title: Supernova Ejecta in the Youngest Galactic Supernova Remnant G1.9+0.3

abstract:
  G1.9+0.3 is the youngest known Galactic supernova remnant (SNR), with an
estimated supernova (SN) explosion date of about 1900, and most likely located
near the Galactic Center. Only the outermost ejecta layers with free-expansion
velocities larger than about 18,000 km/s have been shocked so far in this
dynamically young, likely Type Ia SNR. A long (980 ks) Chandra observation in
2011 allowed spatially-resolved spectroscopy of heavy-element ejecta. We
denoised Chandra data with the spatio-spectral method of Krishnamurthy et al.,
and used a wavelet-based technique to spatially localize thermal emission
produced by intermediate-mass elements (IMEs: Si and S) and iron. The spatial
distribution of both IMEs and Fe is extremely asymmetric, with the strongest
ejecta emission in the northern rim. Fe Kalpha emission is particularly
prominent there, and fits with thermal models indicate strongly oversolar Fe
abundances. In a localized, outlying region in the northern rim, IMEs are less
abundant than Fe, indicating that undiluted Fe-group elements (including 56Ni)
with velocities larger than 18,000 km/s were ejected by this SN. But in the
inner west rim, we find Si- and S-rich ejecta without any traces of Fe, so
high-velocity products of O-burning were also ejected. G1.9+0.3 appears similar
to energetic Type Ia SNe such as SN 2010jn where iron-group elements at such
high free-expansion velocities have been recently detected. The pronounced
asymmetry in the ejecta distribution and abundance inhomogeneities are best
explained by a strongly asymmetric SN explosion, similar to those produced in
some recent 3D delayed-detonation Type Ia models.


title:
Sunspot positions and sizes for 1825-1867 from the observations by
  Samuel Heinrich Schwabe

abstract:
  Samuel Heinrich Schwabe made 8486 drawings of the solar disk with sunspots in
the period from November 5, 1825 to December 29, 1867. We have measured sunspot
sizes and heliographic positions on digitized images of these drawings. A total
of about 135,000 measurements of individual sunspots are available in a data
base. Positions are accurate to about 5% of the solar radius or to about three
degrees in heliographic coordinates in the solar disk center. Sizes were given
in 12 classes as estimated visually with circular cursor shapes on the screen.
Most of the drawings show a coordinate grid aligned with the celestial
coordinate system. A subset of 1168 drawings have no indication of their
orientation. We have used a Bayesian estimator to infer the orientations of the
drawings as well as the average heliographic spot positions from a chain of
drawings of several days, using the rotation profile of the present Sun. The
data base also includes all information available from Schwabe on spotless
days.


title: Detection and Characterisation of Multipartite Quantum Entanglement

abstract:
  The research field of quantum entanglement theory is comparatively new. While
a basic understanding of the most simple systems in question (i.e. bipartite
systems) has been established over the past few decades, multipartite
entanglement still holds many unsolved questions and intriguing riddles. In
particular, it is completely unclear how several concepts from the bipartite
case can be generalised in a meaningful way to multipartite scenarios. In this
work, the main issues of multipartite entanglement detection, characterisation
and classification are discussed. The differences and similarities between the
bipartite and the multipartite situation are reviewed, various possible
generalisations are presented and results are obtained in several areas. The
focus of this work particularly lies on a formalism - the so called HMGH
framework, which has been developed and expanded for the past several years -
which allows for construction of very specific separability criteria, capable
of discriminating between different kinds of multipartite entanglement. By
means of these criteria, the questions of partial separability, genuine
multipartite entanglement and - ultimately - multipartite entanglement
classification (which appear to contain the most striking differences to
bipartite entanglement) are adressed and discussed. In order to illustrate the
theoretical conclusions in these respects, several examples are given from
different (and differently closely related) fields, showing the capabilities,
strengths and weaknesses of the HMGH framework as well as giving insights into
the current status of research in multipartite entanglement theory as a whole.


title: Non-Gaussian Minkowski functionals & extrema counts in redshift space

abstract:
  In the context of upcoming large-scale structure surveys such as Euclid, it
is of prime importance to quantify the effect of peculiar velocities on
geometric probes. Hence the formalism to compute in redshift space the
geometrical and topological one-point statistics of mildly non-Gaussian 2D and
3D cosmic fields is developed. Leveraging the partial isotropy of the target
statistics, the Gram-Charlier expansion of the joint probability distribution
of the field and its derivatives is reformulated in terms of the corresponding
anisotropic variables. In particular, the cosmic non-linear evolution of the
Minkowski functionals, together with the statistics of extrema are investigated
in turn for 3D catalogues and 2D slabs. The amplitude of the non-Gaussian
redshift distortion correction is estimated for these geometric probes. In 3D,
gravitational perturbation theory is implemented in redshift space to predict
the cosmic evolution of all relevant Gram-Charlier coefficients. Applications
to the estimation of the cosmic parameters sigma(z) and beta=f/b1 from upcoming
surveys is discussed. Such statistics are of interest for anisotropic fields
beyond cosmology.


title: Monitoring Large-Scale Cloud Systems with Layered Gossip Protocols

abstract:
  Monitoring is an essential aspect of maintaining and developing computer
systems that increases in difficulty proportional to the size of the system.
The need for robust monitoring tools has become more evident with the advent of
cloud computing. Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) clouds allow end users to
deploy vast numbers of virtual machines as part of dynamic and transient
architectures. Current monitoring solutions, including many of those in the
open-source domain rely on outdated concepts including manual deployment and
configuration, centralised data collection and adapt poorly to membership
churn.
  In this paper we propose the development of a cloud monitoring suite to
provide scalable and robust lookup, data collection and analysis services for
large-scale cloud systems. In lieu of centrally managed monitoring we propose a
multi-tier architecture using a layered gossip protocol to aggregate monitoring
information and facilitate lookup, information collection and the
identification of redundant capacity. This allows for a resource aware data
collection and storage architecture that operates over the system being
monitored. This in turn enables monitoring to be done in-situ without the need
for significant additional infrastructure to facilitate monitoring services. We
evaluate this approach against alternative monitoring paradigms and demonstrate
how our solution is well adapted to usage in a cloud-computing context.


title: Ice Cube Observed PeV Neutrinos from AGN Cores

abstract:
  I show that the high energy neutrino flux predicted to arise from AGN cores
can explain the PeV neutrinos detected by Ice Cube without conflicting with the
constraints from the observed extragalactic cosmic ray and gamma-ray
backgrounds.


title: Lyapunov functionals for boundary-driven nonlinear drift-diffusions

abstract:
  We exhibit a large class of Lyapunov functionals for nonlinear
drift-diffusion equations with non-homogeneous Dirichlet boundary conditions.
These are generalizations of large deviation functionals for underlying
stochastic many-particle systems, the zero range process and the
Ginzburg-Landau dynamics, which we describe briefly. As an application, we
prove linear inequalities between such an entropy-like functional and its
entropy production functional for the boundary-driven porous medium equation in
a bounded domain with positive Dirichlet conditions: this implies exponential
rates of relaxation related to the first Dirichlet eigenvalue of the domain. We
also derive Lyapunov functions for systems of nonlinear diffusion equations,
and for nonlinear Markov processes with non-reversible stationary measures.


title:
Asymptotic normality of a Sobol index estimator in Gaussian process
  regression framework

abstract:
  Stochastic simulators such as Monte-Carlo estimators are widely used in
science and engineering to study physical systems through their probabilistic
representation. Global sensitivity analysis aims to identify the input
parameters which have the most important impact on the output. A popular tool
to perform global sensitivity analysis is the variance-based method which comes
from the Hoeffding-Sobol decomposition. Nevertheless, this method requires an
important number of simulations and is often unfeasible under reasonable time
constraint. Therefore, an approximation of the input/output relation of the
code is built with a Gaussian process regression model. This paper provides
conditions which ensure the asymptotic normality of a Sobol's index estimator
evaluated through this surrogate model. This result allows for building
asymptotic confidence intervals for the considered Sobol index estimator. The
presented method is successfully applied on an academic example on the heat
equation.


title: Finite time singularity in a free boundary problem modeling MEMS

abstract:
  The occurrence of a finite time singularity is shown for a free boundary
problem modeling microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) when the applied voltage
exceeds some value. The model involves a singular nonlocal reaction term and a
nonlinear curvature term accounting for large deformations.


title: Transformations of Spherical Blocks

abstract:
  We further explore the correspondence between N=2 supersymmetric SU(2) gauge
theory with four flavors on epsilon-deformed backgrounds and conformal field
theory, with an emphasis on the epsilon-expansion of the partition function
natural from a topological string theory point of view. Solving an appropriate
null vector decoupling equation in the semi-classical limit allows us to
express the instanton partition function as a series in quasi-modular forms of
the group Gamma(2), with the expected symmetry Weyl group of SO(8) semi-direct
S_3. In the presence of an elementary surface operator, this symmetry is
enhanced to an action of the affine Weyl group of SO(8) semi-direct S_4 on the
instanton partition function, as we demonstrate via the link between the null
vector decoupling equation and the quantum Painlev\'e VI equation.


title:
Analytical study in the mechanism of flame movement in horizontal tubes.
  II. Flame acceleration in smooth open tubes

abstract:
  The problem of spontaneous acceleration of premixed flames propagating in
open horizontal tubes with smooth walls is revisited. It is proved that in long
tubes, this process can be considered quasi-steady, and an equation for the
flame front position is derived using the on-shell description. Numerical
solutions of this equation are found which show that as in the case of uniform
flame movement, there are two essentially different regimes of flame
propagation. In the type I regime, the flame speed and its acceleration are
comparatively low, whereas the type II regime is characterized by significant
flame acceleration that rapidly increases as the flame travels along the tube.
A detailed comparison of the obtained results with the experimental data on
flame acceleration in methane-air mixtures is given. In particular, it is
confirmed that flames propagating in near-stoichiometric mixtures and mixtures
near the limits of inflammability belong to the types II and I, respectively,
whereas flames in transient mixtures undergo transitions between the two
regimes during their travel.


title:
A Review of Automated Formal Verification of Ad Hoc Routing Protocols
  for Wireless Sensor Networks

abstract:
  This paper surveys how formal verification can be used to prove the
correctness of ad hoc routing protocols, which are fundamental infrastructure
of wireless sensor networks. The existing techniques fall into two classes:
verification on small-scale networks and verification on unbounded networks.
The former one is always fully automatic and easy to use, thanks to the limited
state space generated in verification. However, it cannot prove the correctness
over all cases. The latter one can provide a complete proof based on
abstractions of unbounded network. However, it usually needs user intervention
and expertise in verification. The two kinds of technique are illustrated by
verifications against some key properties such as stability, loop-freedom and
deadlock-freedom. To conclude, they can be used to find faults and prove
correctness, respectively. We believe that they can together aid the
development of correct ad hoc routing protocols and their reliable
implementations.


title: The Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus Infection Controls

abstract:
  Multi-resistant organisms (MROs), the bacteria that are resistant to a number
of different antibiotics, have been very popular around the world in recent
years. They are very difficult to treat but highly infectious in humans. MRSA
(Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus) is one of the MROs. It is
believed that in 2007 more people died of MRSA than of AIDS worldwide. In
Australia "there are about 2000 people per year who have a bloodstream
infection with the MRSA germ and the vast majority of those get them from
health care procedure" (Nader, 2005). It is acknowledged as a significant
challenge to Australian hospitals for MRSA infection control. Nursing
professionals are in urgent need of the study of MRSA nosocomial infection
controls. This review provides insight into the hand washing and isolation
infection-control strategies for MRSA. The important technologies on those two
aspects worldwide are well surveyed, compared, contrasted, and discussed. The
review is to do a complete survey on the hand washing and isolation
technologies of infection controls for MRSA and try to provide some possible
recommendations for Australian hospitals.


title:
Scaling of hysteresis loop of interacting polymers under a periodic
  force

abstract:
  Using Langevin Dynamics simulations, we study a simple model of
interacting-polymer under a periodic force. The force-extension curve strongly
depends on the magnitude of the amplitude $(F)$ and the frequency ($\nu$) of
the applied force. In low frequency limit, the system retraces the
thermodynamic path. At higher frequencies, response time is greater than the
external time scale for change of force, which restrict the biomolecule to
explore a smaller region of phase space that results in hysteresis of different
shapes and sizes. We show the existence of dynamical transition, where area of
hysteresis loop approaches to a large value from nearly zero area with
decreasing frequency. The area of hysteresis loop is found to scale as
$F^{\alpha} \nu^{\beta}$ for the fixed length. These exponents are found to be
the same as of the mean field values for a time dependent hysteretic response
to periodic force in case of the isotropic spin.


title: Sofic-Dyck shifts

abstract:
  We define the class of sofic-Dyck shifts which extends the class of
Markov-Dyck shifts introduced by Inoue, Krieger and Matsumoto. Sofic-Dyck
shifts are shifts of sequences whose finite factors form unambiguous
context-free languages. We show that they correspond exactly to the class of
shifts of sequences whose sets of factors are visibly pushdown languages. We
give an expression of the zeta function of a sofic-Dyck shift.


title: A categorical analogue of the monoid semiring construction

abstract:
  This paper introduces and studies a categorical analogue of the familiar
monoid semiring construction. By introducing an axiomatisation of summation
that unifies notions of summation from algebraic program semantics with various
notions of summation from the theory of analysis, we demonstrate that the
monoid semiring construction generalises to cases where both the monoid and the
semiring are categories. This construction has many interesting and natural
categorical properties, and natural computational interpretations.


title:
Generation of Magnetohydrodynamic Waves in Low Solar Atmospheric Flux
  Tubes by Photospheric Motions

abstract:
  Recent ground- and space-based observations reveal the presence of
small-scale motions between convection cells in the solar photosphere. In these
regions small-scale magnetic flux tubes are generated due to the interaction of
granulation motion and background magnetic field. This paper studies the
effects of these motions, on magnetohydrodynamic wave excitation from broadband
photospheric drivers. Numerical experiments of linear magnetohydrodynamic wave
propagation in a magnetic flux tube embedded in a realistic gravitationally
stratified solar atmosphere between the photosphere and the low choromosphere
(above $\beta=1$) are performed. Horizontal and vertical velocity field drivers
mimic granular buffeting and solar global oscillations. A uniform torsional
driver as well as Archimedean and logarithmic spiral drivers mimic observed
torsional motions in the solar photosphere. The results are analysed using a
novel method for extracting the parallel, perpendicular and azimuthal
components of the perturbations, which caters for both the linear and
non-linear case. Employing this method yields the identification of the wave
modes excited in the numerical simulations and enables a comparison of excited
modes via velocity perturbations and wave energy flux. The wave energy flux
distribution is calculated, to enable the quantification of the relative
strengths of excited modes. The torsional drivers excite primarily Alfv\'en
modes (~60% of the total flux) with small contributions from the slow kink
mode, and, for the logarithmic spiral driver, small amounts of slow sausage
mode. The horizontal and vertical drivers excite primarily slow kink or fast
sausage modes respectively, with small variations dependent upon flux surface
radius.


title: The Dendritic Cell Algorithm for Intrusion Detection

abstract:
  As one of the solutions to intrusion detection problems, Artificial Immune
Systems (AIS) have shown their advantages. Unlike genetic algorithms, there is
no one archetypal AIS, instead there are four major paradigms. Among them, the
Dendritic Cell Algorithm (DCA) has produced promising results in various
applications. The aim of this chapter is to demonstrate the potential for the
DCA as a suitable candidate for intrusion detection problems. We review some of
the commonly used AIS paradigms for intrusion detection problems and
demonstrate the advantages of one particular algorithm, the DCA. In order to
clearly describe the algorithm, the background to its development and a formal
definition are given. In addition, improvements to the original DCA are
presented and their implications are discussed, including previous work done on
an online analysis component with segmentation and ongoing work on automated
data preprocessing. Based on preliminary results, both improvements appear to
be promising for online anomaly-based intrusion detection.


title: Winding Hopfions on R^2 x S^1

abstract:
  We study Hopfions in the Faddeev-Skyrme model with potential terms on R^2 x
S^1. Apart from the conventional Hopfions, there exist winding Hopfions, that
is, the lump (baby Skyrmion) strings with the lump charge Q with the U(1)
modulus twisted P times along S^1, having the Hopf charge PQ. We consider two
kinds of potential terms, that is, the potential linear in the field and the
ferromagnetic potential with two easy axes, and present stable solutions
numerically. We also point out that a Q-lump carries the unit Hopf charge per
the period in d=2+1.


title: Towards a Combinatorial Understanding of Lattice Path Asymptotics

abstract:
  We provide a new strategy to compute the exponential growth constant of
enumeration sequences counting walks in lattice path models restricted to the
quarter plane. The bounds arise by comparison with half-planes models. In many
cases the bounds are provably tight, and provide a combinatorial interpretation
of recent formulas of Fayolle and Raschel (2012) and Bostan, Raschel and Salvy
(2013). We discuss how to generalize to higher dimensions.


title:
Rational conjugacy of torsion units in integral group rings of
  non-solvable groups

abstract:
  We introduce a new method to study rational conjugacy of torsion units in
integral group rings using integral and modular representation theory.
Employing this new method, we verify the first Zassenhaus Conjecture for the
group $\operatorname{PSL}(2,19)$. We also prove the Zassenhaus Conjecture for
$\operatorname{PSL}(2,23)$. In a second application we show that there are no
normalized units of order $6$ in the integral group rings of $M_{10}$ and
$\operatorname{PGL}(2,9)$. This completes the proof of a theorem of W. Kimmerle
and A. Konovalov that the Prime Graph Question has an affirmative answer for
all groups having an order divisible by at most three different primes.


title:
Drop-port study of microresonator frequency combs: power transfer and
  time-domain characterization

abstract:
  We use a drop-port geometry to study power transfer in silicon nitride
on-chip microresonator frequency comb generators. In sharp contrast with the
traditional transmission geometry, we observe smooth output spectra with
comparable powers in the pump and adjacent comb lines. An observation of
saturation in the drop-port output power is explained semi-empirically by
introducing pump saturation into a coupling of modes model. Autocorrelation
measurements are performed on the drop-port output, without the need to filter
out or suppress the strong pump line as is necessary in thru-port experiments.
Passively mode-locked pulses are observed with a normal dispersion microcavity.


title: Heavy flavours in AA collisions: production, transport and final spectra

abstract:
  A multi-step setup for heavy-flavour studies in high-energy nucleus-nucleus
(AA) collisions --- addressing within a comprehensive framework the initial
Q-Qbar production, the propagation in the hot medium until decoupling and the
final hadronization and decays --- is presented. The initial hard production of
Q-Qbar pairs is simulated using the POWHEG pQCD event generator, interfaced
with the PYTHIA parton shower. Outcomes of the calculations are compared to
experimental data in pp collisions and are used as a validated benchmark for
the study of medium effects. In the AA case, the propagation of the heavy
quarks in the medium is described in a framework provided by the relativistic
Langevin equation. For the latter, different choices of transport coefficients
are explored (either provided by a perturbative calculation or extracted from
lattice-QCD simulations) and the corresponding numerical results are compared
to experimental data from RHIC and the LHC. In particular, outcomes for the
nuclear modification factor R_AA and for the elliptic flow v_2 of D/B mesons,
heavy-flavour electrons and non-prompt J/\psi's are displayed.


title:
Evaluating Different Cost-Benefit Analysis Methods for Port Security
  Operations

abstract:
  Service industries, such as ports, are attentive to their standards, a smooth
service flow and economic viability. Cost benefit analysis has proven itself as
a useful tool to support this type of decision making; it has been used by
businesses and governmental agencies for many years. In this book chapter we
demonstrate different modelling methods that are used for estimating input
factors required for conducting cost benefit analysis based on a single case
study. These methods are: scenario analysis, decision trees, Monte-Carlo
simulation modelling and discrete event simulation modelling. Our aims are, on
the one hand, to guide the analyst through the modelling processes and, on the
other hand, to demonstrate what additional decision support information can be
obtained from applying each of these modelling methods.


title:
Bi-axial shear of confined colloidal suspensions: the structure and
  rheology of the vorticity-aligned string phase

abstract:
  Using a novel bi-axial confocal rheoscope, we investigate the structure and
rheology of sheared colloidal suspensions under confinement. Consistent with
previous work [X. Cheng \textit{et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A.}, 2011,
109, 63], we observe a vorticity-aligned string phase in moderate concentrated
colloidal suspensions under uniaxial shear. Using bi-axial shear protocols, we
directly manipulate the orientation and morphology of the string structures.
Simultaneously, we measure the suspension rheology along both the flow and
vorticity directions with a bi-axial force measurement device. Our results
demonstrate that despite the highly anisotropic microstructure, the suspension
viscosity remains isotropic and constant over the shear rates explored. These
results suggest that hydrodynamic contributions dominate the suspension
response. In addition they highlight the capabilities of bi-axial confocal
rheoscopes for elucidating the relationship between microstructure and rheology
in complex fluids.


title:
Investigating the effectiveness of Variance Reduction Techniques in
  Manufacturing, Call Center and Cross-docking Discrete Event Simulation Models

abstract:
  Variance reduction techniques have been shown by others in the past to be a
useful tool to reduce variance in Simulation studies. However, their
application and success in the past has been mainly domain specific, with
relatively little guidelines as to their general applicability, in particular
for novices in this area. To facilitate their use, this study aims to
investigate the robustness of individual techniques across a set of scenarios
from different domains. Experimental results show that Control Variates is the
only technique which achieves a reduction in variance across all domains.
Furthermore, applied individually, Antithetic Variates and Control Variates
perform particularly well in the Cross-docking scenarios, which was previously
unknown.


title: The Vector Curvaton

abstract:
  We analyze a massive vector field with a non-canonical kinetic term in the
action, minimally coupled to gravity, where the mass and kinetic function of
the vector field vary as functions of time during inflation. The vector field
is introduced following the same idea of a scalar curvaton, which must not
affect the inflationary dynamics since its energy density during inflation is
negligible compared to the total energy density in the Universe. Using this
hypothesis, the vector curvaton will be solely responsible for generating the
primordial curvature perturbation \zeta. We have found that the spectra of the
vector field perturbations are scale-invariant in superhorizon scales due to
the suitable choice of the time dependence of the kinetic function and the
effective mass during inflation. The preferred direction, generated by the
vector field, makes the spectrum of \zeta depend on the wavevector, i.e. there
exists statistical anisotropy in \zeta. This is discussed principally in the
case where the mass of the vector field increases with time during inflation,
where it is possible to find a heavy field (M >> H) at the end of inflation,
making the particle production be practically isotropic; thus, the longitudinal
and transverse spectra are nearly the same order which in turn causes that the
statistical anisotropy generated by the vector field is within the
observational bounds.


title:
A sample of relatively unstudied star clusters in the Large Magellanic
  Cloud: fundamental parameters determined from Washington photometry

abstract:
  To enlarge our growing sample of well-studied star clusters in the Large
Magellanic Cloud (LMC), we present CCD Washington CT1 photometry to T1 ~ 23 in
the fields of twenty-three mostly unstudied clusters located in the inner disc
and outer regions of the LMC. We estimated cluster radii from star counts.
Using the cluster Washington (T1,C-T1) colour-magnitude diagrams, statistically
cleaned from field star contamination, we derived cluster ages and
metallicities from a comparison with theoretical isochrones of the Padova
group. Whenever possible, we also derived ages using delta_T1 - the magnitude
difference between the red giant clump and the main sequence turn off - and
estimated metallicities from the standard giant branch procedure. We enlarged
our sample by adding clusters with published ages and metallicities determined
on a similar scale by applying the same methods. We examined relationships
between their positions in the LMC, ages and metallicities. We find that the
two methods for age and metallicity determination agree well with each other.
Fourteen clusters are found to be intermediate-age clusters (1-2 Gyr), with
[Fe/H] values ranging from -0.4 to -0.7. The remaining nine clusters turn out
to be younger than 1 Gyr, with metallicities between 0.0 and -0.4. Our 23
clusters represent an increase of ~ 30% in the current total amount number of
well-studied LMC clusters using Washington photometry. In agreement with
previous studies, we find no evidence for a metallicity gradient. We also find
that the younger clusters were formed closer to the LMC centre than the older
ones.


title: A Survey on Gas Sensing Technology

abstract:
  Sensing technology has been widely investigated and utilized for gas
detection. Due to the different applicability and inherent limitations of
different gas sensing technologies, researchers have been working on different
scenarios with enhanced gas sensor calibration. This paper reviews the
descriptions, evaluation, comparison and recent developments in existing gas
sensing technologies. A classification of sensing technologies is given, based
on the variation of electrical and other properties. Detailed introduction to
sensing methods based on electrical variation is discussed through further
classification according to sensing materials, including metal oxide
semiconductors, polymers, carbon nanotubes, and moisture absorbing materials.
Methods based on other kinds of variations such as optical, calorimetric,
acoustic and gas-chromatographic, are presented in a general way. Several
suggestions related to future development are also discussed. Furthermore, this
paper focuses on sensitivity and selectivity for performance indicators to
compare different sensing technologies, analyzes the factors that influence
these two indicators, and lists several corresponding improved approaches.


title:
Discovery of a probable 4-5 Jupiter-mass exoplanet to HD 95086 by
  direct-imaging

abstract:
  Direct imaging has just started the inventory of the population of gas giant
planets on wide-orbits around young stars in the solar neighborhood. Following
this approach, we carried out a deep imaging survey in the near-infrared using
VLT/NaCo to search for substellar companions. We report here the discovery in
L' (3.8 microns) images of a probable companion orbiting at 56 AU the young
(10-17 Myr), dusty, and early-type (A8) star HD 95086. This discovery is based
on observations with more than a year-time-lapse. Our first epoch clearly
revealed the source at 10 sigma while our second epoch lacked good observing
conditions hence yielding a 3 sigma detection. Various tests were thus made to
rule out possible artifacts. This recovery is consistent with the signal at the
first epoch but requires cleaner confirmation. Nevertheless, our astrometric
precision suggests the companion to be comoving with the star, with a 3 sigma
confidence level. The planetary nature of the source is reinforced by a
non-detection in Ks-band (2.18 microns) images according to its possible
extremely red Ks - L' color. Conversely, background contamination is rejected
with good confidence level. The luminosity yields a predicted mass of about
4-5MJup (at 10-17 Myr) using "hot-start" evolutionary models, making HD 95086 b
the exoplanet with the lowest mass ever imaged around a star.


title: A Distributed SDN Control Plane for Consistent Policy Updates

abstract:
  Software-defined networking (SDN) is a novel paradigm that out-sources the
control of packet-forwarding switches to a set of software controllers. The
most fundamental task of these controllers is the correct implementation of the
\emph{network policy}, i.e., the intended network behavior. In essence, such a
policy specifies the rules by which packets must be forwarded across the
network.
  This paper studies a distributed SDN control plane that enables
\emph{concurrent} and \emph{robust} policy implementation. We introduce a
formal model describing the interaction between the data plane and a
distributed control plane (consisting of a collection of fault-prone
controllers). Then we formulate the problem of \emph{consistent} composition of
concurrent network policy updates (short: the \emph{CPC Problem}). To
anticipate scenarios in which some conflicting policy updates must be rejected,
we enable the composition via a natural \emph{transactional} interface with
all-or-nothing semantics.
  We show that the ability of an $f$-resilient distributed control plane to
process concurrent policy updates depends on the tag complexity, i. e., the
number of policy labels (a.k.a. \emph{tags}) available to the controllers, and
describe a CPC protocol with optimal tag complexity $f+2$.


title: Dynamical Systems to Monitor Complex Networks in Continuous Time

abstract:
  In many settings it is appropriate to treat the evolution of pairwise
interactions over continuous time. We show that new Katz-style centrality
measures can be derived in this context via solutions to a nonautonomous ODE
driven by the network dynamics. This allows us to identify and track, at any
resolution, the most influential nodes in terms of broadcasting and receiving
information through time dependent links. In addition to the classical notion
of attenuation across edges used in the static Katz centrality measure, the ODE
also allows for attenuation over time, so that real time "running measures" can
be computed. With regard to computational efficiency, we explain why it is
cheaper to track good receivers of information than good broadcasters. We
illustrate the new measures on a large scale voice call network, where key
features are discovered that are not evident from snapshots or aggregates.


title:
Space Velocities of Southern Globular Clusters VII. NGC 6397, NGC 6626
  (M 28) and NGC 6656 (M 22)

abstract:
  We have measured the absolute proper motions of globular clusters NGC 6397,
NGC 6626 (M 22) and NGC 6656 (M 28) as part of our ongoing Southern
Proper-Motion Program. The reference system is the ICRS via Hipparcos stars for
these three low galactic latitude clusters. Formal errors range between ~0.3
and 0.7 mas/yr. Notable is the result for NGC 6397 which differs by 2.5 mas/yr
from two HST determinations, while agreeing with previous ground-based ones. We
determine orbits for all three clusters in an axisymmetric and barred model of
the Galaxy and discuss these in the context of globular-cluster formation. M 22
is a well-known cluster with an iron abundance spread; such clusters are now
believed to have formed in massive parent systems that can retain ejecta of
core-collapsed SNe. We find that the five currently-accepted globular clusters
with iron/calcium abundance spread show orbits unrelated to each other, thus
suggesting at least five independent, massive progenitors that have contributed
to the build-up of the Milky-Way halo.


title:
Real-world Transfer of Evolved Artificial Immune System Behaviours
  between Small and Large Scale Robotic Platforms

abstract:
  In mobile robotics, a solid test for adaptation is the ability of a control
system to function not only in a diverse number of physical environments, but
also on a number of different robotic platforms. This paper demonstrates that a
set of behaviours evolved in simulation on a miniature robot (epuck) can be
transferred to a much larger-scale platform (Pioneer), both in simulation and
in the real world. The chosen architecture uses artificial evolution of epuck
behaviours to obtain a genetic sequence, which is then employed to seed an
idiotypic, artificial immune system (AIS) on the Pioneers. Despite numerous
hardware and software differences between the platforms, navigation and
target-finding experiments show that the evolved behaviours transfer very well
to the larger robot when the idiotypic AIS technique is used. In contrast,
transferability is poor when reinforcement learning alone is used, which
validates the adaptability of the chosen architecture.


title: Parity measurement in topological Josephson junctions

abstract:
  We study the properties of a topological Josephson junction made of both
edges of a 2D topological insulator. We show that, due to fermion parity
pumping across the bulk, the global parity of the junction has a clear
signature in the periodicity and critical value of the Josephson current. In
particular, we find that the periodicity with the flux changes from $4\pi$ in a
junction with an even number of quasi-particles to $2\pi$ in the odd sector. In
the case of long junctions, we exhibit a rigorous mathematical connection
between the spectrum of Andreev bound-states and the fermion parity anomaly,
through bosonization. Additionally, we discuss the rather quantitative effects
of Coulomb interactions on the Josephson current.


title: Motif Detection Inspired by Immune Memory (JORS)

abstract:
  The search for patterns or motifs in data represents an area of key interest
to many researchers. In this paper we present the Motif Tracking Algorithm, a
novel immune inspired pattern identification tool that is able to identify
variable length unknown motifs which repeat within time series data. The
algorithm searches from a neutral perspective that is independent of the data
being analysed and the underlying motifs. In this paper we test the flexibility
of the motif tracking algorithm by applying it to the search for patterns in
two industrial data sets. The algorithm is able to identify a population of
meaningful motifs in both cases, and the value of these motifs is discussed.


title:
Compartmental analysis of nuclear imaging data for the quantification of
  FDG liver metabolism

abstract:
  This paper utilizes compartmental analysis and a statistical optimization
technique in order to reduce a compartmental model describing the metabolism of
labelled glucose in liver. Specifically, we first design a compartmental model
for the gut providing as output the tracer concentration in the portal vein.
This quantity is then used as one of the two input functions in a compartmental
model for the liver. This model, in turn, provides as output the tracer
coefficients quantitatively describing the effectiveness with which the
labelled glucose is transported between the different compartments. For both
models, the computation of the solutions for the inverse problems is performed
by means of an Ant Colony Optimization algorithm. The validation of the whole
process is realized by means of synthetic data simulated by solving the forward
problem of the compartmental system.


title:
Spectral Singularities and Whispering Gallery Modes of a Cylindrical
  Gain Medium

abstract:
  Complex scattering potentials can admit scattering states that behave exactly
like a zero-width resonance. Their energy is what mathematicians call a
spectral singularity. This phenomenon admits optical realizations in the form
of lasing at the threshold gain, and its time-reversal is responsible for
antilasing. We study spectral singularities and whispering gallery modes (WGMs)
of a cylindrical gain medium. In particular, we introduce a new class of WGMs
that support a spectral singularity and, as a result, have a divergent quality
factor. These singular gallery modes (SGMs) are excited only if the system has
a positive gain coefficient, but typically the required gain is extremely
small. More importantly given any amount of gain, there are SGMs requiring
smaller gain than this amount. This means that, in principle, the system lacks
a lasing threshold. Furthermore, the abundance of these modes allows for
configurations where a particular value of the gain coefficient yields an
effective excitation of two distant SGMs. This induces lasing at two different
wavelengths.


title:
Modelling Electricity Consumption in Office Buildings: An Agent Based
  Approach

abstract:
  In this paper, we develop an agent-based model which integrates four
important elements, i.e. organisational energy management policies/regulations,
energy management technologies, electric appliances and equipment, and human
behaviour, to simulate the electricity consumption in office buildings. Based
on a case study, we use this model to test the effectiveness of different
electricity management strategies, and solve practical office electricity
consumption problems. This paper theoretically contributes to an integration of
the four elements involved in the complex organisational issue of office
electricity consumption, and practically contributes to an application of an
agent-based approach for office building electricity consumption study.


title:
Heterogeneity Involved Network-based Algorithm Leads to Accurate and
  Personalized Recommendations

abstract:
  Heterogeneity of both the source and target objects is taken into account in
a network-based algorithm for the directional resource transformation between
objects. Based on a biased heat conduction recommendation method (BHC) which
considers the heterogeneity of the target object, we propose a heterogeneous
heat conduction algorithm (HHC), by further taking the source object degree as
the weight of diffusion. Tested on three real datasets, the Netflix, RYM and
MovieLens, the HHC algorithm is found to present a better recommendation in
both the accuracy and personalization than two excellent algorithms, i.e., the
original BHC and a hybrid algorithm of heat conduction and mass diffusion
(HHM), while not requiring any other accessorial information or parameter.
Moreover, the HHC even elevates the recommendation accuracy on cold objects,
referring to the so-called cold start problem, for effectively relieving the
recommendation bias on objects with different level of popularity.


title:
Improving photon-hadron discrimination based on cosmic ray surface
  detector data

abstract:
  The search for photons at EeV energies and beyond has considerable
astrophysical interest and will remain one of the key challenges for ultra-high
energy cosmic ray (UHECR) observatories in the near future. Several upper
limits to the photon flux have been established since no photon has been
unambiguously observed up to now. An improvement in the reconstruction
efficiency of the photon showers and/or better discrimination tools are needed
to improve these limits apart from an increase in statistics. Following this
direction, we analyze in this work the ability of the surface parameter Sb,
originally proposed for hadron discrimination, for photon search.
  Semi-analytical and numerical studies are performed in order to optimize Sb
for the discrimination of photons from a proton background in the energy range
from 10^18.5 to 10^19.6 eV. Although not shown explicitly, the same analysis
has been performed for Fe nuclei and the corresponding results are discussed
when appropriate. The effects of different array geometries and the
underestimation of the muon component in the shower simulations are analyzed,
as well as the Sb dependence on primary energy and zenith angle.


title: A Simple Generative Model of Collective Online Behaviour

abstract:
  Human activities increasingly take place in online environments, providing
novel opportunities for relating individual behaviours to population-level
outcomes. In this paper, we introduce a simple generative model for the
collective behaviour of millions of social networking site users who are
deciding between different software applications. Our model incorporates two
distinct components: one is associated with recent decisions of users, and the
other reflects the cumulative popularity of each application. Importantly,
although various combinations of the two mechanisms yield long-time behaviour
that is consistent with data, the only models that reproduce the observed
temporal dynamics are those that strongly emphasize the recent popularity of
applications over their cumulative popularity. This demonstrates---even when
using purely observational data without experimental design---that temporal
data-driven modelling can effectively distinguish between competing microscopic
mechanisms, allowing us to uncover new aspects of collective online behaviour.


title:
Efficiency of pseudo-spectrum methods for estimation of Cosmic Microwave
  Background B-mode power spectrum

abstract:
  Estimation of the B-mode angular power spectrum of polarized anisotropies of
the cosmic microwave background (CMB) is a key step towards a full exploitation
of the scientific potential of this probe. In the context of pseudo-spectrum
methods the major challenge is related to a contamination of the B-mode
spectrum estimate with residual power of much larger E-mode. This so-called
E-to-B leakage is unavoidably present whenever an incomplete sky map is only
available, as is the case for any realistic observation. The leakage has to be
then minimized or removed and ideally in such a way that neither a bias nor
extra variance is introduced. In this paper, we compare from these two
perspectives three different methods proposed recently in this context Refs.
Smith 2006, Zhao & Baskaran 2010, Kim & Naselsky 2010, which we first introduce
within a common algebraic framework of the so-called chi-fields and then study
their performance on two different experimental configurations - one
corresponding to a small-scale experiment covering 1% of the sky motivated by
current ground-based or balloon-borne experiments and another - to a nearly
full-sky experiment, e.g., a possible CMB B-mode satellite mission. We find
that though all these methods allow to reduce significantly the level of the
E-to-B leakage, it is the method of Smith 2006, which at the same time ensures
the smallest error bars in all experimental configurations studied here, owing
to the fact that it permits straightforwardly for an optimization of the sky
apodization of the polarization maps used for the estimation. For a
satellite-like experiment, this method enables a detection of B-mode power
spectrum at large angular scales but only after appropriate binning. The method
of Zhao & Baskaran 2010 is a close runner-up in the case of a nearly full sky
coverage.


title: BCFW Deformation and Regge Limit

abstract:
  BCFW deformation has served as an extremely useful tool in providing a
recursive approach in studying color-ordered gauge amplitudes. This procedure
has also been generalized to the study of graviton scattering. An important
ingredient of this approach is the ability to identify amplitudes satisfying
convergent dispersion relation when the BCFW parameter, z, is treated as a
complex variable. In a modified BCFW treatment, we show in what sense the BCFW
deformation in the large-z limit can be understood as the Regge limit. We also
discuss how the issue of convergent dispersion integral for amplitudes
involving external spins relates to the study of super-convergence relation
which served as the precursor to the s-t duality relation for flat space string
amplitudes.


title:
Near-Hagedorn Thermodynamics and Random Walks: a General Formalism in
  Curved Backgrounds

abstract:
  In this paper we discuss near-Hagedorn string thermodynamics starting from
the explicit path integral derivation recently found by JHEP 0607 (2006) 031.
Their result is extended and the validity is checked by comparing with some
known exact results. We compare this approach with the first-quantized one-loop
result from the low energy effective field theory and establish correction
terms to the above result.


title:
A fast numerical algorithm for constructing nonnegative matrices with
  prescribed real eigenvalues

abstract:
  The study of solving the inverse eigenvalue problem for nonnegative matrices
has been around for decades. It is clear that an inverse eigenvalue problem is
trivial if the desirable matrix is not restricted to a certain structure.
Provided with the real spectrum, this paper presents a numerical procedure,
based on the induction principle, to solve two kinds of inverse eigenvalue
problems, one for nonnegative matrices and another for symmetric nonnegative
matrices. As an immediate application, our approach can offer not only the
sufficient condition for solving inverse eigenvalue problems for nonnegative or
symmetric nonnegative matrices, but also a quick numerical way to solve inverse
eigenvalue problem for stochastic matrices. Numerical examples are presented
for problems of relatively larger size.


title: Eigenvector centrality of nodes in multiplex networks

abstract:
  We extend the concept of eigenvector centrality to multiplex networks, and
introduce several alternative parameters that quantify the importance of nodes
in a multi-layered networked system, including the definition of vectorial-type
centralities. In addition, we rigorously show that, under reasonable
conditions, such centrality measures exist and are unique. Computer experiments
and simulations demonstrate that the proposed measures provide substantially
different results when applied to the same multiplex structure, and highlight
the non-trivial relationships between the different measures of centrality
introduced.


title: Cluster state generation with ageing qubits

abstract:
  Cluster states for measurement-based quantum computing can be created with
entangling operations of arbitrary low success probability. This will place a
lower bound on the minimum lifetime of the qubits used in the implementation.
Here, we present a simple scaling argument for the T2 time of the qubits for
various cluster state geometries, and we estimate the size of the qubit
reservoir that is needed for the creation of mini-clusters.


title: On the duality of generalized Lie and Hopf algebras

abstract:
  We show how, under certain conditions, an adjoint pair of braided monoidal
functors can be lifted to an adjoint pair between categories of Hopf algebras.
This leads us to an abstract version of Michaelis' theorem, stating that given
a Hopf algebra $H$, there is a natural isomorphism of Lie algebras $Q(H)^*\cong
P(H^\circ)$, where $Q(H)^*$ is the dual Lie algebra of the Lie coalgebra of
indecomposables of $H$, and $P(H^\circ)$ is the Lie algebra of primitive
elements of the Sweedler dual of $H$. We apply our theory to Turaev's Hopf
group-(co)algebras.


title:
Speeding-up Dynamic Programming with Representative Sets - An
  Experimental Evaluation of Algorithms for Steiner Tree on Tree Decompositions

abstract:
  Dynamic programming on tree decompositions is a frequently used approach to
solve otherwise intractable problems on instances of small treewidth. In recent
work by Bodlaender et al., it was shown that for many connectivity problems,
there exist algorithms that use time, linear in the number of vertices, and
single exponential in the width of the tree decomposition that is used. The
central idea is that it suffices to compute representative sets, and these can
be computed efficiently with help of Gaussian elimination.
  In this paper, we give an experimental evaluation of this technique for the
Steiner Tree problem. A comparison of the classic dynamic programming algorithm
and the improved dynamic programming algorithm that employs the table reduction
shows that the new approach gives significant improvements on the running time
of the algorithm and the size of the tables computed by the dynamic programming
algorithm, and thus that the rank based approach from Bodlaender et al. does
not only give significant theoretical improvements but also is a viable
approach in a practical setting, and showcases the potential of exploiting the
idea of representative sets for speeding up dynamic programming algorithms.


title: Perfect isometries and Murnaghan-Nakayama rules

abstract:
  This article is concerned with perfect isometries between blocks of finite
groups. Generalizing a method of Enguehard to show that any two p-blocks of
(possibly different) symmetric groups with the same weight are perfectly
isometric, we prove analogues of this result for p-blocks of alternating groups
(where the blocks must also have the same sign when p is odd), of double covers
of alternating and symmetric groups (for p odd, and where we obtain crossover
isometries when the blocks have opposite signs),of complex reflection groups
G(d,1,n) (for d prime to p), of Weyl groups of type B and D (for p odd), and of
certain wreath products. In order to do this, we need to generalize the theory
of blocks, in a way which should be of independent interest.


title: Quantum Analogies in Ionic Transport Through Nanopores

abstract:
  Ionic transport in nanopores or nanochannels is key to many cellular
processes and is now being explored as a method for DNA/polymer sequencing and
detection. Although apparently simple in its scope, the study of ionic dynamics
in confined geometries has revealed interesting new phenomena that have an
almost one-to-one correspondence with the quantum regime. The picture that
emerges is that ions can form two `quasi-particle' states, one in which they
surround themselves with other ions of opposite charge - ionic atmosphere - and
one in which semi-bound water molecules form layers at different distances from
the ions - hydration layers. The second state gives rise to two additional
effects. In the first, which is a single quasi-particle effect, the ionic
conductance through a nanopore is predicted to be `quantized' as a function of
pore radius, with the corresponding `quantization units' not related to
universal constants - like the Plank constant and the elementary charge - but
rather to the radii of the hydration layers. The second effect instead involves
the many-body interaction among ionic quasi-particles of the same sign, and
occurs when the pore has a finite capacitance to accommodate ions so that there
is a threshold concentration beyond which ions of the same sign are not
energetically allowed to enter the pore. Similar to the electron transport
case, the ionic counterpart appears only in the `quantum' regime, when the
hydration layers forming the ionic quasi-particles need to break in order to
pass through the pore. Here, we review all these phenomena, and discuss the
conditions under which they may be detected making the analogy with the
electronic transport case. Since nanopores are being considered for a host of
technological applications in DNA sequencing and detection, we expect these
phenomena will become very relevant and their understanding paramount to
progress.


title: The distinguishable cluster approximation

abstract:
  A new method that accurately describes strongly correlated states and
captures dynamical correlation is presented. It is derived as a modification of
coupled-cluster theory with single and double excitations (CCSD) through
consideration of particle distinguishability between dissociated fragments,
whilst retaining the key desirable properties of particle-hole symmetry, size
extensivity, invariance to rotations within the occupied and virtual spaces,
and exactness for two-electron subsystems. The resulting method called the
distinguishable cluster approximation, smoothly dissociates difficult cases
such as the nitrogen molecule, with the modest N^6 computational cost of CCSD.
Even for molecules near their equilibrium geometries, the new model outperforms
CCSD. It also accurately describes the massively correlated states encountered
when dissociating hydrogen lattices, a proxy for the metal-insulator
transition, and the fully dissociated system is treated exactly.


title:
Towards the Chalonge Meudon Workshop 2013. Highlights and Conclusions of
  the Chalonge Meudon workshop 2012: warm dark matter galaxy formation in
  agreement with observations

abstract:
  Warm Dark Matter(WDM), considerably clarifies and simplifies galaxies and
galaxy formation in agreement with observations. WDM essentially works,
naturally reproducing the astronomical observations over all scales, small
(galactic) as well as large and cosmological scales.Evidence that CDM,
CDM+baryons and proposed tailored cures do not work in galaxies is staggering,
The Chalonge Meudon Workshop 2012 approached DM in a fourfold coherent way:
astronomical observations (galaxy and cluster properties, haloes, rotation
curves, density profiles, surface density), LambdaWDM N-body simulations, WDM
theory (Boltzmann-Vlasov evolution, halo mass functions, halo models, improved
perturbative approachs), quantum WDM fermions forming the observed cores, WDM
particle and nuclear physics (sterile neutrinos) and its experimental search. N
Amorisco, P Biermann, S Das, H J de Vega, A Kamada, E Ferri(MARE),I D
Karanchetsev, W Liao, M Lovell, M Papastergis, N G Sanchez, P Valageas,C
Watson, J Zavala,He Zhang present their Highlights.Inside galaxy cores, N-body
classical physics simulations are incorrect for WDM because of important
quantum effects at such scales.Quantum WDM calculations (Thomas-Fermi) provide
galaxy cores, galaxy masses, velocity dispersions and density profiles in
agreement with observations.Baryons (16% of DM) are expected to give a
correction to pure WDM results. The summary and conclusions by H. J. de Vega
and N. G. Sanchez stress that all evidences point to a DM particle mass around
2 keV. Peter Biermann in his live minutes concludes that a few keV sterile
neutrino is the most serious DM candidate. MARE -and hopefully KATRIN- could
provide a sterile neutrino signal.There is a formidable WDM work to perform
ahead of us, these highlights point research directions worthwhile to
pursue.Photos of the Workshop are included (Abridged).


title:
Gauss-Seed Nets of Sturm-Liouville Problems With Energy-Independent
  Characteristic Exponents and Related Sequences of Exceptional Orthogonal
  Polynomials I. Canonical Darboux Transformations Using AEH Functions

abstract:
  The paper applies the so-called 'Canonical-Darboux-Transformation' (CDT)
method to reproduce general expressions for rational potentials (RPs) quantized
in terms of exceptional orthogonal polynomial systems (X-OPSs). The benchmark
of the new method recently developed by the author for implicit potentials
solvable via hypergeometric functions is that rationally-extended SUSY partners
of the original potential are quantized in terms of sequences of the so-called
'Gauss-seed' (GS) Heine polynomials starting from a polynomial of non-zero
order. The common mark of the Darboux-Poschl-Teller (DPT) potential and
isotonic oscillator discussed in this paper is that the appropriate rational
Sturm-Liouville (RSL) equations have energy-independent characteristic
exponents at both singular end points and as a result the appropriate sequences
of GS Heine polynomials turn into X-OPSs with infinitely many members.


title: Privileged Information for Data Clustering

abstract:
  Many machine learning algorithms assume that all input samples are
independently and identically distributed from some common distribution on
either the input space X, in the case of unsupervised learning, or the input
and output space X x Y in the case of supervised and semi-supervised learning.
In the last number of years the relaxation of this assumption has been explored
and the importance of incorporation of additional information within machine
learning algorithms became more apparent. Traditionally such fusion of
information was the domain of semi-supervised learning. More recently the
inclusion of knowledge from separate hypothetical spaces has been proposed by
Vapnik as part of the supervised setting. In this work we are interested in
exploring Vapnik's idea of master-class learning and the associated learning
using privileged information, however within the unsupervised setting. Adoption
of the advanced supervised learning paradigm for the unsupervised setting
instigates investigation into the difference between privileged and technical
data. By means of our proposed aRi-MAX method stability of the KMeans algorithm
is improved and identification of the best clustering solution is achieved on
an artificial dataset. Subsequently an information theoretic dot product based
algorithm called P-Dot is proposed. This method has the ability to utilize a
wide variety of clustering techniques, individually or in combination, while
fusing privileged and technical data for improved clustering. Application of
the P-Dot method to the task of digit recognition confirms our findings in a
real-world scenario.


title: Hecke grids and congruences for weakly holomorphic modular forms

abstract:
  Let $U(p)$ denote the Atkin operator of prime index $p$. Honda and Kaneko
proved infinite families of congruences of the form $f|U(p) \equiv 0 \pmod{p}$
for weakly holomorphic modular forms of low weight and level and primes $p$ in
certain residue classes, and conjectured the existence of similar congruences
modulo higher powers of $p$. Partial results on some of these conjectures were
proved recently by Guerzhoy. We construct infinite families of weakly
holomorphic modular forms on the Fricke groups $\Gamma^*(N)$ for $N=1,2,3,4$
and describe explicitly the action of the Hecke algebra on these forms. As a
corollary, we obtain strengthened versions of all of the congruences
conjectured by Honda and Kaneko.


title: Angle-dependent Gap state in Asymmetric Nuclear Matter

abstract:
  We propose an axisymmetric angle-dependent gap (ADG) state with the broken
rotational symmetry in isospin-asymmetric nuclear matter. In this state, the
deformed Fermi spheres of neutrons and protons increase the pairing
probabilities along the axis of symmetry breaking near the average Fermi
surface. We find that the state possesses lower free energy and larger gap
value than the angle-averaged gap state at large isospin asymmetries. These
properties are mainly caused by the coupling of different m_{j} components of
the pairing gap. Furthermore, we find the transition from the ADG state to the
normal state is of second order and the ADG state vanishes at the critical
isospin asymmetry m_{j} where the angle-averaged gap vanishes.


title: Testing modified gravity with Planck: the case of coupled dark energy

abstract:
  The Planck collaboration has recently published maps of the Cosmic Microwave
Background (CMB) radiation, in good agreement with a LCDM model, a fit
especially valid for multipoles l > 40. We explore here the possibility that
dark energy is dynamical and gravitational attraction between dark matter
particles is effectively different from the standard one in General Relativity:
this is the case of coupled dark energy models, where dark matter particles
feel the presence of a fifth force, larger than gravity by a factor beta^2. We
investigate constraints on the strength of the coupling beta in view of Planck
data. Interestingly, we show that a non-zero coupling is compatible with data
and find a likelihood peak at beta = 0.036 \pm 0.016 (Planck + WP + BAO)
(compatible with zero at 2sigma). The significance of the peak increases to
beta = 0.066 \pm 0.018 (Planck + WP + HST) (around 3.6sigma) when Planck is
combined to Hubble Space Telescope data. This peak comes mostly from the small
difference between the Hubble parameter determined with CMB measurements and
the one coming from astrophysics measurements. In this sense, future
observations and further tests of current observations are needed to determine
whether the discrepancy is due to systematics in any of the datasets. Our aim
here is not to claim new physics but rather to show how Planck data can be used
to provide information on dynamical dark energy and modified gravity, allowing
us to test the strength of an effective fifth force between dark matter
particles with precision smaller than 2%.


title: Validation of a Microsimulation of the Port of Dover

abstract:
  Modelling and simulating the traffic of heavily used but secure environments
such as seaports and airports is of increasing importance. Errors made when
simulating these environments can have long standing economic, social and
environmental implications. This paper discusses issues and problems that may
arise when designing a simulation strategy. Data for the Port is presented,
methods for lightweight vehicle assessment that can be used to calibrate and
validate simulations are also discussed along with a diagnosis of
overcalibration issues. We show that decisions about where the intelligence
lies in a system has important repercussions for the reliability of system
statistics. Finally, conclusions are drawn about how microsimulations can be
moved forward as a robust planning tool for the 21st century.


title: Pure states and black hole complementarity

abstract:
  The future apparent horizon of a black hole develops large stress energy due
to quantum effects, unless the outgoing modes are in a thermal density matrix
at the local Hawking temperature. It is shown for generic pure states that the
deviation from thermality is so small that an infalling observer will see no
drama on their way to the stretched horizon, providing a derivation of black
hole complementarity after the Page time. Atypical pure states, and atypical
observers, may of course see surprises, but that is not surprising.


title:
Nova KT Eri 2009: Infrared studies of a very fast and small amplitude
  He/N nova

abstract:
  We present near-infrared spectroscopic and photometric observations of the
nova KT Eridani taken during the first 100 days following its discovery in 2009
November. The JHK spectra of the object have been taken from the Mount Abu
Infrared Observatory using the Near-Infrared Imager/Spectrometer. The spectra,
typical of the He/N class novae, show strong He I emission lines together with
H I and O I emission features. The H I, Pa-beta and Br-gamma spectral lines and
the He I line at 2.0581 micron show broad wings with a relatively narrow
central component. The broad wings extend to 1900 km/s while the central
component has FWHM of 2100 km/s. The V and near-infrared JHK light curves show
an additional small amplitude outburst near 40 days after optical maximum. The
distance to the nova d = 6.3 +/- 0.1 kpc is derived using the MMRD relation and
the estimated value of t2 = 5.7 +/- 0.3 days. The small value of t2 places KT
Eri in the class of very fast novae. Using the value of the distance to the
nova d, we estimate the height of the nova to be z = 3.3 +/- 0.1 kpc below the
galactic plane. We have also calculated the upper limit for the ejecta mass for
KT Eri to be in the range 2.4-7.4 x 10^(-5) Msun. Kinematic evidence is
presented from the shape of the line profiles for a possible bipolar flow. We
analyze the temporal evolution of the continuum and also discuss the
possibility of KT Eri being a recurrent nova.


title: Non-Universalities in Pure Gravity Mediation

abstract:
  The simplest model of pure gravity mediation contains only two free
parameters: the gravitino mass and \tan\beta. Scalar masses are universal at
some high energy renormalization scale and gaugino masses are determined
through anomalies and depend on the gravitino mass and the gauge couplings.
This theory requires a relatively large gravitino mass (m_{3/2}\gtrsim
300\,TeV) and a limited range in \tan \beta \simeq 1.7--2.5. Here we generalize
the theory to allow for non-universality in the Higgs soft masses. This
introduces zero, one or two new free parameters associated with Higgs soft
masses. This generalization allows us to greatly increase the allowed range in
\tan \beta and it allows one to find viable solutions with lower m_{3/2}. The
latter is important if we hope to find a low energy signal from gluinos. Some
special cases of these non-universalities are suggestive of Higgs bosons as
Nambu-Goldstone bosons or a partial no-scale structure for the Higgs doublets.
Thus, we probe signatures at the weak scale and structures at the GUT and/or
Planck scale.


title: Likelihood Geometry

abstract:
  We study the critical points of monomial functions over an algebraic subset
of the probability simplex. The number of critical points on the Zariski
closure is a topological invariant of that embedded projective variety, known
as its maximum likelihood degree. We present an introduction to this theory and
its statistical motivations. Many favorite objects from combinatorial algebraic
geometry are featured: toric varieties, A-discriminants, hyperplane
arrangements, Grassmannians, and determinantal varieties. Several new results
are included, especially on the likelihood correspondence and its bidegree.
These notes were written for the second author's lectures at the CIME-CIRM
summer course on Combinatorial Algebraic Geometry at Levico Terme in June 2013.


title:
Young Stellar Clusters with a Schuster Mass Distribution - I: Stationary
  Winds

abstract:
  Hydrodynamic models for spherically-symmetric winds driven by young stellar
clusters with a generalized Schuster stellar density profile are explored. For
this we use both semi-analytic models and 1D numerical simulations. We
determine the properties of quasi-adiabatic and radiative stationary winds and
define the radius at which the flow turns from subsonic into supersonic for all
stellar density distributions. Strongly radiative winds diminish significantly
their terminal speed and thus their mechanical luminosity is strongly reduced.
This also reduces their potential negative feedback into their host galaxy ISM.
The critical luminosity above which radiative cooling becomes dominant within
the clusters, leading to thermal instabilities which make the winds
non-stationary, is determined, and its dependence on the star cluster density
profile, core radius and half mass radius is discussed.


title: A family of irreducible free divisors in P^2

abstract:
  An infinite family of irreducible homogeneous free divisors in $K[x, y, z]$
is constructed. Indeed, we identify sets of monomials $X$ such that the general
polynomial supported on $X$ is a free divisor.


title:
Wavelet feature extraction and genetic algorithm for biomarker detection
  in colorectal cancer data

abstract:
  Biomarkers which predict patient's survival can play an important role in
medical diagnosis and treatment. How to select the significant biomarkers from
hundreds of protein markers is a key step in survival analysis. In this paper a
novel method is proposed to detect the prognostic biomarkers of survival in
colorectal cancer patients using wavelet analysis, genetic algorithm, and Bayes
classifier. One dimensional discrete wavelet transform (DWT) is normally used
to reduce the dimensionality of biomedical data. In this study one dimensional
continuous wavelet transform (CWT) was proposed to extract the features of
colorectal cancer data. One dimensional CWT has no ability to reduce
dimensionality of data, but captures the missing features of DWT, and is
complementary part of DWT. Genetic algorithm was performed on extracted wavelet
coefficients to select the optimized features, using Bayes classifier to build
its fitness function. The corresponding protein markers were located based on
the position of optimized features. Kaplan-Meier curve and Cox regression model
were used to evaluate the performance of selected biomarkers. Experiments were
conducted on colorectal cancer dataset and several significant biomarkers were
detected. A new protein biomarker CD46 was found to significantly associate
with survival time.


title:
Ada-MAC: An Adaptive MAC Protocol for Real-time and Reliable Health
  Monitoring,

abstract:
  IEEE 802.15.4 is regarded as one of the most suitable communication protocols
for cyber-physical applications of wireless sensor and actuator networks. This
is because this protocol is able to achieve low-power and low-cost transmission
in wireless personal area networks. But most cyber-physical systems (CPSs)
require a degree of real-time and reliability from the underlying communication
protocol. Some of them are stricter than the others. However, IEEE 802.15.4
protocol cannot provide reliability and real-time transmission for
time-critical and delay-sensitive data in cyber-physical applications. To solve
this problem, we propose a new MAC protocol, i.e. the Ada-MAC protocol, which
is based on IEEE 802.15.4 beacon-enabled mode. It can support cyber-physical
applications such as health monitoring, which require stringent real- time and
reliability guarantees. We implement the proposed protocol on the OMNET++
platform and conduct a performance evaluation of the proposed protocol with
comparison against the traditional IEEE 802.15.4 protocol. The results are
presented and analyzed.


title: Towards a More Systematic Approach to Secure Systems Design and Analysis

abstract:
  The task of designing secure software systems is fraught with uncertainty, as
data on uncommon attacks is limited, costs are difficult to estimate, and
technology and tools are continually changing. Consequently, experts may
interpret the security risks posed to a system in different ways, leading to
variation in assessment. This paper presents research into measuring the
variability in decision making between security professionals, with the
ultimate goal of improving the quality of security advice given to software
system designers. A set of thirty nine cyber-security experts took part in an
exercise in which they independently assessed a realistic system scenario. This
study quantifies agreement in the opinions of experts, examines methods of
aggregating opinions, and produces an assessment of attacks from ratings of
their components. We show that when aggregated, a coherent consensus view of
security emerges which can be used to inform decisions made during systems
design.


title: KIDs like cones

abstract:
  We analyze vacuum Killing Initial Data on characteristic Cauchy surfaces. A
general theorem on existence of Killing vectors in the domain of dependence is
proved, and some special cases are analyzed in detail, including the case of
bifurcate Killing horizons.


title:
Mirror Majorana zero modes in spinful superconductors/superfluids
  -Non-Abelian braiding of integer quantum vortices-

abstract:
  It has been widely believed that half quantum vortices are indispensable to
realize topological stable Majorana zero modes and non-Abelian anyons in
spinful superconductors/superfluids. Contrary to this wisdom, we here
demonstrate that integer quantum vortices in spinful superconductors can host
topologically stable Majorana zero modes because of the mirror symmetry. The
symmetry protected Majorana fermions may exhibit non-Abelian anyon braiding.


title:
Mapping pure gravity to strings in three-dimensional anti-de Sitter
  geometry

abstract:
  Strings propagating in three-dimensional anti-de Sitter space with a
background antisymmetric tensor field are well understood, even at the quantum
level. Pure three-dimensional gravity with a negative cosmological constant is
potentially important because of the existence of black hole solutions and an
asymptotic conformal symmetry, but it is mysterious and surprisingly resistant
to analysis. In this letter, the two theories are related by a map on the
classical level. The map is obtained by gauge fixing the string completely,
like in a light cone gauge, and comparing the resulting constrained theory with
the boundary theory obtained from gravity by imposing the appropriate
asymptotic boundary conditions. The two theories are formally related as
different gauge fixings of the same gauge theory.


title:
Investigating Mathematical Models of Immuno-Interactions with
  Early-Stage Cancer under an Agent-Based Modelling Perspective

abstract:
  Many advances in research regarding immuno-interactions with cancer were
developed with the help of ordinary differential equation (ODE) models. These
models, however, are not effectively capable of representing problems involving
individual localisation, memory and emerging properties, which are common
characteristics of cells and molecules of the immune system. Agent-based
modelling and simulation is an alternative paradigm to ODE models that
overcomes these limitations. In this paper we investigate the potential
contribution of agent-based modelling and simulation when compared to ODE
modelling and simulation. We seek answers to the following questions: Is it
possible to obtain an equivalent agent-based model from the ODE formulation? Do
the outcomes differ? Are there any benefits of using one method compared to the
other? To answer these questions, we have considered three case studies using
established mathematical models of immune interactions with early-stage cancer.
These case studies were re-conceptualised under an agent-based perspective and
the simulation results were then compared with those from the ODE models. Our
results show that it is possible to obtain equivalent agent-based models (i.e.
implementing the same mechanisms); the simulation output of both types of
models however might differ depending on the attributes of the system to be
modelled. In some cases, additional insight from using agent-based modelling
was obtained. Overall, we can confirm that agent-based modelling is a useful
addition to the tool set of immunologists, as it has extra features that allow
for simulations with characteristics that are closer to the biological
phenomena.


title:
Simultaneous quantum state exchange or transfer between two sets of
  cavities and generation of multiple Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen pairs via a
  superconducting coupler qubit

abstract:
  We propose an approach to simultaneously perform quantum state exchange or
transfer between two sets of cavities, each containing $N$ cavities, by using
only one superconducting coupler qubit. The quantum states to be exchanged or
transferred can be arbitrary pure or mixed states and entangled or
nonentangled. The operation time does not increase with the number of cavities,
and there is no need of applying classic pulses during the entire operation.
Moreover, the approach can be also applied to realize quantum state exchange or
transfer between two sets of qubits, such as that between two multi-qubit
quantum registers. We further show that the present proposal can be used to
simultaneously generate multiple Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen pairs of photons or
qubits, which are important in quantum communication. The method can be
generalized to other systems by using different types of physical qubit as a
coupler to accomplish the same task.


title: Relations between the local chromatic number and its directed version

abstract:
  The local chromatic number is a coloring parameter defined as the minimum
number of colors that should appear in the most colorful closed neighborhood of
a vertex under any proper coloring of the graph. Its directed version is the
same when we consider only outneighborhoods in a directed graph. For digraphs
with all arcs being present in both directions the two values are obviously
equal. Here we consider oriented graphs. We show the existence of a graph where
the directed local chromatic number of all oriented versions of the graph is
strictly less than the local chromatic number of the underlying undirected
graph. We show that for fractional versions the analogous problem has a
different answer: there always exists an orientation for which the directed and
undirected values coincide. We also determine the supremum of the possible
ratios of these fractional parameters, which turns out to be e, the basis of
the natural logarithm.


title: Measurable patterns, necklaces, and sets indiscernible by measure

abstract:
  In some recent papers the classical `splitting necklace theorem' is linked in
an interesting way with a geometric `pattern avoidance problem'. We explore the
topological constraints on the existence of a (relaxed) measurable coloring of
R^d such that any two distinct, non-degenerate cubes (parallelepipeds) are
measure discernible. For example, motivated by a conjecture of Lason, we show
that for every collection \mu_1,...,\mu_{2d-1} of 2d-1 continuous finite
measures on R^d, there exist two nontrivial axis-aligned d-dimensional cuboids
(rectangular parallelepipeds) C_1 and C_2 such that \mu_i(C_1)=\mu_i(C_2) for
each i=1,...,2d-1. We also show by examples that the bound 2d-1 cannot be
improved in general. These results are steps in the direction of studying
general topological obstructions for the existence of non-repetitive colorings
of measurable spaces.


title:
Compactness and essential norm properties of operators on generalized
  Fock spaces

abstract:
  The purpose of this paper is to systematically study compactness and
essential norm properties of operators on a very general class of weighted Fock
spaces over $\C$. In particular, we obtain rather strong necessary and
sufficient conditions for a wide class of operators (which includes operators
in the Toeplitz algebra generated by bounded symbols) to be compact and we
obtain related estimates on the essential norm of such operators. Finally, we
discuss interesting open problems related to our results, and in particular
discuss the possibility of extending our results to other generally weighted
Bergman spaces on the unit ball of $\C$.


title:
Theoretical formulation and analysis of the deterministic dendritic cell
  algorithm

abstract:
  As one of the emerging algorithms in the field of Artificial Immune Systems
(AIS), the Dendritic Cell Algorithm (DCA) has been successfully applied to a
number of challenging real-world problems. However, one criticism is the lack
of a formal definition, which could result in ambiguity for understanding the
algorithm. Moreover, previous investigations have mainly focused on its
empirical aspects. Therefore, it is necessary to provide a formal definition of
the algorithm, as well as to perform runtime analyses to revealits theoretical
aspects. In this paper, we define the deterministic version of the DCA, named
the dDCA, using set theory and mathematical functions. Runtime analyses of the
standard algorithm and the one with additional segmentation are performed. Our
analysis suggests that the standard dDCA has a runtime complexity of O(n2) for
the worst-case scenario, where n is the number of input data instances. The
introduction of segmentation changes the algorithm's worst case runtime
complexity to O(max(nN; nz)), for DC population size N with size of each
segment z. Finally, two runtime variables of the algorithm are formulated based
on the input data, to understand its runtime behaviour as guidelines for
further development.


title: On model selection consistency of regularized M-estimators

abstract:
  Regularized M-estimators are used in diverse areas of science and engineering
to fit high-dimensional models with some low-dimensional structure. Usually the
low-dimensional structure is encoded by the presence of the (unknown)
parameters in some low-dimensional model subspace. In such settings, it is
desirable for estimates of the model parameters to be \emph{model selection
consistent}: the estimates also fall in the model subspace. We develop a
general framework for establishing consistency and model selection consistency
of regularized M-estimators and show how it applies to some special cases of
interest in statistical learning. Our analysis identifies two key properties of
regularized M-estimators, referred to as geometric decomposability and
irrepresentability, that ensure the estimators are consistent and model
selection consistent.

categories: math.ST cs.LG math.OC stat.ME stat.ML stat.TH


title:
Cooperation and competition in the dynamics of tissue architecture
  during homeostasis and tumorigenesis

abstract:
  The construction of a network of cell-to-cell contacts makes it possible to
characterize the patterns and spatial organisation of tissues. Such networks
are highly dynamic, depending on the changes of the tissue architecture caused
by cell division, death and migration. Local competitive and cooperative
cell-to-cell interactions influence the choices cells make. We review the
literature on quantitative data of epithelial tissue topology and present a
dynamical network model that can be used to explore the evolutionary dynamics
of a two dimensional tissue architecture with arbitrary cell-to-cell
interactions. In particular, we show that various forms of experimentally
observed types of interactions can be modelled using game theory. We discuss a
model of cooperative and non-cooperative cell-to-cell communication that can
capture the interplay between cellular competition and tissue dynamics. We
conclude with an outlook on the possible uses of this approach in modelling
tumorigenesis and tissue homeostasis.


title: Generalized Fuzzy Torus and its Modular Properties

abstract:
  We consider a generalization of the basic fuzzy torus to a fuzzy torus with
non-trivial modular parameter, based on a finite matrix algebra. We discuss the
modular properties of this fuzzy torus, and compute the matrix Laplacian for a
scalar field. In the semi-classical limit, the generalized fuzzy torus can be
used to approximate a generic commutative torus represented by two generic
vectors in the complex plane, with generic modular parameter $\tau$. The
effective classical geometry and the spectrum of the Laplacian are correctly
reproduced in the limit. The spectrum of a matrix Dirac operator is also
computed.


title: Path diversity improves the identification of influential spreaders

abstract:
  Identifying influential spreaders in complex networks is a crucial problem
which relates to wide applications. Many methods based on the global
information such as $k$-shell and PageRank have been applied to rank spreaders.
However, most of related previous works overwhelmingly focus on the number of
paths for propagation, while whether the paths are diverse enough is usually
overlooked. Generally, the spreading ability of a node might not be strong if
its propagation depends on one or two paths while the other paths are dead
ends. In this Letter, we introduced the concept of path diversity and find that
it can largely improve the ranking accuracy. We further propose a local method
combining the information of path number and path diversity to identify
influential nodes in complex networks. This method is shown to outperform many
well-known methods in both undirected and directed networks. Moreover, the
efficiency of our method makes it possible to be applied to very large systems.


title:
Thermodynamics of the {\alpha}-{\gamma} transition in Cerium from first
  principles

abstract:
  We present a thermodynamical investigation of the alpha-gamma transition of
Ce using first principles calculation based on the combination of Density
Functional Theory with Dynamical Mean Field Theory. First, the scheme allows
for an improvement in the description of spectral functions. Secondly, we are
able to identify unambiguously a negative curvature in the internal energy
versus volume curves. Thirdly, we compute - thanks to extensive calculations -,
the electronic entropy and find thermodynamical functions variations during the
transition in good agreement with experiment but with a renormalized
temperature.


title: Draw a line on your PDA to authenticate

abstract:
  The trend toward a highly mobile workforce and the ubiquity of graphical
interfaces (such as the stylus and touch-screen) has enabled the emergence of
graphical authentications in Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) [1]. However,
most of the current graphical password schemes are vulnerable to
shoulder-surfing [2,3], a known risk where an attacker can capture a password
by direct observation or by recording the authentication session. Several
approaches have been developed to deal with this problem, but they have
significant usability drawbacks, usually in the time and effort to log in,
making them less suitable for authentication [4, 8]. For example, it is
time-consuming for users to log in CHC [4] and there are complex text memory
requirements in scheme proposed by Hong [5]. With respect to the scheme
proposed by Weinshall [6], not only is it intricate to log in, but also the
main claim of resisting shoulder-surfing is proven false [7]. In this paper, we
introduce a new graphical password scheme which provides a good resistance to
shouldersurfing and preserves a desirable usability.


title: On highly regular embeddings

abstract:
  Given parameters k, l, and d, we give new lower bounds on the dimensions N
such that there are maps from R^d to R^N that are k-regular, l-skew embeddings,
or k-regular-l-skew embeddings. This extends and sharpens results due to
Chisholm (1979) and Ghomi-Tabachnikov (2008).


title:
Technical Report: Convex Optimization of Nonlinear Feedback Controllers
  via Occupation Measures

abstract:
  In this paper, we present an approach for designing feedback controllers for
polynomial systems that maximize the size of the time-limited backwards
reachable set (BRS). We rely on the notion of occupation measures to pose the
synthesis problem as an infinite dimensional linear program (LP) and provide
finite dimensional approximations of this LP in terms of semidefinite programs
(SDPs). The solution to each SDP yields a polynomial control policy and an
outer approximation of the largest achievable BRS. In contrast to traditional
Lyapunov based approaches which are non-convex and require feasible
initialization, our approach is convex and does not require any form of
initialization. The resulting time-varying controllers and approximated
reachable sets are well-suited for use in a trajectory library or feedback
motion planning algorithm. We demonstrate the efficacy and scalability of our
approach on five nonlinear systems.


title: Against Spyware Using CAPTCHA in Graphical Password Scheme

abstract:
  Text-based password schemes have inherent security and usability problems,
leading to the development of graphical password schemes. However, most of
these alternate schemes are vulnerable to spyware attacks. We propose a new
scheme, using CAPTCHA (Completely Automated Public Turing tests to tell
Computers and Humans Apart) that retaining the advantages of graphical password
schemes, while simultaneously raising the cost of adversaries by orders of
magnitude. Furthermore, some primary experiments are conducted and the results
indicate that the usability should be improved in the future work.


title: Hierarchical clustering in chameleon $f(R)$ gravity

abstract:
  We use a suite of high resolution state-of-the-art N-body Dark Matter
simulations of chameleon $f(R)$ gravity to study the higher order volume
averaged correlation functions $\bar{\xi_n}$ together with the hierarchical
$n$-th order correlation amplitudes $S_n=\bar{\xi}_n/\bar{\xi}_2^{n-1}$ and
density distribution functions (PDF). We show that under the non-linear
modifications of gravity the hierarchical scaling of the reduced cumulants is
preserved. This is however characterised by significant changes of both the
$\bar{\xi_n}$ and $S_n$'s values and their scale dependence with respect to
General Relativity gravity (GR). In addition, we measure a significant increase
of the non linear $\sigma_8$ parameter reaching $14, 5$ and 0.5% in excess of
the GR value for the three flavours of our $f(R)$ models. We further note that
the values of the reduced cumulants up to order $n=9$ are significantly
increased in $f(R)$ gravity for all our models at small scales $R\simlt
30\hmpc$. In contrast the values of the hierarchical amplitudes, $S_n$'s, are
smaller in $f(R)$ indicating that the modified gravity density distribution
functions are deviating from the GR case. Furthermore we find that the redshift
evolution of relative deviations of the $f(R)$ hierarchical correlation
amplitudes is fastest at high and moderate redshifts $1\leq z \leq4$. The
growth of these deviations significantly slows down in the low redshift
universe. We also compute the PDFs and show that for scales below $\sim
20\hmpc$ they are significantly shifted in $f(R)$ gravity towards the low
densities. Finally we discuss the implications of our theoretical predictions
for measurements of the hierarchical clustering in galaxy redshifts surveys,
including the important problems of the galaxy biasing and redshifts space
distortions.


title: Uniqueness of higher genus bridge surfaces for torus knots

abstract:
  We show that a torus knot which is not 2-bridge has a unique irreducible
bridge splitting of positive genus.


title:
Advanced Personnel Vetting Techniques in Critical Multi-Tennant Hosted
  Computing Environments

abstract:
  The emergence of cloud computing presents a strategic direction for critical
infrastructures and promises to have far-reaching effects on their systems and
networks to deliver better outcomes to the nations at a lower cost. However,
when considering cloud computing, government entities must address a host of
security issues (such as malicious insiders) beyond those of service cost and
flexibility. The scope and objective of this paper is to analyze, evaluate and
investigate the insider threat in cloud security in sensitive infrastructures
as well as to propose two proactive socio-technical solutions for securing
commercial and governmental cloud infrastructures. Firstly, it proposes
actionable framework, techniques and practices in order to ensure that such
disruptions through human threats are infrequent, of minimal duration,
manageable, and cause the least damage possible. Secondly, it aims for extreme
security measures to analyze and evaluate human threats related assessment
methods for employee screening in certain high-risk situations using cognitive
analysis technology, in particular functional magnetic Resonance Imaging
(fMRI). The significance of this research is also to counter human rights and
ethical dilemmas by presenting a set of ethical and professional guidelines.
The main objective of this work is to analyze related risks, identify
countermeasures and present recommendations to develop a security awareness
culture that will allow cloud providers to utilize effectively the benefits of
this advanced techniques without sacrificing system security.


title: Universal Entanglers for Bosonic and Fermionic Systems

abstract:
  A universal entangler (UE) is a unitary operation which maps all pure product
states to entangled states. It is known that for a bipartite system of
particles $1,2$ with a Hilbert space $\mathbb{C}^{d_1}\otimes\mathbb{C}^{d_2}$,
a UE exists when $\min{(d_1,d_2)}\geq 3$ and $(d_1,d_2)\neq (3,3)$. It is also
known that whenever a UE exists, almost all unitaries are UEs; however to
verify whether a given unitary is a UE is very difficult since solving a
quadratic system of equations is NP-hard in general. This work examines the
existence and construction of UEs of bipartite bosonic/fermionic systems whose
wave functions sit in the symmetric/antisymmetric subspace of
$\mathbb{C}^{d}\otimes\mathbb{C}^{d}$. The development of a theory of UEs for
these types of systems needs considerably different approaches from that used
for UEs of distinguishable systems. This is because the general entanglement of
identical particle systems cannot be discussed in the usual way due to the
effect of (anti)-symmetrization which introduces "pseudo entanglement" that is
inaccessible in practice. We show that, unlike the distinguishable particle
case, UEs exist for bosonic/fermionic systems with Hilbert spaces which are
symmetric (resp. antisymmetric) subspaces of
$\mathbb{C}^{d}\otimes\mathbb{C}^{d}$ if and only if $d\geq 3$ (resp. $d\geq
8$). To prove this we employ algebraic geometry to reason about the different
algebraic structures of the bosonic/fermionic systems. Additionally, due to the
relatively simple coherent state form of unentangled bosonic states, we are
able to give the explicit constructions of two bosonic UEs. Our investigation
provides insight into the entanglement properties of systems of
indisitinguishable particles, and in particular underscores the difference
between the entanglement structures of bosonic, fermionic and distinguishable
particle systems.


title: A review on super dense coding over covariant noisy channels

abstract:
  We study the performance of the super dense coding protocol in the presence
of quantum channels with covariant noise. We first consider the bipartite case
and review in a unified way the case of general Pauli channels. We discuss both
the cases of unitary and non-unitary encoding. We also study the multipartite
scenario and investigate the case of many senders and one receiver.


title:
New relations between discrete and continuous transition operators on
  (metric) graphs

abstract:
  We establish several new relations between the discrete transition operator,
the continuous Laplacian and the averaging operator associated with
combinatorial and metric graphs. It is shown that these operators can be
expressed through each other using explicit expressions. In particular, we show
that the averaging operator is closely related with the solutions of the
associated wave equation. The machinery used allows one to study a class of
infinite graphs without assumption on the local finiteness.


title: A construction of slice knots via annulus twists

abstract:
  We give a new construction of slice knots via annulus twists. The simplest
slice knots obtained by our method are those constructed by Omae. In this
paper, we introduce a sufficient condition for given slice knots to be ribbon,
and prove that all Omae's knots are ribbon.


title: Transmission of High-Power Electron Beams Through Small Apertures

abstract:
  Tests were performed to pass a 100 MeV, 430 kWatt c.w. electron beam from the
energy-recovery linac at the Jefferson Laboratory's FEL facility through a set
of small apertures in a 127 mm long aluminum block. Beam transmission losses of
3 p.p.m. through a 2 mm diameter aperture were maintained during a 7 hour
continuous run.