title:
The molecular yo-yo method: Live jump detection improves throughput of
  single-molecule force spectroscopy for out-of-equilibrium transitions

abstract:
  By monitoring multiple molecular transitions, force-clamp and
trap-position-clamp methods have led to precise determinations of the free
energies and free energy landscapes for molecular states populated in
equilibrium at the same or similar forces. Here, we present a powerful new
elaboration of the force-clamp and force-jump methods, applicable to
transitions far from equilibrium. Specifically, we have implemented a live jump
detection and force-clamp algorithm that intelligently adjusts and maintains
the force on a single molecule in response to the measured state of that
molecule. We are able to collect hundreds of individual molecular transitions
at different forces, many times faster than previously, permitting us to
accurately determine force-dependent lifetime distributions and reaction rates.
Application of our method to unwinding and rewinding the nucleosome inner turn,
using optical tweezers reveals experimental lifetime distributions that
comprise a statistically-meaningful number of transitions, and that are
accurately single exponential. These measurements significantly reduce the
error in the previously measured rates, and demonstrate the existence of a
single, dominant free energy barrier at each force studied. A key benefit of
the molecular yoyo method for nucleosomes is that it reduces as far as possible
the time spent in the tangentially-bound state, which minimizes the loss of
nucleosomes by dissociation.


title:
A nonlinear effective slip interface law for transport phenomena between
  a fracture flow and a porous medium

abstract:
  We present modeling of an incompressible viscous flow through a fracture
adjacent to a porous medium. We consider a fast stationary flow, predominantly
tangential to the porous medium. Slow flow in such setting can be described by
the Beavers-Joseph-Saffman slip. For fast flows, a nonlinear filtration law in
the porous medium and a non- linear interface law are expected. In this paper
we rigorously derive a quadratic effective slip interface law which holds for a
range of Reynolds numbers and fracture widths. The porous medium flow is
described by the Darcys law. The result shows that the interface slip law can
be nonlinear, independently of the regime for the bulk flow. Since most of the
interface and boundary slip laws are obtained via upscaling of complex systems,
the result indicates that studying the inviscid limits for the Navier-Stokes
equations with linear slip law at the boundary should be rethought.


title: The DeWitt Equation in Quantum Field Theory

abstract:
  We take a new look at the DeWitt equation, a defining equation for the
effective action functional in quantum field theory. We present a formal
solution to this equation, and discuss the equation in various contexts, and in
particular for models where it can be made completely well defined, such as the
Wess-Zumino model in two dimensions.


title: Cluster Explosive Synchronization in Complex Networks

abstract:
  The emergence of explosive synchronization has been reported as an abrupt
transition in complex networks of first-order Kuramoto oscillators. In this
Letter, we demonstrate that the nodes in a second-order Kuramoto model, perform
a cascade of transitions toward a synchronous macroscopic state, which is a
novel phenomenon that we call \textit{cluster explosive synchronization}. We
provide a rigorous analytical treatment using a mean-field analysis in
uncorrelated networks. Our findings are in good agreement with numerical
simulations and fundamentally deepen the understanding of microscopic
mechanisms toward synchronization.


title: Angular Correlation Functions for Models with Logarithmic Oscillations

abstract:
  There exist several theoretical motivations for primordial correlation
functions (such as the power spectrum) to contain oscillations as a logarithmic
function of comoving momentum k. While these features are commonly searched for
in k-space, an alternative is to use angular space; that is, search for
correlations between the directional vectors of observation. We develop tools
to efficiently compute the angular correlations based on a stationary phase
approximation and examine several example oscillations in the primordial power
spectrum, bispectrum, and trispectrum. We find that logarithmically-periodic
oscillations are essentially featureless and therefore difficult to detect
using the standard correlator, though others might be feasible.


title:
On the density of abelian surfaces with Tate- Shafarevich group of order
  five times a square

abstract:
  Let A=E_1xE_2 be be the product of two elliptic curves over QQ, both having a
rational five torsion point P_i. Set B=A/<(P_1,P_2)>. In this paper we give an
algorithm to decide whether the Tate-Shafarevich group of the abelian surface B
has square order or order five times a square, assuming that we can find a
basis for the Mordell-Weil groups of both E_i, and that the Tate-Shafarevich
groups of the E_i are finite.
  We considered all pairs (E_1,E_2), with prescribed bounds on the conductor
and the coefficients on a minimal Weierstrass equation. In total we considered
around 20.0 million of abelian surfaces of which 49.16% have a Tate-Shafarevich
group of non-square order.


title:
Microwave-assisted switching of a nanomagnet: analytical determination
  of the optimal microwave field

abstract:
  We analytically determine the optimal microwave field that allows for the
magnetization reversal of a nanomagnet modeled as a macrospin. This is done by
minimizing the total injected energy. The results are in good agreement with
the fields obtained numerically using the optimal control theory. For typical
values of the damping parameter, a weak microwave field is sufficient to induce
switching through a resonant process. The optimal field is orthogonal to the
magnetization direction at any time and modulated both in amplitude and
frequency. The dependence of the pulse shape on the applied field and damping
parameter is interpreted. The total injected energy is found to be
proportionnal to the energy barrier between the initial state and the saddle
point and to the damping parameter. This result may be used as a means for
probing the damping parameter in real nanoparticles.


title: The Evolutionary Vaccination Dilemma in Complex Networks

abstract:
  In this work we analyze the evolution of voluntary vaccination in networked
populations by entangling the spreading dynamics of an influenza-like disease
with an evolutionary framework taking place at the end of each influenza season
so that individuals take or not the vaccine upon their previous experience. Our
framework thus put in competition two well-known dynamical properties of
scale-free networks: the fast propagation of diseases and the promotion of
cooperative behaviors. Our results show that when vaccine is perfect scale-free
networks enhance the vaccination behavior with respect to random graphs with
homogeneous connectivity patterns. However, when imperfection appears we find a
cross-over effect so that the number of infected (vaccinated) individuals
increases (decreases) with respect to homogeneous networks, thus showing up the
competition between the aforementioned properties of scale-free graphs.


title: Lipid Segregation on Cylindrically and Spherically Curved Membranes

abstract:
  We investigate how an externally imposed curvature influences lipid
segregation on two-phase-coexistent membranes. We show that the bending-modulus
contrast of the two phases and the curvature act together to yield a reduced
effective line tension. On largely curved membranes, a state of multiple
domains (or rafts) forms due to a mechanism analogous to that causing
magnetic-vortex formation in type-II superconductors. We determine the
criterion for such multi-domain state to occur; we then calculate respectively
the size of the domains formed on cylindrically and spherically curved
membranes.


title:
The fixed-point iteration method for IMRT optimization with truncated
  dose deposition coefficient matrix

abstract:
  In the treatment plan optimization for intensity modulated radiation therapy
(IMRT), dose-deposition coefficient (DDC) matrix is often pre-computed to
parameterize the dose contribution to each voxel in the volume of interest from
each beamlet of unit intensity. However, due to the limitation of computer
memory and the requirement on computational efficiency, in practice matrix
elements of small values are usually truncated, which inevitably compromises
the quality of the resulting plan. A fixed-point iteration scheme has been
applied in IMRT optimization to solve this problem, which has been reported to
be effective and efficient based on the observations of the numerical
experiments. In this paper, we aim to point out the mathematics behind this
scheme and to answer the following three questions: 1) whether the fixed-point
iteration algorithm converges or not? 2) when it converges, whether the fixed
point solution is same as the original solution obtained with the complete DDC
matrix? 3) if not the same, whether the fixed point solution is more accurate
than the naive solution of the truncated problem obtained without the
fixed-point iteration? To answer these questions, we first performed
mathematical analysis and deductions using a simplified fluence map
optimization (FMO) model. Then we conducted numerical experiments on a
head-and-neck patient case using both the simplified and the original FMO
model. Both our mathematical analysis and numerical experiments demonstrate
that with proper DDC matrix truncation, the fixed-point iteration can converge.
Even though the converged solution is not the one that we obtain with the
complete DDC matrix, the fixed-point iteration scheme could significantly
improve the plan accuracy compared with the solution to the truncated problem
obtained without the fixed-point iteration.


title:
Post-selected indistinguishable single-photon emission from the Mollow
  triplet sidebands of a resonantly excited quantum dot

abstract:
  Applying high power continuous-wave resonant s-shell excitation to a single
self-assembled In- GaAs quantum dot, we demonstrate the generation of
post-selected single-indistinguishable photons from the Mollow triplet
sidebands. A sophisticated spatial filtering technique based on a double
Michelson interferometer enabled us to separate the spectrally close lying
individual Mollow components and perform almost background free two-photon
interference measurements. Showing high consistency with the results of an
independent determination of the emission coherence of 250 +/- 30 ps, our
analysis reveals a close to ideal visibility contrast of up to 97 %. Due to
their easy spectral tunability and their distinct advantage of cascaded photon
emission between the individual Mollow sidebands, they resemble a versatile
tool for quantum information applications.


title: Photometric reverberation mapping of 3C120

abstract:
  We present the results of a five month monitoring campaign of the local
active galactic nuclei (AGN) 3C120. Observations with a median sampling of two
days were conducted with the robotic 15cm telescope VYSOS-6 located near Cerro
Armazones in Chile. Broad band (B,V) and narrow band (NB) filters were used in
order to measure fluxes of the AGN and the H_beta broad line region (BLR)
emission line. The NB flux is constituted by about 50% continuum and 50% H_beta
emission line. To disentangle line and continuum flux, a synthetic H_beta light
curve was created by subtracting a scaled V-band light curve from the NB light
curve. Here we show that the H_beta emission line responds to continuum
variations with a rest frame lag of 23.6 +/- 1.69 days. We estimate a virial
mass of the central black hole M_BH = 57 +/- 27 * 10^6 solar masses, by
combining the obtained lag with the velocity dispersion of a single
contemporaneous spectrum. Using the flux variation gradient (FVG) method, we
determined the host galaxy subtracted rest frame 5100A luminosity at the time
of our monitoring campaign with an uncertainty of 10% (L_AGN = 6.94 +/- 0.71*
10^43 ergs^-1). Compared with recent spectroscopic reverberation results, 3C120
shifts in the R_BLR - L_AGN diagram remarkably close to the theoretically
expected relation of R-L^0.5. Our results demonstrate the performance of
photometric AGN reverberation mapping, in particular for efficiently
determining the BLR size and the AGN luminosity


title: Coupling spin qubits via superconductors

abstract:
  We show how superconductors can be used to couple, initialize, and read out
spatially separated spin qubits. When two single-electron quantum dots are
tunnel coupled to the same superconductor, the singlet component of the
two-electron state partially leaks into the superconductor via crossed Andreev
reflection. This induces a gate-controlled singlet-triplet splitting which,
with an appropriate superconductor geometry, remains large for dot separations
within the superconducting coherence length. Furthermore, we show that when two
double-dot singlet-triplet qubits are tunnel coupled to a superconductor with
finite charging energy, crossed Andreev reflection enables a strong two-qubit
coupling over distances much larger than the coherence length.


title: Warming up for Planck

abstract:
  The recent Planck results and future releases on the horizon present a key
opportunity to address a fundamental question in inflationary cosmology of
whether primordial density perturbations have a quantum or thermal origin, i.e.
whether particle production may have significant effects during inflation. Warm
inflation provides a natural arena to address this issue, with interactions
between the scalar inflaton and other degrees of freedom leading to dissipative
entropy production and associated thermal fluctuations. In this context, we
present relations between CMB observables that can be directly tested against
observational data. In particular, we show that the presence of a thermal bath
warmer than the Hubble scale during inflation decreases the tensor-to-scalar
ratio with respect to the conventional prediction in supercooled inflation,
yielding $r< 8|n_t|$, where $n_t$ is the tensor spectral index. Focusing on
supersymmetric models at low temperatures, we determine consistency relations
between the observables characterizing the spectrum of adiabatic scalar and
tensor modes, both for generic potentials and particular canonical examples,
and which we compare with the WMAP and Planck results. Finally, we include the
possibility of producing the observed baryon asymmetry during inflation through
dissipative effects, thereby generating baryon isocurvature modes that can be
easily accommodated by the Planck data.


title: Furtive Quantum Sensing Using Matter-Wave Cloaks

abstract:
  We introduce the concept of furtive quantum sensing, demonstrating the
possibility of concealing quantum objects from matter-waves, while maintaining
their ability to interact and get excited by the impinging particles. This is
obtained by cloaking, with tailored homogeneous metamaterial layers, quantum
systems having internal degrees of freedom. The effect is a low-observable
quantum sensor with drastically reduced elastic scattering and optimized
absorption levels, a concept that opens interesting venues in particle
detection, high-efficiency electrical pumping and quantum supercomputing.


title: Enhanced Super-Radiance in Epsilon-Near-Zero Plasmonic Channels

abstract:
  We describe the possibility of drastically boosting the spontaneous emission
of a collection of two-level quantum emitters by embedding them in an
epsilon-near-zero (ENZ) environment, consisting of a plasmonic waveguide
operated at cut-off. This phenomenon relies on the combination of Purcell
enhancement and Dicke superradiance effects, exploiting the large and uniform
local density of states in ENZ channels, which is shown to significantly extend
the spatial extent of these quantum effects. We envision exciting applications
in optical sensing, molecular detection and low-threshold lasing.


title: Herschel/SPIRE Sub-millimeter Spectra of Local Active Galaxies

abstract:
  We present the sub-millimeter spectra from 450 GHz to 1550 GHz of eleven
nearby active galaxies observed with the SPIRE Fourier Transform Spectrometer
(SPIRE/FTS) onboard Herschel. We detect CO transitions from J_up = 4 to 12, as
well as the two [CI] fine structure lines at 492 and 809 GHz and the [NII] 461
GHz line. We used radiative transfer models to analyze the observed CO spectral
line energy distributions (SLEDs). The FTS CO data were complemented with
ground-based observations of the low-J CO lines. We found that the warm
molecular gas traced by the mid-J CO transitions has similar physical
conditions (n_H2 ~ 10^3.2 - 10^3.9 cm^-3 and T_kin ~ 300 - 800 K) in most of
our galaxies. Furthermore, we found that this warm gas is likely producing the
mid-IR rotational H2 emission. We could not determine the specific heating
mechanism of the warm gas, however it is possibly related to the star-formation
activity in these galaxies. Our modeling of the [CI] emission suggests that it
is produced in cold (T_kin < 30 K) and dense (n_H2 > 10^3 cm^-3) molecular gas.
Transitions of other molecules are often detected in our SPIRE/FTS spectra. The
HF J=1-0 transition at 1232 GHz is detected in absorption in UGC05101 and in
emission in NGC7130. In the latter, near-infrared pumping, chemical pumping, or
collisional excitation with electrons are plausible excitation mechanisms
likely related to the AGN of this galaxy. In some galaxies few H2O emission
lines are present. Additionally, three OH+ lines at 909, 971, and 1033 GHz are
identified in NGC7130.


title:
Near-infrared spectroscopy of 1999 JU3, the target of the Hayabusa 2
  mission

abstract:
  Context. Primitive asteroids contain complex organic material and ices
relevant to the origin of life on Earth. These types of asteroids are the
target of several-sample return missions to be launched in the next years. 1999
JU3 is the target of the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency's Hayabusa 2
mission. Aims. 1999 JU3 has been previously identified as a C-class asteroid.
Spectroscopic observations at longer wavelengths will help to constrain its
composition. Methods. We obtained spectroscopy of 1999 JU3 from 0.85 to 2.2
microns, with the 3.6 m Telescopio Nazionale Galileo using the low resolution
mode of the Near Infrared Camera Spectrograph. Results. We present a
near-infrared spectrum of 1999 JU3 from 0.85 to 2.2microns that is consistent
with previously published spectra and with its C-type classification.
Conclusions. Our spectrum confirms the primitive nature of 1999 JU3 and its
interest as target of the sample-return mission Hayabusa 2.


title: Hahn-Banach type extension theorems on p-operator spaces

abstract:
  Let $V\subseteq W$ be two operator spaces. Arveson-Wittstock-Hahn-Banach
theorem asserts that every completely contractive map $\varphi:V\to
\mathcal{B}(H)$ has a completely contractive extension $\tilde{\varphi}:W\to
\mathcal{B}(H)$, where $\mathcal{B}(H)$ denotes the space of all bounded
operators from a Hilbert space $H$ to itself. In this paper, we show that this
is not in general true for $p$-operator spaces, that is, we show that there are
$p$-operator spaces $V\subseteq W$, an $SQ_p$ space $E$, and a $p$-completely
contractive map $\varphi:V\to \mathcal{B}(E)$ such that $\varphi$ does not
extend to a $p$-completely contractive map on $W$. Restricting $E$ to $L_p$
spaces, we also consider a condition on $W$ under which every completely
contractive map $\varphi:V\to \mathcal{B}(L_p(\mu))$ has a completely
contractive extension $\tilde{\varphi}:W\to \mathcal{B}(L_p(\mu))$.


title:
Pass 8: Toward the Full Realization of the Fermi-LAT Scientific
  Potential

abstract:
  The event selection developed for the Fermi Large Area Telescope before
launch has been periodically updated to reflect the constantly improving
knowledge of the detector and the environment in which it operates. Pass 7,
released to the public in August 2011, represents the most recent major
iteration of this incremental process.
  In parallel, the LAT team has undertaken a coherent long-term effort aimed at
a radical revision of the entire event-level analysis, based on the experience
gained in the prime phase of the mission. This includes virtually every aspect
of the data reduction process, from the simulation of the detector to the event
reconstruction and the background rejection. The potential improvements include
(but are not limited to) a significant reduction in background contamination
coupled with an increased effective area, a better point-spread function, a
better understanding of the systematic uncertainties and an extension of the
energy reach for the photon analysis below 100 MeV and above a few hundred GeV.
  We present an overview of the work that has been done or is ongoing and the
prospects for the near future.


title:
Wormholes and Off-Diagonal Solutions in f(R,T), Einstein and Finsler
  Gravity Theories

abstract:
  The aims of this work are 1) to sketch a proof that there are such
parameterizations of the local frame and canonical connection structures when
the gravitational field equations in f(R,T)-modified gravity, MG, can be
integrated in generic off-diagonal forms with metrics depending on all
spacetime coordinates and 2) to provide some examples of exact solutions.


title:
Determination of Low-Energy Constants of Wilson Chiral Perturbation
  Theory

abstract:
  By matching Wilson twisted mass lattice QCD determinations of pseudoscalar
meson masses to Wilson Chiral Perturbation Theory we determine the low-energy
constants $W'_6$, $W'_8$ and their linear combination $c_2$. We explore the
dependence of these low-energy constants on the choice of the lattice action
and on the number of dynamical flavours.


title: Iterative MapReduce for Large Scale Machine Learning

abstract:
  Large datasets ("Big Data") are becoming ubiquitous because the potential
value in deriving insights from data, across a wide range of business and
scientific applications, is increasingly recognized. In particular, machine
learning - one of the foundational disciplines for data analysis, summarization
and inference - on Big Data has become routine at most organizations that
operate large clouds, usually based on systems such as Hadoop that support the
MapReduce programming paradigm. It is now widely recognized that while
MapReduce is highly scalable, it suffers from a critical weakness for machine
learning: it does not support iteration. Consequently, one has to program
around this limitation, leading to fragile, inefficient code. Further, reliance
on the programmer is inherently flawed in a multi-tenanted cloud environment,
since the programmer does not have visibility into the state of the system when
his or her program executes. Prior work has sought to address this problem by
either developing specialized systems aimed at stylized applications, or by
augmenting MapReduce with ad hoc support for saving state across iterations
(driven by an external loop). In this paper, we advocate support for looping as
a first-class construct, and propose an extension of the MapReduce programming
paradigm called {\em Iterative MapReduce}. We then develop an optimizer for a
class of Iterative MapReduce programs that cover most machine learning
techniques, provide theoretical justifications for the key optimization steps,
and empirically demonstrate that system-optimized programs for significant
machine learning tasks are competitive with state-of-the-art specialized
solutions.


title:
Propagation of initial errors on the parameters for linear and Gaussian
  state space models

abstract:
  For linear and Gaussian state space models parametrized by $\theta_0 \in
\Theta \subset \mathbb{R}^r, r \geq 1$ corresponding to the vector of
parameters of the model, the Kalman filter gives exactly the solution for the
optimal filtering under weak assumptions. This result supposes that $\theta_0$
is perfectly known. In most real applications, this assumption is not realistic
since $\theta_0$ is unknown and has to be estimated. In this paper, we analysis
the Kalman filter for a biased estimator of $\theta_0$. We show the propagation
of this bias on the estimation of the hidden state. We give an expression of
this propagation for linear and Gaussian state space models and we extend this
result for almost linear models estimated by the Extended Kalman filter. An
illustration is given for the autoregressive process with measurement noises
widely studied in econometrics to model economic and financial data.


title: Spin-current order in anisotropic triangular antiferromagnets

abstract:
  We analyze instabilities of the collinear up-up-down state of a
two-dimensional quantum spin-S spatially anisotropic triangular lattice
antiferromagnet in a magnetic field. We find, within large-S approximation,
that near the end point of the plateau, the collinear state becomes unstable
due to condensation of two-magnon bound pairs rather than single magnons. The
two-magnon instability leads to a novel 2D vector chiral phase with alternating
spin currents but no magnetic order in the direction transverse to the field.
This phase breaks a discrete Z_2 symmetry but preserves a continuous U(1) one
of rotations about the field axis. It possesses orbital antiferromagnetism and
displays a magnetoelectric effect.


title: Sensitive Long-Indel-Aware Alignment of Sequencing Reads

abstract:
  The tremdendous advances in high-throughput sequencing technologies have made
population-scale sequencing as performed in the 1000 Genomes project and the
Genome of the Netherlands project possible. Next-generation sequencing has
allowed genom-wide discovery of variations beyond single-nucleotide
polymorphisms (SNPs), in particular of structural variations (SVs) like
deletions, insertions, duplications, translocations, inversions, and even more
complex rearrangements. Here, we design a read aligner with special emphasis on
the following properties: (1) high sensitivity, i.e. find all (reasonable)
alignments; (2) ability to find (long) indels; (3) statistically sound
alignment scores; and (4) runtime fast enough to be applied to whole genome
data. We compare performance to BWA, bowtie2, stampy and find that our methods
is especially advantageous on reads containing larger indels.


title:
Identifying boosted hadronically decaying top quark using jet
  substructure in its center-of-mass frame

abstract:
  In this paper we study the identification of boosted hadronically decaying
top quarks using jet substructure in the center-of-mass frame of the jet. We
demonstrate that the method can greatly reduce the QCD jet background while
maintaining high identification efficiency of the boosted top quark even in a
very high pileup condition. Applications to searches for heavy resonances that
decay to a $t\bar{t}$ final state are also discussed.


title:
Rebalancing the Rebalancers: Optimally Routing Vehicles and Drivers in
  Mobility-on-Demand Systems

abstract:
  In this paper we study rebalancing strategies for a mobility-on-demand urban
transportation system blending customer-driven vehicles with a taxi service. In
our system, a customer arrives at one of many designated stations and is
transported to any other designated station, either by driving themselves, or
by being driven by an employed driver. The system allows for one-way trips, so
that customers do not have to return to their origin. When some origins and
destinations are more popular than others, vehicles will become unbalanced,
accumulating at some stations and becoming depleted at others. This problem is
addressed by employing rebalancing drivers to drive vehicles from the popular
destinations to the unpopular destinations. However, with this approach the
rebalancing drivers themselves become unbalanced, and we need to "rebalance the
rebalancers" by letting them travel back to the popular destinations with a
customer. Accordingly, in this paper we study how to optimally route the
rebalancing vehicles and drivers so that stability (in terms of boundedness of
the number of waiting customers) is ensured while minimizing the number of
rebalancing vehicles traveling in the network and the number of rebalancing
drivers needed; surprisingly, these two objectives are aligned, and one can
find the optimal rebalancing strategy by solving two decoupled linear programs.
Leveraging our analysis, we determine the minimum number of drivers and minimum
number of vehicles needed to ensure stability in the system. Interestingly, our
simulations suggest that, in Euclidean network topologies, one would need
between 1/3 and 1/4 as many drivers as vehicles.


title: Quantum restoration of broken symmetries

abstract:
  A certain non-linear non-local substitution is shown to transform the action
of the self-interacting quantum field to the free one. The functional integrals
in both theories are equal to each other. However, the integrations are
performed over different functional spaces. The classical action and the
classical limit of the corresponding quantum theory turn out to be different.
And the symmetry originally broken in the classical theory is restored in the
classical limit of the quantum theory.


title: Cores of random graphs are born Hamiltonian

abstract:
  Let $(G_t)_{t \geq 0}$ be the random graph process ($G_0$ is edgeless and
$G_t$ is obtained by adding a uniformly distributed new edge to $G_{t-1}$), and
let $\tau_k$ denote the minimum time $t$ such that the $k$-core of $G_t$ (its
unique maximal subgraph with minimum degree at least $k$) is nonempty. For any
fixed $k\geq 3$ the $k$-core is known to emerge via a discontinuous phase
transition, where at time $t=\tau_k$ its size jumps from 0 to linear in the
number of vertices with high probability. It is believed that for any $k\geq 3$
the core is Hamiltonian upon creation w.h.p., and Bollob\'as, Cooper, Fenner
and Frieze further conjectured that it in fact admits $\lfloor(k-1)/2\rfloor$
edge-disjoint Hamilton cycles. However, even the asymptotic threshold for
Hamiltonicity of the $k$-core in $G(n,p)$ was unknown for any $k$. We show here
that for any fixed $k\ge 15$ the $k$-core of $G_t$ is w.h.p. Hamiltonian for
all $t \geq \tau_k$, i.e., immediately as the $k$-core appears and indefinitely
afterwards. Moreover, we prove that for large enough fixed $k$ the $k$-core
contains $\lfloor (k-3)/2\rfloor$ edge-disjoint Hamilton cycles w.h.p. for all
$t\geq \tau_k$.


title:
Blind Identification of SIMO Wiener Systems based on Kernel Canonical
  Correlation Analysis

abstract:
  We consider the problem of blind identification and equalization of
single-input multiple-output (SIMO) nonlinear channels. Specifically, the
nonlinear model consists of multiple single-channel Wiener systems that are
excited by a common input signal. The proposed approach is based on a
well-known blind identification technique for linear SIMO systems. By
transforming the output signals into a reproducing kernel Hilbert space (RKHS),
a linear identification problem is obtained, which we propose to solve through
an iterative procedure that alternates between canonical correlation analysis
(CCA) to estimate the linear parts, and kernel canonical correlation (KCCA) to
estimate the memoryless nonlinearities. The proposed algorithm is able to
operate on systems with as few as two output channels, on relatively small data
sets and on colored signals. Simulations are included to demonstrate the
effectiveness of the proposed technique.


title:
Functionally independent conservations laws in a quantum integrable
  model

abstract:
  We study a recently proposed quantum integrable model defined on a lattice
with N sites, with Fermions or Bosons populating each site, as a close relative
of the well known spin-1/2 Gaudin model. This model has 2N arbitrary
parameters, a linear dependence on an interaction type parameter x, and can be
solved exactly. It has N known constants of motion that are linear in x. We
display further constants of motion with higher Fermion content, that are are
linearly independent of the known conservation laws. Our main result is that
despite the existence of these higher conservation laws, the model has only N
functionally independent conservation laws. Therefore we propose that N can be
viewed as the number of degrees of freedom, in parallel to the classical
definition of integrability.

categories: cond-mat.str-el math-ph math.MP quant-ph


title:
Classification of Boolean Functions where Affine Functions are Uniformly
  Distributed

abstract:
  Classification of Non-linear Boolean functions is a long-standing problem in
the area of theoretical computer science. In this paper, effort has been made
to achieve a systematic classification of all n-variable Boolean functions,
where only one affine Boolean function belongs to each class. Two different
methods are proposed to achieve this classification. The first method is a
recursive procedure that uses the Cartesian product of sets starting from the
set of 1-variable Boolean function and in the second method classification is
achieved through a set of invariant bit positions with respect to an affine
function belonging to that class. The invariant bit positions also provide
information concerning the size and symmetry properties of the
classes/sub-classes, such that the members of classes/sub-classes satisfy
certain similar properties.


title: Improving the Ni I atomic model for solar and stellar atmospheric models

abstract:
  Neutral nickel (Ni I) is abundant in the solar atmosphere and is one of the
important elements that contribute to the emission and absorption of radiation
in the spectral range between 1900 and 3900 A. Previously, the Solar Radiation
Physical Modeling (SRPM) models of the solar atmosphere considered only few
levels of this species. Here we improve the Ni I atomic model by taking into
account 61 levels and 490 spectral lines. We compute the populations of these
levels in full NLTE using the SRPM code and compare the resulting emerging
spectrum with observations. The present atomic model improves significantly the
calculation of the solar spectral irradiance at near-UV wavelengths that are
important for Earth atmo spheric studies, and particularly for ozone chemistry.


title: Hall Drag and Magnetodrag in Graphene

abstract:
  Massless Dirac fermions in graphene at charge neutrality form a strongly
interacting system in which both charged and neutral (energy) modes play an
important role. These modes are essentially decoupled in the absence of a
magnetic field, but become strongly coupled when a field is applied. We show
that these ideas explain the recently observed giant magnetodrag, arising in
classically weak fields when electron density is tuned near charge neutrality.
We predict strong Hall drag in this regime, which is in stark departure from
the weak coupling regime, where theory predicts the absence of Hall drag.
Energy-driven magnetodrag and Hall drag arise in a wide temperature range and
at weak magnetic fields, and feature an unusually strong dependence on field
and carrier density.


title: Mass profiles of Galaxy Clusters from X-ray analysis

abstract:
  We review the methods adopted to reconstruct the mass profiles in X-ray
luminous galaxy clusters. We discuss the limitations and the biases affecting
these measurements and how these mass profiles can be used as cosmological
proxies.


title: Pacman Percolation and the Glass Transition

abstract:
  We investigate via Monte Carlo simulations the kinetically constrained
Kob-Andersen lattice glass model showing that, contrary to current
expectations, the relaxation process and the dynamical heterogeneities seems to
be characterized by different time scales. Indeed, we found that the relaxation
time is related to a reverse percolation transition, whereas the time of
maximum heterogeneity is related to the spatial correlation between particles.
This investigation leads to a geometrical interpretation of the relaxation
processes and of the different observed time scales.


title: Stability of line solitons for the KP-II equation in $\R^2$

abstract:
  We prove nonlinear stability of line soliton solutions of the KP-II equation
with respect to transverse perturbations that are exponentially localized as
$x\to\infty$. We find that the amplitude of the line soliton converges to that
of the line soliton at initial time whereas jumps of the local phase shift of
the crest propagate in a finite speed toward $y=\pm\infty$. The local amplitude
and the phase shift of the crest of the line solitons are described by a system
of 1D wave equations with diffraction terms.


title:
Optimal Receding Horizon Control for Finite Deterministic Systems with
  Temporal Logic Constraints

abstract:
  In this paper, we develop a provably correct optimal control strategy for a
finite deterministic transition system. By assuming that penalties with known
probabilities of occurrence and dynamics can be sensed locally at the states of
the system, we derive a receding horizon strategy that minimizes the expected
average cumulative penalty incurred between two consecutive satisfactions of a
desired property. At the same time, we guarantee the satisfaction of
correctness specifications expressed as Linear Temporal Logic formulas. We
illustrate the approach with a persistent surveillance robotics application.


title:
An Alternative Approach to Extending pseudo-Anosovs Over Compression
  Bodies

abstract:
  A recent paper (\cite{BJM}) by Biringer, Johnson, and Minsky prove that any
pseudo-Anosov whose stable lamination is the limit of disks in a compression
body has a power which extends over some non-trivial minimal compression body.
This paper presents an alternative proof of their theorem, using techniques of
Long and Casson which first appeared in \cite{CL} and \cite{L}. The key
ingredient is the existence of a certain collection of disks whose boundaries
are formed from an arc of the stable lamination and an arc of the unstable
lamination. Furthermore, the proof here shows that there are only finitely many
minimal compression bodies over which a power of a pseudo-Anosov can extend.


title:
A measurement of the secondary-CMB and millimeter-wave-foreground
  bispectrum using 800 square degrees of South Pole Telescope data

abstract:
  We present a measurement of the angular bispectrum of the millimeter-wave sky
in observing bands centered at roughly 95, 150, and 220 GHz, on angular scales
of $1^\prime \lesssim \theta \lesssim 10^\prime$ (multipole number $1000
\lesssim l \lesssim 10000$). At these frequencies and angular scales, the main
contributions to the bispectrum are expected to be the thermal
Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (tSZ) effect and emission from extragalactic sources,
predominantly dusty, star-forming galaxies (DSFGs) and active galactic nuclei.
We measure the bispectrum in 800 $\mathrm{deg}^2$ of three-band South Pole
Telescope data, and we use a multi-frequency fitting procedure to separate the
bispectrum of the tSZ effect from the extragalactic source contribution. We
simultaneously detect the bispectrum of the tSZ effect at $>$10$\sigma$, the
unclustered component of the extragalactic source bispectrum at $>$5$\sigma$ in
each frequency band, and the bispectrum due to the clustering of DSFGs---i.e.,
the clustered cosmic infrared background (CIB) bispectrum---at $>$5$\sigma$.
This is the first reported detection of the clustered CIB bispectrum. We use
the measured tSZ bispectrum amplitude, compared to model predictions, to
constrain the normalization of the matter power spectrum to be $\sigma_8 =
0.787 \pm 0.031$ and to predict the amplitude of the tSZ power spectrum at $l =
3000$. This prediction improves our ability to separate the thermal and
kinematic contributions to the total SZ power spectrum. The addition of
bispectrum data improves our constraint on the tSZ power spectrum amplitude by
a factor of two compared to power spectrum measurements alone and demonstrates
a preference for a nonzero kinematic SZ (kSZ) power spectrum, with a derived
constraint on the kSZ amplitude at $l=3000$ of A_kSZ $ = 2.9 \pm 1.6 \
\mu$K$^2$, or A_kSZ $ = 2.6 \pm 1.8 \ \mu$K$^2$ if the default A_kSZ > 0 prior
is removed.


title:
First Principles Modeling of the Temperature Dependent Ternary Phase
  Diagram for the Cu-Pd-S System

abstract:
  As an aid to the development of hydrogen separation membranes, we predict the
temperature dependent phase diagrams using first principles calculations
combined with thermodynamic principles. Our method models the phase diagram
without empirical fitting parameters. By applying thermodynamic principles and
solid solution models, temperature-dependent features of the Cu-Pd-S system can
be explained, specifically solubility ranges for substitutions in select
crystalline phases. Electronic densities of states calculations explain the
relative favorability of certain chemical substitutions. In addition, we
calculate sulfidization thresholds for the Pd-S2 system and activities for the
Cu-Pd binary in temperature regimes where the phase diagram contains multiple
solid phases.


title: Quantum search with interacting Bose-Einstein condensates

abstract:
  One approach to the development of quantum search algorithms is the quantum
walk. A spatial search can be effected by the continuous-time evolution of a
single quantum particle on a graph containing a marked site. In many physical
implementations, however, one might expect to have multiple particles. In
interacting bosonic systems at zero temperature, the dynamics is well-described
by a discrete nonlinear Schrodinger equation. We investigate the role of
nonlinearity in determining the efficiency of the spatial search algorithm
within the quantum walk model, for the complete graph. The analytical
calculations reveal that the nonlinear search time scales with size of the
search space N like the square root of N, equivalent to the linear case though
with a different overall constant. The results indicate that interacting
Bose-Einstein condensates at zero temperature could be natural systems for the
implementation of the quantum search algorithm.


title:
The Bluedisks project, a study of unusually HI-rich galaxies: I. HI
  Sizes and Morphology

abstract:
  We introduce the "Bluedisk" project, a large program at the Westerbork
Synthesis Radio Telescope (WSRT) that has mapped the HI in a sample of 23
nearby galaxies with unusually high HI mass fractions, along with a
similar-sized sample of control galaxies matched in stellar mass, size,
inclination and redshift. This paper presents the sample selection,
observational set-up, data reduction strategy, and a first analysis of the
sizes and structural properties of the HI disks. We find that the HI-rich
galaxies lie on the same HI mass versus HI size relation as normal spiral
galaxies, extending it to total HI masses of $2 \times 10^{10} M_{\odot}$ and
radii R1 of $\sim 100$ kpc (where R1 is defined as the radius where the HI
column density reaches 1 $M_{\odot}$ pc$^{-2}$). HI-rich galaxies have
significantly larger values of HI-to-optical size ratio at fixed stellar mass,
concentration index, stellar and star formation rate surface density compared
to the control sample. The disks of HI-rich galaxies are also significantly
more clumpy (i.e. have higher HI Gini and $\Delta$Area coefficient) than those
of normal spirals. There is no evidence that the disks of HI-rich galaxies are
more disturbed: HI-rich galaxies exhibit no difference with respect to control
samples in their distributions of HI asymmetry indices or optical/HI disk
position angle differences. In fact, the center of the HI distribution
corresponds more closely with the center of the optical light in the HI-rich
galaxies than in the controls. All these results argue against a scenario in
which new gas has been brought in by mergers. It is possible that they may be
more consistent with cooling from a surrounding quasi-static halo of warm/hot
gas.


title: A short proof of Kneser's addition theorem for abelian groups

abstract:
  Martin Kneser proved the following addition theorem for every abelian group
$G$. If $A,B \subseteq G$ are finite and nonempty, then $|A+B| \ge |A+K| +
|B+K| - |K|$ where $K = \{g \in G \mid g+A+B = A+B \}$. Here we give a short
proof of this based on a simple intersection union argument.


title: Obstruction to E_{7(7)} Deformation in N=8 Supergravity

abstract:
  Candidate counterterms break Noether-Gaillard-Zumino E_{7(7)} current
conservation in N=8 supergravity in four dimensions. Bossard and Nicolai
proposed a scheme for deforming the subsector involving vector fields in a
Lorentz covariant manner, so as to restore duality. They argued that there must
exist an extension of this deformation to the full theory that preserves
supersymmetry. We show that it is not possible to deform the maximal
supergravity to restore E_{7(7)} duality, while maintaining both general
covariance and N=8 supersymmetry, as was proposed. Deformation of N=8
supergravity requires higher spins and multiple gravitons, which presents a
concrete obstacle to this proposal.


title: F-method for symmetry breaking operators

abstract:
  We provide some insights in the study of branching problems of reductive
groups, and a method of investigations into symmetry breaking operators.
  First, we give geometric criteria for finiteness property of linearly
independent continuous (respectively, differential) operators that intertwine
two induced representations of reductive Lie groups and their reductive
subgroups.
  Second, we extend the F-method known for local operators to non-local
operators. We then illustrate the idea by concrete examples in conformal
geometry, and explain how the F-method works for detailed analysis of symmetry
breaking operators, e.g., finding functional equations and explicit residue
formulae of regular symmetry breaking operators with meromorphic parameters.


title: Perspective: The Glass Transition

abstract:
  We provide here a brief perspective on the glass transition field. It is an
assessment, written from the point of view of theory, of where the field is and
where it seems to be heading. We first give an overview of the main
phenomenological characteristics, or "stylised facts", of the glass transition
problem, i.e. the central observations that a theory of the physics of glass
formation should aim to explain in a unified manner. We describe recent
developments, with a particular focus on real space properties, including
dynamical heterogeneity and facilitation, the search for underlying spatial or
structural correlations, and the relation between the thermal glass transition
and athermal jamming. We then discuss briefly how competing theories of the
glass transition have adapted and evolved to account for such real space
issues. We consider in detail two conceptual and methodological approaches put
forward recently, that aim to access the fundamental critical phenomenon
underlying the glass transition, be it thermodynamic or dynamic in origin, by
means of biasing of ensembles, of configurations in the thermodynamic case, or
of trajectories in the dynamic case. We end with a short outlook.


title: CH, V=L, Disintegrations of Measures, and {\Pi}^1_1 Sets

abstract:
  In 1950 Maharam asked whether every disintegration of a $\sigma$-finite
measure into $\sigma$-finite measures is necessarily uniformly $\sigma$-finite.
Over the years under special conditions on the disintegration, the answer was
shown to be yes. However, we show here that the answer may depend on the axioms
of set theory in the following sense. If CH, the continuum hypothesis holds,
then the answer is no. One proof of this leads to some interesting problems in
infinitary combinatorics. If G\"odel's axiom of constructibility
$\mathbf{V}=\mathbf{L}$ holds, then not only is the answer no, but, of equal
interest is the construction of $\mathbf{\Pi}^1_1$ sets with very special
properties.


title:
Relative Phase and Josephson Dynamics between Weakly Coupled Richardson
  Models

abstract:
  We consider two weakly coupled Richardson models to study the formation of a
relative phase and the Josephson dynamics between two mesoscopic attractively
interacting fermionic systems: our results apply to superconducting properties
of coupled ultrasmall metallic grains and to Cooper-pairing superfluidity in
neutral systems with a finite number of fermions. We discuss how a definite
relative phase between the two systems emerges and how it can be conveniently
extracted from the many-body wavefunction: we find that a definite relative
phase difference emerges even for very small numbers of pairs ~10. The
Josephson dynamics and the current-phase characteristics are then investigated,
showing that the critical current has a maximum at the BCS-BEC crossover. For
the considered initial conditions a two-state model gives a good description of
the dynamics and of the current-phase characteristics.


title:
Large outlying stable constant mean curvature spheres in initial data
  sets

abstract:
  We give examples of asymptotically flat three-manifolds $(M,g)$ which admit
arbitrarily large constant mean curvature spheres that are far away from the
center of the manifold. This resolves a question raised by G. Huisken and S.-T.
Yau in 1996. On the other hand, we show that such surfaces cannot exist when
$(M,g)$ has nonnegative scalar curvature. This result depends on an intricate
relationship between the scalar curvature of the initial data set and the
isoperimetric ratio of large stable constant mean curvature surfaces.


title: G306.3-0.9: A newly discovered young galactic supernova remnant

abstract:
  We present X-ray and radio observations of the new Galactic supernova remnant
(SNR) G306.3-0.9, recently discovered by Swift. Chandra imaging reveals a
complex morphology, dominated by a bright shock. The X-ray spectrum is broadly
consistent with a young SNR in the Sedov phase, implying an age of 2500 yr for
a distance of 8 kpc, plausibly identifying this as one of the 20 youngest
Galactic SNRs. Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) imaging reveals a
prominent ridge of radio emission that correlates with the X-ray emission. We
find a flux density of ~ 160 mJy at 1 GHz, which is the lowest radio flux
recorded for a Galactic SNR to date. The remnant is also detected at 24microns,
indicating the presence of irradiated warm dust. The data reveal no compelling
evidence for the presence of a compact stellar remnant.


title:
Spatial-Spectral Sensing using the Shrink & Match Algorithm in
  Asynchronous MIMO OFDM Signals

abstract:
  Spectrum sensing (SS) in cognitive radio (CR) systems is of paramount
importance to approach the capacity limits for the Secondary Users (SU), while
ensuring the undisturbed transmission of Primary Users (PU). In this paper, we
formulate a cognitive radio (CR)systems spectrum sensing (SS) problem in which
Secondary Users (SU), with multiple receive antennae, sense a channel shared
among multiple asynchronous Primary Users (PU) transmitting Multiple Input
Multiple Output (MIMO) Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM)
signals. The method we propose to estimate the opportunities available to the
SUs combines advances in array processing and compressed channel sensing, and
leverages on both the so called "shrinkage method" as well as on an
over-complete basis expansion of the PUs interference covariance matrix to
detect the occupied and idle angles of arrivals and subcarriers. The covariance
"shrinkage" step and the sparse modeling step that follows, allow to resolve
ambiguities that arise when the observations are scarce, reducing the sensing
cost for the SU, thereby increasing its spectrum exploitation capabilities
compared to competing sensing methods. Simulations corroborate that exploiting
the sparse representation of the covariance matrix in CR sensing resolves the
spatial and frequency spectrum of the sources.


title:
Lie symmetries of generalized Burgers equations: application to
  boundary-value problems

abstract:
  There exist several approaches exploiting Lie symmetries in the reduction of
boundary-value problems for partial differential equations modelling real-world
phenomena to those problems for ordinary differential equations. Using an
example of generalized Burgers equations appearing in nonlinear acoustics we
show that that the "direct" procedure of solving boundary-value problems using
Lie symmetries firstly described by Bluman is more general and straightforward
than the method suggested by Moran and Gaggioli in [J. Eng. Math. 3 (1969),
151-162]. After the group classification of a class of generalized Burgers
equations with time-dependent viscosity is performed we solve an associated
boundary-value problem using the symmetries obtained.


title: Non-Gaussian Mode Coupling and the Statistical Cosmological Principle

abstract:
  Local-type primordial non-Gaussianity couples statistics of the curvature
perturbation \zeta on vastly different physical scales. Because of this
coupling, statistics (i.e. the polyspectra) of \zeta in our Hubble volume may
not be representative of those in the larger universe -- that is, they may be
biased. The bias depends on the local background value of \zeta, which includes
contributions from all modes with wavelength k ~< H_0 and is therefore enhanced
if the entire post-inflationary patch is large compared with our Hubble volume.
We study the bias to locally-measured statistics for general local-type
non-Gaussianity. We consider three examples in detail: (i) the usual fNL, gNL
model, (ii) a strongly non-Gaussian model with \zeta ~ \zeta_G^p, and (iii)
two-field non-Gaussian initial conditions. In each scenario one may generate
statistics in a Hubble-size patch that are weakly Gaussian and consistent with
observations despite the fact that the statistics in the larger,
post-inflationary patch look very different.


title:
Nonlinear light scattering in molecules triggered by an impulsive X-ray
  Raman process

abstract:
  The time-and-frequency resolved nonlinear light scattering (NLS) signals from
a time evolving charge distribution of valence electrons prepared by impulsive
X-ray pulses are calculated using a superoperator Green's function formalism.
The signal consists of a coherent $\sim N^2$-scaling difference frequency
generation and an incoherent fluorescence $\sim N$-scaling component where $N$
is the number of active molecules. The former is given by the classical Larmor
formula based on the time-dependent charge density. The latter requires
additional information about the electronic structure and may be recast in
terms of transition amplitudes representing quantum matter pathways.


title:
The different star-formation histories of blue and red spiral and
  elliptical galaxies

abstract:
  [Abridged] We study the spectral properties of intermediate mass galaxies as
a function of colour and morphology. We use Galaxy Zoo to define three
morphological classes of galaxies, namely early-types (ellipticals), late-type
(disk-dominated) face-on spirals and early-type (bulge-dominated) face-on
spirals. We classify these galaxies as blue or red according to their SDSS g-r
colour and use the spectral fitting code VESPA to calculate time-resolved
star-formation histories, metallicity and total starlight dust extinction from
their SDSS fibre spectra. We find that red late-type spirals show less
star-formation in the last 500 Myr than blue late-type spirals by up to a
factor of three, but share similar star-formation histories at earlier times.
This decline in recent star-formation explains their redder colour: their
chemical and dust content are the same. We postulate that red late-type spirals
are recent descendants of blue late-type spirals, with their star-formation
curtailed in the last 500 Myrs. The red late-type spirals are however still
forming stars approximately 17 times faster than red ellipticals over the same
period. Red early-type spirals lie between red late-type spirals and red
ellipticals in terms of recent-to-intermediate star-formation and dust content.
Therefore, it is plausible that these galaxies represent an evolutionary link
between these two populations. They are more likely to evolve directly into red
ellipticals than red late-type spirals. Blue ellipticals show similar
star-formation histories as blue spirals (regardless of type), except they have
formed less stars in the last 100 Myrs. However, blue ellipticals have
different dust content, which peaks at lower extinction values than all spiral
galaxies.


title:
Levy-Khintchine type representation of Dirichlet generators and
  Semi-Dirichlet forms

abstract:
  Let $U$ be an open set of $\mathbb{R}^n$, $m$ a positive Radon measure on $U$
such that ${\rm supp}[m]=U$, and $(P_t)_{t>0}$ a strongly continuous
contraction sub-Markovian semigroup on $L^2(U;m)$. We investigate the structure
of $(P_t)_{t>0}$.
  (i) Denote respectively by $(A,D(A))$ and $(\hat A,D(\hat A))$ the generator
and the co-generator of $(P_t)_{t>0}$. Under the assumption that
$C^{\infty}_0(U)\subset D(A)\cap D(\hat A)$, we give an explicit
L\'evy-Khintchine type representation of $A$ on $C^{\infty}_0(U)$.
  (ii) If $(P_t)_{t>0}$ is an analytic semigroup and hence is associated with a
semi-Dirichlet form $({\cal E}, D({\cal E}))$, we give an explicit
characterization of ${\cal E}$ on $C^{\infty}_0(U)$ under the assumption that
$C^{\infty}_0(U)\subset D({\cal E})$.
  We also present a LeJan type transformation rule for the diffusion part of
regular semi-Dirichlet forms on general state spaces.


title:
Convergence of a mass conserving Allen-Cahn equation whose Lagrange
  multiplier is nonlocal and local

abstract:
  We consider the mass conserving Allen-Cahn equation proposed in
\cite{Bra-Bre}: the Lagrange multiplier which ensures the conservation of the
mass contains not only nonlocal but also local effects (in contrast with
\cite{Che-Hil-Log}). As a parameter related to the thickness of a diffuse
internal layer tends to zero, we perform formal asymptotic expansions of the
solutions. Then, equipped with these approximate solutions, we rigorously prove
the convergence to the volume preserving mean curvature flow, under the
assumption that classical solutions of the latter exist. This requires a
precise analysis of the error between the actual and the approximate Lagrange
multipliers.


title: Bistable travelling waves for nonlocal reaction diffusion equations

abstract:
  We are concerned with travelling wave solutions arising in a reaction
diffusion equation with bistable and nonlocal nonlinearity, for which the
comparison principle does not hold. Stability of the equilibrium $u\equiv 1$ is
not assumed. We construct a travelling wave solution connecting 0 to an unknown
steady state, which is "above and away", from the intermediate equilibrium. For
focusing kernels we prove that, as expected, the wave connects 0 to 1. Our
results also apply readily to the nonlocal ignition case.


title:
The KAM theorem through Dirichlet's box and Khintchine's transference
  principles

abstract:
  In this paper, we give a new proof of the classical KAM theorem which avoids
small divisors and relies on two basic principles of Diophantine approximation:
Dirichlet's box and Khintchine transference principles.


title:
Sign changes in short intervals of coefficients of spinor zeta function
  of a Siegel cusp form of genus 2

abstract:
  In this paper, we establish a Voronoi formula for the spinor zeta function of
a Siegel cusp form of genus 2. We deduce from this formula quantitative results
on the number of its positive (resp. negative) coefficients in some short
intervals.


title: Linear-Depth Quantum Circuits for n-qubit Toffoli gates with no Ancilla

abstract:
  We design a circuit structure with linear depth to implement an $n$-qubit
Toffoli gate. The proposed construction uses a quadratic-size circuit consists
of elementary 2-qubit controlled-rotation gates around the x axis and uses no
ancilla qubit. Circuit depth remains linear in quantum technologies with
finite-distance interactions between qubits. The suggested construction is
related to the long-standing construction by Barenco et al. (Phys. Rev. A, 52:
3457-3467, 1995, arXiv:quant-ph/9503016), which uses a quadratic-size,
quadratic-depth quantum circuit for an $n$-qubit Toffoli gate.


title:
Spin-orbit interactions in a helical Luttinger liquid with a Kondo
  impurity

abstract:
  The combined effect of Rashba and Dresselhaus spin-orbit interactions on the
physics of a helical Luttinger liquid coupled to a Kondo impurity is studied. A
Rashba coupling can potentially destroy the Kondo singlet formation in certain
parameter regimes [Phys. Rev. B 86, 161103(R) (2012)]. This effect is here
shown to vanish for sufficiently strong Dresselhaus interaction. The transport
properties of the system are investigated by calculating electrical
conductance, current and current fluctuations, and thermal conductance.


title:
Observation of an in-plane vortex lattice transition in the multiband
  superconductor 2H-NbSe2 using scanning tunneling spectroscopy

abstract:
  We report real-space evidence for an in-plane vortex lattice (VL) transition
in the multiband superconductor 2H-NbSe2, observed by laterally imaging
subsurface vortices with scanning tunneling spectroscopy. With magnetic field
applied || ab-surface up to 6.5 T at 300 mK, spatial maps of the zero-bias
conductance revealed a stripe pattern whose dominant periodicity showed a
discrete shift near 0.7 T. The stripes can be interpreted as the surface
projection of a distorted hexagonal VL that undergoes a first-order
reorientation transition. This transition occurs for field || [100] but not
[110], and is correlated with the multigap characteristics seen in the heat
capacity and thermal transport data. These results implicate the multiband
pairing of 2H-NbSe2 in the VL transition we observed.


title: Elimination of long-term variation from chaotic light curves

abstract:
  We performed a comparative dynamical investigation of chaotic test data using
the global flow reconstruction method. We demonstrate that large-amplitude,
long-term variations may have a disturbing effect in the analysis. The
Empirical Mode Decomposition method (EMD) and the Fourier filtering were tested
to remove the additional variations. Test results show that the elimination of
these variations significantly increased the robustness of the reconstructions.


title:
Electrodynamic properties of graphene and their technological
  applications

abstract:
  Graphene is a novel two-dimensional material with fascinating electrodynamic
properties like the ability to support collective electron oscillations
(plasmons) accompanied by tight confinement of electromagnetic fields. Our goal
is to explore light-matter interaction in graphene in the context of plasmonics
and other technological applications but also to use graphene as a platform for
studying many body physics like the interaction between plasmons, phonons and
other elementary excitations. Plasmons and plasmon-phonon interaction are
analyzed within the self-consistent linear response approximation. We
demonstrate that electron-phonon interaction leads to large plasmon damping
when plasmon energy exceeds that of the optical phonon but also a peculiar
mixing of plasmon and optical phonon polarizations. Plasmon-phonon coupling is
strongest when these two excitations have similar energy and momentum. We also
analyze properties of transverse electric plasmons in bilayer graphene. Finally
we show that thermally excited plasmons strongly mediate and enhance the near
field radiation transfer between two closely separated graphene sheets. We also
demonstrate that graphene can be used as a thermal emitter in the near field
thermophotovoltaics leading to large efficiencies and power densities. Near
field heat transfer is analyzed withing the framework of fluctuational
electrodynamics.


title: redMaPPer I: Algorithm and SDSS DR8 Catalog

abstract:
  We describe redMaPPer, a new red-sequence cluster finder specifically
designed to make optimal use of ongoing and near-future large photometric
surveys. The algorithm has multiple attractive features: (1) It can iteratively
self-train the red-sequence model based on minimal spectroscopic training
sample, an important feature for high redshift surveys; (2) It can handle
complex masks with varying depth; (3) It produces cluster-appropriate random
points to enable large-scale structure studies; (4) All clusters are assigned a
full redshift probability distribution P(z); (5) Similarly, clusters can have
multiple candidate central galaxies, each with corresponding centering
probabilities; (6) The algorithm is parallel and numerically efficient: it can
run a Dark Energy Survey-like catalog in ~500 CPU hours; (7) The algorithm
exhibits excellent photometric redshift performance, the richness estimates are
tightly correlated with external mass proxies, and the completeness and purity
of the corresponding catalogs is superb. We apply the redMaPPer algorithm to
~10,000 deg^2 of SDSS DR8 data, and present the resulting catalog of ~25,000
clusters over the redshift range 0.08<z<0.55. The redMaPPer photometric
redshifts are nearly Gaussian, with a scatter \sigma_z ~ 0.006 at z~0.1,
increasing to \sigma_z~0.02 at z~0.5 due to increased photometric noise near
the survey limit. The median value for |\Delta z|/(1+z) for the full sample is
0.006. The incidence of projection effects is low (<=5%). Detailed performance
comparisons of the redMaPPer DR8 cluster catalog to X-ray and SZ catalogs are
presented in a companion paper (Rozo & Rykoff 2014).


title: Effective hydrodynamics of black D3-branes

abstract:
  The long-wavelength effective field theory of world-volume fluctuations of
black D3-branes is shown to be a hydrodynamical system to leading order in a
gradient expansion. We study the system on a fiducial `cutoff' surface: the
fluctuating geometry imprints its dynamics on the surface via an induced stress
tensor whose conservation encapsulates the hydrodynamical description. For a
generic non-extremal D3-brane, as we move our cutoff surface from the
asymptotically flat near-boundary region to the near-horizon region, this
hydrodynamical system interpolates between a non-conformal relativistic fluid
and a non-relativistic incompressible fluid. We also consider the dependence on
the deviation from extremality of the D3-branes. In the near-extremal case we
recover the description in terms of a conformal relativistic fluid encountered
in the AdS/CFT context. We argue that this system allows us therefore to
explore the various connections that have hitherto been suggested relating the
dynamics of gravitational systems and fluid dynamics. In particular, we go on
to show that the blackfold effective field theory approach allows us to capture
this hydrodynamical behaviour and moreover subsumes the constructions
encountered in the fluid/gravity correspondence and the black hole membrane
paradigm, providing thereby a universal language to explore the effective
dynamics of black branes.


title: Distributed Dominating Sets on Grids

abstract:
  This paper presents a distributed algorithm for finding near optimal
dominating sets on grids. The basis for this algorithm is an existing
centralized algorithm that constructs dominating sets on grids. The size of the
dominating set provided by this centralized algorithm is upper-bounded by
$\lceil\frac{(m+2)(n+2)}{5}\rceil$ for $m\times n$ grids and its difference
from the optimal domination number of the grid is upper-bounded by five. Both
the centralized and distributed algorithms are generalized for the $k$-distance
dominating set problem, where all grid vertices are within distance $k$ of the
vertices in the dominating set.


title: Cosmic Ray Energy Spectrum from Measurements of Air Showers

abstract:
  This review focuses on high-energy cosmic rays in the PeV energy range and
above. Of particular interest is the knee of the spectrum around 3 PeV and the
transition from cosmic rays of Galactic origin to particles from extra-galactic
sources. Our goal is to establish a baseline spectrum from 10^14 to 10^20 eV by
combining the results of many measurements at different energies. In
combination with measurements of the nuclear composition of the primaries, the
shape of the energy spectrum places constraints on the number and spectra of
sources that may contribute to the observed spectrum.


title:
Variation of the Diameter of the Sun as Measured by the Solar Disk
  Sextant (SDS)

abstract:
  The balloon-borne Solar Disk Sextant (SDS) experiment has measured the
angular size of the Sun on seven occasions spanning the years 1992 to 2011. The
solar half-diameter -- observed in a 100-nm wide passband centred at 615 nm --
is found to vary over that period by up to 200 mas, while the typical estimated
uncertainty of each measure is 20 mas. The diameter variation is not in phase
with the solar activity cycle; thus, the measured diameter variation cannot be
explained as an observational artefact of surface activity. Other possible
instrument-related explanations for the observed variation are considered but
found unlikely, leading us to conclude that the variation is real. The SDS is
described here in detail, as is the complete analysis procedure necessary to
calibrate the instrument and allow comparison of diameter measures across
decades.


title: Frobenius Pairs and Atiyah Duality

abstract:
  We define a notion of "Frobenius pair", which is a mild generalization of the
notion of Frobenius object in a monoidal category. We then show that Atiyah
duality for smooth manifolds can be encapsulated in the statement that a
certain collection of structure obtained from a manifold forms a commutative
Frobenius pair in the stable homotopy category of spectra.


title: A 2D field theory equivalent to 3D gravity with no cosmological constant

abstract:
  In (2+1) space-time dimensions the Einstein theory of gravity has no local
degrees of freedom. In fact, in the presence of a negative cosmological term,
it is described by a (1+1) dimensional theory living on its boundary: Liouville
theory. It is invariant under the action of the two-dimensional conformal
group, which, in the gravitational context, corresponds to the asymptotic
symmetries of asymptotically AdS geometries. In the flat case, when the
cosmological term is turned off, a theory describing gravity at the boundary is
absent. In this note we show that, in the Hamiltonian setup, such a theory may
be constructed. The theory is BMS3 invariant, as it should, corresponding to
the asymptotic symmetry group of an asymptotically flat spacetime.


title: On the skew-symmetric character of the couple-stress tensor

abstract:
  In this paper, the skew-symmetric character of the couple-stress tensor is
established as the result of arguments from tensor analysis. Consequently, the
couple-stress pseudo-tensor has a true vectorial character. The fundamental
step in this development is that the isotropic couple-stress tensor cannot
exist.


title: The universal Higgs fit

abstract:
  We perform a state-of-the-art global fit to all Higgs data. We synthesise
them into a 'universal' form, which allows to easily test any desired model. We
apply the proposed methodology to extract from data the Higgs branching ratios,
production cross sections, couplings and to analyse composite Higgs models,
models with extra Higgs doublets, supersymmetry, extra particles in the loops,
anomalous top couplings, invisible Higgs decay into Dark Matter. Best fit
regions lie around the Standard Model predictions and are well approximated by
our 'universal' fit. Latest data exclude the dilaton as an alternative to the
Higgs, and disfavour fits with negative Yukawa couplings. We derive for the
first time the SM Higgs boson mass from the measured rates, rather than from
the peak positions, obtaining $M_h = 125.0 \pm 1.8$ GeV.


title:
Flows and polarization of early photons with magnetic field at strong
  coupling

abstract:
  Recent experimental results from RHIC and LHC on hard photon emission rates
in heavy-ion collisions indicate a large azimuthal asymmetry of photon emission
rate parameterized by the elliptic flow v_2. Motivated by a recent proposal
that the early magnetic field created by two colliding heavy-ions may be
responsible for this large azimuthal asymmetry of photon emission rate, we
compute the azimuthal dependence of the photon emission rate from a strongly
coupled finite temperature plasma with magnetic field in the framework of
gauge/gravity correspondence. We also propose and compute a new observable,
"in/out-plane polarization asymmetry", constructed from the polarization
dependence of the photon emission rates. We observe that both the azimuthal and
polarization asymmetry of photon emissions are strongly affected by the
triangle anomaly (chiral anomaly) for low frequency regime below 1 GeV.


title:
Constructing symmetric topological phases of bosons in three dimensions
  via fermionic projective construction and dyon condensation

abstract:
  Recently, there is a considerable study on gapped symmetric phases of bosons
that do not break any symmetry. Even without symmetry breaking, the bosons can
still be in many exotic new states of matter, such as symmetry-protected
trivial (SPT) phases which are short-range entangled and symmetry-enriched
topological (SET) phases which are long-range entangled. It is well-known that
non-interacting fermionic topological insulators are SPT states protected by
time-reversal symmetry and U(1) fermion number conservation symmetry. In this
paper, we construct three-dimensional exotic phases of bosons with
time-reversal symmetry and boson number conservation U(1) symmetry by means of
fermionic projective construction. We first construct an algebraic bosonic
insulator which is a symmetric bosonic state with an emergent U(1) gapless
gauge field. We then obtain many gapped bosonic states that do not break the
time-reversal symmetry and boson number conservation via proper dyon
condensations. We identify the constructed states by calculating the allowed
electric and magnetic charges of their excitations, as well as the statistics
and the symmetric transformation properties of those excitations. This allows
us to show that our constructed states can be trivial SPT states (i.e. trivial
Mott insulators of bosons with symmetry), non-trivial SPT states (i.e. bosonic
topological insulators) and SET states (i.e. fractional bosonic topological
insulators). In non-trivial SPT states, the elementary monopole (carrying zero
electric charge but unit magnetic charge) and elementary dyon (carrying both
unit electric charge and unit magnetic charge) are fermionic and bosonic,
respectively. In SET states, intrinsic excitations may carry fractional charge.


title: On properties of Parisi measures

abstract:
  We investigate the structure of Parisi measures, the functional order
parameters of mixed p-spin models in mean field spin glasses. In the absence of
external field, we prove that a Parisi measure satisfies the following
properties. First, at all temperatures, the support of any Parisi measure
contains the origin. If it contains an open interval, then the measure has a
smooth density on this interval. Next, we give a criterion on temperature
parameters for which a Parisi measure is neither Replica Symmetric nor One
Replica Symmetry Breaking. Finally, we show that in the Sherrington-Kirkpatrick
model, slightly above the critical temperature, the largest number in the
support of a Parisi measure is a jump discontinuity. An analogue of these
results is discussed in the spherical mixed p-spin models. As a tool to
establish these facts and of independent interest, we study functionals of the
associated Parisi PDEs and derive regularity properties of their solutions.


title: Sensitivity indices for multivariate outputs

abstract:
  We define and study a generalization of Sobol sensitivity indices for the
case of a vector output.


title:
Lie algebras responsible for zero-curvature representations of scalar
  evolution equations

abstract:
  Zero-curvature representations (ZCRs) are one of the main tools in the theory
of integrable PDEs. In particular, Lax pairs for (1+1)-dimensional PDEs can be
interpreted as ZCRs.
  For any (1+1)-dimensional scalar evolution equation $E$, we define a family
of Lie algebras $F(E)$ which are responsible for all ZCRs of $E$ in the
following sense. Representations of the algebras $F(E)$ classify all ZCRs of
the equation $E$ up to local gauge transformations. To achieve this, we find a
normal form for ZCRs with respect to the action of the group of local gauge
transformations.
  As we show in other publications, using these algebras, one obtains some
necessary conditions for integrability of the considered PDEs (where
integrability is understood in the sense of soliton theory) and necessary
conditions for existence of a B\"acklund transformation between two given
equations. Examples of proving non-integrability and applications to obtaining
non-existence results for B\"acklund transformations are presented in other
publications as well.
  In our approach, ZCRs may depend on partial derivatives of arbitrary order,
which may be higher than the order of the equation $E$. The algebras $F(E)$
generalize Wahlquist-Estabrook prolongation algebras, which are responsible for
a much smaller class of ZCRs.
  In this paper we describe general properties of $F(E)$ and present generators
and relations for these algebras. In other publications we study the structure
of $F(E)$ for equations of KdV, Krichever-Novikov, Kaup-Kupershmidt,
Sawada-Kotera types. Among the obtained algebras, one finds
infinite-dimensional Lie algebras of certain matrix-valued functions on
rational and elliptic algebraic curves.


title: Cosmology from Group Field Theory Formalism for Quantum Gravity

abstract:
  We identify a class of condensate states in the group field theory (GFT)
approach to quantum gravity that can be interpreted as macroscopic homogeneous
spatial geometries. We then extract the dynamics of such condensate states
directly from the fundamental quantum GFT dynamics, following the procedure
used in ordinary quantum fluids. The effective dynamics is a non-linear and
non-local extension of quantum cosmology. We also show that any GFT model with
a kinetic term of Laplacian type gives rise, in a semi-classical (WKB)
approximation and in the isotropic case, to a modified Friedmann equation. This
is the first concrete, general procedure for extracting an effective
cosmological dynamics directly from a fundamental theory of quantum geometry.


title: Intermittency induced long-range cross-correlations

abstract:
  Cross-correlations are usually considered to emerge through interaction
between particles. Here we present a mechanism capable to generate power-law
cross-correlations between non-interacting particles exposed to an external
potential. This phenomenon can occur as an ensemble property when the external
potential induces intermittent dynamics, providing laminar and stochastic
phases of motion. We have strong indications that the divergence of the mean
residence time in the laminar phase of the single particle motion - sporadic
dynamics - is a sufficient condition for the emergence of long-range
cross-correlations. We argue that this mechanism may be relevant for the
occurrence of collective behaviour in critical systems.


title:
A 3D Curve Offset Approach for Ruled Surface Generation in Engineering
  Design

abstract:
  Ruled surface is widely used in engineering design such as parting surface
design of injection mold and checking surface design of checking fixture, which
are usually generated by offsetting 3D curves. However, in 3D curve offset,
there often exist break,interaction and overlapping problems which can't be
solved by current CAD software automatically. This paper is targeted at
developing a 3D curve offsetting algorithm for ruled surface generation, and
three key technologies are introduced in details: An improved curve division
method is proposed to reduce the offset accuracy error resulted from different
offset distances and curvatures; An offsetting curve overlapping detection and
elimination method is proposed; And then, a curve transition method is
presented to improve curve offsetting quality for the break and
intersection/overlapping regions, where a new algorithm for generating positive
weights spherical rational quartic Bezier curve is proposed to bridge the
breaks of offset curves to create a smooth ruled surface. Finally, two
practical design cases, parting surface and checking surface generation, show
that the proposed approach can enhance the efficiency and quality for ruled
surface generation in engineering design.


title: The van der Waals force and gravitational force in matter

abstract:
  It was thought that the van der Waals force and gravitational force were
distinct. Now a model is used to describe the attraction between macroscopic
objects according to van der Waals interaction. The force between two objects
with thermal equilibrium deviates from the law of universal gravitation
slightly, and the gravity on the earth is explained approximately. We argue
that the gravitational force is the van der Waals force actually. In other
words, the gravitational force and mass are related to the quantum fluctuations
of electron clouds in atoms, and these parameters are dictated by dielectric
susceptibility.


title: Supersymmetrizing Massive Gravity

abstract:
  When four scalar fields with global Lorentz symmetry are coupled to gravity
and take a vacuum expectation value breaking diffeomorphism invariance
spontaneously, the graviton becomes massive. This model is supersymmetrized by
considering four N=1 chiral superfields with global Lorentz symmetry. When the
scalar components of the chiral multiplets z^A acquire a vacuum expectation
value, both diffeomorphism invariance and local supersymmetry are broken
spontaneously. The global Lorentz index A becomes identified with the
space-time Lorentz index making the scalar fields z^A vectors and the chiral
spinors psi^A spin-3/2 Rarita-Schwinger fields. The global supersymmetry is
promoted to a local one using the rules of tensor calculus of coupling the N=1
supergravity Lagrangian to the four chiral multiplets. We show that the
spectrum of the model in the broken phase consists of a massive spin-2 field,
two massive spin-3/2 fields with different mass and a massive vector.


title: Study of some steller iron group fusion materials for (n,p) reactions

abstract:
  The excitation functions for (n,p) reactions from reaction threshold to 24
MeV on some important iron (Fe) group target elements for astrophysical (n, p)
reactions such as Si, Ca, Sc, Ti, Cr, Fe, Co and Ni were calculated using
TALYS-1.0 nuclear model code. The new calculations on the excitation functions
Of 28Si(n,p)28Al, 29Si(n, p)29Al, 42Ca(n, p)42K, 45Sc(n, p)45Ca, 46Ti(n,p)46Sc,
52Cr(n, p)52V, 53Cr(n, p)53V, 54Fe(n,p)54Mn, 57Fe(n,p)57Mn, 59Co(n, p)59Fe,
58Ni(n, p)58Co and 60Ni(n, p)60Co reactions have been carried out up to 24 MeV
incident neutron energy. In these calculations, the pre-equilibrium and
equilibrium effects have been investigated. Statistical model calculations,
based on the Hauser-Feshbach formalism, have been carried out using the
TALYS-1.0 and were compared with existing experimental data as well as with
evaluated data files (Experimental Nuclear Reaction Data (EXFOR).According to
these calculations, we assume that these model calculations can be applied to
some heavy elements, ejected into interstellar medium by dramatic supernova
events.


title: A strain tensor that couples to the Madelung stress tensor

abstract:
  Ordinarily, the stress tensor that one derives for a Madelung fluid is not
regarded as being coupled to a strain tensor, which is consistent with the
fluid hypothesis. However, based upon earlier work regarding the geometric
nature of the quantum potential, one can, in fact, define a strain tensor,
which is not, however, due to a deformation of a spatial region, but to a
deformation of a frame field on that region. When one expresses the Madelung
stress tensor as a function of the strain tensor and its derivatives, one then
defines a constitutive law for the Madelung medium that might lead to a more
detailed picture of its elementary structure. It is pointed out that the
resulting constitutive law is strongly analogous to laws that were presented by
Kelvin and Tait for the bending and torsion of elastic wires and plates, as
well as the Einstein equations for gravitation if one takes the viewpoint of
metric elasticity.


title: Quantum Flutter: Signatures and Robustness

abstract:
  We investigate the motion of an impurity particle injected with finite
velocity into an interacting one-dimensional quantum gas. Using large-scale
numerical simulations based on matrix product states, we observe and
quantitatively analyze long-lived oscillations of the impurity momentum around
a non-zero saturation value, called quantum flutter. We show that the quantum
flutter frequency is equal to the energy difference between two branches of
collective excitations of the model. We propose an explanation of the finite
saturation momentum of the impurity based on the properties of the edge of the
excitation spectrum. Our results indicate that quantum flutter exists away from
integrability, and provide parameter regions in which it could be observed in
experiments with ultracold atoms using currently available technology.


title:
The Spatial Extent and Distribution of Star Formation in 3D-HST Mergers
  at z~1.5

abstract:
  We present an analysis of the spatial distribution of star formation in a
sample of 60 visually identified galaxy merger candidates at z>1. Our sample,
drawn from the 3D-HST survey, is flux-limited and was selected to have high
star formation rates based on fits of their broad-band, low spatial resolution
spectral energy distributions. It includes plausible pre-merger (close pairs)
and post-merger (single objects with tidal features) systems, with total
stellar masses and star formation rates derived from multi-wavelength
photometry. Here we use near-infrared slitless spectra from 3D-HST which
produce Halpha or [OIII] emission line maps as proxies for star-formation maps.
This provides a first comprehensive high-resolution, empirical picture of where
star formation occurred in galaxy mergers at the epoch of peak cosmic star
formation rate. We find that detectable star formation can occur in one or both
galaxy centres, or in tidal tails. The most common case (58%) is that star
formation is largely concentrated in a single, compact region, coincident with
the centre of (one of) the merger components. No correlations between star
formation morphology and redshift, total stellar mass, or star formation rate
are found. A restricted set of hydrodynamical merger simulations between
similarly massive and gas-rich objects implies that star formation should be
detectable in both merger components, when the gas fractions of the individual
components are the same. This suggests that z~1.5 mergers typically occur
between galaxies whose gas fractions, masses, and/or star formation rates are
distinctly different from one another.


title:
Unveiling the nature of the unidentified gamma-ray sources II: radio,
  infrared and optical counterparts of the gamma-ray blazar candidates

abstract:
  A significant fraction (~30%) of the high-energy gamma-ray sources listed in
the second Fermi LAT catalog (2FGL) are still of unknown origin, being not yet
associated with counterparts at low energies. We recently developed a new
association method to identify if there is a gamma-ray blazar candidate within
the positional uncertainty region of a generic 2FGL source. This method is
entirely based on the discovery that blazars have distinct infrared colors with
respect to other extragalactic sources found thanks, to the Wide-field Infrared
Survey Explorer (WISE) all-sky observations. Several improvements have been
also performed to increase the efficiency of our method in recognizing
gamma-ray blazar candidates. In this paper we applied our method to two
different samples, the first constituted by the unidentified gamma-ray sources
(UGSs) while the second by the active galaxies of uncertain type (AGUs), both
listed in the 2FGL. We present a catalog of IR counterparts for ~20% of the
UGSs investigated. Then, we also compare our results on the associated sources
with those present in literature. In addition, we illustrate the extensive
archival research carried out to identify the radio, infrared, optical and
X-ray counterparts of the WISE selected, gamma-ray blazar candidates. Finally,
we discuss the future developments of our method based on ground-based
follow-up observations.


title: Numerical resolution limits on subhalo abundance matching

abstract:
  Subhalo abundance matching (SHAM) inserts galaxies into dark matter only
simulations of the growth of cosmic structure in a way that requires minimal
assumptions about galaxy formation. A galaxy is placed at the potential minimum
of each distinct self-bound subhalo with a luminosity which is a monotonically
increasing function of the maximum mass (or circular velocity) attained over
the subhalo's earlier history. Galaxy and subhalo properties are linked by
matching model and observed luminosity functions. Simulated structures can then
be compared in detail with observation, for example, through galaxy correlation
statistics, group catalogues, or galaxy-galaxy lensing. Robust astrophysical
conclusions can be drawn from such a comparison only on scales which are
unaffected by the numerical limitations of the simulation. Here we compare
results for the Millennium Simulation (MS) with subhalos defined using the
SUBFIND to those obtained applying identical analysis to the much higher
resolution Millennium-II. Correlation statistics on scales between 200 kpc and
2 Mpc converge to within 20% only for subhalos with masses at infall
corresponding to at least 1000 simulation particles in the MS. Numerically
converged results can be obtained to much lower infall particle number, if
galaxies are followed even after their associated subhalos have been tidally
disrupted, as in most recent semi-analytic galaxy formation simulations. This
allows robust comparison between simulation and observation over a wider
dynamic range in mass than for a SHAM analysis which ignores such "orphan"
galaxies.


title:
Identification of Outflows and Candidate Dual Active Galactic Nuclei in
  SDSS Quasars at z=0.8-1.6

abstract:
  We present a sample of 131 quasars from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey at
redshifts 0.8<z<1.6 with double peaks in either of the high-ionization narrow
emission lines [NeV]3426 or [NeIII]3869. These sources were selected with the
intention of identifying high-redshift analogs of the z<0.8 active galactic
nuclei (AGN) with double-peaked [OIII]5007 lines, which might represent AGN
outflows or dual AGN. Lines of high-ionization potential are believed to
originate in the inner, highly photoionized portion of the narrow line region
(NLR), and we exploit this assumption to investigate the possible kinematic
origins of the double-peaked lines. For comparison, we measure the [NeV]3426
and [NeIII]3869 double peaks in low-redshift (z<0.8) [OIII]-selected sources.
We find that [NeV]3426 and [NeIII]3869 show a correlation between
line-splitting and line-width similar to that of [OIII]5007 in other studies;
and the velocity-splittings are correlated with the quasar Eddington ratio.
These results suggest an outflow origin for at least a subset of the
double-peaks, allowing us to study the high-ionization gas kinematics around
quasars. However, we find that a non-neligible fraction of our sample show no
evidence for an ionization stratification. For these sources, the outflow
scenario is less compelling, leaving the dual AGN scenario as a viable
possibility. Finally, we find that our sample shows an anti-correlation between
the velocity-offset ratio and luminosity ratio of the components, which is a
potential dynamical argument for the presence of dual AGN. Therefore, this
study serves as a first attempt at extending the selection of candidate dual
AGN to higher redshifts.


title:
Improving the precision of time-delay cosmography with observations of
  galaxies along the line of sight

abstract:
  In order to use strong gravitational lens time delays to measure precise and
accurate cosmological parameters the effects of mass along the line of sight
must be taken into account. We present a method to achieve this by constraining
the probability distribution function of the effective line of sight
convergence k_ext. The method is based on matching the observed overdensity in
the weighted number of galaxies to that found in mock catalogs with k_ext
obtained by ray-tracing through structure formation simulations. We explore
weighting schemes based on projected distance, mass, luminosity, and redshift.
This additional information reduces the uncertainty of k_ext from sigma_k $0.06
to ~0.04 for very overdense lines of sight like that of the system B1608+656.
For more common lines of sight, sigma_k is reduced to ~<0.03, corresponding to
an uncertainty of ~<3% on distance. This uncertainty has comparable effects on
cosmological parameters to that arising from the mass model of the deflector
and its immediate environment. Photometric redshifts based on g, r, i and K
photometries are sufficient to constrain k_ext almost as well as with
spectroscopic redshifts. As an illustration, we apply our method to the system
B1608+656. Our most reliable k_ext estimator gives sigma_k=0.047 down from
0.065 using only galaxy counts. Although deeper multi-band observations of the
field of B1608+656 are necessary to obtain a more precise estimate, we conclude
that griK photometry, in addition to spectroscopy to characterize the immediate
environment, is an effective way to increase the precision of time-delay
cosmography.


title:
Hypercharge Flux in IIB and F-theory: Anomalies and Gauge Coupling
  Unification

abstract:
  We analyse hypercharge flux GUT breaking in F-theory/Type IIB GUT models with
regards to its implications for anomaly cancellation and gauge coupling
unification. To this aim we exploit the Type IIB limit and consider 7-brane
configurations that for the first time are guaranteed to exhibit net
hypercharge flux restriction to matter curves. We show that local F-theory
models with anomalies of type U(1)_Y-U(1)^2 in the massless spectrum can be
consistent only if such additional U(1)s are globally geometrically massive (in
the sense that they arise from non-Kahler deformations of the Calabi-Yau
four-fold). Further, in such cases of geometrically massive U(1)s hypercharge
flux can induce new anomalies of type U(1)_Y^2-U(1) in the massless spectrum,
violating constraints in local models forbidding such anomalies. In particular
this implies that it is possible to construct models exhibiting a U(1)_{PQ}
global symmetry which have hypercharge flux doublet-triplet splitting and no
further exotics. We also show that the known hypercharge flux induced splitting
of the gauge couplings in IIB models at tree-level can be reduced by a factor
of 5 by employing a more F-theoretic twisting of U(1) flux by hypercharge flux
bringing it to well within MSSM 2-loop results. In the case of net restriction
of hypercharge flux to matter curves this tree-level splitting becomes more
involved, is tied to the vacuum expectation values of certain closed-string
fields, and therefore gauge coupling unification becomes tied to the question
of moduli stabilisation.


title: Higgs production in gluon fusion beyond NNLO

abstract:
  We construct an approximate expression for the cross section for Higgs
production in gluon fusion at next-to-next-to-next-to-leading order (N$^3$LO)
in $\alpha_s$ with finite top mass. We argue that an accurate approximation can
be constructed by exploiting the analiticity of the Mellin space cross section,
and the information on its singularity structure coming from large N (soft
gluon, Sudakov) and small N (high energy, BFKL) all order resummations. We
support our argument with an explicit comparison of the approximate and the
exact expressions up to the highest (NNLO) order at which the latter are
available. We find that the approximate N$^3$LO result amounts to a correction
of 16% to the NNLO QCD cross section for production of a 125 GeV Higgs at the
LHC (8 TeV), larger than previously estimated, and it significantly reduces the
scale dependence of the NNLO result.


title: Recolliding orbits in an intense laser field

abstract:
  We show that a family of key periodic orbits drive the recollision process in
a strong circulary polarized laser field. These orbits, coined recolliding
periodic orbits, exist for a wide range of parameters and their relative
influence changes as the laser and atomic parameters are varied. We find the
necessary conditions for recollision-driven nonsequential double ionization to
occur. The outlined mechanism is universal in that it applies equally well
beyond atoms: The internal structure of the target species plays a minor role
in the recollision process.


title: Expressing Ethnicity through Behaviors of a Robot Character

abstract:
  Achieving homophily, or association based on similarity, between a human user
and a robot holds a promise of improved perception and task performance.
However, no previous studies that address homophily via ethnic similarity with
robots exist. In this paper, we discuss the difficulties of evoking ethnic cues
in a robot, as opposed to a virtual agent, and an approach to overcome those
difficulties based on using ethnically salient behaviors. We outline our
methodology for selecting and evaluating such behaviors, and culminate with a
study that evaluates our hypotheses of the possibility of ethnic attribution of
a robot character through verbal and nonverbal behaviors and of achieving the
homophily effect.


title:
Ferroelectric switching dynamics of topological vortex domains in a
  hexagonal manganite

abstract:
  Field-induced switching of ferroelectric domains with a topological vortex
configuration is studied by atomic imaging and electrical biasing in an
electron microscope, revealing the role of topological defects on the
topologically-guided change of domain-wall pairs in a hexagonal manganite.