is based on the Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov-de Gennes
formalism, which allows us to give analytical expressions for the thermodynamic
properties and characterize the possible interface scattering regimes,
including the case of unequal masses. Our central result is that the thermal
conductivity is exponentially small at the lowest experimental temperatures.


title:
Excited-state spectroscopy on a quantum dot side-coupled to a quantum
  wire

abstract:
  We report excited-state spectroscopy on a quantum dot side-coupled to a
quantum wire with accurate energy estimation. Our method utilizes periodic
voltage pulses on the dot, and the energy calibration is performed with
reference to the bias voltage across the wire. We demonstrate the observation
of the orbital excited state and the Zeeman splitting in a single dot.


title: Waiting time models of cancer progression

abstract:
  Cancer progression is an evolutionary process that is driven by mutation and
selection in a population of tumor cells. We discuss mathematical models of
cancer progression, starting from traditional multistage theory. Each stage is
associated with the occurrence of genetic alterations and their fixation in the
population. We describe the accumulation of mutations using conjunctive
Bayesian networks, an exponential family of waiting time models in which the
occurrence of mutations is constrained to a partial temporal order. Two
opposing limit cases arise if mutations either follow a linear order or occur
independently. We derive exact analytical expressions for the waiting time
until a specific number of mutations have accumulated in these limit cases as
well as for the general conjunctive Bayesian network. Finally, we analyze a
stochastic population genetics model that explicitly accounts for mutation and
selection. In this model, waves of clonal expansions sweep through the
population at equidistant intervals. We present an approximate analytical
expression for the waiting time in this model and compare it to the results
obtained for the conjunctive Bayesian networks.


title: Effects of intersegmental transfers on target location by proteins

abstract:
  We study a model for a protein searching for a target, using facilitated
diffusion, on a DNA molecule confined in a finite volume. The model includes
three distinct pathways for facilitated diffusion: (a) sliding - in which the
protein diffuses along the contour of the DNA (b) jumping - where the protein
travels between two sites along the DNA by three-dimensional diffusion, and
finally (c) intersegmental transfer - which allows the protein to move from one
site to another by transiently binding both at the same time. The typical
search time is calculated using scaling arguments which are verified
numerically. Our results suggest that the inclusion of intersegmental transfer
(i) decreases the search time considerably (ii) makes the search time much more
robust to variations in the parameters of the model and (iii) that the optimal
search time occurs in a regime very different than that found for models which
ignore intersegmental transfers. The behavior we find is rich and shows
surprising dependencies, for example, on the DNA length.

categories: q-bio.SC cond-mat.soft cond-mat.stat-mech physics.bio-ph


title:
Time-resolved and continuous-wave optical spin pumping of semiconductor
  quantum wells

abstract:
  Experimental and theoretical studies of all-optical spin pump and probe of
resident electrons in CdTe/(Cd,Mg)Te semiconductor quantum wells are reported.
A two-color Hanle-MOKE technique (based on continuous-wave excitation) and
time-resolved Kerr rotation in the regime of resonant spin amplification (based
on pulsed excitation) provide a complementary measure of electron spin
relaxation time. Influence of electron localization on long-lived spin
coherence is examined by means of spectral and temperature dependencies.
Various scenarios of spin polarization generation (via the trion and exciton
states) are analyzed and difference between continuous-wave and pulsed
excitations is considered. Effects related to inhomogeneous distribution of
$g$-factor and anisotropic spin relaxation time on measured quantities are
discussed.


title: Dynamical Dzyaloshinsky-Moriya Interaction in KCuF3

abstract:
  The spin dynamics of the prototypical quasi one-dimensional antiferromagnetic
Heisenberg spin S=1/2 chain KCuF3 is investigated by electron spin resonance
spectroscopy. Our analysis shows that the peculiarities of the spin dynamics
require a new dynamical form of the antisymmetric anisotropic spin-spin
interaction. This dynamical Dzyaloshinsky-Moriya interaction is related to
strong oscillations of the bridging fuorine ions perpendicular to the
crystallographic c axis. This new mechanism allows to resolve consistently the
controversies in observation of the magnetic and structural properties of this
orbitally ordered perovskite compound.


title: Hamiltonian monodromy via geometric quantization and theta functions

abstract:
  In this paper, Hamiltonian monodromy is studied from the point of view of
geometric quantization abd theta functions, and various differential geometric
aspects thereof are dealt with, all related to holonomies of suitable flat
connections.


title: The Naimark dilated PT-symmetric brachistochrone

abstract:
  The quantum mechanical brachistochrone system with PT-symmetric Hamiltonian
is Naimark dilated and reinterpreted as subsystem of a Hermitian system in a
higher-dimensional Hilbert space. This opens a way to a direct experimental
implementation of the recently hypothesized PT-symmetric ultra-fast
brachistochrone regime of [C. M. Bender et al, Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 98},
040403 (2007)] in an entangled two-spin system.


title:
A Sparse-Sparse Iteration for Computing a Sparse Incomplete
  Factorization of the Inverse of an SPD Matrix

abstract:
  In this paper, a method via sparse-sparse iteration for computing a sparse
incomplete factorization of the inverse of a symmetric positive definite matrix
is proposed. The resulting factorized sparse approximate inverse is used as a
preconditioner for solving symmetric positive definite linear systems of
equations by using the preconditioned conjugate gradient algorithm. Some
numerical experiments on test matrices from the Harwell-Boeing collection for
comparing the numerical performance of the presented method with one available
well-known algorithm are also given.


title:
Cluster state generation with atomic ensembles via the dipole blockade
  mechanism

abstract:
  We present a new scheme for cluster states generation based on atomic
ensembles and the dipole blockade mechanism. The protocol requires identical
single photon sources, one ensemble per physical qubit, and regular
photodetectors. The general entangling procedure is presented, as well as a
procedure that generates Q-qubit GHZ states with probability p ~ eta^{Q/2},
where eta is the combined detection and source efficiency. This is
significantly more efficient than any known robust probabilistic entangling
operation. The GHZ states form the basic building block for universal cluster
states - a resource for the one-way quantum computer.


title: Issues on magnon reflection

abstract:
  Two questions related to reflections of magnons in AdS/CFT are discussed:
namely the problem of explaining the (physical) poles of the reflection
amplitudes using Landau type diagrams and the generalization of the
Ghoshal-Zamolodchikov boundary state formalism to magnon reflections.


title:
Free interpolation of families of Cauchy-Stiltjes integrals and their
  multipliers

abstract:
  The present paper contains a generalization of some interpolation theorems of
S. A. Vinogradov.


title: Proposition Algebra with Projective Limits

abstract:
  Sequential propositional logic deviates from ordinary propositional logic by
taking into account that during the sequential evaluation of a propositional
statement,atomic propositions may yield different Boolean values at repeated
occurrences. We introduce `free valuations' to capture this dynamics of a
propositional statement's environment. The resulting logic is phrased as an
equationally specified algebra rather than in the form of proof rules, and is
named `proposition algebra'. It is strictly more general than Boolean algebra
to the extent that the classical connectives fail to be expressively complete
in the sequential case. The four axioms for free valuation congruence are then
combined with other axioms in order define a few more valuation congruences
that gradually identify more propositional statements, up to static valuation
congruence (which is the setting of conventional propositional logic).
  Proposition algebra is developed in a fashion similar to the process algebra
ACP and the program algebra PGA, via an algebraic specification which has a
meaningful initial algebra for which a range of coarser congruences are
considered important as well. In addition infinite objects (that is
propositional statements, processes and programs respectively) are dealt with
by means of an inverse limit construction which allows the transfer of
knowledge concerning finite objects to facts about infinite ones while reducing
all facts about infinite objects to an infinity of facts about finite ones in
return.


title: Impact of Quantum Phase Transitions on Excited Level Dynamics

abstract:
  The influence of quantum phase transitions on the evolution of excited levels
in the critical parameter region is discussed. The analysis is performed for 1D
and 2D systems with first- and second-order ground-state transitions. Examples
include the cusp and nuclear collective Hamiltonians.


title: Unitary reflection groups for quantum fault tolerance

abstract:
  This paper explores the representation of quantum computing in terms of
unitary reflections (unitary transformations that leave invariant a hyperplane
of a vector space). The symmetries of qubit systems are found to be supported
by Euclidean real reflections (i.e., Coxeter groups) or by specific imprimitive
reflection groups, introduced (but not named) in a recent paper [Planat M and
Jorrand Ph 2008, {\it J Phys A: Math Theor} {\bf 41}, 182001]. The
automorphisms of multiple qubit systems are found to relate to some Clifford
operations once the corresponding group of reflections is identified. For a
short list, one may point out the Coxeter systems of type $B_3$ and $G_2$ (for
single qubits), $D_5$ and $A_4$ (for two qubits), $E_7$ and $E_6$ (for three
qubits), the complex reflection groups $G(2^l,2,5)$ and groups No 9 and 31 in
the Shephard-Todd list. The relevant fault tolerant subsets of the Clifford
groups (the Bell groups) are generated by the Hadamard gate, the $\pi/4$ phase
gate and an entangling (braid) gate [Kauffman L H and Lomonaco S J 2004 {\it
New J. of Phys.} {\bf 6}, 134]. Links to the topological view of quantum
computing, the lattice approach and the geometry of smooth cubic surfaces are
discussed.


title: Full-Sky Weak Lensing Simulation with 70 Billion Particles

abstract:
  We have performed a 70 billion dark-matter particles N-body simulation in a 2
$h^{-1}$ Gpc periodic box, using the concordance, cosmological model as favored
by the latest WMAP3 results. We have computed a full-sky convergence map with a
resolution of $\Delta \theta \simeq 0.74$ arcmin$^{2}$, spanning 4 orders of
magnitude in angular dynamical range. Using various high-order statistics on a
realistic cut sky, we have characterized the transition from the linear to the
nonlinear regime at $\ell \simeq 1000$ and shown that realistic galactic
masking affects high-order moments only below $\ell < 200$. Each domain
(Gaussian and non-Gaussian) spans 2 decades in angular scale. This map is
therefore an ideal tool for testing map-making algorithms on the sphere. As a
first step in addressing the full map reconstruction problem, we have
benchmarked in this paper two denoising methods: 1) Wiener filtering applied to
the Spherical Harmonics decomposition of the map and 2) a new method, called
MRLens, based on the modification of the Maximum Entropy Method on a Wavelet
decomposition. While the latter is optimal on large spatial scales, where the
signal is Gaussian, MRLens outperforms the Wiener method on small spatial
scales, where the signal is highly non-Gaussian. The simulated full-sky
convergence map is freely available to the community to help the development of
new map-making algorithms dedicated to the next generation of weak-lensing
surveys.


title:
Large Scale Plane-Mirroring in the Cosmic Microwave Background WMAP5
  Maps

abstract:
  We continue investigation of the hidden plane-mirror symmetry in the
distribution of excursion sets in cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature
anisotropy maps, previously noticed in the three-year data of the Wilkinson
microwave anisotropy probe (WMAP), using the WMAP 5 years maps. The symmetry is
shown to have higher significance, \chi^2 < 1.7, for low multipoles \ell < 5,
while disappearing at larger multipoles, \chi^2 > 3.5 for \ell > 10. The study
of the sum and difference maps of temperature inhomogeneity regions, along with
simulated maps, confirms its existence.The properties of these mirroring
symmetries are compatible with those produced by the Sachs-Wolfe effect in the
presence of an anomalously large component of horizon-size density
perturbations, independent of one of the spatial coordinates, and/or a
slab-like spatial topology of the Universe.


title: Mid-Infrared Spectroscopic Properties of Ultra-Luminous Infrared Quasars

abstract:
  We analyse mid-infrared (MIR) spectroscopic properties for 19 ultra-luminous
infrared quasars (IR QSOs) in the local universe based on the spectra from the
Infrared Spectrograph on board the Spitzer Space Telescope. The MIR properties
of IR QSOs are compared with those of optically-selected Palomar-Green QSOs (PG
QSOs) and ultra-luminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs). The average MIR spectral
features from ~ 5 to 30um, including the spectral slopes, 6.2um PAH emission
strengths and [NeII] 12.81um luminosities of IR QSOs, differ from those of PG
QSOs. In contrast, IR QSOs and ULIRGs have comparable PAH and [NeII]
luminosities. These results are consistent with IR QSOs being at a transitional
stage from ULIRGs to classical QSOs. We also find that the colour index
alpha(30, 15) is a good indicator of the relative contribution of starbursts to
AGNs for all QSOs. Correlations between the [NeII] 12.81um and PAH 6.2um
luminosities and those between the [NeII], PAH with 60um luminosities for
ULIRGs and IR QSOs indicate that both [NeII] and PAH luminosities are
approximate star formation rate indicators for IR QSOs and starburst-dominated
galaxies; the scatters are, however, quite large (~ 0.7 to 0.8 dex). Finally
the correlation between the EW(PAH 6.2um) and outflow velocities suggests that
star formation activities are suppressed by feedback from AGNs and/or
supernovae.


title:
Dynamics of coupled spins in quantum dots with strong spin-orbit
  interaction

abstract:
  We investigated the time dependence of two-electron spin states in a double
quantum dot fabricated in an InAs nanowire. In this system, spin-orbit
interaction has substantial influence on the spin states of confined electrons.
Pumping single electrons through a Pauli spin-blockade configuration allowed to
probe the dynamics of the two coupled spins via their influence on the pumped
current. We observed spin-relaxation with a magnetic field dependence different
from GaAs dots, which can be explained by spin-orbit interaction. Oscillations
were detected for times shorter than the relaxation time, which we attribute to
coherent evolution of the spin states.


title:
Analytic Mappings Between LB-spaces and Applications in
  Infinite-Dimensional Lie Theory

abstract:
  We give a sufficient criterion for complex analyticity of nonlinear maps
defined on direct limits of normed spaces. This tool is then used to construct
new classes of (real and complex) infinite dimensional Lie groups:
  (a) groups of germs of analytic diffeomorphisms around a compact set in a
Banach space and
  (b) unions of ascending sequences of Banach Lie groups.


title:
The shear modulus of metastable amorphous solids with strong central and
  bond-bending interactions

abstract:
  We derive expressions for the shear modulus of deeply-quenched, glassy
solids, in terms of a Cauchy-Born free energy expansion around a rigid
(quenched) reference state, following the approach due to Alexander [Alexander,
Phys. Rep. 296, 1998]. Continuum-limit explicit expressions of the shear
modulus are derived starting from the microscopic Hamiltonians of central and
bond-bending interactions. The applicability of the expressions to dense
covalent glasses as well as colloidal glasses with strongly attractive and
adhesive bonds is discussed.


title:
Simulating radiative astrophysical flows with the PLUTO code: A
  non-equilibrium, multi-species cooling function

abstract:
  Time-dependent cooling processes are of paramount importance in the evolution
of astrophysical gaseous nebulae and, in particular, when radiative shocks are
present. The present work introduces a necessary set of tools that can be used
to model radiative astrophysical flows in the optically-thin plasma limit. We
aim to provide reliable and accurate predictions of emission line ratios and
radiative cooling losses in astrophysical simulations of shocked flows.
Moreover, we discuss numerical implementation aspects to ease future
improvements and implementation in other MHD numerical codes. The most
important source of radiative cooling for our plasma conditions comes from the
collisionally-excited line radiation. We evolve a chemical network, including
29 ion species, to compute the ionization balance in non-equilibrium
conditions. After a series of validations and tests, typical astrophysical
setups are simulated in 1D and 2D, employing both the present cooling model and
a simplified one. The influence of the cooling model on structure morphologies
can become important, especially for emission line diagnostic purposes.


title:
Map-making in small field modulated CMB polarisation experiments:
  approximating the maximum-likelihood method

abstract:
  Map-making presents a significant computational challenge to the next
generation of kilopixel CMB polarisation experiments. Years worth of time
ordered data (TOD) from thousands of detectors will need to be compressed into
maps of the T, Q and U Stokes parameters. Fundamental to the science goal of
these experiments, the observation of B-modes, is the ability to control noise
and systematics. In this paper, we consider an alternative to the
maximum-likelihood method, called destriping, where the noise is modelled as a
set of discrete offset functions and then subtracted from the time-stream. We
compare our destriping code (Descart: the DEStriping CARTographer) to a full
maximum-likelihood map-maker, applying them to 200 Monte-Carlo simulations of
time-ordered data from a ground based, partial-sky polarisation modulation
experiment. In these simulations, the noise is dominated by either detector or
atmospheric 1/f noise. Using prior information of the power spectrum of this
noise, we produce destriped maps of T, Q and U which are negligibly different
from optimal. The method does not filter the signal or bias the E or B-mode
power spectra. Depending on the length of the destriping baseline, the method
delivers between 5 and 22 times improvement in computation time over the
maximum-likelihood algorithm. We find that, for the specific case of single
detector maps, it is essential to destripe the atmospheric 1/f in order to
detect B-modes, even though the Q and U signals are modulated by a half-wave
plate spinning at 5-Hz.


title: Optimal Quantum Phase Estimation

abstract:
  By using a systematic optimization approach we determine quantum states of
light with definite photon number leading to the best possible precision in
optical two mode interferometry. Our treatment takes into account the
experimentally relevant situation of photon losses. Our results thus reveal the
benchmark for precision in optical interferometry. Although this boundary is
generally worse than the Heisenberg limit, we show that the obtained precision
beats the standard quantum limit thus leading to a significant improvement
compared to classical interferometers. We furthermore discuss alternative
states and strategies to the optimized states which are easier to generate at
the cost of only slightly lower precision.


title: Nonrelativistic Dark-Energy Fluid in a Baby Universe

abstract:
  We show that the dynamical realization of the acceleration-enlarged Galilean
symmetry leads to nonrelativistic massless particles whose energy may be
negative. We present a fluid mechanical generalisation of this observation and
use it to contruct a nonrelativistic two-dimensional fluid model which
possesses solutions with a negative energy density. Considering this model as
describing dark energy in a baby universe (two space dimensions) we show that
its negative energy density leads to a repulsive gravitational interaction of
the fluid with any test body.


title:
An\'alisis de distancias temporales y espaciales entre el Lugar de La
  Mancha y cuatro puntos de referencia

abstract:
  The identity of the famous place of La Mancha appearing at the Quijote is an
unknown with a history almost as long as that of the famous book by Miguel de
Cervantes. This work analyzes data obtained from a Geographic Information
System and compares the results with those of the previous works. Three
different variables with two possible values each are considered: time or space
data, 3 or 4 reference points, and the commonly used distances to the place of
La Mancha or a set of recently proposed ones. The village in the Campo de
Montiel which is closest to be the place of La Mancha happens to be Carrizosa
or Villanueva de los Infantes, depending on the configuration, with the latter
being the solution for the configuration in which the relative errors are the
smallest and the second candidate village is furthest from the first.
  -----
  La identidad del famoso lugar de la Mancha que aparece en El Quijote es una
inc\'ognita con una historia casi tan larga como la publicaci\'on de la famosa
obra de Miguel de Cervantes. Este trabajo analiza datos obtenidos mediante un
Sistema de Informaci\'on Geogr\'afica y compara los resultados con los de los
trabajos anteriores. Se consideran tres variables diferentes con dos posibles
valores cada una: datos temporales o espaciales, 3 \'o 4 puntos de referencia y
las distancias al lugar de La Mancha usadas habitualmente o unas recientemente
introducidas. La localidad del Campo de Montiel m\'as cercana a ser el lugar de
La Mancha resulta ser Carrizosa o Villanueva de los Infantes, dependiendo de la
configuraci\'on, siendo \'esta \'ultima la soluci\'on para la configuraci\'on
en que los errores relativos son los m\'as peque\~nos y la segunda localidad
candidata est\'a m\'as lejos de la primera.


title: Homotopy Type of Disentanglements of Multi-germs

abstract:
  For a complex analytic map f from n-space to p-space with n<p and with an
isolated instability at the origin, the disentanglement of f is a local
stabilization of f that is analogous to the Milnor fibre for functions.
  For mono-germs it is known that the disentanglement is a wedge of spheres of
possibly varying dimensions. In this paper we give a condition that allows us
to deduce that the same is true for a large class of multi-germs.


title: Twist and Turn: Weak Lensing Image Distortions to Second Order

abstract:
  We account for all the image distortions relevant to weak gravitational
lensing to second order. Besides the familiar shear, convergence, rotation and
flexions, we find a new image distortion with two distinct descriptions, the
twist and the turn. Like rotation, this distortion is not activated
gravitationally to first order, but will be activated by systematic effects. We
examine the rotational properties of twist and turn, and their effect on images
in real and shapelet space. We construct estimators for the new distortion,
taking into account the centroid shift which it generates. We then use these
estimators to make first constraints on twist using the STAGES HST survey; we
find that the mean twist estimator is consistent with zero. We measure
correlation functions for our twist estimator on the survey, again finding no
evidence of systematic effects.


title: A new spectral triple over a space of connections

abstract:
  A new construction of a semifinite spectral triple on an algebra of holonomy
loops is presented. The construction is canonically associated to quantum
gravity and is an alternative version of the spectral triple presented in
hep-th/08021784.


title: Non-relativistic AdS/CFT and Aging/Gravity Duality

abstract:
  We point out that the recent discussion of non-relativistic AdS/CFT
correspondence has a direct application in non-equilibrium statistical physics,
the fact which has not been emphasized in the recent literature on the subject.
In particular, we propose a duality between aging in systems far from
equilibrium characterized by the dynamical exponent $z=2$ and gravity in a
specific background. The key ingredient in our proposal is the recent geometric
realization of the Schr\"{o}dinger group. We also discuss the relevance of the
proposed correspondence for the more general aging phenomena in systems where
the value of the dynamical exponent is different from 2.


title: Perspectives on heavy-quarkonium production at the LHC

abstract:
  We summarise the perspectives on heavy-quarkonium production at the LHC, both
for proton-proton and heavy-ion runs, as emanating from the round table held at
the HLPW 2008 Conference. The main topics are: present experimental and
theoretical knowledge, experimental capabilities, open questions, recent
theoretical advances and potentialities linked to some new observables.


title:
The Carbon Abundance and 12C/13C Isotopic Ratio in the Atmosphere of
  Arcturus from 2.3 micron CO Bands

abstract:
  Absorption lines of the 12CO and 13CO molecular bands (Delta v = 2) at 2.29
-- 2.45 micron are modelled in spectrum of Arcturus (K2III). We compute a grid
of model atmospheres and synthetic spectra for giant of Teff = 4300, log g =
1.5, and the elemental abundances of Peterson et al. (1993), but abundances of
carbon, oxygen and the carbon isotopic ratio 12C/13C are varied in our
computations. The computed spectra are fitted to the observed spectrum of
Arcturus from the atlas of Hinkle et al. (1995). The best fit to observed
spectrum is achieved for log N(C) = -3.78 +/- 0.1, 12C/13C = 8 +/- 1. A
dependence of the determined 12C/13C vs. log N(C) and log N(O) in atmospheres
of red giants is discussed.


title: Different algebras for one reality

abstract:
  The most familiar formalism for the description of geometry applicable to
physics comprises operations among 4-component vectors and complex real
numbers; few people realize that this formalism has indeed 32 degrees of
freedom and can thus be called 32-dimensional. We will revise this formalism
and we will briefly show that it is best accommodated in the Clifford or
geometric algebra G(1,3) x C, the algebra of 4-dimensional spacetime over the
complex field. We will then explore other algebras isomorphic to that one,
namely G(2,3), G(4,1) and Q x Q x C, all of which have been used in the past by
PIRT participants to formulate their respective approaches to physics. G(2,3)is
the algebra of 3-space with two time dimensions, which John Carroll used
implicitely in his formulation of electromagnetism in 3 + 3 spacetime, G(4,1)
was and it still is used by myself in a tentative to unify the formulation of
physics and Q x Q x C is the choice of Peter Rowlands for his nilpotent
formulation of quantum mechanics. We will show how the equations can be
converted among isomorphic algebras and we also examine how the monogenic
functions that I use are equivalent in many ways to Peter Rowlands nilpotent
entities.


title: A new probabilistic transformation of belief mass assignment

abstract:
  In this paper, we propose in Dezert-Smarandache Theory (DSmT) framework, a
new probabilistic transformation, called DSmP, in order to build a subjective
probability measure from any basic belief assignment defined on any model of
the frame of discernment. Several examples are given to show how the DSmP
transformation works and we compare it to main existing transformations
proposed in the literature so far. We show the advantages of DSmP over
classical transformations in term of Probabilistic Information Content (PIC).
The direct extension of this transformation for dealing with qualitative belief
assignments is also presented.


title: Is Faith The Enemy Of Science?

abstract:
  In this article, inspired by Lawrence Krauss' plenary talk at the 2007 CAP
congress, the relation between faith and science is examined.


title: Electromagnetic Induced Gravitational Perturbations

abstract:
  We study the physical consequences of two diffferent but closely related
perturbation schemes applied to the Einstein-Maxwell equations. In one case the
starting space-time is flat while in the other case it is Schwarzschild. In
both cases the perturbation is due to a combined electric and magnetic dipole
field. We can see, within the Einstein-Maxwell equations a variety of physical
consequences. They range from induced gravitational energy-momentum loss, to a
well defined spin angular momentum with its loss and a center-of-mass with its
equations of motion.


title: Light-shift tomography in an optical-dipole trap for neutral atoms

abstract:
  We report on light-shift tomography of a cloud of 87 Rb atoms in a
far-detuned optical-dipole trap at 1565 nm. Our method is based on standard
absorption imaging, but takes advantage of the strong light-shift of the
excited state of the imaging transition, which is due to a quasi-resonance of
the trapping laser with a higher excited level. We use this method to (i) map
the equipotentials of a crossed optical-dipole trap, and (ii) study the
thermalisation of an atomic cloud by following the evolution of the
potential-energy of atoms during the free-evaporation process.


title: Sub-milliarcsecond precision spectro-astrometry of Be stars

abstract:
  The origin of the disks around Be stars is still not known. Further progress
requires a proper parametrization of their structure, both spatially and
kinematically. This is challenging as the disks are very small. Here we assess
whether a novel method is capable of providing these data. We obtained spectro
astrometry around the Pa beta line of two bright Be stars, alpha Col and zeta
Tau, to search for disk signatures. The data, with a pixel to pixel precision
of the centroid position of 0.3..0.4 milliarcsecond is the most accurate such
data to date. Artefacts at the 0.85 mas level are present in the data, but
these are readily identified as they were non-repeatable in our redundant
datasets. This does illustrate the need of taking multiple data to avoid
spurious detections. The data are compared with simple model simulations of the
spectro astrometric signatures due to rotating disks around Be stars. The upper
limits we find for the disk radii correspond to disk sizes of a few dozen
stellar radii if they rotate Keplerian. This is very close to observationally
measured and theoretically expected disk sizes, and this paper therefore
demonstrates that spectro-astrometry, of which we present the first such
attempt, has the potential to resolve the disks around Be stars.


title:
Interferometric CO Observations of submillimeter-faint, radio-selected
  starburst galaxies at z~2

abstract:
  High-redshift, dust-obscured galaxies -- selected to be luminous in the radio
but relatively faint at 850um -- appear to represent a different population
from the ultra-luminous submillimeter- (submm-) bright population. They may be
star-forming galaxies with hotter dust temperatures or they may have lower
far-infrared luminosities and larger contributions from obscured active
galactic nuclei (AGN). Here we present observations of three z~2 examples of
this population, which we term submm-faint radio galaxies (SFRGs) in CO(3-2)
using the IRAM Plateau de Bure Interferometer to study their gas and dynamical
properties. We estimate the molecular gas mass in each of the three SFRGs
(8.3x10^{9} M_odot, <5.6x10^{9} M_odot and 15.4x10^{9} M_odot, respectively)
and, in the case of RG163655, a dynamical mass by measurement of the width of
the CO(3-2) line (8x10^{10} csc^2i M_odot). While these gas masses are
substantial, on average they are 4x lower than submm-selected galaxies (SMGs).
Radio-inferred star formation rates (<SFR_radio>=970 M_odot\yr) suggest much
higher star-formation efficiencies than are found for SMGs, and shorter gas
depletion time scales (~11 Myr), much shorter than the time required to form
their current stellar masses (~160 Myr; ~10^{11} M_odot). By contrast, SFRs may
be overestimated by factors of a few, bringing the efficiencies in line with
those typically measured for other ultraluminous star-forming galaxies and
suggesting SFRGs are more like ultraviolet- (UV-)selected star-forming galaxies
with enhanced radio emission. A tentative detection of \rga at 350um suggests
hotter dust temperatures -- and thus similar gas-to-dust mass fractions -- as
the SMGs. We conclude that SFRGs' radio luminosities are larger than would
naturally scale from local ULIRGs given their gas masses or gas fractions.


title: Eigenvectors of random graphs: Nodal domains

abstract:
  We initiate a systematic study of eigenvectors of random graphs. Whereas much
is known about eigenvalues of graphs and how they reflect properties of the
underlying graph, relatively little is known about the corresponding
eigenvectors. Our main focus in this paper is on the nodal domains associated
with the different eigenfunctions. In the analogous realm of Laplacians of
Riemannian manifolds, nodal domains have been the subject of intensive research
for well over a hundred years. Graphical nodal domains turn out to have
interesting and unexpected properties. Our main theorem asserts that there is a
constant c such that for almost every graph G, each eigenfunction of G has at
most two large nodal domains, and in addition at most c exceptional vertices
outside these primary domains. We also discuss variations of these questions
and briefly report on some numerical experiments which, in particular, suggest
that almost surely there are just two nodal domains and no exceptional
vertices.


title:
Deterministic spatio-temporal control of nano-optical fields in optical
  antennas and nano transmission lines

abstract:
  We show that pulse shaping techniques can be applied to tailor the ultrafast
temporal response of the strongly confined and enhanced optical near fields in
the feed gap of resonant optical antennas (ROAs). Using finite-difference
time-domain (FDTD) simulations followed by Fourier transformation, we obtain
the impulse response of a nano structure in the frequency domain, which allows
obtaining its temporal response to any arbitrary pulse shape. We apply the
method to achieve deterministic optimal temporal field compression in ROAs with
reduced symmetry and in a two-wire transmission line connected to a symmetric
dipole antenna. The method described here will be of importance for experiments
involving coherent control of field propagation in nanophotonic structures and
of light-induced processes in nanometer scale volumes.


title:
A bootstrap method for estimating bias and variance in statistical
  multispecies models using highly disparate data sets

abstract:
  Statistical multispecies models of multiarea marine ecosystems use a variety
of data sources to estimate parameters using composite or weighted likelihood
functions with associated weighting issues and questions on how to obtain
variance estimates. Regardless of the method used to obtain point estimates, a
method is needed for variance estimation. A bootstrap technique is introduced
for the evaluation of uncertainty in such models, taking into account inherent
spatial and temporal correlations in the data sets thus avoiding many
model--specification issues, which are commonly transferred as assumptions from
a likelihood estimation procedure into Hessian--based variance estimation
procedures. The technique is demonstrated on a real data set and used to look
for estimation bias and the effects of different aggregation levels in
population dynamics models.


title: Growing length and time scales in a suspension of athermal particles

abstract:
  We simulate a relaxation process of non-brownian particles in a sheared
viscous medium; the small shear strain is initially applied to a system, which
then undergoes relaxation. The relaxation time and the correlation length are
estimated as functions of density, which algebraically diverge at the jamming
density. This implies that the relaxation time can be scaled by the correlation
length using the dynamic critical exponent, which is estimated as 4.6(2). It is
also found that shear stress undergoes power-law decay at the jamming density,
which is reminiscent of critical slowing down.


title: R-Charge Chemical Potential in a 2+1 Dimensional System

abstract:
  We study probe D5 branes in D3 brane AdS_5 and AdS_5-Schwarzschild
backgrounds as a prototype dual description of strongly coupled 2+1 dimensional
quasi-particles. We introduce a chemical potential for a weakly gauged U(1)
subgroup of the theory's global R-symmetry by spinning the D5 branes. The
resulting D5 embeddings are complicated by the existence of a region of the
space in which the local speed of light falls below the rotation speed. We find
regular embeddings through this region and show that the system does not
exhibit the spontaneous symmetry breaking that would be needed for a
superconductor.


title: Nonlinear finite-Larmor-radius effects in reduced fluid models

abstract:
  The polarization and magnetization effects associated with the dynamical
reduction leading to the nonlinear gyrokinetic Vlasov-Maxwell equations are
shown to introduce nonlinear finite-Larmor-radius effects into a set of
nonlinear reduced-fluid equations previously derived by Lagrangian variational
method [A.J. Brizard, Phys. Plasmas 12, 092302 (2005)]. These intrinsically
nonlinear FLR effects, which are associated with the transformation from
guiding-center phase-space dynamics to gyrocenter phase-space dynamics, are
different from the standard FLR corrections associated with the transformation
from particle to guiding-center phase-space dynamics. We also present the
linear dispersion relation and results from a nonlinear simulation code using
these reduced-fluid equations. The simulation results (in both straight and
dipole geometries) demonstrate that the equations describe the coupled dynamics
of Alfven and sound waves and that the total simulation energy is conserved.


title: Modified Jarzynski Relation for non-Markovian noise

abstract:
  We demonstrate the conventional Jarzynski relation (JR) is violated for a
non-Markovian process with colored noise. As an example an exactly soluble
model is considered with a simple protocol for the external work performed on
the system along a non-equilibrium trajectory. For that model we derive an
exact expression for the dissipative energy in terms of an arbitrary correlator
of the noise characterized by an autocorrelation time $t_c$. As the result we
find corrections to the JR in terms of $t_c$. In the limiting case of a
Gaussian process as well as an infinitely slow process the conventional JR is
retained. The result is valid for an arbitrary colored noise.


title: Universality of the limit shape of convex lattice polygonal lines

abstract:
  Let ${\varPi}_n$ be the set of convex polygonal lines $\varGamma$ with
vertices on $\mathbb {Z}_+^2$ and fixed endpoints $0=(0,0)$ and $n=(n_1,n_2)$.
We are concerned with the limit shape, as $n\to\infty$, of "typical"
$\varGamma\in {\varPi}_n$ with respect to a parametric family of probability
measures $\{P_n^r,0<r<\infty\}$ on ${\varPi}_n$, including the uniform
distribution ($r=1$) for which the limit shape was found in the early 1990s
independently by A. M. Vershik, I. B\'ar\'any and Ya. G. Sinai. We show that,
in fact, the limit shape is universal in the class $\{P^r_n\}$, even though
$P^r_n$ ($r\ne1$) and $P^1_n$ are asymptotically singular. Measures $P^r_n$ are
constructed, following Sinai's approach, as conditional distributions
$Q_z^r(\cdot |{\varPi}_n)$, where $Q_z^r$ are suitable product measures on the
space ${\varPi}=\bigcup_n{\varPi}_n$, depending on an auxiliary "free"
parameter $z=(z_1,z_2)$. The transition from $({\varPi},Q_z^r)$ to
$({\varPi}_n,P_n^r)$ is based on the asymptotics of the probability
$Q_z^r({\varPi}_n)$, furnished by a certain two-dimensional local limit
theorem. The proofs involve subtle analytical tools including the M\"obius
inversion formula and properties of zeroes of the Riemann zeta function.


title: Phonon instability in two-dimensional dipolar Bose-Einstein Condensates

abstract:
  The partially attractive character of the dipole-dipole interaction leads to
phonon instability in dipolar condensates, which is followed by collapse in
three-dimensional geometries. We show that the nature of this instability is
fundamentally different in two-dimensional condensates, due to the
dipole-induced stabilization of two-dimensional bright solitons. As a
consequence, a transient gas of attractive solitons is formed, and collapse may
be avoided. In the presence of an harmonic confinement, the instability leads
to transient pattern formation followed by the creation of stable
two-dimensional solitons. This dynamics should be observable in on-going
experiments, allowing for the creation of stable two-dimensional solitons for
the first time ever in quantum gases.


title: Radio continuum properties of young planetary nebulae

abstract:
  We have selected a small sample of post-AGB stars in transition towards the
planetary nebula and present new Very Large Array multi-frequency high-angular
resolution radio observations of them. The multi-frequency data are used to
create and model the targets' radio continuum spectra, proving that these stars
started their evolution as very young planetary nebulae. In the optically thin
range, the slopes are compatible with the expected spectral index (-0.1). Two
targets (IRAS 18062+2410 and 17423-1755) seem to be optically thick even at
high frequency, as observed in a handful of other post-AGB stars in the
literature, while a third one (IRAS 20462+3416) shows a possible contribution
from cold dust. In IRAS 18062+2410, where we have three observations spanning a
period of four years, we detect an increase in its flux density, similar to
that observed in CRL 618.
  High-angular resolution imaging shows bipolar structures that may be due to
circumstellar tori, although a different hypothesis (i.e., jets) could also
explain the observations. Further observations and monitoring of these sources
will enable us to test the current evolutionary models of planetary nebulae.


title: Localization Issues for Robertson-Walker Branes

abstract:
  We discuss some of the localization issues associated with the embedding of
Robertson-Walker type Randall-Sundrum branes in a bulk $AdS_5$. Specifically,
we show that of the branes which are embeddable in $AdS_5$ the geometry
associated with $M_4$ and $dS_4$ branes warps away from the brane while that
associated with $AdS_4$ and $RW$ branes of any spatial 3-curvature antiwarps
away from the brane. We discuss the gravitational fluctuations around an $M_4$
brane and analyze the specific role played by a delta function singularity at
the brane. We show how a bulk sine-Gordon scalar field can without any
fine-tuning naturally lead to localization of gravity around an $M_4$ brane.


title: Densities and filling factors of the DIG in the Solar neighbourhood

abstract:
  For the first time we have combined dispersion measures and emission measures
towards 38 pulsars at KNOWN distances from which we derived the mean electron
density in clouds, N_c, and their volume filling factor, F_v, averaged along
the line of sight. The emission measures were corrected for absorption by dust
and contributions from beyond the pulsar distance. Results: The scale height of
the electron layer for our sample is 0.93+/-0.13 kpc and the midplane electron
density is 0.023+/-0.004 cm^-3, in agreement with earlier results. The average
density along the line of sight is <n_e> = 0.018+/-0.002 cm^-3 and nearly
constant. Since <n_e> = F_v N_c, an inverse relationship between F_v and N_c is
expected. We find F_v(N_c) = (0.011+/-0.003) N_c^{-1.20+/-0.13}, which holds
for the ranges N_c = 0.05-1 cm^-3 and F_v = 0.4-0.01. Near the Galactic plane
the dependence of F_v on N_c is significantly stronger than away from the
plane. F_v does not systematically change along or perpendicular to the
Galactic plane, but the spread about the mean value of 0.08+/-0.02 is
considerable. Conclusions: The inverse F_v-N_c relation is consistent with a
hierarchical, fractal density distribution in the diffuse ionized gas (DIG)
caused by turbulence. The observed near constancy of <n_e> then is a signature
of fractal structure in the ionized medium, which is most pronounced outside
the thin disk.


title:
Long Range Tensor Correlations in Charge and Parity Projected Fermionic
  Molecular Dynamics

abstract:
  Within the framework of Fermionic Molecular Dynamics a method is developed to
better account for long range tensor correlations in nuclei when working with a
single Slater determinant. Single-particle states with mixed isospin and broken
parity build up an intrinsic Slater determinant which is then charge and parity
projected. By minimizing the energy of this many-body state with respect to the
parameters of the single-particle states and projecting afterwards on angular
momentum ground state energies are obtained that are systematically lower than
corresponding Hartree-Fock results. The realistic Argonne V18 potential is used
and short range correlations are treated with the Unitary Correlation Operator
Method. Comparison with exact few-body calculations shows that in $^4$He about
one fifth of the correlation energy due to long-range correlations are
accounted for. These correlations which extend over the whole nucleus are
visualized with the isospin and spin-isospin density of the intrinsic state.
The divergence of the spin-isospin density, the source for pion fields, turns
out to be of dipole nature.


title:
Longitudinal Single-Spin Asymmetries in Proton-Proton Scattering with a
  Hadronic Final State

abstract:
  We consider longitudinal, parity-violating single-spin asymmetries in
proton-proton collisions at RHIC. The focus of this study is on the production
of single-inclusive jets, as well as on jets that contain a charm quark. While
the asymmetry for inclusive jets turns out to be small, we find considerably
larger effects for the case of charm production. We also investigate the role
of leading threshold logarithms and find that they increase the polarized and
unpolarized cross sections and reduce the spin asymmetry.


title: Magnetic order and multipole interactions in CexPr1-xB6 solid solutions

abstract:
  Magnetic ordering phenomena in CexPr1-xB6 solid solutions have been studied
using both powder and single-crystal neutron diffraction. A variety of magnetic
structures are observed depending on temperature and Ce concentration. Over a
broad composition range (x $\le$ 0.7), Pr-Pr interactions play a dominant role,
giving rise to incommensurate structures with wave vectors of the form
k{IC1}=(1/4-delta, 1/4, 1/2) or k{IC2}=(1/4-delta, 1/4-delta, 1/2). The
crossover to a CeB6-like regime takes place near x = 0.7-0.8. For the latter
composition, the antiferroquadrupolar phase transition observed in transport
measurements precedes the onset, at lower temperature, of a commensurate
magnetic order similar to that existing in CeB6. However, unlike in the pure
compound, an incommensurate magnetic order is formed at even higher temperature
and persists in the antiferroquadrupolar phase down to the lock-in transition.
These results are shown to reflect the interplay between various type of dipole
exchange and higher multipole interactions in this series of compounds.


title:
On a certain relation between Legendre's conjecture and Bertrand's
  postulate

abstract:
  We prove a certain relation between Legendre's conjecture and Bertrand's
postulate in terms of a certain transformation of Legendre's function phi. We
show a certain property of a prime.


title:
The Field Structure of Vacuum, Maxwell Equations and Relativity Theory
  Aspects. Part 1

abstract:
  The nature of space-time and surrounding matter objects was and persists to
be a one of the most intriguing and challenging problems facing the mankind and
natural scientists especially. As we know one of the most brilliant inventions
in physics of XIX-th century was combining of electricity and magnetism within
the Faraday-Maxwell electromagnetism theory. This theory explained the main
physical laws of light propagation in space-time and posed new questions
concerning the nature of vacuum. Nonetheless, almost all attempts aiming to
unveil the real state of art of the vacuum problem appeared to be unsuccessful
in spite of new ideas suggested by Mach, Lorentz, Poincare, Einstein and some
others physicists. Moreover, the non-usual way of treating the space-time
devised by Einstein, in reality, favored to eclipsing both its nature and the
related physical vacuum origin problems \cite{Fe,Ga,Ma,TW,Ba,BP}, reducing them
to some physically unmotivated formal mathematical principles and recipes,
combined in the well known special relativity theory (SRT). The SRT appeared to
be adapted to the only inertial reference systems and faced with hard problems
of the electromagnetic Lorentz forces explanation and relationships between
inertial and gravity forces. The latter was artificially "dissolved" by means
of the well known "equivalence" principle owing to which the "inertial" mass of
a material object was postulated to coincide with its "gravity" mass.
  In work we try to unveil some nontrivial aspects of the real space-time and
vacuum origin problems to derive from the natural field theory principles all
of the well known Maxwell electromagnetism and relativity theories results, to
show their relative or only visible coincidence with real physical phenomena
and to feature new perspectives facing the modern fundamental physics.


title:
The solution of the cosmological constant problem from the inhomogeneous
  equation of state - a hint from modified gravity?

abstract:
  The cosmological constant problem is studied in a two component cosmological
model. The universe contains a cosmological constant of an arbitrary size and
sign and an additional component with an inhomogeneous equation of state. It is
shown that, in a proper parameter regime, the expansion of the universe with a
large absolute value of the cosmological constant may asymptotically tend to de
Sitter space corresponding to a small effective positive cosmological constant.
It is argued that such a behavior can be regarded as a solution of the
cosmological constant problem in this model. The mechanism behind the
relaxation of the cosmological constant is discussed. A connection with
modified gravity theories is discussed and an example of a possible realization
of the cosmological constant relaxation in f(R) modified gravity is described.


title: 6^Li in the atmosphere of GJ 117 Revisited

abstract:
  Detection of 6^Li has been shown for energetic solar events, one
chromospherically active binary, and several dwarf halo stars. We had
previously found a 6^Li/7^Li = 0.03+/-0.01 for active K dwarf GJ 117 using VLT
UVES observations. Here we present high signal-to-noise (>1000) high spectral
resolution observations taken with the McDonald Observatory's 2.7m and echelle
spectrometer of GJ 117. We have used the solar spectrum and template stars to
eliminate possible blends, such as Ti I, in the 6^Li spectral region. Our new
analysis, using an updated PHOENIX model atmosphere finds 6^Li/7^Li =
0.05+/-0.02. Additionally, bisector analysis showed no significant red
asymmetries that would affect the lithium line profile. No changes above the
statistical uncertainties are found between the VLT and McDonald data. The
amount of 6^Li derived for GJ 117 is consistent with creation in spallation
reactions on the stellar surface, but we caution that uncertainties in the
continuum level may cause additional uncertainty in the 6^Li fraction.


title: Disjoint minimal graphs

abstract:
  We prove that the number s(n) of disjoint minimal graphs supported on domains
in R^n is bounded by e(n+1)^2. In the two-dimensional case we show that s(2) is
at most three (the conjectured number is two).


title: Extracting spacetimes using the AdS/CFT conjecture

abstract:
  We present analytic methods for extracting a class of bulk geometries given
information of certain physical quantities in the boundary CFT. More
specifically we look at singular correlators and entanglement entropy in the
CFT to provide information of null and spacelike geodesics repectively in the
bulk. We show that static spherically symmetric, asymptotically AdS spacetimes
which do not admit null circular orbits can be fully recovered, and that any
spacetime can be recovered up to the local maximum of the potential. We provide
analytical and numerical examples to verify the methods used.


title:
Enhanced symmetries of gauge theory and resolving the spectrum of local
  operators

abstract:
  Enhanced global non-abelian symmetries at zero coupling in Yang Mills theory
play an important role in diagonalising the two-point functions of multi-matrix
operators. Generalised Casimirs constructed from the iterated commutator action
of these enhanced symmetries resolve all the multiplicity labels of the bases
of matrix operators which diagonalise the two-point function. For the case of U
(N) gauge theory with a single complex matrix in the adjoint of the gauge group
we have a U(N)^{\times 4} global symmetry of the scaling operator at zero
coupling. Different choices of commuting sets of Casimirs, for the case of a
complex matrix, lead to the restricted Schur basis previously studied in
connection with string excitations of giant gravitons and the Brauer basis
studied in connection with brane-anti-brane systems. More generally these
remarks can be extended to the diagonalisation for any global symmetry group G.
Schur-Weyl duality plays a central role in connecting the enhanced symmetries
and the diagonal bases.


title:
Stars In Other Universes: Stellar structure with different fundamental
  constants

abstract:
  Motivated by the possible existence of other universes, with possible
variations in the laws of physics, this paper explores the parameter space of
fundamental constants that allows for the existence of stars. To make this
problem tractable, we develop a semi-analytical stellar structure model that
allows for physical understanding of these stars with unconventional
parameters, as well as a means to survey the relevant parameter space. In this
work, the most important quantities that determine stellar properties -- and
are allowed to vary -- are the gravitational constant $G$, the fine structure
constant $\alpha$, and a composite parameter $C$ that determines nuclear
reaction rates. Working within this model, we delineate the portion of
parameter space that allows for the existence of stars. Our main finding is
that a sizable fraction of the parameter space (roughly one fourth) provides
the values necessary for stellar objects to operate through sustained nuclear
fusion. As a result, the set of parameters necessary to support stars are not
particularly rare. In addition, we briefly consider the possibility that
unconventional stars (e.g., black holes, dark matter stars) play the role
filled by stars in our universe and constrain the allowed parameter space.


title: Quantum Diffusion of Matter Waves in 2D Speckle Potentials

abstract:
  This paper investigates quantum diffusion of matter waves in two-dimensional
random potentials, focussing on expanding Bose-Einstein condensates in
spatially correlated optical speckle potentials. Special care is taken to
describe the effect of dephasing, finite system size, and an initial momentum
distribution. We derive general expressions for the interference-renormalized
diffusion constant, the disorder-averaged probability density distribution, the
variance of the expanding atomic cloud, and the localized fraction of atoms.
These quantities are studied in detail for the special case of an
inverted-parabola momentum distribution as obtained from an expanding
condensate in the Thomas-Fermi regime. Lastly, we derive quantitative criteria
for the unambiguous observation of localization effects in a possible 2D
experiment.


title: Multiplication in Cyclotomic Rings and its Application to Finite Fields

abstract:
  A representation of finite fields that has proved useful when implementing
finite field arithmetic in hardware is based on an isomorphism between subrings
and fields. In this paper, we present an unified formulation for multiplication
in cyclotomic rings and cyclotomic fields in that most arithmetic operations
are done on vectors. From this formulation we can generate optimized algorithms
for multiplication. For example, one of the proposed algorithms requires
approximately half the number of coordinate-level multiplications at the
expense of extra coordinate-level additions. Our method is then applied to the
finite fields GF(q^m) to further reduce the number of operations. We then
present optimized algorithms for multiplication in finite fields with type-I
and type-II optimal normal bases.


title:
Geometrical description of non-linear electrostatic oscillations in
  relativistic thermal plasmas

abstract:
  We develop a method for investigating the relationship between the shape of a
1-particle distribution and non-linear electrostatic oscillations in a
collisionless plasma, incorporating transverse thermal motion. A general
expression is found for the maximum sustainable electric field, and is
evaluated for a particular highly anisotropic distribution.


title: Automating dipole subtraction

abstract:
  We report on automating the Catani-Seymour dipole subtraction which is a
general procedure to treat infrared divergences in real emission processes at
next-to-leading order in QCD. The automatization rests on three essential
steps: the creation of the dipole terms, the calculation of the color linked
squared Born matrix elements, and the evaluation of different helicity
amplitudes. The routines have been tested for a number of complex processes,
such as the real emission process gg --> t anti-t ggg.


title: On families of subsets with a forbidden subposet

abstract:
  Let $\F\subset 2^{[n]}$ be a family of subsets of $\{1,2,..., n\}$. For any
poset $H$, we say $\F$ is $H$-free if $\F$ does not contain any subposet
isomorphic to $H$. Katona and others have investigated the behavior of
$\La(n,H)$, which denotes the maximum size of $H$-free families $\F\subset
2^{[n]}$. Here we use a new approach, which is to apply methods from extremal
graph theory and probability theory to identify new classes of posets $H$, for
which $\La(n,H)$ can be determined asymptotically as $n\to\infty$ for various
posets $H$, including two-end-forks, up-down trees, and cycles $C_{4k}$ on two
levels.


title:
The characteristic blue spectra of accretion disks in quasars as
  uncovered in the infrared

abstract:
  Quasars are thought to be powered by supermassive black holes accreting
surrounding gas. Central to this picture is a putative accretion disk which is
believed to be the source of the majority of the radiative output. It is well
known, however, that the most extensively studied disk model -- an optically
thick disk which is heated locally by the dissipation of gravitational binding
energy -- is apparently contradicted by observations in a few major respects.
In particular, the model predicts a specific blue spectral shape asymptotically
from the visible to the near-infrared, but this is not generally seen in the
visible wavelength region where the disk spectrum is observable. A crucial
difficulty was that, toward the infrared, the disk spectrum starts to be hidden
under strong hot dust emission from much larger but hitherto unresolved scales,
and thus has essentially been impossible to observe. Here we report
observations of polarized light interior to the dust-emiting region that enable
us to uncover this near-infrared disk spectrum in several quasars. The revealed
spectra show that the near-infrared disk spectrum is indeed as blue as
predicted. This indicates that, at least for the outer near-infrared-emitting
radii, the standard picture of the locally heated disk is approximately
correct. The model problems at shorter wavelengths should then be directed
toward a better understanding of the inner parts of the revealed disk. The
newly uncovered disk emission at large radii, with more future measurements,
will also shed totally new light on the unanswered critical question of how and
where the disk ends.


title: From subfactor planar algebras to subfactors

abstract:
  We present a purely planar algebraic proof of the main result of a paper of
Guionnet-Jones-Shlaykhtenko which constructs an extremal subfactor from a
subfactor planar algebra whose standard invariant is given by that planar
algebra.


title: One-Loop Calculations with BlackHat

abstract:
  We describe BlackHat, an automated C++ program for calculating one-loop
amplitudes, and the techniques used in its construction. These include the
unitarity method and on-shell recursion. The other ingredients are compact
analytic formulae for tree amplitudes for four-dimensional helicity states. The
program computes amplitudes numerically, using analytic formulae only for the
tree amplitudes, the starting point for the recursion, and the loop integrals.
We make use of recently developed on-shell methods for evaluating coefficients
of loop integrals, in particular a discrete Fourier projection as a means of
improving numerical stability. We illustrate the good numerical stability of
this approach by computing six-, seven- and eight-gluon amplitudes in QCD and
comparing against known analytic results.


title: Book Review: The Genesis of General Relativity

abstract:
  This is a review of the four-volume set entitled The Genesis of General
Relativity edited by Juergen Renn, Springer, Dordrecht (2007)


title:
Origin and tuning of the magnetocaloric effect for the magnetic
  refrigerant MnFe(P1-xGex)

abstract:
  Neutron diffraction and magnetization measurements of the magneto refrigerant
Mn1+yFe1-yP1-xGex reveal that the ferromagnetic and paramagnetic phases
correspond to two very distinct crystal structures, with the magnetic entropy
change as a function of magnetic field or temperature being directly controlled
by the phase fraction of this first-order transition. By tuning the physical
properties of this system we have achieved a maximum magnetic entropy change
exceeding 74 J/Kg K for both increasing and decreasing field, more than twice
the value of the previous record.


title: K3 surfaces with non-symplectic automorphisms of 2-power order

abstract:
  This paper concerns complex algebraic K3 surfaces with an automorphism which
acts trivially on the Neron-Severi group. Complementing a result by Vorontsov
and Kondo, we determine those K3 surfaces where the order of the automorphism
is a 2-power and equals the rank of the transcendental lattice. We also study
the arithmetic of these K3 surfaces and comment on mirror symmetry


title:
Moreira's Theorem on the arithmetic sum of dynamically defined Cantor
  sets

abstract:
  We present a complete proof of a theorem of C.G. Moreira. Under mild
checkable conditions, the theorem asserts that the Hausdorff dimension of the
arithmetic sum of two dynamically defined Cantor subsets of the real line,
equals either the sum of the dimensions or 1, whichever is smaller.


title:
A Power Law for the Duration of High-Flow States in Heterogeneous
  Traffic Flows

abstract:
  We study the duration of "high-flow states" in freeway traffic, defined as
the time periods for which traffic flows exceed a given flow threshold. Our
empirical data are surprisingly well represented by a power law. Moreover, the
power law exponent is approximately 2, in dependently of the chosen flow
threshold. In order to explain this discovery, we investigate a simple
theoretical model of heterogeneous traffic with overtaking maneuvers, which is
able to reproduce both, the empirical power law and its exponent.


title:
Theory on the scattering of light and surface plasmon polaritons by
  arrays of holes and dimples in a metal film

abstract:
  The scattering of light and surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) by finite
arrays of either holes or dimples in a metal film is treated theoretically. A
modal expansion formalism, capable of handling real metals with up to thousands
of indentations, is presented. Computations based on this method demonstrate
that a single hole scatters a significant fraction of incoming light into SPPs.
It is also observed that holes and dimples scatter SPPs into light with similar
efficiencies, provided the depth of the dimple is larger than its radius.
Finally, it is shown that in arrays the normalized-to-area emittances in the
out-of-plane and SPP channels present different dependences with the number of
holes.


title:
Favard, Baxter, Geronimus, Rakhmanov, Szeg\"o and the strong Szeg\"o
  theorems for orthogonal trigonometric polynomials

abstract:
  In this paper, we obtain some analogs of Favard, Baxter, Geronimus,
Rakhmanov, Szeg\"o and the strong Szeg\"o theorems appeared in the theory of
orthogonal polynomials on the unit circle (OPUC) for orthogonal trigonometric
polynomials (OTP). The key tool is the mutual representation theorem for OPUC
and OTP.


title: Anisotropic scaling of magnetohydrodynamic turbulence

abstract:
  We present a quantitative estimate of the anisotropic power and scaling of
magnetic field fluctuations in inertial range magnetohydrodynamic turbulence,
using a novel wavelet technique applied to spacecraft measurements in the solar
wind. We show for the first time that, when the local magnetic field direction
is parallel to the flow, the spacecraft-frame spectrum has a spectral index
near 2. This can be interpreted as the signature of a population of
fluctuations in field-parallel wavenumbers with a $k_{\parallel}^{-2}$ spectrum
but is also consistent with the presence of a "critical balance" style
turbulent cascade. We also find, in common with previous studies, that most of
the power is contained in wavevectors at large angles to the local magnetic
field and that this component of the turbulence has a spectral index of 5/3.


title:
SIDE, a fiber fed spectrograph for the 10.4 m Gran Telescopio Canarias
  (GTC)

abstract:
  SIDE (Super Ifu Deployable Experiment) will be a second-generation,
common-user instrument for the Grantecan (GTC) on La Palma (Canary Islands,
Spain). It is being proposed as a spectrograph of low and intermediate
resolution, highly efficient in multi-object spectroscopy and 3D spectroscopy.
SIDE features the unique possibility of performing simultaneous visible and NIR
observations for selected ranges. The SIDE project is leaded by the Instituto
de Astrofisica de Andalucia (IAA-CSIC) in Granada (Spain) and the SIDE
Consortium is formed by a total of 10 institutions from Spain, Mexico and USA.
The SIDE Feasibility Study has been completed and currently the project is
under revision by the GTC Project Office.


title:
Damped driven coupled oscillators: entanglement, decoherence and the
  classical limit

abstract:
  The interaction of (two-level) Rydberg atoms with dissipative QED cavity
fields can be described classically or quantum mechanically, even for very low
temperatures and mean number of photons, provided the damping constant is large
enough. We investigate the quantum-classical border, the entanglement and
decoherence of an analytically solvable model, analog to the atom-cavity
system, in which the atom (field) is represented by a (driven and damped)
harmonic oscillator. The maximum value of entanglement is shown to depend on
the initial state and the dissipation-rate to coupling-constant ratio. While in
the original model the atomic entropy never grows appreciably (for large
dissipation rates), in our model it reaches a maximum before decreasing.
Although both models predict small values of entanglement and dissipation, for
fixed times of the order of the inverse of the coupling constant and large
dissipation rates, these quantities decrease faster, as a function of the ratio
of the dissipation rate to the coupling constant, in our model.


title: Entropy of entanglement and multifractal exponents for random states

abstract:
  We relate the entropy of entanglement of ensembles of random vectors to their
generalized fractal dimensions. Expanding the von Neumann entropy around its
maximum we show that the first order only depends on the participation ratio,
while higher orders involve other multifractal exponents. These results can be
applied to entanglement behavior near the Anderson transition.


title: Optical configuration and analysis of the AMBER/VLTI instrument

abstract:
  This paper describes the design goals and engineering efforts that led to the
realization of AMBER (Astronomical Multi BEam combineR) and to the achievement
of its present performance.
  On the basis of the general instrumental concept, AMBER was decomposed into
modules whose functions and detailed characteristics are given. Emphasis is put
on the spatial filtering system, a key element of the instrument. We
established a budget for transmission and contrast degradation through the
different modules, and made the detailed optical design. The latter confirmed
the overall performance of the instrument and defined the exact implementation
of the AMBER optics.
  The performance was assessed with laboratory measurements and commissionings
at the VLTI, in terms of spectral coverage and resolution, instrumental
contrast higher than 0.80, minimum magnitude of 11 in K, absolute visibility
accuracy of 1%, and differential phase stability of 1E-3 rad over one minute.


title: Observation of chi_cJ radiative decays to light vector mesons

abstract:
  Using a total of 2.74 x 10^7 decays of the psi(2S) collected with the CLEO-c
detector, we present a study of chi_cJ -> gamma V, where V = rho^0, omega, phi.
The transitions chi_c1 -> gamma rho^0 and chi_c1 -> gamma omega are observed
with B(chi_c1 -> gamma rho^0) = (2.43 +- 0.19 +- 0.22) x 10^-4 and B(chi_c1 ->
gamma omega) = (8.3 +- 1.5 +- 1.2) x 10^-5. In the chi_c1 -> gamma rho^0
transition, the final state meson is dominantly longitudinally polarized. Upper
limits on the branching fractions of other chi_cJ states to light vector mesons
are presented.


title: Data spectroscopy: Eigenspaces of convolution operators and clustering

abstract:
  This paper focuses on obtaining clustering information about a distribution
from its i.i.d. samples. We develop theoretical results to understand and use
clustering information contained in the eigenvectors of data adjacency matrices
based on a radial kernel function with a sufficiently fast tail decay. In
particular, we provide population analyses to gain insights into which
eigenvectors should be used and when the clustering information for the
distribution can be recovered from the sample. We learn that a fixed number of
top eigenvectors might at the same time contain redundant clustering
information and miss relevant clustering information. We use this insight to
design the data spectroscopic clustering (DaSpec) algorithm that utilizes
properly selected eigenvectors to determine the number of clusters
automatically and to group the data accordingly. Our findings extend the
intuitions underlying existing spectral techniques such as spectral clustering
and Kernel Principal Components Analysis, and provide new understanding into
their usability and modes of failure. Simulation studies and experiments on
real-world data are conducted to show the potential of our algorithm. In
particular, DaSpec is found to handle unbalanced groups and recover clusters of
different shapes better than the competing methods.


title: S-Duality of Boundary Conditions In N=4 Super Yang-Mills Theory

abstract:
  By analyzing brane configurations in detail, and extracting general lessons,
we develop methods for analyzing S-duality of supersymmetric boundary
conditions in N=4 super Yang-Mills theory. In the process, we find that
S-duality of boundary conditions is closely related to mirror symmetry of
three-dimensional gauge theories, and we analyze the IR behavior of large
classes of quiver gauge theories.


title: Proposal for a Mesoscopic Optical Berry-Phase Interferometer

abstract:
  We propose a novel spin-optronic device based on the interference of
polaritonic waves traveling in opposite directions and gaining topological
Berry phase. It is governed by the ratio of the TE-TM and Zeeman splittings,
which can be used to control the output intensity. Because of the peculiar
orientation of the TE-TM effective magnetic field for polaritons, there is no
analogue of the Aharonov- Casher phase shift existing for electrons.


title:
Metal-insulator transition by isovalent anion substitution in
  Ga1-xMnxAs: Implications to ferromagnetism

abstract:
  We have investigated the effect of partial isovalent anion substitution in
Ga1-xMnxAs on electrical transport and ferromagnetism. Substitution of only
2.4% of As by P induces a metal-insulator transition at a constant Mn doping of
x=0.046 while the replacement of 0.4 % As with N results in the crossover from
metal to insulator for x=0.037. This remarkable behavior is consistent with a
scenario in which holes located within an impurity band are scattered by alloy
disorder in the anion sublattice. The shorter mean free path of holes, which
mediate ferromagnetism, reduces the Curie temperature TC from 113 K to 60 K
(100 K to 65 K) upon the introduction of 3.1 % P (1% N) into the As sublattice.


title: Numerical simulation of optimal transport paths

abstract:
  This article provides numerical simulation of an optimal transport path from
a single source to an atomic measure of equal total mass. We first construct an
initial transport path, and then modify the path as much as possible by using
both local and global minimization algorithms.


title: Photoevaporation of Protoplanetary Disks

abstract:
  We present HST/NICMOS Paschen alpha images and low and high resolution IRS
spectra of photoevaporating disk-tail systems originally detected at 24 micron
near O stars. We find no Paschen alpha emission in any of the systems. The
resulting upper limits correspond to about 0.000002-0.000003 solar mass of mass
in hydrogen in the tails suggesting that the gas is severely depleted. The IRAC
data and the low resolution 5-12 micron IRS spectra provide evidence for an
inner disk while high resolution long wavelength (14-30 micron) IRS spectra
confirm the presence of a gas free ``tail'' that consists of ~ 0.01 to ~ 1
micron dust grains originating in the outer parts of the circumstellar disks.
Overall our observations support theoretical predictions in which
photoevaporation removes the gas relatively quickly (<= 100000 yrs) from the
outer region of a protoplanetary disk but leaves an inner more robust and
possibly gas-rich disk component of radius 5-10 AU. With the gas gone, larger
solid bodies in the outer disk can experience a high rate of collisions and
produce elevated amounts of dust. This dust is being stripped from the system
by the photon pressure of the O star to form a gas-free dusty tail.


title: Flavor structure with multi moduli in 5D supergravity

abstract:
  We study 5-dimensional supergravity on S^1/Z_2 with a physical Z_2-odd vector
multiplet, which yields an additional modulus other than the radion. We derive
4-dimensional effective theory and find additional terms in the Kahler
potential that are peculiar to the multi moduli case. Such terms can avoid
tachyonic soft scalar masses at tree-level, which are problematic in the single
modulus case. We also show that the flavor structure of the soft terms are
different from that in the single modulus case when hierarchical Yukawa
couplings are generated by wavefunction localization in the fifth dimension. We
present a concrete model that stabilizes the moduli at a supersymmetry breaking
Minkowski minimum, and show the low energy sparticle spectrum.


title: The high-field Fermi surface of YbRh2Si2

abstract:
  We present quantum oscillation measurements of YbRh2Si2 at magnetic fields
above the Kondo-suppression scale H0 ~ 10 T. Comparison with electronic
structure calculations is complicated because the "small" Fermi surface, where
the Yb 4f-quasi-hole is not contributing to the Fermi volume, and "large" Fermi
surface, where the Yb 4f-quasi-hole is contributing to the Fermi volume, are
related by a rigid Fermi energy shift. This means that spin-split branches of
the large Fermi surface can look like unsplit branches of the small surface,
and vice-versa. Thus, although the high-field angle dependence of the
experimentally-measured oscillation frequencies most resembles the electronic
structure prediction for the small Fermi surface, this may instead be a branch
of the spin-split large Fermi surface.


title: Profinite properties of graph manifolds

abstract:
  Let $M$ be a closed, orientable, irreducible, geometrizable 3-manifold. We
prove that the profinite topology on the fundamental group of $\pi_1(M)$ is
efficient with respect to the JSJ decomposition of $M$. We go on to prove that
$\pi_1(M)$ is good, in the sense of Serre, if all the pieces of the JSJ
decomposition are. We also prove that if $M$ is a graph manifold then
$\pi_1(M)$ is conjugacy separable.


title: Integrable systems from supergravity BPS equations

abstract:
  Integrable systems of the sine-Gordon/Liouville type, which arise from
reducing the BPS equations for solutions invariant under 16 supersymmetries in
Type IIB supergravity and M-theory, are shown to be special cases of an
infinite family of integrable systems, parametrized by an arbitrary real
function $f$ of a real variable. It is shown that, for each function $f$, this
generalized integrable system may be mapped onto a system of linear equations,
which in turn may be integrated in terms of the two linearly independent
solutions of an ordinary linear second order differential equation which
depends only on the function $f$.


title:
NMR relaxation rate in superconducting pnictides: extended $s_{\pm}$
  scenario

abstract:
  Recently, several measurements of the nuclear spin lattice relaxation rate
$T_{1}^{-1}$ in the newly discovered superconducting Fe-pnictides have been
reported. These measurements generally show no coherence peak below $T_{c}$ and
indicate a low temperature power law behavior, the characteristics commonly
taken as evidence of unconventional superconductivity with lines of nodes
crossing the Fermi surface. In this work we show that (i) the lack of a
coherence peak is fully consistent with the previously proposed nodeless
extended $s_{\pm}$-wave symmetry of the order parameter (whether in the clean
or dirty limit) and (ii) the low temperature power law behavior can be also
explained in the framework of the same model, but requires going beyond the
Born model.


title: The trigger of the AGB superwind: the importance of carbon

abstract:
  The driving mechanism of the AGB superwind has become controversial in recent
years. The efficacy of dust-driven mass loss has been queried. Spitzer
observation of AGB stars in Local Group Galaxies show the surprising result
that at low metallicity, AGB mass loss occurs at low luminosity, possibly lower
than in the Galaxy, but only for carbon-rich stars. Oxygen-rich stars in the
Galaxy and in lower metallicity galaxies have similar mass-loss rates only at
high luminosities. To explain this dichotomy, we propose that the superwind has
a dual trigger. The superwind starts either when sufficient excess carbon
builds up for efficient formation of carbonaceous dust (which we propose occurs
when $X_{\rm CO} = \rm (C - O)/ O_\odot = 0.1$), or when the luminosity reaches
a value sufficient for a silicate-dust-driven wind (proposed at $L = 10^4
Z^{-4/3} \rm L_\odot)$. We show that this dual trigger fits the current
observational constraints: the luminosity at which the superwind begins, and
the predominance of carbon superwind star at low metallicity. We use stellar
evolution models to check the consistency of our explanations and present
detailed predictions of the luminosities at which the superwind is triggered
for different metallicities and initial stellar masses.