title: Phenomenology of GUT-less Supersymmetry Breaking

abstract:
  We study models in which supersymmetry breaking appears at an intermediate
scale, M_{in}, below the GUT scale. We assume that the soft
supersymmetry-breaking parameters of the MSSM are universal at M_{in}, and
analyze the morphology of the constraints from cosmology and collider
experiments on the allowed regions of parameter space as M_{in} is reduced from
the GUT scale. We present separate analyses of the (m_{1/2},m_0) planes for
tan(beta)=10 and tan(beta)=50, as well as a discussion of non-zero trilinear
couplings, A_0. Specific scenarios where the gaugino and scalar masses appear
to be universal below the GUT scale have been found in mirage-mediation models,
which we also address here. We demand that the lightest neutralino be the LSP,
and that the relic neutralino density not conflict with measurements by WMAP
and other observations. At moderate values of M_{in}, we find that the allowed
regions of the (m_{1/2},m_0) plane are squeezed by the requirements of
electroweak symmetry breaking and that the lightest neutralino be the LSP,
whereas the constraint on the relic density is less severe. At very low M_{in},
the electroweak vacuum conditions become the dominant constraint, and a
secondary source of astrophysical cold dark matter would be necessary to
explain the measured relic density for nearly all values of the soft
SUSY-breaking parameters and tan(beta). We calculate the neutralino-nucleon
cross sections for viable scenarios and compare them with the present and
projected limits from direct dark matter searches.


title:
Real Time Turbulent Video Perfecting by Image Stabilization and
  Super-Resolution

abstract:
  Image and video quality in Long Range Observation Systems (LOROS) suffer from
atmospheric turbulence that causes small neighbourhoods in image frames to
chaotically move in different directions and substantially hampers visual
analysis of such image and video sequences. The paper presents a real-time
algorithm for perfecting turbulence degraded videos by means of stabilization
and resolution enhancement. The latter is achieved by exploiting the turbulent
motion. The algorithm involves generation of a reference frame and estimation,
for each incoming video frame, of a local image displacement map with respect
to the reference frame; segmentation of the displacement map into two classes:
stationary and moving objects and resolution enhancement of stationary objects,
while preserving real motion. Experiments with synthetic and real-life
sequences have shown that the enhanced videos, generated in real time, exhibit
substantially better resolution and complete stabilization for stationary
objects while retaining real motion.


title: Finite Euler products and the Riemann Hypothesis

abstract:
  We show that if the Riemann Hypothesis is true, then in a region containing
most of the right-half of the critical strip, the Riemann zeta-function is well
approximated by short truncations of its Euler product. Conversely, if the
approximation by products is good in this region, the zeta-function has at most
finitely many zeros in it. We then construct a parameterized family of
non-analytic functions with this same property. With the possible exception of
a finite number of zeros off the critical line, every function in the family
satisfies a Riemann Hypothesis. Moreover, when the parameter is not too large,
they have about the same number of zeros as the zeta-function, their zeros are
all simple, and they "repel". The structure of these functions makes the reason
for the simplicity and repulsion of their zeros apparent and suggests a
mechanism that might be responsible for the corresponding properties of the
zeta-function's zeros. Computer evidence suggests that the zeros of functions
in the family are remarkably close to those of the zeta-function (even for
small values of the parameter), and we show that they indeed converge to them
as the parameter increases. Furthermore, between zeros of the zeta-function,
the moduli of functions in the family tend to twice the modulus of the
zeta-function. Both assertions assume the Riemann Hypothesis. We end by
discussing analogues for other L-functions and show how they give insight into
the study of the distribution of zeros of linear combinations of L-functions.


title: Trapping of Compensating Charges in Corona Poled PVDF Films

abstract:
  Experimental evidence is provided on close relation between polarization and
space charge in corona poled PVDF films. It is shown that the depolarizing
field is compensated by charges trapped in macroscopic transition zones, by
which polarized parts of the volume are separated from non-polarized ones. The
compensating charges are either injected in the bulk, or created inside due to
the thermal emission and then trapped when the ferroelectric polarization in
crystallites is formed.


title: The center of the generic algebra of degree p

abstract:
  Let $F$ be an algebraically closed field of characteristic zero, and let $p$
be an odd prime. We show that the center of the generic division algebra of
degree $p$ is stably rational over $F$. Equivalently, if we let $V=M_p(F)
\oplus M_p(F)$ and $PGL_p$ act on $V$ by simultaneous conjugation, then we show
that the function field of the quotient variety $V/PGL_p$ is stably rational
over $F$.


title: Localized Electron States Near a Metal-Semiconductor Nanocontact

abstract:
  The electronic structure of nanowires in contact with metallic electrodes of
experimentally relevant sizes is calculated by incorporating the electrostatic
polarization potential into the atomistic single particle Schr\"odinger
equation. We show that the presence of an electrode produces localized
electron/hole states near the electrode, a phenomenon only exhibited in
nanostructures and overlooked in the past. This phenomenon will have profound
implications on electron transport in such nanosystems. We calculate several
electrode/nanowire geometries, with varying contact depths and nanowire radii.
We demonstrate the change in the band gap of up to 0.5 eV in 3 nm diameter CdSe
nanowires and calculate the magnitude of the applied electric field necessary
to overcome the localization.


title:
Coarsening of "clouds" and dynamic scaling in a far-from-equilibrium
  model system

abstract:
  A two-dimensional lattice gas of two species, driven in opposite directions
by an external force, undergoes a jamming transition if the filling fraction is
sufficiently high. Using Monte Carlo simulations, we investigate the growth of
these jams ("clouds"), as the system approaches a non-equilibrium steady state
from a disordered initial state. We monitor the dynamic structure factor
$S(k_x,k_y;t)$ and find that the $k_x=0$ component exhibits dynamic scaling, of
the form $S(0,k_y;t)=t^\beta \tilde{S}(k_yt^\alpha)$. Over a significant range
of times, we observe excellent data collapse with $\alpha=1/2$ and $\beta=1$.
The effects of varying filling fraction and driving force are discussed.


title:
An Adaptive Strategy for the Classification of G-Protein Coupled
  Receptors

abstract:
  One of the major problems in computational biology is the inability of
existing classification models to incorporate expanding and new domain
knowledge. This problem of static classification models is addressed in this
paper by the introduction of incremental learning for problems in
bioinformatics. Many machine learning tools have been applied to this problem
using static machine learning structures such as neural networks or support
vector machines that are unable to accommodate new information into their
existing models. We utilize the fuzzy ARTMAP as an alternate machine learning
system that has the ability of incrementally learning new data as it becomes
available. The fuzzy ARTMAP is found to be comparable to many of the widespread
machine learning systems. The use of an evolutionary strategy in the selection
and combination of individual classifiers into an ensemble system, coupled with
the incremental learning ability of the fuzzy ARTMAP is proven to be suitable
as a pattern classifier. The algorithm presented is tested using data from the
G-Coupled Protein Receptors Database and shows good accuracy of 83%. The system
presented is also generally applicable, and can be used in problems in genomics
and proteomics.


title: Detailed Models of super-Earths: How well can we infer bulk properties?

abstract:
  The field of extrasolar planets has rapidly expanded to include the detection
of planets with masses smaller than that of Uranus. Many of these are expected
to have little or no hydrogen and helium gas and we might find Earth analogs
among them. In this paper we describe our detailed interior models for a rich
variety of such massive terrestrial and ocean planets in the 1-to-10 earth-mass
range (super-Earths). The grid presented here allows the characterization of
the bulk composition of super-Earths detected in transit and with a measured
mass. We show that, on average, planet radius measurements to better than 5%,
combined with mass measurements to better than 10% would permit us to
distinguish between an icy or rocky composition. This is due to the fact that
there is a maximum radius a rocky terrestrial planet may achieve for a given
mass. Any value of the radius above this maximum terrestrial radius implies
that the planet contains a large (> 10%) amount of water (ocean planet).


title: The Distribution of AGN in Clusters of Galaxies

abstract:
  We present a study of the distribution of AGN in clusters of galaxies with a
uniformly selected, spectroscopically complete sample of 35 AGN in eight
clusters at z = 0.06 to 0.31. We find that the 12 AGN with L_X > 10^42 erg/s in
galaxies more luminous than a rest-frame M_R < -20 mag are more centrally
concentrated than typical cluster galaxies of this luminosity, although these
AGN have comparable velocity and substructure distributions to other cluster
members. In contrast, a larger sample of 30 cluster AGN with L_X > 10^41 erg/s
do not show evidence for greater concentration than inactive members, nor
evidence for a different kinematic or substructure distribution. As we do see
clear differences in the spatial and kinematic distributions of the blue
Butcher-Oemler and red galaxy populations, any difference in the AGN and
inactive galaxy population must be less distinct than that between these two
pairs of populations. Comparison of the AGN fraction selected via X-ray
emission in this study to similarly-selected AGN in the field indicates that
the AGN fraction is not significantly lower in clusters, contrary to AGN
identified via visible-wavelength emission lines, but similar to the
approximately constant radio-selected AGN fraction in clusters and the field.
We also find significant evidence for variation between clusters and explore
the dependence of cluster AGN fraction on redshift, velocity dispersion,
cluster substructure, and Butcher-Oemler fraction. While we see weak evidence
for several trends, correlations between these four parameters in our small
sample precludes identification of which one(s) most strongly influence the
cluster AGN fraction.


title: Spectral methods for orthogonal rational functions

abstract:
  An operator theoretic approach to orthogonal rational functions on the unit
circle with poles in its exterior is presented in this paper. This approach is
based on the identification of a suitable matrix representation of the
multiplication operator associated with the corresponding orthogonality
measure. Two different alternatives are discussed, depending whether we use for
the matrix representation the standard basis of orthogonal rational functions,
or a new one with poles alternatively located in the exterior and the interior
of the unit circle. The corresponding representations are linear fractional
transformations with matrix coefficients acting respectively on Hessenberg and
five-diagonal unitary matrices.
  In consequence, the orthogonality measure can be recovered from the spectral
measure of an infinite unitary matrix depending uniquely on the poles and the
parameters of the recurrence relation for the orthogonal rational functions.
Besides, the zeros of the orthogonal and para-orthogonal rational functions are
identified as the eigenvalues of matrix linear fractional transformations of
finite Hessenberg and five-diagonal matrices.
  As an application of this operator approach, we obtain new relations between
the support of the orthogonality measure and the location of the poles and
parameters of the recurrence relation, generalizing to the rational case known
results for orthogonal polynomials on the unit circle.
  Finally, we extend these results to orthogonal polynomials on the real line
with poles in the lower half plane.


title:
Cooper channel and the singularities in the thermodynamics of a Fermi
  liquid

abstract:
  We analyze how the logarithmic renormalizations in the Cooper channel affect
the non-analytic temperature dependence of the specific heat coefficient \gamma
(T) - \gamma (0)=A(T)T in a 2D Fermi liquid. We show that A(T) is expressed
exactly in terms of the fully renormalized backscattering amplitude which
includes the renormalization in the Cooper channel. In contrast to the 1D case,
both charge and spin components of the backscattering amplitudes are subject to
this renormalization. We show that the logarithmic renormalization of the
charge amplitude vanishes for a flat Fermi surface, when the system becomes
effectively one-dimensional.


title: Searching for Lee-Wick Gauge Bosons at the LHC

abstract:
  In an extension of the Standard Model(SM) based on the ideas of Lee and Wick,
Grinstein, O'Connell and Wise have found an interesting way to remove the usual
quadratically divergent contributions to the Higgs mass induced by radiative
corrections. Phenomenologically, the model predicts the existence of Terascale,
negative-norm copies of the usual SM fields with rather unique properties:
ghost-like propagators and negative decay widths, but with otherwise SM-like
couplings. The model is both unitary and causal on macroscopic scales. In this
paper we examine whether or not such states with these unusual properties can
be uniquely identified as such at the LHC. We find that in the extended strong
and electroweak gauge boson sector of the model, which is the simplest one to
analyze, such an identification can be rather difficult. Observation of heavy
gluon-like resonances in the dijet channel offers the best hope for this
identification.


title:
Systematic Error on Weak Phase $\gamma$ from $B \to \pi^+ \pi^-$ and $B
  \to K \pi$

abstract:
  When CP asymmetries in $B^0(t)\to \pi^+ \pi^-$ are combined using broken
flavor SU(3) with decay rates for $B^+\to K^0\pi^+$ and/or $B^0\to K^+\pi^-$,
one can obtain stringent limits on the weak phase $\gamma$ which are consistent
with those obtained from other CKM constraints. Experimental data in the past
few years have improved to the extent that systematic errors associated with
uncertainty in SU(3) symmetry breaking dominate the determination of $\gamma$.
We obtain a value $\gamma =(73 \pm 4^{+10}_{-8})^\circ$, where the first error
is statistical while the second one is systematic.


title:
Two-color atom guide and 1D optical lattice using evanescent fields of
  high-order transverse modes

abstract:
  We propose a two-color scheme of atom guide and 1D optical lattice using
evanescent light fields of different transverse modes. The optical waveguide
carries a red-detuned light and a blue-detuned light, with both modes far from
resonance. The atom guide and 1D optical lattice potentials can be transformed
to each other by using a Mach-Zehnder interferometer to accurately control mode
transformation. This might provide a new approach to realize flexible
transition between the guiding and trapping states of atoms.


title:
The vector-scalar mixing in nuclear medium and the two quark component
  of scalar meson from QCD sum rules

abstract:
  We derive the QCD sum rules for the vector and scalar meson mixing in nuclear
medium, using a two quark interpolating field for both mesons. Modeling the
mixing via a nucleon hole contribution with known coupling constant, the sum
rule can be used to determine the overlap of the interpolating field and the
scalar meson. In the I=0 channel, we find a stable Borel curve and an overlap
that is about 10% of the corresponding value in the pseudo scalar or vector
channel. The sum rule in the I=1 channel is less reliable but also consistent
with a small value for the overlap. These results suggest that both the
$\sigma$ and $a_0$ have a small two quark and thus probably a large tetraquark
components. We discuss the possibility of observing these scalar mesons from
vector mesons emanating from the nuclear medium.


title:
On the Non-relativistic Limit of Linear Wave Equations for Zero and
  Unity Spin Particles

abstract:
  The non-relativistic limit of the linear wave equation for zero and unity
spin bosons of mass $m$ in the Duffin-Kemmer-Petiau representation is
investigated by means of a unitary transformation, analogous to the
Foldy-Wouthuysen canonical transformation for a relativistic electron. The
interacting case is also analyzed, by considering a power series expansion of
the transformed Hamiltonian, thus demonstrating that all features of particle
dynamics can be recovered if corrections of order $1/m^{2}$ are taken into
account through a recursive iteration procedure.


title:
Landau-Zener transition of a two-level system driven by spin chains near
  their critical points

abstract:
  The Landau-Zener(LZ) transition of a two-level system coupling to spin chains
near their critical points is studied in this paper. Two kinds of spin chains,
the Ising spin chain and XY spin chain, are considered. We calculate and
analyze the effects of system-chain coupling on the LZ transition. A relation
between the LZ transition and the critical points of the spin chain is
established. These results suggest that LZ transitions may serve as the
witnesses of criticality of the spin chain. This may provide a new way to study
quantum phase transitions as well as LZ transitions.


title: Constraints on $N_c$ in Extensions of the Standard Model

abstract:
  We consider a class of theories involving an extension of the Standard Model
gauge group to an {\it a priori} arbitrary number of colors, $N_c$, and derive
constraints on $N_c$. One motivation for this is the string theory landscape.
For two natural classes of embeddings of this $N_c$-extended Standard Model in
a supersymmetric grand unified theory, we show that requiring unbroken
electromagnetic gauge invariance, asymptotic freedom of color, and three
generations of quarks and leptons forces one to choose $N_c=3$. Similarly, we
show that for a theory combining the $N_c$-extended Standard Model with a
one-family SU(2)$_{TC}$ technicolor theory, only the value $N_c=3$ is allowed.


title: Current prospects for ASTROD Inertial Sensor

abstract:
  The Astrodynamical Space Test of Relativity using Optical Devices (ASTROD) is
a multi-purpose relativity mission concept. ASTROD's scientific goals are the
measurement of relativistic and solar system parameters to unprecedented
precision, and the detection and observation of low-frequency gravitational
waves to frequencies down to $5\times10^{-6}$ Hz. To accomplish its goals,
ASTROD will employ a constellation of drag-free satellites, aiming for a
residual acceleration noise of (0.3-1)$\times$ 10$^{-15}$ m s$^{-2}$
Hz$^{-1/2}$ at 0.1 mHz. Noise sources and strategies for improving present
acceleration noise levels are reported.


title: Optimal Electrostatic Space Tower (Mast, New Space Elevator)

abstract:
  Author offers and researched the new and revolutionary inflatable
electrostatic AB space towers (mast, new space elevator) up to one hundred
twenty thousands kilometers (or more) in height. The main innovation is filling
the tower by electron gas, which can create pressure up one atmosphere, has
negligible small weight and surprising properties.
  The suggested mast has following advantages in comparison with conventional
space elevator: 1. Electrostatic AB tower may be built from Earth surface
without the employment of any rockets. That decreases the cost of electrostatic
mast by thousands of times. 2. One can have any height and has a big control
load capacity. 3. Electrostatic tower can have the height of a geosynchronous
orbit (36,000 km) WITHOUT the additional top cable as the space elevator (up
120,000 - 160,000 km) and counterweight (equalizer) of hundreds of tons. 4. The
offered mast has less total mass than conventional space elevator. 5. The
offered tower can have the high-speed electrostatic climbers moved by
high-voltage electricity from Earth's surface. 6. The electrostatic mast can
bend in any needed direction when we give the necessary electric voltage in the
required parts of the extended mast. 7. Control mast has stability for any
altitude. Three projects 100 km, 36,000km (GEO), 120,000 km are computed and
presented.


title: Second and higher-order quasi-normal modes in binary black hole mergers

abstract:
  Black hole (BH) oscillations known as quasi-normal modes (QNMs) are one of
the most important gravitational wave (GW) sources. We propose that higher
perturbative order of QNMs, generated by nonlinear gravitational interaction
near the BHs, are detectable and worth searching for in observations and
simulations of binary BH mergers. We calculate the metric perturbations to
second-order and explicitly regularize the master equation at the horizon and
spatial infinity. We find that the second-order QNMs have frequencies twice the
first-order ones and the GW amplitude is up to ~10% that of the first-order
one. The QNM frequency would also shift blueward up to ~1%. This provides a new
test of general relativity as well as a possible distance indicator.


title: Uniqueness of solutions of Ricci flow on complete noncompact manifolds

abstract:
  We prove the uniqueness of solutions of the Ricci flow on complete noncompact
manifolds with bounded curvatures using the De Turck approach. As a consequence
we obtain a correct proof of the existence of solution of the Ricci harmonic
flow on complete noncompact manifolds with bounded curvatures.


title: The enumeration of maximally clustered permutations

abstract:
  The maximally clustered permutations are characterized by avoiding the
classical permutation patterns 3421, 4312, and 4321. This class contains the
freely-braided permutations and the fully-commutative permutations. In this
work, we show that the generating functions for certain fully-commutative
pattern classes can be transformed to give generating functions for the
corresponding freely-braided and maximally clustered pattern classes. Moreover,
this transformation of generating functions is rational. As a result, we obtain
enumerative formulas for the pattern classes mentioned above as well as the
corresponding hexagon-avoiding pattern classes where the hexagon-avoiding
permutations are characterized by avoiding 46718235, 46781235, 56718234, and
56781234.


title: Radiative properties of a linear chain of coupled qubits

abstract:
  We calculate the radiative properties for a linear dipole-coupled chain of
qubits. Using the explicit energy eigenstates of the system, we find the
radiation patterns for spontaneous transitions from the one-photon eigenstates
to the ground state of the system. We show that depending on the excitation of
a specific atom, the radiation tends to be focused either along or
perpendicular to the chain. We conclude with a derivation of the total decay
rate of the one-photon eigenstates, and find the interesting result that for
systems where the photon wavenumber is not much larger than the interatomic
spacing, up to 94% of the eigenstates are subradiant, that is, they decay
significantly slower than a single atom in isolation.


title: Elimination Theory for Tropical Varieties

abstract:
  Tropical algebraic geometry offers new tools for elimination theory and
implicitization. We determine the tropicalization of the image of a subvariety
of an algebraic torus under any homomorphism from that torus to another torus.


title:
Helioseismic analysis of the solar flare-induced sunquake of 2005
  January 15

abstract:
  We report the discovery of one of the most powerful sunquakes detected to
date, produced by an X1.2-class solar flare in active region 10720 on 2005
January 15. We used helioseismic holography to image the source of seismic
waves emitted into the solar interior from the site of the flare. Acoustic
egression power maps at 3 and 6 mHz with a 2 mHz bandpass reveal a compact
acoustic source strongly correlated with impulsive hard X-ray and
visible-continuum emission along the penumbral neutral line separating the two
major opposing umbrae in the $\delta$-configuration sunspot that predominates
AR10720. The acoustic emission signatures were directly aligned with both hard
X-ray and visible continuum emission that emanated during the flare. The
visible continuum emission is estimated at $2.0 \times 10^{23}$ J,
approximately 500 times the seismic emission of $\sim 4 \times 10^{20}$ J. The
flare of 2005 January 15 exhibits the same close spatial alignment between the
sources of the seismic emission and impulsive visible continuum emission as
previous flares, reinforcing the hypothesis that the acoustic emission may be
driven by heating of the low photosphere. However, it is a major exception in
that there was no signature to indicate the inclusion of protons in the
particle beams thought to supply the energy radiated by the flare. The
continued strong coincidence between the sources of seismic emission and
impulsive visible continuum emission in the case of a proton-deficient
white-light flare lends substantial support to the ``back -- warming''
hypothesis, that the low photosphere is significantly heated by intense Balmer
and Paschen continuum-edge radiation from the overlying chromosphere in
white-light flares.


title: Towards observable signatures of other bubble universes

abstract:
  We evaluate the possibility of observable effects arising from collisions
between vacuum bubbles in a universe undergoing false-vacuum eternal inflation.
Contrary to conventional wisdom, we find that under certain assumptions most
positions inside a bubble should have access to a large number of collision
events. We calculate the expected number and angular size distribution of such
collisions on an observer's "sky," finding that for typical observers the
distribution is anisotropic and includes many bubbles, each of which will
affect the majority of the observer's sky. After a qualitative discussion of
the physics involved in collisions between arbitrary bubbles, we evaluate the
implications of our results, and outline possible detectable effects. In an
optimistic sense, then, the present paper constitutes a first step in an
assessment of the possible effects of other bubble universes on the cosmic
microwave background and other observables.


title:
Missing Data: A Comparison of Neural Network and Expectation
  Maximisation Techniques

abstract:
  The estimation of missing input vector elements in real time processing
applications requires a system that possesses the knowledge of certain
characteristics such as correlations between variables, which are inherent in
the input space. Computational intelligence techniques and maximum likelihood
techniques do possess such characteristics and as a result are important for
imputation of missing data. This paper compares two approaches to the problem
of missing data estimation. The first technique is based on the current state
of the art approach to this problem, that being the use of Maximum Likelihood
(ML) and Expectation Maximisation (EM. The second approach is the use of a
system based on auto-associative neural networks and the Genetic Algorithm as
discussed by Adbella and Marwala3. The estimation ability of both of these
techniques is compared, based on three datasets and conclusions are made.


title:
On UHECR energy estimation algorithms based on the measurement of
  electromagnetic component parameters in EAS

abstract:
  Model calculations are performed of extensive air shower (EAS) component
energies using a variety of hadronic interaction parameters. A conversion
factor from electromagnetic component energy to the energy of ultra-high energy
cosmic rays (UHECRs) and its model and primary mass dependence is studied. It
is shown that model dependence of the factor minimizes under the necessary
condition of the same maximum position and muon content of simulated showers.


title:
Suppression of growth by multiplicative white noise in a parametric
  resonant system

abstract:
  The author studied the growth of the amplitude in a Mathieu-like equation
with multiplicative white noise. The approximate value of the exponent at the
extremum on parametric resonance regions was obtained theoretically by
introducing the width of time interval, and the exponents were calculated
numerically by solving the stochastic differential equations by a symplectic
numerical method. The Mathieu-like equation contains a parameter $\alpha$ that
is determined by the intensity of noise and the strength of the coupling
between the variable and the noise. The value of $\alpha$ was restricted not to
be negative without loss of generality. It was shown that the exponent
decreases with $\alpha$, reaches a minimum and increases after that. It was
also found that the exponent as a function of $\alpha$ has only one minimum at
$\alpha \neq 0$ on parametric resonance regions of $\alpha = 0$. This minimum
value is obtained theoretically and numerically. The existence of the minimum
at $\alpha \neq 0$ indicates the suppression of the growth by multiplicative
white noise.


title: The metallicity distributions in high-latitudes with SDSS

abstract:
  We present metallicities and their variations with different parameters for
36 high-latitude fields covering Galactic longitudes 0<l<360. The metallicities
for relatively short vertical distances (z<2.5 kpc) show systematic
fluctuations with Galactic longitude, similar to those of the thick-disc
scaleheight, which may be interpreted as indicating a common origin, viz., the
flare effect of the disc. This suggestion is supported by the metallicity
variations which we find as functions of radial distance. The metallicity
variation at larger vertical distances (6.5<z<9.5 kpc) is small but monotonic.
Three different vertical metallicity gradients could be detected:
d[M/H]/dz=-0.22(+/-0.03), d[M/H]/dz=-0.38 (+/-0.06), and d[M/H]/dz=-0.08
(+/-0.07) dex/kpc for the intervals z<3, 3<z<5, and 5<z<10 kpc, respectively.
Since our data cover the whole Galactic longitude interval, the resulting
metallicity gradients can be interpreted as properties of the larger-scale
Galaxy. The first gradient confirms the dissipational formation of the disc at
short z-distances. The steeper gradient corresponds to the transition region
between different population components of the Galaxy, and finally, the lowest
value provides an adequate description of the inner-halo metallicity gradient.


title:
Isolated sub-100-attosecond pulse generation via controlling electron
  dynamics

abstract:
  A new method to coherently control the electron dynamics is proposed using a
few-cycle laser pulse in combination with a controlling field. It is shown that
this method not only broadens the attosecond pulse bandwidth, but also reduces
the chirp, then an isolated 80-as pulse is straightforwardly obtained and even
shorter pulse is achievable by increasing the intensity of the controlling
field. Such ultrashort pulses allow one to investigate ultrafast electronic
processes which have never be achieved before. In addition, the few-cycle
synthesized pulse is expected to manipulate a wide range of laser-atom
interactions.


title:
Elliptic Flow and Jet Quenching of a Parton System after Relativistic
  Heavy Ion Collision

abstract:
  We obtain the initial phase space distribution after relativistic heavy ion
collision by the CGC shattering method incorporating the uncertainty principle
and solve the semi-classical Boltzmann equation which includes the gluon
radiation processes. We present as a function of time the attenuation rate of
high $p_T$ partons, which have transverse momenta over 6 $GeV/c$, in the medium
which is formed after relativistic heavy ion collision. We calculate the
elliptic flow as a function of an impact parameter, time and transverse
momentum and also present the polar anisotropy, which gives the initial
condition for color filamentation.


title: Transient X-ray Emission from Normal Galactic Nuclei

abstract:
  X-ray transients appeared in optically non-active galactic nuclei have been
observed in recent years. The most popular model explaining this kind of
phenomena is the conventional tidal disruption model. In this model, when a
star moves within the tidal radius of a black hole, part of the star materials
will fall into the black hole through an accretion disk, which gives rise to
the luminous flare. We propose that the X-ray emission may not necessarily come
from radiation of the accretion disk alone. Instead, it may be related to a
jet. As the jet travels in the interstellar medium, a shock is produced and
synchrotron radiation is expected. We compared the model light curve and the
synchrotron radiation spectrum with the observed data, and find that our model
explains the observed light curve and late-time spectrum well. Our model
predicts that these transient active galactic nuclei could be sources of the
future gamma-ray satellites, e.g. GLAST and the emission region will be
expanding with time.


title:
Z Boson Propagator Correction in Technicolor Theories with ETC Effects
  Included

abstract:
  We calculate the Z boson propagator correction, as described by the S
parameter, in technicolor theories with extended technicolor interactions
included. Our method is to solve the Bethe-Salpeter equation for the requisite
current-current correlation functions. Our results suggest that the inclusion
of extended technicolor interactions has a relatively small effect on S.


title: On the MHD load and the MHD metage

abstract:
  In analogy with the load and the metage in hydrodynamics, we define
magnetohydrodynamic load and magnetohydrodynamic metage in the case of
magnetofluids. They can be used to write the magnetic field in MHD in Clebsch's
form. We show how these two concepts can be utilised to derive the magnetic
analogue of the Ertel's theorem and also, how in the presence of non-trivial
topology of the magnetic field in the magnetofluid one may associate the
linking number of the magnetic field lines with the invariant MHD loads. The
paper illustrates that the symmetry translation of the MHD metage in the
corresponding label space generates the conservation of cross helicity.


title:
Collective oscillations of a Bose-Fermi mixture: Effect of unequal mass
  of Bose and Fermi particles

abstract:
  We investigate the effect of different mass of a Bose- and a Fermi-particle
on the collective oscillations of the degenerate boson-fermion mixtures. In
particular we consider the monopole and the quadrupole modes of the
oscillations and study their characters and the frequencies by using
variational-sum-rule approach. We find that for both the modes there exists a
critical value of the ratio of boson-fermion mass below and above which the
character and the frequency of the respective modes are significantly
different.


title: Cascading Quivers from Decaying D-branes

abstract:
  We use an argument analogous to that of Kachru, Pearson and Verlinde to argue
that cascades in L^{a,b,c} quiver gauge theories always preserve the form of
the quiver, and that all gauge groups drop at each step by the number M of
fractional branes. In particular, we demonstrate that an NS5-brane that sweeps
out the S^3 of the base of L^{a,b,c} destroys M D3-branes.


title: A Simple Optical Analysis of Gravitational Lensing

abstract:
  We analyzed the influence of static gravitational field on the vacuum and
proposed the concept of inhomogeneous vacuum. According to the corresponding
Fermat's principle in the general relativity, we derived a graded refractive
index of vacuum in a static gravitational field. We found that the light
deflection in a gravitational field can be calculated correctly with the use of
this refractive index and therefore the gravitational lensing can be treated
conveniently with the optical method. For illustration, we simulated the
imaging of gravitational lensing, figured out the time delay between the two
images and calculated the lens mass in a conventional optical way.


title:
An iterative method to compute the sign function of a non-Hermitian
  matrix and its application to the overlap Dirac operator at nonzero chemical
  potential

abstract:
  The overlap Dirac operator in lattice QCD requires the computation of the
sign function of a matrix. While this matrix is usually Hermitian, it becomes
non-Hermitian in the presence of a quark chemical potential. We show how the
action of the sign function of a non-Hermitian matrix on an arbitrary vector
can be computed efficiently on large lattices by an iterative method. A Krylov
subspace approximation based on the Arnoldi algorithm is described for the
evaluation of a generic matrix function. The efficiency of the method is
spoiled when the matrix has eigenvalues close to a function discontinuity. This
is cured by adding a small number of critical eigenvectors to the Krylov
subspace, for which we propose two different deflation schemes. The ensuing
modified Arnoldi method is then applied to the sign function, which has a
discontinuity along the imaginary axis. The numerical results clearly show the
improved efficiency of the method. Our modification is particularly effective
when the action of the sign function of the same matrix has to be computed many
times on different vectors, e.g., if the overlap Dirac operator is inverted
using an iterative method.


title: Quantum Hall Effect in a Graphene p-n Junction

abstract:
  We report on the fabrication and transport studies of a single-layer graphene
p-n junction. Carrier type and density in two adjacent regions are individually
controlled by electrostatic gating using a local top gate and a global back
gate. A functionalized Al203 oxide that adheres to graphene and does not
significantly affect its electronic properties is described. Measurements in
the quantum Hall regime reveal new plateaus of two-terminal conductance across
the junction at 1 and 3/2 times the quantum of conductance, e2/h, consistent
with theory.


title: Optimal Occulter Design for Finding Extrasolar Planets

abstract:
  One proposed method for finding terrestrial planets around nearby stars is to
use two spacecraft--a telescope and a specially shaped occulter that is
specifically designed to prevent all but a tiny fraction of the starlight from
diffracting into the telescope. As the cost and observing cadence for such a
mission will be driven largely by the separation between the two spacecraft, it
is critically important to design an occulter that can meet the observing goals
while flying as close to the telescope as possible. In this paper, we explore
this tradeoff between separation and occulter diameter. More specifically, we
present a method for designing the shape of the outer edge of an occulter that
is as small as possible and gives a shadow that is deep enough and large enough
for a 4m telescope to survey the habitable zones of many stars for Earth-like
planets. In particular, we show that in order for a 4m telescope to detect in
broadband visible light a planet 0.06 arcseconds from a star shining $10^{10}$
times brighter than the planet requires a specially-shaped occulter 50m in
diameter positioned about $72,000$ km in front of the telescope.


title: Dissipative dynamics of circuit-QED in the mesoscopic regime

abstract:
  We investigate the behavior of a circuit QED device when the resonator is
initially populated with a mesoscopic coherent field. The strong coupling
between the cavity and the qubit produces an entangled state involving
mesoscopic quasi-pointer states with respect to cavity dissipation. The overlap
of the associated field components results in collapse and revivals for the
Rabi oscillation. Although qubit relaxation and dephasing do not preserve these
states, a simple analytical description of the dissipative dynamics of the
circuit QED device including cavity relaxation as well as qubit dissipation is
obtained from the Monte-Carlo approach. Explicit predictions for the
spontaneous and induced Rabi oscillation signals are derived and sucessfully
compared with exact calculations. We show that these interesting effects could
be observed with a 10 photon field in forthcoming circuit QED experiments.


title:
New scaling relations in cluster radio halos and the re-acceleration
  model

abstract:
  In this paper we derive new expected scaling relations for clusters with
giant radio halos in the framework of the re-acceleration scenario in a
simplified, but physically motivated, form, namely: radio power (P_R) vs size
of the radio emitting region (R_H), and P_R vs total cluster mass (M_H)
contained in the emitting region and cluster velocity dispersion (sigma_H) in
this region.
  We search for these correlations by analyzing the most recent radio and X-ray
data available in the literature for a well known sample of clusters with giant
radio halos. In particular we find a good correlation between P_R and R_H and a
very tight ``geometrical'' scaling between M_H and R_H. From these correlations
P_R is also expected to scale with M_H and sigma_H and this is confirmed by our
analysis. We show that all the observed trends can be well reconciled with
expectations in the case of a slight variation of the mean magnetic field
strength in the radio halo volume with M_H. A byproduct correlation between R_H
and sigma_H is also found, and can be further tested by optical studies. In
addition, we find that observationally R_H scales non-linearly with the virial
radius of the host cluster, and this immediately means that the fraction of the
cluster volume which is radio emitting increases with cluster mass and thus
that the non-thermal component in clusters is not self-similar.


title: SuprimeCam Observation of Sporadic Meteors during Perseids 2004

abstract:
  We report the serendipitous findings of 13 faint meteors and 44 artificial
space objects by Subaru SuprimeCam imaging observations during 11-16 August
2004. The meteors, at about 100km altitude, and artificial satellites/debris in
orbit, at 500km altitude or higher, were clearly discriminated by their
apparent defocused image sizes. CCD photometry of the 13 meteors, including 1
Perseid, 1 Aquarid, and 11 sporadic meteors, was performed. We defined a peak
video-rate magnitude by comparing the integrated photon counts from the
brightest portion of the track traversed within 33ms to those from a 0-mag star
during the same time duration. This definition gives magnitudes in the range
4.0< V_{vr} <6.4 and 4.1< I_{vr}<5.9 for these 13 meteors. The corresponding
magnitude for virtual naked-eye observers could be somewhat fainter especially
for the V-band observation, in which the [OI] 5577 line lasting about 1 sec as
an afterglow could contribute to the integrated flux of the present 5-10 min
CCD exposures. Although the spatial resolution is insufficient to resolve the
source size of anything smaller than about 1 m, we developed a new estimate of
the collisionally excited column diameter of these meteors. A diameter as small
as a few mm was derived from their collisionally excited photon rates, meteor
speed, and the volume density of the oxygen atoms at the 100km altitude. The
actual column diameter of the radiating zone, however, could be as large as few
100m because the excited atoms travel that distance before they emit forbidden
lines in 0.7 sec of its average lifetime. Among the 44 artificial space
objects, we confirmed that 17 were cataloged satellites/space debris.


title: Holes within galaxies: the egg or the hen?

abstract:
  Unsustained matter distributions unescapely collapse unless fragmentation and
centrifugal or pressure support take place. Starting from the above evidence,
supermassive compact objects at the centre of large-mass galaxies are conceived
as the end-product of the gravitational collapse of local density maxima around
which overdensities are located. At the beginning of evolution, local density
maxima are idealized as homogeneous peaks, while the surrounding envelopes are
described by a power-law density profile. The dependence of the density profile
on a second parameter, chosen to be the ratio between peak and total mass, is
analysed. Overdensity evolution is discussed in the context of quintessence
cosmological models and further investigation is devoted to a special case with
the aim to describe the central collapse. An empirical relation between hole
and dark halo mass is translated into a dependence of the fractional hole mass
on the overdensity mass. Computations are performed up to the end of central
collapse, and density profiles of related configurations are determined
together with additional parameters. The central collapse is completed in early
times, no longer than a few hundredths of Gyr, which implies hole formation
when proto-haloes, proto-bulges, and proto-disks are still expanding or
contracting. No appreciable change in evolution is found with regard to
different mean peak heights related to equal masses. On the other hand, it is
recognized that homogeneous peaks collapse ``faster'' with respect to
surroundings envelopes, in low-mass than in large-mass overdensities. In
conclusion, it is inferred that gravitational collapse of homogeneous peaks
within overdensities may be a viable mechanism for hole generation.


title:
Simulation of ASTROD I test mass charging due to solar energetic
  particles

abstract:
  As ASTROD I travels through space, its test mass will accrue charge due to
galactic cosmic-rays and solar energetic particles incident on the spacecraft.
This test mass charge will result in Coulomb forces between the test mass and
the surrounding electrodes. In earlier work using the GEANT4 toolkit, we
predicted a net charging rate of nearly 9.0 +e/s from cosmic-ray protons
between 0.1 and 1000 GeV at solar maximum, and rising to 26.5 +e/s at solar
minimum. Here we use GEANT4 to simulate the charging process due to solar
energetic particle events and to estimate the magnitude of acceleration noise
due to this charging. The predicted charging rates range from 2840 to 64300
+e/s, at peak intensity, for the 4 largest SEP events in September and October
1989. For the 2 larger events, the acceleration disturbances due to charging
exceeds the ASTROD I acceleration noise budget requirement. Continuous
discharge should be considered for suppressing this charging noise. The
acceleration noise during the 2 small events is well below the design target,
although during these events, the net charging rate will be dominated by these
solar fluxes.


title: Cherednik algebras for algebraic curves

abstract:
  For any smooth algebraic curve C, Pavel Etingof introduced a `global'
Cherednik algebra as a natural deformation of the cross product of the algebra
of differential operators on C^n and the symmetric group. We provide a
construction of the global Cherednik algebra in terms of quantumn Hamiltonian
reduction. We study a category of character D-modules on a representation
scheme associated to C and define a Hamiltonian reduction functor from that
category to category O for the global Cherednik algebra.
  In the special case where the curve C is the multiplicative group, the global
Cherednik algebra reduces to the trigonometric Cherednik algebra of type A, and
our character D-modules become holonomic D-modules on GL_n \times C^n. The
corresponding perverse sheaves are reminiscent of (and include as special
cases) Lusztig's character sheaves.


title: Bs and Bc mesons in lattice QCD with exact chiral symmetry

abstract:
  We determine the masses and decay constants of the pseudoscalar mesons Bs and
Bc, and also the masses of the vector mesons Bs^* and Bc^*, in quenched lattice
QCD with exact chiral symmetry. For 100 gauge configurations generated with
single-plaquette action at beta = 7.2 on the 32^3 x 60 lattice, we compute
point-to-point quark propagators for 33 quark masses in the range [0.01, 0.85],
and measure the time-correlation functions of pseudoscalar and vector mesons.
The inverse lattice spacing and the charm quark bare mass are determined using
the mass and decay constant of eta_c(2980). The bare masses of s and b quarks
are chosen such that the masses of the corresponding vector mesons are in good
agreement with phi(1020), and Upsilon(9460) respectively. Our results are:
m_{Bs} = 5385(27)(17) MeV, f_{Bs} = 253(8)(7) MeV, m_{Bc} = 6278(6)(4) MeV,
f_{Bc} = 489(4)(3) MeV, m_{Bs^*} = 5424(28)(19) MeV, and m_{Bc^*} = 6315(6)(5)
MeV.


title:
Polynomial algorithms for protein similarity search for restricted mRNA
  structures

abstract:
  In this paper we consider the problem of computing an mRNA sequence of
maximal similarity for a given mRNA of secondary structure constraints,
introduced by Backofen et al. in [BNS02] denoted as the MRSO problem. The
problem is known to be NP-complete for planar associated implied structure
graphs of vertex degree at most 3. In [BFHV05] a first polynomial dynamic
programming algorithms for MRSO on implied structure graphs with maximum vertex
degree 3 of bounded cut-width is shown. We give a simple but more general
polynomial dynamic programming solution for the MRSO problem for associated
implied structure graphs of bounded clique-width. Our result implies that MRSO
is polynomial for graphs of bounded tree-width, co-graphs, $P_4$-sparse graphs,
and distance hereditary graphs. Further we conclude that the problem of
comparing two solutions for MRSO is hard for the class of problems which can be
solved in polynomial time with a number of parallel queries to an oracle in NP.


title:
Analysis of thermally stimulated luminescence and conductivity without
  quasiequilibrium approximation

abstract:
  Thermally stimulated luminescence (TSL) and conductivity (TSC) are considered
using the classical insulator model that assumes one kind of the active trap,
one kind of inactive deep trap, and one kind of the recombination center.
Kinetic equations describing the model are solved numerically without and with
the use of the quasiequilibrium (QE) approximation. The QE state parameter qI,,
the relative recombination probability g, and a new parameter called
quasi-stationary (QS) state parameter q*=qIg are used for the analysis of the
TSL and TSC. The TSL and TSC curves and the temperature dependences of qI, q*,
g, the recombination lifetime, and the occupancies of active traps and
recombination centers are numerically calculated for five sets of kinetic
parameters and different heating rates. These calculation results show that:
(1) the upper limit of the heating rate for presence of the QS state appears at
higher heating rate than that for the QE state when the retrapping process is
present, and (2) the TSL (TSC) curves in the QS state have the properties
similar to those for the TSL (TSC) curves in the QE state. Approximate formulas
for calculation of the parameters qI and q* in the initial range of the TSL and
TSC curves are derived and used in the heating-rate methods, proposed in this
work, for determination of those parameters from the calculated TSL curves.


title: Rare decay pi0 -> e+e-: theory confronts KTeV data

abstract:
  Within the dispersive approach to the amplitude of the rare decay pi0 -> e+e-
the nontrivial dynamics is contained only in the subtraction constant. We
express this constant, in the leading order in (m_e/\Lambda)^2 perturbative
series, in terms of the inverse moment of the pion transition form factor given
in symmetric kinematics. By using the CELLO and CLEO data on the pion
transition form factor given in asymmetric kinematics the lower bound on the
decay branching ratio is found. The restrictions following from QCD allow us to
make a quantitative prediction for the branching B(pi0 -> e+e-) =(6.2\pm
0.1)*10^{-8} which is 3\sigma below the recent KTeV measurement. We confirm our
prediction by using the quark models and phenomenological approaches based on
the vector meson dominance. The decays \eta -> l^+l^- are also discussed.


title: Well displacing representations and orbit maps

abstract:
  We discuss in this article a property of action of groups by isometries
called "well displacing". An action is said to be well displacing, if the
displacement function is equivalent to the the displacement function for the
action on the Cayley graph. We relate this property with the fact that orbit
maps are quasi-isometric embeddings. We first describe countrexamples that
shows this two notions are unrelated in general. On the other hand we explain
that for a certain class of groups -- in particular hyperbolic groups -- these
two properties are equivalent. In the course of our discussion, we introduce an
intrinsic property of the group -- that we called the U-property -- which says
quantitatively how the norm an element is controlled by the translation length
of finitely many related conjugacy classes. This property play a central role
in our discussion.


title:
Une plate-forme dynamique pour l'\'evaluation des performances des bases
  de donn\'ees \`a objets

abstract:
  In object-oriented or object-relational databases such as multimedia
databases or most XML databases, access patterns are not static, i.e.,
applications do not always access the same objects in the same order
repeatedly. However, this has been the way these databases and associated
optimisation techniques such as clustering have been evaluated up to now. This
paper opens up research regarding this issue by proposing a dynamic object
evaluation framework (DOEF). DOEF accomplishes access pattern change by
defining configurable styles of change. It is a preliminary prototype that has
been designed to be open and fully extensible. Though originally designed for
the object-oriented model, it can also be used within the object-relational
model with few adaptations. Furthermore, new access pattern change models can
be added too. To illustrate the capabilities of DOEF, we conducted two
different sets of experiments. In the first set of experiments, we used DOEF to
compare the performances of four state of the art dynamic clustering
algorithms. The results show that DOEF is effective at determining the
adaptability of each dynamic clustering algorithm to changes in access pattern.
They also led us to conclude that dynamic clustering algorithms can cope with
moderate levels of access pattern change, but that performance rapidly degrades
to be worse than no clustering when vigorous styles of access pattern change
are applied. In the second set of experiments, we used DOEF to compare the
performance of two different object stores: Platypus and SHORE. The use of DOEF
exposed the poor swapping performance of Platypus.


title: Conception d'un banc d'essais d\'ecisionnel

abstract:
  We present in this paper a new benchmark for evaluating the performances of
data warehouses. Benchmarking is useful either to system users for comparing
the performances of different systems, or to system engineers for testing the
effect of various design choices. While the TPC (Transaction Processing
Performance Council) standard benchmarks address the first point, they are not
tuneable enough to address the second one. Our Data Warehouse Engineering
Benchmark (DWEB) allows to generate various ad-hoc synthetic data warehouses
and workloads. DWEB is fully parameterized. However, two levels of
parameterization keep it easy to tune. Since DWEB mainly meets engineering
benchmarking needs, it is complimentary to the TPC standard benchmarks, and not
a competitor. Finally, DWEB is implemented as a Java free software that can be
interfaced with most existing relational database management systems.


title:
Construction of type ${\rm II_1}$ factors with prescribed countable
  fundamental group

abstract:
  In the context of Free Probability Theory, we study two different
constructions that provide new examples of factors of type ${\rm II_1}$ with
prescribed fundamental group. First we investigate state-preserving group
actions on the almost periodic free Araki-Woods factors satisfying both a
condition of mixing and a condition of free malleability in the sense of Popa.
Typical examples are given by the free Bogoliubov shifts. Take an ICC $w$-rigid
group $G$ such that $\mathcal{F}(L(G)) = \{1\}$ (e.g. $G = \Z^2 \rtimes \SL(2,
\Z)$). For any countable subgroup $S \subset \R^*_+$, we show that there exists
an action of $G$ on $L(\F_\infty)$ such that $L(\F_\infty) \rtimes G$ is a type
${\rm II_1}$ factor and its fundamental group is $S$. The second construction
is based on a free product. Take $(B(H), \psi)$ any factor of type ${\rm I}$
endowed with a faithful normal state and denote by $\Gamma \subset \R^*_+$ the
subgroup generated by the point spectrum of $\psi$. We show that the
centralizer $(L(G) \ast B(H))^{\tau \ast \psi}$ is a type ${\rm II_1}$ factor
and its fundamental group is $\Gamma$. Our proofs rely on Popa's
deformation/rigidity strategy using his intertwining-by-bimodules technique.


title: A consistent formalism for the Thomas-Ehrman Level Displacement

abstract:
  Usage of the Thomas-Ehrman Level Displacement formalism has been examined.
Mistakes and inconsistencies are found in several papers, being repeated in
subsequent works. Here, we present a complete formalism with a consistent set
of definitions. Full algorithms are made available, both as a {\tt FORTRAN}
source file and as a user-friendly Visual Basic executable tool, available for
download on the World Wide Web.


title: Smooth R\'enyi Entropy of Ergodic Quantum Information Sources

abstract:
  We prove that the average smooth Renyi entropy rate will approach the entropy
rate of a stationary, ergodic information source, which is equal to the Shannon
entropy rate for a classical information source and the von Neumann entropy
rate for a quantum information source.


title:
Spin effects in single-electron transport through carbon nanotube
  quantum dots

abstract:
  We investigate the total spin in an individual single-wall carbon nanotube
quantum dot with various numbers of electrons in a shell by using the ratio of
the saturation currents of the first steps of Coulomb staircases for positive
and negative biases. The current ratio reflects the total-spin transition that
is increased or decreased when the dot is connected to strongly asymmetric
tunnel barriers. Our results indicate that total spin states with and without
magnetic fields can be traced by this method.


title:
Counting statistics in multiple path geometries and the fluctuations of
  the integrated current in a quantum stirring device

abstract:
  The amount $Q$ of particles that are transported via a path of motion is
characterized by its expectation value $<Q>$ and by its variance $Var(Q)$. We
analyze what happens if a particle has two optional paths available to get from
one site to another site, and in particular what is $Var(Q)$ for the current
which is induced in a quantum stirring device. It turns out that coherent
splitting and the stirring effect are intimately related and cannot be
understood within the framework of the prevailing probabilistic theory.


title:
The Clusters AgeS Experiment (CASE). I. V209 omega Cen - An Eclipsing
  Post-Common Envelope Binary in the Globular Cluster omega Cen

abstract:
  We use photometric and spectroscopic observations of the detached eclipsing
binary V209 omega Cen to derive the masses, radii, and luminosities of the
component stars. The system exhibits total eclipses and, based on the measured
systemic velocity and the derived distance, is a member of the globular cluster
omega Cen. We obtain 0.945 +/- 0.043 Msun, 0.983 +/- 0.015 Rsun and 6.68 +/-
0.88 Lsun for the cooler, but larger and more luminous primary component. The
secondary component has 0.144 +/- 0.008 Msun, 0.425 +/- 0.008 Rsun and 2.26 +/-
0.28 Lsun. The effective temperatures are estimated at 9370 K for the primary
and at 10866 K for the secondary. On the color-magnitude diagram of the
cluster, the primary component occupies a position between the tip of the blue
straggler region and the extended horizontal branch while the secondary
component is located close to the red border of the area occupied by hot
subdwarfs. However, its radius is too large and its effective temperature is
too low for it to be an sdB star. We propose a scenario leading to the
formation of a system with such unusual properties with the primary component
``re-born'' from a former white dwarf which accreted a new envelope through
mass transfer from its companion. The secondary star has lost most of its
envelope while starting its ascent onto the sub-giant branch. It failed to
ignite helium in its core and is currently powered by a hydrogen burning shell.


title:
The Clusters AgeS Experiment (CASE). II. The Eclipsing Blue Straggler
  OGLEGC-228 in the Globular Cluster 47 Tuc

abstract:
  We use photometric and spectroscopic observations of the eclipsing binary
OGLEGC-228 (V228) to derive the masses, radii, and luminosities of the
component stars. Based on measured systemic velocity, proper motion and
distance, the system is a blue straggler member of the globular cluster 47 Tuc.
Our analysis shows that V228 is a semi-detached Algol. We obtain M=1.512 +/-
0.022 Msun, R=1.357 +/- 0.019 Rsun, L=7.02 +/- 0.050 Lsun for the hotter and
more luminous primary component and M=0.200 +/- 0.007 Msun, R=1.238 +/- 0.013
Rsun, L=1.57 +/- 0.09 Lsun for the Roche lobe filling secondary.


title: The descent statistic on involutions is not log-concave

abstract:
  We establish a combinatorial connection between the sequence $(i_{n,k})$
counting the involutions on $n$ letters with $k$ descents and the sequence
$(a_{n,k})$ enumerating the semistandard Young tableaux on $n$ cells with $k$
symbols. This allows us to show that the sequences $(i_{n,k})$ are not
log-concave for some values of $n$, hence answering a conjecture due to F.
Brenti.


title: Coupling of phonons and spin waves in triangular antiferromagnet

abstract:
  We investigate the influence of the spin-phonon coupling in the triangular
antiferromagnet where the coupling is of the exchange-striction type. The
magnon dispersion is shown to be modified significantly at wave vector (2pi,0)
and its symmetry-related points, exhibiting a roton-like minimum and an
eventual instability in the dispersion. Various correlation functions such as
equal-time phonon correlation, spin-spin correlation, and local magnetization
are calculated in the presence of the coupling.


title: Transverse LS-Category for Riemannian Foliations

abstract:
  We study the transverse Lusternik-Schnirelmann category of a Riemannian
foliation on a compact manifold. We obtain a necessary and sufficient condition
when the transverse LS category is finite. We also introduce a variation on the
concept of transverse LS category, the essential transverse category, and show
that this is finite for every Riemannian foliation and coincides with the
transverse category if the latter is finite. Moreover we prove that the
essential transverse category is a lower bound for the number of critical leaf
closures of a basic differentiable function on M.


title:
Interplay between magnetic properties and thermoelectricity in misfit
  and Na cobaltates

abstract:
  We present a comparative study of CoO2 layers in the Bi-misfit and NaxCoO2
cobaltates. Co NMR measures the intrinsic susceptibility of the Co layers and
is not affected by spurious contributions. At low dopings where
room-temperature thermopower (TEP) is large, Curie-Weiss susceptibilities are
observed in both materials. But NMR and muSR experiments find neither charge
nor spin order down to low temperatures in Bi-misfit, in contrast to the case
of NaxCoO2. This demonstrates that metallicity, charge and magnetic orders are
specific of the Na layers in NaxCoO2 whereas strong correlations are generic of
the cobaltates physics and could explain the large TEP.


title: The Equivariant LS-Category of Polar Actions

abstract:
  We will provide a lower bound for the equivariant Lusternik-Schnirelmann
category of an arbitrary proper action in terms of the stratification by orbit
types, and an upper bound for proper polar actions in terms of the equivariant
Lusternik-Schnirelmann category of its generalized Weyl group. As an
application we reprove a theorem of Singhof that determines the classical
Lusternik-Schnirelmann category for U(n) and SU(n).


title: Scintillator Tile Hadron Calorimeter with Novel SiPM Readout

abstract:
  The CALICE collaboration is presently constructing a test hadron calorimeter
(HCAL) with 7620 scintillator tiles read out by novel photo-detectors - Silicon
Photomultipliers (SiPMs). This prototype is the first device which uses SiPMs
on a large scale. We present the design of the HCAL and report on measured
properties of more than 10 thousand SiPMs. We discuss the SiPM efficiency,
gain, cross-talk, and noise rate dependence on bias voltage and temperature,
including the spread in these parameters. We analyze the reasons for SiPM
rejection and present the results of the long term stability studies. The first
measurements of the SiPM radiation hardness are presented. We compare
properties of SiPM with the properties of similar devices, MRS APD and MPPC. A
possibility to make the tiles thinner and to read them out without WLS fibers
has been studied.


title:
Comparing Robustness of Pairwise and Multiclass Neural-Network Systems
  for Face Recognition

abstract:
  Noise, corruptions and variations in face images can seriously hurt the
performance of face recognition systems. To make such systems robust,
multiclass neuralnetwork classifiers capable of learning from noisy data have
been suggested. However on large face data sets such systems cannot provide the
robustness at a high level. In this paper we explore a pairwise neural-network
system as an alternative approach to improving the robustness of face
recognition. In our experiments this approach is shown to outperform the
multiclass neural-network system in terms of the predictive accuracy on the
face images corrupted by noise.


title: Cancelling Quadratic Divergences Without Supersymmetry

abstract:
  We construct a theory which has the same particle content as softly broken
minimal supersymmetric QED (MSQED) and is free of quadratic divergences up to
two loops. Also this theory is completely gauge invariant. It appears that
MSQED is not at all the only theory without these quadratic divergences. This
proves that there exist non supersymmetric theories in which there are no
quadratic divergences up to two loops.


title:
Gamma-ray production in young open clusters: Berk 87, Cyg OB2 and
  Westerlund 2

abstract:
  Young open clusters are likely sites of cosmic ray acceleration as indicated
by recent detections of the TeV gamma-ray sources in the directions of two open
clusters (Cyg OB2 and Westerlund 2) and their directional proximity to some
unidentified EGRET sources. In fact, up to now a few different scenarios for
acceleration of particles inside open clusters have been considered, i.e.
shocks in massive star winds, pulsars and their nebulae, supernova shocks,
massive compact binaries. Here we consider in detail the radiation processes
due to both electrons and hadrons accelerated inside the open cluster. As a
specific scenario, we apply the acceleration process at the shocks arising in
the winds of WR type stars. Particles diffuse through the medium of the open
cluster during the activity time of the acceleration scenario defined by the
age of the WR star. They interact with the matter and radiation, at first
inside the open cluster and, later in the dense surrounding clouds. We
calculate the broad band spectrum in different processes for three example open
clusters (Berk 87, Cyg OB2, Westerlund 2) for which the best observational
constraints on the spectra are at present available. It is assumed that the
high energy phenomena, observed from the X-ray up to the GeV-TeV gamma-ray
energies, are related to each other. We conclude that the most likely
description of the radiation processes in these objects is achieved in the
hybrid (leptonic-hadronic) model in which leptons are responsible for the
observed X-ray and GeV gamma-ray emission and hadrons are responsible for the
TeV gamma-ray emission, which is produced directly inside and in dense clouds
surrounding the open cluster.


title: SUSY-GUTs, SUSY-Seesaw and the Neutralino Dark Matter

abstract:
  We will consider a SUSY-SU(5) with one right-handed neutrino with a large top
like Yukawa coupling. Assuming universal soft masses at high scale we compute
the low-energy spectrum and subsequently the neutralino LSP relic density
taking also into consideration SU(5) as well as the see-saw running effects
above the gauge coupling unification scale. We found that there exists no
viable region in parameter space for $\tan\beta \ler ~35$. The $\tilde{\tau}$
coannihilation process starts becoming efficient for $\tan\beta \ger 35-40$.
However, this process is significantly constrained by the limited range in
which the stau is lighter than the neutralino. In fact, for a given $\tan\beta$
we find that there exists an upper bound on the lightest neutralino mass
($M_{\chi_1^0}$) in this region. The A-pole funnel region appears at very large
$\tan\beta \simeq 45-50$, while the focus-point region does not make an
appearance till large ($m_0,M_{1/2}$), namely a few TeV. Large $A_0$ terms at
high scale can lead to extended regions consistent with WMAP constraints and
remove the upper bounds in the stau coannihilation regions.


title: Chung's law for homogeneous Brownian functionals

abstract:
  Consider the first exit time $T_{a,b}$ from a finite interval $[-a,b]$ for an
homogeneous fluctuating functional $X$ of a linear Brownian motion. We show the
existence of a finite positive constant $\k$ such that
$$\lim_{t\to\infty}t^{-1}\log \p[ T_{ab} > t] = -\k.$$ Following Chung's
original approach, we deduce a "liminf" law of the iterated logarithm for the
two-sided supremum of $X$. This extends and gives a new point of view on a
result of Khoshnevisan and Shi.


title: Vers l'auto-administration des entrep\^ots de donn\'ees

abstract:
  With the wide development of databases in general and data warehouses in
particular, it is important to reduce the tasks that a database administrator
must perform manually. The idea of using data mining techniques to extract
useful knowledge for administration from the data themselves has existed for
some years. However, little research has been achieved. The aim of this study
is to search for a way of extracting useful knowledge from stored data to
automatically apply performance optimization techniques, and more particularly
indexing techniques. We have designed a tool that extracts frequent itemsets
from a given workload to compute an index configuration that helps optimizing
data access time. The experiments we performed showed that the index
configurations generated by our tool allowed performance gains of 15% to 25% on
a test database and a test data warehouse.


title: Duality of momentum-energy and space-time on an almost complex manifold

abstract:
  We proved that under quantum mechanics a momentum-energy and a space-time are
dual vector spaces on an almost complex manifold in position representation,
and the minimal uncertainty relations are equivalent to the inner-product
relations of their bases. In a microscopic sense, there exist locally a
momentum-energy conservation and a space-time conservation. The minimal
uncertainty relations refer to a local equilibrium state for a stable system,
and the relations will be invariable in the special relativity. A supposition
about something having dark property is proposed, which relates to a breakdown
of time symmetry.


title: Superradiance and multiple scattering of photons in atomic gases

abstract:
  We study the influence of cooperative effects such as superradiance and
subradiance, on the scattering properties of dilute atomic gases. We show that
cooperative effects lead to an effective potential between pairs of atoms that
decays like $1/r$. In the case of superradiance, this potential is attractive
for close enough atoms and can be interpreted as a coherent mesoscopic effect.
We consider a model of multiple scattering of a photon among superradiant pairs
and calculate the elastic mean free path and the group velocity. We study first
the case of a scalar wave which allows to obtain and to understand basic
features of cooperative effects and multiple scattering. We then turn to the
general problem of a vector wave. In both cases, we obtain qualitatively
similar results and derive, for the case of a scalar wave, analytic expressions
of the elastic mean free path and of the group velocity for an arbitrary (near
resonance) detuning.


title: Immersions of spheres and algebraically constructible functions

abstract:
  Let L be an algebraic set and let g : R^(n+1) \times L --> R^(2n) (n is even)
be a polynomial mapping such that for each l in L there is r(l)>0 such that the
mapping g_l = g(.,l) restricted to the sphere S^n(r) is an immersion for every
0<r<(l), so that the intersection number I(g_l|S^n(r)) is defined. Then the
function which maps l in L to I(g_l|S^n(r)) is algebraically constructible.


title: Parallel Distribution of Asynchronous Optical Signals

abstract:
  An eleven channel digital asynchronous transceiver (DAT) employing parallel
optical link technology has been developed for trigger signal distribution
across the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System (VERITAS).
Combinatorial logic functions are implemented in Xilinx Spartan 3 FPGAs,
providing a versatile solution adaptable for use in future atmospheric Cerenkov
detectors and other high-energy astroparticle experiments. The device is
dead-time free and introduces a minimal skew of 1.6 ns between channels. The
jitter on each DAT channel is less than 0.8 ns 95% of the time, allowing
communication between telescopes and a central trigger system separated by
hundreds of meters, without limiting array performance.


title: Quantum chaos on discrete graphs

abstract:
  Adapting a method developed for the study of quantum chaos on {\it quantum
(metric)} graphs \cite {KS}, spectral $\zeta$ functions and trace formulae for
{\it discrete} Laplacians on graphs are derived. This is achieved by expressing
the spectral secular equation in terms of the periodic orbits of the graph, and
obtaining functions which belongs to the class of $\zeta$ functions proposed
originally by Ihara \cite {Ihara}, and expanded by subsequent authors \cite
{Stark,Sunada}. Finally, a model of "classical dynamics" on the discrete graph
is proposed. It is analogous to the corresponding classical dynamics derived
for quantum graphs \cite {KS}.


title:
MgB2 single crystals substituted with Li and with Li-C: Structural and
  superconducting properties

abstract:
  The effect of Li substitution for Mg and of Li-C co-substitution on the
superconducting properties and crystal structure of MgB2 single crystals has
been investigated. It has been found that hole doping with Li decreases the
superconducting transition temperature Tc, but at a slower rate than electron
doping with C or Al. Tc of MgB2 crystals with simultaneously substituted Li for
Mg and C for B decreases more than in the case where C is substituted alone.
This means that holes introduced by Li cannot counterbalance the effect of
decrease of Tc caused by introduction of electrons coming from C. The possible
reason of it can be that holes coming from Li occupy the pi band while
electrons coming from C fill the sigma band. The temperature dependences of the
upper critical field Hc2 for Al and Li substituted crystals with the same Tc
show a similar dHc2/dT slope at Tc and a similar Hc2(T) behavior, despite of
much different substitution level. This indicates that the mechanism
controlling Hc2 and Tc is similar in both hole and electron doped crystals.
Electrical transport measurements show an increase of resistivity both in Li
substituted crystals and in Li and C co-substituted crystals. This indicates
enhanced scattering due to defects introduced by substitutions including
distortion of the lattice. The observed behavior can be explained as a result
of two effects, influencing both Tc and Hc2. The first one is doping related to
the changes in the carrier concentration, which may lead to the decrease or to
the increase of Tc. The second one is related to the introduction of new
scattering centers leading to the modification of the interband and/or
intraband scattering and therefore, to changes in the superconducting gaps and
to the reduction of Tc.


title:
Hypercontractivity, Nash inequalities, and subordination for classes of
  nonlinear semigroups

abstract:
  A suitable notion of hypercontractivity for a nonlinear semigroup $\{T_t\}$
is shown to imply Gagliardo--Nirenberg inequalities for its generator $H$,
provided a subhomogeneity property holds for the energy functional $(u,Hu)$. We
use this fact to prove that, for semigroups generated by operators of
$p$--Laplacian--type, hypercontractivity implies ultracontractivity. We then
introduce the notion of subordinated nonlinear semigroups when the
corresponding Bernstein function is $f(x)=x^\alpha$, and write down an explicit
formula for the associated generator. It is shown that, in certain cases,
hypercontractivity still holds for the subordinated semigroup and, hence, that
Nash--type inequalities holds as well for the subordinated generator.


title: Spectroscopic Analyses of Massive Blue Stars (Galactic or Extragalactic)

abstract:
  We review recent advances in our understanding of massive stars through the
analysis of their spectra. Improvements in model atmospheres and analysis
methods are briefly discussed. Results obtained for stars in the Local Group
are compared and the present status of different open questions, like the
temperature scale of OB stars, the Wind Momentum-Luminosity Relation or the
stellar rotation, is outlined.


title:
Remarks related to the paper of Rafael de la Madrid: "On the
  inconsistency of the Bohm-Gadella theory with quantum mechanics", JPhysA 39,
  No. 29, 9255-9268 (2006)

abstract:
  The paper contains critical comments to the paper mentioned in the title from
the mathematical point of view


title: Invariant forms, associated bundles and Calabi-Yau metrics

abstract:
  We develop a method, initially due to Salamon, to compute the space of
``invariant'' forms on an associated bundle X=P\times_G V, with a suitable
notion of invariance. We determine sufficient conditions for this space to be
d-closed. We apply our method to the construction of Calabi-Yau metrics on
TCP^1 and TCP^2.


title: Experimental Review on Pentaquarks

abstract:
  The experimental evidence for pentaquarks is reviewed and compared with the
experiments that do not see any sign of pentaquarks. This paper is based on a
lecture given at the 33rd ITEP Winter School of Physics in the beginning of
2005. Results obtained since then are summarized in the epilogue.


title: Some Phenomenologies of Unparticle Physics

abstract:
  Fermionic unparticles are introduced and their basic properties are
discussed. Some phenomenologies related are exploited, such as their effects on
charged Higgs boson decays and anomalous magnetic moments of leptons. Also, it
has been found that measurements of $B^0-\bar B^0$ mixing could yield
interesting constraints on couplings between unparticle operators and standard
model fields.


title:
Very High Energy $\gamma$-ray and Near Infrared observations of
  1ES2344+514 during 2004-05

abstract:
  We have observed the BL Lac object 1ES2344+514 (z = 0.044) in Very High
Energy (VHE) gamma-ray and near-infrared wavelength bands with TACTIC and MIRO
telescopes respectively. The observations were made from 18th October to 9th
December 2004 and 27th October 2005 to 1st January 2006. Detailed analysis of
the TACTIC data indicates absence of a statistically significant gamma-ray
signal both in overall data and on a nightly basis from the source direction.
We estimate an upper limit of I($\geq$1.5 TeV)$\leq 3.84 \times 10^{-12}$
photons cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$ at a 3$\sigma$ confidence level on the integrated
$\gamma$-ray flux. In addition, we have also compared TACTIC TeV light curves
with those of the RXTE ASM (2-12keV) for the contemporary period and find that
there are no statistically significant increases in the signal strengths from
the source in both these energy regions. During 2004 IR observations,
1ES2344+514 shows low level (~0.06 magnitude) day-to-day variation in both, J &
H bands. However, during 2005 observation epoch, the source brightens up by
about 0.41 magnitude from its October 2005 level J magnitude= 12.64 to J =
12.23 on December 6, 2005. It then fades by about 0.2 magnitude during 6 to 10
December, 2005. The variation is seen in both, J & H, bands simultaneously. The
light travel time arguments suggest that the emission region size is of the
order of $10^{17}$ cms.


title:
On Correlated Random Walks and 21-cm Fluctuations During Cosmic
  Reionization

abstract:
  Analytical approaches to galaxy formation and reionization are based on the
mathematical problem of random walks with barriers. The statistics of a single
random walk can be used to calculate one-point distributions ranging from the
mass function of virialized halos to the distribution of ionized bubble sizes
during reionization. However, an analytical calculation of two-point
correlation functions or of spatially-dependent feedback processes requires the
joint statistics of random walks at two different points. An accurate
analytical expression for the statistics of two correlated random walks has
been previously found only for the case of a constant barrier height. However,
calculating bubble sizes or accurate statistics for halo formation involves
more general barriers that can often be approximated as linear barriers. We
generalize the two-point solution with constant barriers to linear barriers,
and apply it as an illustration to calculate the correlation function of
cosmological 21-cm fluctuations during reionization.


title:
Quantum Simulations in Ion Traps -- Towards Simulating the Early
  Expanding Universe

abstract:
  This thesis provides an overview of an approach to quantum simulations using
magnesium-25 ions stored in a linear Paul trap as the carriers of quantum
information. Their quantum state is manipulated and read out using ultraviolet
laser beams. Several important steps towards realising the first experiments
have been undertaken, the most striking of which is cooling the ions to their
motional ground state. We describe a first experiment simulating cosmological
particle creation in the Early Universe and discuss the expected results.


title:
$\delta$-sequences and Evaluation Codes defined by Plane Valuations at
  Infinity

abstract:
  We introduce the concept of $\delta$-sequence. A $\delta$-sequence $\Delta$
generates a well-ordered semigroup $S$ in $\mathbb{Z}^2$ or $\mathbb{R}$. We
show how to construct (and compute parameters) for the dual code of any
evaluation code associated with a weight function defined by $\Delta$ from the
polynomial ring in two indeterminates to a semigroup $S$ as above. We prove
that this is a simple procedure which can be understood by considering a
particular class of valuations of function fields of surfaces, called plane
valuations at infinity. We also give algorithms to construct an unlimited
number of $\delta$-sequences of the different existing types, and so this paper
provides the tools to know and use a new large set of codes.


title:
Dijet correlations at RHIC, leading-order $k_t$-factorization approach
  versus next-to-leading order collinear approach

abstract:
  We compare results of $k_t$-factorization approach and next-to-leading order
collinear-factorization approach for dijet correlations in proton-proton
collisions at RHIC energies. We discuss correlations in azimuthal angle as well
as correlations in two-dimensional space of transverse momenta of two jets.
Some $k_t$-factorization subprocesses are included for the first time in the
literature. Different unintegrated gluon/parton distributions are used in the
$k_t$-factorization approach. The results depend on UGDF/UPDF used. For
collinear NLO case the situation depends significantly on whether we consider
correlations of any two jets or correlations of leading jets only. In the first
case the $2 \to 2$ contributions associated with soft radiations summed up in
the $k_t$-factorization approach dominate at $\phi \sim \pi$ and at equal
moduli of jet transverse momenta. The collinear NLO $2 \to 3$ contributions
dominate over $k_t$-factorization cross section at small relative azimuthal
angles as well as for asymmetric transverse momentum configurations. In the
second case the NLO contributions vanish at small relative azimuthal angles
and/or large jet transverse-momentum disbalance due to simple kinematical
constraints. There are no such limitations for the $k_t$-factorization
approach. All this makes the two approaches rather complementary. The role of
several cuts is discussed and quantified.


title:
High statistics measurement of the cross sections of gamma gamma -> pi^+
  pi^- production

abstract:
  We report on a high statistics measurement of the total and differential
cross sections of the process gamma gamma -> pi^+ pi^- in the pi^+ pi^-
invariant mass range 0.8 GeV/c^2 < W < 1.5 GeV/c^2 with 85.9 fb^{-1} of data
collected at sqrt{s}=10.58 GeV and 10.52 GeV with the Belle detector. A clear
signal of the f_0(980) resonance is observed in addition to the f_2(1270)
resonance. An improved 90% confidence level upper limit Br.(eta'(958) -> pi^+
pi^-) < 2.9 x 10^{-3} is obtained for P- and CP-violating decay of the
eta'(958) meson using the most conservative assumption about the interference
with the background.


title: Non-LTE Analysis of Lyman-Line Observations of a Filament with SUMER

abstract:
  We present non-LTE diagnostics of the filament observed by SOHO/SUMER on May
27, 2005 in the whole Lyman series. The filament was situated close to the disk
center. The Ly_alpha observations were carried out with normal voltage of
detector A. The slit was placed at the central part of the detector -- outside
the Ly_alpha attenuator. Therefore, the observed profiles of this line could be
calibrated reliably.


title: Inflationary Perturbations: the Cosmological Schwinger Effect

abstract:
  This pedagogical review aims at presenting the fundamental aspects of the
theory of inflationary cosmological perturbations of quantum-mechanical origin.
The analogy with the well-known Schwinger effect is discussed in detail and a
systematic comparison of the two physical phenomena is carried out. In
particular, it is demonstrated that the two underlying formalisms differ only
up to an irrelevant canonical transformation. Hence, the basic physical
mechanisms at play are similar in both cases and can be reduced to the
quantization of a parametric oscillator leading to particle creation due to the
interaction with a classical source: pair production in vacuum is therefore
equivalent to the appearance of a growing mode for the cosmological
fluctuations. The only difference lies in the nature of the source: an electric
field in the case of the Schwinger effect and the gravitational field in the
case of inflationary perturbations. Although, in the laboratory, it is
notoriously difficult to produce an electric field such that pairs extracted
from the vacuum can be detected, the gravitational field in the early universe
can be strong enough to lead to observable effects that ultimately reveal
themselves as temperature fluctuations in the Cosmic Microwave Background.
Finally, the question of how quantum cosmological perturbations can be
considered as classical is discussed at the end of the article.


title: Change in the room temperature magnetic property of ZnO upon Mn doping

abstract:
  We present in this paper the changes in the room temperature magnetic
property of ZnO on Mn doping prepared using solvo-thermal process. The zero
field cooled (ZFC) and field cooled (FC) magnetisation of undoped ZnO showed
bifurcation and magnetic hysteresis at room temperature. Upon Mn doping the
magnetic hysteresis at room temperature and the bifurcation in ZFC-FC
magnetization vanishes. The results seem to indicate that undoped ZnO is
ferromagnetic while on the other hand the Mn doped ZnO is not a ferromagnetic
system. We observe that on addition of Mn atoms the system shows
antiferromagnetism with very giant magnetic moments.


title:
Polynomial solutions of qKZ equation and ground state of XXZ spin chain
  at Delta = -1/2

abstract:
  Integral formulae for polynomial solutions of the quantum
Knizhnik-Zamolodchikov equations associated with the R-matrix of the six-vertex
model are considered. It is proved that when the deformation parameter q is
equal to e^{+- 2 pi i/3} and the number of vertical lines of the lattice is
odd, the solution under consideration is an eigenvector of the inhomogeneous
transfer matrix of the six-vertex model. In the homogeneous limit it is a
ground state eigenvector of the antiferromagnetic XXZ spin chain with the
anisotropy parameter Delta equal to -1/2 and odd number of sites. The obtained
integral representations for the components of this eigenvector allow to prove
some conjectures on its properties formulated earlier. A new statement relating
the ground state components of XXZ spin chains and Temperley-Lieb loop models
is formulated and proved.


title: Results on Dark Matter and beta beta decay modes by DAMA at Gran Sasso

abstract:
  DAMA is an observatory for rare processes and it is operative deep
underground at the Gran Sasso National Laboratory of the I.N.F.N. (LNGS). Here
some arguments will be presented on the investigation on dark matter particles
by annual modulation signature and on some of the realized double beta decay
searches.


title: Holographic flavour in the N=1 Polchinski-Strassler background

abstract:
  To endow the N=1* SYM theory with quarks, we embed D7-brane probes into its
gravity dual, known as the Polchinski-Strassler background. The non-vanishing
3-form flux G_3 in the background is dual to mass terms for the three adjoint
chiral superfields, deforming the N=4 SYM theory to the N=1* SYM theory. We
keep its three mass parameters independent. This generalizes our analysis in
hep-th/0610276 for the N=2* SYM theory. We work at second order in the mass
perturbation, i.e. G_3 and its backreaction on the background are considered
perturbatively up to this order. We find analytic solutions for the embeddings
which in general depend also on angular variables. We discuss the properties of
the solutions and give error estimates on our approximation. By applying the
method of holographic renormalization, we show that in all cases the embeddings
are at least consistent with supersymmetry.


title: Lower Metal Enrichment of Virialized Gas in Minihalos

abstract:
  We differentiate between the metal enrichment of the gas in virialized
minihalos and that of the intergalactic medium at high redshift, pertinent to
cosmological reionization, with the initial expectation that gas in the high
density regions within formed dark matter halos may be more robust thus
resistant to mixing with lower density intergalactic medium. Using detailed
hydrodynamic simulations of gas clouds in minihalos subject to destructive
processes associated with the encompassing intergalactic shocks carrying
metal-enriched gas, we find, as an example, that, for realistic shocks of
velocities of 10-100km/s, more than (90%,65%) of the high density gas with
rho>500 rhob inside a minihalo virialized at z=10 of mass (10^7,10^6)Msun
remains at a metallicity lower than 3% of that of the intergalactic medium by
redshift z=6. It may be expected that the high density gas in minihalos becomes
fuel for subsequent star formation, when they are incorporated into larger
halos where efficient atomic cooling can induce gas condensation hence star
formation. Since minihalos virialize at high redshift when the universe is not
expected to have been significantly reionized, the implication is that gas in
virialized minihalos may provide an abundant reservoir of primordial gas to
possibly allow for the formation of Population-III metal-free stars to extend
to much lower redshift than otherwise expected based on the enrichment of
intergalactic medium.


title:
Scaling properties of pyrex and silicon surfaces blasted with sharp
  particles

abstract:
  The blasting of brittle materials with sharp particles is an important
fabrication technology in many industrial processes. In particular, for
micro-systems, it allows the production of devices with feature sizes down to
few tens of microns. An important parameter of this process is the surface
roughness of post-blasted surfaces. In this work the scaling properties of
Pyrex glass and silicon surfaces after bombardment with alumina particles is
investigated. The targets were bombarded at normal incidence using alumina
particles with two different average sizes, $29\mu m$ and $9\mu m$,
respectively. This investigation indicates that the resulting surfaces have
multifractal properties. Applying multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis
(MFDFA) allowed us to determine the singularity spectrum of the surfaces. This
spectrum did not depend on the target material or on the size of the particles.
Several parameters quantifying relevant quantities were determined. We argue
that for scales below $5 \mu m$, fracture processes are dominant while at large
scales long range correlations are responsible for the multifractal behaviour.


title: Noncommutativity from spectral flow

abstract:
  We investigate the transition from second to first order systems. This
transforms configuration space into phase space and hence introduces
noncommutativity in the former. Quantum mechanically, the transition may be
described in terms of spectral flow. Gaps in the energy or mass spectrum may
become large which effectively truncates the available state space. Using both
operator and path integral languages we explicitly discuss examples in quantum
mechanics, (light-front) quantum field theory and string theory.


title:
Structural anomalies at the magnetic transition in centrosymmetric
  BiMnO$_3$

abstract:
  The structural properties of BiMn$O_3$ were determined from neutron powder
diffraction data as a function of temperature and magnetic field. The structure
at all temperatures was found to be centrosymmetric with space group $C2/c$,
which is incompatible with ferroelectricity. At T$_C\simeq 100 K$, we observed
the onset of a large magnetoelastic strain, proportional to the square of the
magnetization. We interpret this structural rearrangement, together with the
previously observed magnetodielectric anomalies, as due to the need to optimize
the partially frustrated magnetic interactions.


title: Semiclassical initial value calculations of collinear helium atom

abstract:
  Semiclassical calculations using the Herman-Kluk initial value treatment are
performed to determine energy eigenvalues of bound and resonance states of the
collinear helium atom. Both the $eZe$ configuration (where the classical motion
is fully chaotic) and the $Zee$ configuration (where the classical dynamics is
nearly integrable) are treated. The classical motion is regularized to remove
singularities that occur when the electrons collide with the nucleus. Very good
agreement is obtained with quantum energies for bound and resonance states
calculated by the complex rotation method.


title:
Final spin of a coalescing black-hole binary: an Effective-One-Body
  approach

abstract:
  We update the analytical estimate of the final spin of a coalescing
black-hole binary derived within the Effective-One-Body (EOB) approach. We
consider unequal-mass non-spinning black-hole binaries. It is found that a more
complete account of relevant physical effects (higher post-Newtonian accuracy,
ringdown losses) allows the {\it analytical} EOB estimate to `converge towards'
the recently obtained {\it numerical} results within 2%. This agreement
illustrates the ability of the EOB approach to capture the essential physics of
coalescing black-hole binaries. Our analytical approach allows one to estimate
the final spin of the black hole formed by coalescing binaries in a mass range
($\nu=m_1m_2/(m_1+m_2)^2 < 0.16 $) which is not presently covered by numerical
simulations.


title: Modelling diffusional transport in the interphase cell nucleus

abstract:
  In this paper a lattice model for diffusional transport of particles in the
interphase cell nucleus is proposed. Dense networks of chromatin fibers are
created by three different methods: randomly distributed, non-interconnected
obstacles, a random walk chain model, and a self avoiding random walk chain
model with persistence length. By comparing a discrete and a continuous version
of the random walk chain model, we demonstrate that lattice discretization does
not alter particle diffusion. The influence of the 3D geometry of the fiber
network on the particle diffusion is investigated in detail, while varying
occupation volume, chain length, persistence length and walker size. It is
shown that adjacency of the monomers, the excluded volume effect incorporated
in the self avoiding random walk model, and, to a lesser extent, the
persistence length, affect particle diffusion. It is demonstrated how the
introduction of the effective chain occupancy, which is a convolution of the
geometric chain volume with the walker size, eliminates the conformational
effects of the network on the diffusion, i.e., when plotting the diffusion
coefficient as a function of the effective chain volume, the data fall onto a
master curve.