title:
The quantum mechanics is a non-universal theory. The realistic
  Schrodinger's and positivistic Born's interpretation of the wave function

abstract:
  Quantum mechanics describes successfully numerous quantum phenomena both
microscopic and macroscopic, such as superconductivity. But the controversies
about quantum mechanics, in the old days and present day, reveal fundamental
obscurity in quantum mechanics. In this work reader attention is drawn first of
all to the fact that the orthodox description of superconductivity and some
other quantum phenomena uses the realistic interpretation of the wave function
proposed by Schrodinger whereas the controversies take place until the present
about the positivistic interpretation proposed by Born. Causes and essence of
the fundamental obscurity of the Born interpretation are considered in detail
in the first part of the paper. The fundamental obscurities of the orthodox
description of superconductivity and other quantum phenomena are considered in
the end of the paper.


title:
Time Monitoring of Radio Jets and Magnetospheres in the Nearby Young
  Stellar Cluster R Coronae Australis

abstract:
  We report JVLA 8-10 GHz ($\lambda$=3.0-3.7 cm) monitoring observations toward
the YSO cluster R Coronae Australis (R\,CrA), taken in 2012, from March 15 to
September 12. These observations were planned to measure the radio flux
variabilities in timescales from 0.5 hours to several days, to tens of days,
and up to $\sim$200 days. We found that among the YSOs detectable in individual
epochs, in general, the most reddened objects in the \textit{Spitzer}
observations show the highest mean 3.5 cm Stokes \textit{I} emission, and the
lowest fractional variabilities on $<$200-day timescales. The brightest radio
flux emitters in our observations are the two reddest sources IRS7W and IRS7E.
In addition, by comparing with observations taken in 1996-1998 and 2005, we
found that the radio fluxes of these two sources have increased by a factor
$\sim$1.5. The mean 3.5-cm fluxes of the three Class I/II sources IRSI, IRS2,
and IRS6 appear to be correlated with their accretion rates derived by a
previous near infrared line survey. The weakly accreting Class I/II YSOs, or
those in later evolutionary stages, present radio flux variability on
$<$0.5-hour timescales. Some YSOs were detected only during occasional flaring
events. The source R\,CrA went below our detection limit during a few fading
events.


title:
Software Uncertainty in Integrated Environmental Modelling: the role of
  Semantics and Open Science

abstract:
  Computational aspects increasingly shape environmental sciences. Actually,
transdisciplinary modelling of complex and uncertain environmental systems is
challenging computational science (CS) and also the science-policy interface.
Large spatial-scale problems falling within this category - i.e. wide-scale
transdisciplinary modelling for environment (WSTMe) - often deal with factors
(a) for which deep-uncertainty may prevent usual statistical analysis of
modelled quantities and need different ways for providing policy-making with
science-based support. Here, practical recommendations are proposed for
tempering a peculiar - not infrequently underestimated - source of uncertainty.
Software errors in complex WSTMe may subtly affect the outcomes with possible
consequences even on collective environmental decision-making. Semantic
transparency in CS and free software are discussed as possible mitigations.


title:
Various regimes of quantum behavior in S = 1/2 Heisenberg
  antiferromagnetic chain with fourfold periodicity

abstract:
  We have succeeded in synthesizing single crystals of the verdazyl radical
beta-2,6-Cl2-V [= beta-3-(2,6-dichlorophenyl)-1,5-diphenylverdazyl]. The ab
initio MO calculation indicated the formation of an S = 1/2 Heisenberg
antiferromagnetic chain with four-fold magnetic periodicity consisting of three
types of exchange interactions.We have successfully explained the magnetic and
thermodynamic properties based on the expected spin model by using the quantum
Monte Carlo method. Furthermore, we revealed that the alternating and unique
Ising ferromagnetic chains become effective in the specific field regions and
observed a cooperative phenomenon caused by the magnetic order and quantum
fluctuations. These results demonstrate that verdazyl radical could form
unconventional spin model with interesting quantum behavior and provide a new
way to study a variety of quantum spin systems.


title: Large-scale analysis of frequency modulation in birdsong databases

abstract:
  Birdsong often contains large amounts of rapid frequency modulation (FM). It
is believed that the use or otherwise of FM is adaptive to the acoustic
environment, and also that there are specific social uses of FM such as trills
in aggressive territorial encounters. Yet temporal fine detail of FM is often
absent or obscured in standard audio signal analysis methods such as Fourier
analysis or linear prediction. Hence it is important to consider high
resolution signal processing techniques for analysis of FM in bird
vocalisations. If such methods can be applied at big data scales, this offers a
further advantage as large datasets become available.
  We introduce methods from the signal processing literature which can go
beyond spectrogram representations to analyse the fine modulations present in a
signal at very short timescales. Focusing primarily on the genus Phylloscopus,
we investigate which of a set of four analysis methods most strongly captures
the species signal encoded in birdsong. In order to find tools useful in
practical analysis of large databases, we also study the computational time
taken by the methods, and their robustness to additive noise and MP3
compression.
  We find three methods which can robustly represent species-correlated FM
attributes, and that the simplest method tested also appears to perform the
best. We find that features representing the extremes of FM encode species
identity supplementary to that captured in frequency features, whereas
bandwidth features do not encode additional information.
  Large-scale FM analysis can efficiently extract information useful for
bioacoustic studies, in addition to measures more commonly used to characterise
vocalisations.


title: Model-independent constraints on the cosmological anisotropic stress

abstract:
  The effective anisotropic stress or gravitational slip $\eta=-\Phi/\Psi$ is a
key variable in the characterisation of the physical origin of the dark energy,
as it allows to test for a non-minimal coupling of the dark sector to gravity
in the Jordan frame. It is however important to use a fully model-independent
approach when measuring $\eta$ to avoid introducing a theoretical bias into the
results. In this paper we forecast the precision with which future large
surveys can determine $\eta$ in a way that only relies on directly observable
quantities. In particular, we do not assume anything concerning the initial
spectrum of perturbations, nor on its evolution outside the observed redshift
range, nor on the galaxy bias. We first leave $\eta$ free to vary in space and
time and then we model it as suggested in Horndeski models of dark energy.
Among our results, we find that a future large scale lensing and clustering
survey can constrain $\eta$ to within 10% if $k$-independent, and to within 60%
or better at $k=0.1 h/$Mpc if it is restricted to follow the Horndeski model.


title:
Notions of Anonymity, Fairness and Symmetry for Finite Strategic-Form
  Games

abstract:
  In this paper we survey various notions of anonymity and symmetry for finite
strategic-form games present in relevant literature, and discuss notions of
fairness; show that game bijections and game isomorphisms form groupoids;
introduce matchings as a convenient characterisation of strategy triviality;
and outline how to construct and partially order parameterised (symmetric)
games with examples that range all combinations of surveyed symmetry notions,
which when combined with other results in this paper gives the precise
relationship between the various symmetry notions.


title: Energy Reconstruction Methods in the IceCube Neutrino Telescope

abstract:
  Accurate measurement of neutrino energies is essential to many of the
scientific goals of large-volume neutrino telescopes. The fundamental
observable in such detectors is the Cherenkov light produced by the transit
through a medium of charged particles created in neutrino interactions. The
amount of light emitted is proportional to the deposited energy, which is
approximately equal to the neutrino energy for $\nu_e$ and $\nu_\mu$
charged-current interactions and can be used to set a lower bound on neutrino
energies and to measure neutrino spectra statistically in other channels. Here
we describe methods and performance of reconstructing charged-particle energies
and topologies from the observed Cherenkov light yield, including techniques to
measure the energies of uncontained muon tracks, achieving average
uncertainties in electromagnetic-equivalent deposited energy of $\sim 15\%$
above 10 TeV.


title: Editing to a Graph of Given Degrees

abstract:
  We consider the Editing to a Graph of Given Degrees problem that asks for a
graph G, non-negative integers d,k and a function \delta:V(G)->{1,...,d},
whether it is possible to obtain a graph G' from G such that the degree of v is
\delta(v) for any vertex v by at most k vertex or edge deletions or edge
additions. We construct an FPT-algorithm for Editing to a Graph of Given
Degrees parameterized by d+k. We complement this result by showing that the
problem has no polynomial kernel unless NP\subseteq coNP/poly.


title:
On 'A Kalman Filter-Based Algorithm for IMU-Camera Calibration:
  Observability Analysis and Performance Evaluation'

abstract:
  The above-mentioned work [1] in IEEE-TR'08 presented an extended Kalman
filter for calibrating the misalignment between a camera and an IMU. As one of
the main contributions, the locally weakly observable analysis was carried out
using Lie derivatives. The seminal paper [1] is undoubtedly the cornerstone of
current observability work in SLAM and a number of real SLAM systems have been
developed on the observability result of this paper, such as [2, 3]. However,
the main observability result of this paper [1] is founded on an incorrect
proof and actually cannot be acquired using the local observability technique
therein, a fact that is apparently not noticed by the SLAM community over a
number of years.


title: Finsler metrics and relativistic spacetimes

abstract:
  Recent links between Finsler Geometry and the geometry of spacetimes are
briefly revisited, and prospective ideas and results are explained. Special
attention is paid to geometric problems with a direct motivation in Relativity
and other parts of Physics.


title: Stock Market Trend Analysis Using Hidden Markov Models

abstract:
  Price movements of stock market are not totally random. In fact, what drives
the financial market and what pattern financial time series follows have long
been the interest that attracts economists, mathematicians and most recently
computer scientists [17]. This paper gives an idea about the trend analysis of
stock market behaviour using Hidden Markov Model (HMM). The trend once followed
over a particular period will sure repeat in future. The one day difference in
close value of stocks for a certain period is found and its corresponding
steady state probability distribution values are determined. The pattern of the
stock market behaviour is then decided based on these probability values for a
particular time. The goal is to figure out the hidden state sequence given the
observation sequence so that the trend can be analyzed using the steady state
probability distribution( ) values. Six optimal hidden state sequences are
generated and compared. The one day difference in close value when considered
is found to give the best optimum state sequence.


title: Observation of the spin Peltier effect

abstract:
  We report the observation of the spin Peltier effect (SPE) in the
ferrimagnetic insulator Yttrium Iron Garnet (YIG), i.e. a heat current
generated by a spin current flowing through a Platinum (Pt)|YIG interface. The
effect can be explained by the spin torque that transforms the spin current in
the Pt into a magnon current in the YIG. Via magnon-phonon interactions the
magnetic fluctuations modulate the phonon temperature that is detected by a
thermopile close to the interface. By finite-element modelling we verify the
reciprocity between the spin Peltier and spin Seebeck effect. The observed
strong coupling between thermal magnons and phonons in YIG is attractive for
nanoscale cooling techniques.


title: The asymmetric Goos-H\"anchen effect

abstract:
  We show in which conditions optical gaussian beams, propagating throughout an
homogeneous dielectric right angle prism, present an asymmetric Goos-H\"anchen
(GH) effect. This asymmetric behavior is seen for incidence at critical angles
and happens in the propagation direction of the outgoing beam. The asymmetric
GH effect can be also seen as an amplification of the standard GH shift. Due to
the fact that it only depends on the ratio between the wavelength and the
minimal waist size of the incoming gaussian beam, it can be also used to
determine one of these parameters. Multiple peaks interference is an additional
phenomenon seen in the presence of such asymmetric effects.


title: Closed-form solution of a general three-term recurrence relation

abstract:
  We present a closed-form solution for n-th term of a general three-term
recurrence relation with arbitrary given n-dependent coefficients. The
derivation and corresponding proof are based on two approaches, which we
develop and describe in detail. First, the recursive-sum theory, which gives
the exact solution in a compact finite form using a recursive indexing. Second,
the discrete dimensional-convolution procedure, which transforms the solution
to the non-recursive expression of n, including a finite number of elementary
operations and functions.


title: Anomalous diffusion and response in branched systems: a simple analysis

abstract:
  We revisit the diffusion properties and the mean drift induced by an external
field of a random walk process in a class of branched structures, as the comb
lattice and the linear chains of plaquettes. A simple treatment based on
scaling arguments is able to predict the correct anomalous regime for different
topologies. In addition, we show that even in the presence of anomalous
diffusion, Einstein's relation still holds, implying a proportionality between
the mean square displacement of the unperturbed systems and the drift induced
by an external forcing.


title:
A Case Study in Meta-AUTOMATION: AUTOMATIC Generation of Congruence
  AUTOMATA For Combinatorial Sequences

abstract:
  This article is a sequel to a recent article by Eric Rowland and Reem
Yassawi, presenting yet another approach to the fast determination of
congruence properties of `famous' combinatorial sequences. The present approach
can be taught to a computer, and our beloved servant, Shalosh B. Ekhad, was
able to generate many new theorems, for famous sequences, of course, but also
for many obscure ones!


title:
Regularity criteria with angular integrability for the Navier-Stokes
  equation

abstract:
  We give new a priori assumptions on weak solutions of the Navier-Stokes
equation so as to be able to conclude that they are smooth. The regularity
criteria are given in terms of mixed radial-angular weighted Lebesgue space
norms.


title:
Semantic Word Cloud Representations: Hardness and Approximation
  Algorithms

abstract:
  We study a geometric representation problem, where we are given a set $\cal
R$ of axis-aligned rectangles with fixed dimensions and a graph with vertex set
$\cal R$. The task is to place the rectangles without overlap such that two
rectangles touch if and only if the graph contains an edge between them. We
call this problem Contact Representation of Word Networks (CROWN). It
formalizes the geometric problem behind drawing word clouds in which
semantically related words are close to each other. Here, we represent words by
rectangles and semantic relationships by edges. We show that CROWN is strongly
NP-hard even restricted trees and weakly NP-hard if restricted stars. We
consider the optimization problem Max-CROWN where each adjacency induces a
certain profit and the task is to maximize the sum of the profits. For this
problem, we present constant-factor approximations for several graph classes,
namely stars, trees, planar graphs, and graphs of bounded degree. Finally, we
evaluate the algorithms experimentally and show that our best method improves
upon the best existing heuristic by 45%.


title: Characterization and modeling of a low background HPGe detector

abstract:
  A high efficiency, low background counting setup has been made at TIFR
consisting of a special HPGe detector ($\sim$ 70%) surrounded by a low activity
copper+lead shield. Detailed measurements are performed with point and extended
geometry sources to obtain a complete response of the detector. An effective
model of the detector has been made with GEANT4 based Monte Carlo simulations
which agrees with experimental data within 5%. This setup will be used for
qualification and selection of radio-pure materials to be used in a cryogenic
bolometer for the study of Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay in $^{124}$Sn as well
as for other rare event studies. Using this setup, radio-impurities in the rock
sample from India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO) site have been estimated.


title: Asymptotically Exact, Embarrassingly Parallel MCMC

abstract:
  Communication costs, resulting from synchronization requirements during
learning, can greatly slow down many parallel machine learning algorithms. In
this paper, we present a parallel Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithm in
which subsets of data are processed independently, with very little
communication. First, we arbitrarily partition data onto multiple machines.
Then, on each machine, any classical MCMC method (e.g., Gibbs sampling) may be
used to draw samples from a posterior distribution given the data subset.
Finally, the samples from each machine are combined to form samples from the
full posterior. This embarrassingly parallel algorithm allows each machine to
act independently on a subset of the data (without communication) until the
final combination stage. We prove that our algorithm generates asymptotically
exact samples and empirically demonstrate its ability to parallelize burn-in
and sampling in several models.


title:
The effect of boundary adaptivity on hexagonal ordering and bistability
  in circularly confined quasi hard discs

abstract:
  The behaviour of materials under spatial confinement is sensitively dependent
on the nature of the confining boundaries. In two dimensions, confinement
within a hard circular boundary inhibits the hexagonal ordering observed in
bulk systems at high density. Using colloidal experiments and Monte Carlo
simulations, we investigate two model systems of quasi hard discs under
circularly symmetric confinement. The first system employs an adaptive circular
boundary, defined experimentally using holographic optical tweezers. We show
that deformation of this boundary allows, and indeed is required for, hexagonal
ordering in the confined system. The second system employs a circularly
symmetric optical potential to confine particles without a physical boundary.
We show that, in the absence of a curved wall, near perfect hexagonal ordering
is possible. We propose that the degree to which hexagonal ordering is
suppressed by a curved boundary is determined by the `strictness' of that wall.


title:
Universal Generator for Complementary Pairs of Sequences Based on
  Boolean Functions

abstract:
  We present a general algorithm for generating arbitrary standard
complementary pairs of sequences (including binary, polyphase, M-PSK and QAM)
of length 2^N using Boolean functions. The algorithm follows our earlier
paraunitary algorithm, but does not require matrix multiplications. The
algorithm can be easily and efficiently implemented in hardware. As a special
case, it reduces to the non-recursive (direct) algorithm for generating binary
sequences given by Golay, to the algorithm for generating M-PSK sequences given
by Davis and Jedwab (and later improved by Paterson) and to all published
algorithms for generating QAM sequences. However the algorithm does not solve
the problem of sequence uniqueness (except for the trivial M-PSK case), which
must be treated separately for each QAM constellation.


title:
The method of layer potentials in $L^p$ and endpoint spaces for elliptic
  operators with $L^\infty$ coefficients

abstract:
  We consider layer potentials associated to elliptic operators $Lu=-{\rm
div}(A \nabla u)$ acting in the upper half-space $\mathbb{R}^{n+1}_+$ for
$n\geq 2$, or more generally, in a Lipschitz graph domain, where the
coefficient matrix $A$ is $L^\infty$ and $t$-independent, and solutions of
$Lu=0$ satisfy interior estimates of De Giorgi/Nash/Moser type. A
"Calder\'on-Zygmund" theory is developed for the boundedness of layer
potentials, whereby sharp $L^p$ and endpoint space bounds are deduced from
$L^2$ bounds. Appropriate versions of the classical "jump-relation" formulae
are also derived. The method of layer potentials is then used to establish
well-posedness of boundary value problems for $L$ with data in $L^p$ and
endpoint spaces.


title: A simpler normal number construction for simple Luroth series

abstract:
  Champernowne famously proved that the number
$0.(1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)...$ formed by concatenating all the
integers one after another is normal base 10. We give a generalization of
Champernowne's construction to various other digit systems, including
generalized L\"uroth series with a finite number of digits. For these systems,
our construction simplifies a recent construction given by Madritsch and Mance.
Along the way we give an estimation of the sum of multinomial coefficients
above a tilted hyperplane in Pascal's simplex, which may be of general
interest.


title:
Etched graphene single electron transistors on hexagonal boron nitride
  in high magnetic fields

abstract:
  We report on the fabrication and electrical characterisation of etched
graphene single electron transistors (SETs) of various sizes on hexagonal boron
nitride (hBN) in high magnetic fields. The electronic transport measurements
show a slight improvement compared to graphene SETs on SiO2. In particular,
SETs on hBN are more stable under the influence of perpendicular magnetic
fields up to 9T in contrast to measurements reported on SETs on SiO2. This
result indicates a reduced surface disorder potential in SETs on hBN which
might be an important step towards clean and more controllable graphene QDs.


title:
Exact results for deposition of binary mixtures of superdisks on the
  plane

abstract:
  We investigate the deposition of binary mixtures of oriented superdisks on a
plane. Superdisks are chosen as objects bounded by $|x|^{2p}+|y|^{2p}=1$, where
parameter $p$ controls their size and shape. For single-type superdisks, the
maximum packing and jamming densities are known to be nonanalytic at $p=0.5$.
For binary mixtures, we discover that nonanalyticities form a locus of points
separating "phase diagram" of shape combinations into regions with different
excluded-area constructions. An analytical expression for this phase boundary
and exact constructions of the excluded-areas are presented.


title: Benford's Law: Textbook Exercises and Multiple-choice Testbanks

abstract:
  Benford's Law describes the finding that the distribution of leading (or
leftmost) digits of innumerable datasets follows a well-defined logarithmic
trend, rather than an intuitive uniformity. In practice this means that the
most common leading digit is 1, with an expected frequency of 30.1%, and the
least common is 9, with an expected frequency of 4.6%. The history and
development of Benford's Law is inexorably linked to physics, yet there has
been a dearth of physics-related Benford datasets reported in the literature.
Currently, the most common application of Benford's Law is in detecting number
invention and tampering such as found in accounting-, tax-, and voter-fraud. We
demonstrate that answers to end-of-chapter exercises in physics and chemistry
textbooks conform to Benford's Law. Subsequently, we investigate whether this
fact can be used to gain advantage over random guessing in multiple-choice
tests, and find that while testbank answers in introductory physics closely
conform to Benford's Law, the testbank is nonetheless secure against such a
Benford's attack for banal reasons.


title: Group actions and geometric combinatorics in ${\mathbb F}_q^d$

abstract:
  In this paper we apply a group action approach to the study of Erd\H
os-Falconer type problems in vector spaces over finite fields and use it to
obtain non-trivial exponents for the distribution of simplices. We prove that
there exists $s_0(d)<d$ such that if $E \subset {\mathbb F}_q^d$, $d \ge 2$,
with $|E| \ge Cq^{s_0}$, then $|T^d_d(E)| \ge C'q^{d+1 \choose 2}$, where
$T^d_k(E)$ denotes the set of congruence classes of $k$-dimensional simplices
determined by $k+1$-tuples of points from $E$. Non-trivial exponents were
previously obtained by Chapman, Erdogan, Hart, Iosevich and Koh
(\cite{CEHIK12}) for $T^d_k(E)$ with $2 \leq k \leq d-1$. A non-trivial result
for $T^2_2(E)$ in the plane was obtained by Bennett, Iosevich and Pakianathan
(\cite{BIP12}). These results are significantly generalized and improved in
this paper. In particular, we establish the Wolff exponent $\frac{4}{3}$,
previously established in \cite{CEHIK12} for the $q\equiv3\mbox{ mod }4$ case
to the case $q\equiv1\mbox{ mod }4$, and this results in a new sum-product type
inequality. We also obtain non-trivial results for subsets of the sphere in
${\mathbb F}_q^d$, where previous methods have yielded nothing. The key to our
approach is a group action perspective which quickly leads to natural and
effective formulae in the style of the classical Mattila integral from
geometric measure theory.


title: Network Models of Photonic Floquet Topological Insulators

abstract:
  A recently-proposed class of photonic topological insulators is shown to map
onto Chalker-Coddington-type networks, which were originally formulated to
study disordered quantum Hall systems. Such network models are equivalent to
the Floquet states of periodically-driven lattices. We show that they can
exhibit topologically protected edge states even if all bands have zero Chern
number, which is a characteristic property of Floquet bandstructures. These
edge states can be counted by an adiabatic pumping invariant based on the
winding number of the coefficient of reflection from one edge of the network.


title:
New Class of Generalized Extensive Entropies for Studying Dynamical
  Systems in Highly Anisotropic Phase Space

abstract:
  Starting from the geometrical interpretation of the R\'enyi entropy, we
introduce further extensive generalizations and study their properties. In
particular, we found the probability distribution function obtained by the
MaxEnt principle with generalized entropies. We prove that for a large class of
dynamical systems subject to random perturbations, including particle transport
in random media, these entropies play the role of Liapunov functionals. Some
physical examples, which can be treated by the generalized R\'enyi entropies
are also illustrated.


title: A planar hyperlens based on a modulated graphene monolayer

abstract:
  The canalization of terahertz surface plasmon polaritons using a modulated
graphene monolayer is investigated for subwavelength imaging. An anisotropic
surface conductivity formed by a set of parallel nanoribbons with alternating
positive and negative imaginary conductivities is used to realize the
canalization regime required for hyperlensing. The ribbons are narrow compared
to the wavelength, and are created electronically by gating a graphene layer
over a corrugated ground plane. Good quality canalization of surface plasmon
polaritons is shown in the terahertz even in the presence of realistic loss in
graphene, with relevant implications for subwavelength imaging applications.


title:
The circumstellar environment and evolutionary state of the supergiant
  B[e] star Wd1-9

abstract:
  The location of the supergiant (sg)B[e] star Wd1-9 within the coeval
starburst cluster Westerlund 1 allows for its placement in a detailed post-Main
Sequence evolutionary scheme and hence we have utilised a comprehensive
multiwavelength dataset to determine its physical properties and relation to
other sgB[e] stars and the evolved stellar population of Wd1. Wd1-9 is found to
exhibit the rich optical emission line spectrum that is characteristic of
sgB[e] stars, while dust mass, composition and disc geometry determined from
mid-IR data resemble those of other well known examples such as R126. Extreme
historical and ongoing mass loss is inferred from radio observations, while the
X-ray properties of Wd1-9 imply the presence of high temperature plasma within
the system and are directly comparable to a number of confirmed short-period
colliding wind binaries within Wd1. The most complete explanation for the
observational properties of Wd1-9 is that it is a massive interacting binary
currently undergoing, or recently exited from, rapid Roche-lobe overflow,
supporting the hypothesis that binarity mediates the formation of (a subset of)
sgB[e] stars. The mass loss rate of Wd1-9 is consistent with such an assertion,
while viable progenitor and descendent systems are present within Wd1 and other
examples of sgB[e] binaries have previously been found. Moreover, the rarity of
sgB[e] stars - only two examples are identified from a census of ~68 young
massive Galactic clusters and associations containing ~600 post-Main Sequence
stars - is explicable given the rapidity (~10^4yr) expected for this phase of
massive binary evolution.


title:
A Phenomenological Model for the Intracluster Medium that matches X-ray
  and Sunyaev-Zel'dovich observations

abstract:
  Cosmological hydrodynamical simulations of galaxy clusters are still
challenged to produce a model for the intracluster medium that matches all
aspects of current X-ray and Sunyaev-Zel'dovich observations. To facilitate
such comparisons with future simulations and to enable realistic cluster
population studies for modeling e.g., non-thermal emission processes, we
construct a phenomenological model for the intracluster medium that is based on
a representative sample of observed X-ray clusters. We create a mock galaxy
cluster catalog based on the large collisionless N-body simulation MultiDark,
by assigning our gas density model to each dark matter cluster halo. Our
clusters are classified as cool-core and non cool-core according to a dynamical
disturbance parameter. We demonstrate that our gas model matches the various
observed Sunyaev-Zel'dovich and X-ray scaling relations as well as the X-ray
luminosity function, thus enabling to build a reliable mock catalog for present
surveys and forecasts for future experiments. In a companion paper, we apply
our catalogs to calculate non-thermal radio and gamma-ray emission of galaxy
clusters. We make our cosmologically complete multi-frequency mock catalogs for
the (non-)thermal cluster emission at different redshifts publicly and freely
available online through the MultiDark database (www.multidark.org).


title: Torsional Newton-Cartan Geometry and Lifshitz Holography

abstract:
  We obtain the Lifshitz UV completion in a specific model for z=2 Lifshitz
geometries. We use a vielbein formalism which enables identification of all the
sources as leading components of well-chosen bulk fields. We show that the
geometry induced from the bulk onto the boundary is a novel extension of
Newton-Cartan geometry with a specific torsion tensor. We explicitly compute
all the vevs including the boundary stress-energy tensor and their Ward
identities. After using local symmetries/Ward identities the system exhibits
6+6 sources and vevs. The FG expansion exhibits, however, an additional free
function which is related to an irrelevant operator whose source has been
turned off. We show that this is related to a second UV completion.


title:
On the Physics of Radio Halos in Galaxy Clusters: Scaling Relations and
  Luminosity Functions

abstract:
  The underlying physics of giant and mini radio halos in galaxy clusters is
still an open question. We find that mini halos (such as in Perseus and
Ophiuchus) can be explained by radio-emitting electrons that are generated in
hadronic cosmic ray (CR) interactions with protons of the intracluster medium.
By contrast, the hadronic model either fails to explain the extended emission
of giant radio halos (as in Coma at low frequencies) or would require a flat CR
profile, which can be realized through outward streaming and diffusion of CRs
(in Coma and A2163 at 1.4 GHz). We suggest that a second, leptonic component
could be responsible for the missing flux in the outer parts of giant halos
within a new hybrid scenario and we describe its possible observational
consequences. To study the hadronic emission component of the radio halo
population statistically, we use a cosmological mock galaxy cluster catalog
built from the MultiDark simulation. Because of the properties of CR streaming
and the different scalings of the X-ray luminosity (L_X) and the
Sunyaev-Zel'dovich flux (Y) with gas density, our model can simultaneously
reproduce the observed bimodality of radio-loud and radio-quiet clusters at the
same L_X as well as the unimodal distribution of radio-halo luminosity versus
Y; thereby suggesting a physical solution to this apparent contradiction. We
predict radio halo emission down to the mass scale of galaxy groups, which
highlights the unique prospects for low-frequency radio surveys (such as the
LOFAR Tier 1 survey) to increase the number of detected radio halos by at least
an order of magnitude.


title: Mechanism of hole propagation in the orbital compass models

abstract:
  We explore the propagation of a single hole in the quantum compass model,
whose nematic ground state is given by mutually decoupled antiferromagnetic
chains. The compass model can be seen as the strong-coupling limit of a
spinless two-band Hubbard model, which we study here using mean field theory
and the variational cluster approach. Due to the symmetries of the compass
model, the inherent disorder along one lattice direction turns out not to
affect hole motion and doping a hole consequently does not lift the
subextensive degeneracy of the nematic phase. In order to broaden and deepen
understanding, we derive a generalized itinerant model and address the
transition to two-dimensional Ising order. We observe coherent hole motion in
both the nematic and the antiferromagnetic phases, also in the presence of
quantum fluctuations away from pure Ising exchange. In addition to quantum
fluctuations and interorbital hopping, three-site hopping is found to play an
important role and to dominate propagation in the two-dimensional Ising limit
as well as along the antiferromagnetic chains in the nematic order which forms
in the compass model.


title: N=2 higher-derivative couplings from strings

abstract:
  We consider the Calabi-Yau reduction of the Type IIA eight derivative
one-loop stringy corrections focusing on the couplings of the four dimensional
gravity multiplet with vector multiplets and a tensor multiplet containing the
NS two-form. We obtain a variety of higher derivative invariants generalising
the one-loop topological string coupling, $F_1$, controlled by the lowest order
Kahler potential and two new non-topological quantities built out of the
Calabi-Yau Riemann curvature.


title: The multiplex structure of interbank networks

abstract:
  The interbank market has a natural multiplex network representation. We
employ a unique database of supervisory reports of Italian banks to the Banca
d'Italia that includes all bilateral exposures broken down by maturity and by
the secured and unsecured nature of the contract. We find that layers have
different topological properties and persistence over time. The presence of a
link in a layer is not a good predictor of the presence of the same link in
other layers. Maximum entropy models reveal different unexpected substructures,
such as network motifs, in different layers. Using the total interbank network
or focusing on a specific layer as representative of the other layers provides
a poor representation of interlinkages in the interbank market and could lead
to biased estimation of systemic risk.


title:
Adaptive Hierarchical Data Aggregation using Compressive Sensing
  (A-HDACS) for Non-smooth Data Field

abstract:
  Compressive Sensing (CS) has been applied successfully in a wide variety of
applications in recent years, including photography, shortwave infrared
cameras, optical system research, facial recognition, MRI, etc. In wireless
sensor networks (WSNs), significant research work has been pursued to
investigate the use of CS to reduce the amount of data communicated,
particularly in data aggregation applications and thereby improving energy
efficiency. However, most of the previous work in WSN has used CS under the
assumption that data field is smooth with negligible white Gaussian noise. In
these schemes signal sparsity is estimated globally based on the entire data
field, which is then used to determine the CS parameters. In more realistic
scenarios, where data field may have regional fluctuations or it is piecewise
smooth, existing CS based data aggregation schemes yield poor compression
efficiency. In order to take full advantage of CS in WSNs, we propose an
Adaptive Hierarchical Data Aggregation using Compressive Sensing (A-HDACS)
scheme. The proposed schemes dynamically chooses sparsity values based on
signal variations in local regions. We prove that A-HDACS enables more sensor
nodes to employ CS compared to the schemes that do not adapt to the changing
field. The simulation results also demonstrate the improvement in energy
efficiency as well as accurate signal recovery.


title:
Measurement of the $\nu_{\mu}$ flux and inclusive charged current cross
  section at T2K's near detector

abstract:
  We present the first measurement of the muon neutrino spectrum at the T2K
near detector, ND280, using the data collected at the JPARC acc\ elerator
facility in Tokai, Japan. ND280 is located 280 meters downstream from the
target and 2.5$^\circ$ off-axis from the direction of the beam. The measured
spectrum at ND280 constrains the flux and cross section uncertainties\ in the
T2K oscillation analysis. We select inclusive charged-current (CC) events from
muon \ neutrinos in ND280. These are separated into a charged current
quasi-elastic (CCQE) enhanced sample and a CC non\ -QE sample. We then fit the
muon spectrum for both samples to extract flux and cross section parameters,
which are used as inputs into T2K's os\ cillation analysis. We separately
produce a flux-averaged differential inclusive CC cross-se\ ction in the
2-dimensional plane of muon momentum and angle. For the cross-section
measurement the flux is given by the MC and tuned to data from the NA61
experiment. We present the event selection, detector uncertainties, and final
measurement result for both the spectrum and for the cross-section.


title: Near-Limb Zeeman and Hanle Diagnostics

abstract:
  "Weak" magnetic-field diagnostics in faint objects near the bright solar disk
are discussed in terms of the level of non-object signatures, in particular, of
the stray light in telescopes. Calculated dependencies of the stray light
caused by diffraction at the 0.5-, 1.6-, and 4-meter entrance aperture are
presented. The requirements for micro-roughness of refractive and reflective
primary optics are compared. Several methods for reducing the stray light (the
Lyot coronagraphic technique, multiple stages of apodizing in the focal and
exit pupil planes, apodizing in the entrance aperture plane with a special
mask), and reducing the random and systematic errors are noted. An acceptable
level of stray light in telescopes is estimated for the V-profile recording
with a signal-to-noise ratio greater than three. Prospects for the limb
chromosphere magnetic measurements are indicated.


title:
Uncorrelated Volatile Behavior During the 2011 Apparition of Comet
  C/2009 P1 Garradd

abstract:
  The High Resolution Instrument Infrared Spectrometer (HRI-IR) onboard the
Deep Impact Flyby spacecraft detected H2O, CO2, and CO in the coma of the
dynamically young Oort cloud comet C/2009 P1 (Garradd) post-perihelion at a
heliocentric distance of 2 AU. Production rates were derived for the parent
volatiles, QH2O = 4.6e28, QCO2 = 3.9e27, and QCO = 2.9e28 molecules s-1, and
are consistent with the trends seen by other observers and within the error
bars of measurements acquired during a similar time period. When compiled with
other observations of the dominant volatiles of Garradd, unexpected behavior
was seen in the release of CO. The H2O outgassing of Garradd, increasing and
peaking pre-perihelion and then steadily decreasing, is more typical than that
of CO, which monotonically increased throughout the entire apparition. Due to
the temporal asymmetry in volatile release, Garradd exhibited the highest CO to
H2O abundance ratio ever observed for any comet inside the water snow line at
60 percent during the HRI-IR observations. Also, the HRI-IR made the only
direct measurement of CO2, giving a typical cometary abundance ratio of CO2 to
H2O of 8 percent but, with only one measurement, no sense of how it varied with
orbital position.


title: Beating the Minimax Rate of Active Learning with Prior Knowledge

abstract:
  Active learning refers to the learning protocol where the learner is allowed
to choose a subset of instances for labeling. Previous studies have shown that,
compared with passive learning, active learning is able to reduce the label
complexity exponentially if the data are linearly separable or satisfy the
Tsybakov noise condition with parameter $\kappa=1$. In this paper, we propose a
novel active learning algorithm using a convex surrogate loss, with the goal to
broaden the cases for which active learning achieves an exponential
improvement. We make use of a convex loss not only because it reduces the
computational cost, but more importantly because it leads to a tight bound for
the empirical process (i.e., the difference between the empirical estimation
and the expectation) when the current solution is close to the optimal one.
Under the assumption that the norm of the optimal classifier that minimizes the
convex risk is available, our analysis shows that the introduction of the
convex surrogate loss yields an exponential reduction in the label complexity
even when the parameter $\kappa$ of the Tsybakov noise is larger than $1$. To
the best of our knowledge, this is the first work that improves the minimax
rate of active learning by utilizing certain priori knowledge.


title: Mutation of torsion pairs in cluster categories of Dynkin type $D$

abstract:
  Mutation of torsion pairs in triangulated categories and its combinatorial
interpretation for the cluster category of Dynkin type $A_n$ and of type
$A_\infty$ have been studied by Zhou and Zhu. In this paper we present a
combinatorial model for mutation of torsion pairs in the cluster category of
Dynkin type $D_n$, using Ptolemy diagrams of Dynkin type $D_n$ which were
introduced by Holm, J{\o}rgensen and Rubey.


title: Probabilistic consensus via polling and majority rules

abstract:
  In this paper, we consider lightweight decentralised algorithms for achieving
consensus in distributed systems. Each member of a distributed group has a
private value from a fixed set consisting of, say, two elements, and the goal
is for all members to reach consensus on the majority value. We explore
variants of the voter model applied to this problem. In the voter model, each
node polls a randomly chosen group member and adopts its value. The process is
repeated until consensus is reached. We generalize this so that each member
polls a (deterministic or random) number of other group members and changes
opinion only if a suitably defined super-majority has a different opinion. We
show that this modification greatly speeds up the convergence of the algorithm,
as well as substantially reducing the probability of it reaching consensus on
the incorrect value.


title:
Excited-state spectroscopy of singly, doubly and triply-charmed baryons
  from lattice QCD

abstract:
  We present the ground and excited state spectra of singly, doubly and
triply-charmed baryons by using dynamical lattice QCD. A large set of baryonic
operators that respect the symmetries of the lattice and are obtained after
subduction from their continuum analogues are utilized. These operators
transform as irreducible representations of SU(3)$_F$ symmetry for flavour,
SU(4) symmetry for Dirac spins of quarks and O(3) symmetry for orbital angular
momenta. Using novel computational techniques correlation functions of these
operators are generated and the variational method is exploited to extract
excited states. The lattice spectra that we obtain have baryonic states with
well-defined total spins up to 7/2 and the low lying states remarkably resemble
the expectations of quantum numbers from SU(6)$\otimes$O(3) symmetry.


title: Counting Vertices in a Voter-type Model

abstract:
  The Neighborhood Attack model is a Voter type model, which takes a finite
graph, assigns 1's and -1's to its nodes (vertices), and then runs a Markov
chain on the graph by uniformly at random picking a node at every turn, and
then switching the values of the node and its neighbors to 1's or -1's
according to a (not necessarily fair) coin toss. We show, via a Stein's method
argument, that for certain (highly symmetric) families of graphs the number of
1's in the Neighbourhood Attack Voter-type model is asymptotically normally
distributed as the number of nodes tends to infinity.


title: Analysis of symmetries in models of multi-strain infections

abstract:
  In mathematical studies of the dynamics of multi-strain diseases caused by
antigenically diverse pathogens, there is a substantial interest in analytical
insights. Using the example of a generic model of multi-strain diseases with
cross-immunity between strains, we show that a significant understanding of the
stability of steady states and possible dynamical behaviours can be achieved
when the symmetry of interactions between strains is taken into account.
Techniques of equivariant bifurcation theory allow one to identify the type of
possible symmetry-breaking Hopf bifurcation, as well as to classify different
periodic solutions in terms of their spatial and temporal symmetries. The
approach is also illustrated on other models of multi-strain diseases, where
the same methodology provides a systematic understanding of bifurcation
scenarios and periodic behaviours. The results of the analysis are quite
generic, and have wider implications for understanding the dynamics of a large
class of models of multi-strain diseases.


title:
Uplink Performance of Large Optimum-Combining Antenna Arrays in
  Poisson-Cell Networks

abstract:
  The uplink of a wireless network with base stations distributed according to
a Poisson Point Process (PPP) is analyzed. The base stations are assumed to
have a large number of antennas and use linear minimum-mean-square-error (MMSE)
spatial processing for multiple access. The number of active mobiles per cell
is limited to permit channel estimation using pilot sequences that are
orthogonal in each cell. The cumulative distribution function (CDF) of a
randomly located link in a typical cell of such a system is derived when
accurate channel estimation is available. A simple bound is provided for the
spectral efficiency when channel estimates suffer from pilot contamination. The
results provide insight into the performance of so-called massive
Multiple-Input-Multiple-Output (MIMO) systems in spatially distributed cellular
networks.


title:
Impact of the frequency dependence of tidal Q on the evolution of
  planetary systems

abstract:
  Context. Tidal dissipation in planets and in stars is one of the key physical
mechanisms that drive the evolution of planetary systems.
  Aims. Tidal dissipation properties are intrisically linked to the internal
structure and the rheology of studied celestial bodies. The resulting
dependence of the dissipation upon the tidal frequency is strongly different in
the cases of solids and fluids.
  Methods. We compute the tidal evolution of a two-body coplanar system, using
the tidal quality factor's frequency-dependencies appropriate to rocks and to
convective fluids.
  Results. The ensuing orbital dynamics comes out smooth or strongly erratic,
dependent on how the tidal dissipation depends upon frequency.
  Conclusions. We demonstrate the strong impact of the internal structure and
of the rheology of the central body on the orbital evolution of the tidal
perturber. A smooth frequency-dependence of the tidal dissipation renders a
smooth orbital evolution while a peaked dissipation can furnish erratic orbital
behaviour.


title: Rapid Generation of Light Beams Carrying Orbital Angular Momentum

abstract:
  We report a technique for encoding both amplitude and phase variations onto a
laser beam using a single digital micro-mirror device (DMD). Using this
technique, we generate Laguerre-Gaussian and vortex orbital-angular-momentum
(OAM) modes, along with modes in a set that is mutually unbiased with respect
to the OAM basis. Additionally, we have demonstrated rapid switching among the
generated modes at a speed of 4 kHz, which is much faster than the speed
regularly achieved by spatial light modulators (SLMs). The dynamic control of
both phase and amplitude of a laser beam is an enabling technology for
classical communication and quantum key distribution (QKD) systems that employ
spatial mode encoding.


title:
Lattice solution model for order-disorder transitions in membranes and
  Langmuir monolayers

abstract:
  Lipid monolayers and bilayers have been used as experimental models for the
investigation of membrane thermal transitions. The main transition takes place
near ambient temperatures for several lipids and reflects the order-disorder
transition of lipid hydrocarbonic chains, which is accompanied by a small
density gap. Equivalence between the transitions in the two systems has been
argued by several authors. The two-state statistical model adopted by numerous
authors for different properties of the membrane, such as permeability,
diffusion, mixture or insertion of cholesterol or protein, is inadequate for
the description of charged membranes, since it lacks a proper description of
surface density. We propose a lattice solution model which adds interactions
with water molecules to lipid-lipid interactions and obtain its thermal
properties under a mean-field approach. Density variations, although
concomitant with chain order variations, are independent of the latter. The
model presents both chain order and gas-liquid transitions, and extends the
range of applicability of previous models, yielding Langmuir isotherms in the
full range of pressures and areas.

categories: physics.bio-ph cond-mat.soft cond-mat.stat-mech q-bio.BM


title: On errors of radio source position catalogs

abstract:
  In this paper, a new method of investigation of the external radio source
position catalogs RSPCs stochastic errors is presented. Using this method the
stochastic errors of nine recently published RSPCs were evaluated. It has been
shown that the result can be affected by the systematic differences between
catalogs if the latter are not accounted for. It was also found that the formal
uncertainties of the source position in the RSPCs correlate with the external
errors. We also investigated several topics related to the formal uncertainties
and systematic errors of RSPC.


title: Dynamics of condensation in the totally asymmetric inclusion process

abstract:
  We study the dynamics of condensation of the inclusion process on a
one-dimensional periodic lattice in the thermodynamic limit, generalising
recent results on finite lattices for symmetric dynamics. Our main focus is on
totally asymmetric dynamics which have not been studied before, and which we
also compare to exact solutions for symmetric systems. We identify all relevant
dynamical regimes and corresponding time scales as a function of the system
size, including a coarsening regime where clusters move on the lattice and
exchange particles, leading to a growing average cluster size. Suitable
observables exhibit a power law scaling in this regime before they saturate to
stationarity following an exponential decay depending on the system size. Our
results are based on heuristic derivations and exact computations for symmetric
systems, and are supported by detailed simulation data.


title: Front Velocity and Directed Polymers in Random Medium

abstract:
  We consider a stochastic model of N evolving particles studied by Brunet and
Derrida. This model can be seen as a directed polymer in random medium with N
sites in the transverse direction. Cook and Derrida, use heuristic arguments to
obtain a formula for the ground state energy of the polymer. In this paper, we
formalize their argument and show that there is an additional term in the
formula in the critical case. We also consider a generalization of the model,
and show that in the noncritical case the behavior is basically the same,
whereas in the critical case a new correction appears.


title:
Two regimes in conductivity and the Hall coefficient of underdoped
  cuprates in strong magnetic fields

abstract:
  We address recent experiments shedding light on the energy spectrum of under-
and optimally doped cuprates at temperatures above superconducting transition.
Angle resolved photoemission reveals coherent excitation only near nodal points
on parts of the "bare" Fermi surface known as the Fermi arcs. The question
debated in the literature is whether the small normal pocket, seen via quantum
oscillations exists at higher temperatures or forms below a charge order
transition in strong magnetic fields. Assuming the former case as possibility,
expressions derived for the resistivity and the Hall coefficient (in weak and
strong magnetic fields) with both types of carriers participating in transport.
There are two regimes. At higher temperatures (at a fixed field) electrons are
dragged by the Fermi arcs' holes. The pocket being small its contribution into
conductivity and the Hall coefficient is negligible. At lower temperatures
electrons decouple from holes behaving as a Fermi gas in the magnetic field.
Mobility of holes on the arcs decreasing in strong fields with decrease of
temperature, below a crossover point the pocket electrons prevail changing sign
of the Hall coefficient in the low temperature limit. Such behavior finds its
confirmation in recent high-field experiments.


title: Deformed self-dual magnetic monopoles

abstract:
  We develop a deformation method for attaining new magnetic monopole
analytical solutions consistent with generalized Yang-Mills-Higgs model
introduced recently. The new solutions fulfill the usual radially symmetric
ansatz and the boundary conditions suitable to assure finite energy
configurations. We verify our prescription by studying some particular cases
involving both exactly and partially analytical initial configurations whose
deformation leads to new analytic BPS monopoles. The results show consistency
among the models, the deformation procedure and the profile of the new
solutions.


title: Routing Diverse Evacuees with Cognitive Packets

abstract:
  This paper explores the idea of smart building evacuation when evacuees can
belong to different categories with respect to their ability to move and their
health conditions. This leads to new algorithms that use the Cognitive Packet
Network concept to tailor different quality of service needs to different
evacuees. These ideas are implemented in a simulated environment and evaluated
with regard to their effectiveness.


title: Orthogonal polynomials of equilibrium measures supported on Cantor sets

abstract:
  We study the orthogonal polynomials associated with the equilibrium measure,
in logarithmic potential theory, living on the attractor of an Iterated
Function System. We construct sequences of discrete measures, that converge
weakly to the equilibrium measure, and we compute their Jacobi matrices via
standard procedures, suitably enhanced for the scope. Numerical estimates of
the convergence rate to the limit Jacobi matrix are provided, that show
stability and efficiency of the whole procedure. As a secondary result, we also
compute Jacobi matrices of equilibrium measures on finite sets of intervals,
and of balanced measures of Iterated Function Systems.
  These algorithms can reach large orders: we study the asymptotic behavior of
the orthogonal polynomials and we show that they can be used to efficiently
compute Green's functions and conformal mappings of interest in constructive
function theory.

categories: math.NA math-ph math.CV math.MP quant-ph


title:
An upper limit on the cosmic-ray luminosity of individual sources from
  gamma-ray observations

abstract:
  Different types of extragalactic objects are known to produce TeV gamma-rays.
Some of these objects are the most probable candidates to accelerate cosmic
rays up to 10^20 eV. It is very well known that gamma-rays can be produced as a
result of the cosmic ray propagation through the intergalactic medium. These
gamma-rays contribute to the total flux observed in the direction of the
source. In this paper we propose a new method to derive an upper limit on the
cosmic-ray luminosity of an individual source based on the measured upper limit
on the integral flux of GeV-TeV gamma-rays. We show how it is possible to
calculate an upper limit on the cosmic-ray luminosity of a particular source
and we explore the parameter space in which the current GeV-TeV gamma-ray
measurements can offer a useful determination. We study in detail two
particular sources, Pictor A and NGC 7469, and we calculate the upper limit on
the proton luminosity of each source based on the upper limit on the integral
gamma-ray flux measured by the H.E.S.S. telescopes.


title:
On the Complexity of Random Satisfiability Problems with Planted
  Solutions

abstract:
  The problem of identifying a planted assignment given a random $k$-SAT
formula consistent with the assignment exhibits a large algorithmic gap: while
the planted solution becomes unique and can be identified given a formula with
$O(n\log n)$ clauses, there are distributions over clauses for which the best
known efficient algorithms require $n^{k/2}$ clauses. We propose and study a
unified model for planted $k$-SAT, which captures well-known special cases. An
instance is described by a planted assignment $\sigma$ and a distribution on
clauses with $k$ literals. We define its distribution complexity as the largest
$r$ for which the distribution is not $r$-wise independent ($1 \le r \le k$ for
any distribution with a planted assignment).
  Our main result is an unconditional lower bound, tight up to logarithmic
factors, for statistical (query) algorithms [Kearns 1998, Feldman et. al 2012],
matching known upper bounds, which, as we show, can be implemented using a
statistical algorithm. Since known approaches for problems over distributions
have statistical analogues (spectral, MCMC, gradient-based, convex optimization
etc.), this lower bound provides a rigorous explanation of the observed
algorithmic gap. The proof introduces a new general technique for the analysis
of statistical query algorithms. It also points to a geometric paring
phenomenon in the space of all planted assignments.
  We describe consequences of our lower bounds to Feige's refutation hypothesis
[Feige 2002] and to lower bounds on general convex programs that solve planted
$k$-SAT. Our bounds also extend to other planted $k$-CSP models, and, in
particular, provide concrete evidence for the security of Goldreich's one-way
function and the associated pseudorandom generator when used with a
sufficiently hard predicate [Goldreich 2000].


title:
Amplification of the Net Reproductive Number by Dispersion for a Matrix
  Population Model Applicable to the Invasive Round Goby Fish

abstract:
  Matrix population models have proved popular and useful for studying
stage-structured populations in quantitative ecology. The goal of this paper is
to develop and analyze a general matrix population model that is applicable to
the population dynamics of the invasive round goby fish that incorporates both
stage structure---larvae, juveniles, and adults---and dispersion. Specifically,
we address the issue of whether or not dispersion can amplify the net
reproductive number. To this end, we will first review the mathematics of
matrix population models with dispersion, particularly those with an Usher
demography matrix. Techniques for computing the net reproductive number, like
the graph reduction method of de-Camino-Beck and Lewis, will be discussed. A
common theme will be the usefulness of submatrices of relevant matrices
obtained by the expunging of rows and columns corresponding to non-newborns.
Finally, examples will be provided, including the calculation of the net
reproductive number for multiple regions using the graph reduction method of
de-Camino-Beck and Lewis, examples where dispersion results in a total
population flourishing when the populations would otherwise go extinct, and an
application to the invasive round goby fish.


title:
Studies of beauty baryon decays to $D^0 p h^-$ and $\Lambda_c^+ h^-$
  final states

abstract:
  Decays of beauty baryons to the $D^0 p h^-$ and $\Lambda_c^+ h^-$ final
states (where $h$ indicates a pion or a kaon) are studied using a data sample
of $pp$ collisions, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.0 fb$^{-1}$,
collected by the LHCb detector. The Cabibbo-suppressed decays $\Lambda_b^0\to
D^0 p K^-$ and $\Lambda_b^0\to \Lambda_c^+ K^-$ are observed and their
branching fractions are measured with respect to the decays $\Lambda_b^0\to D^0
p \pi^-$ and $\Lambda_b^0\to \Lambda_c^+ \pi^-$. In addition, the first
observation is reported of the decay of the neutral beauty-strange baryon
$\Xi_b^0$ to the $D^0 p K^-$ final state, and a measurement of the $\Xi_b^0$
mass is performed. Evidence of the $\Xi_b^0\to \Lambda_c^+ K^-$ decay is also
reported.


title: Self-assembly of Chiral Tubules

abstract:
  The efficient and controlled assembly of complex structures from
macromolecular building blocks is a critical open question in both biological
systems and nanoscience. Using molecular dynamics simulations we study the
self-assembly of tubular structures from model macromolecular monomers with
multiple binding sites on their surfaces [Cheng et al., Soft Matter 8,
5666-5678 (2012)]. In this work we add chirality to the model monomer and a
lock-and-key interaction. The self-assembly of free monomers into tubules
yields a pitch value that often does not match the chirality of the monomer
(including achiral monomers). We show that this mismatch occurs because of a
twist deformation that brings the lateral interaction sites into alignment when
the tubule pitch differs from the monomer chirality. The energy cost for this
deformation is small as the energy distributions substantially overlap for
small differences in the pitch and chirality. In order to control the tubule
pitch by preventing the twist deformation, the interaction between the vertical
surfaces must be increased without resulting in kinetically trapped structures.
For this purpose, we employ the lock-and-key interactions and obtain good
control of the self-assembled tubule pitch. These results explain some
fundamental features of microtubules. The vertical interaction strength is
larger than the lateral in microtubules because this yields a controlled
assembly of tubules with the proper pitch. We also generally find that the
control of the assembly into tubules is difficult, which explains the wide
range of pitch and protofilament number observed in microtubule assembly.


title: Gaussian Process Optimization with Mutual Information

abstract:
  In this paper, we analyze a generic algorithm scheme for sequential global
optimization using Gaussian processes. The upper bounds we derive on the
cumulative regret for this generic algorithm improve by an exponential factor
the previously known bounds for algorithms like GP-UCB. We also introduce the
novel Gaussian Process Mutual Information algorithm (GP-MI), which
significantly improves further these upper bounds for the cumulative regret. We
confirm the efficiency of this algorithm on synthetic and real tasks against
the natural competitor, GP-UCB, and also the Expected Improvement heuristic.


title:
Comparing Tensor Renormalization Group and Monte Carlo calculations for
  spin and gauge models

abstract:
  We show that the Tensor Renormalization Group (TRG) method can be applied to
O(N) spin models, principal chiral models and pure gauge theories (Z2, U(1) and
SU(2)) on (hyper) cubic lattices. We explain that contrarily to some common
belief, it is very difficult to write compact formulas expressing the
blockspinning of lattice models. We show that in contrast to other approaches,
the TRG formulation allows us to write exact blocking formulas with numerically
controllable truncations. The basic reason is that the TRG blocking separates
neatly the degrees of freedom inside the block and which are integrated over,
from those kept to communicate with the neighboring blocks. We argue that the
TRG is a method that can handle large volumes, which is crucial to approach
quasi-conformal systems. The method can also get rid of some sign problems. We
discuss recent results regarding the critical properties of the 2D O(2)
nonlinear sigma model with complex beta and chemical potential. As some of
these results appeared in a recently published paper (PRD 88, 056005) and two
recent preprints (arXiv:1309.4963 and arXiv:1309.6623), these proceedings
rather emphasize the conceptual aspects of our ongoing effort.


title:
Effects of dead time and after-pulses in photon detector on measured
  statistics of stochastic radiation

abstract:
  Many physical experiments require analysis of the statistics of fluctuating
radiation. In the case of an ideal single-photon detector, the contribution of
photon noise to the statistics of the registered signal has been thoroughly
examined. However, practical photon counters have a dead time, leading to
miscounting of certain true events, and sometimes the counters generate false
after-pulses.
  This study investigate the impact of these two effects, and it presents the
theoretical relations between the statistical moments of the radiation and the
registered counts while also accounting for dead time and the probability of
after-pulses. Expressions for statistical moments of any order are obtained on
the basis of the generalized Poisson distribution (GPD). For counters with
paralyzable dead time, alternative relations for the mean and variance are
derived using generally accepted formulas.
  As an example, the measurements of stellar scintillation and the result of
simple experiment are considered. The results of the experimental verification
of the theoretical expression confirm the need to account for the non-ideal
nature of detectors in almost all similar measurements.


title: Second Harmonic Generation in Gapped Graphene

abstract:
  The second-order nonlinear optical susceptibility $\Pi^{(2)}$ for second
harmonic generation is calculated for gapped graphene. The linear and
second-order nonlinear plasmon excitations are investigated in context of
second harmonic generation (SHG). We report a red shift and an order of
magnitude enhancement of the SHG resonance with growing gap, or alternatively,
reduced electro-chemical potential.


title:
Deterministic transfer of two-dimensional materials by all-dry
  viscoelastic stamping

abstract:
  Deterministic transfer of two-dimensional crystals constitutes a crucial step
towards the fabrication of heterostructures based on artificial stacking of
two-dimensional materials. Moreover, control on the positioning of
two-dimensional crystals facilitates their integration in complex devices,
which enables the exploration of novel applications and the discovery of new
phenomena in these materials. Up to date, deterministic transfer methods rely
on the use of sacrificial polymer layers and wet chemistry to some extent.
Here, we develop an all-dry transfer method that relies on viscoelastic stamps
and does not employ any wet chemistry step. This is found very advantageous to
freely suspend these materials as there are no capillary forces involved in the
process. Moreover, the whole fabrication process is quick, efficient, clean,
and it can be performed with high yield.


title: Spectral Efficiency of Random Time-Hopping CDMA

abstract:
  Traditionally paired with impulsive communications, Time-Hopping CDMA
(TH-CDMA) is a multiple access technique that separates users in time by coding
their transmissions into pulses occupying a subset of $N_\mathsf{s}$ chips out
of the total $N$ included in a symbol period, in contrast with traditional
Direct-Sequence CDMA (DS-CDMA) where $N_\mathsf{s}=N$. This work analyzes
TH-CDMA with random spreading, by determining whether peculiar theoretical
limits are identifiable, with both optimal and sub-optimal receiver structures,
in particular in the archetypal case of sparse spreading, that is,
$N_\mathsf{s}=1$. Results indicate that TH-CDMA has a fundamentally different
behavior than DS-CDMA, where the crucial role played by energy concentration,
typical of time-hopping, directly relates with its intrinsic "uneven" use of
degrees of freedom.


title:
Dynamical evolution and spin-orbit resonances of potentially habitable
  exoplanets. The case of GJ 667C

abstract:
  We investigate the dynamical evolution of the potentially habitable
super-earth GJ 667Cc in the multiple system of at least two exoplanets orbiting
a nearby M dwarf, paying special attention to its spin-orbital state. The
published radial velocities for this star are re-analyzed and evidence is found
for additional periodic signals, which could be taken for two additional
planets on eccentric orbits. Such systems are not dynamically viable and break
up quickly in numerical integrations. Limiting the scope to the two originally
detected planets, we assess the dynamical stability of the system and find no
evidence for bounded chaos in the orbital motion. The orbital eccentricity of
the planets b and c is found to change cyclicly in the range 0.06 - 0.28 and
0.05 - 0.25, respectively, with a period of approximately 0.46 yr. Taking the
eccentricity variation into account, numerical integrations are performed of
the differential equations modeling the spin-orbit interaction of the planet GJ
667Cc with its host star assuming a terrestrial composition of its mantle.
Depending on the interior temperature of the planet, it is likely to be
entrapped in the 3:2 (probability 0.51) or even higher spin-orbit resonance. It
is less likely to reach the 1:1 resonance (probability 0.24). The estimated
characteristic spin-down times are quite short for the two planets, i.e.,
within 1 Myr for planet c and even shorter for planet b. Both planet arrived at
their current and, most likely, ultimate spin-orbit states a long time ago. The
rate of tidal dissipation of energy is formidably high in the planets of GJ
667, estimated at $10^{23.7}$ and $10^{26.7}$ J yr$^{-1}$ for c and b,
respectively. This raises a question of how such relatively massive, close
super-Earths could survive overheating and destruction.


title:
Imaging the circumstellar environment of the young T Tauri star SU
  Aurigae

abstract:
  The circumstellar environments of classical T Tauri stars are challenging to
directly image because of their high star-to-disk contrast ratio. One method to
overcome this is by using imaging polarimetry where scattered and consequently
polarised starlight from the star's circumstellar disk can be separated from
the unpolarised light of the central star. We present images of the
circumstellar environment of SU Aur, a classical T Tauri star at the transition
of T Tauri to Herbig stars. The images directly show that the disk extends out
to ~500 au with an inclination angle of $\sim$ 50$^\circ$. Using interpretive
models, we derived very small grains in the surface layers of its disk, with a
very steep size- and surface-density distribution. Additionally, we resolved a
large and extended nebulosity in our images that is most likely a remnant of
the prenatal molecular cloud. The position angle of the disk, determined
directly from our images, rules out a polar outflow or jet as the cause of this
large-scale nebulosity.


title:
Domain Adaptation of Majority Votes via Perturbed Variation-based Label
  Transfer

abstract:
  We tackle the PAC-Bayesian Domain Adaptation (DA) problem. This arrives when
one desires to learn, from a source distribution, a good weighted majority vote
(over a set of classifiers) on a different target distribution. In this
context, the disagreement between classifiers is known crucial to control. In
non-DA supervised setting, a theoretical bound - the C-bound - involves this
disagreement and leads to a majority vote learning algorithm: MinCq. In this
work, we extend MinCq to DA by taking advantage of an elegant divergence
between distribution called the Perturbed Varation (PV). Firstly, justified by
a new formulation of the C-bound, we provide to MinCq a target sample labeled
thanks to a PV-based self-labeling focused on regions where the source and
target marginal distributions are closer. Secondly, we propose an original
process for tuning the hyperparameters. Our framework shows very promising
results on a toy problem.


title:
Compressive Measurements Generated by Structurally Random Matrices:
  Asymptotic Normality and Quantization

abstract:
  Structurally random matrices (SRMs) are a practical alternative to fully
random matrices (FRMs) when generating compressive sensing measurements because
of their computational efficiency and their universality with respect to the
sparsifing basis. In this work we derive the statistical distribution of
compressive measurements generated by various types of SRMs, as a function of
the signal properties. We show that under a wide range of conditions, that
distribution is a mixture of asymptotically multi-variate normal components. We
point out the implications for quantization and coding of the measurements and
discuss design consideration for measurements transmission systems. Simulations
on real-world video signals confirm the theoretical findings and show that the
signal randomization of SRMs yields a dramatic improvement in quantization
properties.


title: Novel Physics With Tensor Polarized Targets

abstract:
  The Jefferson Lab PAC recently approved an experiment which will use an
enhanced tensor po- larized solid target. This exciting development holds the
potential of initiating a new field of tensor spin physics at JLab. Experiments
which utilize tensor polarized targets can help clarify how nuclear properties
arise from partonic degrees of freedom, provide unique insight into short range
correlations and quark angular momentum, and help pin down the polarization of
the quark sea.


title: Dirichlet convolution and enumeration of pyramid polycubes

abstract:
  We investigate the enumeration of two families of polycubes, namely pyramids
and espaliers, in connection with the multi-indexed Dirichlet convolution


title:
Locating Two Transfer Points on a Network with a Trip Covering Criterion
  and Mixed Distances

abstract:
  In this paper we consider a set of origin-destination pairs in a mixed model
in which a network embedded in the plane represents an alternative high-speed
transportation system, and study a trip covering problem which consists on
locating two points in the network which maximize the number of covered pairs,
that is, the number of pairs which use the network by acceding and exiting
through such points.


title:
Investigating Active Galactic Nuclei Variability Using Combined
  Multi-Quarter Kepler Data

abstract:
  We have used photometry from the Kepler satellite to characterize the
variability of four radio-loud active galactic nuclei (AGN) on timescales from
years to minutes. The Kepler satellite produced nearly continuous high
precision data sets which provided better temporal coverage than possible with
ground based observations. We have now accumulated eleven quarters of data,
eight of which were reported in our previous paper. In addition to constructing
power spectral densities (PSDs) and characterizing the variability of the last
three quarters, we have linked together the individual quarters using a
multiplicative scaling process, providing data sets spanning ~2.8 years with
>98% coverage at a 30 minute sampling rate. We compute PSDs on these connected
data sets that yield power law slopes at low frequencies in the approximate
range of -1.5 to -2.0, with white noise seen at higher frequencies. These PSDs
are similar to those of both the individual quarters and to those of ground
based optical observations of other AGN. We also have explored a PSD binning
method intended to reduce a bias toward shallow slope fits by evenly
distributing the points within the PSDs. This tends to steepen the computed PSD
slopes, especially when the low frequencies are relatively poorly fit. We
detected flares lasting several days in which the brightness increased by
~15-20% in one object, as well a smaller flare in another. Two AGN showed only
small, ~1-2%, fluctuations in brightness.


title: Ferromagnetic Potts Model: Refined #BIS-hardness and Related Results

abstract:
  Recent results establish for 2-spin antiferromagnetic systems that the
computational complexity of approximating the partition function on graphs of
maximum degree D undergoes a phase transition that coincides with the
uniqueness phase transition on the infinite D-regular tree. For the
ferromagnetic Potts model we investigate whether analogous hardness results
hold. Goldberg and Jerrum showed that approximating the partition function of
the ferromagnetic Potts model is at least as hard as approximating the number
of independent sets in bipartite graphs (#BIS-hardness). We improve this
hardness result by establishing it for bipartite graphs of maximum degree D. We
first present a detailed picture for the phase diagram for the infinite
D-regular tree, giving a refined picture of its first-order phase transition
and establishing the critical temperature for the coexistence of the disordered
and ordered phases. We then prove for all temperatures below this critical
temperature that it is #BIS-hard to approximate the partition function on
bipartite graphs of maximum degree D. As a corollary, it is #BIS-hard to
approximate the number of k-colorings on bipartite graphs of maximum degree D
when k <= D/(2 ln D).
  The #BIS-hardness result for the ferromagnetic Potts model uses random
bipartite regular graphs as a gadget in the reduction. The analysis of these
random graphs relies on recent connections between the maxima of the
expectation of their partition function, attractive fixpoints of the associated
tree recursions, and induced matrix norms. We extend these connections to
random regular graphs for all ferromagnetic models and establish the Bethe
prediction for every ferromagnetic spin system on random regular graphs. We
also prove for the ferromagnetic Potts model that the Swendsen-Wang algorithm
is torpidly mixing on random D-regular graphs at the critical temperature for
large q.


title:
Semi-analytical description of the modulator section of the coherent
  electron cooling

abstract:
  In the coherent electron cooling, the modern hadron beam cooling technique,
each hadron receives an individual kick from the electric field of the
amplified electron density perturbation created in the modulator by this hadron
in a co-propagating electron beam. We developed a method for computing the
dynamics of these density perturbations in an infinite electron plasma with any
equilibrium velocity distribution -- a possible model for the modulator. We
derived analytical expressions for the dynamics of the density perturbations in
the Fourier-Laplace domain for a variety of 1D, 2D, and 3D equilibrium
distributions of the electron beam. To obtain the space-time dynamics, we
employed the fast Fourier transform (FFT) algorithm. We also found an
analytical solution in the space-time domain for the 1D Cauchy equilibrium
distribution, which serves as a benchmark for our general approach based on
numerical evaluation of the integral transforms and as a fast alternative to
the numerical computations. We tested the method for various distributions and
initial conditions.


title: On the cohomology of tori over local fields with perfect residue field

abstract:
  If T is an algebraic torus defined over a discretely valued field K with
perfect residue field k, we relate the K-cohomology of T to the k-cohomology of
certain objects associated to T. When k has cohomological dimension <= 1, our
results have a particularly simple form and yield, more generally, isomorphisms
between the abelian K-cohomology of a reductive group G over K and the
k-cohomology of a certain quotient of the algebraic fundamental group of G.


title: Hints of 5d Fixed Point Theories from Non-Abelian T-duality

abstract:
  In this paper we investigate the properties of the putative 5d fixed point
theory that should be dual, through the holographic correspondence, to the new
supersymmetric AdS(6) solution constructed in Lozano et al. This solution is
the result of a non-Abelian T-duality transformation on the known
supersymmetric AdS(6) solution of massive Type IIA. The analysis of the charge
quantization conditions seems to put constraints on the global properties of
the background, which, combined with the information extracted from considering
probe branes, suggests a 2-node quiver candidate for the dual CFT.


title:
Joint analysis of functional genomic data and genome-wide association
  studies of 18 human traits

abstract:
  Annotations of gene structures and regulatory elements can inform genome-wide
association studies (GWAS). However, choosing the relevant annotations for
interpreting an association study of a given trait remains challenging. We
describe a statistical model that uses association statistics computed across
the genome to identify classes of genomic element that are enriched or depleted
for loci that influence a trait. The model naturally incorporates multiple
types of annotations. We applied the model to GWAS of 18 human traits,
including red blood cell traits, platelet traits, glucose levels, lipid levels,
height, BMI, and Crohn's disease. For each trait, we evaluated the relevance of
450 different genomic annotations, including protein-coding genes, enhancers,
and DNase-I hypersensitive sites in over a hundred tissues and cell lines. We
show that the fraction of phenotype-associated SNPs that influence protein
sequence ranges from around 2% (for platelet volume) up to around 20% (for LDL
cholesterol); that repressed chromatin is significantly depleted for SNPs
associated with several traits; and that cell type-specific DNase-I
hypersensitive sites are enriched for SNPs associated with several traits (for
example, the spleen in platelet volume). Finally, by re-weighting each GWAS
using information from functional genomics, we increase the number of loci with
high-confidence associations by around 5%.


title:
$\mathbb{Q}$-Gorenstein smoothings of surfaces and degenerations of
  curves

abstract:
  In this paper we mainly describe $\mathbb{Q}$-Gorenstein smoothings of
projective surfaces with only Wahl singularities which have birational fibers.
For instance, these degenerations appear in normal degenerations of the
projective plane, and in boundary divisors of the KSBA compactification of the
moduli space of surfaces of general type [KSB88]. We give an explicit
description of them as smooth deformations plus 3-fold birational operations,
through the flips and divisorial contractions in [HTU13]. We interpret the
continuous part (smooth deformations) as degenerations of certain curves in the
general fiber. At the end, we work out examples happening in the KSBA boundary
for invariants $K^2=1$, $p_g=0$, and $\pi_1=0$ using plane curves.


title: Families of Calabi-Yau manifolds and canonical singularities

abstract:
  Given a polarized family of varieties over the unit disc, smooth except over
the origin and with smooth fibers Calabi-Yau, we show that the origin lies at
finite Weil-Petersson distance if and only if after a finite base change the
family is birational to one with central fiber a Calabi-Yau variety with at
worst canonical singularities, answering a question of C.-L. Wang. This
condition also implies that the Ricci-flat Kahler metrics in the polarization
class on the smooth fibers have uniformly bounded diameter, or are uniformly
volume non-collapsed.


title: The Galactic centre pulsar population

abstract:
  The recent discovery of a magnetar in the Galactic centre region has allowed
Spitler et al. to characterize the interstellar scattering in that direction.
They find that the temporal broadening of the pulse profile of the magnetar is
substantially less than that predicted by models of the electron density of
that region. This raises the question of what the plausible limits for the
number of potentially observable pulsars - i.e., the number of pulsars beaming
towards the Earth - in the Galactic centre are. In this paper, using reasonable
assumptions - namely, (i) the luminosity function of pulsars in the Galactic
centre region is the same as that in the field, (ii) the region has had a
constant pulsar formation rate, (iii) the spin and luminosity evolution of
magnetars and pulsars are similar, and (iv) the scattering in the direction of
the Galactic centre magnetar is representative of the entire inner parsec - we
show that the potentially observable population of pulsars in the inner parsec
has a conservative upper limit of $\sim$ 200, and that it is premature to
conclude that the number of pulsars in this region is small. We also show that
the observational results so far are consistent with this number and make
predictions for future radio pulsar surveys of the Galactic centre.


title:
Pattern Formation and Strong Nonlinear Interactions in Exciton-Polariton
  Condensates

abstract:
  Exciton-polaritons generated by light-induced potentials can spontaneously
condense into macroscopic quantum states that display nontrivial spatial and
temporal density modulation. While these patterns and their dynamics can be
reproduced through the solution of the generalized Gross-Pitaevskii equation, a
predictive theory of their thresholds, oscillation frequencies, and
multi-pattern interactions has so far been lacking. Here we represent such an
approach based on the linear non-Hermitian modes of the complex-valued
light-induced potential. We provide a simple analytic expression for the lowest
thresholds that is able to explain the modal patterns observed in recent
experiments for various pump geometries. We also show that the evolution of the
condensate with increasing pump strength is strongly geometry dependent and can
display contrasting features such as enhancement or reduction of the spatial
localization of the condensate.


title: Relativistic, model-independent, three-particle quantization condition

abstract:
  This is a combined write-up for two talks which were given consecutively and
which described different aspects of the same topic. We present a
generalization of L\"uscher's relation between the finite-volume spectrum and
S-matrix to three particles. Specifically, we consider a scalar field theory,
which has a $\mathbb{Z}_2$ symmetry that prevents even/odd coupling. The theory
is assumed to have no two-particle bound states and to have two-particle phase
shifts that are bounded by $\pi/2$ in the regime of elastic scattering.
Considering center of mass energies between one and five particle masses, we
evaluate a three-to-three finite-volume correlator to all orders in
perturbation theory. Only terms which are exponentially suppressed in volume
are neglected. From poles in the correlator we then determine the relation
between finite-volume spectrum and scattering quantities. In this analysis one
must carefully treat the unitary cusp at two-particle threshold. This point,
which was neglected in the conference talks, is described in some detail here.
We also describe an important check on our main result by reproducing the large
volume expansion of the energy shift from the three-particle threshold. This is
found to be consistent with previous work through four non-trivial orders.


title:
Finite-frequency thermoelectric response in strongly correlated quantum
  dots

abstract:
  We investigate the finite-frequency thermal transport through a quantum dot
subject to strong interactions, by providing an exact, nonperturbative
formalism that allows us to carry out a systematic analysis of the thermopower
at any frequency. Special emphasis is put on the dc and high-frequency limits.
We demonstrate that, in the Kondo regime, the ac thermopower is characterized
by a universal function that we determine numerically.


title:
A distribution weighting a set of laws whose initial states are grouped
  into classes

abstract:
  Let $I$ be a finite alphabet and $\aS\subset I$ be a nonempty strict subset.
The sequences in $I^\ZZ$ are organized into connected regions which always
start with a symbol in $\aS$. The regions are labelled by types $C(s)$, thus a
region starting at $s'\in C(s)$ has the same type as one starting at $s$. Let
$(\aP_s: s\in \aS)$ be a family of distributions on $I^\NN$ where each $\aP_s$
charges sequences starting with the symbol $s$. We can define a natural
distribution $\PP$ on $I^\NN$, that counts the number of visits to the states
from $\aP_s$, properly weighted. A dynamics of interest is such that at the
first occurrence of $s'\in \aS\setminus C(s)$ the law regenerates with
distribution $\aP_{s'}$. In this case we are able to find simple conditions for
$\PP$ to be stationary. In addition, we study the following more complex model:
once a symbol $s'\in \aS\setminus C(s)$ has been encountered, there is a
decision to be made, either a new region of type $C(s')$ governed by $\aP_{s'}$
starts or the region continues to be a $C(s)$ region. This decision is modeled
as random and depends on $s'$. In this setting a similar distribution to $\PP$
can be constructed and the conditions for stationarity are supplied. These
models are inspired by genomic sequences where $I$ is the set of codons, the
classes $(C(s): s\in \aS)$ group codons defining similar genomic classes, e.g.
in bacteria there are two classes corresponding to the start and stop codons,
and the random decision to continue a region or to begin a new region of a
different class reflects the well-known fact that not every appearance of a
start codon marks the beginning of a new coding region.


title: Oscillations in a neurite growth model with extracellular feedback

abstract:
  We take into account the influence of extracellular signalling on neurite
elongation in a model of neurite growth mediated by building proteins (e.g.
tubulin). Tubulin production dynamics was supplied by a function describing the
influence of the extracellular signalling that can promote or depress the
elongation. We found that such extracellular feedback can generate neurite
length oscillations with periodic sequence of elongations and retractions. The
oscillations prevent further outgrowth of the neurite which becomes trapped in
the non-uniform extracellular field. We analyzed the characteristics of the
elongation process for different distributions of attracting and repelling
sources of the extracellular signal molecules. The model predicts three
different scenarios of the neurite development in the extracellular field
including monotonic and oscillatory outgrowth, localized limit cycle
oscillations and complete depression of the growth.


title: On the construction of tree decompositions of hypercubes

abstract:
  There are different concepts regarding to tree decomposition of a graph $G$.
For the Hypercube $Q_n$, these concepts have been shown to have many
applications. But some diverse papers on this subject make it difficult to
follow what is precisely known. In this note first we will mention some known
results on the tree decomposition of hypercubes and then introduce new explicit
constructions for the previously known and unknown cases.


title: The primordial explosion of a false white hole from a 5D vacuum

abstract:
  We explore the cosmological consequences of some possible big bang produced
by a black-hole with mass $M$ in an 5D extended SdS. Under these particular
circumstances, the effective 4D metric obtained by the use of a constant
foliation on the extra coordinate is comported as a false white-hole (FWH),
which evaporates for all unstable modes that have wavelengths bigger than the
size of the FWH. Outside the white hole the repulsive gravitational field can
be considered as weak, so that the dynamics for fluctuations of the inflaton
field and the scalar perturbations of the metric can be linearized.


title: Computing the Coverage of an Opaque Forest

abstract:
  We consider the problem of taking an opaque forest and determining the
regions that are covered by it. We provide a tight upper bound on the
complexity of this problem, and an algorithm for computing this area, which is
worst-case optimal.


title: Quasi-Whittaker modules for the Schr\"odinger algebra

abstract:
  In this paper, we construct a new class of modules for the Schr\"{o}dinger
algebra $\mS$, called quasi-Whittaker module. Different from \cite{[ZC]}, the
quasi-Whittaker module is not induced by the Borel subalgebra of the
Schr\"{o}dinger algebra related with the triangular decomposition, but its
Heisenberg subalgebra $\mH$. We prove that, for a simple $\mS$-module $V$, $V$
is a quasi-Whittaker module if and only if $V$ is a locally finite
$\mH$-module; Furthermore, we classify the simple quasi-Whittaker modules by
the elements with the action similar to the center elements in $U(\mS)$ and
their quasi-Whittaker vectors. Finally, we characterize arbitrary
quasi-Whittaker modules.


title:
Strong maximum principle for Schr\"odinger operators with singular
  potential

abstract:
  We prove that for every $p > 1$ and for every potential $V \in L^p$, any
nonnegative function satisfying $-\Delta u + V u \ge 0$ in an open connected
set of $\mathbb{R}^N$ is either identically zero or its level set $\{u = 0\}$
has zero $W^{2, p}$ capacity. This gives an affirmative answer to an open
problem of B\'enilan and Brezis concerning a bridge between
Serrin-Stampacchia's strong maximum principle for $p > \frac{N}{2}$ and
Ancona's strong maximum principle for $p = 1$. The proof is based on the
construction of suitable test functions depending on the level set $\{u = 0\}$
and on the existence of solutions of the Dirichlet problem for the
Schr\"odinger operator with diffuse measure data.


title:
Quasispecies dynamics on a network of interacting genotypes and
  idiotypes: Formulation of the model

abstract:
  A quasispecies is the stationary state of a set of interrelated genotypes
that evolve according to the usual principles of selection and mutation.
Quasispecies studies have invariably concentrated on the possibility of errors
during genotype replication and their role in promoting either the survival or
the demise of the quasispecies. In a previous work [V. C. Barbosa, R.
Donangelo, and S. R. Souza, J. Theor. Biol. 312, 114 (2012)], we introduced a
network model of quasispecies dynamics, based on a single probability parameter
($p$) and capable of addressing several plausibility issues of previous models.
Here we extend that model by pairing its network with another one aimed at
modeling the dynamics of the immune system when confronted with the
quasispecies. The new network is based on the idiotypic-network model of
immunity and, together with the previous one, constitutes a network model of
interacting genotypes and idiotypes. The resulting model requires further
parameters and as a consequence leads to a vast phase space. We have focused on
a particular niche in which it is possible to observe the trade-offs involved
in the quasispecies' survival or destruction. Within this niche, we give
simulation results that highlight some key preconditions for quasispecies
survival. These include a minimum initial abundance of genotypes relative to
that of the idiotypes and a minimum value of $p$. The latter, in particular, is
to be contrasted with the stand-alone quasispecies network of our previous
work, in which arbitrarily low values of $p$ constitute a guarantee of
quasispecies survival.


title:
Lattice study of the leptonic decay constant of the pion and its
  excitations

abstract:
  We present a calculation of the decay constant of the pion, and its
lowest-lying three excitations, at three values of the pion mass between around
400 and 700 MeV, using anisotropic clover lattices. We use the variational
method to determine an optimal interpolating operator for each of the states.
We find that the decay constant of the first excitation, and more notably of
the second, is suppressed with respect to that of the ground-state pion, but
that the suppression shows little dependence on the quark mass.