title:
A Pointless Model for the Continuum as the Foundation for Quantum
  Gravity

abstract:
  In this paper, we outline a new approach to quantum gravity; describing
states for a bounded region of spacetime as eigenstates for two classes of
physically plausible gedanken experiments. We end up with two complementary
descriptions in which the point set continuum disappears.
  The first replaces the continuum of events with a handlebody decomposition of
loop space. We conjecture that techniques fron algebraic topology will allow us
to extend state sum models on spacetime to loop space.
  The second picture replaces the continuum with a nondistributive lattice; the
classical limit seems more tractible in this picture.


title: A hierarchical eigenmodel for pooled covariance estimation

abstract:
  While a set of covariance matrices corresponding to different populations are
unlikely to be exactly equal they can still exhibit a high degree of
similarity. For example, some pairs of variables may be positively correlated
across most groups, while the correlation between other pairs may be
consistently negative. In such cases much of the similarity across covariance
matrices can be described by similarities in their principal axes, the axes
defined by the eigenvectors of the covariance matrices. Estimating the degree
of across-population eigenvector heterogeneity can be helpful for a variety of
estimation tasks. Eigenvector matrices can be pooled to form a central set of
principal axes, and to the extent that the axes are similar, covariance
estimates for populations having small sample sizes can be stabilized by
shrinking their principal axes towards the across-population center. To this
end, this article develops a hierarchical model and estimation procedure for
pooling principal axes across several populations. The model for the
across-group heterogeneity is based on a matrix-valued antipodally symmetric
Bingham distribution that can flexibly describe notions of ``center'' and
``spread'' for a population of orthonormal matrices.


title: The brain: What is critical about it?

abstract:
  We review the recent proposal that the most fascinating brain properties are
related to the fact that it always stays close to a second order phase
transition. In such conditions, the collective of neuronal groups can reliably
generate robust and flexible behavior, because it is known that at the critical
point there is the largest abundance of metastable states to choose from. Here
we review the motivation, arguments and recent results, as well as further
implications of this view of the functioning brain.


title: Doubly charged Higgs through photon photon collisions in 3-3-1 models

abstract:
  We study the production and signatures of doubly charged Higgs bosons in the
process \gamma\gamma H^{- -} H^{++} at the e^-e^+ International Linear Collider
and CERN Linear Collider, where the intermediate photons are given by the
Weizs[a\ddot]cker-Willians and laser backscattering distributions.


title:
Strichartz estimates for Schr\"odinger operators with a non-smooth
  magnetic potential

abstract:
  We prove Strichartz estimates for the absolutely continuous evolution of a
Schr\"odinger operator $H = (i\nabla + A)^2 + V$ in $\R^n$, $n > 2$. Both the
magnetic and electric potentials are time-independent and satisfy pointwise
polynomial decay bounds. The vector potential $A(x)$ is assumed to be
continuous but need not possess any Sobolev regularity. This work is a
refinement of previous methods, which required extra conditions on ${\rm div}
A$ or $|\nabla|^{\frac12}A$ in order to place the first order part of the
perturbation within a suitable class of pseudo-differential operators.


title:
Towards r-space Bose-Einstein condensation of photonic crystal exciton
  polaritons

abstract:
  Coupled states of semiconductor quantum well (QW) excitons and photons in a
two dimensional (2D) periodic lattice of microcavities are analyzed
theoretically, revealing allowed bands and forbidden gaps in the energy
spectrum of exciton polaritons. Photonic crystal exciton polaritons have
spatially uniform excitonic constituent set by flat QWs, but exhibit periodic
Bloch oscillations in the plane of QWs due to their photonic component. The
envelope functions of photonic crystal exciton polaritons can be tailored via
effective potential of a photonic crystal heterostructure, by using
quasi-periodic lattices of microcavities. Confined envelope function states of
lower and upper polaritons and the Bose-Einstein condensation of lower
polaritons are analyzed here in a photonic crystal heterostructure trap with
harmonic oscillator potential. This concept is numerically illustrated on
example of CdTe/CdMgTe microcavities.


title: Complexity and algorithms for computing Voronoi cells of lattices

abstract:
  In this paper we are concerned with finding the vertices of the Voronoi cell
of a Euclidean lattice. Given a basis of a lattice, we prove that computing the
number of vertices is a #P-hard problem. On the other hand we describe an
algorithm for this problem which is especially suited for low dimensional (say
dimensions at most 12) and for highly-symmetric lattices. We use our
implementation, which drastically outperforms those of current computer algebra
systems, to find the vertices of Voronoi cells and quantizer constants of some
prominent lattices.


title:
Particle Identifications from Symmetries of Braided Ribbon Network
  Invariants

abstract:
  We develop the idea that the particles of the standard model may arise from
excitations of quantum geometry. A previously proposed topological model of
preons is developed so that it incorporates an unbounded number of generations.
A condition is also found on quantum gravity dynamics necessary for the
interactions of the standard model to emerge.


title:
Frobenius difference equations and algebraic independence of zeta values
  in positive equal characteristic

abstract:
  In analogy with the Riemann zeta function at positive integers, for each
finite field F_p^r with fixed characteristic p we consider Carlitz zeta values
zeta_r(n) at positive integers n. Our theorem asserts that among the zeta
values in {zeta_r(1), zeta_r(2), zeta_r(3), ... | r = 1, 2, 3, ...}, all the
algebraic relations are those algebraic relations within each individual family
{zeta_r(1), zeta_r(2), zeta_r(3), ...}. These are the algebraic relations
coming from the Euler-Carlitz relations and the Frobenius relations. To prove
this, a motivic method for extracting algebraic independence results from
systems of Frobenius difference equations is developed.


title:
Resolving Spacecraft Earth-Flyby Anomalies with Measured Light Speed
  Anisotropy

abstract:
  Doppler shift observations of spacecraft, such as Galileo, NEAR, Cassini,
Rosetta and MESSENGER in earth flybys, have all revealed unexplained speed
`anomalies' - that the doppler-shift determined speeds are inconsistent with
expected speeds. Here it is shown that these speed anomalies are not real and
are actually the result of using an incorrect relationship between the observed
doppler shift and the speed of the spacecraft - a relationship based on the
assumption that the speed of light is isotropic in all frames, i.e. invariant.
Taking account of the repeatedly measured light-speed anisotropy the anomalies
are resolved. The Pioneer 10/11 anomalies are discussed, but not resolved. The
spacecraft observations demonstrate again that the speed of light is not
invariant, and is isotropic only with respect to a dynamical 3-space. The
existing doppler shift data also offers a resource to characterise a new form
of gravitational waves, the dynamical 3-space turbulence, that has also been
detected by other techniques.


title:
The Nature of the Velocity Field in Molecular Clouds. I. The
  Non-Magnetic Case

abstract:
  We present three numerical simulations of randomly driven, isothermal,
non-magnetic, self-gravitating turbulence with different rms Mach numbers Ms
and physical sizes L, but approximately the same value of the virial parameter,
alpha approx 1.2. We obtain the following results: a) We test the hypothesis
that the collapsing centers originate from locally Jeans-unstable
("super-Jeans"), subsonic fragments; we find no such structures. b) We find
that the fraction of small-scale super-Jeans structures is larger in the
presence of self-gravity. c) The velocity divergence of subregions of the
simulations exhibits a negative correlation with their mean density. d) The
density probability density function (PDF) deviates from a lognormal in the
presence of self-gravity. e) Turbulence alone in the large-scale simulation
does not produce regions with the same size and mean density as those of the
small-scale simulation. Items (b)-(e) suggest that self-gravity is not only
involved in causing the collapse of Jeans-unstable density fluctuations
produced by the turbulence, but also in their {it formation}. We also measure
the star formation rate per free-fall time, as a function of Ms for the three
runs, and compare with the predictions of recent semi-analytical models. We
find marginal agreement to within the uncertainties of the measurements.
However, the hypotheses of those models neglect the net negative divergence of
dense regions we find in our simulations. We conclude that a) part of the
observed velocity dispersion in clumps must arise from clump-scale inwards
motions, and b) analytical models of clump and star formation need to take into
account this dynamical connection with the external flow and the fact that, in
the presence of self-gravity, the density PDF may deviate from a lognormal.


title:
On the reconstruction of block-sparse signals with an optimal number of
  measurements

abstract:
  Let A be an M by N matrix (M < N) which is an instance of a real random
Gaussian ensemble. In compressed sensing we are interested in finding the
sparsest solution to the system of equations A x = y for a given y. In general,
whenever the sparsity of x is smaller than half the dimension of y then with
overwhelming probability over A the sparsest solution is unique and can be
found by an exhaustive search over x with an exponential time complexity for
any y. The recent work of Cand\'es, Donoho, and Tao shows that minimization of
the L_1 norm of x subject to A x = y results in the sparsest solution provided
the sparsity of x, say K, is smaller than a certain threshold for a given
number of measurements. Specifically, if the dimension of y approaches the
dimension of x, the sparsity of x should be K < 0.239 N. Here, we consider the
case where x is d-block sparse, i.e., x consists of n = N / d blocks where each
block is either a zero vector or a nonzero vector. Instead of L_1-norm
relaxation, we consider the following relaxation min x \| X_1 \|_2 + \| X_2
\|_2 + ... + \| X_n \|_2, subject to A x = y where X_i = (x_{(i-1)d+1},
x_{(i-1)d+2}, ..., x_{i d}) for i = 1,2, ..., N. Our main result is that as n
-> \infty, the minimization finds the sparsest solution to Ax = y, with
overwhelming probability in A, for any x whose block sparsity is k/n < 1/2 -
O(\epsilon), provided M/N > 1 - 1/d, and d = \Omega(\log(1/\epsilon)/\epsilon).
The relaxation can be solved in polynomial time using semi-definite
programming.


title:
SN 2006tf: Precursor Eruptions and the Optically Thick Regime of
  Extremely Luminous Type IIn Supernovae

abstract:
  SN2006tf is the third most luminous SN discovered so far, after SN2005ap and
SN2006gy. SN2006tf is valuable because it provides a link between two regimes:
(1) luminous type IIn supernovae powered by emission directly from interaction
with circumstellar material (CSM), and (2) the most extremely luminous SNe
where the CSM interaction is so optically thick that energy must diffuse out
from an opaque shocked shell. As SN2006tf evolves, it slowly transitions from
the second to the first regime as the clumpy shell becomes more porous. This
link suggests that the range in properties of the most luminous SNe is largely
determined by the density and speed of H-rich material ejected shortly before
they explode. The total energy radiated by SN2006tf was at least 7e50 ergs. If
the bulk of this luminosity came from the thermalization of shock kinetic
energy, then the star needs to have ejected ~18 Msun in the 4-8 yr before core
collapse, and another 2-6 Msun in the decades before that. A Type Ia explosion
is therefore excluded. From the H-alpha emission-line profile, we derive a
blast-wave speed of 2,000 km/s that does not decelerate, and from the narrow P
Cygni absorption from pre-shock gas we deduce that the progenitor's wind speed
was ~190 km/s. This is reminiscent of the wind speeds of LBVs, but not of RSGs
or WR stars. We propose that like SN2006gy, SN2006tf marked the death of a very
massive star that retained its H envelope until the end of its life, and
suffered extreme LBV-like mass loss in the decades before it exploded.


title: The minimal volume orientable hyperbolic 2-cusped 3-manifolds

abstract:
  We prove that the Whitehead link complement and the (-2, 3, 8) pretzel link
complement are the minimal volume orientable hyperbolic 3-manifolds with two
cusps, with volume 3.66... = 4 x Catalan's constant. We use topological
arguments to establish the existence of an essential surface which provides a
lower bound on volume and strong constraints on the manifolds that realize that
lower bound.


title:
Numerical Study of the Magnetorotational Instability in Princeton MRI
  Experiment

abstract:
  In preparation for an experimental study of magnetorotational instability
(MRI) in liquid metal, we present non-ideal axisymmetric magnetohydrodynamic
simulations of the nonlinear evolution of MRI in the experimental geometry. The
simulations adopt fully insulating boundary conditions. No-slip conditions are
imposed at the cylinders. A clear linear phase is observed with reduced linear
growth rate. MRI results in an inflowing "jet" near the midplane and enhances
the angular momentum transport at saturation.


title:
Passive Convection of Density Fluctuations in the Local Interstellar
  Medium

abstract:
  We have developed a time-dependent three-dimensional model of isotropic,
adiabatic, and compressible magnetohydrodynamic plasma to understand nonlinear
cascades of density fluctuations in local interstellar medium. Our simulations,
describing evolution of initial supersonic, super Alfv\'enic plasma modes,
indicate that nonlinear interactions lead to damping of plasma motion. During
the process, turbulent cascades are governed predominantly by the Alfv\'enic
modes and velocity field fluctuations evolve towards a state charachterized by
near incompressibility. Consequently, density field is advected passively by
the velocity field. Our findings thus demonstrate that the observed density
fluctuations in the interstellar medium are the structures passively convected
by the background velocity field.


title:
Trigonometric Cherednik algebra at critical level and quantum many-body
  problems

abstract:
  For any module over the affine Weyl group we construct a representation of
the associated trigonometric Cherednik algebra $A(k)$ at critical level in
terms of Dunkl type operators. Under this representation the center of $A(k)$
produces quantum conserved integrals for root system generalizations of quantum
spin-particle systems on the circle with delta function interactions. This
enables us to translate the spectral problem of such a quantum spin-particle
system to questions in the representation theory of $A(k)$. We use this
approach to derive the associated Bethe ansatz equations. They are expressed in
terms of the normalized intertwiners of $A(k)$.


title:
Comment on "CAWSES November 7-8, 2004, superstorm: Complex solar and
  interplanetary features in the post-solar maximum phase" by B. T. Tsurutani,
  E. Echer, F. L. Guarnieri, and J. U. Kozyra

abstract:
  Recently Tsurutani et al., (2008) (Paper 1) analyzed the complex
interplanetary structures during 7 to 8 November, 2004 to identify their
properties as well as resultant geomagnetic effects and the solar origins.
Besides mentioned paper by Gopalswamy et al., (2006) the solar and
interplanetary sources of geomagnetic storm on 7-10 November, 2004 have also
been discussed in details in series of other papers. Some conclusions of these
works essentially differ from conclusions of the Paper 1 but have not been
discussed by authors of Paper 1. In this comment we would like to discuss some
of these distinctions.


title: Transversely Lie holomorphic foliations on projective spaces

abstract:
  We prove that a one-dimensional foliation with generic singularities on a
projective space, exhibiting a Lie group transverse structure in the complement
of some codimension one algebraic subset is logarithmic, i.e., it is the
intersection of codimension one foliations given by closed one-forms with
simple poles. If there is only one singularity in a suitable affine space, then
the foliation is induced by a linear diagonal vector field.


title: Non Kolmogorov-like Turbulence in the Local Interstellar Medium

abstract:
  We develop a self-consistent model of turbulence in a local interstellar
medium (ISM). The model describes a partially ionized magnetofluid ISM in which
a neutral hydrogen fluid interacts with a plasma dominantly through a charge
exchange. The ISM turbulent correlation scales in our model are much bigger
than the shock characteristic length-scales. Unlike small length-scale linear
collisional dissipation in the fluid, the charge exchange processes can be
effective unpredictably on a variety of ISM length-scales depending upon the
neutral and plasma densities, the charge exchange cross section and the
characteristic length scales. We find, from scaling arguments that the charge
exchange interactions modify spectral transfer associated with large-scale
energy containing eddies. Consequently, the ISM turbulent cascade are steeper
than those predicted by Kolmogorov's phenomenology.


title:
Outage Probability of the Gaussian MIMO Free-Space Optical Channel with
  PPM

abstract:
  The free-space optical channel has the potential to facilitate inexpensive,
wireless communication with fiber-like bandwidth under short deployment
timelines. However, atmospheric effects can significantly degrade the
reliability of a free-space optical link. In particular, atmospheric turbulence
causes random fluctuations in the irradiance of the received laser beam,
commonly referred to as scintillation. The scintillation process is slow
compared to the large data rates typical of optical transmission. As such, we
adopt a quasi-static block fading model and study the outage probability of the
channel under the assumption of orthogonal pulse-position modulation. We
investigate the mitigation of scintillation through the use of multiple lasers
and multiple apertures, thereby creating a multiple-input multiple output
(MIMO) channel. Non-ideal photodetection is also assumed such that the combined
shot noise and thermal noise are considered as signal-independent Additive
Gaussian white noise. Assuming perfect receiver channel state information
(CSI), we compute the signal-to-noise ratio exponents for the cases when the
scintillation is lognormal, exponential and gamma-gamma distributed, which
cover a wide range of atmospheric turbulence conditions. Furthermore, we
illustrate very large gains, in some cases larger than 15 dB, when transmitter
CSI is also available by adapting the transmitted electrical power.


title: Meta-Stable Brane Configurations by Dualizing the Two Gauge Groups

abstract:
  We consider the N=1 supersymmetric gauge theories with product gauge groups.
The two kinds of D6-branes in the electric theory are both displaced and
rotated respectively where these deformations are interpreted as the mass terms
and quartic terms for the two kinds of flavors. Then we apply the Seiberg dual
to the whole gauge group factors by moving the branes and obtain the
corresponding dual gauge theories. By analyzing the magnetic superpotentials
consisting of an interaction term between a magnetic meson field and dual
matters as well as the above deformations for each gauge group, we present the
type IIA nonsupersymmetric meta-stable brane configurations.


title:
Non-relativistic Collisionless Shocks in Unmagnetized Electron-Ion
  Plasmas

abstract:
  We show that the Weibel-mediated collisionless shocks are driven at
non-relativistic propagation speed (0.1c < V < 0.45c) in unmagnetized
electron-ion plasmas by performing two-dimensional particle-in-cell
simulations. It is shown that the profiles of the number density and the mean
velocity in the vicinity of the shock transition region, which are normalized
by the respective upstream values, are almost independent of the upstream bulk
velocity, i.e., the shock velocity. In particular, the width of the shock
transition region is ~100 ion inertial length independent of the shock
velocity. For these shocks the energy density of the magnetic field generated
by the Weibel-type instability within the shock transition region reaches
typically 1-2% of the upstream bulk kinetic energy density. This mechanism
probably explains the robust formation of collisionless shocks, for example,
driven by young supernova remnants, with no assumption of external magnetic
field in the universe.


title: Comment on "General nonlocality in quantum fields"

abstract:
  In this paper, we first incorporate the weak interaction into the theory of
General Nonlocality by finding a appropriate metric for it. Accordingly, we
suggest the theoretical frame of General Nonlocality as the candidate theory of
unifying three microscope interactions in low energy limit. In this unifying
scenario, the essential role of photon field is stressed.


title: Formalism Locality in Quantum Theory and Quantum Gravity

abstract:
  We expect a theory of Quantum Gravity to be both probabilistic and have
indefinite causal structure. Indefinite causal structure poses particular
problems for theory formulation since many of the core ideas used in the usual
approaches to theory construction depend on having definite causal structure.
For example, the notion of a state across space evolving in time requires that
we have some definite causal structure so we can define a state on a space-like
hypersurface. We will see that many of these problems are mitigated if we are
able to formulate the theory in a "formalism local" (or F-local) fashion. A
formulation of a physical theory is said to be F-local if, in making
predictions for any given arbitrary space-time region, we need only refer to
mathematical objects pertaining to that region. This is a desirable property
both on the grounds of efficiency and since, if we have indefinite causal
structure, it is not clear how to select some other space-time region on which
our calculations may depend. The usual ways of formulating physical theories
(the time evolving state picture, the histories approach, and the local
equations approach) are not F-local.
  We set up a framework for probabilistic theories with indefinite causal
structure. This, the causaloid framework, is F-local. We describe how Quantum
Theory can be formulated in the causaloid framework (in an F-local fashion).
This provides yet another formulation of Quantum Theory. This formulation,
however, may be particularly relevant to the problem of finding a theory of
Quantum Gravity.


title: Evaporation of large black holes in AdS: coupling to the evaporon

abstract:
  Large black holes in an asymptotically AdS spacetime have a dual description
in terms of approximately thermal states in the boundary CFT. The reflecting
boundary conditions of AdS prevent such black holes from evaporating
completely. On the other hand, the formulation of the information paradox
becomes more stringent when a black hole is allowed to evaporate. In order to
address the information loss problem from the AdS/CFT perspective we then need
the boundary to become partially absorptive. We present a simple model that
produces the necessary changes on the boundary by coupling a bulk scalar field
to the evaporon, an external field propagating in one extra spatial dimension.
The interaction is localized at the boundary of AdS and leads to partial
transmission into the additional space. The transmission coefficient is
computed in the planar limit and perturbatively in the coupling constant.
Evaporation of the large black hole corresponds to cooling down the CFT by
transferring energy to an external sector.


title:
Magnetic susceptibility of the QCD vacuum at finite quark-chemical
  potential

abstract:
  We investigate the QCD magnetic susceptibility chi at the finite
quark-chemical potential (mu>0) and at zero temperature (T=0) to explore the
pattern of the magnetic phase transition of the QCD vacuum. For this purpose,
we employ the nonlocal chiral quark model derived from the instanton vacuum in
the presence of the chemical potential in the chiral limit. Focusing on the
Nambu-Goldstone phase, we find that the magnetic susceptibility remains almost
stable to mu~200 MeV, and falls down drastically until the the quark-chemical
potential reaches the critical point mu_c~320 MeV. Then, the strength of the
chi is reduced to be about a half of that at mu=0, and the first-order magnetic
phase transition takes place, corresponding to the chiral restoration. From
these observations, we conclude that the response of the QCD vacuum becomes
weak and unstable to the external electromagnetic field near the critical
point, in comparison to that for vacuum. It is also shown that the breakdown of
Lorentz invariance for the magnetic susceptibility, caused by the finite
chemical potential, turns out to be small.


title: Measured foliations and Hilbert 12th problem

abstract:
  Yu. I. Manin conjectured that the maximal abelian extensions of the real
quadratic number fields are generated by the pseudo-lattices with real
multiplication. We prove this conjecture using theory of measured foliations on
the modular curves.


title: Molecular quantum phase transistor

abstract:
  This paper has been withdrawn by the authors due to some technical problems
in the paper.


title: Virtual Morse theory on $\Omega Ham(M,\omega)$

abstract:
  We relate previously defined quantum characteristic classes to Morse
theoretic aspects of the Hofer length functional on $\ls$. As an application we
prove a theorem which can be interpreted as stating that this functional
behaves "virtually" as a perfect Morse-Bott functional with a flow. This can be
applied to study topology and Hofer geometry of $ \text {Ham}(M, \omega)$. We
also use this to give a prediction for the index of some geodesics for this
functional, which was recently partially verified by Yael Karshon and Jennifer
Slimowitz.


title:
Fast, Runaway Evaporative Cooling to Bose-Einstein Condensation in
  Optical Traps

abstract:
  We demonstrate a simple scheme to achieve fast, runaway evaporative cooling
of optically trapped atoms by tilting the optical potential with a magnetic
field gradient. Runaway evaporation is possible in this trap geometry due to
the weak dependence of vibration frequencies on trap depth, which preserves
atomic density during the evaporation process. Using this scheme, we show that
Bose-Einstein condensation with ~10^5 cesium atoms can be realized in 2~4 s of
forced evaporation. The evaporation speed and energetics are consistent with
the three-dimensional evaporation picture, despite the fact that atoms can only
leave the trap in the direction of tilt.


title:
On the distribution of career longevity and the evolution of home run
  prowess in professional baseball

abstract:
  Statistical analysis is a major aspect of baseball, from player averages to
historical benchmarks and records. Much of baseball fanfare is based around
players exceeding the norm, some in a single game and others over a long
career. Career statistics serve as a metric for classifying players and
establishing their historical legacy. However, the concept of records and
benchmarks assumes that the level of competition in baseball is stationary in
time. Here we show that power-law probability density functions, a hallmark of
many complex systems that are driven by competition, govern career longevity in
baseball. We also find similar power laws in the density functions of all major
performance metrics for pitchers and batters. The use of performance-enhancing
drugs has a dark history, emerging as a problem for both amateur and
professional sports. We find statistical evidence consistent with
performance-enhancing drugs in the analysis of home runs hit by players in the
last 25 years. This is corroborated by the findings of the Mitchell Report [1],
a two-year investigation into the use of illegal steroids in major league
baseball, which recently revealed that over 5 percent of major league baseball
players tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs in an anonymous 2003
survey.


title:
Elastic contact between self-affine surfaces: Comparison of numerical
  stress and contact correlation functions with analytic predictions

abstract:
  Contact between an elastic manifold and a rigid substrate with a self-affine
fractal surface is reinvestigated with Green's function molecular dynamics.
Stress and contact autocorrelation functions (ACFs) are found to decrease
algebraically. A rationale is provided for the observed similarity in the
exponents for stress and contact ACFs. Both exponents differ substantially from
analytic predictions over the range of Hurst roughness exponents studied. The
effect of increasing the range of interactions from a hard sphere repulsion to
exponential decay is analyzed. Results for exponential interactions are
accurately described by recent systematic corrections to Persson's contact
mechanics theory. The relation between the area of simply connected contact
patches and the normal force is also studied. Below a threshold size the
contact area and force are consistent with Hertzian contact mechanics, while
area and force are linearly related in larger contact patches.


title:
Structural identification of cubic iron-oxide nanocrystal mixtures:
  X-ray powder diffraction versus quasi-kinematic transmission electron
  microscopy

abstract:
  Two novel (and proprietary) strategies for the structural identification of a
nanocrystal from either a single high-resolution (HR) transmission electron
microscopy (TEM) image or a single precession electron diffraction pattern are
proposed and their advantages discussed in comparison to structural
fingerprinting from powder X-ray diffraction patterns. Simulations for cubic
magnetite and maghemite nanocrystals are used as examples. This is an expanded
and updated version of a conference paper that has been published in Suppl.
Proc. of TMS 2008, 137th Annual Meeting & Exhibition, Volume 1, Materials
Processing and Properties, pp. 25-32.


title: Theory of angle-resolved photoemission experiments on a two-band model

abstract:
  Considering the electron states inside and outside the solid, we derive a
formula of photoemission intensity. A general theoretical way to determine
electronic structures of solids from ARPES experiments is outlined. It is shown
that the spectral function inside the solids cannot be measured directly by
ARPES, the effects of free electron states on the electronic structure observed
by ARPES measurements must be considered, and the results from ARPES
experiments cannot be understood until these results have been made consistent
with a theoretical calculation.


title:
Nonmodal energy growth and optimal perturbations in compressible plane
  Couette flow

abstract:
  Nonmodal transient growth studies and estimation of optimal perturbations
have been made for the compressible plane Couette flow with three-dimensional
disturbances. The maximum amplification of perturbation energy over time,
$G_{\max}$, is found to increase with increasing Reynolds number ${\it Re}$,
but decreases with increasing Mach number $M$. More specifically, the optimal
energy amplification $G_{\rm opt}$ (the supremum of $G_{\max}$ over both the
streamwise and spanwise wavenumbers) is maximum in the incompressible limit and
decreases monotonically as $M$ increases. The corresponding optimal streamwise
wavenumber, $\alpha_{\rm opt}$, is non-zero at M=0, increases with increasing
$M$, reaching a maximum for some value of $M$ and then decreases, eventually
becoming zero at high Mach numbers. While the pure streamwise vortices are the
optimal patterns at high Mach numbers, the modulated streamwise vortices are
the optimal patterns for low-to-moderate values of the Mach number. Unlike in
incompressible shear flows, the streamwise-independent modes in the present
flow do not follow the scaling law $G(t/{\it Re}) \sim {\it Re}^2$, the reasons
for which are shown to be tied to the dominance of some terms in the linear
stability operator. Based on a detailed nonmodal energy analysis, we show that
the transient energy growth occurs due to the transfer of energy from the mean
flow to perturbations via an inviscid {\it algebraic} instability. The decrease
of transient growth with increasing Mach number is also shown to be tied to the
decrease in the energy transferred from the mean flow ($\dot{\mathcal E}_1$) in
the same limit.


title: Binary Decision Diagrams for Affine Approximation

abstract:
  Selman and Kautz's work on ``knowledge compilation'' established how
approximation (strengthening and/or weakening) of a propositional
knowledge-base can be used to speed up query processing, at the expense of
completeness. In this classical approach, querying uses Horn over- and
under-approximations of a given knowledge-base, which is represented as a
propositional formula in conjunctive normal form (CNF). Along with the class of
Horn functions, one could imagine other Boolean function classes that might
serve the same purpose, owing to attractive deduction-computational properties
similar to those of the Horn functions. Indeed, Zanuttini has suggested that
the class of affine Boolean functions could be useful in knowledge compilation
and has presented an affine approximation algorithm. Since CNF is awkward for
presenting affine functions, Zanuttini considers both a sets-of-models
representation and the use of modulo 2 congruence equations. In this paper, we
propose an algorithm based on reduced ordered binary decision diagrams
(ROBDDs). This leads to a representation which is more compact than the sets of
models and, once we have established some useful properties of affine Boolean
functions, a more efficient algorithm.


title:
Global-Vector Representation of the Angular Motion of Few-Particle
  Systems II

abstract:
  The angular motion of a few-body system is described with global vectors
which depend on the positions of the particles. The previous study using a
single global vector is extended to make it possible to describe both natural
and unnatural parity states. Numerical examples include three- and four-nucleon
systems interacting via nucleon-nucleon potentials of AV8 type and a 3$\alpha$
system with a nonlocal $\alpha\alpha$ potential. The results using the
explicitly correlated Gaussian basis with the global vectors are shown to be in
good agreement with those of other methods. A unique role of the unnatural
parity component, caused by the tensor force, is clarified in the $0^-_1$ state
of $^4$He. Two-particle correlation function is calculated in the coordinate
and momentum spaces to show different characteristics of the interactions
employed.


title:
Elasticity of nuclear medium as a principal macrodynamical promoter of
  electric dipole pygmy resonance

abstract:
  Motivated by arguments of the nuclear core-layer model formulated in [S.I.
Bastrukov, J.A. Maruhn, Z.Phys. A 335 (1990) 139], the macroscopic excitation
mechanism of electric pygmy dipole resonance (PDR) is considered as owing its
origin to perturbation-induced effective decomposition of nucleus into two
spherical domains - undisturbed inner region treated as static core and
dynamical layer undergoing elastic shear vibrations. The focus is placed on the
imprinted in the core-layer model mechanism of emergence of the low-energy
dipole electric resonant excitation as Goldstone soft mode of translation
layer-against-core oscillations. To accentuate this attitude we regain the
obtained in the above paper spectral equation for the frequency of spheroidal
elastic vibrations trapped in the finite-depth layer, but by working from
canonical equation of elastic dynamics of continuous medium. The obtained
analytic equations for the frequency of dipole vibrational state in question
and its excitation strength exhibit fundamental character of this soft dipole
mode of nuclear resonant response.


title:
Linear stability, transient energy growth and the role of viscosity
  stratification in compressible plane Couette flow

abstract:
  Linear stability and the non-modal transient energy growth in compressible
plane Couette flow are investigated for two prototype mean flows: (a) the {\it
uniform shear} flow with constant viscosity, and (b) the {\it non-uniform
shear} flow with {\it stratified} viscosity. Both mean flows are linearly
unstable for a range of supersonic Mach numbers ($M$). For a given $M$, the
critical Reynolds number ($Re$) is significantly smaller for the uniform shear
flow than its non-uniform shear counterpart. An analysis of perturbation energy
reveals that the instability is primarily caused by an excess transfer of
energy from mean-flow to perturbations. It is shown that the energy-transfer
from mean-flow occurs close to the moving top-wall for ``mode I'' instability,
whereas it occurs in the bulk of the flow domain for ``mode II''. For the
non-modal analysis, it is shown that the maximum amplification of perturbation
energy, $G_{\max}$, is significantly larger for the uniform shear case compared
to its non-uniform counterpart. For $\alpha=0$, the linear stability operator
can be partitioned into ${\cal L}\sim \bar{\cal L} + Re^2{\cal L}_p$, and the
$Re$-dependent operator ${\cal L}_p$ is shown to have a negligibly small
contribution to perturbation energy which is responsible for the validity of
the well-known quadratic-scaling law in uniform shear flow: $G(t/{\it Re}) \sim
{\it Re}^2$. A reduced inviscid model has been shown to capture all salient
features of transient energy growth of full viscous problem. For both modal and
non-modal instability, it is shown that the {\it viscosity-stratification} of
the underlying mean flow would lead to a delayed transition in compressible
Couette flow.


title:
An ideal mass assignment scheme for measuring the Power Spectrum with
  FFTs

abstract:
  In measuring the power spectrum of the distribution of large numbers of dark
matter particles in simulations, or galaxies in observations, one has to use
Fast Fourier Transforms (FFT) for calculational efficiency. However, because of
the required mass assignment onto grid points in this method, the measured
power spectrum $\la |\delta^f(k)|^2\ra$ obtained with an FFT is not the true
power spectrum $P(k)$ but instead one that is convolved with a window function
$|W(\vec k)|^2$ in Fourier space. In a recent paper, Jing (2005) proposed an
elegant algorithm to deconvolve the sampling effects of the window function and
to extract the true power spectrum, and tests using N-body simulations show
that this algorithm works very well for the three most commonly used mass
assignment functions, i.e., the Nearest Grid Point (NGP), the Cloud In Cell
(CIC) and the Triangular Shaped Cloud (TSC) methods. In this paper, rather than
trying to deconvolve the sampling effects of the window function, we propose to
select a particular function in performing the mass assignment that can
minimize these effects. An ideal window function should fulfill the following
criteria: (i) compact top-hat like support in Fourier space to minimize the
sampling effects; (ii) compact support in real space to allow a fast and
computationally feasible mass assignment onto grids. We find that the scale
functions of Daubechies wavelet transformations are good candidates for such a
purpose. Our tests using data from the Millennium Simulation show that the true
power spectrum of dark matter can be accurately measured at a level better than
2% up to $k=0.7k_N$, without applying any deconvolution processes. The new
scheme is especially valuable for measurements of higher order statistics, e.g.
the bi-spectrum,........


title: A Theoretical Study of Mafia Games

abstract:
  Mafia can be described as an experiment in human psychology and mass
hysteria, or as a game between informed minority and uninformed majority. Focus
on a very restricted setting, Mossel et al. [to appear in Ann. Appl. Probab.
Volume 18, Number 2] showed that in the mafia game without detectives, if the
civilians and mafias both adopt the optimal randomized strategy, then the two
groups have comparable probabilities of winning exactly when the total player
size is R and the mafia size is of order Sqrt(R). They also proposed a
conjecture which stated that this phenomenon should be valid in a more
extensive framework. In this paper, we first indicate that the main theorem
given by Mossel et al. [to appear in Ann. Appl. Probab. Volume 18, Number 2]
can not guarantee their conclusion, i.e., the two groups have comparable
winning probabilities when the mafia size is of order Sqrt(R). Then we give a
theorem which validates the correctness of their conclusion. In the last, by
proving the conjecture proposed by Mossel et al. [to appear in Ann. Appl.
Probab. Volume 18, Number 2], we generalize the phenomenon to a more extensive
framework, of which the mafia game without detectives is only a special case.


title:
Exploring star formation using the filaments in the Sloan Digital Sky
  Survey Data Release Five (SDSS DR5)

abstract:
  We have quantified the average filamentarity of the galaxy distribution in
seven nearly two dimensional strips from the SDSS DR5 using a volume limited
sample in the absolute magnitude range -21 < M_r < -20. The average
filamentarity of star forming (SF) galaxies, which are predominantly blue, is
found to be more than that of other galaxies which are predominantly red. This
difference is possibly an outcome of the fact that blue galaxies have a more
filamentary distribution. Comparing the SF galaxies with only the blue other
galaxies, we find that the two show nearly equal filamentarity. Separately
analyzing the galaxies with high star formation rates (SFR) and low SFR, we
find that the latter has a more filamentary distribution. We interpret this in
terms of two effects (1.) A correlation between the SFR and individual galaxy
properties like luminosity with the high SFR galaxies being more luminous (2.)
A relation between the SFR and environmental effects like the density with the
high SFR galaxies preferentially occurring in high density regions. These two
effects are possibly not independent and are operating simultaneously. We do
not find any difference in the filamentarity of SF galaxies and AGNs.


title: Radion effective potential in brane gas cosmology

abstract:
  We consider a cosmological solution which can explain anisotropic evolution
of spatial dimensions and the stabilization of extra dimensions in brane gas
formalism. We evaluate the effective potentials, induced by brane gas, bulk
flux and supergravity particles, which govern the sizes of the observed three
and the extra dimensions. It is possible that the wrapped internal volume can
oscillate between two turning points or sit at the minimum of the potential
while the unwrapped three dimensional volume can expand monotonically.
Including the supergravity particles makes the effective potential steeper as
the internal volume shrinks.


title: Private Handshakes

abstract:
  Private handshaking allows pairs of users to determine which (secret) groups
they are both a member of. Group membership is kept secret to everybody else.
Private handshaking is a more private form of secret handshaking, because it
does not allow the group administrator to trace users. We extend the original
definition of a handshaking protocol to allow and test for membership of
multiple groups simultaneously. We present simple and efficient protocols for
both the single group and multiple group membership case.
  Private handshaking is a useful tool for mutual authentication, demanded by
many pervasive applications (including RFID) for privacy. Our implementations
are efficient enough to support such usually resource constrained scenarios.


title: Power Law in Micro-Canonical Ensemble with Scaling Volume Fluctuations

abstract:
  Volume fluctuations are introduced in a statistical modelling of relativistic
particle collisions. The micro-canonical ensemble is used, and the volume
fluctuations are assumed to have the specific scaling properties. This leads to
the KNO scaling of the particle multiplicity distributions as measured in p+p
interactions. A striking prediction of the model is a power law form of the
single particle momentum spectrum at high momenta. Moreover, the mean
multiplicity of heavy particles also decreases as a function of the particle
mass according to a power law. Finally, it is shown that the dependence of the
momentum spectrum on the particle mass and momentum reduces to the dependence
on the particle energy. These results resemble the properties of particle
production in collisions of high energy particles.


title:
Interband Effects of Magnetic Field on Hall Effects for Dirac Electrons
  in Bismuth

abstract:
  Hall effects are investigated for three-dimensional Dirac electrons as a
model of bismuth alloys. It is found that there is unconventional contributions
to the Hall conductivity $\sigma_{xy}$ generated by the interband effects of a
magnetic field. This phenomena is remarkable near the band-edge. The Hall
coefficient exhibits two unexpected properties; a sharp peak at around the
band-edges, and a drastic sign change in the band gap region. Implications of
the present results to bismuth alloys are discussed.


title: Suzaku Observations of the cluster of galaxies Abell 2052

abstract:
  The results from Suzaku XIS observations of the relaxed cluster of galaxies
Abell2052 are presented. Offset pointing data are used to estimate the Galactic
foreground emission in the direction to the cluster. Significant soft X-ray
excess emission above this foreground, the intra-cluster medium emission, and
other background components is confirmed and resolved spectroscopically and
radially. This excess can be described either by (a) local variations of known
Galactic emission components or (b) an additional thermal component with
temperature of about 0.2 keV, possibly associated with the cluster. The radial
temperature and metal abundance profiles of the intra-cluster medium are
measured within \sim 20 in radius (about 60% of the virial radius) from the
cluster center . The temperature drops radially to 0.5-0.6 of the peak value at
a radius of \sim 15'. The gas-mass-weighted metal abundance averaged over the
observed region is found to be 0.21 +- 0.05 times solar.


title:
Towards a robust estimate of the merger rate evolution using near-IR
  photometry

abstract:
  We use a combination of deep, high angular resolution imaging data from the
CDFS (HST/ACS GOODS survey) and ground based near-IR $K_s$ images to derive the
evolution of the galaxy major merger rate in the redshift range $0.2 \leq z
\leq 1.2$. We select galaxies on the sole basis of their J-band rest-frame,
absolute magnitude, which is a good tracer of the stellar mass. We find steep
evolution with redshift, with the merger rate $\propto (1+z)^{3.43\pm0.49}$ for
optically selected pairs, and $\propto (1+z)^{2.18\pm0.18}$ for pairs selected
in the near-IR. Our result is unlikely to be affected by luminosity evolution
which is relatively modest when using rest-frame J band selection. The
apparently more rapid evolution that we find in the visible is likely caused by
biases relating to incompleteness and spatial resolution affecting the ground
based near IR photometry, underestimating pair counts at higher redshifts in
the near-IR. The major merger rate was $\sim$5.6 times higher at $z\sim1.2$
than at the current epoch. Overall 41%$\times$($0.5\gyr$/$\tau$) of all
galaxies with $M_J\leq-19.5$ have undergone a major merger in the last $\sim8
\gyr$, where $\tau$ is the merger timescale. Interestingly, we find no effect
on the derived major merger rate due to the presence of the large scale
structure at $z=0.735$ in the CDFS.


title: Statistical analysis of an archeological find

abstract:
  In 1980, a burial tomb was unearthed in Jerusalem containing ossuaries
(limestone coffins) bearing such inscriptions as Yeshua son of Yehosef, Marya,
Yoseh--names which match those of New Testament (NT) figures, but were
otherwise in common use. This paper discusses certain statistical aspects of
authenticating or repudiating links between this find and the NT family. The
available data are laid out, and we examine the distribution of names
(onomasticon) of the era. An approach is proposed for measuring the
``surprisingness'' of the observed outcome relative to a ``hypothesis'' that
the tombsite belonged to the NT family. On the basis of a particular--but far
from uncontested--set of assumptions, our measure of ``surprisingness'' is
significantly high.


title: Discussion of: Statistical analysis of an archeological find

abstract:
  Discussion of ``Statistical analysis of an archeological find'' by Andrey
Feuerverger [arXiv:0804.0079]


title: Z' Coupling Information from the LHeC

abstract:
  If the LHC discovers a $Z'$-like state the extraction of its couplings to the
particles of the Standard Model becomes mandatory in order to determine the
nature of the underlying new physics theory. It has been well-known for some
time that the direct measurements performed at the LHC in the Drell-Yan channel
cannot determine these parameters uniquely in a model-independent manner even
if large integrated luminosities, $\sim 100 fb^{-1}$, become available and the
$Z'$ is relatively light $\lsim 1.5$ TeV. Here we examine the possibility that
a proposed $e_{L,R}^\pm p$ collider upgrade at the LHC, the LHeC, with $\sqrt
s=1.5-2$ TeV could be helpful with such coupling determinations in the years
before a Linear Collider is constructed. We show that the polarization and
charge asymmetries constructed from the cross sections for these processes can
be useful in this regard depending upon the specific values of the particular
$Z'$ model parameters.


title: Realization of the quantum Toffoli gate with trapped ions

abstract:
  Algorithms for quantum information processing are usually decomposed into
sequences of quantum gate operations, most often realized with single- and two-
qubit gates[1]. While such operations constitute a universal set for quantum
computation, gates acting on more than two qubits can simplify the
implementation of complex quantum algorithms[2]. Thus, a single three-qubit
operation can replace a complex sequence of two-qubit gates, which in turn
promises faster execution with potentially higher Fidelity. One important
three-qubit operation is the quantum Toffoli gate which performs a NOT
operation on a target qubit depending on the state of two control qubits. Here
we present the first experimental realization of the quantum Toffoli gate in an
ion trap quantum computer. Our implementation is particular effcient as we
directly encode the relevant logic information in the motion of the ion string.
[1] DiVincenzo, D. P. Two-bit gates are universal for quantum computation.
cond-mat/9407022, Phys.Rev. A 51, 1015-1022 (1995). [2] Chiaverini, J. et al.
Realization of quantum error correction. Nature 432, 602-605 (2004).


title: Novel Sets of Coupling Expansion Parameters for low-energy pQCD

abstract:
  In quantum theory, physical amplitudes are usually presented in the form of
Feynman perturbation series in powers of coupling constant $\al .$ However, it
is known that these amplitudes are not regular functions at $\alpha=0 .$
  For QCD, we propose new sets of expansion parameters ${\bf w}_k(\as)$ that
reflect singularity at $\as=0 $ and should be used instead of powers $\as^k.$
Their explicit form is motivated by the so called Analytic Perturbation Theory.
These parameters reveal saturation in a strong coupling case at the level
$\as^{eff}(\as\gg1)={\bf w}_1(\as\gg 1) \sim 0.5 .$ They can be used for
quanitative analysis of divers low-energy amplitudes.
  We argue that this new picture with non-power sets of perturbation expansion
parameters, as well as the saturation feature, is of a rather general nature.


title: Strings in five-dimensional anti-de Sitter space with a symmetry

abstract:
  The equation of motion of an extended object in spacetime reduces to an
ordinary differential equation in the presence of symmetry. By properly
defining of the symmetry with notion of cohomogeneity, we discuss the method
for classifying all these extended objects. We carry out the classification for
the strings in the five-dimensional anti-de Sitter space by the effective use
of the local isomorphism between $\SO(4,2)$ and $\SU(2,2)$. We present a
general method for solving the trajectory of the Nambu-Goto string and apply to
a case obtained by the classification, thereby find a new solution which has
properties unique to odd-dimensional anti-de Sitter spaces. The geometry of the
solution is analized and found to be a timelike helicoid-like surface.


title: Feedback control of the fluorescence light squeezing

abstract:
  We consider a two-level atom stimulated by a coherent monochromatic laser and
we study how to enhance the squeezing of the fluorescence light and of the atom
itself in the presence of a Wiseman-Milburn feedback mechanism, based on the
homodyne detection of a fraction of the emitted light. Besides analyzing the
effect of the control parameters on the squeezing properties of the light and
of the atom, we also discuss the relations among these. The problem is tackled
inside the framework of quantum trajectory theory.


abstract:
  This paper ("Two-Level Chromophore and Irreversibility", which can be found
at arXiv:0804.0086) has been withdrawn by the author due to too many errors and
misleading statements. This paper has been superseded by Section 2.11 and
Chapter 7 (and other sections) of my Ph.D. dissertation ("Pressure Broadening
and Pressure Shift of Diatomic Iodine at 675 nm"), which can be found at
arXiv:0910.5053.


title:
Beating the standard quantum limit: Phase super-sensitivity of N-photon
  interferometers

abstract:
  Quantum metrology promises greater sensitivity for optical phase measurements
than could ever be achieved classically. Here we present a theory of the phase
sensitivity for the general case where the detection probability is given by an
$N$ photon interference fringe. We find that the phase sensitivity has a
complex dependence on both the intrinsic efficiency of detection $\eta$ and the
interference fringe visibility $V$. Most importantly, the phase that gives
maximum phase sensitivity is in general not the same as the phase at which the
slope of the interference fringe is a maximum, as has previously been assumed.
We determine the parameter range where quantum enhanced sensitivity can be
achieved. In order to illustrate these theoretical results, we perform a four
photon experiment with $\eta=3/4$ and $V=82\pm6$% (an extension of our previous
work [Science \textbf{316}, 726 (2007)]) and find a phase sensitivity 1.3 times
greater than the standard quantum limit at a phase different to that which
gives maximum slope of the interference fringe.


title:
Schlomilch and Bell Series for Bessel's Functions, with Probabilistic
  Applications

abstract:
  We have introduced and investigated so-called Shlomilchs and Bells series for
modified Bessel's functions, namely, their asymptotic and non-asymptotic
properties, connection with Stirling's and Bell's numbers etc.
  We have obtained exact constants in the moment inequalities for sums of
centered independent random variables, improved their asymptotical properties,
found lower and upper bounds, calculated a more exact approximation, elaborated
the numerical algorithm for their calculation, studied the class of smoothing,
etc.


title: Discussion of: Statistical analysis of an archaeological find


title:
A family of conformally flat Hamiltonian-minimal Lagrangian tori in
  $\mathbb{CP}^3$

abstract:
  In this paper by reduction we construct a family of conformally flat
Hamiltonian-minimal Lagrangian tori in $\mathbb{CP}^3$ as the image of the
composition of the Hopf map $\mathcal{H}: \mathbb{S}^7\to \mathbb{CP}^3$ and a
map $\psi:\mathbb{R}^3 \to \mathbb{S}^7$ with certain conditions.


title: The Nebulosity and Distance of the Cepheid RS Puppis

abstract:
  Adopting a distance for RS Pup derived from a period-luminosity relation
based on Cepheid parallaxes, it is shown that the phase-lag observations of the
surrounding nebulosity by Kervella et al. are well fitted by a model of an
equatorial disc at an angle of 8.1 $\pm$ 0.6 degrees to the plane of the sky.
The astrophysical implications of this are briefly mentioned.


title:
Discussion of: Statistical analysis of an archeological find--skeptical
  counting challenges to an archaeological find


title: Witnessing Galaxy-SMBH Co-Evolution at Redshift ~ 2

abstract:
  In a recent multiwavelength study of galaxies at redshift ~ 2 by Daddi et al.
(2007a,b) it is shown that galaxies with a Mid-IR excess most likely harbor a
Compton-thick AGN, thus bringing to about 1/3 the fraction of z ~ 2 galaxies
hosting an AGN. This finding opens a number of intriguing issues concerning the
concomitant growth of galaxies and supermassive black holes, AGN feedback, and
downsizing, at the cosmic epoch of most intense star formation and nuclear
activity.


title:
Spin orbit interaction induced spin-separation in platinum
  nanostructures

abstract:
  Hirsch (1999) proposed a mechanism and geometry for the observation of the
spin-Hall effect. In this work, we present a novel realization of the Hirsch
geometry in a platinum (Pt) nanostructure, which is an increasingly important
material for spintronics applications. Measurements were made in a non-local
geometry to avoid spurious effects. The measurements show the large spin Hall
conductivity of Pt. The results are compared with gold (Au) and aluminum (Al).
Possible theoretical explanations of our observations are briefly mentioned.


abstract:
  We critique the analysis by A. Feuerverger of an archaeological find
[arXiv:0804.0079] that has been alleged by some to be the tomb of Jesus of
Nazareth. We show that his analysis rests on six faulty assumptions that have
been severely criticized by historians, archaeologists, and scholars in related
disciplines. We summarize the results of an alternative computation using
Bayes' theorem that estimates a probability of less than 2% that the Talpiot
tomb belongs to Jesus of Nazareth.


title: A splitting criterion for vector bundles on blowing ups of the plane

abstract:
  Let $f_s: X_s \to {\bf {P}}^2$ be the blowing-up of $s$ distinct points and
$E$ a vector bundle on $X_s$. Here we give a cohomological criterio which is
equivalent to $E \cong f_s^\ast (A)$ with $A$ a direct sum of line bundles. We
also some cohomological characterizations of very particular rank 2 vector
bundles on ${\bf {P}}^2$.


title: Vector Bundles on Products of Varieties with $n$-blocks Collections

abstract:
  Here we consider the product of varieties with $n$-blocks collections . We
give some cohomological splitting conditions for rank 2 bundles. A
cohomological characterization for vector bundles is also provided. The tools
are Beilinson's type spectral sequences generalized by Costa and Mir\'o-Roig.
Moreover we introduce a notion of Castelnuovo-Mumford regularity on a product
of finitely many projective spaces and smooth quadric hypersurfaces in order to
prove two splitting criteria for vector bundle with arbitrary rank.


title: Grassmannians of classical buildings

abstract:
  This book is dedicated to Grassmannians associated with buildings of
classical types: usual, polar, and half-spin Grassmannians. Grassmannians of
vector spaces and Grassmannians consisting of totally isotropic subspaces of
non-degenerate alternating, Hermitian, and symmetric forms are special cases of
these "building" Grassmannians.


title: Discussion of: Bayesian views of an archaeological find

abstract:
  Discussion of ``Statistical analysis of an archeological find'' by Andrey
Feuerverger [arXiv:0804.0079]


title: Rejoinder of: Statistical analysis of an archeological find

abstract:
  Rejoinder of ``Statistical analysis of an archeological find''
[arXiv:0804.0079]


title:
Prescription de la multiplicit\'e des valeurs propres du laplacien de
  Hodge-de Rham

abstract:
  On any compact manifold of dimension greater than 6, we prescribe the volume
and any finite part of the spectrum Hodge Laplacian acting on $p$-form for
$1\leq p<\frac n2$. In particular, we prescribe the multiplicity of the first
eigenvalues.


title: The Unique Frequency Spectrum of the Blazhko RRc Star LS Her

abstract:
  The Blazhko effect in RR Lyrae stars is still poorly understood
theoretically. Stars with multiple Blazhko periods or in which the Blazhko
effect itself varies are particularly challenging. This study investigates the
Blazhko effect in the RRc star LS Her. Detailed VRI CCD photometry has been
performed on 63 nights during six months. LS Her is confirmed to have a Blazhko
period of 12.75+/-0.02 days. However, where normally the side frequencies of
the Blazhko triplet are expected, an equidistant group of three frequencies is
found on both sides of the main pulsation frequency. As a consequence the
period and amplitude of the Blazhko effect itself vary in a cycle of 109+/-4
days. LS Her is a unique object turning out to be very important in the
verification of the theories for the Blazhko effect.


title:
Multiple hadron production in e+e- annihilation induced by heavy primary
  quarks. New analysis

abstract:
  In this paper we present an analysis of the multiple hadron production
induced by primary heavy quarks in e+e- annihilation with the account of most
complete and corrected experimental data. In the framework of perturbative QCD,
new theoretical bounds on the asymptotically constant differences of the
multiplicities in processes with light and heavy quarks are given.


title: Fluctuation-Dissipation Theorem for the Microcanonical Ensemble

abstract:
  A derivation of the Fluctuation-Dissipation Theorem for the microcanonical
ensemble is presented using linear response theory. The theorem is stated as a
relation between the frequency spectra of the symmetric correlation and
response functions. When the system is not in the thermodinamic limit, this
result can be viewed as an extension of the fluctuation-dissipation relations
to a situation where dynamical fluctuations determine the response. Therefore,
the relation presented here between equilibrium fluctuations and response can
have a very different physical nature from the usual one in the canonical
ensemble. These considerations imply that the Fluctuation-Dissipation Theorem
is not restricted to the context of thermal equilibrium, where it is usually
derived. Dispersion relations and sum rules are also obtained and discussed in
the present case. Although analogous to the Kramers-Kronig relations, they are
not related to the frequency spectrum but to the energy dependence of the
response function.


title:
Estimating Acceleration and Lane-Changing Dynamics Based on NGSIM
  Trajectory Data

abstract:
  The NGSIM trajectory data sets provide longitudinal and lateral positional
information for all vehicles in certain spatiotemporal regions. Velocity and
acceleration information cannot be extracted directly since the noise in the
NGSIM positional information is greatly increased by the necessary numerical
differentiations. We propose a smoothing algorithm for positions, velocities
and accelerations that can also be applied near the boundaries. The smoothing
time interval is estimated based on velocity time series and the variance of
the processed acceleration time series. The velocity information obtained in
this way is then applied to calculate the density function of the
two-dimensional distribution of velocity and inverse distance, and the density
of the distribution corresponding to the ``microscopic'' fundamental diagram.
Furthermore, it is used to calculate the distributions of time gaps and
times-to-collision, conditioned to several ranges of velocities and velocity
differences. By simulating virtual stationary detectors we show that the
probability for critical values of the times-to-collision is greatly
underestimated when estimated from single-vehicle data of stationary detectors.
Finally, we investigate the lane-changing process and formulate a quantitative
criterion for the duration of lane changes that is based on the trajectory
density in normalized coordinates. Remarkably, there is a very noisy but
significant velocity advantage in favor of the targeted lane that decreases
immediately before the change due to anticipatory accelerations.


title: Mechanisms for Lasing with Cold Atoms as the Gain Medium

abstract:
  We realize a laser with a cloud of cold rubidium atoms as gain medium, placed
in a low-finesse cavity. Three different regimes of laser emission are observed
corresponding respectively to Mollow, Raman and Four Wave Mixing mechanisms. We
measure an output power of up to 300 $\mu$W and present the main properties of
these different lasers in each regime.


title:
Observational constraints on the dark energy and dark matter mutual
  coupling

abstract:
  We examine different phenomenological interaction models for Dark Energy and
Dark Matter by performing statistical joint analysis with observational data
arising from the 182 Gold type Ia supernova samples, the shift parameter of the
Cosmic Microwave Background given by the three-year Wilkinson Microwave
Anisotropy Probe observations, the baryon acoustic oscillation measurement from
the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and age estimates of 35 galaxies. Including the
time-dependent observable, we add sensitivity of measurement and give
complementary results for the fitting. The compatibility among three different
data sets seem to imply that the coupling between dark energy and dark matter
is a small positive value, which satisfies the requirement to solve the
coincidence problem and the second law of thermodynamics, being compatible with
previous estimates.


title: N2H+ and HC3N Observations of the Orion A Cloud

abstract:
  The ``integral-shaped filament'' of the Orion A giant molecular cloud was
mapped in N2H+, and its northern end, the OMC-2/3 region was observed also in
HC3N and CCS. The N2H+ distribution is similar to the dust continuum
distribution, except for the central part of the Orion Nebula. The distribution
of H13CO+ holds resemblance to that of dust continuum, but the N2H+
distribution looks more similar to dust continuum distribution. The N-bearing
molecules, N2H+ and NH3 seem to be more intense in OMC-2, compared with the
H13CO+ and CS distribution. We identified 34 cloud cores from N2H+ data. Over
the Orion Nebula region, the N2H+ linewidth is large (1.1-2.1 km/s). In the
OMC-2/3 region, it becomes moderate (0.5-1.3 km/s), and it is smaller (0.3-1.1
km/s) in the south of the Orion Nebula. On the other hand, the gas kinetic
temperature of the quiescent cores observed in N2H+ is rather constant (~ 20 K)
over the $\int$-shaped filament. We detected no CCS emission in the OMC-2/3
region. In general, N2H+ and HC3N distribution is quite similar in the OMC-2/3
region, but we observed displacement between N2H+ and HC3N over 2' scale in
OMC-3, which has a chain of Class 0-I protostars (candidates).


title: Commensurability classes of (-2,3,n) pretzel knot complements

abstract:
  Let K be a hyperbolic (-2,3,n) pretzel knot and M = S^3 K its complement. For
these knots, we verify a conjecture of Reid and Walsh: there are at most three
knot complements in the commensurability class of M. Indeed, if n \neq 7, we
show that M is the unique knot complement in its class. We include examples to
illustrate how our methods apply to a broad class of Montesinos knots.


title: Estimates of tempered stable densities

abstract:
  Estimates of densities of convolution semigroups of probability measures are
given under specific assumptions on the corresponding L\'evy measure and the
L\'evy--Khinchin exponent. The assumptions are satisfied, e.g., by tempered
stable semigroups of J. Rosi{\'n}ski.


title: Spectral data for Hamiltonian-minimal Lagrangian tori in $CP^2$

abstract:
  In this work, we find spectral data that allow to find Hamiltonian-minimal
Lagrangian tori in $CP^2$ in terms of theta functions of spectral curves.


title: Time scales separation for dynamo action

abstract:
  The study of dynamo action in astrophysical objects classically involves two
timescales: the slow diffusive one and the fast advective one. We investigate
the possibility of field amplification on an intermediate timescale associated
with time dependent modulations of the flow. We consider a simple steady
configuration for which dynamo action is not realised. We study the effect of
time dependent perturbations of the flow. We show that some vanishing low
frequency perturbations can yield exponential growth of the magnetic field on
the typical time scale of oscillation. The dynamo mechanism relies here on a
parametric instability associated with transient amplification by shear flows.
Consequences on natural dynamos are discussed.


title: First detection of CO in a high-redshift DLA

abstract:
  We present the first detection of carbon monoxide (CO) in a damped
Lyman-alpha system (DLA) at z_abs =2.41837 toward SDSS J143912.04+111740.5. We
also detected H_2 and HD molecules. The measured total column densities (in log
units) of H I, H_2, and CO are 20.10\pm0.10, 19.38\pm0.10, and 13.89\pm0.02,
respectively. The molecular fraction, f = 2N(H_2)/(N(HI)+2N(H_2)) =
0.27^{+0.10}_{-0.08}, is the highest among all known DLAs. The abundances
relative to solar of S, Zn, Si, and Fe are -0.03\pm0.12, +0.16\pm0.11,
-0.86\pm0.11, and -1.32\pm0.11, respectively, indicating a high metal
enrichment and a depletion pattern onto dust-grains similar to the cold ISM of
our Galaxy. The measured {N(CO)/N(H_2) = 3x10^{-6}} is much less than the
conventional CO/H_2 ratio used to convert the CO emission into gaseous mass but
is consistent with what is measured along translucent sightlines in the Galaxy.
The CO rotational excitation temperatures are higher than those measured in our
Galactic ISM for similar kinetic temperature and density. Using the C I fine
structure absorption lines, we show that this is a consequence of the
excitation being dominated by radiative pumping by the cosmic microwave
background radiation (CMBR). From the CO excitation temperatures, we derive
T_CMBR = 9.15 \pm 0.72 K, while 9.315 \pm 0.007 K is expected from the hot
big-bang theory. This is the most precise high-redshift measurement of T_CMBR
and the first confirmation of the theory using molecular transitions at high
redshift.


title:
On a Commutative Ring of Two Variable Differential Operators with Matrix
  Coefficients

abstract:
  In this work, we construct commutative rings of two variable matrix
differential operators that are isomorphic to a ring of meromorphic functions
on a rational manifold obtained from the $CP^1\times CP^1$ by identification of
two lines with the pole on a certain rational curve.


title:
Analytic approach to bifurcation cascades in a class of generalized
  H\'enon-Heiles potentials

abstract:
  We derive stability traces of bifurcating orbits in H\'enon-Heiles potentials
near their saddles


title:
Weak existence of the squared Bessel process and CIR process with skew
  reflection on a deterministic time dependent curve

abstract:
  Using the technique of moving domains, and classical direct stochastic
calculus, we construct the Cox-Ingersoll-Ross process, as well as its square
root, with additional skew reflection on a deterministic time dependent curve.


title:
Proof of W.M.Schmidt's conjecture concerning successive minima of a
  lattice

abstract:
  For a real $N\ge 1$ and a vector $\xi =(1,\xi_1,...,\xi_n)$ define a matrix
$$ {\cal A} (\xi, N) = ({array}{ccccc} N^{-1} & 0& 0& ... &0 \cr
N^{\frac{1}{n}} \xi_1 & -N^{\frac{1}{n}} & 0&... & 0 \cr N^{\frac{1}{n}} \xi_2
&0& -N^{\frac{1}{n}} & ... & 0 \cr ... &... &... &... \cr N^{\frac{1}{n}} \xi_n
&0&0&... &- N^{\frac{1}{n}} {array}) $$ and a lattice $$ \Lambda (\xi, N) =
{\cal A} (\xi, N)\mathbb{Z}^{n+1}. $$ Consider a convex 0-symmetric body
$${\cal W} = \{z= (x,y_1,...,y_n)\in \mathbb{R}^{n+1}: \max (|x|, |y|)\le 1 \}
>.$$
  For a natural $l, 1\le l \le n+1$ let $\mu_l (\xi, N)$ be the $l$-th
successive minimum of ${\cal W}$ with respect to $ \Lambda (\xi, N)$. We prove
that there exist real numbers $\xi_1,...,\xi_n$ linearly independent together
with 1 over $\mathbb{Z}$, such that
  $\mu_k (\xi, N) \to 0$ as $ N\to \infty$ and $\mu_{k+2} (\xi, N) \to \infty$
as $ N\to \infty$.


title:
Basic properties of nonlinear stochastic Schr\"{o}dinger equations
  driven by Brownian motions

abstract:
  The paper is devoted to the study of nonlinear stochastic Schr\"{o}dinger
equations driven by standard cylindrical Brownian motions (NSSEs) arising from
the unraveling of quantum master equations. Under the Born--Markov
approximations, this class of stochastic evolutions equations on Hilbert spaces
provides characterizations of both continuous quantum measurement processes and
the evolution of quantum systems. First, we deal with the existence and
uniqueness of regular solutions to NSSEs. Second, we provide two general
criteria for the existence of regular invariant measures for NSSEs. We apply
our results to a forced and damped quantum oscillator.


title: Outline of the SECOQC Quantum-Key-Distribution Network in Vienna

abstract:
  A Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) network is currently implemented in Vienna
by integrating seven QKD-Link devices that connect five subsidiaries of SIEMENS
Austria. We give an architectural overview of the network and present the
enabling QKD-technologies, as well as the novel QKD network protocols.


title:
Pathwise uniqueness of the squared Bessel and CIR processes with skew
  reflection on a deterministic time dependent curve

abstract:
  We investigate pathwise uniqueness for the squared Bessel and
Cox-Ingersoll-Ross processes with additional reflection term that is multiplied
by some real number strictly between minus one and one. The reflection term is
the symmetric local time of the corresponding processes at a deterministic time
dependent curve.


title:
Dynamical electro-weak symmetry breaking from deformed AdS: vector
  mesons and effective couplings

abstract:
  We study a modification of the five-dimensional description of dynamical
electro-weak symmetry breaking inspired by the AdS/CFT correspondence.
Conformal symmetry is broken in the low-energy region near the IR brane by a
power-law departure from the pure AdS background. Such a modification--while
not spoiling the identification of the IR brane with the scale of confinement--
has a dramatic effect on both the coupling of the first composite states to the
standard model currents and their self-couplings. Chiral symmetry breaking can
take place at a scale larger than the IR cut-off. This study shows that
observables, such as the precision parameter $\hat{S}$, which depend on the
couplings of the lightest composite states to the currents are very sensitive
to the details of the dynamics in the low energy region where conformal
symmetry is lost and electro-weak symmetry is broken just above the scale of
confinement. Therefore results of calculations of these observables in AdS/CFT
inspired scenarios should be interpreted conservatively. The most important
phenomenological consequence for physics at the LHC is that the bound on the
mass scale of the heavy excitations (technirho mesons) in a realistic model is
in general lower than in the pure AdS background with a simple hard-wall cut
off in the IR.


title: Comparing various multi-component global heliosphere models

abstract:
  Modeling of the global heliosphere seeks to investigate the interaction of
the solar wind with the partially ionized local interstellar medium. Models
that treat neutral hydrogen self-consistently and in great detail, together
with the plasma, but that neglect magnetic fields, constitute a sub-category
within global heliospheric models. There are several different modeling
strategies used for this sub-category in the literature. Differences and
commonalities in the modeling results from different strategies are pointed
out. Plasma-only models and fully self-consistent models from four research
groups, for which the neutral species is modeled with either one, three, or
four fluids, or else kinetically, are run with the same boundary parameters and
equations. They are compared to each other with respect to the locations of key
heliospheric boundary locations and with respect to the neutral hydrogen
content throughout the heliosphere. In many respects, the models' predictions
are similar. In particular, the locations of the termination shock agree to
within 7% in the nose direction and to within 14% in the downwind direction.
The nose locations of the heliopause agree to within 5%. The filtration of
neutral hydrogen from the interstellar medium into the inner heliosphere,
however, is model dependent, as are other neutral results including the
hydrogen wall. These differences are closely linked to the strength of the
interstellar bow shock. The comparison also underlines that it is critical to
include neutral hydrogen into global heliospheric models.


title: Dynamical Friction on extended perturbers

abstract:
  Following a wave-mechanical treatment we calculate the drag force exerted by
an infinite homogeneous background of stars on a perturber as this makes its
way through the system. We recover Chandrasekhar's classical dynamical friction
(DF) law with a modified Coulomb logarithm. We take into account a range of
models that encompasses all plausible density distributions for satellite
galaxies by considering the DF exerted on a Plummer sphere and a perturber
having a Hernquist profile. It is shown that the shape of the perturber affects
only the exact form of the Coulomb logarithm. The latter converges on small
scales, because encounters of the test and field stars with impact parameters
less than the size of the massive perturber become inefficient. We confirm this
way earlier results based on the impulse approximation of small angle
scatterings.


title: Convex pricing by a generalized entropy penalty

abstract:
  In an incomplete Brownian-motion market setting, we propose a convex
monotonic pricing functional for nonattainable bounded contingent claims which
is compatible with prices for attainable claims. The pricing functional is
defined as the convex conjugate of a generalized entropy penalty functional and
an interpretation in terms of tracking with instantaneously vanishing risk can
be given.


title:
Symmetry of local minimizers for the three dimensional Ginzburg-Landau
  functional

abstract:
  We classify nonconstant entire local minimizers of the standard
Ginzburg-Landau functional for maps in $H^{1}_{loc}(R^3;R^3)$ satisfying a
natural energy bound. Up to translations and rotations, such solutions of the
Ginzburg-Landau system are given by an explicit solution equivariant under the
action of the orthogonal group.


title: Optimal cloning of unitary transformations

abstract:
  After proving a general no-cloning theorem for black boxes, we derive the
optimal universal cloning of unitary transformations, from one to two copies.
The optimal cloner is realized by quantum channels with memory, and greately
outperforms the optimal measure-and-reprepare cloning strategy. Applications
are outlined, including two-way quantum cryptographic protocols.


title:
Role of deformation on giant resonances within the QRPA approach and the
  Gogny force

abstract:
  Fully consistent axially-symmetric-deformed Quasi-particle Random Phase
Approximation (QRPA) calculations have been performed, in which the same Gogny
D1S effective force has been used for both the Hartree-Fock-Bogolyubov mean
field and the QRPA approaches. Giant resonances calculated in deformed
$^{26-28}$Si and $^{22-24}$Mg nuclei as well as in the spherical $^{30}$Si and
$^{28}$Mg isotopes are presented. Theoretical results for isovector-dipole and
isoscalar monopole, quadrupole, and octupole responses are presented and the
impact of the intrinsic nuclear deformation is discussed.


title:
Hawking radiation of Dirac particles via tunnelling from rotating black
  holes in de Sitter spaces

abstract:
  Hawking radiation from black hole horizon can be viewed as a quantum
tunnelling process, and fermions via tunnelling can successfully recover
Hawking temperature. In this paper, considering the tunnelling particles with
spin 1/2 (namely, Dirac particles), we further improve Kerner and Man's fermion
tunnelling method to study Hawking radiation via tunnelling from rotating black
holes in de Sitter spaces, specifically including that from Kerr de Sitter
black hole and Kerr-Newman de Sitter black hole. As a result, Hawking
temperatures at the event horizon (EH) and the cosmological horizon (CH) are
well described via Dirac particles tunnelling.


title:
The AMIGA sample of isolated galaxies. VI. Radio continuum properties of
  isolated galaxies: a very radio quiet sample

abstract:
  The study of the radio properties of the AMIGA sample is intended to
characterize the radio continuum emission for a sample least affected by local
environment, thus providing a reference against which less isolated and
interacting samples can be compared. Radio continuum data at 325, 1420 and 4850
MHz were extracted from the WENSS, NVSS/FIRST and GB6 surveys, respectively. We
focus on the complete AMIGA subsample composed of 719 galaxies. Comparison
between the NVSS and FIRST detections indicates that the radio continuum is
coming from disk-dominated emission in spiral galaxies, in contrast to the
results found in high-density environments where nuclear activity is more
frequent. The comparison of the radio continuum power with a comparable sample,
which is however not selected with respect to its environment, the Condon et
al. UGC-SF sample of star-forming field galaxies, shows a lower mean value for
the AMIGA sample. We have obtained radio-to-optical flux ratios (R) using the
NVSS radio continuum flux. The distribution of R for the AMIGA galaxies is
consistent with a sample dominated by radio emission from star formation (SF)
and a small number of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN), with less than 3% of the
sample with R > 100. We derived the radio luminosity function (RLF) and total
power density of the radio continuum emission for the AMIGA sample at 1.4 GHz,
and compared them with results from other low redshift studies. The Schechter
fit of the RLF indicates a major weight of the low-luminosity galaxies. The
results indicate the very low level of radio continuum emission in our sample
of isolated galaxies, which is dominated by mild disk SF. It confirms hence the
AMIGA sample as a suitable template to effectively quantify the role of
interactions in samples extracted from denser environments.


title: Fate of partial order on the trillium and distorted windmill lattices

abstract:
  The classical Heisenberg model on the trillium and distorted windmill
lattices exhibits a degenerate ground state within large-$N$ theory, where the
degenerate wavevectors form a surface and line, in 3-dimensional space,
respectively. We name such states partially ordered to represent the existence
of long-range order along the direction normal to these degenerate manifolds.
We investigate the effects of thermal fluctuations using Monte Carlo (MC)
methods, and find a first order transition to a magnetically ordered state for
both cases. We further show that the ordering on the distorted windmill lattice
is due to order by disorder, while the ground state of the trillium lattice is
unique. Despite these different routes to the realization of low temperature
ordered phases, the static structure factors obtained by large-$N$ theory and
MC simulations for each lattice show quantitative agreement in the cooperative
paramagnetic regime at finite temperatures. This suggests that a remnant of the
characteristic angle-dependent spin correlations of partial order remains above
the transition temperatures for both lattices. The possible relevance of these
results to $\beta$-Mn, CeIrSi, and MnSi is discussed.


title: SecMon: End-to-End Quality and Security Monitoring System

abstract:
  The Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is becoming a more available and
popular way of communicating for Internet users. This also applies to
Peer-to-Peer (P2P) systems and merging these two have already proven to be
successful (e.g. Skype). Even the existing standards of VoIP provide an
assurance of security and Quality of Service (QoS), however, these features are
usually optional and supported by limited number of implementations. As a
result, the lack of mandatory and widely applicable QoS and security guaranties
makes the contemporary VoIP systems vulnerable to attacks and network
disturbances. In this paper we are facing these issues and propose the SecMon
system, which simultaneously provides a lightweight security mechanism and
improves quality parameters of the call. SecMon is intended specially for VoIP
service over P2P networks and its main advantage is that it provides
authentication, data integrity services, adaptive QoS and (D)DoS attack
detection. Moreover, the SecMon approach represents a low-bandwidth consumption
solution that is transparent to the users and possesses a self-organizing
capability. The above-mentioned features are accomplished mainly by utilizing
two information hiding techniques: digital audio watermarking and network
steganography. These techniques are used to create covert channels that serve
as transport channels for lightweight QoS measurement's results. Furthermore,
these metrics are aggregated in a reputation system that enables best route
path selection in the P2P network. The reputation system helps also to mitigate
(D)DoS attacks, maximize performance and increase transmission efficiency in
the network.


title:
Infinitesimal affine geometry of metric spaces endowed with a dilatation
  structure

abstract:
  We study algebraic and geometric properties of metric spaces endowed with
dilatation structures, which are emergent during the passage through smaller
and smaller scales. In the limit we obtain a generalization of metric affine
geometry, endowed with a noncommutative vector addition operation and with a
modified version of ratio of three collinear points. This is the geometry of
normed affine group spaces, a category which contains the ones of homogeneous
groups, Carnot groups or contractible groups. In this category group operations
are not fundamental, but derived objects, and the generalization of affine
geometry is not based on incidence relations.


title:
Constraints on the non-linear coupling parameter fnl with the Archeops
  data

abstract:
  We present a Gaussianity analysis of the Archeops Cosmic Microwave Background
(CMB) temperature anisotropy data maps at high resolution to constrain the
non-linear coupling parameter fnl characterising well motivated non-Gaussian
CMB models. We used the data collected by the most sensitive Archeops bolometer
at 143 GHz. The instrumental noise was carefully characterised for this
bolometer, and for another Archeops bolometer at 143 GHz used for comparison.
Angular scales from 27 arcmin to 1.8 degrees and a large fraction of the sky,
21 %, covering both hemispheres (avoiding pixels with Galactic latitude |b| <
15 degrees) were considered.
  The three Minkowski functionals on the sphere evaluated at different
thresholds were used to construct a chi-squared statistics for both the
Gaussian and the non-Gaussian CMB models. The Archeops maps were produced with
the Mirage optimal map-making procedure from processed time ordered data. The
analysis is based on simulations of signal (Gaussian and non-Gaussian fnl CMB
models) and noise which were processed in the time domain using the Archeops
pipeline and projected on the sky using the Mirage optimal map-making
procedure.
  The Archeops data were found to be compatible with Gaussianity after removal
of highly noisy pixels at high resolution. The non-linear coupling parameter
was constrained to -400 < fnl < 590 at 68% CL and -920 < fnl < 1075 at 95% CL,
for realistic non-Gaussian CMB simulations.


title: Phase Transitions in Partially Structured Random Graphs

abstract:
  We study a one parameter family of random graph models that spans a continuum
between traditional random graphs of the Erd\H{o}s-R\'enyi type, where there is
no underlying structure, and percolation models, where the possible edges are
dictated exactly by a geometry. We find that previously developed theories in
the fields of random graphs and percolation have, starting from different
directions, covered almost all the models described by our family. In
particular, the existence or not of a phase transition where a giant cluster
arises has been proved for all values of the parameter but one. We prove that
the single remaining case behaves like a random graph and has a single linearly
sized cluster when the expected vertex degree is greater than one.


title: Discontinuity of capacitance at the onset of surface superconductivity

abstract:
  The effect of the magnetic field on a capacitor with a superconducting
electrode is studied within the Ginzburg-Landau approach. It is shown that the
capacitance has a discontinuity at the onset of the surface superconductivity
$B_{\rm c3}$ which is expressed as a discontinuity in the penetration depth of
the electric field into metals. Estimates show that this discontinuity is
observable with recent bridges for both conventional and high-$T_{\rm c}$
superconductors of the type-II.


title: Galactic Spiral Shocks with Thermal Instability

abstract:
  Using one-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations including interstellar
heating, cooling, and thermal conduction, we investigate nonlinear evolution of
gas flow across galactic spiral arms. We model the gas as a
non-self-gravitating, unmagnetized fluid, and follow its interaction with a
stellar spiral potential in a local frame comoving with the stellar pattern.
Initially uniform gas rapidly separates into warm and cold phases as a result
of thermal instability (TI), and also forms a quasi-steady shock that prompts
phase transitions. After saturation, the flow follows a recurring cycle: warm
and cold phases in the interarm region are shocked and immediately cool to
become a denser cold medium in the arm; post-shock expansion reduces the mean
density to the unstable regime in the transition zone and TI subsequently
mediates evolution back into warm and cold interarm phases. For our standard
model with n_0 = 2 cm^-3, the gas resides in the dense arm, thermally-unstable
transition zone, and interarm region for 14%, 22%, 64% of the arm-to-arm
crossing time. These regions occupy 1%, 16%, and 83% of the arm-to-arm
distance, respectively. Gas at intermediate temperatures represents ~25-30% of
the total mass, similar to the fractions estimated from HI observations.
Despite transient features and multiphase structure, the time-averaged shock
profiles can be matched to that of a diffusive isothermal medium with
temperature 1,000 K and "particle" mean free path of l_0 = 100 pc. Finally, we
quantify numerical conductivity associated with translational motion of
phase-separated gas on the grid, and show that convergence of numerical results
requires the numerical conductivity to be comparable to or smaller than the
physical conductivity. (Abridged)


title: Upper bound on the cutoff in lattice Electroweak theory

abstract:
  We investigate numerically lattice Weinberg - Salam model without fermions
for realistic values of the fine structure constant and the Weinberg angle. We
also analyze the data of the previous numerical investigations of lattice
Electroweak theory. We have found that moving along the line of constant
physics when the lattice spacing $a$ is decreased, one should leave the
physical Higgs phase of the theory at a certain value of $a$. Our estimate of
the minimal value of the lattice spacing is $a_c = [430\pm 40 {\rm Gev}]^{-1}$.


title: Entanglement and transport anomalies in nanowires

abstract:
  A shallow potential well in a near-perfect quantum wire will bind a
single-electron and behave like a quantum dot, giving rise to spin-dependent
resonances of propagating electrons due to Coulomb repulsion and Pauli
blocking. It is shown how this may be used to generate full entanglement
between static and flying spin-qubits near resonance in a two-electron system
via singlet or triplet spin-filtering. In a quantum wire with many electrons,
the same pairwise scattering may be used to explain conductance, thermopower
and shot-noise anomalies, provided the temperature/energy scale is sufficiently
high for Kondo-like many-body effects to be negligible.


title:
A criterion for topological equivalence of two variable complex analytic
  function germs

abstract:
  We show that two analytic function germs $(\C^2,0) \to (\C,0)$ are
topologically right equivalent if and only if there is a one-to-one
correspondence between the irreducible components of their zero sets that
preserves the multiplicites of these components, their Puiseux pairs, and the
intersection numbers of any pairs of distinct components.


title: Effects of High-Order Co-occurrences on Word Semantic Similarities

abstract:
  A computational model of the construction of word meaning through exposure to
texts is built in order to simulate the effects of co-occurrence values on word
semantic similarities, paragraph by paragraph. Semantic similarity is here
viewed as association. It turns out that the similarity between two words W1
and W2 strongly increases with a co-occurrence, decreases with the occurrence
of W1 without W2 or W2 without W1, and slightly increases with high-order
co-occurrences. Therefore, operationalizing similarity as a frequency of
co-occurrence probably introduces a bias: first, there are cases in which there
is similarity without co-occurrence and, second, the frequency of co-occurrence
overestimates similarity.


title: Estimates of Newman Sum over Numbers Multiple of a Fixed Integer

abstract:
  We prove that the ratio of the Newman sum over numbers multiple of a fixed
integer which is not multiple of 3 and the Newman sum over numbers multiple of
a fixed integer divisible by 3 is o(1) when the upper limit of summing tends to
infinity.We also discuss a connection of our results with a digit conjecture on
primes.


title: Complexity and cohomology for cut and projection tilings

abstract:
  We consider a subclass of tilings, the tilings obtained by cut and
projection. Under somewhat standard assumptions, we show that the natural
complexity function has polynomial growth. We compute its exponent \alpha in
terms of the ranks of certain groups which appear in the construction. We give
bounds for \alpha. These computations apply to some well known tilings, such as
the octagonal tilings, or tilings associated with billiard sequences. A link is
made between the exponent of the complexity, and the fact that the cohomology
of the associated tiling space is finitely generated over \Q. We show that such
a link cannot be established for more general tilings, and we present a
counter-example in dimension one.


title:
Alternating dynamic state in intrinsic Josephson-junction stacks
  self-generated by internal resonance

abstract:
  Intrinsic Josephson-junction stacks realized in high-temperature
superconductors provide a very attractive base for developing coherent sources
of electromagnetic radiation in the terahertz frequency range. A promising way
to synchronize phase oscillations in all the junctions is to excite an internal
cavity resonance. We demonstrate that this resonance promotes the formation of
an alternating coherent state, in which the system spontaneously splits into
two subsystems with different phase-oscillation patterns. There is a static
phase shift between the oscillations in the two subsystems which changes from 0
to $2\pi$ in a narrow region near the stack center. The oscillating electric
and magnetic fields are almost homogeneous in all the junctions. The formation
of this state promotes efficient pumping of the energy into the cavity
resonance leading to strong resonance features in the current-voltage
dependence.


title:
Role of vacancies and impurities in the ferromagnetism of semiconducting
  CaB6

abstract:
  We investigate the influence of impurities and vacancies in the formation of
magnetic moment in CaB6 using full potential ab initio band structure
calculations. CaB6 is found to be a band insulator with a band gap of about 0.2
eV. The calculated results indicate that carbon and oxygen substitution in
boron sublattice, usually expected as impurity in low purity borons, do not
play significant role in the local moment formation. Boron vacancy in the boron
sublattice, on the other hand, leads to the formation of an impurity band in
the vicinity of the Fermi level, which exhibit finite exchange splitting and
magnetic moment. All these results provide remarkable representation of the
experimental results. This finding of the role of vacancies in the sublattice
responsible for electronic conduction is an important revelation in the
understanding of ferromagnetism in the diluted electron system.