title: Language structure in the n-object naming game

abstract:
  We examine a naming game with two agents trying to establish a common
vocabulary for n objects. Such efforts lead to the emergence of language that
allows for an efficient communication and exhibits some degree of homonymy and
synonymy. Although homonymy reduces the communication efficiency, it seems to
be a dynamical trap that persists for a long, and perhaps indefinite, time. On
the other hand, synonymy does not reduce the efficiency of communication, but
appears to be only a transient feature of the language. Thus, in our model the
role of synonymy decreases and in the long-time limit it becomes negligible. A
similar rareness of synonymy is observed in present natural languages. The role
of noise, that distorts the communicated words, is also examined. Although, in
general, the noise reduces the communication efficiency, it also regroups the
words so that they are more evenly distributed within the available "verbal"
space.


title: Diboson Production and Couplings

abstract:
  We present the most recent cross section measurements for WW and WZ
production in proton-antiproton collisions with sqrt(s) = 1.96 TeV at the
Fermilab Tevatron in final states with two or three leptons, respectively,
along with limits on WWZ triple gauge couplings. We also present the combined
search for WW and WZ production in the lepton, neutrino, and dijet final state.
Finally, we present ZZ cross section measurements in both the fully leptonic
and the two lepton, two neutrino final states along with limits on anomalous
couplings ZZZ and ZZgamma. All results presented are based on data collected
with the Run II DO and CDF II detectors.


title: Rare Decays of B and D Hadrons at CDF

abstract:
  Decays that are highly suppressed in the standard model are excellent places
to search for effects of new physics. Decays mediated by flavor-changing
neutral currents are forbidden at tree level in the SM, and are often further
suppressed by helicity and the Glashow-Iliopoulos-Maiani mechanism. Exclusive
final states with charged lepton pairs are a particular strength of the CDF
experiment due to the large bottom and charm production cross section and the
ability to efficiently separate signal from background. CDF has searched for
and set the world's best limits on the rare flavor-changing neutral current
decays B^0_(s) rightarrow mu^+mu^-, B^0_(s) rightarrow e^+ e^-, and D^0
rightarrow mu^+mu^-, and the lepton flavor violating decay B^0_(s) rightarrow
e^+/- \mu^-/+.


title: Global Well-posedness of Korteweg-de Vries equation in $H^{-3/4}(\R)$

abstract:
  We prove that the Korteweg-de Vries initial-value problem is globally
well-posed in $H^{-3/4}(\R)$ and the modified Korteweg-de Vries initial-value
problem is globally well-posed in $H^{1/4}(\R)$. The new ingredient is that we
use directly the contraction principle to prove local well-posedness for KdV
equation at $s=-3/4$ by constructing some special resolution spaces in order to
avoid some 'logarithmic divergence' from the high-high interactions. Our local
solution has almost the same properties as those for $H^s (s>-3/4)$ solution
which enable us to apply the I-method to extend it to a global solution.


title: Sharing a quantum secret without a trusted party

abstract:
  In a conventional quantum (k,n) threshold scheme, a trusted party shares a
secret quantum state with n participants such that any k of those participants
can cooperate to recover the original secret, while fewer than k participants
obtain no information about the secret. In this paper we show how to construct
a quantum (k,n) threshold scheme without the assistance of a trusted party, who
generates and distributes shares among the participants. Instead, each
participant chooses his private state and contributes the same to the
determination of the final secret quantum state.


title: A New Dynamical Model for the Black Hole Binary LMC X-1

abstract:
  We present a dynamical model of the high mass X-ray binary LMC X-1 based on
high-resolution optical spectroscopy and extensive optical and near-infrared
photometry. From our new optical data we find an orbital period of P=3.90917
+/- 0.00005 days. We present a refined analysis of the All Sky Monitor data
from RXTE and find an X-ray period of P=3.9094 +/- 0.0008 days, which is
consistent with the optical period. A simple model of Thomson scattering in the
stellar wind can account for the modulation seen in the X-ray light curves. The
V-K color of the star (1.17 +/- 0.05) implies A_V = 2.28 +/- 0.06, which is
much larger than previously assumed. For the secondary star, we measure a
radius of R_2 = 17.0 +/- 0.8 solar radii and a projected rotational velocity of
V_rot*sin(i) = 129.9 +/- 2.2 km/s. Using these measured properties to constrain
the dynamical model, we find an inclination of i = 36.38 +/- 1.92 deg, a
secondary star mass of M_2 = 31.79 +/- 3.48 solar masses, and a black hole mass
of 10.91 +/- 1.41 solar masses. The present location of the secondary star in a
temperature-luminosity diagram is consistent with that of a star with an
initial mass of 35 solar masses that is 5 Myr past the zero-age main sequence.
The star nearly fills its Roche lobe (~90% or more), and owing to the rapid
change in radius with time in its present evolutionary state, it will encounter
its Roche lobe and begin rapid and possibly unstable mass transfer on a
timescale of a few hundred thousand years.


title: Recent Results from KamLAND

abstract:
  The main goal of the KamLAND reactor electron anti-neutrino experiment is a
search for electron anti-neutrino oscillation using inverse-beta decay reaction
in 1,000 ton of ultra-pure liquid scintillator. The data-set is 1490.8 days
from Mar. 2002 to May 2007. The best-fit oscillation parameters are Delta
m^{2}_{21} = 7.58^{+0.14}_{-0.13} (stat.) +/- 0.15 (syst.) x 10$^{-5} eV^{2}
and tan^{2}theta_{12} = 0.56^{+0.10}_{-0.07} (stat.) ^{+0.10}_{-0.06} (syst.).
The statistical significance for reactor electron anti-neutrino disappearance
is 8.8 sigma, and an undistorted electron anti-neutrino energy spectrum is
disfavored at > 5 sigma.


title:
The shallow shelf approximation as a "sliding law" in a
  thermomechanically coupled ice sheet model

abstract:
  The shallow shelf approximation is a better ``sliding law'' for ice sheet
modeling than those sliding laws in which basal velocity is a function of
driving stress. The shallow shelf approximation as formulated by \emph{Schoof}
[2006a] is well-suited to this use. Our new thermomechanically coupled sliding
scheme is based on a plasticity assumption about the strength of the saturated
till underlying the ice sheet in which the till yield stress is given by a
Mohr-Coulomb formula using a modeled pore water pressure. Using this scheme,
our prognostic whole ice sheet model has convincing ice streams. Driving stress
is balanced in part by membrane stresses, the model is computable at high
spatial resolution in parallel, it is stable with respect to parameter changes,
and it produces surface velocities seen in actual ice streams.


title: Weighted $\theta$-Incomplete Pluripotential Theory

abstract:
  Weighted pluripotential theory is a rapidly developing area; and Callaghan
\cite{Callaghan} recently introduced $\theta$-incomplete polynomials in \cd for
$d>1$. In this paper we combine these two theories by defining weighted
$\theta$-incomplete pluripotential theory. We define weighted
$\theta$-incomplete extremal functions and obtain a Siciak-Zahariuta type
equality in terms of $\theta$-incomplete polynomials. Finally we prove that the
extremal functions can be recovered using orthonormal polynomials and we
demonstrate a result on strong asymptotics of Bergman functions in the spirit
of \cite{BermanCn}.


title: The many faces of optimism - Extended version

abstract:
  The exploration-exploitation dilemma has been an intriguing and unsolved
problem within the framework of reinforcement learning. "Optimism in the face
of uncertainty" and model building play central roles in advanced exploration
methods. Here, we integrate several concepts and obtain a fast and simple
algorithm. We show that the proposed algorithm finds a near-optimal policy in
polynomial time, and give experimental evidence that it is robust and efficient
compared to its ascendants.


title: Global Existence for the Vlasov-Poisson System in Bounded Domains

abstract:
  In this paper we prove global existence for solutions of the Vlasov-Poisson
system in convex bounded domains with specular boundary conditions and with a
prescribed outward electrical field at the boundary.


title:
Grid Computing in the Collider Detector at Fermilab (CDF) scientific
  experiment

abstract:
  The computing model for the Collider Detector at Fermilab (CDF) scientific
experiment has evolved since the beginning of the experiment. Initially CDF
computing was comprised of dedicated resources located in computer farms around
the world. With the wide spread acceptance of grid computing in High Energy
Physics, CDF computing has migrated to using grid computing extensively. CDF
uses computing grids around the world. Each computing grid has required
different solutions. The use of portals as interfaces to the collaboration
computing resources has proven to be an extremely useful technique allowing the
CDF physicists transparently migrate from using dedicated computer farm to
using computing located in grid farms often away from Fermilab. Grid computing
at CDF continues to evolve as the grid standards and practices change.


title: Rescattering effects in charmless anti-B_{u,d,s} to PP decays

abstract:
  Final-state interaction effects in charmless B_{u,d,s} to PP decays are
studied. We investigate the B(bar)^0 to pi^+ pi^-, pi^0 pi^0 rates and the K pi
direct CP violations, which lead to the so-called K pi puzzle in CP violation
(Delta A). We found that sizable and complex color-suppressed tree amplitudes,
which are crucial for the large pi^0 pi^0 rate and Delta A, are generated
through exchange rescattering. The correlation of the ratio B(pi^0 pi^0)/B(pi^+
pi^-) and Delta A is studied. Predictions on B_s rates, direct and
time-dependent CP asymmetries are made.


title:
Evidence for Merger-Driven Activity in the Clustering of High Redshift
  Quasars

abstract:
  Recently, a very large clustering length has been measured for quasars at a
redshift of z~4. In combination with the observed quasar luminosity function we
assess the implications of this clustering for the relationship between quasar
luminosity and dark matter halo mass. Our analysis allows for non-linearity and
finite scatter in the relation between quasar luminosity and halo mass, as well
as a luminosity dependent quasar lifetime. The additional novel ingredient in
our modelling is the allowance for an excess in the observed bias over the
underlying halo bias owing to the merger driven nature of quasar activity. We
find that the observations of clustering and luminosity function can be
explained only if both of the following conditions hold: (i) The luminosity to
halo mass ratio increases with halo mass; (ii) The observed clustering
amplitude is in excess of that expected solely from halo bias. The latter
result is statistically significant at the 99% level. Taken together, the
observations provide compelling evidence for merger driven quasar activity,
with a black-hole growth that is limited by feedback. In difference from
previous analyses, we show that there could be scatter in the luminosity halo
mass relation of up to 1 dex, and that quasar clustering can not be used to
estimate the quasar lifetime.


title:
On the Existence of Exponentially Decreasing Solutions of the Nonlinear
  Landau Damping Problem

abstract:
  In this paper we prove the existence of a large class of periodic solutions
of the Vlasov-Poisson in one space dimension that decay exponentially as t goes
to infinity. The exponential decay is well known for the linearized version of
the Landau damping problem and it has been proved in [4] for a class of
solutions of the Vlasov-Poisson system that behaves asymptotically as free
streaming solutions and are sufficiently flat in the space of velocities. The
results in this paper enlarge the class of possible asymptotic limits,
replacing the fatness condition in [4] by a stability condition for the
linearized problem.


title: "Glassy" Relaxation in Catalytic Reaction Networks

abstract:
  Relaxation dynamics in reversible catalytic reaction networks is studied,
revealing two salient behaviors that are reminiscent of glassy behavior: slow
relaxation with log(time) dependence of the correlation function, and emergence
of a few plateaus in the relaxation. The former is explained by the eigenvalue
distribution of a Jacobian matrix around the equilibrium state that follows the
distribution of kinetic coefficients of reactions. The latter is associated
with kinetic constraints, rather than metastable states, and is due to the
deficiency of catalysts for chemicals in excess and negative correlation
between the two chemical species. Examples are given, and generality is
discussed.


title: Induced Modules for Affine Lie Algebras

abstract:
  We study induced modules of nonzero central charge with arbitrary
multiplicities over affine Lie algebras. For a given pseudo parabolic
subalgebra ${\mathcal P}$ of an affine Lie algebra ${\mathfrak G}$, our main
result establishes the equivalence between a certain category of ${\mathcal
P}$-induced ${\mathfrak G}$-modules and the category of weight ${\mathcal
P}$-modules with injective action of the central element of ${\mathfrak G}$. In
particular, the induction functor preserves irreducible modules. If ${\mathcal
P}$ is a parabolic subalgebra with a finite-dimensional Levi factor then it
defines a unique pseudo parabolic subalgebra ${\mathcal P}^{ps}$, ${\mathcal
P}\subset {\mathcal P}^{ps}$. The structure of ${\mathcal P}$-induced modules
in this case is fully determined by the structure of ${\mathcal
P}^{ps}$-induced modules. These results generalize similar reductions in
particular cases previously considered by V. Futorny, S. K\"onig, V. Mazorchuk
[Forum Math. 13 (2001), 641-661], B. Cox [Pacific J. Math. 165 (1994), 269-294]
and I. Dimitrov, V. Futorny, I. Penkov [Comm. Math. Phys. 250 (2004), 47-63].


title:
The Rise of Massive Red Galaxies: the color-magnitude and color-stellar
  mass diagrams for z < ~2 from the MUltiwavelength Survey by Yale-Chile
  (MUSYC)

abstract:
  We present the color-magnitude and color-stellar mass diagrams for galaxies
with z_phot < ~2, based on a K < 22 (AB) catalog of the Extended Chandra Deep
Field South (ECDFS) from the MUltiwavelength Survey by Yale-Chile (MUSYC). Our
main sample of 7840 galaxies contains 1297 M_* > 10^11 M_Sol galaxies in the
range 0.2 < z_phot < 1.8. We show empirically that this catalog is
approximately complete for M_* > 10^11 M_Sol galaxies for z_phot < 1.8. For
this mass-limited sample, we show that the locus of the red sequence
color-stellar mass relation evolves as Del(u-r) ~ (-0.44+/-0.02) z_phot for
z_phot < ~1.2. For z_phot > ~1.3, however, we are no longer able to reliably
distinguish red and blue subpopulations from the observed color distribution;
we show that this would require much deeper near infrared data. At 1.5 < z_phot
<1.8, the comoving number density of M_* > 10^11 M_Sol galaxies is ~50% of the
local value, with a red fraction of ~33%. Making a parametric fit to the
observed evolution, we find n_tot(z) ~ (1+z_phot)^(-0.52+/-0.12(+/-0.20)). We
find stronger evolution in the red fraction: f_red(z) ~
(1+z_phot)^(-1.17+/-0.18(+/-0.21)). Through a series of sensitivity analyses,
we show that the most important sources of systematic error are: 1. systematic
differences in the analysis of the z~0 and z>>0 samples; 2. systematic effects
associated with details of the photometric redshift calculation; and 3.
uncertainties in the photometric calibration. With this in mind, we show that
our results based on photometric redshifts are consistent with a completely
independent analysis which does not require redshift information for individual
galaxies. Our results suggest that, at most, 1/5 of local red sequence galaxies
with M_* >10^11 M_Sol were already in place at z ~ 2.


title: Compactons in PT-symmetric generalized Korteweg-de Vries Equations

abstract:
  In an earlier paper Cooper, Shepard, and Sodano introduced a generalized KdV
equation that can exhibit the kinds of compacton solitary waves that were first
seen in equations studied by Rosenau and Hyman. This paper considers the
PT-symmetric extensions of the equations examined by Cooper, Shepard, and
Sodano. From the scaling properties of the PT-symmetric equations a general
theorem relating the energy, momentum, and velocity of any solitary-wave
solution of the generalized KdV equation is derived, and it is shown that the
velocity of the solitons is determined by their amplitude, width, and momentum.


title:
Characterization of phase transition in Heisenberg mixtures from density
  functional theory

abstract:
  The phase transition of hard-sphere Heisenberg and Neutral Hard spheres
mixture fluids has been investigated with the density functional theory in
mean-field approximation (MF). The matrix of second derivatives of the grand
canonical potential $\Omega$ with respect to the total density, concentration,
and the magnetization fluctuations has been investigated and diagonalized. The
zero of the smallest eigenvalue $\lambda_s$ signalizes the phase instability
and the related eigenvector $\textbf{x}_s$ characterizes this phase transition.
We find a Curie line where the order parameter is pure magnetization and a
mixed spinodal where the order parameter is a mixture of total density,
concentration, and magnetization. Although in the fixed total number density or
temperature sections the obtained spinodal diagrams are quite similar topology,
the predominant phase instabilities are considerable different by analyzing
$\textbf{x}_s$ in density-concentration-magnetization fluctuations space.
Furthermore the spinodal diagrams in the different fixed concentration are
topologically different.


title:
ab initio frame transformation calculations of direct and indirect
  dissociative recombination rates of HeH+ + e-

abstract:
  The HeH$^+$ cation undergoes dissociative recombination with a free electron
to produce neutral He and H fragments. We present calculations using ab initio
quantum defects and Fano's rovibrational frame transformation technique, along
with the methodology of PRL 89, 263003 (2002), to obtain the recombination rate
both in the low-energy (1-300 meV) and high-energy (ca. 0.6 hartree) regions.
We obtain very good agreement with experimental results, demonstrating that
this relatively simple method is able to reproduce observed rates for both
indirect dissociative recombination, driven by rovibrationally autoionizing
states in the low-energy region, and direct dissociative recombination, driven
by electronically autoionizing Rydberg states attached to higher-energy excited
cation channels.


title: Electroweak precision constraints on the Lee-Wick Standard Model

abstract:
  We present the constraints on the parameter space of the Lee-Wick Standard
Model coming from electroweak precision observables. The model predicts a large
positive S and a negative T. We show that it is possible to find some regions
in parameter space with a fermionic state as light as 2.4-3.5 TeV. We also
propose a simple extension of the model including a fourth generation. In this
case it is possible to pass the electroweak constraints with Lee-Wick fermionic
masses of order 0.4-1.5 TeV and Lee-Wick gauge masses of order 3 TeV.


title: Hadronic Tau Decays at Belle

abstract:
  We present a study of hadronic tau decays, especially decay into three-hadron
final states with kaon(s), using more than 500fb^-1 of data collected with the
Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric-energy e+e- collider. We measure the
branching ratios both inclusively and exclusively while considering the
intermediated states of K(892)^*0. The following results are obtained: B(tau-
-> K- pi+ pi- nu)=(3.25 +- 0.02 +0.16-0.15)x10^-3, B(tau- -> K- K+ pi-
nu)=(1.53 +- 0.01 +- 0.06)x10^-3, B(tau- -> K- K+ K- nu)=(2.60 +- 0.23 +-
0.10)x10^-5 and B(tau- -> K^*(892)^0 K-nu)=(1.56 +- 0.02 +- 0.09)x10^-3. We
also measure the mass and width of the K^*(892)^0 resonance as M_{K^*(892)^0} =
895.10 +- 0.27 +- 0.31 MeV/c^2 and Gamma_{K^*(892)^0} = 47.23 +- 0.49 +- 0.79
MeV, which are the first results obtained using tau decay.


title: Temperature effect on the power spectrum in inflation

abstract:
  We examine the effect of the thermal vacuum on the power spectrum of
inflation by using the thermal field dynamics. We find that the thermal effect
influences the CMB anisotropy at large length scale. After removing the
divergence by using the holographic cutoff, we observe that the thermal vacuum
explains well the observational CMB result at low multipoles. This shows that
the temperature dependent factor should be considered in the study of power
spectrum in inflation, especially at large length scale.


title:
Modification of Angular Velocity by Inhomogeneous MRI Growth in
  Protoplanetary Disks

abstract:
  We have investigated evolution of magneto-rotational instability (MRI) in
protoplanetary disks that have radially non-uniform magnetic field such that
stable and unstable regions coexist initially, and found that a zone in which
the disk gas rotates with a super-Keplerian velocity emerges as a result of the
non-uniformly growing MRI turbulence. We have carried out two-dimensional
resistive MHD simulations with a shearing box model. We found that if the
spatially averaged magnetic Reynolds number, which is determined by widths of
the stable and unstable regions in the initial conditions and values of the
resistivity, is smaller than unity, the original Keplerian shear flow is
transformed to the quasi-steady flow such that more flattened (rigid-rotation
in extreme cases) velocity profile emerges locally and the outer part of the
profile tends to be super-Keplerian. Angular momentum and mass transfer due to
temporally generated MRI turbulence in the initially unstable region is
responsible for the transformation. In the local super-Keplerian region,
migrations due to aerodynamic gas drag and tidal interaction with disk gas are
reversed. The simulation setting corresponds to the regions near the outer and
inner edges of a global MRI dead zone in a disk. Therefore, the outer edge of
dead zone, as well as the inner edge, would be a favorable site to accumulate
dust particles to form planetesimals and retain planetary embryos against type
I migration.


title:
BRST approach to Lagrangian formulation of bosonic totally antisymmeric
  tensor fields in curved space

abstract:
  We apply the BRST approach, previously developed for higher spin field
theories, to gauge invariant Lagrangian construction for antisymmetric massive
and massless bosonic fields in arbitrary d-dimensional curved space. The
obtained theories are reducible gauge models both in massless and massive cases
and the order of reducibility grows with the value of the rank of the
antisymmetric field. In both the cases the Lagrangians contain the sets of
auxiliary fields and possess more rich gauge symmetry in comparison with
standard Lagrangian formulation for the antisymmetric fields. This serves
additional demonstration of universality of the BRST approach for Lagrangian
constructions in various field models.


title: A Call-Graph Profiler for GNU Octave

abstract:
  We report the design and implementation of a call-graph profiler for GNU
Octave, a numerical computing platform. GNU Octave simplifies matrix
computation for use in modeling or simulation. Our work provides a call-graph
profiler, which is an improvement on the flat profiler. We elaborate design
constraints of building a profiler for numerical computation, and benchmark the
profiler by comparing it to the rudimentary timer start-stop (tic-toc)
measurements, for a similar set of programs. The profiler code provides clean
interfaces to internals of GNU Octave, for other (newer) profiling tools on GNU
Octave.


title:
Modulation Doping of a Mott Quantum Well by a Proximate Polar
  Discontinuity

abstract:
  We present evidence for hole injection into LaAlO3/LaVO3/LaAlO3 quantum wells
near a polar surface of LaAlO3 (001). As the surface is brought in proximity to
the LaVO3 layer, an exponential drop in resistance and a decreasing positive
Seebeck coefficient is observed below a characteristic coupling length of 10-15
unit cells. We attribute this behavior to a crossover from an atomic
reconstruction of the AlO2-terminated LaAlO3 surface to an electronic
reconstruction of the vanadium valence. These results suggest a general
approach to tunable hole-doping in oxide thin film heterostructures.


title: Toric degenerations of Gelfand-Cetlin systems and potential functions

abstract:
  We define a toric degeneration of an integrable system on a projective
manifold, and prove the existence of a toric degeneration of the Gelfand-Cetlin
system on the flag manifold of type A. As an application, we calculate the
potential function for a Lagrangian torus fiber of the Gelfand-Cetlin system.


title:
NLTE model calculations for the solar atmosphere with an iterative
  treatment of opacity distribution functions

abstract:
  Modeling the variability of the solar spectral irradiance is a key factor for
understanding the solar influence on the climate of the Earth. As a first step
to calculating the solar spectral irradiance variations we reproduce the solar
spectrum for the quiet Sun over a broad wavelength range with an emphasis on
the UV. We introduce the radiative transfer code COSI which calculates solar
synthetic spectra under conditions of non-local thermodynamic equilibrium
(NLTE). A self-consistent simultaneous solution of the radiative transfer and
the statistical equation for the level populations guarantees that the correct
physics is considered for wavelength regions where the assumption of local
thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) breaks down. The new concept of iterated
opacity distribution functions (NLTE-ODFs), through which all line opacities
are included in the NLTE radiative transfer calculation, is presented. We show
that it is essential to include the line opacities in the radiative transfer to
reproduce the solar spectrum in the UV. Through the implemented scheme of
NLTE-ODFs the COSI code is successful in reproducing the spectral energy
distribution of the quiet Sun.


title: Asymptotic Expansion of the N=4 Dyon Degeneracy

abstract:
  We study various aspects of power suppressed as well as exponentially
suppressed corrections in the asymptotic expansion of the degeneracy of quarter
BPS dyons in N=4 supersymmetric string theories. In particular we explicitly
calculate the power suppressed corrections up to second order and the first
exponentially suppressed corrections. We also propose a macroscopic origin of
the exponentially suppressed corrections using the quantum entropy function
formalism. This suggests a universal pattern of exponentially suppressed
corrections to all four dimensional extremal black hole entropies in string
theory.


title: Coherent addition of two dimensional array of fiber lasers

abstract:
  Configurations for efficient free space coherent addition of four separate
fiber lasers arranged in two dimensional array are presented. They include
compact and robust interferometric combiners that can be inserted either inside
or outside the cavity of the combined lasers system. The results reveal that
over 85% combining efficiency can be obtained.


title: Social Learning Methods in Board Games

abstract:
  This paper discusses the effects of social learning in training of game
playing agents. The training of agents in a social context instead of a
self-play environment is investigated. Agents that use the reinforcement
learning algorithms are trained in social settings. This mimics the way in
which players of board games such as scrabble and chess mentor each other in
their clubs. A Round Robin tournament and a modified Swiss tournament setting
are used for the training. The agents trained using social settings are
compared to self play agents and results indicate that more robust agents
emerge from the social training setting. Higher state space games can benefit
from such settings as diverse set of agents will have multiple strategies that
increase the chances of obtaining more experienced players at the end of
training. The Social Learning trained agents exhibit better playing experience
than self play agents. The modified Swiss playing style spawns a larger number
of better playing agents as the population size increases.


title:
Limits on an Energy Dependence of the Speed of Light from a Flare of the
  Active Galaxy PKS 2155-304

abstract:
  In the past few decades, several models have predicted an energy-dependence
of the speed of light in the context of quantum gravity. For cosmological
sources such as active galaxies, this minuscule effect can add up to measurable
photon-energy dependent time lags. In this paper a search for such time lags
during the H.E.S.S. observations of the exceptional very high energy flare of
the active galaxy PKS 2155-304 on 28 July in 2006 is presented. Since no
significant time lag is found, lower limits on the energy scale of speed of
light modifications are derived.


title:
Uniaxial strain on graphene: Raman spectroscopy study and bandgap
  opening

abstract:
  Graphene was deposited on a transparent and flexible substrate and tensile
strain up to ~0.8% was loaded by stretching the substrate in one direction.
Raman spectra of strained graphene show significant redshifts of 2D and G band
(-27.8 cm^-1 and -14.2 cm^-1per 1% strain, respectively), because of the
elongation of the carbon-carbon bonds. This indicates that uniaxial strain has
been successfully applied on graphene. We also proposed that by applying
uniaxial strain on graphene, tunable bandgap at K point can be realized. First
principle calculations predicted a bandgap opening of ~300 meV for graphene
under 1% uniaxial tensile strain. The strained graphene provides an alternative
way to experimentally tune the bandgap of graphene, which would be more
efficient and more controllable than other methods that are used to open
bandgap in graphene. Moreover, our results suggest that the flexible substrate
is ready for such strain process and Raman spectroscopy can be used as an
ultra-sensitive method to determine the strain.


title:
Entropy and weak solutions in the thermal model for the compressible
  Euler equations

abstract:
  Among the existing models for compressible fluids, the one by Kataoka and
Tsutahara (KT model, Phys. Rev. E 69, 056702, 2004) has a simple and rigorous
theoretical background. The drawback of this KT model is that it can cause
numerical instability if the local Mach number exceeds 1. The precise mechanism
of this instability has not yet been clarified. In this paper, we derive
entropy functions whose local equilibria are suitable to recover the Euler-like
equations in the framework of the lattice Boltzmann method for the KT model.
Numerical examples are also given, which are consistent with the above
theoretical arguments, and show that the entropy condition is not fully
guaranteed in KT model. The negative entropy may be the inherent cause for the
non-physical oscillations in the vicinity of the shock. In contrast to these
Karlin's microscopic entropy approach, the corresponding subsidiary entropy
condition in the LBM calculation could also be deduced explicitly from the
macroscopic version, which provides some insights on the numerical instability
of the lattice Boltzmann model for shock calculation.


title:
Generalized relative entropies and the capacity of classical-quantum
  channels

abstract:
  We provide lower and upper bounds on the information transmission capacity of
one single use of a classical-quantum channel. The lower bound is expressed in
terms of the Hoeffding capacity, that we define similarly to the Holevo
capacity, but replacing the relative entropy with the Hoeffding distance.
Similarly, our upper bound is in terms of a quantity obtained by replacing the
relative entropy with the recently introduced max-relative entropy in the
definition of the divergence radius of a channel.


title: Koszul duality for stratified algebras I. Quasi-hereditary algebras

abstract:
  We give a complete picture of the interaction between Koszul and Ringel
dualities for quasi-hereditary algebras admitting linear tilting
(co)resolutions of standard and costandard modules. We show that such algebras
are Koszul, that the class of these algebras is closed with respect to both
dualities and that on this class these two dualities commute. All arguments
reduce to short computations in the bounded derived category of graded modules.


title: Scalar Casimir-Polder forces for uniaxial corrugations

abstract:
  We investigate the Dirichlet-scalar equivalent of Casimir-Polder forces
between an atom and a surface with arbitrary uniaxial corrugations. The
complexity of the problem can be reduced to a one-dimensional Green's function
equation along the corrugation which can be solved numerically. Our technique
is fully nonperturbative in the height profile of the corrugation. We present
explicit results for experimentally relevant sinusoidal and sawtooth
corrugations. Parameterizing the deviations from the planar limit in terms of
an anomalous dimension which measures the power-law deviation from the planar
case, we observe up to order-one anomalous dimensions at small and intermediate
scales and a universal regime at larger distances. This large-distance
universality can be understood from the fact that the relevant fluctuations
average over corrugation structures smaller than the atom-wall distance.

categories: quant-ph cond-mat.stat-mech hep-ph hep-th


title:
Helical ordering in the ground state of spin-one color superconductors
  as a consequence of parity violation

abstract:
  We investigate spin-one color superconductivity of a single quark flavor
using the Ginzburg-Landau theory. First we examine the classic analysis of
Bailin and Love and show that by restricting to the so-called inert states, it
misses the true ground state in a part of the phase diagram. This suggests the
use of the more general, noninert states in particular within three-flavor
quark matter where the color neutrality constraint imposes stress on the
spin-one pairing and may disfavor the symmetric color-spin-locked state. In the
second part of the paper we show that, in analogy to some ferromagnetic
materials, lack of space-inversion symmetry leads to a new term in the
Ginzburg-Landau functional, which favors a spatially nonuniform long-range
ordering with a spiral structure. In color superconductors, this new
parity-violating term is a tiny effect of weak-interaction physics. The
modified phase diagram is determined and the corresponding ground states for
all the phases constructed. At the end, we estimate the coefficient of the new
term in the free energy functional, and discuss its relevance for the
phenomenology of dense quark matter.


title: Computation of Neutron Star Structure Using Modern Equation of State

abstract:
  Using the modern equations of state derived from microscopic calculations, we
have calculated the neutron star structure. For the neutron star, we have
obtained a minimum mass about $0.1 {\rm M_{\odot}}$ which is nearly independent
of the equation of state, and a maximum mass between $1.47 {\rm M_{\odot}}$ and
$1.98 {\rm M_{\odot}}$ which is strongly dependent on the equation of state. It
is shown that among the equations of state of neutron star matter which we have
used, the stiffest one leads to higher maximum mass and radius and lower
central density. It is seen that the given maximum mass for the Reid-93
equation of state shows a good consistency with the accurate observations of
radio pulsars. We have indicated that the thickness of neutron star crust is
very small compared to the predicted neutron star radius.


title:
QCD Factorization Based on Six-Quark Operator Effective Hamiltonian from
  Perturbative QCD and Charmless Bottom Meson Decays $B_{(s)}\to \pi\pi,\pi K,
  KK$

abstract:
  The charmless bottom meson decays are systematically investigated based on an
approximate six quark operator effective Hamiltonian from perturbative QCD. It
is shown that within this framework the naive QCD factorization method provides
a simple way to evaluate the hadronic matrix elements of two body mesonic
decays. The singularities caused by on mass-shell quark propagator and gluon
exchanging interaction are appropriately treated. Such a simple framework
allows us to make theoretical predictions for the decay amplitudes with
reasonable input parameters. The resulting theoretical predictions for all the
branching ratios and CP asymmetries in the charmless $B^0, B^+, B_s\to \pi\pi,
\pi K, KK$ decays are found to be consistent with the current experimental data
except for a few decay modes. The observed large branching ratio in $B\to
\pi^0\pi^0$ decay remains a puzzle though the predicted branching ratio may be
significantly improved by considering the large vertex corrections in the
effective Wilson coefficients. More precise measurements of charmless bottom
meson decays, especially on CP-violations in $B\to K K$ and $B_s\to \pi\pi, \pi
K, KK$ decay modes, will provide a useful test and guide us to a better
understanding on perturbative and nonperturbative QCD.


title: A Study of NK Landscapes' Basins and Local Optima Networks

abstract:
  We propose a network characterization of combinatorial fitness landscapes by
adapting the notion of inherent networks proposed for energy surfaces (Doye,
2002). We use the well-known family of $NK$ landscapes as an example. In our
case the inherent network is the graph where the vertices are all the local
maxima and edges mean basin adjacency between two maxima. We exhaustively
extract such networks on representative small NK landscape instances, and show
that they are 'small-worlds'. However, the maxima graphs are not random, since
their clustering coefficients are much larger than those of corresponding
random graphs. Furthermore, the degree distributions are close to exponential
instead of Poissonian. We also describe the nature of the basins of attraction
and their relationship with the local maxima network.


title:
An effectivization of the global reconstruction in the Gel'fand-Calderon
  inverse problem in three dimensions

abstract:
  By developing the d-bar approach to global "inverse scattering" at zero
energy we give a principal effectivization of the global reconstruction method
for the Gel'fand-Calderon inverse boundary value problem in three dimensions.
This work goes back to results published by the author in 1987, 1988 and
proceeds from recent progress in the d-bar approach to inverse scattering in 3D
published by the author in 2005, 2006.


title:
Stress Field at a Sliding Frictional Contact: Experiments and
  Calculations

abstract:
  A MEMS-based sensing device is used to measure the normal and tangential
stress fields at the base of a rough elastomer film in contact with a smooth
glass cylinder in steady sliding. This geometry allows for a direct comparison
between the stress profiles measured along the sliding direction and the
predictions of an original \textit{exact} bidimensional model of friction. The
latter assumes Amontons' friction law, which implies that in steady sliding the
interfacial tangential stress is equal to the normal stress times a
pressure-independent dynamic friction coefficient $\mu_d$, but makes no further
assumption on the normal stress field. Discrepancy between the measured and
calculated profiles is less than 14% over the range of loads explored.
Comparison with a test model, based on the classical assumption that the normal
stress field is unchanged upon tangential loading, shows that the exact model
better reproduces the experimental profiles at high loads. However, significant
deviations remain that are not accounted for by either calculations. In that
regard, the relevance of two other assumptions made in the calculations, namely
(i) the smoothness of the interface and (ii) the pressure-independence of
$\mu_d$ is briefly discussed.


title:
Yield stress and elastic modulus of suspensions of noncolloidal
  particles in yield stress fluids

abstract:
  We study experimentally the behavior of isotropic suspensions of noncolloidal
particles in yield stress fluids. This problem has been poorly studied in the
literature, and only on specific materials. In this paper, we manage to develop
procedures and materials that allow us to focus on the purely mechanical
contribution of the particles to the yield stress fluid behavior, independently
of the physicochemical properties of the materials. This allows us to relate
the macroscopic properties of these suspensions to the mechanical properties of
the yield stress fluid and the particle volume fraction, and to provide results
applicable to any noncolloidal particle in any yield stress fluid. We find that
the elastic modulus-concentration relationship follows a Krieger-Dougherty law,
and we show that the yield stress-concentration relationship is related to the
elastic modulus-concentration relationship through a very simple law, in
agreement with results from a micromechanical analysis.


title:
Network analysis identifies weak and strong links in a metapopulation
  system

abstract:
  The identification of key populations shaping the structure and connectivity
of metapopulation systems is a major challenge in population ecology. The use
of molecular markers in the theoretical framework of population genetics has
allowed great advances in this field, but the prime question of quantifying the
role of each population in the system remains unresolved. Furthermore, the use
and interpretation of classical methods are still bounded by the need for a
priori information and underlying assumptions that are seldom respected in
natural systems. Network theory was applied to map the genetic structure in a
metapopulation system using microsatellite data from populations of a
threatened seagrass, Posidonia oceanica, across its whole geographical range.
The network approach, free from a priori assumptions and of usual underlying
hypothesis required for the interpretation of classical analysis, allows both
the straightforward characterization of hierarchical population structure and
the detection of populations acting as hubs critical for relaying gene flow or
sustaining the metapopulation system. This development opens major perspectives
in ecology and evolution in general, particularly in areas such as conservation
biology and epidemiology, where targeting specific populations is crucial.


title:
Influence of shear stress applied during flow stoppage and rest period
  on the mechanical properties of thixotropic suspensions

abstract:
  We study the solid mechanical properties of several thixotropic suspensions
as a function of the shear stress history applied during their flow stoppage
and their aging in their solid state. We show that their elastic modulus and
yield stress depend strongly on the shear stress applied during their
solid-liquid transition (i.e., during flow stoppage) while applying the same
stress only before or only after this transition may induce only second-order
effects: there is negligible dependence of the mechanical properties on the
preshear history and on the shear stress applied at rest. We also found that
the suspensions age with a structuration rate that hardly depends on the stress
history. We propose a physical sketch based on the freezing of a microstructure
whose anisotropy depends on the stress applied during the liquid-solid
transition to explain why the mechanical properties depend strongly on this
stress. This sketch points out the role of the internal forces in the colloidal
suspensions' behavior. We finally discuss briefly the macroscopic consequences
of this phenomenon and show the importance of using a controlled-stress
rheometer.


title:
CP-violation parameters from decay rates of $B^\pm \to D K^\pm$, $D\to$
  multibody final states

abstract:
  We describe a method for measuring CP-violation parameters from which the
Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa angle $\gamma$ may be extracted. The method makes use
of the total decay rates in $B^\pm \to DK^\pm$ decays, where the neutral $D$
meson decays to multibody final states. We analyze the error of the method
using experimental CP-violation analysis variables that enable straightforward
sensitivity comparison with other methods for extracting $\gamma$, and discuss
the use of $B$-factory and charm-factory data to obtain the relevant charm
decay information needed for this measurement. Measurement sensitivities are
estimated for the currently available $B$-factory data sample, and $D$ decay
modes for which use of this method can make a significant contribution toward
reducing the total error on $\gamma$ are identified.


title: New methods for large dynamical range problems in planetary formation

abstract:
  Modern N-body techniques for planetary dynamics are generally based on
symplectic algorithms specially adapted to the Kepler problem. These methods
have proven very useful in studying planet formation, but typically require the
timestep for all objects to be set to a small fraction of the orbital period of
the innermost body. This computational expense can be prohibitive for even
moderate particle number for many physically interesting scenarios, such as
recent models of the formation of hot exoplanets, in which the semimajor axis
of possible progenitors can vary by orders of magnitude. We present new methods
which retain most of the benefits of the standard symplectic integrators but
allow for radial zones with distinct timesteps. These approaches should make
simulations of planetary accretion with large dynamical range tractable. As
proof of concept we present preliminary science results from an implementation
of the algorithm as applied to an oligarchic migration scenario for forming hot
Neptunes.


title: The Connectivity of NK Landscapes' Basins: A Network Analysis

abstract:
  We propose a network characterization of combinatorial fitness landscapes by
adapting the notion of inherent networks proposed for energy surfaces. We use
the well-known family of NK landscapes as an example. In our case the inherent
network is the graph where the vertices represent the local maxima in the
landscape, and the edges account for the transition probabilities between their
corresponding basins of attraction. We exhaustively extracted such networks on
representative small NK landscape instances, and performed a statistical
characterization of their properties. We found that most of these network
properties can be related to the search difficulty on the underlying NK
landscapes with varying values of K.


title: Hypocoercivity for kinetic equations with linear relaxation terms

abstract:
  This note is devoted to a simple method for proving hypocoercivity of the
solutions of a kinetic equation involving a linear time relaxation operator,
i.e. the construction of an adapted Lyapunov functional satisfying a
Gronwall-type inequality. The method clearly distinguishes the coercivity at
microscopic level, which directly arises from the properties of the relaxation
operator, and a spectral gap inequality at the macroscopic level for the
spatial density, which is connected to the diffusion limit. It improves on
previously known results. Our approach is illustrated by the linear BGK model
and a relaxation operator which corresponds at macroscopic level to the
linearized fast diffusion.


title: Nonlinear superpositions and Ermakov systems

abstract:
  The theory of superposition rules for solutions of a Lie system of
first-order differential equations is extended to deal with analogous systems
of second-order and the theory is illustrated with the very rich example of
Ermakov-like systems.


title: Dynamics of Strings between Walls

abstract:
  Configurations of vortex-strings stretched between or ending on domain walls
were previously found to be 1/4 Bogomol'nyi-Prasad-Sommerfield(BPS) states in
N=2 supersymmetric gauge theories in 3+1 dimensions. Among zero modes of string
positions, the center of mass of strings in each region between two adjacent
domain walls is shown to be non-normalizable whereas the rests are
normalizable. We study dynamics of vortex-strings stretched between separated
domain walls by using two methods, the moduli space (geodesic) approximation of
full 1/4 BPS states and the charged particle approximation for string endpoints
in the wall effective action. In the first method we explicitly obtain the
effective Lagrangian, in terms of hypergeometric functions, and find the 90
degree scattering for head-on collision. In the second method the domain wall
effective action is assumed to be U(1)^N gauge theory, and we find a good
agreement between two methods for well separated strings.


title:
Photochemical enrichment of deuterium in Titan's atmosphere: new
  insights from Cassini-Huygens

abstract:
  Cassini-Huygens data are used to re-examine the potential sources of the D/H
enhancement over solar, measured in methane, in Titan's atmosphere. Assuming
that the system is closed with respect to carbon, the use of constraints from
the Huygens probe for the determination of the current mass of atmospheric
methane and the most up-to-date determination of D/H from Cassini/CIRS infrared
spectra allow us to show that photochemical enrichment of deuterium is not
sufficient to be the sole mechanism yielding the measured D/H value. A possible
fractionation between CH3D and CH4 during the escape process may slightly
enhance the deuterium enrichment, but is not sufficient to explain the observed
D/H value over the range of escape values proposed in the literature. Hence,
alternative mechanisms such as a primordial deuterium enrichment must be
combined with the photochemical enrichment in Titan's atmosphere in order to
explain its current D/H value.


title:
Wide-gap Couette flows of dense emulsions: Local concentration
  measurements, and comparison between macroscopic and local constitutive law
  measurements through magnetic resonance imaging

abstract:
  Flows of dense emulsions show many complex features among which long range
nonlocal effects pose a problem for macroscopic characterization. In order to
get around this problem, we study the flows of several dense emulsions in a
wide-gap Couette geometry. We couple macroscopic rheometric experiments and
local velocity measurements through MRI techniques. As concentration
heterogeneities can be expected, we designed a method to measure the local
droplet concentration in emulsions with a MRI device. In contrast to dense
suspensions of rigid particles where very fast migration occurs under shear, we
show that no migration takes place in dense emulsions even for strains as large
as 100 000 in our systems. As a result of the absence of migration and of
finite size effect, we are able to determine very precisely the local
rheological behavior of several dense emulsions. As the materials are
homogeneous, this behavior can also be inferred from purely macroscopic
measurements. We thus suggest that properly analyzed purely macroscopic
measurements in a wide-gap Couette geometry can be used as a tool to study the
local constitutive laws of dense emulsions. All behaviors are basically
consistent with Herschel-Bulkley laws of index 0.5, but discrepancies exist at
the approach of the yield stress due to slow shear flows below the apparent
yield stress in the case of a strongly adhesive emulsion. The existence of a
constitutive law accounting for all flows contrasts with previous results
obtained within a microchannel by Goyon et al. (2008): the use of a wide-gap
Couette geometry is likely to prevent here from nonlocal finite size effects;
it also contrasts with the observations of B\'ecu et al. (2006).


title:
Band structure of SrFeAsF and CaFeAsF as parent phases for a new group
  of oxygen-free FeAs superconductors

abstract:
  By means of first-principle FLAPW-GGA calculations, we have investigated the
electronic properties of the newly discovered layered quaternary systems
SrFeAsF and CaFeAsF as parent phases for a new group of oxygen-free FeAs
superconductors. The electronic bands, density of states, Fermi surfaces,
atomic charges, together with Sommerfeld coefficients and molar Pauli
paramagnetic susceptibility have been evaluated and discussed in comparison
with oxyarsenide LaFeAsO - a parent phase for a new class of high-temperature
(Tc about 26-56K) oxygen-containing FeAs superconductors. Similarity of our
data for SrFeAsF and CaFeAsF with the band structure of oxygen-containing FeAs
superconducting materials may be considered as theoretical background
specifying the possibility of superconductivity in these oxygen-free systems.


title: Initial Hubble Diagram Results from the Nearby Supernova Factory

abstract:
  The use of Type Ia supernovae as distance indicators led to the discovery of
the accelerating expansion of the universe a decade ago. Now that large second
generation surveys have significantly increased the size and quality of the
high-redshift sample, the cosmological constraints are limited by the currently
available sample of ~50 cosmologically useful nearby supernovae. The Nearby
Supernova Factory addresses this problem by discovering nearby supernovae and
observing their spectrophotometric time development. Our data sample includes
over 2400 spectra from spectral timeseries of 185 supernovae. This talk
presents results from a portion of this sample including a Hubble diagram
(relative distance vs. redshift) and a description of some analyses using this
rich dataset.


title: Non-Strange Meson Production with Hadronic Probes

abstract:
  Recent progress in the field of meson production in hadron collisions is
presented. Special emphasis is put new developments in the application of
effective field theory methods to pion production, but also theoretical
concepts for two-pion, eta, and vector-meson production will be presented.


title: Family tree of perovskite-related superconductors

abstract:
  A simple empirical relation has been found to exist between optimum Tc and
the formal mean cation charge <qc> of perovskite-related superconductors,
covering both conventional superconductors and superconducting cuprates. Tc is
shown to increase exponentially with decreasing <qc>. It is suggested that a
Ba-based cuprate with <qc> about 2 reach a Tc around 200 K. The strong
correlation may be thought of as an indication for a common mechanism of
superconductivity of the whole family of compounds. In addition, the structural
assignment for the 'cubic' high-Tc phase reported by Volkov (Tc = 117 K) to the
orthorhombic BaCuO2.5 prototype is proposed.


title: Polaron relaxation and hopping conductivity in LaMn$_{1-x}$Fe$_{x}$O$_3$

abstract:
  Dc and ac transport properties as well as electric modulus spectra have been
investigated for the samples LaMn$_{1-x}$Fe$_{x}$O$_3$ with compositions 0
$\leq x \leq$ 1.0. The bulk dc resistivity shows a temperature variation
consistent with the variable range hopping mechanism at low temperature and
Arrhenius mechanism at high temperatures. The ac conductivity has been found to
follow a power law behavior at a limited temperature and frequency region where
Anderson-localization plays a significant role in the transport mechanism for
all the compositions. At low temperatures large dc resistivities and dielectric
relaxation behavior for all the compositions are consistent with the polaronic
nature of the charge carriers. Scaling of the modulus spectra shows that the
charge transport dynamics is independent of temperature for a particular
composition but depends strongly on different compositions possibly due to
different charge carrier concentrations and structural properties.


title: Dynamics of the Disks of Nearby Galaxies

abstract:
  I describe how the dynamics of galactic disks can be inferred by imaging and
spectroscopy. Next I demonstrate that the decomposition of the rotation curves
of spiral galaxies into the contributions by the various components of the
galaxies is highly degenerate. Constraints on the decomposition can be found by
considering implications for the dynamics of the galactic disks. An important
diagnostic is the Toomre Q stability parameter which controls the stability of
a galactic disk against local Jeans collapse. I also show how the density wave
theory of galactic spiral arms can be employed to constrain the mass of a
galactic disk. Applying both diagnostics to the example of NGC 2985 and
discussing also the implied mass-to-light ratio I demonstrate that the inner
parts of the galaxy, where the optical disk resides, are dominated by baryons.
When I apply this method to the disks of low surface brightness galaxies, I
find unexpectedly high mass-to light ratios. These could be explained by
population synthesis models which assume a bottom heavy initial mass function
similar to the recently proposed `integrated galactic initial mass function'.


title:
Limits on Low-Mass WIMP Dark Matter with an Ultra-Low-Energy Germanium
  Detector at 220 eV Threshold

abstract:
  An energy threshold of (220$\pm$10) eV was achieved at an efficiency of 50%
with a four-channel ultra-low-energy germanium detector each with an active
mass of 5 g\cite{wimppaper}. This provides a unique probe to WIMP dark matter
with mass below 10 GeV. With low background data taken at the Kuo-Sheng
Laboratory, constraints on WIMPs in the galactic halo were derived. Both
spin-independent WIMP-nucleon and spin-dependent WIMP-neutron bounds improve
over previous results for WIMP mass between 3$-$6 GeV. These results, together
with those on spin-dependent couplings, will be presented. Sensitivities for
full-scale experiments were projected. This detector technique makes the
unexplored sub-keV energy window accessible for new neutrino and dark matter
experiments.


title: Physical Classification of Galaxies with MOPED/VESPA

abstract:
  The availability of high-quality spectra for a large number of galaxies in
the SDSS survey allows for a more sophisticated extraction of information about
their stellar populations than, e.g., the luminosity weighted age. Indeed,
sophisticated and robust techniques to fully analyze galaxy spectra have now
reached enough maturity as to trust their results and findings. By
reconstructing the star formation and metallicity history of galaxies from the
SDSS fossil record and analyzing how it relates to its environment, we have
learned how to classify galaxies: to first order the evolution of a galaxy is
determined by its present stellar mass, which in turn seems to be governed by
the merger rate of dark halos.


title:
Microwave Surface-Impedance Measurements of the Magnetic Penetration
  Depth in Single Crystal Ba1-xKxFe2As2 Superconductors: Evidence for a
  Disorder-Dependent Superfluid Density

abstract:
  We report high-sensitivity microwave measurements of the in-plane penetration
depth $\lambda_{ab}$ and quasiparticle scattering rate $1/\tau$ in several
single crystals of hole-doped Fe-based superconductor
Ba$_{1-x}$K$_x$Fe$_2$As$_2$ ($x\approx 0.55$). While power-law temperature
dependence of $\lambda_{ab}$ with the power $\sim 2$ is found in crystals with
large $1/\tau$, we observe exponential temperature dependence of superfluid
density consistent with the existence of fully opened two gaps in the cleanest
crystal we studied. The difference may be a consequence of different level of
disorder inherent in the crystals. We also find a linear relation between the
low-temperature scattering rate and the density of quasiparticles, which shows
a clear contrast to the case of d-wave cuprate superconductors with nodes in
the gap. These results demonstrate intrinsically nodeless order parameters in
the Fe-arsenides.


title:
The role of negative buoyancy in convective Cepheid models. Double-mode
  pulsations revisited

abstract:
  The longstanding problem of modeling double-mode behaviour of classical
pulsators was solved with the incorporation of turbulent convection into
pulsation hydrocodes. However, the reasons for the computed double-mode
behaviour were never clearly identified. In our recent papers (Smolec &
Moskalik 2008a,b) we showed that the double-mode behaviour results from the
neglect of negative buoyancy effects in some of the hydrocodes. If these
effects are taken into account, no stable non-resonant double-mode behaviour
can be found. In these proceedings we focus our attention on the role of
negative buoyancy effects in classical Cepheid models.


title: First Results from the PAMELA Space Mission

abstract:
  On the 15th of June 2006, the PAMELA satellite-borne experiment was launched
from the Baikonur cosmodrome and it has been collecting data since July 2006.
The apparatus comprises a time-of-flight system, a silicon-microstrip magnetic
spectrometer, a silicon-tungsten electromagnetic calorimeter, an
anticoincidence system, a shower tail counter scintillator and a neutron
detector. The combination of these devices allows precision studies of the
charged cosmic radiation to be conducted over a wide energy range (100 MeV -
100's GeV) with high statistics. The primary scientific goal is the measurement
of the antiproton and positron energy spectrum in order to search for exotic
sources, such as dark matter particle annihilations. PAMELA is also searching
for primordial antinuclei (anti-helium), and testing cosmic-ray propagation
models through precise measurements of the antiparticle energy spectrum and
precision studies of light nuclei and their isotopes. We review the status of
the apparatus and present preliminary results concerning antiparticle
measurements and dark-matter indirect searches.


title: Continous Temkin theory of interface

abstract:
  We present differential equation for evolution of interface based on
continuous approximation of Temkin's model


title:
Isospectral Potentials and Quarkonia Low Energy Spectra: A Possibility
  of simultaneous fit to Masses and leptonic decay widths"

abstract:
  Some of the non-relativistic QQ/bar interaction potentials and its
isospectral partner-potentials have been employed to evaluate the masses and
leptonic decay widths of Charmonium and Upsilon states. An attempt has been
made to develop a prescription to provide a simultaneous fit to Masses and
leptonic decay widths of Quarkonia. Preliminary calculation shows that the
class of isospectral-potentials corresponding to: V(r)= -(alphas/r)+ar^n
appears to yield the desired results. The various associated theoretical and
phenomenological issues are discussed in light of recent data. The possible
relation with the 'Wrinkled potentials' is also discussed.


title: Spin polarized liquid 3He

abstract:
  We have employed the constrained variational method to study the influence of
spin polarization on the ground state properties of liquid $^3{\rm He}$. The
spin polarized phase, we have found, has stronger correlation with respect to
the unpolarized phase. It is shown that the internal energy of liquid $^3{\rm
He}$ increases by increasing polarization with no crossing point between
polarized and unpolarized energy curves over the liquid density range. The
obtained internal energy curves show a bound state, even in the case of fully
spin polarized matter. We have also investigated the validity of using a
parabolic formula for calculating the energy of spin polarized liquid $^3{\rm
He}$. Finally, we have compared our results with other calculations.


title: 25 years ago: the official farewell to the meter

abstract:
  On october 21st 1983 took place in S\`evres on the western outskirts of Paris
the official funeral of the meter. With it the notion of distance as a physical
observable was buried.


title:
Enhancement of tunneling density of states at a junction of three
  Luttinger liquid wires

abstract:
  We study the tunneling density of states (TDOS) for a junction of three
Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid wires. We show that there are fixed points which
allow for the enhancement of the TDOS, which is unusual for Luttinger liquids.
The distance from the junction over which this enhancement occurs is of the
order of x = v/(2 \omega), where v is the plasmon velocity and \omega is the
bias frequency. Beyond this distance, the TDOS crosses over to the standard
bulk value independent of the fixed point describing the junction. This finite
range of distances opens up the possibility of experimentally probing the
enhancement in each wire individually.


title:
Multiplicity and momentum distributions of hadrons in deep inelastic
  scattering at HERA energies

abstract:
  The universality and scaling behaviour of hadronisation have been
investigated in semi-inclusive neutral current deep inelastic ep scattering;
specifically the multiplicity and scaled momentum spectra of charged hadrons
have been measured and analysed. The measurements are performed in the current
region of the Breit frame, as well as in the current fragmentation region of
the hadronic centre-of-mass frame. The data collected at the HERA ep collider
by the H1 and ZEUS experiments are compared with similar measurements obtained
in e+e- annihilation and with previous ep measurements as well as with
leading-logarithm parton-shower predictions.


title: Measurement of the Charge Ratio of Cosmic Muons using CMS Data

abstract:
  We have performed the measurement of the cosmic ray muon charge ratio, as a
function of the muon momentum, using data collected by the CMS experiment,
exploiting the capabilities of the muon barrel drift tube (DT) chambers. The
cosmic muon charge ratio is defined as the ratio of the number of positive- to
negative-charge muons. Cosmic ray muons result from the interaction of
high-energy cosmic-ray particles (mainly protons and nuclei), entering the
upper layers of the atmosphere, with air nuclei. Since these collisions favour
positive meson production, there is an asymmetry in the charge composition and
more positive muons are expected.
  The data samples were collected at the \textit{Magnet Test and Cosmic
Challenge} (MTCC). While the MTCC itself was a crucial milestone in the CMS
detector construction, not having physics studies among its primary goals, it
provided the first opportunity to obtain physics results and test the full
analysis chain using real data in CMS before the LHC startup, together with a
complementary check of the detector performance.


title: Spiky Strings in AdS(4) X CP**3 with Neveu-Schwarz Flux

abstract:
  We study general rotating string solution in the AdS(4) X CP**3 background
with a B_NS holonomy turned on over ${\bf CP}^1$ $\subset $ $ {\bf CP}^3$. We
find the giant magnon and single spike solutions for the string moving in this
background corresponding to open spin chain. We calculate the corresponding
dispersion relation among various conserved charges for both the cases. We
further study the finite size effect on both the giant magnon and single spike
solutions.


title: New interactions: past and future experiments

abstract:
  In this talk I will review the present status and future perspectives of some
popular extensions of the conventional three-neutrino oscillation scenario,
from a purely phenomenological point of view. For concreteness I will focus
only on three specific scenarios: non-standard neutrino interactions with
matters, models with extra sterile neutrinos, and neutrino decay and
decoherence.


title: Quantum geometrodynamics creates new problems

abstract:
  The development of last years in quantum geometrodynamics highlights new
problems which were not obvious in its first formulation proposed by Wheeler
and DeWitt. At the first stage the main task was to apply known quantization
schemes to gravitational field or a certain cosmological model. This way has
led to the realization of the fact that a quantum description of the Universe
is impossible without implicit or explicit indication to a reference frame
presented by some medium, filling the whole Universe, with its own equation of
state and thermodynamical properties. Thus the questions arise, should one seek
for a "privileged" reference frame or consider all the variety of gauge
conditions and appropriate solutions for the wave function? It is worth noting
that thermodynamical properties of such a quantum Universe would also depend on
a chosen reference frame to some extent. So, we need a self-consistent quantum
theoretical and thermodynamical description of the Universe.


title:
Search for Lepton-Flavor-Violating tau Decays into a Lepton and an
  f0(980) Meson

abstract:
  We search for lepton-flavor-violating tau decays into a lepton (electron or
muon) and an f0(980) meson using 671 fb-1 of data collected with the Belle
detector at the KEKB asymmetric-energy e+e- collider. No events are observed
and we set the following 90% C.L. upper limits on the branching fraction
products: B(tau- -> e-f0(980))*B(f0(980)->pi+pi-)<3.2x10^-8 and B(tau- ->
mu-f0(980))*B(f0(980) -> pi+pi-)<3.4x10^-8. This is the first search performed
for these modes.


title:
On the central ionizing star of G23.96+0.15 and near-IR spectral
  classification of O stars

abstract:
  Aims: A near-infrared study of the main ionizing star of the ultracompact HII
region G23.96+0.15 (IRAS 18317-0757) is presented, along with a re-evaluation
of the distance to this source, and a re-assessment of H- and K-band
classification diagnostics for O dwarfs; Methods: We have obtained near-IR
VLT/ISAAC imaging and spectroscopy of G23.96+0.15, plus archival imaging from
UKIRT/UFTI. A spectroscopic analysis was carried out using a non-LTE model
atmosphere code; Results: A quantitative H- and K-band classification scheme
for O dwarfs is provided, from which we establish an O7.5V spectral subtype for
the central star of G23.96+0.15. We estimate an effective temperature of Teff ~
38 kK from a spectral analysis; Conclusions: A spectroscopic distance of 2.5
kpc is obtained for G23.96+0.15, substantially lower than the kinematic
distance of 4.7 kpc, in common with recent studies of other Milky way HII
regions. Such discrepancies would be alleviated if sources are unresolved
binaries or clusters.


title: Avoided crossing resonances: structural and dynamical aspects

abstract:
  We examine structural and dynamical properties of quantum resonances
associated with an avoided crossing and identify the parameter shifts where
these properties attain maximal or extreme values, first at a general level,
and then for a two-level system coupled to a harmonic oscillator, of the type
commonly found in quantum optics. Finally the results obtained are exemplified
and applied to optimize the fidelity and speed of quantum gates in trapped
ions.


title:
Search for new physics in the mu+mu+e/mu+met channel with a low-pT
  lepton threshold at the Collider Detector at Fermilab

abstract:
  A search for new physics using three-lepton (trilepton) data collected with
the CDF II detector and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 976 pb-1
is presented. The standard model predicts a low rate of trilepton events, which
makes some supersymmetric processes, such as chargino-neutralino production,
measurable in this channel. The mu+mu+l signature is investigated, where l is
an electron or a muon, with the additional requirement of large missing
transverse energy. In this analysis, the lepton transverse momenta with respect
to the beam direction (pT) are as low as 5 GeV/c, a selection that improves the
sensitivity to particles which are light as well as to ones which result in
leptonically decaying tau leptons. At the same time, this low-p_T selection
presents additional challenges due to the non-negligible heavy-quark background
at low lepton momenta. This background is measured with an innovative technique
using experimental data. Several dimuon and trilepton control regions are
investigated, and good agreement between experimental results and
standard-model predictions is observed. In the signal region, we observe one
three-muon event and expect 0.4+/-0.1 mu+mu+l events


title:
The Swift satellite lives up to its name, revealing cosmic explosions as
  they happen

abstract:
  Gamma-ray Bursts are the most powerful objects in the Universe. Discovered in
the 1960's as brief flashes of gamma-radiation, we now know they emit across
the entire electromagnetic spectrum, are located in distant galaxies and
comprise two distinct populations, one of which may originate in the deaths of
massive stars. The launch of the Swift satellite in 2004 has brought a flurry
of new discoveries, advancing our understanding of these sources and the
galaxies that host them. We highlight a number of important results from the
Swift era thus far.


title: Recent theoretical progress in perturbative QCD

abstract:
  We review selected recent theoretical activity in perturbative QCD. We focus
on progress in the description of parton densities, including latest
developments in neural network parton densities, on the description of high
multiplicity final states at the LHC at leading and next-to-leading order, on
progress in next-to-next-to-leading order, and on novel developments in jets
physics.


title: The use of entropy to measure structural diversity

abstract:
  In this paper entropy based methods are compared and used to measure
structural diversity of an ensemble of 21 classifiers. This measure is mostly
applied in ecology, whereby species counts are used as a measure of diversity.
The measures used were Shannon entropy, Simpsons and the Berger Parker
diversity indexes. As the diversity indexes increased so did the accuracy of
the ensemble. An ensemble dominated by classifiers with the same structure
produced poor accuracy. Uncertainty rule from information theory was also used
to further define diversity. Genetic algorithms were used to find the optimal
ensemble by using the diversity indices as the cost function. The method of
voting was used to aggregate the decisions.


title:
Updated parameters for the transiting exoplanet WASP-3b using RISE, a
  new fast camera for the Liverpool Telescope

abstract:
  Some of the first results are reported from RISE - a new fast camera mounted
on the Liverpool Telescope primarily designed to obtain high time resolution
light curves of transiting extrasolar planets for the purpose of transit
timing. A full and partial transit of WASP-3 are presented, and a Monte Carlo
Markov Chain analysis is used to update the parameters from the discovery
paper. This results in a planetary radius of 1.29^{+0.05}_{-0.12} R_J and
therefore a density of 0.82^{+0.14}_{-0.09} p_J, consistent with previous
results. The inclination is 85.07^{+0.15}_{-0.16} deg, in agreement (but with a
significant improvement in the precision) with the previously determined value.
Central transit times are found to be consistent with the ephemeris given in
the discovery paper. However, a new ephemeris calculated using the longer
baseline results in T_c(0) = 2454605.55915 +- 0.00023 HJD and P = 1.846835 +-
0.000002 days.


title: Results from the CDMS 5-Tower Operation

abstract:
  Astrophysical observations strongly suggest that non-luminous, nonbaryonic
components, so called "Dark Matter", may constitute most of the matter in the
Universe. The Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (CDMS) experiment is designed to
detect Dark Matter interaction events through nuclear recoils from elastic
scattering. The detector is capable of reading out both phonon and ionization
energy of an interaction in Ge or Si crystals. We present results from the CDMS
five-tower detector arrays. The data were collected in the period between
October 2006 and July 2007 (with an effective exposure of 121.3 kg-days). No
WIMP signal was observed. The results, when combined with previous CDMS Soudan
data, set a 90% confidence level upper bound on the WIMP-nucleon cross section
of $4.6\times 10^{-44}$ cm$^2$ at 60 Gev/c$^2$ WIMP mass.


title:
Phenomenological description of the states $0^+$ and $2^+$ in some
  even-even nuclei

abstract:
  A sixth-order quadrupole boson Hamiltonian is used to describe the states
$0^+$ and $2^+$ identified in several nuclei by various types of experiments.
Two alternative descriptions of energy levels are proposed. One corresponds to
a semi-classical approach of the model Hamiltonian while the other one provides
the exact eigenvalues. Both procedures yield close formulas for energies. The
first procedure involves four parameters, while the second involves a compact
formula with five parameters. In each case the parameters are fixed by a
least-square fit procedure. Applications are performed for eight even-even
nuclei.
  Both methods yield results which are in a surprisingly good agreement with
the experimental data. We give also our predicted reduced transition
probabilities within the two approaches, although the corresponding
experimental data are not yet available.


title: MOST discovers a multimode delta Scuti star in a triple system: HD 61199

abstract:
  A field star, HD 61199 (V ~ 8), simultaneously observed with Procyon by the
MOST (Microvariability & Oscillations of STars) satellite in continuous runs of
34, 17, and 34 days in 2004, 2005, and 2007, was found to pulsate in 11
frequencies in the delta Scuti range with amplitudes from 1.7 down to 0.09
mmag. The photometry also showed variations with a period of about four days.
To investigate the nature of the longer period, 45 days of time-resolved
spectroscopy was obtained at the Thueringer Landessternwarte Tautenburg in
2004. The radial velocity measurements indicate that HD 61199 is a triple
system. A delta Scuti pulsator with a rich eigenspectrum in a multiple system
is promising for asteroseismology. Our objectives were to identify which of the
stars in the system is the delta Scuti variable and to obtain the orbital
elements of the system and the fundamental parameters of the individual
components, which are constrained by the pulsation frequencies of the delta
Scuti star. Classical Fourier techniques and least-squares multi-sinusoidal
fits were applied to the MOST photometry to identify the pulsation frequencies.
The groundbased spectroscopy was analysed with least-squares-deconvolution
(LSD) techniques, and the orbital elements derived with the KOREL and ORBITX
routines. Asteroseismic models were also generated. The photometric and
spectroscopic data are compatible with a triple system consisting of a close
binary with an orbital period of 3.57 days and a delta Scuti companion (HD
61199,A) as the most luminous component. The delta Scuti star is a rapid
rotator with about vsin i = 130 km/s and an upper mass limit of about 2.1 Msun.
For the close binary components, we find they are of nearly equal mass, with
lower mass limits of about 0.7 Msun.


title: Elliptic flow and the high $p_T$ ridge in Au+Au collisions

abstract:
  In this paper we look for a correlations between intermediate $p_T$ particle
pairs and the $v_2$ of the remaining low $p_T$ particles. We find that the
shape of the flow vector distribution, which is calculated from all low $p_T$
tracks, depends in a non-trivial way on the angular separation between the high
$p_T$ particle pairs in the event. Our analysis is based on 200 GeV Au+Au
collision measured with the STAR detector.


title: Possibility of s-wave pion condensates in neutron stars revisited

abstract:
  We examine possibilities of pion condensation with zero momentum (s-wave
condensation) in neutron stars by using the pion-nucleus optical potential U
and the relativistic mean field (RMF) models. We use low-density
phenomenological optical potentials parameterized to fit deeply bound pionic
atoms or pion-nucleus elastic scatterings. Proton fraction (Y_p) and electron
chemical potential (mu_e) in neutron star matter are evaluated in RMF models.
We find that the s-wave pion condensation hardly takes place in neutron stars
and especially has no chance if hyperons appear in neutron star matter and/or
b_1 parameter in U has density dependence.


title: sl^(2)_{-1/2}: A Case Study

abstract:
  The construction of the non-logarithmic conformal field theory based on
sl^(2)_{-1/2} is revisited. Without resorting to free-field methods, the
determination of the spectrum and fusion rules is streamlined and the beta
gamma ghost system is carefully derived as the extended algebra generated by
the unique finite-order simple current. A brief discussion of modular
invariance is given and the Verlinde formula is explicitly verified.


title: Beyond the Standard Model Higgs at LHC

abstract:
  Models of Beyond the Standard Model (BSM) physics, like the Minimal
Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM), often involve an extended Higgs sector,
giving rise to extra neutral or charged Higgs bosons. The discovery reach
expected from simulation studies for such additional Higgs particles is
presented for the ATLAS, CMS and FP420 detectors at the LHC. Emphasis is put on
production and decay modes involving heavy flavour b and tau particles, which
are enhanced in large regions of BSM parameter space. The LHC experiments are
indeed particularly well equipped to tackle final states containing heavy
flavour.


title:
Trap Distribution and the Impact of Oxygen-induced Traps on the Charge
  Transport in Poly(3-Hexylthiophene)

abstract:
  The trap distribution in the conjugated polymer poly(3-hexylthiophene) was
investigated by fractional thermally stimulated current measurements. Two
defect states with activation energies of about 50 meV and 105 meV and Gaussian
energy distributions were revealed. The first is assigned to the tail of the
intrinsic density of states, whereas the concentration of second trap is
directly related to oxygen exposure. The impact of the oxygen induced traps on
the charge transport was examined by performing photo-induced charge carrier
extraction by linearly increasing voltage measurements, that exhibited a strong
decrease in the mobility with air exposure time.


title: Evaluating Azumaya algebras on cubic surfaces

abstract:
  Let X be a cubic surface over a local number field k. Given an Azumaya
algebra on X, we describe the local evaluation map X(k) -> Q/Z in two cases,
showing a sharp dependence on the geometry of the reduction of X. We show that
a suitably generic cubic surface over a number field, whose reduction at some
prime is a cone, has no Brauer-Manin obstruction. This extends results of
Colliot-Th\'el\`ene, Kanevsky and Sansuc.


title: Guide to Mathematical Concepts of Quantum Theory

abstract:
  Quantum Theory is one of the pillars of modern science developed over the
last hundred years. In this review paper we introduce, step by step, the
quantum theory understood as a mathematical model describing quantum
experiments. We start with splitting the experiment into two parts: a
preparation process and a measurement process leading to a registration of a
particular outcome. These two ingredients of the experiment are represented by
states and effects, respectively. Further, the whole picture of quantum
measurement will be developed and concepts of observables, instruments and
measurement models representing the three different descriptions on experiments
will be introduced. In the second stage, we enrich the model of the experiment
by introducing the concept of quantum channel describing the system changes
between preparations and measurements. At the very end we review the elementary
properties of quantum entanglement. The text contains many examples and
exercise covering also many topics from quantum information theory and quantum
measurement theory. The goal is to give a mathematically clear and
self-containing explanation of the main concepts of the modern language of
quantum theory.


title:
Observation and estimation of Lagrangian, Stokes and Eulerian currents
  induced by wind and waves at the sea surface

abstract:
  The surface current response to winds is analyzed in a two-year time series
of a 12 MHz (HF) Wellen Radar (WERA) off the West coast of France. The measured
currents, with tides filtered out, are of the order of 1.0 to 1.8% of the wind
speed, in a direction 10 to 40 degrees to the right of the wind. This
Lagrangian current can be decomposed as the vector sum of a quasi-Eulerian
current U_E, representative of the top 1 m of the water column, and a part of
the wave-induced Stokes drift Uss at the sea surface. Here Uss is estimated
with an accurate numerical wave model, thanks to a novel parameterization of
wave dissipation processes. Using both observed and modelled wave spectra, Uss
is found to be very well approximated by a simple function of the wind speed
and significant wave height, generally increasing quadratically with the wind
speed. Focusing on a site located 100 km from the mainland, the estimated
contribution of Uss to the radar measurement has a magnitude of 0.6 to 1.3% of
the wind speed, in the wind direction, a fraction that increases with wind
speed. The difference U_E of Lagrangian and Stokes contributions is found to be
of the order of 0.4 to 0.8% of the wind speed, and 45 to 70 degrees to the
right of the wind. This elatively weak quasi-Eulerian current with a large
deflection angle is interpreted as evidence of strong near-surface mixing,
likely related to breaking waves.


title: Excited Brownian Motions

abstract:
  We study a natural continuous time version of excited random walks,
introduced by Norris, Rogers and Williams about twenty years ago. We obtain a
necessary and sufficient condition for recurrence and for positive speed. This
is analogous to results for excited (or cookie) random walks.


title: Strong gyrotopy in a chiral toroidal medium

abstract:
  In this letter, we present the first experimental study of a new chiral
metamaterial consisting of toroidal wire windings. We show that the
metamaterial exhibits three bands of circular dichroism in the GHz range. We
discuss the response of the structure in terms of multipole moments, including
the (magnetic) toroidal dipole moment.


title: A resonance theory for open quantum systems with time-dependent dynamics

abstract:
  We develop a resonance theory to describe the evolution of open systems with
time-dependent dynamics. Our approach is based on piecewise constant
Hamiltonians: we represent the evolution on each constant bit using a recently
developed dynamical resonance theory, and we piece them together to obtain the
total evolution. The initial state corresponding to one time-interval with
constant Hamiltonian is the final state of the system corresponding to the
interval before. This results in a non-markovian dynamics. We find a
representation of the dynamics in terms of resonance energies and resonance
states associated to the Hamiltonians, valid for all times $t\geq 0$ and for
small (but fixed) interaction strengths. The representation has the form of a
path integral over resonances. We present applications to a spin-fermion
system, where the energy levels of the spin may undergo rather arbitrary
crossings in the course of time. In particular, we find the probability for
transition between ground- and excited state at all times.


title: Recent Results on $\psi(3770)$ Physics at BES-II

abstract:
  About 33, 6.5 and 1.0 pb$^{-1}$ of $e^+e^-$ annihilation data were,
respectively, taken around the center-of-mass energies of $\sqrt s=$ 3.773 GeV,
at $\sqrt s=$ 3.650 GeV and at $\sqrt s=$ 3.6648 GeV with the BES-II detector
at the BEPC collider. By analyzing these data sets, we measure the branching
fraction for $\psi(3770)\to$ non-$D\bar D$; observe an anomalous line shape of
the cross section for $e^+e^-\to$ hadrons in the energy region from 3.650 to
3.872 GeV; and measure the line shapes of the $D^+D^-$, $D^0\bar D^0$ and
$D\bar D$ production and the ratios of the production rates of $D^+D^-$ and
$D^0\bar D^0$ in $e^+e^-$ annihilation at $\psi(3770)$ resonance. We also
search for $\psi(3770)$ decay into exclusive light hadron processes containing
$K^0_S$ or $\pi^0\pi^0$ mesons in the final states.


title: Scalar Perturbations in Scalar Field Quantum Cosmology

abstract:
  In this paper it is shown how to obtain the simplest equations for the
Mukhanov-Sasaki variables describing quantum linear scalar perturbations in the
case of scalar fields without potential term. This was done through the
implementation of canonical transformations at the classical level, and unitary
transformations at the quantum level, without ever using any classical
background equation, and it completes the simplification initiated in
investigations by Langlois \cite{langlois}, and Pinho and Pinto-Neto
\cite{emanuel2} for this case. These equations were then used to calculate the
spectrum index $n_s$ of quantum scalar perturbations of a non-singular
inflationary quantum background model, which starts at infinity past from flat
space-time with Planckian size spacelike hypersurfaces, and inflates due to a
quantum cosmological effect, until it makes an analytical graceful exit from
this inflationary epoch to a decelerated classical stiff matter expansion
phase. The result is $n_s=3$, incompatible with observations.


title: Multiline Zeeman signatures as demonstrated through the Pseudo-line

abstract:
  In order to get a significant Zeeman signature in the polarised spectra of a
magnetic star, we usually 'add' the contributions of numerous spectral lines;
the ultimate goal is to recover the spectropolarimetric prints of the magnetic
field in these line additions. Here we want to clarify the meaning of these
techniques of line addition; in particular, we try to interpret the meaning of
the 'pseudo-line' formed during this process and to find out why and how its
Zeeman signature is still meaningful. We create a synthetic case of lines
addition and apply well tested standard solar methods routinely used in the
research on magnetism in our nearest star. The results are convincing and the
Zeeman signatures well detected; Solar methods are found to be quite efficient
also for stellar observations. The Zeeman signatures are unequivocally detected
in this multiline approach. We may anticipate the outcome magnetic fields to be
reliable well beyond the weak-field approximation. Linear polarisation in the
spectra of solar type stars can be detected when the spectral resolution is
sufficiently high.


title: Critical Behavior of Liquid 3He

abstract:
  We investigate the liquid-gas second-order phase transition in liquid $^3He$
using the variational calculations based on the cluster expansion of the energy
functional. We also compute the critical point exponents of liquid $^3He$ which
are in agreement with experimental data.


title:
Mesoscopic atomic entanglement for precision measurements beyond the
  standard quantum limit

abstract:
  Squeezing of quantum fluctuations by means of entanglement is a well
recognized goal in the field of quantum information science and precision
measurements. In particular, squeezing the fluctuations via entanglement
between two-level atoms can improve the precision of sensing, clocks,
metrology, and spectroscopy. Here, we demonstrate 3.4 dB of metrologically
relevant squeezing and entanglement for ~ 10^5 cold cesium atoms via a quantum
nondemolition (QND) measurement on the atom clock levels. We show that there is
an optimal degree of decoherence induced by the quantum measurement which
maximizes the generated entanglement. A two-color QND scheme used in this paper
is shown to have a number of advantages for entanglement generation as compared
to a single color QND measurement.


title:
Observation of candidate exotic mesons containing heavy quarks with
  Belle

abstract:
  We report the observation of two resonance-like structures in the $\pi^+
\chi_{c1}$ invariant mass distribution near 4.1 GeV in exclusive $B\to
K\pi^+\chi_{c1}$ decays. A detailed Dalitz-plot analysis demonstrates that
these structures cannot be produced by reflections from any known and possibly
unknown resonances in the $K\pi$ channel. If these two peaks are produced by
resonances in the $\pi^+\chi_{c1}$ channel, their minimal quark structure would
have to be a $c\bar{c}u\bar{d}$ tetraquark arrangement, similar to that
proposed for the $Z^+(4430)$ structure reported by Belle last year in the
$\pi^+\psi^{'}$ mass distribution produced in $B\to K\pi^+\psi^{'}$ decays. In
addition, we report some new measurements on the properties of the X(3872)
meson and the $1^{--}$ $Y$ states that are produced with initial state
radiation. %and also other latest XYZ results. The analyses are based on a
large data sample recorded at the $\Upsilon(4S)$ resonances and nearby
continuum with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric-energy $e^+e^-$
collider.


title:
Generalisations of the Ginsparg-Wilson relation and a remnant of
  supersymmetry on the lattice

abstract:
  We introduce a lattice symmetry relation for field theories with general
linear symmetries. For chiral symmetry the well-known Ginsparg-Wilson relation
is reproduced. The new relation encodes the remnant of the original symmetry on
the lattice and guides the construction of invariant lattice actions. We apply
this approach to lattice supersymmetry. There, an additional constraint has to
be satisfied which originates in the derivative operator in the symmetry
transformations. As a consequence the non-local SLAC derivative operator
appears in the lattice transformation. Despite this non-local form we show how
local solutions for quadratic actions can be found. For interacting theories
the relation in general leads to a non-polynomial action that can be reduced to
a finite polynomial order only under certain conditions.


title: Precision charm physics, m_c and alpha_s from lattice QCD

abstract:
  We present an update of results from the HPQCD collaboration on charm physics
using the Highly Improved Staggered Quark action. This includes a precise
determination of m_c using moments of current-current correlators combined with
high-order continuum QCD perturbation theory. We also include an update on the
determination of alpha_s from lattice QCD, preliminary results on the
determination of m_b and a summary plot of the status of the gold-plated meson
spectrum. There is an appendix on tackling systematic errors in fitting using
the Bayesian approach.


title: Investigating quantum numbers of new $c{\bar s}$ states

abstract:
  I discuss possible identification of the recently discovered mesons
$D_{sJ}(2860)$ and $D_{sJ}(2700)$.
  This paper is dedicated to the memory of my professor, colleague and friend
Beppe Nardulli.


title:
A potential including Heaviside function in 1+1 dimensional
  hydrodynamics by Landau

abstract:
  In 1+1 dimensional hydrodynamics originally proposed by Landau, we derive a
new potential and distribution function including Heaviside function and
investigate its mathematical and physical properties. Using the original
distribution derived by Landau, a distribution function found by Srivastava et
al., our distribution function, and the Gaussian distribution proposed by
Carruthers et al., we analyze the data of the rapidity distribution on charged
pions and K mesons at RHIC energies (sqrt(s_NN) = 62.4 GeV and 200 GeV). Three
distributions derived from the hydrodynamics show almost the same chi-squared
values provided the CERN MINUIT is used. We know that our calculations of
hadron's distribution do not strongly depend on the range of integration of
fluid rapidity, contrary to that of Srivastava et al. Finally the roles of the
Heaviside function in concrete analyses of data are investigated.


title:
Viscoelasticity and shear flow of concentrated, non-crystallizing
  colloidal suspensions: Comparison with Mode-Coupling Theory

abstract:
  We present a comprehensive rheological study of a suspension of
thermosensitive particles dispersed in water. The volume fraction of these
particles can be adjusted by the temperature of the system in a continuous
fashion. Due to the finite polydispersity of the particles (standard deviation:
17%), crystallization is suppressed and no fluid-crystal transition intervenes.
Hence, the moduli $G'$ and $G"$ in the linear viscoelastic regime as well as
the flow curves (shear stress $\sigma(\dot{\gamma})$ as the function of the
shear rate $\dot{\gamma}$) could be measured in the fluid region up to the
vicinity of the glass transition. Moreover, flow curves could be obtained over
a range of shear rates of 8 orders of magnitude while $G'$ and $G"$ could be
measured spanning over 9 orders of magnitude. Special emphasis has been laid on
precise measurements down to the smallest shear rates/frequencies. It is
demonstrated that mode-coupling theory generalized in the integration through
transients framework provides a full description of the flow curves as well as
the viscoelastic behavior of concentrated suspensions with a single set of
well-defined parameters.


title:
Lowest Order Constrained Variational calculation for Polarized Liquid
  3He at Finite Temperature

abstract:
  We have investigated some of the thermodynamic properties of spin polarized
liquid $^3\mathrm{He}$ at finite temperature using the lowest order constrained
variational method. For this system, the free energy, entropy and pressure are
calculated for different values of the density, temperature and polarization.
We have also presented the dependence of specific heat, saturation density and
incompressibility on the temperature and polarization.


title: Two introductory lectures on high energy QCD and heavy ion collisions

abstract:
  These introductory lectures present a broad overview of the physics of high
parton densities in QCD and its application to our understanding of the early
time dynamics in heavy ion collisions.


title: The classical umbral calculus: Sheffer sequences

abstract:
  Following the approach of Rota and Taylor \cite{SIAM}, we present an
innovative theory of Sheffer sequences in which the main properties are encoded
by using umbrae. This syntax allows us noteworthy computational simplifications
and conceptual clarifications in many results involving Sheffer sequences. To
give an indication of the effectiveness of the theory, we describe applications
to the well-known connection constants problem, to Lagrange inversion formula
and to solving some recurrence relations.


title: Commissioning of the ATLAS reconstruction software with first data

abstract:
  Looking towards first LHC collisions, the ATLAS detector is being
commissioned using the physics data available: cosmic rays and data taken
during the LHC single beam operations at 450 GeV. During the installation of
the ATLAS detector in the cavern, cosmic rays were collected with the different
parts of the detector that were available. Combined cosmic runs taken with the
full installed detector with and without magnetic field as well as a few single
beam events recently recorded are being used to commission the full system
prior to the first proton collisions.