title: Flux: FunctionaL Updates for XML (extended report)

abstract:
  XML database query languages have been studied extensively, but XML database
updates have received relatively little attention, and pose many challenges to
language design. We are developing an XML update language called Flux, which
stands for FunctionaL Updates for XML, drawing upon ideas from functional
programming languages. In prior work, we have introduced a core language for
Flux with a clear operational semantics and a sound, decidable static type
system based on regular expression types.
  Our initial proposal had several limitations. First, it lacked support for
recursive types or update procedures. Second, although a high-level source
language can easily be translated to the core language, it is difficult to
propagate meaningful type errors from the core language back to the source.
Third, certain updates are well-formed yet contain path errors, or ``dead''
subexpressions which never do any useful work. It would be useful to detect
path errors, since they often represent errors or optimization opportunities.
  In this paper, we address all three limitations. Specifically, we present an
improved, sound type system that handles recursion. We also formalize a source
update language and give a translation to the core language that preserves and
reflects typability. We also develop a path-error analysis (a form of dead-code
analysis) for updates.


title: Many-Body Theory of the Electroweak Nuclear Response

abstract:
  After a brief review of the theoretical description of nuclei based on
nonrelativistic many-body theory and realistic hamiltonians, these lectures
focus on its application to the analysis of the electroweak response. Special
emphasis is given to electron-nucleus scattering, whose experimental study has
provided a wealth of information on nuclear structure and dynamics, exposing
the limitations of the shell model. The extension of the formalism to the case
of neutrino-nucleus interactions, whose quantitative understanding is required
to reduce the systematic uncertainty of neutrino oscillation experiments, is
also discussed.


title:
Monte Carlo Greeks for financial products via approximative transition
  densities

abstract:
  In this paper we introduce efficient Monte Carlo estimators for the valuation
of high-dimensional derivatives and their sensitivities (''Greeks''). These
estimators are based on an analytical, usually approximative representation of
the underlying density. We study approximative densities obtained by the WKB
method. The results are applied in the context of a Libor market model.


title: The Rank of the Endomorphism Monoid of a Partition

abstract:
  The rank of a semigroup is the cardinality of a smallest generating set. In
this paper we compute the rank of the endomorphism monoid of a non-trivial
uniform partition of a finite set, that is, the semigroup of those
transformations of a finite set that leave a non-trivial uniform partition
invariant. That involves proving that the rank of a wreath product of two
symmetric groups is two and then use the fact that the endomorphism monoid of a
partition is isomorphic to a wreath product of two full transformation
semigroups. The calculation of the rank of these semigroups solves an open
question.


title: Flavour physics at CLEO-c

abstract:
  Three CLEO-c results related to flavour-physics are presented: the
determination of the strong-phase difference between D0->K+pi- and D0->K-pi+,
delta, the measurement of the coherence parameter and average strong-phase
difference between D0->K+pi-pi-pi+ and D0 -> K-pi+pi+pi- and measurements of
the variation of strong-phase difference between D0 and D0bar decays to
K0Spi+pi- over phase space. All measurements are important for determining the
unitarity triangle angle gamma from B->D(*)K(*) decays. Furthermore, the
measurement of delta is important for interpreting D0-D0bar mixing.


title:
Funnel landscape and mutational robustness as a result of evolution
  under thermal noise

abstract:
  In biological systems, expression dynamics to shape a fitted phenotype for
function has evolved through mutations to genes, as observed in the evolution
of funnel landscape in protein. We study this evolutionary process with a
statistical-mechanical model of interacting spins, where the fitted phenotype
is represented by a configuration of a given set of "target spins" and
interaction matrix J among spins is genotype evolving over generations. The
expression dynamics is given by stochastic process with temperature T_S to
decrease energy for a given set of J. The evolution of J is also stochastic
with temperature T_J, following mutation in J and selection based on a fitness
given by configurations of the target spins. Below a certain temperature
T_S^{c2}, the highly adapted J evolves, whereasanother phase transition
characterised by frustration occurs at T_S^{c1}<T_S^{c2}. At temperature lower
than T_S^{c1}, the Hamiltonian exhibits a spin-glass like phase, where the
dynamics requires long time steps to produce the fitted phenotype, and the
fitness often decreases drastically by single mutation. In contrast, in the
intermediate temperature phase between T_S^{c1} and T_S^{c2}, the evolved
genotypes, that have no frustration around the target spins (we call "local
Mattis state"), give a funnel-like rapid expression dynamics and are robust to
mutation. These results imply that evolution under thermal noise beyond a
certain level leads to funnel dynamics and mutational robustness. We will
explain its mechanism with the statistical-mechanical method.


title: ULD-Lattices and Delta-Bonds

abstract:
  We provide a characterization of upper locally distributive lattices
(ULD-lattices) in terms of edge colorings of their cover graphs. In many
instances where a set of combinatorial objects carries the order structure of a
lattice this characterization yields a slick proof of distributivity or
UL-distributivity. This is exemplified by proving a distributive lattice
structure on Delta-bonds with invariant circular flow-difference. This instance
generalizes several previously studied lattice structures, in particular,
c-orientations (Propp), alpha-orientations of planar graphs (Felsner, resp. de
Mendez) and planar flows (Khuller, Naor and Klein). The characterization also
applies to other instances, e.g. to chip-firing games.


title:
A Predicted Relation between the Temperature and Density Profile of
  Cluster Hot Gas

abstract:
  Based on the assumptions that a fraction of cluster dark matter is composed
of degenerate neutrinos and they are in hydrostatic equilibrium with other
matter, we predict a relation between the density profile and temperature of
the cluster hot gas. The predicted relation agrees with observational data of
103 clusters.


title: Electron Clusters in Inert Gases

abstract:
  The paper addresses counterintuitive behavior of electrons injected into
dense cryogenic media with negative scattering length $a_0$. Instead of
expected polaronic effect (formation of density enhancement clusters) which
should substantially reduce the electron mobility, an opposite picture is
observed: with increasing $|a_0|$ (the trend taking place for inert gases with
the growth of atomic number) and the medium density, the electrons remain
practically free. An explanation of this behaviour is provided based on
consistent accounting for the non-linearity of electron interaction with the
gaseous medium in the gas atom number density.


title: The measurement of R at CLEO

abstract:
  Measurements of the total cross section of e+e- -> hadrons are presented in
two different ranges of centre-of-mass energy. The measurements are made using
the CLEO III and CLEO-c detectors at the Cornell Electron Storage Ring. The
absolute cross sections and the values of R, the ratio of hadronic to muon pair
production cross sections, are determined at seven centre-of-mass energies
between 6.964 and 10.538 GeV. The total cross sections and values of R are also
determined at thirteen centre-of-mass energies between 3.97 and 4.26 GeV; in
addition, the inclusive and exclusive cross sections for D+, D0 and Ds+
production are presented. Furthermore, for the lower centre-of-mass energy
range, exclusive cross-sections are presented for final states consisting of
two charm mesons: DDbar, D*Dbar, DDbar*, D*Dbar*, Ds+Ds-, Ds*+Ds-, Ds+Ds*-,
DDbar*pi and D*Dbar*pi.


title: Line Transversals of Convex Polyhedra in $\reals^3$

abstract:
  We establish a bound of $O(n^2k^{1+\eps})$, for any $\eps>0$, on the
combinatorial complexity of the set $\T$ of line transversals of a collection
$\P$ of $k$ convex polyhedra in $\reals^3$ with a total of $n$ facets, and
present a randomized algorithm which computes the boundary of $\T$ in
comparable expected time. Thus, when $k\ll n$, the new bounds on the complexity
(and construction cost) of $\T$ improve upon the previously best known bounds,
which are nearly cubic in $n$.
  To obtain the above result, we study the set $\TL$ of line transversals which
emanate from a fixed line $\ell_0$, establish an almost tight bound of
$O(nk^{1+\eps})$ on the complexity of $\TL$, and provide a randomized algorithm
which computes $\TL$ in comparable expected time. Slightly improved
combinatorial bounds for the complexity of $\TL$, and comparable improvements
in the cost of constructing this set, are established for two special cases,
both assuming that the polyhedra of $\P$ are pairwise disjoint: the case where
$\ell_0$ is disjoint from the polyhedra of $\P$, and the case where the
polyhedra of $\P$ are unbounded in a direction parallel to $\ell_0$.


title: Multi-rate asynchronous sampling of sparse multi-band signals

abstract:
  Because optical systems have huge bandwidth and are capable of generating low
noise short pulses they are ideal for undersampling multi-band signals that are
located within a very broad frequency range. In this paper we propose a new
scheme for reconstructing multi-band signals that occupy a small part of a
given broad frequency range under the constraint of a small number of sampling
channels. The scheme, which we call multi-rate sampling (MRS), entails
gathering samples at several different rates whose sum is significantly lower
than the Nyquist sampling rate. The number of channels does not depend on any
characteristics of a signal. In order to be implemented with simplified
hardware, the reconstruction method does not rely on the synchronization
between different sampling channels. Also, because the method does not solve a
system of linear equations, it avoids one source of lack of robustness of
previously published undersampling schemes. Our simulations indicate that our
MRS scheme is robust both to different signal types and to relatively high
noise levels. The scheme can be implemented easily with optical sampling
systems.


title: Top-quark pair + 1-jet production at next-to-leading order QCD

abstract:
  Top-quark pair production with an additional jet is an important signal and
background process at the LHC. We present the next-to-leading order QCD
calculation for this process and show results for integrated as well as
differential cross sections.


title: Negative volatility for a 2-dimensional square root SDE

abstract:
  In affine term structure models the short rate is modelled as an affine
transformation of a multi-dimensional square root process. Sufficient
conditions to avoid negative volatility factors are the multivariate Feller
conditions. We will prove their necessity for a 2-dimensional square root SDE
with one volatility factor by presenting a methodology based on measure
transformations and solving linear systems of ordinary differential equations.


title:
Reflexion and Diffraction of Internal Waves analyzed with the Hilbert
  Transform

abstract:
  We apply the Hilbert transform to the physics of internal waves in
two-dimensional fluids. Using this demodulation technique, we can discriminate
internal waves propagating in different directions: this is very helpful in
answering several fundamental questions in the context of internal waves. We
focus more precisely in this paper on phenomena associated with dissipation,
diffraction and reflection of internal waves.


title:
Spectral signature of a free pulsar wind in the gamma-ray binaries LS
  5039 and LSI +61$\degr$303

abstract:
  LS 5039 and LSI +61$\degr$303 are two binaries that have been detected in the
TeV energy domain. These binaries are composed of a massive star and a compact
object, possibly a young pulsar. The gamma-ray emission would be due to
particle acceleration at the collision site between the relativistic pulsar
wind and the stellar wind of the massive star. Part of the emission may also
originate from inverse Compton scattering of stellar photons on the unshocked
(free) pulsar wind. The purpose of this work is to constrain the bulk Lorentz
factor of the pulsar wind and the shock geometry in the compact pulsar wind
nebula scenario for LS 5039 and LSI +61$\degr$303 by computing the unshocked
wind emission and comparing it to observations. Anisotropic inverse Compton
losses equations are derived and applied to the free pulsar wind in binaries.
The unshocked wind spectra seen by the observer are calculated taking into
account the gamma-gamma absorption and the shock geometry. A pulsar wind
composed of monoenergetic pairs produces a typical sharp peak at an energy
which depends on the bulk Lorentz factor and whose amplitude depends on the
size of the emitting region. This emission from the free pulsar wind is found
to be strong and difficult to avoid in LS 5039 and LSI +61$\degr$303. If the
particles in the pulsar are monoenergetic then the observations constrain their
energy to roughly 10-100 GeV. For more complex particle distributions, the free
pulsar wind emission will be difficult to distinguish from the shocked pulsar
wind emission.


title:
On the Esscher transforms and other equivalent martingale measures for
  Barndorff-Nielsen and Shephard stochastic volatility models with jumps

abstract:
  We compute and discuss the Esscher martingale transform for exponential
processes, the Esscher martingale transform for linear processes, the minimal
martingale measure, the class of structure preserving martingale measures, and
the minimum entropy martingale measure for stochastic volatility models of
Ornstein-Uhlenbeck type as introduced by Barndorff-Nielsen and Shephard. We
show, that in the model with leverage, with jumps both in the volatility and in
the returns, all those measures are different, whereas in the model without
leverage, with jumps in the volatility only and a continuous return process,
several measures coincide, some simplifications can be made and the results are
more explicit. We illustrate our results with parametric examples used in the
literature.


title:
Restricted Mobility Improves Delay-Throughput Trade-offs in Mobile
  Ad-Hoc Networks

abstract:
  In this paper, we analyze asymptotic delay-throughput trade-offs in mobile
ad-hoc networks comprising heterogeneous nodes with restricted mobility. We
show that node spatial heterogeneity has the ability to drastically improve
upon existing scaling laws established under the assumption that nodes are
identical and uniformly visit the entire network area. In particular, we
consider the situation in which each node moves around its own home-point
according to a restricted mobility process which results into a spatial
stationary distribution that decays as a power law of exponent delta with the
distance from the home-point. For such restricted mobility model, we propose a
novel class of scheduling and routing schemes, which significantly outperforms
all delay-throughput results previously obtained in the case of identical
nodes. In particular, for delta = 2 it is possible to achieve almost constant
delay and almost constant per-node throughput (except for a poly-logarithmic
factor) as the number of nodes increases, even without resorting to
sophisticated coding or signal processing techniques.


title:
The supersingular locus in Siegel modular varieties with Iwahori level
  structure

abstract:
  We study moduli spaces of abelian varieties in positive characteristic, more
specifically the moduli space of principally polarized abelian varieties on the
one hand, and the analogous space with Iwahori type level structure, on the
other hand. We investigate the Ekedahl-Oort stratification on the former, the
Kottwitz-Rapoport stratification on the latter, and their relationship. In this
way, we obtain structural results about the supersingular locus in the case of
Iwahori level structure, for instance a formula for its dimension in case $g$
is even.


title: Turing patterns on networks

abstract:
  Turing patterns formed by activator-inhibitor systems on networks are
considered. The linear stability analysis shows that the Turing instability
generally occurs when the inhibitor diffuses sufficiently faster than the
activator. Numerical simulations, using a prey-predator model on a scale-free
random network, demonstrate that the final, asymptotically reached Turing
patterns can be largely different from the critical modes at the onset of
instability, and multistability and hysteresis are typically observed. An
approximate mean-field theory of nonlinear Turing patterns on the networks is
constructed.


title:
Observations on spectral deformations of 103mRh excited by
  bremsstrahlung

abstract:
  Spectral deformation of K alpha, K beta and gamma emissions from the nuclear
state 103mRh excited by bremsstrahlung are investigated. Nonlinear increase for
excitation number density of 103mRh with radiation exposure is observed. The
spectral profiles are broadened, attributable to a triplet splitting.
Interesting time-evolution behaviors of the spectral deformations are obtained.


title: Corrected Entropy-Area Relation and Modified Friedmann Equations

abstract:
  Applying Clausius relation, $\delta Q=TdS$, to apparent horizon of a FRW
universe with any spatial curvature, and assuming that the apparent horizon has
temperature $T=1/(2\pi \tilde {r}_A)$, and a quantum corrected entropy-area
relation, $S=A/4G +\alpha \ln A/4G$, where $\tilde {r}_A$ and $A$ are the
apparent horizon radius and area, respectively, and $\alpha$ is a dimensionless
constant, we derive modified Friedmann equations, which does not contain a
bounce solution. On the other hand, loop quantum cosmology leads to a modified
Friedmann equation $H^2 =\frac{8\pi G}{3}\rho (1-\rho/\rho_{\rm crit})$. We
obtain an entropy expression of apparent horizon of FRW universe described by
the modified Friedmann equation. In the limit of large horizon area, resulting
entropy expression gives the above corrected entropy-area relation, however,
the prefactor $\alpha$ in the logarithmic term is positive, which seems not
consistent with most of results in the literature that quantum geometry leads
to a negative contribution to the area formula of black hole entropy.


title:
High Tc superconductivity mechanism controlled by electric dipole
  correlation and charge correlation

abstract:
  The model is based on a mirror symmetry breaking second order phase
transition leading to a pairing between a free charge carriers and a free
mirror charge carriers. This approach gives a unified description of low and
high Tc superconductivity with a point of view differing from that of BCS
theory.The material's crystal structure symmetry is the key to understand the
mechanism of pairing by introducing a mirror plane polarization effect in
lattice as it is described below.


title:
Reducing almost Lagrangian structures and almost CR geometries to
  partially integrable structures

abstract:
  This paper demostrates a method for analysing almost CR geometries $(H,J)$,
by uniquley defining a partially integrable structure $(H,K)$ from the same
data. Thus two almost CR geometries $(H,J)$ and $(H',J')$ are equivalent if and
and only if they generate isomorphic induced partially integrable CR geometries
$(H,K)$ and $(H',K')$, and if the set of CR morphisms between these spaces
contains an element that maps $J$ to $J'$. Similar results hold for almost
Lagrangian structures.


title: Stable chaos in the 55Cnc exoplanetary system?

abstract:
  The five planets discovered around the main-sequence star 55 Cnc may
represent a case of stable chaos. By using both the Frequency Map Analysis and
MEGNO we find that about 15 % of the systems that can be build from the nominal
orbital elements of the system are highly chaotic. However, in spite of the
fast diffusion rate in the phase space, the planetary system is not
destabilized over 400 Myr and close encounters between the planets are avoided.


title:
Polarization of $\tau$ leptons produced in ultra-high energy
  neutrino-nucleon scattering

abstract:
  We study the polarization vector of $\tau^-$ ($\tau^+$) leptons created in
$\nu_\tau$ ($\bar{\nu}_\tau$) - Nucleon deep inelastic scattering. Our work is
oriented toward ultra-high energy particles relevant for cosmic-rays
experiments. The goal of this paper is to derive relevant informations to
constrain the systematic uncertainties that follow from the lack of knowledge
about this point particularly when studying Earth-skimming neutrinos.


title:
Recent FUSE Observations of Diffuse O VI Emission from the Interstellar
  Medium

abstract:
  We present new results from our survey of diffuse O VI-emitting gas in the
interstellar medium with the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE).
Background observations obtained since 2005 have yielded eleven new O VI
detections of 3-sigma significance, and archival searches have revealed two
more. An additional 15 sight lines yield interesting upper limits. Combined
with previous results, these observations reveal the large-scale structure of
the O VI-bearing gas in the quadrant of the sky centered on the Magellanic
Clouds. The most prominent feature is a layer of low-velocity O VI emission
extending more than 70 degrees from the Galactic plane. At low latitudes (|b| <
30 degrees), the emission comes from narrow, high-density conductive interfaces
in the local ISM. At high latitudes, the emission is from extended, low-density
regions in the Galactic halo. We also detect O VI emission from the interface
region of the Magellanic System, a structure recently identified from H I
observations. These are the first detections of emission from high-ionization
species in the Magellanic System outside of the Clouds themselves.


title: Towards the NNLO evolution of polarised parton distributions

abstract:
  We report on the first calculation of the structure function g_1 in polarised
deep-inelastic scattering to the third order in massless perturbative QCD. The
calculation follows the dispersive approach already used for the corresponding
unpolarised cases of F_2,L, but additionally involves higher tensor integrals
and the Dirac matrix gamma_5 in D unequal 4 dimensions. Our results confirm all
known two-loop expressions including the coefficient functions of Zijlstra and
van Neerven not independently verified before. At three loops we extract the
helicity-difference next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO) quark-quark and
gluon-quark splitting functions Delta P_qq and Delta P_qg. The results exhibit
interesting features concerning sum rules and the momentum-fraction limits x to
1 and x to 0.


title:
Porosity criterion for hyperbolic voids and the cosmic microwave
  background

abstract:
  The degree of randomness in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) maps has
been shown to be measurable and indicative of the hyperbolic effect of voids on
the propagation of the photon beams. In terms of an introduced porosity
parameter, we now obtain the criterion for a hyperbolicity due to domination of
voids in the line-of-sight direction. The criterion seems to be supported by
the parameters of 30 Mpc scale voids revealed by the galactic redshift surveys.
The importance of the geometrical effect of the voids is also due to their
possible role in the temperature independent ellipticity of the excursion sets,
as well as in the nature of dark energy. The role of possible larger scale
inhomogeneities, from superclusters to semi-Hubble scale, in this effect
remains yet unclear.


title: Optical light curves of RS Oph (2006) and hydrogen burning turnoff

abstract:
  We report a coordinated multi-band photometry of the RS Oph 2006 outburst and
highlight the emission line free y-band photometry that shows a mid-plateau
phase at y ~ 10.2 mag from day 40 to day 75 after the discovery followed by a
sharp drop of the final decline. Such mid-plateau phases are observed in other
two recurrent novae, U Sco and CI Aql, and are interpreted as a bright disk
irradiated by the white dwarf. We have calculated theoretical light curves
based on the optically thick wind theory and have reproduced the early decline,
mid-plateau phase, and final decline. The final decline is identified with the
end of steady hydrogen shell-burning, which turned out at about day 80. This
turnoff date is consistent with the end of a supersoft X-ray phase observed
with Swift. Our model suggests a white dwarf mass of 1.35 \pm 0.01 M_\sun,
which indicates that RS Oph is a progenitor of Type Ia supernovae. We strongly
recommend the y-filter observation of novae to detect both the presence of a
disk and the hydrogen burning turnoff. Observational data of y magnitudes are
provided here together with other multi-wavelength light curve data.


title: Algebras over Cobar(coFrob)

abstract:
  We show that a square zero, degree one element in W(V), the Weyl algebra on a
vector space V, is equivalent to providing V with the structure of an algebra
over the properad Cobar(coFrob), the properad arising from the cobar
construction applied to the cofrobenius coproperad.


title:
Response to Huang, Wu and Florin, "Comment on Influence of
  non-conservative optical forces ..." (arxiv:0806.4632)

abstract:
  Recently, Huang, Wu and Florin posted a Comment (0806.4632v1) on our preprint
(0804.0730v1) describing nonequilibrium circulation of a colloidal sphere
trapped in a optical tweezer. The Comment suggests that evidence for toroidal
probability currents obtained from experiments and simulations in the original
posting should be considered inconclusive. The authors' concerns are based on
two claims: (1) that Brownian dynamics simulations of the trapped particle's
motions reveal no statistically significant circulation, and (2) that a
realistic description of the radiation pressure acting on the trapped sphere is
inconsistent with the motion we have described. In this Reply, we demonstrate
both of these claims to be incorrect, and thus the original results and
conclusions in 0804.0730v1 to be still valid.


title:
Spin rotation, spin filtering, and spin transfer in directional
  tunneling through non-centrosymmetric semiconductor barriers

abstract:
  We consider spin-dependent tunneling through a gallium arsenide barrier, a
material which has no inversion symmetry. We are dealing with free electrons,
with one effective mass and a spin-splitting in the barrier material. When we
take into account both the spin-orbit interaction and the absence of the
inversion symmetry, the evanescent states in the barrier are spin split and the
tunneling process can become rather involved. Along some crystallographic
directions, the incident wave experiences spin filtering during the tunneling.
These results open stimulating perspectives for spin manipulation in tunnel
devices.


title:
Light curve studies of nearby Type Ia Supernovae with a Multi-band
  Stretch method

abstract:
  We create new U, B, V, R and I-band light curve templates of type Ia
Supernovae (SNe Ia) and re-analyze 122 nearby (redshift < 0.11) SNe Ia using a
new ``Multi-band Stretch method,'' which is a revised Stretch method (cf.
Perlmutter et al. 1997; Goldhaber et al. 2001) extended to five bands. We find
(i) our I-band template can fit about 90% of SNe Ia I-band light curves, (ii)
relationships between luminosity, colours and stretch factors, (iii) possible
sub-groups of SNe Ia, and (iv) the ratio of total to selective extinction R in
other galaxies can be consistent with that in the Milky Way under the
assumption that SNe Ia have diversity in their intrinsic colour. Based on these
results, we discuss how to select subsets of SNe Ia to serve as good distance
indicators for cosmology. We find two possibilities: one is to choose ``BV
bluest'' (-0.14 < (B-V)_{max} <= -0.10) objects and the other is to use only
SNe Ia which occur in E or S0 galaxies. Within these subsets, we find the root
mean square (r.m.s.) of peak B-band magnitudes is 0.17 mag (``BV bluest''
sample) and 0.12 mag (E or S0 sample).


title: Generalised Unitarity At One-Loop With Massive Fermions

abstract:
  We describe an application of generalised unitarity to the computation of
one-loop amplitudes with massive external fermions. We present analytic results
for the cut-constructible parts of the leading colour contributions to the
all-plus helicity configuration of the $t\bar{t}gg$ amplitude. Using a special
choice for the helicity basis of the massive fermions we are able to obtain
extremely compact analytic expressions. In particular we describe how one can
fix the divergent contributions from tadpole and wave-function renormalisation
using universal UV and IR behaviour.


title:
Spin wave excitations in the antiferromagnetic Heisenberg-Kondo model
  for heavy fermions

abstract:
  Recent inelastic neutron scattering experiments in CeIn$_{3}$ and
CePd$_{2}$Si$_{2}$ single crystals measured spin wave excitations at low
temperatures. These two heavy fermion compounds exhibit antiferromagnetic
long-range order, but a strong competition between the
Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yosida(RKKY) interaction and Kondo effect is evidenced
by their nearly equal N\'eel and Kondo temperatures. Our aim is to show how
magnons such as measured in the antiferromagnetic phase of these Ce compounds,
can be described with a microscopic Heisenberg-Kondo model introduced by
J.R.Iglesias, C.Lacroix and B.Coqblin, used before for studies of the
non-magnetic phase. The model includes the correlated Ce-$4 f$ electrons
hybridized with the conduction band, where we also allow for correlations, and
we consider competing
  RKKY (Heisenberg-like $J_{H} $) and Kondo ($J_{K}$) antiferromagnetic
couplings. Carrying on a series of unitary transformations, we perturbatively
derive a second-order effective Hamiltonian which, projected onto the
antiferromagnetic electron ground state, describes the spin wave excitations,
renormalized by their interaction with correlated itinerant electrons. We
numerically study how the different parameters of the model influence the
renormalization of the magnons, yielding useful information for the analysis of
inelastic neutron scattering experiments in antiferromagnetic heavy fermion
compounds. We also compare our results with the available experimental data,
finding good agreement with the spin wave measurements in cubic CeIn$_3$.


title: Meromorphic functions with several essential singularities

abstract:
  A two-parameter characteristic of functions meromorphic on annuli is
introduced and an extension of the Nevanlinna value distribution theory for
such functions is proposed.


title:
NLO QCD corrections to top anti-top bottom anti-bottom production at the
  LHC: 1. quark-antiquark annihilation

abstract:
  The process pp -> top anti-top bottom anti-bottom + X represents a very
important background reaction to searches at the LHC, in particular to top
anti-top H production where the Higgs boson decays into a bottom anti-bottom
pair. A successful analysis of top anti-top H at the LHC requires the knowledge
of direct top anti-top bottom anti-bottom production at next-to-leading order
in QCD. We take the first step in this direction upon calculating the
next-to-leading-order QCD corrections to the subprocess initiated by quark
anti-quark annihilation. We devote an appendix to the general issue of rational
terms resulting from ultraviolet or infrared (soft or collinear) singularities
within dimensional regularization. There we show that, for arbitrary processes,
in the Feynman gauge, rational terms of infrared origin cancel in truncated
one-loop diagrams and result only from trivial self-energy corrections.


title: Pivoting in Linear Complementarity: Two Polynomial-Time Cases

abstract:
  We study the behavior of simple principal pivoting methods for the P-matrix
linear complementarity problem (P-LCP). We solve an open problem of Morris by
showing that Murty's least-index pivot rule (under any fixed index order) leads
to a quadratic number of iterations on Morris's highly cyclic P-LCP examples.
We then show that on K-matrix LCP instances, all pivot rules require only a
linear number of iterations. As the main tool, we employ unique-sink
orientations of cubes, a useful combinatorial abstraction of the P-LCP.


title: Multimode Memories in Atomic Ensembles

abstract:
  The ability to store multiple optical modes in a quantum memory allows for
increased efficiency of quantum communication and computation. Here we compute
the multimode capacity of a variety of quantum memory protocols based on light
storage in ensembles of atoms. We find that adding a controlled inhomogeneous
broadening improves this capacity significantly.


title:
Supersoft X-ray Light Curve of RS Oph -- The White Dwarf Mass is Now
  Increasing

abstract:
  The recurrent nova RS Ophiuchi, one of the candidates for Type Ia supernova
progenitors, underwent the sixth recorded outburst in February 2006. We report
a complete light curve of supersoft X-ray that is obtained for the first time.
A numerical table of X-ray data is provided. The supersoft X-ray flux emerges
about 30 days after the optical peak and continues until about 85 days when the
optical flux shows the final decline. Such a long duration of supersoft X-ray
phase can be naturally understood by our model in which a significant amount of
helium layer piles up beneath the hydrogen burning zone during the outburst,
suggesting that the white dwarf mass is effectively growing up. We have
estimated the white dwarf mass in RS Oph to be 1.35 \pm 0.01 M_\sun and its
growth rate to be about (0.5-1) \times 10^{-7} M_\sun yr^{-1} in average.


title:
Single inclusive pion pT-spectra in proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s)
  = 22.4GeV: data versus perturbative QCD calculations

abstract:
  We compare the inclusive transverse momentum spectra of single pions above pT
= 3 GeV/c measured in proton-proton (p-p) collisions at sqrt(s) = 21.7 - 23.8
GeV, with next-to-leading order (NLO) perturbative QCD (pQCD) predictions using
recent parametrizations of the parton densities and parton-to-pion
fragmentation functions. Although the dependence on the theoretical scales is
large, the calculations can reproduce the experimental results both in
magnitude and shape. Based on the existing data and on a pQCD
$\sqrt{s}$-rescaling of the measured spectra, we provide a practical
parametrization of the baseline p-p pion transverse momentum spectrum to be
compared to nucleus-nucleus collisions data at sqrt(s_NN) = 22.4 GeV.


title: Informed Traders

abstract:
  An asymmetric information model is introduced for the situation in which
there is a small agent who is more susceptible to the flow of information in
the market than the general market participant, and who tries to implement
strategies based on the additional information. In this model market
participants have access to a stream of noisy information concerning the future
return of an asset, whereas the informed trader has access to a further
information source which is obscured by an additional noise that may be
correlated with the market noise. The informed trader uses the extraneous
information source to seek statistical arbitrage opportunities, while at the
same time accommodating the additional risk. The amount of information
available to the general market participant concerning the asset return is
measured by the mutual information of the asset price and the associated cash
flow. The worth of the additional information source is then measured in terms
of the difference of mutual information between the general market participant
and the informed trader. This difference is shown to be nonnegative when the
signal-to-noise ratio of the information flow is known in advance. Explicit
trading strategies leading to statistical arbitrage opportunities, taking
advantage of the additional information, are constructed, illustrating how
excess information can be translated into profit.


title: $\sigma$-continuity and related forcings

abstract:
  The Steprans forcing notion arises as a quotient of Borel sets modulo the
ideal of $\sigma$-continuity of a certain Borel not $\sigma$-continuous
function. We give a characterization of this forcing in the language of trees
and using this characterization we establish such properties of the forcing as
fusion and continuous reading of names. Although the latter property is usually
implied by the fact that the associated ideal is generated by closed sets, we
show it is not the case with Steprans forcing. We also establish a connection
between Steprans forcing and Miller forcing thus giving a new description of
the latter. Eventually, we exhibit a variety of forcing notions which do not
have continuous reading of names in any presentation.


title: The optimal filters for the construction of the ensemble pulsar time

abstract:
  The algorithm of the ensemble pulsar time based on the optimal Wiener
filtration method has been constructed. This algorithm allows the separation of
the contributions to the post-fit pulsar timing residuals of the atomic clock
and pulsar itself. Filters were designed with the use of the cross- and
autocovariance functions of the timing residuals. The method has been applied
to the timing data of millisecond pulsars PSR B1855+09 and PSR B1937+21 and
allowed the filtering out of the atomic scale component from the pulsar data.
Direct comparison of the terrestrial time TT(BIPM06) and the ensemble pulsar
time PT$_{\rm ens}$ revealed that fractional instability of
TT(BIPM06)--PT$_{\rm ens}$ is equal to $\sigma_z=(0.8\pm 1.9)\cdot 10^{-15}$.
Based on the $\sigma_z$ statistics of TT(BIPM06)--PT$_{\rm ens}$ a new limit of
the energy density of the gravitational wave background was calculated to be
equal to $\Omega_g h^2 \sim 3\cdot 10^{-9}$.


title: Hamilton-Jacobi Counterterms for Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet Gravity

abstract:
  The on-shell gravitational action and the boundary stress tensor are
essential ingredients in the study of black hole thermodynamics. We employ the
Hamilton-Jacobi method to calculate the boundary counterterms necessary to
remove the divergences and allow the study of the thermodynamics of
Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet black holes.


title:
Firmly nonexpansive and Kirszbraun-Valentine extensions: a constructive
  approach via monotone operator theory

abstract:
  Utilizing our recent proximal-average based results on the constructive
extension of monotone operators, we provide a novel approach to the celebrated
Kirszbraun-Valentine Theorem and to the extension of firmly nonexpansive
mappings.


title: Gradual eddy-wave crossover in superfluid turbulence

abstract:
  We revise the theory of superfluid turbulence near the absolute zero of
temperature and suggest a model with differential approximation for the energy
fluxes in the k-space carried by the collective hydrodynamic motions of
quantized vortex lines and by their individual uncorrelated motions known as
Kelvin waves. The model predicts energy spectra of the hydrodynamic and the
Kelvin waves components of the system, which experience a smooth crossover
between different regimes of motion over a finite range of scales.


title: Generalized Instantons on Complex Projective Spaces

abstract:
  We study a class of generalized self-duality relations in gauge theories on
the complex projective space with the Fubini-Study metric. Our theories consist
of only gauge fields with gauge group U(n). The pseudo-energies which we
consider contain higher orders of field strength and are labeled by an integer
p smaller than or equal to [n/2]. For making the Bogomol'nyi completion we need
non-single trace terms in the pseudo-energies, unlike the models defined on
spheres, which were studied previously. We construct an explicit solution of
codimension 2n to generalized self-duality equations as Bogomol'nyi equations,
by using a part of the spin connection.


title:
First Penning-trap mass measurement in the millisecond half-life range:
  the exotic halo nucleus 11Li

abstract:
  In this letter, we report a new mass for $^{11}$Li using the trapping
experiment TITAN at TRIUMF's ISAC facility. This is by far the shortest-lived
nuclide, $t_{1/2} = 8.8 \rm{ms}$, for which a mass measurement has ever been
performed with a Penning trap. Combined with our mass measurements of
$^{8,9}$Li we derive a new two-neutron separation energy of 369.15(65) keV: a
factor of seven more precise than the best previous value. This new value is a
critical ingredient for the determination of the halo charge radius from
isotope-shift measurements. We also report results from state-of-the-art
atomic-physics calculations using the new mass and extract a new charge radius
for $^{11}$Li. This result is a remarkable confluence of nuclear and atomic
physics.


title: Multiple Extremal Eigenpairs by the Power Method

abstract:
  We report the production and benchmarking of several refinements of the power
method that enable the computation of multiple extremal eigenpairs of very
large matrices. In these refinements we used an observation by Booth that has
made possible the calculation of up to the 10$^{th}$ eigenpair for simple test
problems simulating the transport of neutrons in the steady state of a nuclear
reactor. Here, we summarize our techniques and efforts to-date on determining
mainly just the two largest or two smallest eigenpairs. To illustrate the
effectiveness of the techniques, we determined the two extremal eigenpairs of a
cyclic matrix, the transfer matrix of the two-dimensional Ising model, and the
Hamiltonian matrix of the one-dimensional Hubbard model.


title:
Monte Carlo investigation of the magnetic anisotropy in Fe/Dy
  multilayers

abstract:
  By Monte Carlo simulations in the canonical ensemble, we have studied the
magnetic anisotropy in Fe/Dy amorphous multilayers. This work has been
motivated by experimental results which show a clear correlation between the
magnetic perpendicular anisotropy and the substrate temperature during
elaboration of the samples. Our aim is to relate macroscopic magnetic
properties of the multilayers to their structure, more precisely their
concentration profile. Our model is based on concentration dependent exchange
interactions and spin values, on random magnetic anisotropy and on the
existence of locally ordered clusters that leads to a perpendicular
magnetisation. Our results evidence that a compensation point occurs in the
case of an abrupt concentration profile. Moreover, an increase of the
noncollinearity of the atomic moments has been evidenced when the Dy anisotropy
constant value grows. We have also shown the existence of inhomogeneous
magnetisation profiles along the samples which are related to the concentration
profiles.


title: Experimental confirmation of the low B isotope coefficient in MgB2

abstract:
  Recent investigations have shown that the first proposed explanations of the
disagreement between experimental and theoretical value of isotope coefficient
in MgB2 need to be reconsidered. Considering that in samples with residual
resistivity of few mu-Ohm cm critical temperature variations produced by
disorder effects can be comparable with variations due to the isotopic effect,
we adopt a procedure in evaluating the B isotope coefficient which take account
of these effects, obtaining a value which is in agreement with previous results
and then confirming that there is something still unclear in the physics of
MgB2.


title:
Numerical simulations of impacts involving porous bodies: I.
  Implementing sub-resolution porosity in a 3D SPH Hydrocode

abstract:
  In this paper, we extend our Smooth Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) impact code
to include the effect of porosity at a sub-resolution scale by adapting the
so-called $P-alpha$ model. Many small bodies in the different populations of
asteroids and comets are believed to contain a high degree of porosity and the
determination of both their collisional evolution and the outcome of their
disruption requires that the effect of porosity is taken into account in the
computation of those processes. Here, we present our model and show how
porosity interfaces with the elastic-perfectly plastic material description and
the brittle fracture model generally used to simulate the fragmentation of
non-porous rocky bodies. We investigate various compaction models and discuss
their suitability to simulate the compaction of (highly) porous material. Then,
we perform simple test cases where we compare results of the simulations to the
theoretical solutions. We also present a Deep Impact-like simulation to show
the effect of porosity on the outcome of an impact. Detailed validation tests
will be presented in a next paper by comparison with high-velocity laboratory
experiments on porous materials (Jutzi et al., in preparation). Once validated
at small scales, our new impact code can then be used at larger scales to study
impacts and collisions involving brittle solids including porosity, such as the
parent bodies of C-type asteroid families or cometary materials, both in the
strength- and in the gravity-dominated regime.


title:
Global regularity for some classes of large solutions to the
  Navier-Stokes equations

abstract:
  In three previous papers by the two first authors, classes of initial data to
the three dimensional, incompressible Navier-Stokes equations were presented,
generating a global smooth solution although the norm of the initial data may
be chosen arbitrarily large. The main feature of the initial data considered in
the last paper is that it varies slowly in one direction, though in some sense
it is ``well prepared'' (its norm is large but does not depend on the slow
parameter). The aim of this article is to generalize the setting of that last
paper to an ``ill prepared'' situation (the norm blows up as the small
parameter goes to zero).The proof uses the special structure of the nonlinear
term of the equation.


title:
Diffuse radio emission from clusters in the MareNostrum Universe
  simulation

abstract:
  Large-scale diffuse radio emission is observed in some clusters of galaxies.
There is ample of evidence that the emission has its origin in synchrotron
losses of relativistic electrons, accelerated in the course of clusters
mergers. In a cosmological simulation we locate the structure formation shocks
and estimate their radio emission. We proceed as follows: Introducing a novel
approach to identify strong shock fronts in an SPH simulation, we determine the
Mach number as well as the downstream density and temperature in the
MareNostrum Universe simulation which has 2x1024^3 particles in a 500 Mpc/h box
and was carried out with non-radiative physics. Then, we estimate the radio
emission using the formalism derived in Hoeft & Brueggen (2007) and produce
artificial radio maps of massive clusters. Several of our clusters show radio
objects with similar morphology to large-scale radio relics found in the sky,
whereas about half of the clusters show only very little radio emission. In
agreement with observational findings, the maximum diffuse radio emission of
our clusters depends strongly on their X-ray temperature. We find that the
so-called accretion shocks cause only very little radio emission. We conclude
that a moderate efficiency of shock acceleration, namely xi_e <= 0.005, and
moderate magnetic fields in the region of the relics, namely 0.07 to 0.8
muGauss are sufficient to reproduce the number density and luminosity of radio
relics.


title:
Optimal Direct Sum and Privacy Trade-off Results for Quantum and
  Classical Communication Complexity

abstract:
  We show optimal Direct Sum result for the one-way entanglement-assisted
quantum communication complexity for any relation f subset of X x Y x Z. We
show: Q^{1,pub}(f^m) = Omega(m Q^{1,pub}(f)), where Q^{1,pub}(f), represents
the one-way entanglement-assisted quantum communication complexity of f with
error at most 1/3 and f^m represents m-copies of f. Similarly for the one-way
public-coin classical communication complexity we show: R^{1,pub}(f^m) =
Omega(m R^{1,pub}(f)), where R^{1,pub}(f), represents the one-way public-coin
classical communication complexity of f with error at most 1/3. We show similar
optimal Direct Sum results for the Simultaneous Message Passing quantum and
classical models. For two-way protocols we present optimal Privacy Trade-off
results leading to a Weak Direct Sum result for such protocols. We show our
Direct Sum and Privacy Trade-off results via message compression arguments
which also imply a new round elimination lemma in quantum communication. This
allows us to extend classical lower bounds on the cell probe complexity of some
data structure problems, e.g. Approximate Nearest Neighbor Searching on the
Hamming cube {0,1}^n and Predecessor Search to the quantum setting. In a
separate result we show that Newman's technique of reducing the number of
public-coins in a classical protocol cannot be lifted to the quantum setting.
We do this by defining a general notion of black-box reduction of prior
entanglement that subsumes Newman's technique. We prove that such a black-box
reduction is impossible for quantum protocols. In the final result in the theme
of message compression, we provide an upper bound on the problem of Exact
Remote State Preparation.


title: Entropy, Probability and Dynamics

abstract:
  Boltzmann's struggle with a derivation of the Second Law of Thermodynamics is
sketched. So is his first derivation of the connection between entropy and
probability in 1877. Planck's derivation and quantum mechanical modifications
of Boltzmann's connection between entropy probability are given next. Then
Einstein's objections to a purely probabilistic rather than a dynamical
interpretation of entropy are discussed. Finally, the dynamical basis of the
Sinai-Ruelle-Bowen distribution for very chaotic systems is sketched and
appears to be an example of Einstein's dynamical interpretation of entropy.


title:
Baade-Wesselink distances and the effect of metallicity in classical
  cepheids

abstract:
  The aim of this paper is to investigate the metallicity dependence of the
$PL$-relation in $V$ and $K$ based on a sample of 68 Galactic Cepheids with
individual Baade-Wesselink distances (some of the stars also have an HST-based
parallax) and individually determined metallicities from high-resolution
spectroscopy. Literature values of the $V$-band, $K$-band and radial velocity
data have been collected for a sample of 68 classical cepheids that have their
metallicity determined in the literature from high-resolution spectroscopy.
Based on a $(V-K)$ surface-brightness relation and a projection factor derived
in a previous paper, distances have been derived from a Baade-Wesselink
analysis. $PL$- and $PLZ$-relations in $V$ and $K$ are derived. The effect of
the adopted dependence of the projection factor on period is investigated. The
change from a constant $p$-factor to one recently suggested in the literature
with a mild dependence on $\log P$ results in a less steep slope by 0.1 unit,
which is about the 1-sigma error bar in the slope itself. The observed slope in
the $PL$-relation in $V$ in the LMC agrees with both hypotheses. In $K$ the
difference between the Galactic and LMC slope is larger and would favour a mild
period dependence of the $p$-factor. The dependence on metallicity in $V$ and
$K$ is found to be marginal, and independent of the choice of $p$-factor on
period. This result is severely limited by the small range in metallicity
covered by the Galactic Cepheids.


title: Protostar Mass Due to Infall and Dispersal

abstract:
  The mass of a protostar is calculated from the infall and dispersal of an
isothermal sphere in a uniform background. For high contrast between peak and
background densities and for short dispersal time t_d, the accretion is
"self-limiting": gas beyond the core is dispersed before it accretes, and the
protostar mass approaches a time-independent value of low mass. For lower
density contrast and longer dispersal time, the accretion "runs away": gas
accretes from beyond the core, and the protostar mass approaches massive star
values. The final protostar mass is approximately the initial gas mass whose
free-fall time equals t_d. This mass matches the peak of the IMF for gas
temperature 10 K, peak and background densities 10^6 and 10^3 cm^-3, and for
t_d comparable to the core free-fall time t_core. The accretion luminosity
exceeds 1 L-Sun for 0.1 Myr, as in the "Class 0" phase. For t_d/t_core=0.4-0.8
and temperature 7-50 K, self-limiting protostar masses are 0.08-5 M-Sun. These
protostar and core masses have ratio 0.4 +- 0.2, as expected if the core mass
distribution and the IMF have the same shape.


title:
Semiparametric curve alignment and shift density estimation for
  biological data

abstract:
  Assume that we observe a large number of curves, all of them with identical,
although unknown, shape, but with a different random shift. The objective is to
estimate the individual time shifts and their distribution. Such an objective
appears in several biological applications like neuroscience or ECG signal
processing, in which the estimation of the distribution of the elapsed time
between repetitive pulses with a possibly low signal-noise ratio, and without a
knowledge of the pulse shape is of interest. We suggest an M-estimator leading
to a three-stage algorithm: we split our data set in blocks, on which the
estimation of the shifts is done by minimizing a cost criterion based on a
functional of the periodogram; the estimated shifts are then plugged into a
standard density estimator. We show that under mild regularity assumptions the
density estimate converges weakly to the true shift distribution. The theory is
applied both to simulations and to alignment of real ECG signals. The estimator
of the shift distribution performs well, even in the case of low
signal-to-noise ratio, and is shown to outperform the standard methods for
curve alignment.


title: Dynamics of small bodies in planetary systems

abstract:
  The number of stars that are known to have debris disks is greater than that
of stars known to harbour planets. These disks are detected because dust is
created in the destruction of planetesimals in the disks much in the same way
that dust is produced in the asteroid belt and Kuiper belt in the solar system.
For the nearest stars the structure of their debris disks can be directly
imaged, showing a wide variety of both axisymmetric and asymmetric structures.
A successful interpretation of these images requires a knowledge of the
dynamics of small bodies in planetary systems, since this allows the observed
dust distribution to be deconvolved to provide information on the distribution
of larger objects, such as planetesimals and planets. This chapter reviews the
structures seen in debris disks, and describes a disk dynamical theory which
can be used to interpret those observations. In this way much of the observed
structures, both axisymmetric and asymmetric, can be explained by a model in
which the dust is produced in a planetesimal belt which is perturbed by a
nearby, as yet unseen, planet. While the planet predictions still require
confirmation, it is clear that debris disks have the potential to provide
unique information about the structure of extrasolar planetary systems, since
they can tell us about planets analogous to Neptune and even the Earth.
Significant failings of the model at present are its inability to predict the
quantity of small grains in a system, and to explain the origin of the
transient dust seen in some systems. Given the complexity of planetary system
dynamics and how that is readily reflected in the structure of a debris disk,
it seems inevitable that the study of debris disks will play a vital role in
our understanding of extrasolar planetary systems.


title:
Multiple Extremal Eigenpairs of Very Large Matrices by Monte Carlo
  Simulation

abstract:
  We present a new Monte Carlo algorithm that allows the simultaneous
determination of a few extremal eigenpairs of a very large matrix. It extends
the power method and uses a new sampling method, the sewing method, that does a
large state space sampling as a succession of samplings from a smaller state
space. We illustrate the new algorithm by its determination of the two largest
eigenvalues of the transfer matrix of a square Ising model at the critical
temperature for sizes from $16\times 16$ to $48\times 48$.


title: Soft X-ray components in the hard state of accreting black holes

abstract:
  Recent observations of two black hole candidates (GX 339-4 and J1753.5-0127)
in the low-hard state (L_X/L_Edd ~ 0.003-0.05) suggest the presence of a cool
accretion disk very close to the innermost stable orbit of the black hole. This
runs counter to models of the low-hard state in which the cool disk is
truncated at a much larger radius. We study the interaction between a
moderately truncated disk and a hot inner flow. Ion-bombardment heats the
surface of the disk in the overlap region between a two-temperature
advection-dominated accretion flow and standard accretion disk, producing a hot
(kT_e ~70 keV) layer on the surface of the cool disk. The hard X-ray flux from
this layer heats the inner parts of the underlying cool disk, producing a soft
X-ray excess. Together with interstellar absorption these effects mimic the
thermal spectrum from a disk extending to the last stable orbit. The results
show that soft excesses in the low-hard state are a natural feature of
truncated disk models.


title: Applying the Wang-Landau Algorithm to Lattice Gauge Theory

abstract:
  We implement the Wang-Landau algorithm in the context of SU(N) lattice gauge
theories. We study the quenched, reduced version of the lattice theory and
calculate its density of states for N=20,30,40,50. We introduce a variant of
the original algorithm in which the weight function used in the update does not
asymptote to a fixed function, but rather continues to have small fluctuations
which enhance tunneling. We formulate a method to evaluate the errors in the
density of states, and use the result to calculate the dependence of the
average action density and the specific heat on the `t Hooft coupling lambda.
This allows us to locate the coupling lambda_t at which a strongly first order
transition occurs in the system. For N=20 and 30 we compare our results to
those obtained using Ferrenberg-Swendsen multi-histogram reweighting and find
agreement with errors of 0.2 % or less. Extrapolating our results to N=oo we
find 1/lambda_t = 0.3148(2). We remark on the significance of this result for
the validity of quenched large-$N$ reduction of SU(N) lattice gauge theories.


title:
Mitochondrial proteomics: analysis of a whole mitochondrial extract with
  two-dimensional electrophoresis

abstract:
  Mitochondria are complex organelles, and their proteomics analysis requires a
combination of techniques. The emphasis in this chapter is made first on
mitochondria preparation from cultured mammalian cells, then on the separation
of the mitochondrial proteins with two-dimensional electrophoresis (2DE),
showing some adjustment over the classical techniques to improve resolution of
the mitochondrial proteins. This covers both the protein solubilization, the
electrophoretic part per se, and the protein detection on the gels, which makes
the interface with the protein identification part relying on mass
spectrometry.


title:
Randomized greedy algorithms for independent sets and matchings in
  regular graphs: Exact results and finite girth corrections

abstract:
  We derive new results for the performance of a simple greedy algorithm for
finding large independent sets and matchings in constant degree regular graphs.
We show that for $r$-regular graphs with $n$ nodes and girth at least $g$, the
algorithm finds an independent set of expected cardinality $f(r)n -
O\big(\frac{(r-1)^{\frac{g}{2}}}{\frac{g}{2}!} n\big)$, where $f(r)$ is a
function which we explicitly compute. A similar result is established for
matchings. Our results imply improved bounds for the size of the largest
independent set in these graphs, and provide the first results of this type for
matchings. As an implication we show that the greedy algorithm returns a nearly
perfect matching when both the degree $r$ and girth $g$ are large. Furthermore,
we show that the cardinality of independent sets and matchings produced by the
greedy algorithm in \emph{arbitrary} bounded degree graphs is concentrated
around the mean. Finally, we analyze the performance of the greedy algorithm
for the case of random i.i.d. weighted independent sets and matchings, and
obtain a remarkably simple expression for the limiting expected values produced
by the algorithm. In fact, all the other results are obtained as
straightforward corollaries from the results for the weighted case.


title: Modal-type orthomodular logic

abstract:
  In this paper we enrich the orthomodular structure by adding a modal
operator, following a physical motivation. A logical system is developed,
obtaining algebraic completeness and completeness with respect to a
Kripke-style semantic founded on Baer *-semigroups as in [20].


title:
Statistics, Condensation and the Anderson-Higgs Mechanism: The Worldline
  Path Integral View

abstract:
  We explain, in the first quantized path integral formalism, the mechanism
behind the Anderson-Higgs effect for a gas of charged bosons in a background
magnetic field, and then use the method to prove the absence of the effect for
a gas of fermions. The exchange statistics are encoded via the inclusion of
additional Grassmann coordinates in a manner that leads to a manifest worldline
supersymmetry. This extra symmetry is key in demonstrating the absence of the
effect for charged fermions.


title: Anisotropic Instabilities in Trapped Spinor Bose-Einstein Condensates

abstract:
  We theoretically investigate the effect of an anisotropic trap on the
instability of the polar $(m_F=0)$ phase of a spin-1 Bose-Einstein condensate.
By considering rigorously the spatial quantization, we show that the growth of
the nascent ferromagnetic phase at short times becomes anisotropic with
stronger oscillations in the magnetization correlation function along the
unconfined direction.


title: Forced oscillations of coronal loops driven by EIT waves

abstract:
  We study the generation of transversal oscillations in coronal loops
represented as a straight thin flux tube under the effect of an external driver
modeling the global coronal EIT wave. We investigate how the generated
oscillations depend on the nature of the driver, and the type of interaction
between the two systems. We consider the oscillations of a magnetic straight
cylinder with fixed-ends under the influence of an external driver modeling the
force due to the global EIT wave. Given the uncertainties related to the nature
of EIT waves, we first approximate the driver by an oscillatory force in time
and later by a shock with a finite width. Results show that for a harmonic
driver the dominant period in the generated oscillation belongs to the driver.
Depending on the period of driver, compared to the natural periods of the loop,
a mixture of standing modes harmonics can be initiated. In the case of a
non-harmonic driver (modeling a shock wave), the generated oscillations in the
loop are the natural periods only. The amplitude of oscillations is determined
by the position of the driver along the tube. The full diagnosis of generated
oscillations is achieved using simple numerical methods.


title: Satisfiability of Almost Disjoint CNF Formulas

abstract:
  We call a CNF formula linear if any two clauses have at most one variable in
common. Let m(k) be the largest integer m such that any linear k-CNF formula
with <= m clauses is satisfiable. We show that 4^k / (4e^2k^3) <= m(k) < ln(2)
k^4 4^k. More generally, a (k,d)-CSP is a constraint satisfaction problem in
conjunctive normal form where each variable can take on one of d values, and
each constraint contains k variables and forbids exacty one of the d^k possible
assignments to these variables. Call a (k,d)-CSP l-disjoint if no two distinct
constraints have l or more variables in common. Let m_l(k,d) denote the largest
integer m such that any l-disjoint (k,d)-CSP with at most m constraints is
satisfiable. We show that 1/k (d^k/(ed^(l-1)k))^(1+1/(l-1))<= m_l(k,d) < c
(k^2/l ln(d) d^k)^(1+1/(l-1)). for some constant c. This means for constant l,
upper and lower bound differ only in a polynomial factor in d and k.


title: Artificial Brownian motors: Controlling transport on the nanoscale

abstract:
  In systems possessing spatial or dynamical symmetry breaking, Brownian motion
combined with symmetric external input signals, deterministic or random, alike,
can assist directed motion of particles at the submicron scales. In such cases,
one speaks of "Brownian motors". In this review the constructive role of
Brownian motion is exemplified for various one-dimensional setups, mostly
inspired by the cell molecular machinery: working principles and
characteristics of stylized devices are discussed to show how fluctuations,
either thermal or extrinsic, can be used to control diffusive particle
transport. Recent experimental demonstrations of this concept are reviewed with
particular attention to transport in artificial nanopores and optical traps,
where single particle currents have been first measured. Much emphasis is given
to two- and three-dimensional devices containing many interacting particles of
one or more species; for this class of artificial motors, noise rectification
results also from the interplay of particle Brownian motion and geometric
constraints. Recently, selective control and optimization of the transport of
interacting colloidal particles and magnetic vortices have been successfully
achieved, thus leading to the new generation of microfluidic and
superconducting devices presented hereby. Another area with promising potential
for realization of artificial Brownian motors are microfluidic or granular
set-ups.....


title: Two-loop QED hadronic corrections to Bhabha scattering

abstract:
  Theoretical predictions for Bhabha scattering at the two-loop level require
the inclusion of hadronic vacuum polarization in the photon propagator. We
present predictions for the contributions from reducible amplitudes which are
proportional to the vacuum polarization $\pi(q^2)$ and from irreducible ones
where the vacuum polarization appears in a loop representing vertex or box
diagrams. The second case can be treated by using dispersion relations with a
weight function proportional to the $R$-ratio as measured in electron-positron
annihilation into hadrons and kernels that can be calculated perturbatively. We
present simple analytical forms for the kernels and, using two convenient
parametrizations for the function $R(s)$, numerical results for the quantities
of interest. As a cross check we evaluate the corresponding corrections
resulting from light and heavy lepton loops and we find perfect agreement with
previous calculations. For the hadronic correction our result are in good
agreement with a previous evaluation.


title: Collective Phase Sensitivity

abstract:
  The collective phase response to a macroscopic external perturbation of a
population of interacting nonlinear elements exhibiting collective oscillations
is formulated for the case of globally-coupled oscillators. The macroscopic
phase sensitivity is derived from the microscopic phase sensitivity of the
constituent oscillators by a two-step phase reduction. We apply this result to
quantify the stability of the macroscopic common-noise induced synchronization
of two uncoupled populations of oscillators undergoing coherent collective
oscillations.


title: Soft Manifold Dynamics Behind Negative Thermal Expansion

abstract:
  Minimal models are developed to examine the origin of large negative thermal
expansion (NTE) in under-constrained systems. The dynamics of these models
reveals how underconstraint can organize a thermodynamically extensive manifold
of low-energy modes which not only drives NTE but extends across the Brillioun
zone. Mixing of twist and translation in the eigenvectors of these modes, for
which in ZrW2O8 there is evidence from infrared and neutron scattering
measurements, emerges naturally in our model as a signature of the dynamics of
underconstraint.


title: Cavity with an embedded polarized film: an adapted spectral approach

abstract:
  We consider the modes of the electric field of a cavity where there is an
embedded polarized dielectric film. The model consists in the Maxwell equations
coupled to a Duffing oscillator for the film which we assume infinitely thin.
We derive the normal modes of the system and show that they are orthogonal with
a special scalar product which we introduce. These modes are well suited to
describe the system even for a film of finite thickness. By acting on the film
we demonstrate switching from one cavity mode to another. Since the system is
linear, little energy is needed for this conversion. Moreover the amplitude
equations describe very well this complex system under different perturbations
(damping, forcing and nonlinearity) with very few modes. These results are very
general and can be applied to different situations like for an atom in a cavity
or a Josephson junction in a capacitor and this could be very useful for many
nano-physics applications.


title:
Flow curves of colloidal dispersions close to the glass transition:
  Asymptotic scaling laws in a schematic model of mode coupling theory

abstract:
  The flow curves, viz. the curves of stationary stress under steady shearing,
are obtained close to the glass transition in dense colloidal dispersions using
asymptotic expansions in a schematic model of mode coupling theory. The shear
thinning of the viscosity in fluid states and the yielding of glassy states is
discussed. At the transition between fluid and shear-molten glass, simple and
generalized Herschel-Bulkley laws are derived with power law exponents that can
be computed for different particle interactions from the equilibrium structure
factor.


title: Holomorphic transforms with application to affine processes

abstract:
  In a rather general setting of It\^o-L\'evy processes we study a class of
transforms (Fourier for example) of the state variable of a process which are
holomorphic in some disc around time zero in the complex plane. We show that
such transforms are related to a system of analytic vectors for the generator
of the process, and we state conditions which allow for holomorphic extension
of these transforms into a strip which contains the positive real axis. Based
on these extensions we develop a functional series expansion of these
transforms in terms of the constituents of the generator. As application, we
show that for multidimensional affine It\^o-L\'evy processes with state
dependent jump part the Fourier transform is holomorphic in a time strip under
some stationarity conditions, and give log-affine series representations for
the transform.


title: Production of excited charm and charm-strange mesons at HERA

abstract:
  The production of excited charm, D_1(2420)^0 and D_2^*(2460)^0, and
charm-strange, D_{s1}(2536)^+-, mesons in ep collisions was measured with the
ZEUS detector at HERA using an integrated luminosity of 126 pb^-1. Masses,
widths and helicity parameters were determined. The measured yields were
converted to the rates of c quarks hadronising as a given excited charm meson
and to the ratios of the dominant D_2^*(2460)^0 and D_{s1}(2536)^+- branching
fractions. A search for the radially excited charm meson, D^{*'}(2640)^+-, was
also performed. The results are compared with those measured previously and
with theoretical expectations.


title: Reach of Future Non-accelerator Neutrino Efforts

abstract:
  We present a brief review of the current understanding of neutrino flavor
mixing and masses, followed by a discussion of the current and future
experimental programs in neutrinoless double-beta decay, direct neutrino mass
measurements, indirect neutrino mass determination from cosmology, solar
neutrinos and other probes. We emphasize how these programs will improve our
understanding of neutrino masses and flavor mixing.


title: A Model for BCS-Type Correlations in Superscaling

abstract:
  Using ideas from BCS descriptions of systems of fermions, a covariant
extension of the relativistic Fermi gas model is presented as a way to
incorporate correlation effects in nuclei. The model is developed for the BCS
nuclear ground state and for final states consisting of a single plane-wave
nucleon plus a BCS recoiling daughter nucleus. The nuclear spectral function is
obtained and from it the superscaling function for use in treating high-energy
quasielastic electroweak processes. Interestingly, this model has the
capability to yield the asymmetric tail seen in the experimental scaling
function.


title: Ultraviolet behavior of transverse gravity

abstract:
  The structure of the divergences for transverse theories of gravity is
studied to one-loop order. These theories are invariant only under those
diffeomorphisms that enjoy unit Jacobian determinant (TDiff), so that the
determinant of the metric transforms as a true scalar instead of a density.
Generically, the models include an additional scalar degree of freedom
contained in the metric besides the usual spin two component. When the
cosmological constant is fine tuned to zero, there are only two theories which
are on shell finite, namely the one in which the symmetry is enhanced to the
full group of diffeomorphisms, i.e. Einstein's gravity, and another one denoted
by WTDiff which enjoys local Weyl invariance. Both of them are free from the
additional scalar.


title:
Central extensions of cotangent universal hierarchy: (2+1)-dimensional
  bi-Hamiltonian systems

abstract:
  We introduce the cotangent universal hierarchy that extends the so-called
universal hierarchy (as for the latter, see e.g. arXiv:nlin/0202008,
arXiv:nlin/0312043 and arXiv:nlin/0310036). Then we construct a
(2+1)-dimensional double central extension of the cotangent universal hierarchy
and show that this extension is bi-Hamiltonian. This yields, as a byproduct,
the central extension of the original universal hierarchy.


title:
T-odd correlations from CP violating anomalous top-quark couplings
  revisited

abstract:
  We revisit the effect of CP violating anomalous top-quark couplings in
$t\bar{t}$ production and decay. We consider $t\bar{t}$ production through
gluon fusion (and light $q{\bar q}$ annihilation) followed by top-quark decay
into $bW$ or $b\ell\nu$. We find explicit analytic expressions for all the
triple products generated by the anomalous couplings that fully incorporate all
spin correlations. Our results serve as a starting point for numerical
simulations for the LHC.


title: The Virtual Observatory and Grid in Spain

abstract:
  The Virtual Observatory (VO) is nearing maturity, and in Spain the Spanish VO
(SVO) exists since June 2004. There have also been numerous attempts at
providing more or less encompassing grid initiatives at the national level, and
finally Spain has an official National Grid Initiative (NGI). In this article
we will show the VO and Grid development status of nationally funded
initiatives in Spain, and we will hint at potential joint VO-Grid use-cases to
be developed in Spain in the near future.


title: General Auction Mechanism for Search Advertising

abstract:
  In sponsored search, a number of advertising slots is available on a search
results page, and have to be allocated among a set of advertisers competing to
display an ad on the page. This gives rise to a bipartite matching market that
is typically cleared by the way of an automated auction. Several auction
mechanisms have been proposed, with variants of the Generalized Second Price
(GSP) being widely used in practice.
  A rich body of work on bipartite matching markets builds upon the stable
marriage model of Gale and Shapley and the assignment model of Shapley and
Shubik. We apply insights from this line of research into the structure of
stable outcomes and their incentive properties to advertising auctions.
  We model advertising auctions in terms of an assignment model with linear
utilities, extended with bidder and item specific maximum and minimum prices.
Auction mechanisms like the commonly used GSP or the well-known
Vickrey-Clarke-Groves (VCG) are interpreted as simply computing a
\emph{bidder-optimal stable matching} in this model, for a suitably defined set
of bidder preferences. In our model, the existence of a stable matching is
guaranteed, and under a non-degeneracy assumption a bidder-optimal stable
matching exists as well. We give an algorithm to find such matching in
polynomial time, and use it to design truthful mechanism that generalizes GSP,
is truthful for profit-maximizing bidders, implements features like
bidder-specific minimum prices and position-specific bids, and works for rich
mixtures of bidders and preferences.


title:
Distance Determination to the Crab-like PWN G54.1+0.3 and Search for its
  Supernova Remnant Shell

abstract:
  We discover a large-scale shell G53.9+0.2 around the Crab-like pulsar wind
nebula (PWN) G54.1+0.3 with 1420 MHz continuum VLA observations. This is
confirmed by a new infrared image at 8 \mu m from the GLIMPSE Legacy Project,
which reveals an intriguing infrared shell just surrounding the large radio
shell. We analyze the 21 cm HI absorption spectra and 13CO emission spectra
towards PWN G54.1+0.3 and bright sources on both radio and IR shells.
Continuous HI absorption up to the tangent point and absence of negative HI
absorption features imply that PWN G54.1+0.3 has a distance beyond the tangent
point but within the Solar circle, i.e. 4.5 to 9 kpc. G54.1+0.3 is likely at
distance of \simeq 6.2 kpc due to the morphological association between the PWN
and a CO molecular cloud at velocity of \simeq 53 km/s, as revealed by
high-resolution 13CO images. Based on the HI absorption spectrum and
recombination line velocity (\simeq 40 km/s) of the bright HII region
G54.09-0.06, which is on the IR shell, the IR shell is likely located at a
distance of \simeq 7.3 kpc, which is also the distance of the associated
large-scale radio shell. At this distance, the radio shell has a radius of ~ 30
pc. The radio shell may be thermal and lack IR emission due to dust
destruction, or it may be nonthermal and part of a newly found old SNR. In
either case it is located at a different distance than PWN G54.1+0.3.


title:
Testing the Higgs Mechanism in the Lepton Sector with multi-TeV e+e-
  Collisions

abstract:
  Multi-TeV e+e- collisions provide with a large enough sample of Higgs bosons
to enable measurements of its suppressed decays. Results of a detailed study of
the determination of the muon Yukawa coupling at 3 TeV, based on full detector
simulation and event reconstruction, are presented. The muon Yukawa coupling
can be determined with a relative accuracy of 0.04 to 0.08 for Higgs bosons
masses from 120 GeV to 150 GeV, with an integrated luminosity of 5 inverse-ab.
The result is not affected by overlapping two-photon background.


title: What is missing from Minkowski's "Raum und Zeit" lecture

abstract:
  This contribution tries to highlight the importance of Minkowski's ``Raum und
Zeit'' lecture in a ``negative'' way, where {\it negative} is taken in the
photographic sense of reversing lights and shades. Indeed, we focus on the
``shades'' of Minkowski's text, i.e. what is missing, or misunderstood. In
particular, we focus on two issues: (i) why are Poincar\'e's pioneering
contributions to four-dimensional geometry not quoted by Minkowski (while he
abundantly quoted them a few months before the Cologne lecture)?, and (ii) did
Minkowski fully grasp the physical (and existential) meaning of ``time'' within
spacetime? We think that this ``negative'' approach (and the contrast between
Poincar\'e's and Minkowski's attitudes towards physics) allows one to better
grasp the boldness of the {\it revolutionary} step taken by Minkowski in his
Cologne lecture.


title:
How much can we learn from SN1987A events? Or: An analysis with a
  two-Component model for the antineutrino signal

abstract:
  We analyze the data of Kamiokande-II, IMB, Baksan using a parameterized
description of the antineutrino emission, that includes an initial phase of
intense luminosity. The luminosity curve, the average energy of $\bar\nu_e$ and
the astrophysical parameters of the model, derived by fitting the observed
events (energies, times and angles) are in reasonable agreement with the
generic expectations of the delayed scenario for the explosion.


title:
Fe and N self-diffusion in amorphous FeN: A SIMS and neutron
  reflectivity study

abstract:
  Simultaneous measurement of self-diffusion of iron and nitrogen in amorphous
iron nitride (Fe86N14) using secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) technique
has been done. In addition neutron reflectivity (NR) technique was employed to
study the Fe diffusion in the same compound. The broadening of a tracer layer
of 57Fe8615N14 sandwiched between Fe86N14 layers was observed after isothermal
vacuum annealing of the films at different temperatures in SIMS measurements.
And a decay of the Bragg peak intensity after isothermal annealing was observed
in [Fe86N14/57Fe86N14]10 multilayers in NR. Strong structural relaxation of
diffusion coefficient was observed below the crystallization temperature of the
amorphous phase in both measurements. It was observed from the SIMS
measurements that Fe diffusion was about 2 orders of magnitude smaller compared
to nitrogen at a given temperature. The NR measurements reveal that the
mechanism of Fe self-diffusion is very similar to that in metal-metal type
metallic glasses. The structural relaxation time for Fe and N diffusion was
found comparable indicating that the obtained relaxation time essentially
pertain to the structural relaxation of the amorphous phase.


title:
Variational Monte Carlo Study of Electron Differentiation around Mott
  Transition

abstract:
  We study ground-state properties of the two-dimensional Hubbard model at half
filling by improving variational Monte Carlo method and by implementing
quantum-number projection and multi-variable optimization. The improved
variational wave function enables a highly accurate description of the Mott
transition and strong fluctuations in metals. We clarify how anomalous metals
appear near the first-order Mott transition. The double occupancy stays nearly
constant as a function of the on-site Coulomb interaction in the metallic phase
near the Mott transition in agreement with the previous unbiased results. This
unconventional metal at half filling is stabilized by a formation of
``electron-like pockets'' coexisting with an arc structure, which leads to a
prominent differentiation of electrons in momentum space. An abrupt collapse of
the ``pocket'' and ``arc'' drives the first-order Mott transition.


title: Superconductivity induced by cobalt doping in iron-based oxyarsenides

abstract:
  Chemical doping has recently become a very important strategy to induce
superconductivity especially in complex compounds. Distinguished examples
include Ba-doped La$_2$CuO$_4$ (the first high temperature superconductor),
K-doped BaBiO$_3$, K-doped C$_{60}$ and Na$_{x}$CoO$_{2}\cdot y$H$_{2}$O. The
most recent example is F-doped LaFeAsO, which leads to a new class of high
temperature superconductors. One notes that all the above dopants are
non-magnetic, because magnetic atoms generally break superconducting Cooper
pairs. In addition, the doping site was out of the (super)conducting structural
unit (layer or framework). Here we report that superconductivity was realized
by doping magnetic element cobalt into the (super)conducting-active
Fe$_2$As$_2$ layers in LaFe$_{1-x}$Co$_{x}$AsO. At surprisingly small Co-doping
level of $x$=0.025, the antiferromagnetic spin-density-wave transition in the
parent compound is completely suppressed, and superconductivity with $T_c\sim $
10 K emerges. With increasing Co content, $T_c$ shows a maximum of 13 K at
$x\sim 0.075$, and then drops to below 2 K at $x$=0.15. This result suggests
essential differences between previous cuprate superconductor and the present
iron-based arsenide one.


title:
Linear Response and Fluctuation Dissipation Theorem for non-Poissonian
  Renewal Processes

abstract:
  The Continuous Time Random Walk (CTRW) formalism is used to model the
non-Poisson relaxation of a system response to perturbation. Two mechanisms to
perturb the system are analyzed: a first in which the perturbation, seen as a
potential gradient, simply introduces a bias in the hopping probability of the
walker from on site to the other but leaves unchanged the occurrence times of
the attempted jumps ("events") and a second in which the occurrence times of
the events are perturbed. The system response is calculated analytically in
both cases in a non-ergodic condition, i.e. for a diverging first moment in
time. Two different Fluctuation-Dissipation Theorems (FDTs), one for each kind
of mechanism, are derived and discussed.


title:
High energy factorization in nucleus-nucleus collisions II - Multigluon
  correlations

abstract:
  We extend previous results (arXiv:0804.2630 [hep-ph]) on factorization in
high-energy nucleus-nucleus collisions by computing the inclusive multigluon
spectrum to next-to-leading order. The factorization formula is strictly valid
for multigluon emission in a slice of rapidity of width \Delta Y< 1/\alpha_s.
Our results show that often neglected disconnected graphs dominate the
inclusive multigluon spectrum and are essential to prove factorization for this
quantity. These results provide a dynamical framework for the Glasma flux tube
picture of the striking "ridge"-like correlation seen in heavy ion collisions.


title: On real moduli spaces over M-curves

abstract:
  Let $F$ be a genus $g$ curve and $\sigma: F \to F$ a real structure with the
maximal possible number of fixed circles. We study the real moduli space $\N' =
\Fix (\sigma^{#})$ where $\sigma^{#}: \N \to \N$ is the induced real structure
on the moduli space $\N$ of stable holomorphic bundles of rank 2 over $F$ with
fixed non-trivial determinant. In particular, we calculate $H^* (\N',\mathbb
Z)$ in the case of $g = 2$, generalizing Thaddeus' approach to computing $H^*
(\N,\mathbb Z)$.


title: Extrasolar Giant Planets and X-ray Activity

abstract:
  We have carried out a survey of X-ray emission from stars with giant planets,
combining both archival and targeted surveys. Over 230 stars have been
currently identified as possessing planets, and roughly a third of these have
been detected in X-rays. We carry out detailed statistical analysis on a volume
limited sample of main sequence star systems with detected planets, comparing
subsamples of stars that have close-in planets with stars that have more
distant planets. This analysis reveals strong evidence that stars with close-in
giant planets are on average more X-ray active by a factor ~4 than those with
planets that are more distant. This result persists for various sample
selections. We find that even after accounting for observational sample bias, a
significant residual difference still remains. This observational result is
consistent with the hypothesis that giant planets in close proximity to the
primary stars influences the stellar magnetic activity.


title:
A new correlation method to identify and separate charm and bottom
  production processes at RHIC

abstract:
  Electrons from semileptonic decays of heavy-flavor mesons (D and B) allow to
study the energy loss of heavy-quarks in nuclear collisions at sqrt(s) = 200
GeV at RHIC. Since pQCD calculations have shown that the crossing point where
bottom decay electrons start to dominate over charm decay electrons is largely
unknown, an urgent need arises to access the relative contributions
independently. A correlation method is proposed to identify and separate charm
and bottom production processes on a statistical basis through tagging of their
decay electrons and open charmed mesons. The feasibility for this method is
demonstrated using PYTHIA and MC@NLO simulations. The latter allows to estimate
the complete NLO contributions, including e.g. gluon-splitting diagrams.


title: The Lorentz Force and the Radiation Pressure of Light

abstract:
  In order to make plausible the idea that light exerts a pressure on matter,
some introductory physics texts consider the force exerted by an
electromagnetic wave on an electron. The argument as presented is both
mathematically incorrect and has several serious conceptual difficulties
without obvious resolution at the classical, yet alone introductory, level. We
discuss these difficulties and propose an alternate demonstration.


title: Cohomology and Immersed Curves

abstract:
  We introduce a new cohomology-theoretic method for classifying generic
immersed curves in closed compact surfaces by using Gauss codes. This subsumes
a result of J.S. Carter on classifying immersed curves in oriented compact
surfaces, and provides a criterion for when an immersion is two-colorable. We
note an application to twisted virtual link theory.


title:
Wide-angle infrared absorber based on negative index plasmonic
  metamaterial

abstract:
  A metamaterials-based approach to making a wide-angle absorber of infrared
radiation is described. The technique is based on an anisotropic Perfectly
Impedance Matched Negative Index Material (PIMNIM). It is shown analytically
that a sub-wavelength in all three dimensions PIMNIM enables absorption of
close to 100% for incidence angles up to $45\deg$ to the normal. A specific
implementation of such frequency-tunable PIMNIM based on plasmonic
metamaterials is presented. Applications to infrared imaging and coherent
thermal sources are described.


title:
On the Tradeoffs of Implementing Randomized Network Coding in Multicast
  Networks

abstract:
  Randomized network coding (RNC) greatly reduces the complexity of
implementing network coding in large-scale, heterogeneous networks. This paper
examines two tradeoffs in applying RNC: The first studies how the performance
of RNC varies with a node's randomizing capabilities. Specifically, a limited
randomized network coding (L-RNC) scheme - in which intermediate nodes perform
randomized encoding based on only a limited number of random coefficients - is
proposed and its performance bounds are analyzed. Such a L-RNC approach is
applicable to networks in which nodes have either limited computation/storage
capacity or have ambiguity about downstream edge connectivity (e.g., as in ad
hoc sensor networks). A second tradeoff studied here examines the relationship
between the reliability and the capacity gains of generalized RNC, i.e., how
the outage probability of RNC relates to the transmission rate at the source
node. This tradeoff reveals that significant reductions in outage probability
are possible when the source transmits deliberately and only slightly below
network capacity. This approach provides an effective means to improve the
feasibility probability of RNC when the size of the finite field is fixed.


title: Subleading Correction to Statistical Entropy for BMPV Black Hole

abstract:
  We study higher derivative corrections to the statistical entropy function
and the statistical entropy for five dimensional BMPV black holes by doing the
asymptotic expansion of the partition function. This enables us to evaluate
entropy for a large range of charges, even out of Cardy (Farey tail) limit.


title:
Computation of the string tension in three dimensional Yang-Mills theory
  using large N reduction

abstract:
  We numerically compute the string tension in the large N limit of three
dimensional Yang-Mills theory using Wilson loops. Space-time loops are formed
as products of smeared space-like links and unsmeared time-like links. We use
continuum reduction and both unfolded and folded Wilson loops in the analysis.


title:
The MEarth project: searching for transiting habitable super-Earths
  around nearby M-dwarfs

abstract:
  Due to their small radii, M-dwarfs are very promising targets to search for
transiting super-Earths, with a planet of 2 Earth radii orbiting an M5 dwarf in
the habitable zone giving rise to a 0.5% photometric signal, with a period of
two weeks. This can be detected from the ground using modest-aperture
telescopes by targeting samples of nearby M-dwarfs. Such planets would be very
amenable to follow-up studies due to the brightness of the parent stars, and
the favourable planet-star flux ratio. MEarth is such a transit survey of ~2000
nearby M-dwarfs. Since the targets are distributed over the entire (Northern)
sky, it is necessary to observe them individually, which will be done by using
8 independent 0.4m robotic telescopes, two of which have been in operation
since December 2007 at the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory (FLWO) located on
Mount Hopkins, Arizona. We discuss the survey design and hardware, and report
on the current status of the survey, and preliminary results obtained from the
commissioning data.


title: Column basis reduction, and decomposable knapsack problems

abstract:
  We propose a very simple preconditioning method for integer programming
feasibility problems: replacing the problem b' <= Ax <= b, x \in Z^n with b' <=
AUy <= b, y \in Z^n, where U is a unimodular matrix computed via basis
reduction, to make the columns of $AU$ short and nearly orthogonal. The
reformulation is called rangespace reformulation. It is motivated by the
reformulation technique proposed for equality constrained IPs by Aardal,
Hurkens and Lenstra. We also study a family of IP instances, called
decomposable knapsack problems (DKPs). DKPs generalize the instances proposed
by Jeroslow, Chvatal and Todd, Avis, Aardal and Lenstra, and Cornuejols et al.
DKPs are knapsack problems with a constraint vector of the form $pM + r, $ with
$p >0$ and $r$ integral vectors, and $M$ a large integer. If the parameters are
suitably chosen in DKPs, we prove 1) hardness results for these problems, when
branch-and-bound branching on individual variables is applied; 2) that they are
easy, if one branches on the constraint $px$ instead; and 3) that branching on
the last few variables in either the rangespace- or the AHL-reformulations is
equivalent to branching on $px$ in the original problem. We also provide
recipes to generate such instances. Our computational study confirms that the
behavior of the studied instances in practice is as predicted by the
theoretical results.


title: A Precise Estimate of the Radius of HD 149026b

abstract:
  We present Spitzer 8 micron transit observations of the extrasolar planet
system HD 149026. At this wavelength, transit light curves are weakly affected
by stellar limb-darkening, allowing for a simpler and more accurate
determination of planetary parameters. We measure a planet-star radius ratio of
R_p/R_s = 0.05158 +/- 0.00077, and in combination with ground-based data and
independent constraints on the stellar mass and radius, we derive an orbital
inclination of i = 85.4 +0.9/-0.8 deg. and a planet radius of 0.755 +/- 0.040
Jupiter radii. These measurements further support models in which the planet is
greatly enriched in heavy elements.


title: Effects of Electron-Electron Scattering in Wide Ballistic Microcontacts

abstract:
  We calculate the corrections to the Sharvin conductance of ballistic
multimode microcontacts that result from electron--electron scattering in the
leads. Using a semiclassical Boltzmann equation, we obtain that these
corrections are {\it positive} and scale with temperature as $T^2\ln(E_F/T)$
for three-dimensional contacts and as $T$ for two-dimensional ones. These
results are relevant to recent experiments on 2DEG contacts.


title: More on the quantum potential

abstract:
  A possible thermalization of Fisher information is suggested for certain
situations.


title:
Turbulence Dissipation and Particle Injection in Non-Linear Diffusive
  Shock Acceleration with Magnetic Field Amplification

abstract:
  The highly amplified magnetic fields suggested by observations of some
supernova remnant (SNR) shells are most likely an intrinsic part of efficient
particle acceleration by shocks. This strong turbulence, which may result from
cosmic ray driven instabilities, both resonant and non-resonant, in the shock
precursor, is certain to play a critical role in self-consistent, nonlinear
models of strong, cosmic ray modified shocks. Here we present a Monte Carlo
model of nonlinear diffusive shock acceleration (DSA) accounting for magnetic
field amplification through resonant instabilities induced by accelerated
particles, and including the effects of dissipation of turbulence upstream of a
shock and the subsequent precursor plasma heating. Feedback effects between the
plasma heating due to turbulence dissipation and particle injection are strong,
adding to the nonlinear nature of efficient DSA. Describing the turbulence
damping in a parameterized way, we reach two important results: first, for
conditions typical of supernova remnant shocks, even a small amount of
dissipated turbulence energy (~10%) is sufficient to significantly heat the
precursor plasma, and second, the heating upstream of the shock leads to an
increase in the injection of thermal particles at the subshock by a factor of
several. In our results, the response of the non-linear shock structure to the
boost in particle injection prevented the efficiency of particle acceleration
and magnetic field amplification from increasing. We argue, however, that more
advanced (possibly, non-resonant) models of turbulence generation and
dissipation may lead to a scenario in which particle injection boost due to
turbulence dissipation results in more efficient acceleration and even stronger
amplified magnetic fields than without the dissipation.


title:
Photon-number entangled states generation model with stimulated
  parametric down conversion

abstract:
  We address the process of generation of the photon-number entangled states of
light in the stimulated nonlinear parametric down conversion process and build
the simple model describing the generation, not involving the traditional
parametric approximation. The motion equations for the system of pumping and
two-mode outgoing field are solved for the case of the strong correlation
between two modes, the evolution of the state parameters of the generated modes
is obtained. The solution is briefly analyzed for particular types of
photon-number entangled states.