title: Can extremism guarantee pluralism?

abstract:
  Many models have been proposed to explain opinion formation in groups of
individuals; most of these models study opinion propagation as the interaction
between nodes/agents in a social network. Opinion formation is a complex
process and a realistic model should also take into account the important
feedbacks that the opinions of the agents have on the structure of the social
networks and on the characteristics of the opinion dynamics. In this paper we
will show that associating to different agents different kinds of
interconnections and different interacting behaviours can lead to interesting
scenarios, like the coexistence of several opinion clusters, namely pluralism.
In our model agents have opinions uniformly and continuously distributed
between two extremes. The social network is formed through a social aggregation
mechanism including the segregation process of the extremists that results in
many real communities. We show how this process affects the opinion dynamics in
the whole society. In the opinion evolution we consider the different
predisposition of single individuals to interact and to exchange opinion with
each other; we associate to each individual a different tolerance threshold,
depending on its own opinion: extremists are less willing to interact with
individuals with strongly different opinions and to change significantly their
ideas. A general result is obtained: when there is no interaction restriction,
the opinion always converges to uniformity, but the same is happening whenever
a strong segregation process of the extremists occurs. Only when extremists are
forming clusters but these clusters keep interacting with the rest of the
society, the survival of a wide opinion range is guaranteed.


title:
Asymptotically Optimum Universal One-Bit Watermarking for Gaussian
  Covertexts and Gaussian Attacks

abstract:
  The problem of optimum watermark embedding and detection was addressed in a
recent paper by Merhav and Sabbag, where the optimality criterion was the
maximum false-negative error exponent subject to a guaranteed false-positive
error exponent. In particular, Merhav and Sabbag derived universal
asymptotically optimum embedding and detection rules under the assumption that
the detector relies solely on second order joint empirical statistics of the
received signal and the watermark. In the case of a Gaussian host signal and a
Gaussian attack, however, closed-form expressions for the optimum embedding
strategy and the false-negative error exponent were not obtained in that work.
In this paper, we derive such expressions, again, under the universality
assumption that neither the host variance nor the attack power are known to
either the embedder or the detector. The optimum embedding rule turns out to be
very simple and with an intuitively-appealing geometrical interpretation. The
improvement with respect to existing sub-optimum schemes is demonstrated by
displaying the optimum false-negative error exponent as a function of the
guaranteed false-positive error exponent.


title:
A statistical framework for testing functional categories in microarray
  data

abstract:
  Ready access to emerging databases of gene annotation and functional pathways
has shifted assessments of differential expression in DNA microarray studies
from single genes to groups of genes with shared biological function. This
paper takes a critical look at existing methods for assessing the differential
expression of a group of genes (functional category), and provides some
suggestions for improved performance. We begin by presenting a general
framework, in which the set of genes in a functional category is compared to
the complementary set of genes on the array. The framework includes tests for
overrepresentation of a category within a list of significant genes, and
methods that consider continuous measures of differential expression. Existing
tests are divided into two classes. Class 1 tests assume gene-specific measures
of differential expression are independent, despite overwhelming evidence of
positive correlation. Analytic and simulated results are presented that
demonstrate Class 1 tests are strongly anti-conservative in practice. Class 2
tests account for gene correlation, typically through array permutation that by
construction has proper Type I error control for the induced null. However,
both Class 1 and Class 2 tests use a null hypothesis that all genes have the
same degree of differential expression. We introduce a more sensible and
general (Class 3) null under which the profile of differential expression is
the same within the category and complement. Under this broader null, Class 2
tests are shown to be conservative. We propose standard bootstrap methods for
testing against the Class 3 null and demonstrate they provide valid Type I
error control and more power than array permutation in simulated datasets and
real microarray experiments.


title: From Pure Spinor Geometry to Quantum Physics: A Mathematical Way

abstract:
  In the search of a mathematical basis for quantum mechanics, in order to
render it self-consistent and rationally understandable, we find that the best
approach is to adopt E. Cartan's way for discovering spinors; that is to start
from 3-dimensional null vectors and then show how they may be represented by
two dimensional spinors. We have now only to go along this path, however in the
opposite direction; with these spinors (which are pure) construct bilinearly
null vectors: and we find that they naturally generate null vectors of
Minkowski momentum space, where Cartan equations defining pure spinors are
identical to all equations of motion for massless systems: both the quantum
(Weyl's) and the classical ones (Maxwell's), are determined by them. We have
then the possibility of a new, purely mathematical, determination of h: the
Planck's constant, and thus the possible mathematical starting point for the
representation of quantum mechanics.


title: Simulation of open quantum systems

abstract:
  We present an approach for the semiclassical treatment of open quantum
systems. An expansion into localized states allows restriction of a simulation
to a fraction of the environment that is located within a predefined vicinity
of the system. Adding and dropping environmental particles during the
simulation yields an effective reduction of the size of the system that is
being treated.


title: Correlations in commodity markets

abstract:
  In this paper we analyzed dependencies in commodity markets investigating
correlations of future contracts for commodities over the period 1998.09.01 -
2007.12.14. We constructed a minimal spanning tree based on the correlation
matrix. The tree provides evidence for sector clusterization of investigated
contracts. We also studied dynamical properties of commodity dependencies. It
turned out that the market was constantly getting more correlated within the
investigated period, although the increase of correlation was distributed
nonuniformly among all contracts, and depended on contracts branches.


title: Integral geometry under $G_2$ and $Spin(7)$

abstract:
  A Hadwiger-type theorem for the exceptional Lie groups $G_2$ and $Spin(7)$ is
proved. The algebras of $G_2$ or $Spin(7)$ invariant, translation invariant
continuous valuations are both of dimension 10. Geometrically meaningful bases
are constructed and the algebra structures are computed. Finally, the kinematic
formulas for these groups are determined.


title:
Towards a theoretical description of molecular junctions in the Coulomb
  blockade regime based on density functional theory

abstract:
  Non-equilibrium Greens function techniques (NEGF) combined with Density
Functional Theory (DFT) calculations have become a standard tool for the
description of electron transport through single molecule nano-junctions in the
coherent tunneling regime. However, the applicability of these methods for
transport in the Coulomb blockade (CB) regime is still under debate. We present
here NEGF-DFT calculations performed on simple model systems in the presence of
an effective gate potential. The results show that: i) the CB addition energies
can be predicted with such an approach with reasonable accuracy; ii) neither
the magnitude of the Kohn-Sham gap nor the lack of a derivative discontinuity
in the exchange-correlation functional represent a problem for this purpose.


title: Cosmology and Neutrino Properties

abstract:
  This is a brief review for particle physicists on cosmological impact of
neutrinos and on restrictions on neutrino properties from cosmology. The paper
includes discussion of upper bounds on neutrino mass and possible ways to relax
them, methods to observe the cosmic neutrino background, bounds on the
cosmological lepton asymmetry which are strongly improved by neutrino
oscillations, cosmological effects of breaking of spin-statistics theorem for
neutrinos, bounds on mixing parameters of active and possible sterile neutrinos
with the account of active neutrino oscillations, bounds on right-handed
currents and neutrino magnetic moments, and some more.


title:
The effects of next to nearest neighbor hopping on Bose-Einstein
  condensation in cubic lattices

abstract:
  In this paper, we present results of our calculations on the effects of next
to nearest neighbor boson hopping ($t^{\prime}$) energy on Bose-Einstein
condensation in cubic lattices. We consider both non-interacting and
repulsively interacting bosons moving in the lowest Bloch band. The interacting
bosons are studied making use of the Bogoliubov method. We find that the bose
condensation temperature is enhanced with increasing $t^{\prime}$ for bosons in
a simple cubic (sc) lattice and decreases for bosons in body-centered cubic
(bcc) and face-centered cubic (fcc) lattices. We also find that interaction
induced depletion of the condensate is reduced for bosons in a sc lattice while
is enhanced for bosons in bcc and fcc lattices.


title: Julia and John revisited

abstract:
  We show that Fatou components of a semi-hyperbolic rational map are John
domains and that the converse does not hold. This generalizes a famous result
of Carleson, Jones and Yoccoz.
  We show that a connected Julia set is locally connected for a large class of
non-uniformly hyperbolic rational maps. This class is more general than
semi-hyperbolicity and includes Collet-Eckmann and Topological Collet-Eckmann
maps and maps verifying a summability condition (as considered by Graczyk and
Smirnov).


title: Effective boundary conditions for dense granular flows

abstract:
  We derive an effective boundary condition for granular flow taking into
account the effect of the heterogeneity of the force network on sliding
friction dynamics. This yields an intermediate boundary condition which lies in
the limit between no-slip and Coulomb friction; two simple functions relating
wall stress, velocity, and velocity variance are found from numerical
simulations. Moreover, we show that this effective boundary condition
corresponds to Navier slip condition when GDR MiDi's model is assumed to be
valid, and that the slip length depends on the length scale that characterises
the system, \emph{viz} the particle diameter.


title:
Accounting for self-protective responses in randomized response data
  from a social security survey using the zero-inflated Poisson model

abstract:
  In 2004 the Dutch Department of Social Affairs conducted a survey to assess
the extent of noncompliance with social security regulations. The survey was
conducted among 870 recipients of social security benefits and included a
series of sensitive questions about regulatory noncompliance. Due to the
sensitive nature of the questions the randomized response design was used.
Although randomized response protects the privacy of the respondent, it is
unlikely that all respondents followed the design. In this paper we introduce a
model that allows for respondents displaying self-protective response behavior
by consistently giving the nonincriminating response, irrespective of the
outcome of the randomizing device. The dependent variable denoting the total
number of incriminating responses is assumed to be generated by the application
of randomized response to a latent Poisson variable denoting the true number of
rule violations. Since self-protective responses result in an excess of
observed zeros in relation to the Poisson randomized response distribution,
these are modeled as observed zero-inflation. The model includes predictors of
the Poisson parameters, as well as predictors of the probability of
self-protective response behavior.


title:
Continuous-time random-walk approach to normal and anomalous
  reaction-diffusion processes

abstract:
  We study the dynamics of a radioactive species flowing through a porous
material, within the Continuous-Time Random Walk (CTRW) approach to the
modelling of stochastic transport processes. Emphasis is given to the case
where radioactive decay is coupled to anomalous diffusion in locally
heterogeneous media, such as porous sediments or fractured rocks. In this
framework, we derive the distribution of the number of jumps each particle can
perform before a decay event. On the basis of the obtained results, we compute
the moments of the cumulative particle distribution, which can be then used to
quantify the overall displacement and spread of the contaminant species.


title: Shear viscosity of degenerate electron matter

abstract:
  We calculate the partial electron shear viscosity $\eta_{ee}$ limited by
electron-electron collisions in a strongly degenerate electron gas taking into
account the Landau damping of transverse plasmons. The Landau damping strongly
suppresses $\eta_{ee}$ in the domain of ultrarelativistic degenerate electrons
and modifies its %asymptotic temperature behavior. The efficiency of the
electron shear viscosity in the cores of white dwarfs and envelopes of neutron
stars is analyzed.


title: More Discriminants with the Brezing-Weng Method

abstract:
  The Brezing-Weng method is a general framework to generate families of
pairing-friendly elliptic curves. Here, we introduce an improvement which can
be used to generate more curves with larger discriminants. Apart from the
number of curves this yields, it provides an easy way to avoid endomorphism
rings with small class number.


title:
Genus and braid index associated to sequences of renormalizable Lorenz
  maps

abstract:
  We describe the Lorenz links generated by renormalizable Lorenz maps with
reducible kneading invariant $(K_f^-,K_f^+)=(X,Y)*(S,W)$, in terms of the links
corresponding to each factor. This gives one new kind of operation that permits
us to generate new knots and links from old. Using this result we obtain
explicit formulas for the genus and the braid index of this renormalizable
Lorenz knots and links. Then we obtain explicit formulas for sequences of these
invariants, associated to sequences of renormalizable Lorenz maps with kneading
invariant $(X,Y)*(S,W)^{*n}$, concluding that both grow exponentially. This is
specially relevant, since it is known that topological entropy is constant on
the archipelagoes of renormalization.


title: Lightlike hypersurfaces in indefinite $\mathcal{S}$-manifolds

abstract:
  In a metric $g.f.f$-manifold we study lightlike hypersurfaces $M$ tangent to
the characteristic vector fields, and owing to the presence of the
$f$-structure, we determine some decompositions of $TM$ and of a chosen screen
distribution obtaining two distributions invariant with respect to the
structure. We discuss the existence of a $g.f.f$-structure on a lightlike
hypersurface and, under suitable hypotheses, we obtain an indefinite
$\mathcal{S}$-structure on the leaves of an integrable distribution. The
existence of totally umbilical lightlike hypersurfaces of an indefinite
$\mathcal{S}$-space form is also discussed. Finally, we explicitely describe a
lightlike hypersurface of an indefinite $\mathcal{S}$-manifold.


title: Probing the Early Evolution of Young High-Mass Stars

abstract:
  Near-infrared imaging surveys of high-mass star-forming regions reveal an
amazingly complex interplay between star formation and the environment
(Churchwell et al. 2006; Alvarez et al. 2004). By means of near-IR spectroscopy
the embedded massive young stars can be characterized and placed in the context
of their birth site. However, so far spectroscopic surveys have been hopelessly
incomplete, hampering any systematic study of these very young massive stars.
New integral field instrumentation available at ESO has opened the possibility
to take a huge step forward by obtaining a full spectral inventory of the
youngest massive stellar populations in star-forming regions currently
accessible. Simultaneously, the analysis of the extended emission allows the
characterization of the environmental conditions. The Formation and Early
Evolution of Massive Stars (FEMS) collaboration aims at setting up a large
observing campaign to obtain a full census of the stellar content, ionized
material, outflows and PDR's over a sample of regions that covers a large
parameter space. Complementary radio, mm and infrared observations will be used
for the characterization of the deeply embedded population. For the first eight
regions we have obtained 40 hours of SINFONI observations. In this
contribution, we present the first results on three regions that illustrate the
potential of this strategy.


title:
Wave-number dependence of the transitions between traveling and standing
  vortex waves and their mixed states in the Taylor-Couette system

abstract:
  Previous numerical investigations of the stability and bifurcation properties
of different nonlinear combination structures of spiral vortices in a
counterrotating Taylor-Couette system that were done for fixed axial
wavelengths are supplemented by exploring the dependence of the vortex
phenomena waves on their wavelength. This yields information about the
experimental and numerical accessability of the various bifurcation scenarios.
Also backwards bifurcating standing waves with oscillating amplitudes of the
constituent traveling waves are found.


title:
Some addition formulae for Abelian functions for elliptic and
  hyperelliptic curves of cyclotomic type

abstract:
  We discuss a family of multi-term addition formulae for Weierstrass functions
on specialized curves of genus one and two with many automorphisms. In the
genus one case we find new addition formulae for the equianharmonic and
lemniscate cases, and in genus two we find some new addition formulae for a
number of curves, including the Burnside curve.


title:
A Component Based Heuristic Search method with Adaptive Perturbations
  for Hospital Personnel Scheduling

abstract:
  Nurse rostering is a complex scheduling problem that affects hospital
personnel on a daily basis all over the world. This paper presents a new
component-based approach with adaptive perturbations, for a nurse scheduling
problem arising at a major UK hospital. The main idea behind this technique is
to decompose a schedule into its components (i.e. the allocated shift pattern
of each nurse), and then mimic a natural evolutionary process on these
components to iteratively deliver better schedules. The worthiness of all
components in the schedule has to be continuously demonstrated in order for
them to remain there. This demonstration employs a dynamic evaluation function
which evaluates how well each component contributes towards the final
objective. Two perturbation steps are then applied: the first perturbation
eliminates a number of components that are deemed not worthy to stay in the
current schedule; the second perturbation may also throw out, with a low level
of probability, some worthy components. The eliminated components are
replenished with new ones using a set of constructive heuristics using local
optimality criteria. Computational results using 52 data instances demonstrate
the applicability of the proposed approach in solving real-world problems.


title:
Crystallization of medium length 1-alcohols in mesoporous silicon: An
  X-ray diffraction study

abstract:
  The linear 1-alcohols n-C16H33OH, n-C17H35OH, n-C19H37OH have been imbibed
and solidified in lined up, tubular mesopores of silicon with 10 nm and 15 nm
mean diameters, respectively. X-ray diffraction measurements reveal a set of
six discrete orientation states (''domains'') characterized by a perpendicular
alignment of the molecules with respect to the long axis of the pores and by a
four-fold symmetry about this direction, which coincides with the crystalline
symmetry of the Si host. A Bragg peak series characteristic of the formation of
bilayers indicates a lamellar structure of the spatially confined alcohol
crystals in 15 nm pores. By contrast, no layering reflections could be detected
for 10 nm pores. The growth mechanism responsible for the peculiar orientation
states is attributed to a nano-scale version of the Bridgman technique of
single-crystal growth, where the dominant growth direction is aligned
parallelly to the long pore axes. Our observations are analogous to the growth
phenomenology encountered for medium length n-alkanes confined in mesoporous
silicon (Phys. Rev. E 75, 021607 (2007)) and may further elucidate why porous
silicon matrices act as an effective nucleation-inducing material for protein
solution crystallization.

categories: physics.bio-ph cond-mat.mtrl-sci cond-mat.soft physics.chem-ph


title: Modeling wealth distribution in growing markets

abstract:
  We introduce an auto-regressive model which captures the growing nature of
realistic markets. In our model agents do not trade with other agents, they
interact indirectly only through a market. Change of their wealth depends,
linearly on how much they invest, and stochastically on how much they gain from
the noisy market. The average wealth of the market could be fixed or growing.
We show that in a market where investment capacity of agents differ, average
wealth of agents generically follow the Pareto-law. In few cases, the
individual distribution of wealth of every agent could also be obtained
exactly. We also show that the underlying dynamics of other well studied
kinetic models of markets can be mapped to the dynamics of our auto-regressive
model.


title:
A general scheme for multiparty controlled quantum teleportation of an
  arbitrary N-particle state

abstract:
  There is much interest in the multiparty quantum communications where quantum
teleportation using high dimensional entangled quantum channel is one of the
promising tools. In this paper, we propose a more general scheme for M-party
controlled teleportation of an arbitrary N-particle quantum state using N-1
identical Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen pairs and one (M+2)-particle
Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger state together as quantum channel. Based on which a
2-party controlled teleportation of an arbitrary 3-particle state is tested
with our scheme as an example.


title:
Transcription factor binding site prediction with multivariate gene
  expression data

abstract:
  Multi-sample microarray experiments have become a standard experimental
method for studying biological systems. A frequent goal in such studies is to
unravel the regulatory relationships between genes. During the last few years,
regression models have been proposed for the de novo discovery of cis-acting
regulatory sequences using gene expression data. However, when applied to
multi-sample experiments, existing regression based methods model each
individual sample separately. To better capture the dynamic relationships in
multi-sample microarray experiments, we propose a flexible method for the joint
modeling of promoter sequence and multivariate expression data. In higher order
eukaryotic genomes expression regulation usually involves combinatorial
interaction between several transcription factors. Experiments have shown that
spacing between transcription factor binding sites can significantly affect
their strength in activating gene expression. We propose an adaptive model
building procedure to capture such spacing dependent cis-acting regulatory
modules. We apply our methods to the analysis of microarray time-course
experiments in yeast and in Arabidopsis. These experiments exhibit very
different dynamic temporal relationships. For both data sets, we have found all
of the well-known cis-acting regulatory elements in the related context, as
well as being able to predict novel elements.


title: Introduction to Multi-Agent Simulation

abstract:
  When designing systems that are complex, dynamic and stochastic in nature,
simulation is generally recognised as one of the best design support
technologies, and a valuable aid in the strategic and tactical decision making
process. A simulation model consists of a set of rules that define how a system
changes over time, given its current state. Unlike analytical models, a
simulation model is not solved but is run and the changes of system states can
be observed at any point in time. This provides an insight into system dynamics
rather than just predicting the output of a system based on specific inputs.
Simulation is not a decision making tool but a decision support tool, allowing
better informed decisions to be made. Due to the complexity of the real world,
a simulation model can only be an approximation of the target system. The
essence of the art of simulation modelling is abstraction and simplification.
Only those characteristics that are important for the study and analysis of the
target system should be included in the simulation model.


title: SN 2005kd: another very luminous, slowly declining type IIn supernova

abstract:
  CCD UBVRI photometry is presented for type IIn SN 2005kd. The maximum
luminosity exceeded Mv=-19.8, and SN remained brighter than -18 mag for about
400 days. While overall photometric evolution is quite similar to SN 1997cy, SN
2005kd shows a plateau at phases between 119 and 311 days past explosion, which
is a unique feature for SN IIn.


title:
Grothendieck Group and Generalized Mutation Rule for 2-Calabi--Yau
  Triangulated Categories

abstract:
  We compute the Grothendieck group of certain 2-Calabi--Yau triangulated
categories appearing naturally in the study of the link between quiver
representations and Fomin--Zelevinsky's cluster algebras. In this setup, we
also prove a generalization of Fomin--Zelevinsky's mutation rule.


title: Chow Forms, Chow Quotients and Quivers with Superpotential

abstract:
  We consider 3-dimensional toric Calabi-Yau singularities which arise as cones
over the Chow quotient for a torus acting on projective space. We show that the
Chow forms of the closures of the codimension 2 orbits can very easily be
written down from the quiver with superpotential which corresponds with the
given CY3 singularity under the correspondence between CY3 singularities and
quivers with superpotential which is part of the AdS/CFT correspondence in
physics. We also prove that this provides a new method for computing the
principal A-determinant in the theory of Gelfand-Kapranov-Zelevinsky.


title: Spherically Symmetric Accretion Flows: Minimal Model with MHD Turbulence

abstract:
  The first spherical accretion model was developed 55 years ago, but the
theory is yet far from being complete. The real accretion flow was found to be
time-dependent and turbulent. This paper presents the minimal MHD spherical
accretion model that separately deals with turbulence. Treatment of turbulence
is based on simulations of several regimes of collisional MHD. The effects of
freezing-in amplification, dissipation, dynamo action, isotropization, and
constant magnetic helicity are self-consistently included. The assumptions of
equipartition and magnetic field isotropy are released. Correct dynamics of
magnetized flow is calculated. Diffusion, convection, and radiation are not
accounted for. Two different types of Radiatively Inefficient accretion flows
are found: a transonic non-rotating flow (I), a flow with effective transport
of angular momentum outward (II). Non-rotating flow has an accretion rate
several times smaller than Bondi rate, because turbulence inhibits accretion.
Flow with angular momentum transport has accretion rate about 10-100 times
smaller than Bondi rate. The effects of highly helical turbulence, states of
outer magnetization, and different equations of state are discussed. The flows
were found to be convectively stable on average, despite gas entropy increases
inward. The proposed model has a small number of free parameters and the
following attractive property. Inner density in the non-rotating magnetized
flow was found to be several times lower than density in a non-magnetized
accretion. Still several times lower density is required to explain the
observed low IR luminosity and low Faraday rotation measure of accretion onto
Sgr A*.


title:
Non-LTE Monte Carlo Radiative Transfer: II. Non-Isothermal Solutions for
  Viscous Keplerian Disks

abstract:
  We discuss the basic hydrodynamics that determines the density structure of
the disks around hot stars. Observational evidence supports the idea that these
disks are Keplerian (rotationally supported) gaseous disks. A popular scenario
in the literature, which naturally leads to the formation of Keplerian disks,
is the viscous decretion model. According to this scenario, the disks are
hydrostatically supported in the vertical direction, while the radial structure
is governed by the viscous transport. This suggests that the temperature is one
primary factor that governs the disk density structure. In a previous study we
demonstrated, using 3-D NLTE Monte Carlo simulations, that viscous keplerian
disks can be highly non-isothermal. In this paper we build upon our previous
work and solve the full problem of the steady-state non-isothermal viscous
diffusion and vertical hydrostatic equilibrium. We find that the
self-consistent solution departs significantly from the analytic isothermal
density, with potentially large effects on the emergent spectrum. This implies
that non-isothermal disk models must be used for a detailed modeling of Be star
disks.


title: Optimal factorial designs for cDNA microarray experiments

abstract:
  We consider cDNA microarray experiments when the cell populations have a
factorial structure, and investigate the problem of their optimal designing
under a baseline parametrization where the objects of interest differ from
those under the more common orthogonal parametrization. First, analytical
results are given for the $2\times 2$ factorial. Since practical applications
often involve a more complex factorial structure, we next explore general
factorials and obtain a collection of optimal designs in the saturated, that
is, most economic, case. This, in turn, is seen to yield an approach for
finding optimal or efficient designs in the practically more important nearly
saturated cases. Thereafter, the findings are extended to the more intricate
situation where the underlying model incorporates dye-coloring effects, and the
role of dye-swapping is critically examined.


title: Artificial Immune Systems Tutorial

abstract:
  The biological immune system is a robust, complex, adaptive system that
defends the body from foreign pathogens. It is able to categorize all cells (or
molecules) within the body as self-cells or non-self cells. It does this with
the help of a distributed task force that has the intelligence to take action
from a local and also a global perspective using its network of chemical
messengers for communication. There are two major branches of the immune
system. The innate immune system is an unchanging mechanism that detects and
destroys certain invading organisms, whilst the adaptive immune system responds
to previously unknown foreign cells and builds a response to them that can
remain in the body over a long period of time. This remarkable information
processing biological system has caught the attention of computer science in
recent years. A novel computational intelligence technique, inspired by
immunology, has emerged, called Artificial Immune Systems. Several concepts
from the immune have been extracted and applied for solution to real world
science and engineering problems. In this tutorial, we briefly describe the
immune system metaphors that are relevant to existing Artificial Immune Systems
methods. We will then show illustrative real-world problems suitable for
Artificial Immune Systems and give a step-by-step algorithm walkthrough for one
such problem. A comparison of the Artificial Immune Systems to other well-known
algorithms, areas for future work, tips & tricks and a list of resources will
round this tutorial off. It should be noted that as Artificial Immune Systems
is still a young and evolving field, there is not yet a fixed algorithm
template and hence actual implementations might differ somewhat from time to
time and from those examples given here.


title: The Reverse of The Law of Large Numbers

abstract:
  The Law of Large Numbers tells us that as the sample size (N) is increased,
the sample mean converges on the population mean, provided that the latter
exists. In this paper, we investigate the opposite effect: keeping the sample
size fixed while increasing the number of outcomes (M) available to a discrete
random variable. We establish sufficient conditions for the variance of the
sample mean to increase monotonically with the number of outcomes, such that
the sample mean ``diverges'' from the population mean, acting like an
``reverse'' to the law of large numbers. These results, we believe, are
relevant to many situations which require sampling of statistics of certain
finite discrete random variables.


title:
Low-frequency modes in the Raman spectrum of sp-sp2 nanostructured
  carbon

abstract:
  A novel form of amorphous carbon with sp-sp2 hybridization has been recently
produced by supersonic cluster beam deposition showing the presence in the film
of both polyynic and cumulenic species [L. Ravagnan et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 98,
216103 (2007)]. Here we present a in situ Raman characterization of the low
frequency vibrational region (400-800 cm-1) of sp-sp2 films at different
temperatures. We report the presence of two peaks at 450 cm-1 and 720 cm-1. The
lower frequency peak shows an evolution with the variation of the sp content
and it can be attributed, with the support of density functional theory (DFT)
simulations, to bending modes of sp linear structures. The peak at 720 cm-1
does not vary with the sp content and it can be attributed to a feature in the
vibrational density of states activated by the disorder of the sp2 phase.


title:
Hydroxyl vacancies in single-walled aluminosilicate and aluminogermanate
  nanotubes

abstract:
  We report the first theoretical study of hydroxyl vacancies in
aluminosilicate and aluminogermanate single-walled metal-oxide nanotubes. The
defects are modeled on both sides of the tube walls and lead to occupied and
empty states in the band gap which are highly localized both in energy and in
real space. We find different magnetization states depending on both the
chemical composition and the specific side with respect to the tube cavity. The
defect-induced perturbations to the pristine electronic structure are related
to the electrostatic polarization across the tube walls and the ensuing change
in Br{\o}nsted acid-base reactivity. Finally, the capacity to counterbalance
local charge accumulations, a characteristic feature of these systems, is
discussed in view of their potential application as insulating coatings for
one-dimensional conducting nanodevices.


title: Even-odd oscillation of conductance of 5{\it d} metal atomic nanowires

abstract:
  The electron-transport properties of single-row monoatomic nanowires made of
5$d$ elements are examined by first-principles calculations based on the
density functional theory. We found that oscillation patterns with a period
longer than two-atom length are dominant in the conductance of Ir and Pt
monoatomic nanowires, although the transmission of the $s$-$d_{z^2}$ channel
still exhibits even-odd oscillatory behavior. When the nanowires are deformed
into zigzag configurations from the straight configuration, the oscillation
behavior of the patterns with long periods changes and the oscillations
eventually disappear. On the other hand, the even-odd oscillatory behavior of
the $s$-$d_{z^2}$ channel still survives even in the deformed nanowire. The
even-odd oscillation in the conductance of Ir and Pt nanowires is interpreted
to be due to the low sensitivity of the oscillation of the $s$-$d_{z^2}$
channel to the spatial deformation of the nanowires.


title:
IRAC Excess in Distant Star-Forming Galaxies: Tentative Evidence for the
  3.3$\mu$m Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Feature ?

abstract:
  We present evidence for the existence of an IRAC excess in the spectral
energy distribution (SED) of 5 galaxies at 0.6<z<0.9 and 1 galaxy at z=1.7.
These 6 galaxies, located in the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey field
(GOODS-N), are star forming since they present strong 6.2, 7.7, and 11.3 um
polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) lines in their Spitzer IRS mid-infrared
spectra. We use a library of templates computed with PEGASE.2 to fit their
multiwavelength photometry and derive their stellar continuum. Subtraction of
the stellar continuum enables us to detect in 5 galaxies a significant excess
in the IRAC band pass where the 3.3 um PAH is expected. We then assess if the
physical origin of the IRAC excess is due to an obscured active galactic
nucleus (AGN) or warm dust emission. For one galaxy evidence of an obscured AGN
is found, while the remaining four do not exhibit any significant AGN activity.
Possible contamination by warm dust continuum of unknown origin as found in the
Galactic diffuse emission is discussed. The properties of such a continuum
would have to be different from the local Universe to explain the measured IRAC
excess, but we cannot definitively rule out this possibility until its origin
is understood. Assuming that the IRAC excess is dominated by the 3.3 um PAH
feature, we find good agreement with the observed 11.3 um PAH line flux arising
from the same C-H bending and stretching modes, consistent with model
expectations. Finally, the IRAC excess appears to be correlated with the
star-formation rate in the galaxies. Hence it could provide a powerful
diagnostic for measuring dusty star formation in z>3 galaxies once the
mid-infrared spectroscopic capabilities of the James Webb Space Telescope
become available.


title:
Universality class of replica symmetry breaking, scaling behavior, and
  the low-temperature fixed-point order function of the Sherrington-Kirkpatrick
  model

abstract:
  A scaling theory of replica symmetry breaking (RSB) in the SK-model is
presented in the framework of critical phenomena for the scaling regime of
small inverse RSB-orders, small temperatures, small magnetic fields, and near
opposite pseudo-dynamic limits. We employ the pseudo-dynamical picture (PRL98,
127201 (2007)) with two critical points, where separated temperature- and
magnetic field-scaling is obtained. An unconventional scaling hypothesis for
the free energy is given, modeling this separated scaling in accordance with
detailed numerical self-consistent solutions for up to 200 orders of RSB. A
divergent correlation-length describes the RSB-criticality as a long-range
correlation effect occurring on the pseudo-lattice of RSB-orders.
Rational-valued exponents are concluded with high precision from high-order RSB
scaling and by using a new fixed point extrapolation method. Power laws,
scaling relations, and scaling functions are analyzed.


title:
Assessing surrogate endpoints in vaccine trials with case-cohort
  sampling and the Cox model

abstract:
  Assessing immune responses to study vaccines as surrogates of protection
plays a central role in vaccine clinical trials. Motivated by three ongoing or
pending HIV vaccine efficacy trials, we consider such surrogate endpoint
assessment in a randomized placebo-controlled trial with case-cohort sampling
of immune responses and a time to event endpoint. Based on the principal
surrogate definition under the principal stratification framework proposed by
Frangakis and Rubin [Biometrics 58 (2002) 21--29] and adapted by Gilbert and
Hudgens (2006), we introduce estimands that measure the value of an immune
response as a surrogate of protection in the context of the Cox proportional
hazards model. The estimands are not identified because the immune response to
vaccine is not measured in placebo recipients. We formulate the problem as a
Cox model with missing covariates, and employ novel trial designs for
predicting the missing immune responses and thereby identifying the estimands.
The first design utilizes information from baseline predictors of the immune
response, and bridges their relationship in the vaccine recipients to the
placebo recipients. The second design provides a validation set for the
unmeasured immune responses of uninfected placebo recipients by immunizing them
with the study vaccine after trial closeout. A maximum estimated likelihood
approach is proposed for estimation of the parameters. Simulated data examples
are given to evaluate the proposed designs and study their properties.


title:
Use of a biomechanical tongue model to predict the impact of tongue
  surgery on speech production

abstract:
  This paper presents predictions of the consequences of tongue surgery on
speech production. For this purpose, a 3D finite element model of the tongue is
used that represents this articulator as a deformable structure in which tongue
muscles anatomy is realistically described. Two examples of tongue surgery,
which are common in the treatment of cancers of the oral cavity, are modelled,
namely a hemiglossectomy and a large resection of the mouth floor. In both
cases, three kinds of possible reconstruction are simulated, assuming flaps
with different stiffness. Predictions are computed for the cardinal vowels /i,
a, u/ in the absence of any compensatory strategy, i.e. with the same motor
commands as the one associated with the production of these vowels in
non-pathological conditions. The estimated vocal tract area functions and the
corresponding formants are compared to the ones obtained under normal
conditions


title: Electrodynamic Radiation Reaction and General Relativity

abstract:
  We argue that the well-known problem of the instabilities associated with the
self-forces (radiation reaction forces) in classical electrodynamics are
possibly stabilized by the introduction of gravitational forces via general
relativity.


title: Current-induced persistent magnetization in a relaxorlike manganite

abstract:
  A single crystal of 7% Fe-doped
(La$_{0.7}$Pr$_{0.3}$)$_{0.65}$Ca$_{0.35}$MnO$_3$ shows up as a typical relaxor
ferromagnet, where ferromagnetic metallic and charge-orbital-ordered insulating
clusters coexist with controllable volume fraction by external stimuli. There,
the persistent ferromagnetic metallic state can be produced by an
electric-current excitation as the filamentary region, the magnetization in
which is increased by ~0.4$\mu_{\rm B}$ per Mn. A clear distinction from the
current heating effect in a magnetic field, which conversely leads to a
decrease in ferromagnetic fraction, enables us to bi-directionally switch both
the magnetization and resistance by applying the voltages with different
magnitudes.


title: Quadrupole Moment of 37K

abstract:
  The electric quadrupole coupling constant of the ground state of 37K(3/2+,
1.22 s) in a tetragonal KH2PO4 single crystal was measured to be |eqQ/h| = 2.99
+- 0.07 MHz using the beta-ray detecting nuclear quadrupole resonance
technique. The electric quadrupole moment of 37K was determined to be |Q(37K)|
= 10.6 +- 0.4 efm2, where the known electric quadrupole coupling constant of
stable 39K in the KH2PO4 crystal was used as a reference. The present
experimental result is larger than that predicted by shell-model calculations
in the sd or the sd and fp model spaces. A possible variation of effective
charges was explored to explain the discrepancy.


title:
A biomechanical model of the face including muscles for the prediction
  of deformations during speech production

abstract:
  A 3D biomechanical finite element model of the face is presented. Muscles are
represented by piece-wise uniaxial tension cable elements linking the insertion
points. Such insertion points are specific entities differing from nodes of the
finite element mesh, which makes possible to change either the mesh or the
muscle implementation totally independently of each other. Lip/teeth and upper
lip/lower lip contacts are also modeled. Simulations of smiling and of an
Orbicularis Oris activation are presented and interpreted. The importance of a
proper account of contacts and of an accurate anatomical description is shown


title: Thermodynamics of the ideal overlap quarks on the lattice

abstract:
  The thermodynamics of massless ideal gas of overlap quarks has been
investigated both analytically and numerically for both zero and nonzero baryon
chemical potential. Any \mu^2-divergence is shown analytically to be absent for
a class of actions with nonzero chemical potential. All such actions are shown
to violate chiral invariance. While the parameter M can be shown to be
irrelevant in the continuum limit, as expected, it is shown numerically that
the continuum limit can be reached with relatively coarser lattices for certain
ranges of M. Numerical limitations of the existing method of introduction of
chemical potential are demonstrated. Finally we also show that the energy
density for the massive overlap fermions has the correct continuum limit.


title: Why graphene conductivity is constant: scaling theory consideration

abstract:
  In the recent paper [arXiv:0802.2216, 15 Feb 2008], Kashuba argued that the
intrinsic conductivity of graphene independent of temperature originated in
strong electron-hole scattering. We propose a much more explicit derivation
based on a scaling theory approach. We also give an explanation of a rapid
increase in graphene conductivity caused by applied gate voltage.


title:
Empirical formula applied to the lowest excitation energies of the
  natural parity odd multipole states in even-even nuclei

abstract:
  We applied our recently proposed empirical formula, a formula quite
successful in describing essential trends of the lowest excitation energies of
the natural parity even multipole states, to the lowest excitation energies of
the natural parity odd multipole states in even-even nuclei throughout the
entire periodic table. Even though the systematic behavior of the lowest
excitation energies of odd multipole states is quite different from those of
even multipole states, we have shown that the same empirical formula also holds
reasonably well for the odd multipole states with the exception of a few
certain instances.


title: A theoretical view on unimolecular rectification

abstract:
  The concept of single molecule rectifiers proposed in a theoretical work by
Aviram and Ratner in 1974 was the starting point of the now vibrant field of
molecular electronics. In the meantime, a built-in asymmetry in the conductance
of molecular junctions has been reported at the experimental level. In this
contribution, we present a theoretical comparison of three different types of
unimolecular rectifiers: i) systems where the donor- and acceptor-part of the
molecules are taken from charge-transfer salt components; ii) zwitterionic
systems; and iii) Tour wires with nitro substituents. We conduct an analysis of
the rectification mechanism in these three different types of asymmetric
molecules on the basis of parameterized quantum-chemical models as well as with
a full non-equilibrium Greens function / density functional theory (NEGF-DFT)
treatment of the current/voltage characteristics of the respective
metal/molecule/metal junctions. We put a particular emphasis on the prediction
of rectification ratios (RR), which are crucial for the assessment of the
technological usefulness of single molecule junctions as diodes. We also
compare our results with values reported in the literature for other types of
molecular rectification, where the essential asymmetry is not induced by the
structure of the molecule alone but either by a difference in the electronic
coupling of the molecule to the two electrodes or by attaching alkyl chains of
different lengths to the central molecular moiety.


title: The Local Velocity Field

abstract:
  We only see a small fraction of the matter in the universe, but the rest
gives itself away by the impact of its gravity. The distortions from pure
Hubble flow (or peculiar velocities) that this matter creates have the
potential to be a powerful cosmological tool, but are also a nuisance for
extragalactic astronomers who wish to use redshifts to estimate distances to
local galaxies. We provide a quick overview of work on the local peculiar
velocity field, discussing both simple spherical infall models, non-parametric
modeling using redshifts surveys, and full velocity and density field
reconstruction from peculiar velocities. We discuss results from a
multiattractor model fit to data from the SFI++ sample of peculiar velocities -
the best peculiar velocity data currently available. We also talk about the
future of samples for the study of the local velocity field, especially the
2MASS Tully-Fisher (2MTF) survey.


title:
Simple derivation of the Generalized Moller-Wu-Lee transformations.Born
  rigid constant accelerated motion on a curved Lorentzian manifold

abstract:
  Simple derivation of the classical generalized Moller-Wu-Lee transformations
from general master equation is presented.We will argue that in fact we can
implement Born's notion of rigid motion in both flat spacetime and arbitrary
curved non-holonomic spacetimes containing classical and Colombeau's
distributional sources.


title: Dress induction and the Burnside quotient Green ring

abstract:
  We define and study the Burnside quotient Green ring of a Mackey functor.
Some refinements of Dress induction theory are presented, together with
applications to computation results for $K$-theory and $L$-theory of finite and
infinite groups.


title:
Chandra LETGS spectroscopy of the Quasar MR2251-178 and its warm
  absorber

abstract:
  We present an analysis of our Chandra Low Energy Transmission Grating
Spectrometer (LETGS) observation of the quasar MR2251-178. The warm absorber of
MR2251-178 is well described by a hydrogen column density, N_H~2x10^21 cm^-2,
and an ionization parameter log(xi)~0.6. We find in the spectrum weak evidence
for narrow absorption lines from Carbon and Nitrogen which indicate that the
ionized material is in outflow. We note changes (in time) of the absorption
structure in the band (0.6-1) keV (around the UTAs plus the OVII and OVIII
K-edges) at different periods of the observation. We measure a (0.1-2) keV flux
of 2.58x10^-11 ergs cm^-2 s^-1. This flux implies that the nuclear source of
MR2251-178 is in a relatively low state. No significant variability is seen in
the light curve. We do not find evidence for an extra cold material in the line
of sight, and set an upper limit of N_H~1.2x10^20 cm^-2. The X-ray spectrum
does not appear to show evidence for dusty material, though an upper limit in
the neutral carbon and oxygen column densities can only be set to N_CI~2x10^19
cm^-2 and N_OI~9x10^19 cm^-2, respectively.


title: Hyperfocused arcs in PG(2,32)

abstract:
  In PG(2,32) the following two results are proven by a computer aided search.
(i) Uniqueness of hyperfocused 12-arcs, up to projectivities; (ii)
Non-existence of hyperfocused 14-arcs. The existence problem for hyperfocused
16-arcs remains open.


title:
Hard X-ray emission of the microquasar GRO J1655-40 during the rise of
  its 2005 outburst

abstract:
  We present the analysis of the high energy emission of the Galactic black
hole GRO J1655-40 at the beginning of its 2005 outburst. The data from 458 ks
of INTEGRAL observations, spread over 4 weeks, are analyzed, along with the
existing simultaneous RXTE and Swift data. The high energy data allow us to
detect the presence of a high energy cut-off and to study its evolution during
the outburst rise. This high energy feature is generally related to thermal
mechanisms in the framework of Comptonization models from which we can estimate
the plasma parameters. We found an electron temperature of about 30-40 keV and
an optical depth around 1.8-2.1. The high energy cut-off decreased along with
the radio flux, and disappeared as the jet turned off.


title: Convex Hypersurfaces in Hadamard Manifolds

abstract:
  We prove a theorem about an extremal property of Lobachevsky space among
simply connected Riemannian manifolds of nonpositive curvature


title: Brans-Dicke Scalar Field as a Chameleon

abstract:
  In this paper it is shown that in Brans - Dicke theory, if one considers a
non-minimal coupling between the matter and the scalar field, it can give rise
to a late time accelerated expansion for the universe preceded by a decelerated
expansion for very high values of the Brans - Dicke parameter $\omega$.


title: Planetary Nebulae: Exposing the Top Polluters of the ISM

abstract:
  The high mass loss rates of stars in their asymptotic giant branch (AGB)
stage of evolution is one of the most important pathways for mass return from
stars to the ISM. In the planetary nebulae (PNe) phase, the ejected material is
illuminated and can be altered by the UV radiation from the central star. PNe
therefore play a significant role in the ISM recycling process and in changing
the environment around them. We show some highlights of the results of
observations that have been carried out using the Spitzer instruments to study
the gas and dust emission from PNe in the Milky Way and nearby galaxies.
Spitzer is especially sensitive to the cool dust and molecules in the PNe shell
and halos. We present new results from our program on Galactic PNe, including
IRAC and IRS observations of NGC 6720 in the ring and halo of that nebula.


title: Biphoton interference with a quantum dot entangled light source

abstract:
  We demonstrate optical interferometry beyond the limits imposed by the photon
wavelength using 'triggered' entangled photon pairs from a semiconductor
quantum dot. Interference fringes of the entangled biphoton state reveals a
periodicity half of that obtained with the single photon, and much less than
that of the pump laser. High fringe visibility indicates that biphoton
interference is less sensitive to decoherence than interference of two
sequential single photons. The results suggest that quantum interferometry may
be possible using a semiconductor LED-like device.


title:
Testing predictions for central exclusive processes in the early LHC
  runs

abstract:
  We show that the early LHC measurements can provide crucial checks of the
different components of the formalism used to predict the cross sections of
central exclusive processes.


title:
Saturation of $E_T/N_{ch}$ and Freeze-Out Criteria in Heavy-Ion
  Collisions

abstract:
  The pseudorapidity densities of transverse energy, the charged particle
multiplicity and their ratios, $E_T/N_{ch}$, are estimated at mid-rapidity, in
a statistical-thermal model based on chemical freeze-out criteria, for a wide
range of energies from GSI-AGS-SPS to RHIC. It has been observed that in
nucleus-nucleus collisions, $E_T/N_{ch}$ increases rapidly with beam energy and
remains approximately constant at about a value of 800 MeV for beam energies
from SPS to RHIC. $E_T/N_{ch}$ has been observed to be almost independent of
centrality at all measured energies. The statistical-thermal model describes
the energy dependence as well as the centrality independence, qualitatively
well. The values of $E_T/N_{ch}$ are related to the chemical freeze-out
criterium, $E/N \approx 1 GeV$ valid for primordial hadrons. We have studied
the variation of the average mass $(<MASS>), N_{decays}/N_{primordial},
N_{ch}/N_{decays}$ and $E_T/N_{ch}$ with $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ for all freeze-out
criteria discussed in literature. These observables show saturation around SPS
and higher $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$, like the chemical freeze-out temperature
($T_{ch}$).


title:
An optical & X-ray study of the counterpart to the SMC X-ray binary
  pulsar system SXP327

abstract:
  Optical and X-ray observations are presented here of a newly reported X-ray
transient system in the Small Magellanic Cloud. The data reveal many previously
unknown X-ray detections of this system and clear evidence for a 49.995d binary
period. In addition, the optical photometry show recurring outburst features at
the binary period which may well be indicative of the neutron star interacting
with a circumstellar disk around a Be star.


title:
A hidden spatial-temporal Markov random field model for network-based
  analysis of time course gene expression data

abstract:
  Microarray time course (MTC) gene expression data are commonly collected to
study the dynamic nature of biological processes. One important problem is to
identify genes that show different expression profiles over time and pathways
that are perturbed during a given biological process. While methods are
available to identify the genes with differential expression levels over time,
there is a lack of methods that can incorporate the pathway information in
identifying the pathways being modified/activated during a biological process.
In this paper we develop a hidden spatial-temporal Markov random field
(hstMRF)-based method for identifying genes and subnetworks that are related to
biological processes, where the dependency of the differential expression
patterns of genes on the networks are modeled over time and over the network of
pathways. Simulation studies indicated that the method is quite effective in
identifying genes and modified subnetworks and has higher sensitivity than the
commonly used procedures that do not use the pathway structure or time
dependency information, with similar false discovery rates. Application to a
microarray gene expression study of systemic inflammation in humans identified
a core set of genes on the KEGG pathways that show clear differential
expression patterns over time. In addition, the method confirmed that the
TOLL-like signaling pathway plays an important role in immune response to
endotoxins.


title: On the Global Structure of Hopf Hypersurfaces in Complex Space Form

abstract:
  It is known that a tube over a Kahler submanifold in a complex form is a Hopf
hypersurface. In some sense the reverse statement is true: a connected compact
generic immersed C^(2n-1) regular Hopf hypersurface in the complex projective
plane is a tube iver an irreducible algebraic variety. In the complex
hyperbolic space a connected compact generic immersed C^(2n-1) regular Hopf
hypersurface is a geodesic hypersphere


title:
Towards Understanding the Mass-Metallicity relation of Quasar Absorbers:
  Evidence for bimodality and consequences

abstract:
  One way to characterize and understand HI-selected galaxies is to study their
metallicity properties. In particular, we show that the metallicity of
absorbers is a bivariate function of the HI column density (NHI) and the MgII
equivalent width (Wr(2796)). Thus, a selection upon Wr(2796) is not equivalent
to a HI selection for intervening absorbers. A direct consequence for damped
absorbers with NHI>20.3 from the bivariate metallicity distribution is that any
correlation between the metallicity [X/H] and velocity width (or Wr(2796))
arises from the HI cut and therefore can not be interpreted as a signature of
the mass-metallicity relation akin to normal field galaxies. Thus DLA samples
are intrinsically heterogeneous. On the other hand, a sample of MgII-selected
absorbers, which are statistically dominated by lowest NHI systems (sub-DLAs),
are found to have a more uniform metallicity distribution. We postulate that
the bivariate metallicity distribution can be explained by two different
physical origins of absorbers, namely sight-lines through the ISM of small
galaxies and sight-lines through out-flowing material.
  Several published results follow from this bivariate [X/H] distribution such
as (a) the two classes of DLAs, reported by Wolfe et al., and (b) the constant
dust-to-gas ratio for MgII-absorbers.


title: Boundary Layer Turbulence Index: Progress and Recent Developments

abstract:
  A boundary layer turbulence index (TIBL) product has been developed to assess
the potential for turbulence in the lower troposphere, generated using RUC-2
numerical model data. The index algorithm approximates boundary layer turbulent
kinetic energy by parameterizing vertical wind shear, responsible for
mechanical production of TKE, and kinematic heat flux, parameterized by the
vertical temperature lapse rate and responsible for buoyant production of TKE.
Validation for the TIBL product has been conducted for selected nonconvective
wind events during the 2008 winter season over the Idaho National Laboratory
mesonet domain. This paper presents studies of four significant wind events
between December 2007 and February 2008 over southeastern Idaho. Based on the
favorable results highlighted from validation statistics and in the case
studies, the RUC TIBL product has demonstrated operational utility in assessing
turbulence hazards to low-flying aircraft and ground transportation, and in the
assessment of wildfire threat.


title: On the `Semantics' of Differential Privacy: A Bayesian Formulation

abstract:
  Differential privacy is a definition of "privacy'" for algorithms that
analyze and publish information about statistical databases. It is often
claimed that differential privacy provides guarantees against adversaries with
arbitrary side information. In this paper, we provide a precise formulation of
these guarantees in terms of the inferences drawn by a Bayesian adversary. We
show that this formulation is satisfied by both "vanilla" differential privacy
as well as a relaxation known as (epsilon,delta)-differential privacy. Our
formulation follows the ideas originally due to Dwork and McSherry [Dwork
2006]. This paper is, to our knowledge, the first place such a formulation
appears explicitly. The analysis of the relaxed definition is new to this
paper, and provides some concrete guidance for setting parameters when using
(epsilon,delta)-differential privacy.


title: Evolution of entanglement within classical light states

abstract:
  We investigate the evolution of quantum correlations over the lifetime of a
multi-photon state. Measurements reveal time-dependent oscillations of the
entanglement fidelity for photon pairs created by a single semiconductor
quantum dot. The oscillations are attributed to the phase acquired in the
intermediate, non-degenerate, exciton-photon state and are consistent with
simulations. We conclude that emission of photon pairs by a typical quantum dot
with finite polarisation splitting is in fact entangled in a time-evolving
state, and not classically correlated as previously regarded.


title: An approximation algorithm for counting contingency tables

abstract:
  We present a randomized approximation algorithm for counting contingency
tables, mxn non-negative integer matrices with given row sums R=(r_1, ..., r_m)
and column sums C=(c_1, ..., c_n). We define smooth margins (R,C) in terms of
the typical table and prove that for such margins the algorithm has
quasi-polynomial N^{O(ln N)} complexity, where N=r_1+...+r_m=c_1+...+c_n.
Various classes of margins are smooth, e.g., when m=O(n), n=O(m) and the ratios
between the largest and the smallest row sums as well as between the largest
and the smallest column sums are strictly smaller than the golden ratio
(1+sqrt{5})/2 = 1.618. The algorithm builds on Monte Carlo integration and
sampling algorithms for log-concave densities, the matrix scaling algorithm,
the permanent approximation algorithm, and an integral representation for the
number of contingency tables.


title:
The flavor-changing single-top quark production in the littlest Higgs
  model with T parity at the LHC

abstract:
  The littlest Higgs model with discrete symmetry named "T-parity"(LHT) is an
interesting new physics model which does not suffer strong constraints from
electroweak precision data. One of the important features of the LHT model is
the existence of new source of FC interactions between the SM fermions and the
mirror fermions. These FC interactions can make significant loop-level
contributions to the couplings $tcV$, and furthermore enhance the cross
sections of the FC single-top quark production processes. In this paper, we
study some FC single-top quark production processes, $pp\to t\bar{c}$ and
$pp\to tV$, at the LHC in the LHT model. We find that the cross sections of
these processes are strongly depended on the mirror quark masses. The processes
$pp\to t\bar{c}$ and $pp\to tg$ have large cross sections with heavy mirror
quarks. The observation of these FC processes at the LHC is certainly the clue
of new physics, and further precise measurements of the cross scetions can
provide useful information about the free parameters in the LHT model,
specially about the mirror quark masses.


title: Thick films coating a plate withdrawn from a bath

abstract:
  We consider the deposition of a film of viscous liquid on a flat plate being
withdrawn from a bath, experimentally and theoretically. For any plate speed
$U$, there is a range of ``thick'' film solutions whose thickness scales like
$U^{1/2}$ for small $U$. These solutions are realized for a partially wetting
liquid, while for a perfectly wetting liquid the classical
Landau-Levich-Derjaguin (LLD) film is observed, whose thickness scales like
$U^{2/3}$. The thick film is distinguished from the LLD film by a dip in its
spatial profile at the transition to the bath. We calculate the phase diagram
for the existence of stationary film solutions as well as the film profiles,
and find excellent agreement with experiment.


title: Dynamics of rational symplectic mappings and difference Galois theory

abstract:
  In this paper we study the relationship between the integrability of rational
symplectic maps and difference Galois theory. We present a Galoisian condition,
of Morales-Ramis type, ensuring the non-integrability of a rational symplectic
map in the non-commutative sense (Mishchenko-Fomenko). As a particular case, we
obtain a com- plete discrete analogue of Morales-Ramis Theorems for
non-integrabi- lity in the sense of Liouville.


title:
On the origin of the neutral hydrogen supershells: the ionized
  progenitors and the limitations of the multiple supernovae hypothesis

abstract:
  Here we address the question whether the ionized shells associated with giant
HII regions can be progenitors of the larger HI shell-like objects found in the
Milky Way and other spiral and dwarf irregular galaxies. We use for our
analysis a sample of 12 HII shells presented recently by Rela\~no et al. (2005,
2007). We calculate the evolutionary tracks that these shells would have if
their expansion is driven by multiple supernovae explosions from the parental
stellar clusters. We find, contrary to Rela\~no et al. (2007), that the
evolutionary tracks of their sample HII shells are inconsistent with the
observed parameters of the largest and most massive neutral hydrogen
supershells. We conclude that HII shells found inside giant HII regions may
represent the progenitors of small or intermediate HI shells, however they
cannot evolve into the largest HI objects unless, aside from the multiple
supernovae explosions, an additional energy source contributes to their
expansion.


title: M{\o}ller's Energy in the Kantowski-Sachs Space-time

abstract:
  We present a counter example to paper \cite{P71} and show that the result
obtained is correct for a class of metric but not general. We calculate the
total energy of the Kantowski-Sachs space-time by using the energy-momentum
definitions of M{\o}ller in the theory of general relativity and the tetrad
theory of gravity.


title: Modeling semi-conductor thermal properties. The dispersion role

abstract:
  We study heat transport in semiconductor nanostructures by solving the
Boltzmann Transport Equation (BTE) by means of the Discrete Ordinate Method
(DOM). Relaxation time and phase and group velocitiy spectral dependencies are
taken into account. The Holland model of phonon relaxation time is revisited
and recalculated from dispersion relations (taken in litterature) in order to
match bulk silicon and germanium values. This improved model is then used to
predict silicon nanowire and nanofilm thermal properties in both ballistic and
mesoscopic regimes.


title:
Evidence of Raleigh-Hertz surface waves and shear stiffness anomaly in
  granular media

abstract:
  Due to the non-linearity of Hertzian contacts, the speed of sound in granular
matter increases with pressure. Under gravity, the non-linear elastic
description predicts that acoustic propagation is only possible through surface
modes, called Rayleigh-Hertz modes and guided by the index gradient. Here we
directly evidence these modes in a controlled laboratory experiment and use
them to probe the elastic properties of a granular packing under vanishing
confining pressure. The shape and the dispersion relation of both transverse
and sagittal modes are compared to the prediction of non-linear elasticity that
includes finite size effects. This allows to test the existence of a shear
stiffness anomaly close to the jamming transition.


title: A solution to a problem and the Diophantine equation X^2+bX+c=Y^2

abstract:
  We prove that for given integers b and c, the diophantine equation
x^2+bx+c=y^2, has finitely many integer solutions(i.e. pairs in ZxZ),in fact an
even number of such solutions(including the zero or no solutions case).We also
offer an explicit description of the solution set. Such a description depends
on the form of the integer b^2-4c. Some Corollaries do follow. Furthermore, we
show that the said equation has exactly two integer solutions, precisely when
b^2-4c= 1,4,16,-4,or-16. In each case we list the two solutions in terms of the
coefficients b and c.


title: Galilean symmetry in noncommutative Gravitational Quantum Well

abstract:
  A thorough analysis of Galilean symmetries for the gravitational well problem
on a noncommutative plane is presented. A complete closure of the one-parameter
centrally extended Galilean algebra is realised for the model. This implies
that the field theoretic model constructed to describe noncommutative
gravitational quantum well in \cite{ani} is indeed independent of the
coordinate choice. Hence the energy spectrum predicted by the model can be
associated with the experimental results to establish the upper-bound on
time-space noncommutative parameter. Interestingly, noncommutativity is shown
to increase the gravitational pull on the neutron trapped in the gravitational
well.


title: A sharp stability estimate in tensor tomography

abstract:
  We prove a sharp stability estimate for the problem of reconstructing a
symmetric 2-tensor from its integrals along all maximal geodesics on a simple
manifold.


title:
Integration I(d) of Nonstationary Time Series: Stationary and
  nonstationary increments

abstract:
  The method of cointegration in regression analysis is based on an assumption
of stationary increments. Stationary increments with fixed time lag are called
integration I(d). A class of regression models where cointegration works was
identified by Granger and yields the ergodic behavior required for equilibrium
expectations in standard economics. Detrended finance market returns are
martingales, and martingales do not satisfy regression equations. We extend the
standard discussion to discover the class of detrended processes beyond
standard regression models that satisfy integration I(d). In the language of
econometrics, the models of interest are unit root models, meaning martingales.
Typical martingales do not have stationary increments, and those that do
generally do not admit ergodicity. Our analysis leads us to comment on the lack
of equilibrium observed earlier between FX rates and relative price levels.


title:
Tuning for Three-flavors of Anisotropic Clover Fermions with Stout-link
  Smearing

abstract:
  In this work we perform the parameter tuning of three flavors of dynamical
clover quarks on anisotropic lattices. The fermion action uses
three-dimensional spatial stout-link smearing. The gauge anisotropy is
determined in a small box with Schr\"odinger background using Wilson-loop
ratios. The fermion anisotropy is obtained from studying the meson dispersion
relation with antiperiodic boundary conditions in the time direction. The
spatial and temporal clover coefficients are fixed to the tree-level
tadpole-improved values, and we demonstrate that they satisfy the
nonperturbative conditions as determined by the Schr\"odinger functional
method. For the desired lattice spacing $a_s\approx 0.12$ fm and renormalized
anisotropy $\xi=3.5$, we find the gauge and fermionic anisotropies can be fixed
to quark mass independent values up through the strange quark mass. This work
lays the foundation needed for further studies of the excited-state hadron
spectrum.


title:
Invariant Krein subspaces, regular irreducibility and integral
  representations

abstract:
  We study unitary representations of groups in Krein spaces, irreducibility
criteria and integral decompositions. Our main tool is the theory of Krein
subspaces and their (reproducing) kernels and a variant of Choquet's theorem.


title:
Nonquasilinear evolution of particle velocity in incoherent waves with
  random amplitudes

abstract:
  The one-dimensional motion of $N$ particles in the field of many incoherent
waves is revisited numerically. When the wave complex amplitudes are
independent, with a gaussian distribution, the quasilinear approximation is
found to always overestimate transport and to become accurate in the limit of
infinite resonance overlap.


title:
Quantum Fluctuations, Temperature and Detuning Effects in Solid-Light
  Systems

abstract:
  The superfluid to Mott insulator transition in cavity polariton arrays is
analyzed using the variational cluster approach, taking into account quantum
fluctuations exactly on finite length scales. Phase diagrams in one and two
dimensions exhibit important non-mean-field features. Single-particle
excitation spectra in the Mott phase are dominated by particle and hole bands
separated by a Mott gap. In contrast to Bose-Hubbard models, detuning allows
for changing the nature of the bosonic particles from quasi-localized excitons
to polaritons to weakly interacting photons. The Mott state with density one
exists up to temperatures $T/g\gtrsim0.03$, implying experimentally accessible
temperatures for realistic cavity couplings $g$.


title: Optimizing the Reduction of One-Loop Amplitudes

abstract:
  We present an optimization of the reduction algorithm of one-loop amplitudes
in terms of master integrals. It is based on the exploitation of the polynomial
structure of the integrand when evaluated at values of the loop-momentum
fulfilling multiple cut-conditions, as emerged in the OPP-method. The
reconstruction of the polynomials, needed for the complete reduction, is rended
very versatile by using a projection-technique based on the Discrete Fourier
Transform. The novel implementation is applied in the context of the NLO QCD
corrections to u d-bar --> W+ W- W+.


title: Enlarged NH symmetries: Particle Dynamics and Gauge Symmetries

abstract:
  We show how the Newton-Hooke (NH) symmetries, representing a nonrelativistic
version of de-Sitter symmetries, can be enlarged by a pair of translation
vectors describing in Galilean limit the class of accelerations linear in time.
We study the Cartan-Maurer one-forms corresponding to such enlarged NH symmetry
group and by using cohomological methods we determine the general 2-parameter
(in D=2+1 4-parameter)central extension of the corresponding Lie algebra. We
derive by using nonlinear realizations method the most general group -
invariant particle dynamics depending on two (in D=2+1 on four) central charges
occurring as the Lagrangean parameters. Due to the presence of gauge
invariances we show that for the enlarged NH symmetries quasicovariant dynamics
reduces to the one following from standard NH symmetries, with one central
charge in arbitrary dimension D and with second exotic central charge in D=2+1.


title:
Sensitivity of helioseismic gravity modes to the dynamics of the solar
  core

abstract:
  The dynamics of the solar core cannot be properly constrained through the
analysis of acoustic oscillation modes. Gravity modes are necessary to
understand the structure and dynamics of the deepest layers of the Sun. Through
recent progresses on the observation of these modes -- both individually and
collectively -- new information could be available to contribute to inferring
the rotation profile down inside the nuclear burning core. To see the
sensitivity of gravity modes to the rotation of the solar core. We analyze the
influence of adding the splitting of one and several g modes to the data sets
used in helioseismic numerical inversions. We look for constraints on the
uncertainties required in the observations in order to improve the derived core
rotation profile. We compute forward problems obtaining three artificial sets
of splittings derived for three rotation profiles: a rigid profile taken as a
reference, a step-like and a smoother profiles with higher rates in the core.
We compute inversions based on Regularized Least-Squares methodology (RLS) for
both artificial data with real error bars and real data. Several sets of data
are used: first we invert only p modes, then we add one and several g modes to
which different values of observational uncertainties (75 and 7.5 nHz) are
attributed. For the real data, we include g-mode candidate, l=2, n=-3 with
several splittings and associated uncertainties. We show that the introduction
of one g mode in artificial data improves the rate in the solar core and give
an idea on the tendency of the rotation profile. The addition of more g modes
gives more accuracy to the inversions and stabilize them. The inversion of real
data with the g-mode candidate gives a rotation profile that remains unchanged
down to 0.2 R, whatever value of splitting we attribute to the g mode.


title:
Supplementary Information to the paper ``Breakdown of the adiabatic
  limit in low dimensional gapless systems''

abstract:
  Here we give detailed derivations and provide additional examples to the main
paper: arXiv:0706.0212. In particular, we discuss the scaling behavior of
observables like correlation functions and density of excitations. We also
analyze effects of nonintegrability of the Bose-Hubbard model on the long-time
dynamics of the correlation functions. In addition we explicitly consider
several interacting models, where we are able to analyze slow dynamics and
classify it according to the regimes suggested in the main paper.


title: Statistical mechanics of strings with Y-junctions

abstract:
  We investigate the Hagedorn transitions of string networks with Y-junctions
as may occur, for example, with (p,q) cosmic superstrings. In a simplified
model with three different types of string, the partition function reduces to
three generalised coupled XY models. We calculate the phase diagram and show
that, as the system is heated, the lightest strings first undergo the Hagedorn
transition despite the junctions. There is then a second, higher, critical
temperature above which infinite strings of all tensions, and junctions, exist.
Conversely, on cooling to low temperatures, only the lightest strings remain,
but they collapse into small loops.


title: Cancellation Meadows: a Generic Basis Theorem and Some Applications

abstract:
  Let Q_0 denote the rational numbers expanded to a "meadow", that is, after
taking its zero-totalized form (0^{-1}=0) as the preferred interpretation. In
this paper we consider "cancellation meadows", i.e., meadows without proper
zero divisors, such as $Q_0$ and prove a generic completeness result. We apply
this result to cancellation meadows expanded with differentiation operators,
the sign function, and with floor, ceiling and a signed variant of the square
root, respectively. We give an equational axiomatization of these operators and
thus obtain a finite basis for various expanded cancellation meadows.


title:
Noncanonicaly Embedded Rational Map Soliton in Quantum SU(3) Skyrme
  Model

abstract:
  The quantum Skyrme model is considered in non canonical bases SU(3) > SO(3)
for the state vectors. A rational map ansatz is used to describe the soliton
with the topological number bigger than one. The canonical quantization of the
Lagrangian generates in Hamiltonian five different "moments of inertia" and
negative quantum mass corrections, which can stabilize the quantum soliton
solution. Explicit expressions of the quantum Lagrangian and the Hamiltonian
are derived for this model soliton.


title:
Size dependence of the minimum excitation gap in the Quantum Adiabatic
  Algorithm

abstract:
  We study the typical (median) value of the minimum gap in the quantum version
of the Exact Cover problem using Quantum Monte Carlo simulations, in order to
understand the complexity of the quantum adiabatic algorithm (QAA) for much
larger sizes than before. For a range of sizes, N <= 128, where the classical
Davis-Putnam algorithm shows exponential median complexity, the QAA shows
polynomial median complexity. The bottleneck of the algorithm is an isolated
avoided crossing point of a Landau-Zener type (collision between the two lowest
energy levels only).


title:
Problem with the derivation of the Navier-Stokes equation by means of
  Zwanzig-Mori technique: Correction and solution

abstract:
  The derivation of the Navier-Stokes equation starting from the Liouville
equation using projector techniques yields a friction term which is nonlinear
in the velocity. As has been explained in the 1. version of this paper, when
the second-order part of the term is non-zero, this leads to an incorrect
formula for the equation.
  In this 2. version, it is shown that the problem is due to an inadequate
treatment of one of the correlation functions appearing . Repeating the
calculation leads to zero second-order part. The Navier-Stokes equation is
correctly derived by projection operator technique.


title:
One dimensional stable probability density functions for rational index
  $\bf 0<\alpha \leq 2$

abstract:
  Fox's H-function provide a unified and elegant framework to tackle several
physical phenomena. We solve the space fractional diffusion equation on the
real line equipped with a delta distribution initial condition and identify the
corresponding H-function by studying the small $x$ expansion of the solution.
The asymptotic expansions near zero and infinity are expressed, for rational
values of the index $\alpha$, in terms of a finite series of generalized
hypergeometric functions. In $x$-space, the $\alpha=1$ stable law is also
derived by solving the anomalous diffusion equation with an appropriately
chosen infinitesimal generator for time translations. We propose a new
classification scheme of stable laws according to which a stable law is now
characterized by a generating probability density function. Knowing this
elementary probability density function and bearing in mind the infinitely
divisible property we can reconstruct the corresponding stable law. Finally,
using the asymptotic behavior of H-function in terms of hypergeometric
functions we can compute closed expressions for the probability density
functions depending on their parameters $\alpha, \beta, c, \tau $. Known cases
are then reproduced and new probability density functions are presented.


title:
Gaussian core model phase diagram and pair correlations in high
  Euclidean dimensions

abstract:
  The physical properties of a classical many-particle system with interactions
given by a repulsive Gaussian pair potential are extended to arbitrarily high
Euclidean dimensions. The goals of this paper are to characterize the behavior
of the pair correlation function (pcf) in various density regimes and to
understand the phase properties of the Gaussian core model (GCM) as
parametrized by dimension d. To this end, we explore the fluid and crystalline
solid phases. For the dilute regime of the fluid phase, a cluster expansion of
the pcf in reciprocal temperature is presented, the coefficients of which may
be evaluated analytically due to the nature of the Gaussian potential. We
present preliminary results concerning the convergence properties of this
expansion. The analytical cluster expansion is related to numerical
approximations for the pcf in the dense fluid regime by utilizing hypernetted
chain, Percus-Yevick, and mean-field closures to the Ornstein-Zernike equation.
Based on the results of these comparisons, we provide evidence in support of a
decorrelation principle for the GCM in high Euclidean dimensions. In the solid
phase, we consider the behavior of the freezing temperature in the limit of
zero density and show that it approaches zero itself in this limit for any d
via a collective coordinate argument. Duality relations with respect to the
energies of a lattice and its dual are then discussed, and these relations aid
in the Maxwell double-tangent construction of phase coexistence regions between
dual lattices based on lattice summation energies. The results from this
analysis are used to draw conclusions about the ground-state structures of the
GCM for a given dimension.


title:
STM images of sub-surface Mn atoms in GaAs: evidence of hybridization of
  surface and impurity states

abstract:
  We prove that scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) images of sub-surface Mn
atoms in GaAs are formed by hybridization of the impurity state with intrinsic
surface states. They cannot be interpreted in terms of bulk-impurity
wavefunction imaging. High atomic resolution images obtained using a
low-temperature apparatus are compared with advanced, parameter-free
tight-binding simulations accounting for both the buckled (110) surface and
vacuum electronic properties.


title: On Ritt's decomposition Theorem in the case of finite fields

abstract:
  A classical theorem by Ritt states that all the complete decomposition chains
of a univariate polynomial satisfying a certain tameness condition have the
same length. In this paper we present our conclusions about the generalization
of these theorem in the case of finite coefficient fields when the tameness
condition is dropped.


title: 3-D SPH simulations of colliding winds in eta Carinae

abstract:
  We study colliding winds in the superluminous binary eta Carinae by
performing three-dimensional, Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH)
simulations. For simplicity, we assume both winds to be isothermal. We also
assume that wind particles coast without any net external forces. We find that
the lower density, faster wind from the secondary carves out a spiral cavity in
the higher density, slower wind from the primary. Because of the
phase-dependent orbital motion, the cavity is very thin on the periastron side,
whereas it occupies a large volume on the apastron side. The model X-ray light
curve using the simulated density structure fits very well with the observed
light curve for a viewing angle of i=54 degrees and phi=36 degrees, where i is
the inclination angle and phi is the azimuth from apastron.


title:
Synthesizing and characterization of hole doped nickel based layer
  superconductor (La$_{1-x}$Sr$_{x}$)ONiAs

abstract:
  We report the synthesizing and characterization of the hole doped Ni-based
superconductor ($La_{1-x}Sr_{x})ONiAs$. By substituting La with Sr, the
superconducting transition temperature $T_c$ is increased from 2.75 K of the
parent phase $LaONiAs$ to 3.7 K at the doping levels x= 0.1 - 0.2. The curve
$T_c$ versus hole concentration shows a symmetric behavior as the electron
doped samples $La(O_{1-x}F_{x})NiAs$. The normal state resistivity in Ni-based
samples shows a good metallic behavior and reveals the absence of an anomaly
which appears in the Fe-based system at about 150 K, suggesting that this
anomaly is not a common feature for all systems. Hall effect measurements
indicate that the electron conduction in the parent phase $LaONiAs$ is
dominated by electron-like charge carriers, while with more Sr doping, a
hole-like band will emerge and finally prevail over the conduction, and
accordingly the superconducting transition temperature $T_c$ increases.


title:
Multi-Qubit Systems: Highly Entangled States and Entanglement
  Distribution

abstract:
  A comparison is made of various searching procedures, based upon different
entanglement measures or entanglement indicators, for highly entangled
multi-qubits states. In particular, our present results are compared with those
recently reported by Brown et al. [J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. 38 (2005) 1119]. The
statistical distribution of entanglement values for the aforementioned
multi-qubit systems is also explored.


title: The KP hierarchy, branched covers, and triangulations

abstract:
  The KP hierarchy is a completely integrable system of quadratic, partial
differential equations that generalizes the KdV hierarchy. A linear combination
of Schur functions is a solution to the KP hierarchy if and only if its
coefficients satisfy the Plucker relations from geometry. We give a solution to
the Plucker relations involving products of variables marking contents for a
partition, and thus give a new proof of a content product solution to the KP
hierarchy, previously given by Orlov and Shcherbin. In our main result, we
specialize this content product solution to prove that the generating series
for a general class of transitive ordered factorizations in the symmetric group
satisfies the KP hierarchy. These factorizations appear in geometry as
encodings of branched covers, and thus by specializing our transitive
factorization result, we are able to prove that the generating series for two
classes of branched covers satisfies the KP hierarchy. For the first of these,
the double Hurwitz series, this result has been previously given by Okounkov.
The second of these, that we call the m-hypermap series, contains the double
Hurwitz series polynomially, as the leading coefficient in m. The m-hypermap
series also specializes further, first to the series for hypermaps and then to
the series for maps, both in an orientable surface. For the latter series, we
apply one of the KP equations to obtain a new and remarkably simple recurrence
for triangulations in a surface of given genus, with a given number of faces.
This recurrence leads to explicit asymptotics for the number of triangulations
with given genus and number of faces, in recent work by Bender, Gao and
Richmond.


title:
{Spaces of Infinite Measure and Pointwise Convergence of the Bilinear
  Hilbert and Ergodic Averages Defined by $L^{p}$-Isometries

abstract:
  We generalize the respective ``double recurrence'' results of Bourgain and of
the second author, which established for pairs of $L^{\infty}$ functions on a
finite measure space the a.e. convergence of the discrete bilinear ergodic
averages and of the discrete bilinear Hilbert averages defined by invertible
measure-preserving point transformations. Our generalizations are set in the
context of arbitrary sigma-finite measure spaces and take the form of a.e.
convergence of such discrete averages, as well as of their continuous variable
counterparts, when these averages are defined by Lebesgue space isometries and
act on $L^{p_{1}}\times L^{p_{2}}$ ($ 1<p_{1},p_{2}<\infty $,
$p_{1}^{-1}+p_{2}^{-1}<3/2$). In the setting of an arbitrary measure space,
this yields the a.e. convergence of these discrete bilinear averages when they
act on $L^{p_{1}}\times L^{p_{2}}$ and are defined by an invertible
measure-preserving point transformation.


title:
Even Parity, Orbital Singlet and Spin Triplet Pairing for
  Superconducting $La(O_{1-x}F_x)FeAs$

abstract:
  In the present paper, we propose the parity even,orbital singlet and spin
triplet pairing state as the ground state of the newly discovered
super-conductor $LaO_{1-x}F_xFeAs$.The pairing mechanism involves both the
special shape of the electron fermi surface and the strong ferromagnetic
fluctuation induced by Hund's rule coupling.The special behavior of the
Bogoliubov quasi-particle spectrum may leads to "Fermi arc" like anisotropy
super-conducting gap, which can be detected by angle resolved photo
emission(ARPES).The impurity effects are also discussed.


title: Orbital currents in extended Hubbard models of high-T$_c$ cuprates

abstract:
  Motivated by the recent report of broken time-reversal symmetry and zero
momentum magnetic scattering in underdoped cuprates, we investigate under which
circumstances orbital currents circulating inside a unit cell might be
stabilized in extended Hubbard models that explicitly include oxygen orbitals.
Using Gutzwiller projected variational wave functions that treat on an equal
footing all instabilities, we show that orbital currents indeed develop on
finite clusters, and that they are stabilized in the thermodynamic limit if
additional interactions, e.g. strong hybridization with apical oxygens, are
included in the model.


title: Grand Partition Functions of Little Matrix Models with ABCD

abstract:
  Itoyama-Tokura type USp matrix model is discussed. Non-Abelian Berry's phases
in a T-dualized model of IT model were reconsidered. These phases describe the
higher dimensional monopoles; Yang monopole and nine-dimensional monopole. They
are described by the connections of the BPST instanton on S^4 and the
Tchrakian-GKS instanton on S^8, respectively. As a preparation to understand
their effect in original zero-dimensional model, we consider partition function
of simplified matrix models. We compute partition functions of SU, SO and USp
reduced matrix models. Groups SO and USp appear in low energy effective
theories of string against orientifold background. In this evaluation we chose
different poles from that of Moore-Nekrasov-Shatashvili and our previous
result. The position of poles explain branes' and the orientifold's
configurations. There is a brane which is sitting on the orientifold in the
SO(2N) model, while in USp(2N) and SO(2N+1) model there are no branes on the
orientifold. The grand partition functions of these models are considered. They
follow to linear second order ordinary differential equations and their
singularities are q=0,\infty. Their solutions can be analytically continued to
whole q plane. We show the expectation values of the number N of A and C cases
as examples. There is an ambiguity coming from the problem on sign. Grand
partition functions with minus sign give effective actions which have cusp
singularities.


title:
Full counting statistics and conditional evolution in a
  nanoelectromechanical system

abstract:
  We study theoretically the full distribution of transferred charge in a
tunnel junction (or quantum point contact) coupled to a nanomechanical
oscillator, as well as the conditional evolution of the oscillator. Even if the
oscillator is very weakly coupled to the tunnel junction, it can strongly
affect the tunneling statistics and lead to a highly non-Gaussian distribution.
Conversely, given a particular measurement history of the current, the
oscillator energy distribution may be localized and highly non-thermal. We also
discuss non-Gaussian correlations between the oscillator motion and tunneling
electrons; these show that the tunneling back-action cannot be fully described
as an effective thermal bath coupled to the oscillator.


title: Nanometer-scale sharpness in corner-overgrown heterostructures

abstract:
  A corner-overgrown GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructure is investigated with
transmission and scanning transmission electron microscopy, demonstrating
self-limiting growth of an extremely sharp corner profile of 3.5 nm width. In
the AlGaAs layers we observe self-ordered diagonal stripes, precipitating
exactly at the corner, which are regions of increased Al content measured by an
XEDS analysis. A quantitative model for self-limited growth is adapted to the
present case of faceted MBE growth, and the corner sharpness is discussed in
relation to quantum confined structures. We note that MBE corner overgrowth
maintains nm-sharpness even after microns of growth, allowing the realization
of corner-shaped nanostructures.


title: Effects of primordial chemistry on the cosmic microwave background

abstract:
  Previous works have demonstrated that the generation of secondary CMB
anisotropies due to the molecular optical depth is likely too small to be
observed. In this paper, we examine additional ways in which primordial
chemistry and the dark ages might influence the CMB. We present a detailed and
updated chemical network and give an overview of the interactions of molecules
with the CMB. We consider the optical depth due to line absorption,
photoionization, photodissociation and free-free processes, and estimate the
resulting changes in the CMB temperature and its power spectrum. The most
promising results are obtained for the negative hydrogen ion \HM and the \HeHII
molecule. The free-free process of \HM yields a relative change in the CMB
temperature of up to $2\times10^{-11}$, and leads to a frequency-dependent
change in the power spectrum of the order $10^{-7}$ at 30 GHz. With a change of
the order $10^{-10}$ in the power spectrum, our result for the bound-free
process of \HM is significantly below a previous suggestion. \HeHII efficiently
scatters CMB photons and smears out primordial fluctuations, leading to a
change in the power spectrum of the order $10^{-8}$. Improvements in the
accuracy of future CMB experiments may thus help to constrain and finally
detect these interesting signals from the dark ages of the universe.