title:
Estimating Time-varying Brain Connectivity Networks from Functional MRI
  Time Series

abstract:
  Understanding the functional architecture of the brain in terms of networks
is becoming increasingly common. In most fMRI applications functional networks
are assumed to be stationary, resulting in a single network estimated for the
entire time course. However recent results suggest that the connectivity
between brain regions is highly non-stationary even at rest. As a result, there
is a need for new brain imaging methodologies that comprehensively account for
the dynamic (i.e., non-stationary) nature of the fMRI data. In this work we
propose the Smooth Incremental Graphical Lasso Estimation (SINGLE) algorithm
which estimates dynamic brain networks from fMRI data. We apply the SINGLE
algorithm to functional MRI data from 24 healthy patients performing a
choice-response task to demonstrate the dynamic changes in network structure
that accompany a simple but attentionally demanding cognitive task. Using graph
theoretic measures we show that the Right Inferior Frontal Gyrus, frequently
reported as playing an important role in cognitive control, dynamically changes
with the task. Our results suggest that the Right Inferior Frontal Gyrus plays
a fundamental role in the attention and executive function during cognitively
demanding tasks and may play a key role in regulating the balance between other
brain regions.


title: Degrees and distances in random and evolving Apollonian networks

abstract:
  This paper studies Random and Evolving Apollonian networks (RANs and EANs),
in d dimension for any d>=2, i.e. dynamically evolving random d dimensional
simplices looked as graphs inside an initial d-dimensional simplex. We
determine the limiting degree distribution in RANs and show that it follows a
power law tail with exponent tau=(2d-1)/(d-1). We further show that the degree
distribution in EANs converges to the same degree distribution if the
simplex-occupation parameter in the n-th step of the dynamics is q_n->0 and
sum_{n=0}^infty q_n =infty. This result gives a rigorous proof for the
conjecture of Zhang et al. that EANs tend to show similar behavior as RANs once
the occupation parameter q->0. We also determine the asymptotic behavior of
shortest paths in RANs and EANs for arbitrary d dimensions. For RANs we show
that the shortest path between two uniformly chosen vertices (typical
distance), the flooding time of a uniformly picked vertex and the diameter of
the graph after n steps all scale as constant times log n. We determine the
constants for all three cases and prove a central limit theorem for the typical
distances. We prove a similar CLT for typical distances in EANs.


title: Compactness properties of commutators of bilinear fractional integrals

abstract:
  Commutators of a large class of bilinear operators and multiplication by
functions in a certain subspace of the space of functions of bounded mean
oscillations are shown to be jointly compact. Under a similar commutation,
fractional integral versions of the bilinear Hilbert transform yield separately
compact operators.


title: Infinite horizon value functions in the Wasserstein spaces

abstract:
  We perform a systematic study of optimization problems in the Wasserstein
spaces that are analogs of infinite horizon, deterministic control problems. We
derive necessary conditions on action minimizing paths and present a sufficient
condition for their existence. We also verify that the corresponding
generalized value functions are a type of viscosity solution of a time
independent, Hamilton-Jacobi equation in the space of probability measures.
Finally, we prove a special case of a conjecture involving the subdifferential
of generalized value functions and their relation to action minimizing paths.


title: The Virial Correction to the Ideal Gas Law: A Primer

abstract:
  The virial expansion of a gas is a correction to the ideal gas law that is
usually discussed in advanced courses in statistical mechanics. In this note we
outline this derivation in a manner suitable for advanced undergraduate and
introductory graduate classroom presentations. We introduce a physically
meaningful interpretation of the virial expansion that has heretofore escaped
attention, by showing that the virial series is actually an expansion in a
parameter that is the ratio of the effective volume of a molecule to its mean
volume. Using this interpretation we show why under normal conditions ordinary
gases such as O_2 and N_2 can be regarded as ideal gases.


title: The inhomogeneous Suslov problem

abstract:
  We consider the Suslov problem of nonholonomic rigid body motion with
inhomogeneous constraints. We show that if the direction along which the Suslov
constraint is enforced is perpendicular to a principal axis of inertia of the
body, then the reduced equations are integrable and, in the generic case,
possess a smooth invariant measure. Interestingly, in this generic case, the
first integral that permits integration is transcendental and the density of
the invariant measure depends on the angular velocities. We also study the
Painlev\'e property of the solutions.


title:
Nuclear Effects in Neutrino Interactions and their Impact on the
  Determination of Oscillation Parameters

abstract:
  The quantitative description of the effects of nuclear dynamics on the
measured neutrino-nucleus cross sections -- needed to reduce the systematic
uncertainty of long baseline neutrino oscillation experiments -- involves
severe difficulties. Owing to the uncertainty on the incoming neutrino energy,
different reaction mechanisms contribute to the cross section measured at fixed
energy and scattering angle of the outgoing lepton, and must therefore be
consistently taken into account within a unified model. We review the
theoretical approach based on the impulse approximation and the use of
realistic nucleon spectral functions, allowing one to describe a variety of
reaction mechanisms active in the broad kinematical range covered by neutrino
experiments. The extension of this scheme to include more complex mechanisms
involving the two-nucleon current, which are believed to be important, is also
outlined. The impact of nuclear effects on the determination of neutrino
oscillation parameters is illustrated by analyzing the problem of neutrino
energy reconstruction.


title: A new way of comparing double beta decay experiments

abstract:
  Many experiments whose goal is the search for neutrino-less double beta decay
are taking data or in a final construction stage. The need for a tool that
allows for an objective comparison between the sensitivity of different
experiments is mandatory in order to understand the potential of the next
generation projects and focus on the best promising technologies.


title:
On a canonical construction of tesselated surfaces via finite group
  theory, Part II

abstract:
  This paper is the second part of a two-part study of an elementary functorial
construction of tesselated surfaces from finite groups. This elementary
construction was discussed in the first part and generally results in a large
collection of tesselated surfaces per group, for example when the construction
is applied to \Sigma_6 it yields 4477 tesselated surfaces of 27 distinct genus
and even more varieties of tesselation cell structure. These tesselations are
face and edge transitive and consist of closed cell structures. In this paper,
we continue to study the distribution of these surfaces in various groups and
some interesting resulting tesselations with the aid of computer computations.
We also show that extensions of groups result in branched coverings between the
component surfaces in their decompositions. Finally we exploit functoriality to
obtain interesting faithful, orientation preserving actions of subquotients of
these groups and their automorphism groups on these surfaces and in the
corresponding mapping class groups.


title: Coarse Graining in Hydrodynamics and Effects of Fluctuations

abstract:
  We address the physical meaning of hydrodynamic approach related with the
coarse graining scale in the frame work of variational formulation. We point
out that the local thermal equilibrium does not necessarily play a critical
role in the description of the collective flow patterns. We further show that
the effect of viscosity is also formulated in the form of the variational
method including fluctuations.


title: Soliton theory and Hankel operators

abstract:
  Soliton theory and the theory of Hankel (and Toeplitz) operators have stayed
essentially hermetic to each other. This paper is concerned with linking
together these two very active and extremely large theories. On the
prototypical example of the Cauchy problem for the Korteweg-de Vries (KdV)
equation we demonstrate the power of the language of Hankel operators in which
symbols are conveniently represented in terms of the scattering data for the
Schrodinger operator associated with the initial data for the KdV equation.
This approach yields short-cuts to already known results as well as to a
variety of new ones (e.g. wellposedness beyond standard assumptions on the
initial data) which are achieved by employing some subtle results for Hankel
operators.


title: A Note on Flux Integrals over Smooth Regular Domains

abstract:
  We provide new bounds on a flux integral over the portion of the boundary of
one regular domain contained inside a second regular domain, based on
properties of the second domain rather than the first one. This bound is
amenable to numerical computation of a flux through the boundary of a domain,
for example, when there is a large variation in the normal vector near a point.
We present applications of this result to occupational measures and
two-dimensional differential equations, including a new proof that all minimal
invariant sets in the plane are trivial.


title: Cucker-Smale flocking with alternating leaders

abstract:
  We study the emergent flocking behavior in a group of Cucker-Smale flocking
agents under rooted leadership with alternating leaders. It is well known that
the network topology regulates the emergent behaviors of flocks. All existing
results on the Cucker-Smale model with leader-follower topologies assume a
fixed leader during temporal evolution process. The rooted leadership is the
most general topology taking a leadership. Motivated by collective behaviors
observed in the flocks of birds, swarming fishes and potential engineering
applications, we consider the rooted leadership with alternating leaders; that
is, at each time slice there is a leader but it can be switched among the
agents from time to time. We will provide several sufficient conditions leading
to the asymptotic flocking among the Cucker-Smale agents under rooted
leadership with alternating leaders.


title:
Force spectroscopy of polymer desorption: Theory and Molecular Dynamics
  simulation

abstract:
  Forced detachment of a single polymer chain, strongly-adsorbed on a solid
substrate, is investigated by two complementary methods: a coarse-grained
analytical dynamical model, based on the Onsager stochastic equation, and
Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations with Langevin thermostat. The suggested
approach makes it possible to go beyond the limitations of the conventional
Bell-Evans model. We observe a series of characteristic force spikes when the
pulling force is measured against the cantilever displacement during detachment
at constant velocity $v_c$ (displacement control mode) and find that the
average magnitude of this force increases as $v_c$ grows. The probability
distributions of the pulling force and the end-monomer distance from the
surface at the moment of final detachment are investigated for different
adsorption energy $\epsilon$ and pulling velocity $v_c$. Our extensive
MD-simulations validate and support the main theoretical findings. Moreover,
the simulation reveals a novel behavior: for a strong-friction and massive
cantilever the force spikes pattern is smeared out at large $v_c$. As a
challenging task for experimental bio-polymers sequencing in future we suggest
the fabrication of stiff, super-light, nanometer-sized AFM probe.


title: Orbital free pressure and its Legendre transform

abstract:
  Orbital counterparts of the free pressure and its Legendre transform (or
$\eta$-entropy) are introduced and studied in comparison with other entropy
quantities in free probability theory and in relation to random multi-matrix
models.


title: The mirabolic Hecke algebra

abstract:
  The Iwahori-Hecke algebra of the symmetric group is the convolution algebra
of $\gl_n$-invariant functions on the variety of pairs of complete flags over a
finite field. Considering convolution on the space of triples of two flags and
a vector we obtain the mirabolic Hecke algebra $R_n$, which had originally been
described by Solomon. In this paper we give a new presentation for $R_n$ which
shows that it is a quotient of a cyclotomic Hecke algebra, as defined by Ariki
and Koike. From this we recover the results of Siegel about the representations
of $R_n$. We use Jucys-Murphy elements to describe the center of $R_n$ and to
give a $\mathfrak{gl}_\infty$-structure on the Grothendieck group of the
category of its representations, giving `mirabolic' analogues of classical
results about the Iwahori-Hecke algebra. We also outline a strategy towards a
proof of the conjecture that the mirabolic Hecke algebra is a cellular algebra.


title: Polynomial Identities on Eigenforms

abstract:
  In this paper, we fix a polynomial with complex coefficients and determine
the eigenforms for SL2(Z) which can be expressed as the fixed polynomial
evaluated at other eigenforms. In particular, we show that when one excludes
trivial cases, only finitely many such identities hold for a fixed polynomial.


title: Extending the halo mass resolution of $N$-body simulations

abstract:
  We present a scheme to extend the halo mass resolution of N-body simulations
of the hierarchical clustering of dark matter. The method uses the density
field of the simulation to predict the number of sub-resolution dark matter
haloes expected in different regions. The technique requires as input the
abundance of haloes of a given mass and their average clustering, as expressed
through the linear and higher order bias factors. These quantities can be
computed analytically or, more accurately, derived from a higher resolution
simulation as done here. Our method can recover the abundance and clustering in
real- and redshift-space of haloes with mass below $\sim 7.5 \times
10^{13}h^{-1}M_{\odot}$ at $z=0$ to better than 10%. We demonstrate the
technique by applying it to an ensemble of 50 low resolution, large-volume
$N$-body simulations to compute the correlation function and covariance matrix
of luminous red galaxies (LRGs). The limited resolution of the original
simulations results in them resolving just two thirds of the LRG population. We
extend the resolution of the simulations by a factor of 30 in halo mass in
order to recover all LRGs. With existing simulations it is possible to generate
a halo catalogue equivalent to that which would be obtained from a $N$-body
simulation using more than 20 trillion particles; a direct simulation of this
size is likely to remain unachievable for many years. Using our method it is
now feasible to build the large numbers of high-resolution large volume mock
galaxy catalogues required to compute the covariance matrices necessary to
analyse upcoming galaxy surveys designed to probe dark energy.


title: On face numbers of neighborly cubical polytopes

abstract:
  Neighborly cubical polytopes are known as the cubical analogues of the cyclic
polytopes. Using the short cubical $h$-vectors of cubical polytopes (introduced
by Adin), we derive an explicit formula for the face numbers of the neighborly
cubical polytopes. These face numbers form a unimodal sequence.


title: Structure and Strength at Immiscible Polymer Interfaces

abstract:
  Thermal welding of polymer-polymer interfaces is important for integrating
polymeric elements into devices. When two different polymers are joined, the
strength of the weld depends critically on the degree of immiscibility. We
perform large-scale molecular dynamics simulations of the structure-strength
relation at immiscible polymer interfaces. Our simulations show that
immiscibility arrests interdiffusion and limits the equilibrium interfacial
width. Even for weakly immiscible films, the narrow interface is unable to
transfer stress upon deformation as effectively as the bulk material, and chain
pullout at the interface becomes the dominant failure mechanism. This greatly
reduces the interfacial strength. The weak response of immiscible interfaces is
shown to arise from an insufficient density of entanglements across the
interface. We demonstrate that there is a threshold interfacial width below
which no significant entanglements can form between opposite sides to
strengthen the interface.


title: A Game Theoretic Analysis for Energy Efficient Heterogeneous Networks

abstract:
  Smooth and green future extension/scalability (e.g., from sparse to dense,
from small-area dense to large-area dense, or from normal-dense to super-dense)
is an important issue in heterogeneous networks. In this paper, we study energy
efficiency of heterogeneous networks for both sparse and dense two-tier small
cell deployments. We formulate the problem as a hierarchical (Stackelberg) game
in which the macro cell is the leader whereas the small cell is the follower.
Both players want to strategically decide on their power allocation policies in
order to maximize the energy efficiency of their registered users. A backward
induction method has been used to obtain a closed-form expression of the
Stackelberg equilibrium. It is shown that the energy efficiency is maximized
when only one sub-band is exploited for the players of the game depending on
their fading channel gains. Simulation results are presented to show the
effectiveness of the proposed scheme.


title:
Predicting the amount of hydrogen stripped by the supernova explosion
  for SN 2002cx-like SNe Ia

abstract:
  The most favored progenitor scenarios for Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) involve
the single-degenerate (SD) scenario and the double-degenerate scenario. The
absence of stripped hydrogen (H) in the nebular spectra of SNe Ia challenges
the SD progenitor models. Recently, it was shown that pure deflagration
explosion models of Chandrasekhar-mass white dwarfs ignited off-center
reproduce the characteristic observational features of 2002cx-like SNe Ia very
well. In this work we predict, for the first time, the amount of stripped H for
the off-center pure deflagration explosions. We find that their low kinetic
energies lead to inefficient H mass stripping (less than 0.01 M_sun),
indicating that the stripped H may be hidden in (observed) late-time spectra of
SN 2002cx-like SNe Ia.


title: Universal State Transfer on Graphs

abstract:
  A continuous-time quantum walk on a graph $G$ is given by the unitary matrix
$U(t) = \exp(-itA)$, where $A$ is the Hermitian adjacency matrix of $G$. We say
$G$ has pretty good state transfer between vertices $a$ and $b$ if for any
$\epsilon > 0$, there is a time $t$, where the $(a,b)$-entry of $U(t)$
satisfies $|U(t)_{a,b}| \ge 1-\epsilon$. This notion was introduced by Godsil
(2011). The state transfer is perfect if the above holds for $\epsilon = 0$. In
this work, we study a natural extension of this notion called universal state
transfer. Here, state transfer exists between every pair of vertices of the
graph. We prove the following results about graphs with this stronger property:
(1) Graphs with universal state transfer have distinct eigenvalues and flat
eigenbasis (where each eigenvector has entries which are equal in magnitude).
(2) The switching automorphism group of a graph with universal state transfer
is abelian and its order divides the size of the graph. Moreover, if the state
transfer is perfect, then the switching automorphism group is cyclic. (3) There
is a family of prime-length cycles with complex weights which has universal
pretty good state transfer. This provides a concrete example of an infinite
family of graphs with the universal property. (4) There exists a class of
graphs with real symmetric adjacency matrices which has universal pretty good
state transfer. In contrast, Kay (2011) proved that no graph with real-valued
adjacency matrix can have universal perfect state transfer. We also provide a
spectral characterization of universal perfect state transfer graphs that are
switching equivalent to circulants.


title:
CMB distortion anisotropies due to the decay of primordial magnetic
  fields

abstract:
  We investigate the power spectrum of the distortion of Cosmic Microwave
Background (CMB) due to the decay of the primordial magnetic fields. It is
known that there are two-types of the CMB distortions, so-called \mu- and
y-types and we find that the signal of the y-type distortion becomes larger
than that of the \mu-type one. We also discuss cross power spectra between the
CMB distortions and the CMB temperature anisotropy, which are naturally
generated due to the existence of the primordial magnetic fields. We find that
such cross power spectra have small amplitudes compared with the auto-power
spectra of the CMB distortions because of the Silk damping effect of the
temperature anisotropy. We also investigate the possibility of detecting such
signal in the future CMB experiments, including not only absolutely calibrated
experiments such as PIXIE but also relatively calibrated experiments such as
LiteBIRD and CMBpol.


title:
Calculation of $B^0 \to K^{*0} \mu^+ \mu^-$ and $B_s^0 \to \phi \mu^+
  \mu^-$ observables using form factors from lattice QCD

abstract:
  We calculate the differential branching fractions and angular distributions
of the rare decays $B^0 \to K^{*0} \mu^+ \mu^-$ and $B_s^0 \to \phi \mu^+
\mu^-$, using for the first time form factors from unquenched lattice QCD. We
focus on the kinematic region where the $K^*$ or $\phi$ recoils softly; there
the newly available form factors are most precise and the nonlocal matrix
elements can be included via an operator product expansion. Our results for the
differential branching fractions calculated in the Standard Model are higher
than the experimental data. We consider the possibility that the deviations are
caused by new physics, and perform a fit of the Wilson coefficients $C_9$ and
$C_9^\prime$ to the experimental data for multiple $B^0 \to K^{*0} \mu^+ \mu^-$
and $B_s^0 \to \phi \mu^+ \mu^-$ observables. In agreement with recent results
from complementary studies, we obtain $C_9-C_9^{SM} = -1.0 \pm 0.6$ and
$C_9^\prime = 1.2 \pm 1.0$, whose deviations from zero would indicate the
presence of non-standard fundamental interactions.


title: Squarefree P-modules and the cd-index

abstract:
  In this paper, we introduce a new algebraic concept, which we call squarefree
P-modules. This concept is inspired from Karu's proof of the non-negativity of
the cd-indices of Gorenstein* posets, and supplies a way to study cd-indices
from the viewpoint of commutative algebra. Indeed, by using the theory of
squarefree P-modules, we give several new algebraic and combinatorial results
on CW-posets. First, we define an analogue of the cd-index for any CW-poset and
prove its non-negativity when a CW-poset is Cohen-Macaulay. This result proves
that the h-vector of the barycentric subdivision of a Cohen-Macaulay regular
CW-complex is unimodal. Second, we prove that the Stanley-Reisner ring of the
barycentric subdivision of an odd dimensional Cohen-Macaulay polyhedral complex
has the weak Lefschetz property. Third, we obtain sharp upper bounds of the
cd-indices of Gorenstein* posets for a fixed rank generating function.


title: The Vervaat transform of Brownian bridges and Brownian motion

abstract:
  For a continuous function $f \in \mathcal{C}([0,1])$, define the Vervaat
transform $V(f)(t):=f(\tau(f)+t \mod1)+f(1)1_{\{t+\tau(f) \geq
1\}}-f(\tau(f))$, where $\tau(f)$ corresponds to the first time at which the
minimum of $f$ is attained. Motivated by recent study of quantile transforms of
random walks and Brownian motion, we investigate the Vervaat transform of
Brownian motion and Brownian bridges with arbitrary endpoints. When the two
endpoints of the bridge are not the same, the Vervaat transform is not
Markovian. We describe its distribution by path decomposition and study its
semi-martingale property. The same study is done for the Vervaat transform of
unconditioned Brownian motion, the expectation and variance of which are also
derived.


title: Mg II h+k Flux - Rotational Period Correlation for G-type stars

abstract:
  We present an analysis of the correlation between the mid-UV Mg II h and k
emission lines and measured rotational periods of G-type stars. Based on IUE
and HST high resolution spectra of a sample of 36 stars, we derive an
exponential function that best represents the correlation. We found that the
variation of the Mg II h + k fluxes is about a factor of 2.5 larger than that
of Ca II H+K, indicating that the UV features are more sensitive to the decline
of rotational period. The comparison of UV-predicted rotational periods with
those derived from empirical Prot - Ca II H+K flux calibrations are consistent,
with some scatter at large periods, where the emission are less intense. We
present newly derived rotational periods for 15 G-type stars.


title: Charge-Parity violation in charm decays at Belle

abstract:
  Using the full data sample collected with the Belle detector at the KEKB
asymmetric-energy $e^+e^-$ collider, we present CP violation in charm decays.
The $D^0-\bar{D}^0$ mixing parameter
  $y_{CP}$ and indirect CP violation parameter $A_{\Gamma}$ in
  $D^0\rightarrow h^+h^-$ decays are reported, where $h$ denotes $K$ and $\pi$.
The preliminary results are
  $y_{CP}=(1.11\pm0.22\pm0.11)%$ and
  $A_{\Gamma}=(-0.03\pm0.20\pm0.08)%$. We also report searches for
  CP violation in $D^0\rightarrow h^+h^-$ and $D^+\rightarrow K^0_S
  K^+$ decays. No evidence for CP violation in $D^0\rightarrow h^+h^-$ is
observed with $A^{KK}_{CP}=(-0.32\pm0.21\pm0.09)%$ and
  $A^{\pi\pi}_{CP}=(+0.55\pm0.36\pm0.09)%$. The CP asymmetry difference between
$D^0\rightarrow K^+K^-$ and
  $D^0\rightarrow\pi^+\pi^-$ decays is measured with $\Delta
  A^{hh}_{CP}=(-0.87\pm0.41\pm0.06)%$. The CP asymmetry in
  $D^+\rightarrow K^0_S K^+$ decay is measured to be
  $(-0.25\pm0.28\pm0.14)%$. After subtracting CP violation due to
  $K^0-\bar{K}^0$ mixing, the CP asymmetry in
  $D^+\rightarrow\bar{K}^0 K^+$ decay is found to be
  $(+0.08\pm0.28\pm0.14)%$.


title: Ridge Fusion in Statistical Learning

abstract:
  We propose a penalized likelihood method to jointly estimate multiple
precision matrices for use in quadratic discriminant analysis and model based
clustering. A ridge penalty and a ridge fusion penalty are used to introduce
shrinkage and promote similarity between precision matrix estimates. Block-wise
coordinate descent is used for optimization, and validation likelihood is used
for tuning parameter selection. Our method is applied in quadratic discriminant
analysis and semi-supervised model based clustering.


title:
Optical transmission photometry of the highly inflated exoplanet
  WASP-17b

abstract:
  We present ground-based high-precision observations of the transit of
WASP-17b using the multi-band photometer ULTRACAM on ESO's NTT in the context
of performing transmission spectrophotometry of this highly inflated exoplanet.
Our choice of filters (SDSS u', g' and r' bands) is designed to probe for the
presence of opacity sources in the upper atmosphere. We find evidence for a
wavelength dependence in the planet radius in the form of enhanced absorption
in the SDSS r' band, consistent with a previously detected broad sodium
feature. We present a new independent measurement of the planetary radius at
Rpl = 1.97 +/- 0.06 Rjup, which confirms this planet as the most inflated
exoplanet known to date. Our measurements are most consistent with an
atmospheric profile devoid of enhanced TiO opacity, previously predicted to be
present for this planet.


title: Bakry-\'Emery black holes

abstract:
  Scalar-tensor gravitation theories, such as the Brans-Dicke family of
theories, are commonly partly described by a modified Einstein equation in
which the Ricci tensor is replaced by the Bakry-\'Emery-Ricci tensor of a
Lorentzian metric and scalar field. In physics this formulation is sometimes
referred to as the "Jordan frame". Just as, in General Relativity, natural
energy conditions on the stress-energy tensor become conditions on the Ricci
tensor, in scalar-tensor theories expressed in the Jordan frame natural energy
conditions become conditions on the Bakry-\'Emery-Ricci tensor. We show that,
if the Bakry-\'Emery tensor obeys the null energy condition with an upper bound
on the Bakry-\'Emery scalar function, there is a modified notion of apparent
horizon which obeys analogues of familiar theorems from General Relativity. The
Bakry-\'Emery modified apparent horizon always lies behind an event horizon and
the event horizon obeys a modified area theorem. Under more restrictive
conditions, the modified apparent horizon obeys an analogue of the Hawking
topology theorem in 4 spacetime dimensions. Since topological censorship is
known to yield a horizon topology theorem independent of the Hawking theorem,
in an appendix we obtain a Bakry-\'Emery version of the topological censorship
theorem. We apply our results to the Brans-Dicke theory, and obtain an area
theorem for horizons in that theory. Our theorems can be used to understand
behaviour observed in numerical simulations by Scheel, Shapiro, and Teukolsky
of dust collapse in Brans-Dicke theory.


title:
Lyot-based Ultra-Fine Pointing Control System for Phase Mask
  Coronagraphs

abstract:
  High performance coronagraphic imaging at small inner working angle requires
efficient control of low order aberrations. The absence of accurate pointing
control at small separation not only degrades coronagraph starlight rejection
but also increases the risk of confusing planet's photons with starlight
leaking next to the coronagraph focal plane mask center. Addressing this issue
is essential for preventing coronagraphic leaks, and we have thus developed a
new concept, the Lyot-based pointing control system (LPCS), to control pointing
errors and other low order aberrations within a coronagraph. The LPCS uses
residual starlight reflected by the Lyot stop at the pupil plane. Our
simulation has demonstrated pointing errors measurement accuracy between 2-12
nm for tip-tilt at 1.6 micron with a four quadrant phase mask coronagraph.


title:
On stochastic parameterizing manifolds: Pullback characterization and
  Non-Markovian reduced equations

abstract:
  A general approach to provide approximate parameterizations of the "small"
scales by the "large" ones, is developed for stochastic partial differential
equations driven by linear multiplicative noise. This is accomplished via the
concept of parameterizing manifolds (PMs) that are stochastic manifolds which
improve in mean square error the partial knowledge of the full SPDE solution
$u$ when compared to the projection of $u$ onto the resolved modes, for a given
realization of the noise.
  Backward-forward systems are designed to give access to such PMs in practice.
The key idea consists of representing the modes with high wave numbers (as
parameterized by the sought PM) as a pullback limit depending on the
time-history of the modes with low wave numbers.
  The resulting manifolds obtained by such a procedure are not subject to a
spectral gap condition such as encountered in the classical theory. Instead,
certain PMs can be determined under weaker non-resonance conditions.
  Non-Markovian stochastic reduced systems are then derived based on such a PM
approach. Such reduced systems take the form of SDEs involving random
coefficients that convey memory effects via the history of the Wiener process,
and arise from the nonlinear interactions between the low modes, embedded in
the "noise bath." These random coefficients follow typically non-Gaussian
statistics and exhibit an exponential decay of correlations whose rate depends
explicitly on gaps arising in the non-resonances conditions.
  It is shown on a stochastic Burgers-type equation, that such PM-based reduced
systems can achieve very good performance in reproducing statistical features
of the SPDE dynamics projected onto the resolved modes, such as the
autocorrelations and probability functions of the corresponding modes
amplitude.


title:
Y Chromosomes of 40% Chinese Are Descendants of Three Neolithic
  Super-grandfathers

abstract:
  Demographic change of human populations is one of the central questions for
delving into the past of human beings. To identify major population expansions
related to male lineages, we sequenced 78 East Asian Y chromosomes at 3.9 Mbp
of the non-recombining region (NRY), discovered >4,000 new SNPs, and identified
many new clades. The relative divergence dates can be estimated much more
precisely using molecular clock. We found that all the Paleolithic divergences
were binary; however, three strong star-like Neolithic expansions at ~6 kya
(thousand years ago) (assuming a constant substitution rate of 1e-9/bp/year)
indicates that ~40% of modern Chinese are patrilineal descendants of only three
super-grandfathers at that time. This observation suggests that the main
patrilineal expansion in China occurred in the Neolithic Era and might be
related to the development of agriculture.


title: Quantum Algorithms for Matrix Products over Semirings

abstract:
  In this paper we construct quantum algorithms for matrix products over
several algebraic structures called semirings, including the (max,min)-matrix
product, the distance matrix product and the Boolean matrix product. In
particular, we obtain the following results.
  We construct a quantum algorithm computing the product of two n x n matrices
over the (max,min) semiring with time complexity O(n^{2.473}). In comparison,
the best known classical algorithm for the same problem, by Duan and Pettie,
has complexity O(n^{2.687}). As an application, we obtain a O(n^{2.473})-time
quantum algorithm for computing the all-pairs bottleneck paths of a graph with
n vertices, while classically the best upper bound for this task is
O(n^{2.687}), again by Duan and Pettie.
  We construct a quantum algorithm computing the L most significant bits of
each entry of the distance product of two n x n matrices in time O(2^{0.64L}
n^{2.46}). In comparison, prior to the present work, the best known classical
algorithm for the same problem, by Vassilevska and Williams and Yuster, had
complexity O(2^{L}n^{2.69}). Our techniques lead to further improvements for
classical algorithms as well, reducing the classical complexity to
O(2^{0.96L}n^{2.69}), which gives a sublinear dependency on 2^L.
  The above two algorithms are the first quantum algorithms that perform better
than the $\tilde O(n^{5/2})$-time straightforward quantum algorithm based on
quantum search for matrix multiplication over these semirings. We also consider
the Boolean semiring, and construct a quantum algorithm computing the product
of two n x n Boolean matrices that outperforms the best known classical
algorithms for sparse matrices. For instance, if the input matrices have
O(n^{1.686...}) non-zero entries, then our algorithm has time complexity
O(n^{2.277}), while the best classical algorithm has complexity O(n^{2.373}).


title: Power Enhancement in High Dimensional Cross-Sectional Tests

abstract:
  We propose a novel technique to boost the power of testing a high-dimensional
vector $H:\btheta=0$ against sparse alternatives where the null hypothesis is
violated only by a couple of components. Existing tests based on quadratic
forms such as the Wald statistic often suffer from low powers due to the
accumulation of errors in estimating high-dimensional parameters. More powerful
tests for sparse alternatives such as thresholding and extreme-value tests, on
the other hand, require either stringent conditions or bootstrap to derive the
null distribution and often suffer from size distortions due to the slow
convergence. Based on a screening technique, we introduce a "power enhancement
component", which is zero under the null hypothesis with high probability, but
diverges quickly under sparse alternatives. The proposed test statistic
combines the power enhancement component with an asymptotically pivotal
statistic, and strengthens the power under sparse alternatives. The null
distribution does not require stringent regularity conditions, and is
completely determined by that of the pivotal statistic. As a byproduct, the
power enhancement component also consistently identifies the elements that
violate the null hypothesis. As specific applications, the proposed methods are
applied to testing the factor pricing models and validating the cross-sectional
independence in panel data models.


title: Uncertainty of data obtained in SRF cavity vertical test

abstract:
  Vertical test is a commonly used experimental method to qualify
Superconducting Radio Frequency (SRF) cavities. Taking the experiences at
Jefferson Lab (JLab) in US for example, over thousand of vertical tests have
been performed on over 500 different cavities up to now [1]. Most of the tests
at JLab followed the method as described in [1], but all the uncertainties of
the calculated quality factors as well as the gradients were in-accurate due to
the wrong algorithm used. In this paper, a first-principle method was applied
to analyze the uncertainty of the data, and the results were compared with
those in [1] under typical experiment conditions.


title: Reduced temporal convergence rates in high-order splitting schemes

abstract:
  Recently-derived high-order splitting schemes with complex coefficients are
shown to exhibit reduced convergence rates for certain parabolic evolution
equations. When applied to semilinear reaction-diffusion equations with
periodic boundary conditions, these splitting schemes are most efficient when
the diffusion terms are much less stiff than the reaction terms. An explanation
for this is given in a simple setting.


title: Message Authentication Code over a Wiretap Channel

abstract:
  Message Authentication Code (MAC) is a keyed function $f_K$ such that when
Alice, who shares the secret $K$ with Bob, sends $f_K(M)$ to the latter, Bob
will be assured of the integrity and authenticity of $M$. Traditionally, it is
assumed that the channel is noiseless. However, Maurer showed that in this case
an attacker can succeed with probability $2^{-\frac{H(K)}{\ell+1}}$ after
authenticating $\ell$ messages. In this paper, we consider the setting where
the channel is noisy. Specifically, Alice and Bob are connected by a discrete
memoryless channel (DMC) $W_1$ and a noiseless but insecure channel. In
addition, an attacker Oscar is connected with Alice through DMC $W_2$ and with
Bob through a noiseless channel. In this setting, we study the framework that
sends $M$ over the noiseless channel and the traditional MAC $f_K(M)$ over
channel $(W_1, W_2)$. We regard the noisy channel as an expensive resource and
define the authentication rate $\rho_{auth}$ as the ratio of message length to
the number $n$ of channel $W_1$ uses. The security of this framework depends on
the channel coding scheme for $f_K(M)$. A natural coding scheme is to use the
secrecy capacity achieving code of Csisz\'{a}r and K\"{o}rner. Intuitively,
this is also the optimal strategy. However, we propose a coding scheme that
achieves a higher $\rho_{auth}.$ Our crucial point for this is that in the
secrecy capacity setting, Bob needs to recover $f_K(M)$ while in our coding
scheme this is not necessary. How to detect the attack without recovering
$f_K(M)$ is the main contribution of this work. We achieve this through random
coding techniques.


title: On the Lagrange and Markov Dynamical Spectra

abstract:
  We consider the Lagrange and the Markov dynamical spectra associated to
horseshoes on surface with Hausdorff dimensions greater than 1. We show that
for a "large" set of real functions on the surface and for "typical" horseshoes
with Hausdorff dimensions greater than 1, then both the Lagrange and the Markov
dynamical spectrum have persistently non-empty interior.


title: A Possible Reason for $M_H \simeq 126$ GeV

abstract:
  It is speculated that a possible reason for the scalar mass $M_H \simeq 126$
GeV is equality of the lifetimes for vacuum decay and instanton-induced proton
decay.


title:
Periodic boundary conditions for the simulation of uniaxial extensional
  flow

abstract:
  It is very common with molecular dynamics and other simulation techniques to
apply Lees-Edwards periodic boundary conditions (PBCs) for the simulation of
shear flow. However the behavior of a complex liquid can be quite different
under extensional flow. Simple deformation of a simulation cell and its
periodic images only allows for simulations of these flows with short duration.
For the simulation of planar extensional flow it was recognized that the PBCs
of Kraynik and Reinelt [Int. J. Multiphase Flow 18, 1045 (1992)] could be used
to perform simulations of this flow with arbitrary duration. However, a very
common extensional flow in industrial applications and experiment is uniaxial
extensional flow. Kraynik and Reinelt found that their method could not be
directly generalized to this flow because of the lack of a lattice which
reproduces itself during uniaxial extension. PBCs are presented in this article
which solve this problem, by finding a lattice which is compatible with the
flow, finding the reduced basis to the lattice at all times and using this
basis when calculating the position and separation of particles. Using these
new PBCs we perform nonequilibrium molecular dynamics simulations of a simple
liquid and show that the technique gives results which agree with those from
simulations using simply deforming PBCs.


title:
Possible method to observe breathing mode of magnetic domain wall in
  Josephson junction

abstract:
  A magnetic domain wall (DW) behaves as a massive particle with elasticity.
Sliding and oscillation of the DW have been observed experimentally, whereas
vibration of a width in the DW, "breathing mode", has not been measured so far.
We theoretically propose how to observe the breathing mode by the Josephson
junction having a ferromagnetic layer between superconducting electrodes. The
current-voltage (I-V) curve is calculated by an equivalent circuit of the
resistively shunted junction model. The breathing mode is identified by
stepwise structures in the I-V curve, which appear at the voltages
V=n(hbar/2e)omega with the fundamental constant hbar/e, integer number n, and
the frequency of the breathing mode omega.


title:
A Bayesian Approach to Estimate the Size and Structure of the Broad-line
  Region in Active Galactic Nuclei Using Reverberation Mapping Data

abstract:
  This is the first paper in a series devoted to systematic study of the size
and structure of the broad-line region (BLR) in active galactic nuclei (AGNs)
using reverberation mapping (RM) data. We employ a recently developed Bayesian
approach that statistically describes the variabibility as a damped random walk
process and delineates the BLR structure using a flexible disk geometry that
can account for a variety of shapes, including disks, rings, shells, and
spheres. We allow for the possibility that the line emission may respond
non-linearly to the continuum, and we detrend the light curves when there is
clear evidence for secular variation. We use a Markov Chain Monte Carlo
implementation based on Bayesian statistics to recover the parameters and
uncertainties for the BLR model. The corresponding transfer function is
obtained self-consistently. We tentatively constrain the virial factor used to
estimate black hole masses; more accurate determinations will have to await
velocity-resolved RM data. Application of our method to RM data with Hbeta
monitoring for about 40 objects shows that the assumed BLR geometry can
reproduce quite well the observed emission-line fluxes from the continuum light
curves. We find that the Hbeta BLR sizes obtained from our method are on
average ~20% larger than those derived from the traditional cross-correlation
method. Nevertheless, we still find a tight BLR size-luminosity relation with a
slope of alpha=0.55\pm0.03 and an intrinsic scatter of ~0.18 dex. In
particular, we demonstrate that our approach yields appropriate BLR sizes for
some objects (such as Mrk 142 and PG 2130+099) where traditional methods
previously encountered difficulties.


title: Improper origin of polar displacements at CaTiO3 and CaMnO3 Twin Walls

abstract:
  Recent interests towards novel functionalities arising at domain walls of
ferroic materials naturally call for a microscopic understanding. To this end,
first-principles calculations have been performed in order to provide solid
evidence of ferroelectricity in the twin walls of nonpolar CaTiO3 and magnetic
CaMnO3. We show that ferroelectricity arises from rotation/tilting octahedral
distortions --- cooperatively acting at the twin wall in both considered
systems --- rather than from a proper secondary ferroelectric instability, as
often believed. Our results are in excellent agreement with experimental
observations of domain walls in CaTiO3. In addition, we show that magnetic
properties at the twin wall in CaMnO3 are also modified, thus suggesting an
unexplored route to achieve and detect multiferroic ordering in a single-phase
material.


title: Rotation curves of rotating galactic BEC dark matter halos

abstract:
  We present the dynamics of rotating Bose Condensate galactic dark matter
halos, made of an ultralight spinless boson. We restrict to the case of adding
axisymmetric rigid rotation to initially spherically symmetric structures and
show there are three regimes: i) small angular momentum, that basically retains
the drawbacks of spherically symmetric halos related to compactness and failure
at explaining galactic RCs, ii) an intermediate range of values of angular
momentum that allow the existence of long-lived structures with acceptable RC
profiles, and iii) high angular momentum, in which the structure is dispersed
away by rotation. We also present in detail the new code used to solve the
Gross-Pitaevskii Poisson system of equations in three dimensions.


title:
Hybrid Atom--Photon Quantum Gate in a Superconducting Microwave
  Resonator

abstract:
  We propose a novel hybrid quantum gate between an atom and a microwave photon
in a superconducting coplanar waveguide cavity by exploiting the strong
resonant microwave coupling between adjacent Rydberg states. Using
experimentally achievable parameters gate fidelities $> 0.99$ are possible on
sub-$\mu$s timescales for waveguide temperatures below 40 mK. This provides a
mechanism for generating entanglement between two disparate quantum systems and
represents an important step in the creation of a hybrid quantum interface
applicable for both quantum simulation and quantum information processing.


title:
Learning user-specific latent influence and susceptibility from
  information cascades

abstract:
  Predicting cascade dynamics has important implications for understanding
information propagation and launching viral marketing. Previous works mainly
adopt a pair-wise manner, modeling the propagation probability between pairs of
users using n^2 independent parameters for n users. Consequently, these models
suffer from severe overfitting problem, specially for pairs of users without
direct interactions, limiting their prediction accuracy. Here we propose to
model the cascade dynamics by learning two low-dimensional user-specific
vectors from observed cascades, capturing their influence and susceptibility
respectively. This model requires much less parameters and thus could combat
overfitting problem. Moreover, this model could naturally model
context-dependent factors like cumulative effect in information propagation.
Extensive experiments on synthetic dataset and a large-scale microblogging
dataset demonstrate that this model outperforms the existing pair-wise models
at predicting cascade dynamics, cascade size, and "who will be retweeted".


title: Recent advances with THGEM detectors

abstract:
  The Thick Gaseous Electron Multiplier (THGEM) is a simple and robust
electrode suitable for large area detectors. In this work the results of
extensive comparative studies of the physical properties of different
THGEM-based structures are reviewed. The focus is on newly suggested THGEM-like
WELL configurations as well as on recently developed characterization methods.
The WELL structures are single-sided THGEM electrodes directly coupled to
different anode readout electrodes. The structures differ by the coupling
concept of the bottom THGEM electrode to the metallic readout pads: a Thick
WELL (THWELL) with direct coupling; the Resistive WELL (RWELL) and the
Segmented Resistive WELL (SRWELL) coupled through thin resistive films
deposited on insulating sheets and a Resistive-Plate WELL (RPWELL) coupled
through a plate of high bulk resistivity. The results are compared to that of
traditional double-sided THGEM electrodes followed by induction gaps - in some
cases with moderate additional multiplication within the gap. We compare the
different configurations in terms of gain, avalanche extension, discharge-rate
and magnitude as well as rate capabilities over a broad dynamic range -
exploiting a method that mimics highly ionizing particles in the laboratory. We
report on recent studies of avalanche distribution in THGEM holes using optical
readout.


title:
Evolution of the Radio Remnant of Supernova 1987A: Morphological Changes
  from Day 7000

abstract:
  We present radio imaging observations of supernova remnant 1987A at 9 GHz,
taken with the Australia Telescope Compact Array over 21 years from 1992 to
2013. By employing a Fourier modeling technique to fit the visibility data, we
show that the remnant structure has evolved significantly since day 7000
(mid-2006): the emission latitude has gradually decreased, such that the
overall geometry has become more similar to a ring structure. Around the same
time, we find a decreasing trend in the east-west asymmetry of the surface
emissivity. These results could reflect the increasing interaction of the
forward shock with material around the circumstellar ring, and the relative
weakening of the interaction with the lower-density material at higher
latitudes. The morphological evolution caused an apparent break in the remnant
expansion measured with a torus model, from a velocity of 4600+150-200 km/s
between day 4000 and 7000 to 2400+100-200 km/s after day 7000. However, we
emphasize that there is no conclusive evidence for a physical slowing of the
shock at any given latitude in the expanding remnant, and that a change of
radio morphology alone appears to dominate the evolution. This is supported by
our ring-only fits which show a constant expansion of 3890+/-50 km/s without
deceleration between days 4000 and 9000. We suggest that once the emission
latitude no longer decreases, the expansion velocity obtained from the torus
model should return to the same value as that measured with the ring model.


title:
High efficiency event-counting thermal neutron imaging using Gd doped
  micro channel plate

abstract:
  An event-counting thermal neutron imaging detector based on 3 mol % natGd2O3
doped micro channel plate (MCP) has been developed and tested. Thermal neutron
imaging experiment was carried out with a low flux neutron beam. Detection
efficiency of 33 % was achieved with only one doped MCP. The spatial resolution
of 72 {\mu}m RMS is currently limited by the readout anode. A detector with
larger area and improved readout method is now being developed.


title:
Reduced graphene oxide thin films as ultrabarriers for organic
  electronics

abstract:
  Encapsulation of electronic devices based on organic materials that are prone
to degradation even under normal atmospheric conditions with hermetic barriers
is crucial for increasing their lifetime. A challenge is to develop
'ultrabarriers' that are impermeable, flexible, and preferably transparent.
Another important requirement is that they must be compatible with organic
electronics fabrication schemes (i.e. must be solution processable, deposited
at room temperature and be chemically inert). Here, we report lifetime increase
of 1,300 hours for poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) films encapsulated by uniform
and continuous thin (~10 nm) films of reduced graphene oxide (rGO). This level
of protection against oxygen and water vapor diffusion is substantially better
than conventional polymeric barriers such as CytopTM, which degrades after only
350 hours despite being 400 nm thick. Analysis using atomic force microscopy,
x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and high resolution transmission electron
microscopy suggest that the superior oxygen gas/moisture barrier property of
rGO is due to the close interlayer distance packing and absence of pinholes
within the impermeable sheets. These material properties can be correlated to
the enhanced lag time of 500 hours. Our results provide new insight for the
design of high performance and solution processable transparent 'ultrabarriers'
for a wide range of encapsulation applications.


title: Vanishing of interband light absorption in a persistent spin helix state

abstract:
  Spin-orbit coupling plays an important role in various properties of very
different materials. Moreover efforts are underway to control the degree and
quality of spin-orbit coupling in materials with a concomitant control of
transport properties. We calculate the frequency dependent optical conductivity
in systems with both Rashba and Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling. We find that
when the linear Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling is tuned to be equal to the
Rashba spin-orbit coupling, the interband optical conductivity disappears. This
is taken to be the signature of the recovery of SU(2) symmetry. The presence of
the cubic Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling modifies the dispersion relation of
the charge carriers and the velocity operator. Thus the conductivity is
modified, but the interband contribution remains suppressed at most but not all
photon energies for a cubic coupling of reasonable magnitude. Hence, such a
measurement can serve as a diagnostic probe of engineered spin-orbit coupling.


title:
A physical model for the redshift evolution of high-z Lyman-Break
  Galaxies

abstract:
  We present a galaxy formation model to understand the evolution of stellar
mass (M*) - UV luminosity relations, stellar mass functions and specific star
formation rate (sSFR) of Lyman Break Galaxies (LBGs) along with their UV
luminosity functions in the redshift range 3 < z < 8. Our models assume a
physically motivated form for star formation in galaxies and model parameters
are calibrated by fitting the observed UV luminosity functions (LFs) of LBGs.
We find the fraction of baryons that gets converted into stars remains nearly
constant for z < 4 but shows an increase for z < 4. However, the rate of
converting baryons into stars does not evolve significantly in the redshift
range 3 < z < 8. Our model further successfully explains the M* - UV luminosity
(M_AB) correlations of LBGs. While our model predictions of stellar mass
functions compare well with the inferred data from observations at the low mass
end, we need to invoke the Eddington bias to fit the high mass end. At any
given redshift, we find the sSFR to be constant over the stellar mass range 5
\times 10^8 -5 \times 10^9 M_\odot and the redshift evolution of sSFR is well
approximated by a form (1+z)^2.4 for 3 < z < 8 which is consistent with
observations. Thus we find that dark matter halo build up in the LCDM model is
sufficient to explain the evolution of UV LFs of LBGs along with their M* -
M_AB relations, the stellar mass functions and the sSFR for 3 < z < 8.


title:
Nuclear charge-exchange excitations in localized covariant density
  functional theory

abstract:
  The recent progress in the studies of nuclear charge-exchange excitations
with localized covariant density functional theory is briefly presented, by
taking the fine structure of spin-dipole excitations in 16O as an example. It
is shown that the constraints introduced by the Fock terms of the relativistic
Hartree-Fock scheme into the particle-hole residual interactions are
straightforward and robust.


title:
Foraging behavior of stingless bees (Tetragonula biroi Friese):
  distance, direction and height of preferred food source

abstract:
  We examine the foraging behavior of stingless bees (Tetragonula biroi Friese)
with regard to their preference of food location. The three factors considered
are distance of the food source from the hive, direction of the food source,
and height of the food source from the ground. Single-factor experiments for
each factor were performed to determine the preferred food location.
Statistical analysis shows that T. biroi species prefer the feeders located 1m
away from the hive, which is the shortest distance used in the experiment.
Results also show that this group of bees has no conclusive preferred
direction, which might be a result of non-apparent cause, such as random
search. In addition, the bees prefer the feeders located 1m above the ground,
which are directly in front of the hive opening. Using the results from the
single-factor experiments, a Three-Factor Factorial Experimental Design is used
to analyze the interaction of the three factors. Factorial Analysis of Variance
shows that the interaction among the three factors affects the preference of
the bees. We hypothesize that the preference of the bees can be explained by
(1) optimal foraging theory, (2) memory of food location, and (3) chemical
marks left by conspecifics.


title: Magneto-Electric Effect in Three-dimensional Coupled Zigzag Chains

abstract:
  Stimulated by recent studies of quantum phases with broken local inversion
symmetry, we study the magnetoelectric effect in locally noncentrosymmetric
metals. We consider three-dimensional (3D) coupled zigzag chains and
demonstrate that the antiferromagnetic moment is induced by the electric
current through a staggered antisymmetric spin-orbit coupling. This
current-induced magnetism is much larger than that in globally
noncentrosymmetric metals. We provide an intuitive understanding of the
current-induced antiferromagnetic moment by showing the inverse magnetoelectric
effect, that is, the ferroic p-wave charge nematic order accompanied by the
asymmetric band structure in the antiferromagnetic state. We also examine
conduction electrons coupled to localized spins via Kondo exchange coupling and
demonstrate a significant enhancement of the magnetoelectric effect. A possible
experimental observation of the magnetoelectric effect in metals is discussed,
with focus on LnM_2Al_10 compounds, such as NdRu_Al_10 and TbRu_2Al_10.


title: Coherent control of mesoscopic atomic ensembles for quantum information

abstract:
  We discuss methods for coherently controlling mesoscopic atomic ensembles
where the number of atoms varies randomly from one experimental run to the
next. The proposed schemes are based on adiabatic passage and Rydberg blockade
and can be used for implementation of a scalable quantum register formed by an
array of randomly loaded optical dipole traps.


title:
Polarization-entangled photon-pair generation in commercial-grade
  polarization-maintaining fiber

abstract:
  We demonstrate a fiber-based source of polarization-entangled photon pairs at
visible wavelengths suitable for integration with local quantum processing
schemes. The photons are created through birefringent phase-matching in
spontaneous four-wave mixing inside a Sagnac interferometer. We address
entanglement degradation due to temporal distinguishability of the photons to
enable the generation of a spectrally unfiltered polarization-entangled
photon-pair state with $95.86\pm0.10%$ fidelity to a maximally entangled Bell
state, evaluated with a tomographic state reconstruction without applying any
corrections or background subtractions. Owing to the large birefringence of the
fiber, photons are created far detuned from the pump, where Raman contamination
is negligible. This source's spatial mode and ability to produce spectrally
uncorrelated photons make it suitable for implementing quantum information
protocols over free-space and fiber-based networks.


title:
Thermal rectification of electrons in hybrid normal metal-superconductor
  nanojunctions

abstract:
  We theoretically investigate heat transport in hybrid normal
metal-superconductor (NS) nanojunctions focusing on the effect of thermal
rectification. We show that the heat diode effect in the junction strongly
depends on the transmissivity and the nature of the NS contact. Thermal
rectification efficiency can reach up to 123% for a fully-transmissive
ballistic junction and up to 84% in diffusive NS contacts. Both values exceed
the rectification efficiency of a NIS tunnel junction (I stands for an
insulator) by a factor close to 5 and 3, respectively. Furthermore, we show
that for NS point-contacts with low transmissivity, inversion of the heat diode
effect can take place. Our results could prove useful for tailoring heat
management at the nanoscale, and for mastering thermal flux propagation in
low-temperature caloritronic nanocircuitry.


title:
Study of Neutron Magic Drip-Line Nuclei within Relativistic Mean Field
  plus BCS Approach

abstract:
  Encouraged by the success of RMF+BCS approach for the description of the
ground state properties of the chains of isotopes of proton magic nuclei with
proton number Z=8, 20, 28, 50 and 82 as well as those of proton sub-magic
nuclei with Z=40, we have further employed it, in an analogous manner, for a
detailed calculations of the ground state properties of the neutron magic
isotones with neutron number N = 8, 20, 28, 50, 82 and 126 as well as those of
neutron sub-magic isotones with N = 40 using the TMA force parameterizations in
order to explore low lying resonance and other exotic phenomenon near
drip-lines. The results of these calculations for wave-function, single
particle pairing gaps etc. are presented here to demonstrate the general
validity of our RMF+BCS approach. It is found that, in some of the proton-rich
nuclei in the vicinity of the proton drip-line, the main contribution to the
pairing correlations is provided by the low-lying resonant states, in addition
to the contributions coming from the states close to the Fermi surface, which
results extended proton drip-line for isotonic chain.


title:
A Vertical Architecture for Increasing Photogalvanic Solar Cell
  Efficiency: Theory and Modeling

abstract:
  Photogalvanic solar cells, the original dye based solar cell, have yet to
fulfill their promise as a low fabrication cost, scalable energy conversion
system. The efficient performance of photogalvanic cells relies on high dye
solubility and selective electrodes with fast electron transfer kinetics. A new
configuration is proposed for the photogalvanic cells that removes these
impractical requirements. Instead of illuminating the device through the
electrode, as is the conventional approach, a new vertical configuration is
employed with light coming between the two electrodes. This way, the light
absorption and hence electron generation is spread through the depth of the
device. As a result, unreasonably fast electrode kinetics are no longer
required. The depth can be adjusted according to the concentration of the dyes,
and thus deeper cells enable low solubility dyes to be employed. The proposed
configuration is mathematically modeled and the advantages over the
conventional cell are shown. A numerical model is built for more detailed
analysis that gives practical guidelines for working towards device parameters
with high power conversion efficiency. The analysis suggests that upon the
realization of highly selective electrodes and an improved dye/mediator couple,
an efficiency of 13% should be achievable from the new configuration.


title: Two-Scale numerical simulation of sand transport problems

abstract:
  In this paper we consider a model for short term dynamics of dunes in tidal
area. We construct a Two-Scale Numerical Method based on the fact that the
solution of the equation which has oscillations Two-Scale converges to the
solution of a well-posed problem. This numerical method uses on Fourier series.


title:
Harnack inequalities for SDEs driven by cylindrical $\alpha$-stable
  processes

abstract:
  By using the coupling argument, we establish the Harnack and log-Harnack
inequalites for stochastic differential equations with non-Lipschitz drifts and
driven by additive anisotropic subordinated Brownian motions (in particular,
cylindrical $\alpha$-stable processes). Moreover, the gradient estimate is also
derived when the drift is Lipschitz continuous.


title: Variable Stars and Galactic Structure

abstract:
  Variable stars have a unique part to play in Galactic astronomy. Among the
most important of these variables are the Cepheids (types I and II), the RR
Lyraes and the Miras (O- and C-rich). The current status of the basic
calibration of these stars in their roles as distance, structure and population
indicators is outlined and some examples of recent applications of these stars
to Galactic and extragalactic problems is reviewed. The expected impact of Gaia
on this type of work is discussed and the need for complementary ground based
observations, particularly large scale near-infrared photometry, is stressed.


title: WR 138: new results from X-ray and optical spectroscopy

abstract:
  Context. Massive-binary evolution models predict that some systems will go
through an evolutionary phase where the original primary has become a supernova
and left a compact object behind that then orbits a Wolf-Rayet (hereafter, WR)
star. WR 138 is an X-ray bright WR star that has been described as a triple
system, including a compact companion in a short-period orbit. Aims. Our goal
is to search for spectroscopic evidence of a compact companion around WR 138.
Methods. We used optical and X-ray spectra to search for signatures of a
compact companion, which can be revealed by systematic variations in WR optical
spectral lines induced by orbital motion of the compact companion or by hard,
luminous X-rays from accretion onto this companion. Results. The optical
spectra display emission-line profile variations that are most probably caused
by clumps inside the stellar winds. The radial velocities do not vary on a
short time-scale compatible with the suggested orbital period of a putative
compact companion. The X-ray spectra are found to be normal for a WN5-6+OB
system with no indication of accretion by a compact companion. Conclusions.
There is no evidence for the presence of a compact companion, and we therefore
conclude that WR 138 is a normal long-period (P~1521 d) eccentric WR+OB system.


title:
Electron Distribution Functions in Solar Flares from combined X-ray and
  EUV Observations

abstract:
  Simultaneous solar flare observations with SDO and RHESSI provide spatially
resolved information about hot plasma and energetic particles in flares. RHESSI
allows the properties of both hot (> 8 MK) thermal plasma and nonthermal
electron distributions to be inferred, while SDO/AIA is more sensitive to lower
temperatures. We present and implement a new method to reconstruct electron
distribution functions from SDO/AIA data. The combined analysis of RHESSI and
AIA data allows the electron distribution function to be inferred over the
broad energy range from ~0.1 keV up to a few tens of keV. The analysis of two
well observed flares suggests that the distributions in general agree to within
a factor of three when the RHESSI values are extrapolated into the intermediate
range 1-3 keV, with AIA systematically predicting lower electron distributions.
Possible instrumental and numerical effects, as well as potential physical
origins for this discrepancy are discussed. The inferred electron distribution
functions in general show one or two nearly Maxwellian components at energies
below ~ 15 keV and a non-thermal tail above.


title:
Enhanced correlation of electron-positron pair in the two and three
  dimensions

abstract:
  Early-time electron-positron correlation in vacuum pair-production in an
external field is investigated. The entangled electron and positron wave
functions are obtained analytically in the configuration and momentum spaces.
It is shown that, relative to that of the one-dimensional theory, two- and
three-dimensional calculations yield enhanced spatial correlation and broadened
momentum spectrum. In fact, at early times the electron and positron almost
coincide spatially. The correlation also depends on the direction of the
applied field. For the spatial correlation, the transverse correlation is
stronger than the longitudinal one.


title: Extinction times of epidemic outbreaks in networks

abstract:
  In the Susceptible-Infectious-Recovered (SIR) model of disease spreading, the
time to extinction of the epidemics happens at an intermediate value of the
per-contact transmission probability. Too contagious infections burn out fast
in the population. Infections that are not contagious enough die out before
they spread to a large fraction of people. We characterize how the maximal
extinction time in SIR simulations on networks depend on the network structure.
For example we find that the average distances in isolated components, weighted
by the component size, is a good predictor of the maximal time to extinction.
Furthermore, the transmission probability giving the longest outbreaks is
larger than, but otherwise seemingly independent of, the epidemic threshold.


title: Examples of quasitoric manifolds as special unitary manifolds

abstract:
  This note shows that for each $n\geq 5$ with only $n\not= 6$, there exists a
$2n$-dimensional specially omnioriented quasitoric manifold $M^{2n}$ which
represents a nonzero element in $\Omega_*^U$. This provides the counterexamples
of Buchstaber--Panov--Ray conjecture.


title:
Weakly proper group actions, Mansfield's imprimitivity and twisted
  Landstad duality

abstract:
  Using the theory of weakly proper actions of locally compact groups recently
developed by the authors, we give a unified proof of both reduced and maximal
versions of Mansfield's Imprimitivity Theorem and obtain a general version of
Landstad's Duality Theorem for twisted group coactions. As one application, we
obtain the stabilization trick for arbitrary twisted coactions, showing that
every twisted coaction is Morita equivalent to an inflated coaction.


title: Macroscopic limit of a one-dimensional model for aging fluids

abstract:
  We study a one-dimensional equation arising in the multiscale modeling of
some non-Newtonian fluids. At a given shear rate, the equation provides the
instantaneous mesoscopic response of the fluid, allowing to compute the
corresponding stress. In a simple setting, we study the well-posedness of the
equation and next the long-time behavior of its solution. In the limit of a
response of the fluid much faster than the time variations of the ambient shear
rate, we derive some equivalent macroscopic differential equations that relate
the shear rate and the stress. Our analytical conclusions are confronted to
some numerical experiments. The latter quantitatively confirm our derivations.


title:
Isospin mixing within the symmetry restored density functional theory
  and beyond

abstract:
  We present results of systematic calculations of the
isospin-symmetry-breaking corrections to the superallowed I=$0+,T=1 -->
I=0+,T=1 beta-decays, based on the self-consistent isospin- and
angular-momentum-projected nuclear density functional theory (DFT). We discuss
theoretical uncertainties of the formalism related to the basis truncation,
parametrization of the underlying energy density functional, and ambiguities
related to determination of Slater determinants in odd-odd nuclei. A
generalization of the double-projected DFT model towards a no core
shell-model-like configuration-mixing approach is formulated and implemented.
We also discuss new opportunities in charge-symmetry- and
charge-independence-breaking studies offered by the newly developed DFT
formalism involving proton-neutron mixing in the particle-hole channel.


title: Higgcision in the Two-Higgs Doublet Models

abstract:
  We perform global fits to general two-Higgs doublet models (2HDMs) with
generalized couplings using the most updated data from ATLAS, CMS, and
Tevatron. We include both scenarios with CP-conserving and CP-violating
couplings. By relaxing the requirement on the discrete symmetries that are
often imposed on the Yukawa couplings, we try to see which of the 2HDMs is
preferred. We found that (i) Higgcision in 2HDMs can be performed efficiently
by using only 4 parameters including the charged Higgs contributions to the
Higgs couplings to two photons, (ii) the differences among various types of
2HDMs are very small with respect to the chi-square fits, (iii) $\tan\beta$ is
constrained to be small, (iv) the $p$-values for various fits in 2HDMs are
worse than that of the standard model. Finally, we put emphasis on our findings
that future precision measurements of the Higgs coupling to the scalar
top-quark bilinear ($C_u^S$) and $\tan\beta$ may endow us with the
discriminating power among various types of 2HDMs especially when $C_u^S$
deviates from its SM value 1.


title: Curvature independence of statistical entropy

abstract:
  We examine the statistical number of states, from which statistical entropy
can be derived, and we show that it is an explicit function of the metric and
thus observer dependent. We find a constraint on a transformation of the metric
that preserves the number of states but does not preserve curvature. In showing
exactly how curvature independence arises in the conventional definition of
statistical entropy, we gain a precise understanding of the direction in which
it needs to be redefined in the treatment of black hole entropy.


title: Multi-Sorted Inverse Frequent Itemsets Mining

abstract:
  The development of novel platforms and techniques for emerging "Big Data"
applications requires the availability of real-life datasets for data-driven
experiments, which are however out of reach for academic research in most cases
as they are typically proprietary. A possible solution is to use synthesized
datasets that reflect patterns of real ones in order to ensure high quality
experimental findings. A first step in this direction is to use inverse mining
techniques such as inverse frequent itemset mining (IFM) that consists of
generating a transactional database satisfying given support constraints on the
itemsets in an input set, that are typically the frequent ones. This paper
introduces an extension of IFM, called many-sorted IFM, where the schemes for
the datasets to be generated are those typical of Big Tables as required in
emerging big data applications, e.g., social network analytics.


title:
$P$-alcoves, parabolic subalgebras and cocenters of affine Hecke
  algebras

abstract:
  This is a continuation of the sequence of papers \cite{HN2}, \cite{H99} in
the study of the cocenters and class polynomials of affine Hecke algebras $\ch$
and their relation to affine Deligne-Lusztig varieties. Let $w$ be a $P$-alcove
element, as introduced in \cite{GHKR} and \cite{GHN}. In this paper, we study
the image of $T_w$ in the cocenter of $\ch$. In the process, we obtain a
Bernstein presentation of the cocenter of $\ch$. We also obtain a comparison
theorem among the class polynomials of $\ch$ and of its parabolic subalgebras,
which is analogous to the Hodge-Newton decomposition theorem for affine
Deligne-Lusztig varieties. As a consequence, we present a new proof of
\cite{GHKR} and \cite{GHN} on the emptiness pattern of affine Deligne-Lusztig
varieties.


title:
Capillarity of soft amorphous solids: a microscopic model for surface
  stress

abstract:
  The elastic deformation of a soft solid induced by capillary forces crucially
relies on the excess stress inside the solid-liquid interface. While for a
liquid-liquid interface this "surface stress" is strictly identical to the
"surface free energy", the thermodynamic Shuttleworth equation implies that
this is no longer the case when one of the phases is elastic. Here we develop a
microscopic model that incorporates enthalpic interactions and entropic
elasticity, based on which we explicitly compute the surface stress and surface
free energy. It is found that the compressibility of the interfacial region,
through the Poisson ratio near the interface, determines the difference between
surface stress and surface energy. We highlight the consequence of this finding
by comparing with recent experiments and simulations on partially wetted soft
substrates.


title:
Complexity and asymptotic stability in the process of biochemical
  substance exchange in a coupled ring of cells

abstract:
  We have considered the complexity and asymptotic stability in the process of
biochemical substance exchange in a coupled ring of cells. We have used coupled
maps to model this process. It includes the coupling parameter, cell affinity
and environmental factor as master parameters of the model. We have introduced:
(i) the Kolmogorov complexity spectrum and (ii) the Kolmogorov complexity
spectrum highest value to analyze the dynamics of two cell model. The
asymptotic stability of this dynamical system using an eigenvalue-based method
has been considered. Using these complexity measures we have noticed an
'island' of low complexity in the space of the master parameters for the weak
coupling. We have explored how stability of the equilibrium of the biochemical
substance exchange in a multi-cell system (N=100) is influenced by the changes
in the master parameters of the model for the weak and strong coupling. We have
found that in highly chaotic conditions there exists space of master parameters
for which the process of biochemical substance exchange in a coupled ring of
cells is stable.


title:
Analysis of complex singularities in high-Reynolds-number Navier-Stokes
  solutions

abstract:
  Numerical solutions of the laminar Prandtl boundary-layer and Navier-Stokes
equations are considered for the case of the two-dimensional uniform flow past
an impulsively-started circular cylinder. We show how Prandtl's solution
develops a finite time separation singularity. On the other hand Navier-Stokes
solution is characterized by the presence of two kinds of viscous-inviscid
interactions that can be detected by the analysis of the enstrophy and of the
pressure gradient on the wall. Moreover we apply the complex singularity
tracking method to Prandtl and Navier-Stokes solutions and analyze the previous
interactions from a different perspective.

categories: physics.flu-dyn math-ph math.CV math.MP math.NA


title:
Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen-steering using quantum correlations in
  non-Gaussian entangled states

abstract:
  In view of the increasing importance of non-Gaussian entangled states in
quantum information protocols like teleportation and violations of Bell
inequalities, the steering of continuous variable non-Gaussian entangled states
is investigated. The EPR steering for Gaussian states may be demonstrated
through the violation of the Reid inequality involving products of the inferred
variances of non-commuting observables. However, for arbitrary states the Reid
inequality is not always necessary because of the higher order correlations in
such states. One then needs to use the entropic steering inequality. We examine
several classes of currently important non-Gaussian entangled states, such as
the two-dimensional harmonic oscillator, the photon subtracted two mode
squeezed vacuum, and the NOON state, in order to demonstrate the steering
property of such states. A comparative study of the violation of the
Bell-inequality for these states shows that the entanglement present is more
easily revealed through steering compared to Bell-violation for several such
states.


title:
A decidable class of (nominal) omega-regular languages over an infinite
  alphabet

abstract:
  We define a class of languages of infinite words over infinite alphabets, and
the corresponding automata. The automata used for recognition are a
generalisation of deterministic Muller automata to the setting of nominal sets.
Remarkably, the obtained languages are determined by their ultimately periodic
fragments, as in the classical case. Closure under complement, union and
intersection, and decidability of emptiness and equivalence are preserved by
the generalisation. This is shown by using finite representations of the
(otherwise infinite-state) defined class of automata.


title: On Noisy ARQ in Block-Fading Channels

abstract:
  Assuming noisy feedback channels, this paper investigates the data
transmission efficiency and robustness of different automatic repeat request
(ARQ) schemes using adaptive power allocation. Considering different
block-fading channel assumptions, the long-term throughput, the delay-limited
throughput, the outage probability and the feedback load of different ARQ
protocols are studied. A closed-form expression for the power-limited
throughput optimization problem is obtained which is valid for different ARQ
protocols and feedback channel conditions. Furthermore, the paper presents
numerical investigations on the robustness of different ARQ protocols to
feedback errors. It is shown that many analytical assertions about the ARQ
protocols are valid both when the channel remains fixed during all
retransmission rounds and when it changes in each round (in)dependently. As
demonstrated, optimal power allocation is crucial for the performance of noisy
ARQ schemes when the goal is to minimize the outage probability.


title:
Composition dependent band gap and band edge bowing in AlInN: A combined
  theoretical and experimental study

abstract:
  A combined experimental and theoretical study is presented of the band gap of
AlInN, confirming the breakdown of the virtual crystal approximation (VCA) for
the conduction and valence band edges. Composition dependent bowing parameters
for these quantities are extracted. Additionally, composition dependent band
offsets for GaN/AlInN systems are provided. We show that local strain and
built-in fields affect the band edges significantly, leading to optical
polarization switching at much lower In composition than expected from a VCA
approach.


title: Quantitative speeds of convergence for exposure to food contaminants

abstract:
  In this paper we consider a class of piecewise-deterministic Markov processes
(PDMPs) modeling the quantity of a given food contaminant in the body. On the
one hand, the amount of contaminant increases with random food intakes and, on
the other hand, decreases thanks to the release rate of the body. Our aim is to
provide quantitative speeds of convergence to equilibrium for the total
variation and Wasserstein distances via coupling methods.


title:
Gravitational wave detection by bounded cold electronic plasma in a long
  pipe

abstract:
  We intend to propose an experimental sketch to detect gravitational waves
(GW) directly, using an cold electronic plasma in a long pipe. By considering
an cold electronic plasma in a long pipe, the Maxwell equations in 3+1
formalism will be invoked to relate gravitational waves to the perturbations of
plasma particles. It will be shown that the impact of GW on cold electronic
plasma causes disturbances on the paths of the electrons. Those electrons that
absorb energy from GW will pass through the potential barrier at the end of the
pipe. Therefore, crossing of some electrons over the barrier will imply the
existence of the GW.


title: A universal attractor for inflation at strong coupling

abstract:
  We introduce a novel non-minimal coupling between gravity and the inflaton
sector. Remarkably, for large values of this coupling all models asymptote to a
universal attractor. This behavior is independent of the original scalar
potential and generalizes the attractor in the phi^4 theory with non-minimal
coupling to gravity. The attractor is located in the `sweet spot' of Planck's
recent results.


title: Cyclic covers and toroidal embeddings

abstract:
  We present an improved version of the cyclic covering trick, which works
inside the category of toroidal embeddings


title:
Ground states and dynamics of a trapped charged particle in the magnetic
  field

abstract:
  A system of two charged particles in a harmonic trap with additional magnetic
field is considered. The problem is reduced to a single-particle one in
relative coordinates. The ground- and lowest excited-state energies and wave
functions are found. The ground state exhibits non-zero expectation value of
the velocity (kinetic momentum) and the probability current density does not
vanish as well. When the ground state becomes degenerate the expectation value
of velocity becomes discontinuous. The effects associated with turning on of
the magnetic field are studied by solving the appropriate time-dependent
Schr\"odinger equation. No substantial differences between abrupt
(discontinuous in time) and continuous switching on have been observed.
Evolution of a wave packet which is initially Gaussian is also investigated.
The wave packet loses its Gaussian nature and, after sufficiently large time, a
system of diffractive maxima and minima is built.


title:
Development of an intense positron source using a crystal--amorphous
  hybrid target for linear colliders

abstract:
  In a conventional positron source driven by a few GeV electron beam, a high
amount of heat is loaded into a positron converter target to generate intense
positrons required by linear colliders, and which would eventually damage the
converter target. A hybrid target, composed of a single crystal target as a
radiator of intense gamma--rays, and an amorphous converter target placed
downstream of the crystal, was proposed as a scheme which could overcome the
problem.This paper describes the development of an intense positron source with
the hybrid target. A series of experiments on positron generation with the
hybrid target has been carried out with a 8--GeV electron beam at the KEKB
linac. We observed that positron yield from the hybrid target increased when
the incident electron beam was aligned to the crystal axis and exceeded the one
from the conventional target with the converter target of the same thickness,
when its thickness is less than about 2 radiation length. The measurements in
the temperature rise of the amorphous converter target was successfully carried
out by use of thermocouples. These results lead to establishment to the
evaluation of the hybrid target as an intense positron source.


title:
Sparse Solution of Underdetermined Linear Equations via Adaptively
  Iterative Thresholding

abstract:
  Finding the sparset solution of an underdetermined system of linear equations
$y=Ax$ has attracted considerable attention in recent years. Among a large
number of algorithms, iterative thresholding algorithms are recognized as one
of the most efficient and important classes of algorithms. This is mainly due
to their low computational complexities, especially for large scale
applications. The aim of this paper is to provide guarantees on the global
convergence of a wide class of iterative thresholding algorithms. Since the
thresholds of the considered algorithms are set adaptively at each iteration,
we call them adaptively iterative thresholding (AIT) algorithms. As the main
result, we show that as long as $A$ satisfies a certain coherence property, AIT
algorithms can find the correct support set within finite iterations, and then
converge to the original sparse solution exponentially fast once the correct
support set has been identified. Meanwhile, we also demonstrate that AIT
algorithms are robust to the algorithmic parameters. In addition, it should be
pointed out that most of the existing iterative thresholding algorithms such as
hard, soft, half and smoothly clipped absolute deviation (SCAD) algorithms are
included in the class of AIT algorithms studied in this paper.


title:
Finite energy global well-posedness of the Chern-Simons-Higgs equations
  in the Coulomb gauge

abstract:
  In a recent paper, Selberg-Tesfahun proved that the abelian
Chern-Simons-Higgs system (CSH) is globally well-posed for finite energy
initial data under the Lorenz gauge condition. It has been suspected by Huh,
however, that such a result should hold in the Coulomb gauge as well. In this
note, we give an affirmative answer to this question by first establishing low
regularity local well-posededness of (CSH) in the Coulomb gauge for initial
data set $(f, g) \in H^{\gamma}_{x} \times H^{\gamma-1}_{x}$ for any $\gamma >
3/4$. Then by conservation of energy, global well-posedness for (CSH) in the
energy space $(f, g) \in H^{1}_{x} \times L^{2}_{x}$ follows rather
immediately.


title: Climate predictions: the chaos and complexity in climate models

abstract:
  Some issues which are relevant for the recent state in climate modeling have
been considered. A detailed overview of literature related to this subject is
given. The concept in modeling of climate, as a complex system, seen through
Godel's Theorem and Rosen's definition of complexity and predictability is
discussed. It is pointed out to occurrence of chaos in computing the
environmental interface temperature from the energy balance equation given in a
difference form. A coupled system of equations, often used in climate models is
analyzed. It is shown that the Lyapunov exponent mostly has positive values
allowing presence of chaos in this systems. The horizontal energy exchange
between environmental interfaces, which is described by the dynamics of driven
coupled oscillators, is analyzed. Their behavior and synchronization, when a
perturbation is introduced in the system, as a function of the coupling
parameters, the logistic parameter and the parameter of exchange, was studied
calculating the Lyapunov exponent under simulations with the closed contour of
N=100 environmental interfaces. Finally, we have explored possible differences
in complexities of two global and two regional climate models using their
output time series by applying the algorithm for calculating the Kolmogorov
complexity.


title:
The portrait of Malin 2: a case study of a giant low surface brightness
  galaxy

abstract:
  The low surface brightness disc galaxy Malin2 challenges the standard theory
of galaxy evolution by its enormous total mass ~2 10^12 Ms which must have been
formed without recent major merger events. The aim of our work is to create a
coherent picture of this exotic object by using the new optical multicolor
photometric and spectroscopic observations at Apache Point Observatory as well
as archival datasets from Gemini and wide-field surveys. We performed the
Malin2 mass modelling, estimated the contribution of the host dark halo and
found that it had acquired its low central density and the huge isothermal
sphere core radius before the disc subsystem was formed. Our spectroscopic data
analysis reveals complex kinematics of stars and gas in the very inner region.
We measured the oxygen abundance in several clumps and concluded that the gas
metallicity decreases from the solar value in the centre to a half of that at
20-30 kpc. We found a small satellite and measured its mass (1/500 of the host
galaxy) and gas metallicity. One of the unique properties of Malin2 turned to
be the apparent imbalance of ISM: the molecular gas is in excess with respect
to the atomic gas for given values of the gas equilibrium turbulent pressure.
We explain this imbalance by the presence of a significant portion of the dark
gas not observable in CO and the Hi 21 cm lines. We also show that the
depletion time of the observed molecular gas traced by CO is nearly the same as
in normal galaxies. Our modelling of the UV-to-optical spectral energy
distribution favours the exponentially declined SFH over a single-burst
scenario. We argue that the massive and rarefied dark halo which had formed
before the disc component well describes all the observed properties of Malin2
and there is no need to assume additional catastrophic scenarios proposed
previously to explain the origin of giant LSB galaxies. [Abbreviated]


title: Discrete solitons in an array of quantum dots

abstract:
  We develop a theory for the interaction of classical light fields with an a
chain of coupled quantum dots (QDs), in the strong-coupling regime, taking into
account the local-field effects. The QD chain is modeled by a one-dimensional
(1D) periodic array of two-level quantum particles with tunnel coupling between
adjacent ones. The local-field effect is taken into regard as QD depolarization
in the Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov approximation. The dynamics of the chain is
described by a system of two discrete nonlinear Schr\"{o}dinger (DNLS)
equations for local amplitudes of the probabilities of the ground and first
excited states. The two equations are coupled by a cross-phase-modulation cubic
terms, produced by the local-field action, and by linear terms too. In
comparison with previously studied DNLS systems, an essentially new feature is
a phase shift between the intersite-hopping constants in the two equations. By
means of numerical solutions, we demonstrate that, in this QD chain, Rabi
oscillations (RO) self-trap into stable bright\textit{\ Rabi solitons} or
\textit{Rabi breathers}. Mobility of the solitons is considered too. The
related behavior of observable quantities, such as energy, inversion, and
electric-current density, is given a physical interpretation. The results apply
to a realistic region of physical parameters.


title:
On lower bounds for integration of multivariate permutation-invariant
  functions

abstract:
  In this note we study multivariate integration for permutation-invariant
functions from a certain Banach space E_{d,\alpha} of Korobov type in the worst
case setting. We present a lower error bound which particularly implies that in
dimension d every cubature rule which reduces the initial error necessarily
uses at least d+1 function values. Since this holds independently of the number
of permutation-invariant coordinates, this shows that the integration problem
can never be strongly polynomially tractable in this setting. Our assertions
generalize results due to Sloan and Wo\'zniakowski. Moreover, for large
smoothness parameters \alpha our bound can not be improved. Finally, we extend
our results to the case of permutation-invariant functions from Korobov-type
spaces equipped with product weights.
  Keywords: Permutation-invariance, Integration, Information complexity,
Tractability, Lower bounds


title:
Variations of Stieltjes-Wigert and q-Laguerre polynomials and their
  recurrence coefficients

abstract:
  We look at some extensions of the Stieltjes-Wigert weight functions. First we
replace the variable x by x^2 in a family of weight functions given by Askey in
1989 and we show that the recurrence coefficients of the corresponding
orthogonal polynomials can be expressed in terms of a solution of the
q-discrete Painlev\'e III equation. Next we consider the q-Laguerre or
generalized Stieltjes-Wigert weight functions with a quadratic transformation
and derive recursive equations for the recurrence coefficients of the
orthogonal polynomials. These turn out to be related to the q-discrete
Painlev\'e V equation. Finally we also consider the little q-Laguerre weight
with a quadratic transformation and show that the recurrence coefficients of
the orthogonal polynomials are again related to q-discrete Painlev\'e V.


title: Studying the Earth with Geoneutrinos

abstract:
  Geo-neutrinos, electron antineutrinos from natural radioactive decays inside
the Earth, bring to the surface unique information about our planet. The new
techniques in neutrino detection opened a door into a completely new
inter-disciplinary field of Neutrino Geoscience. We give here a broad
geological introduction highlighting the points where the geo-neutrino
measurements can give substantial new insights. The status-of-art of this field
is overviewed, including a description of the latest experimental results from
KamLAND and Borexino experiments and their first geological implications. We
performed a new combined Borexino and KamLAND analysis in terms of the
extraction of the mantle geo-neutrino signal and the limits on the Earth's
radiogenic heat power. The perspectives and the future projects having
geo-neutrinos among their scientific goals are also discussed.


title:
Classical Be Stars: Rapidly Rotating B Stars with Viscous Keplerian
  Decretion Disks

abstract:
  In the past decade, a consensus has emerged regarding the nature of classical
Be stars: They are very rapidly rotating main sequence B stars, which, through
a still unknown, but increasingly constrained process, form an outwardly
diffusing gaseous, dust-free Keplerian disk. In this work, first the definition
of Be stars is contrasted to similar classes, and common observables obtained
for Be stars are introduced and the respective formation mechanisms explained.
We then review the current state of knowledge concerning the central stars as
non-radially pulsating objects and non-magnetic stars, as far as it concerns
large scale, i.e., mostly dipolar, global fields. Localized, weak magnetic
fields remain possible, but are as of yet unproven. The Be phenomenon, linked
with one or more mass ejection processes, acts on top of a rotation rate of
about 75% of critical or above. The properties of the process can be well
constrained, leaving only few options, most importantly, but not exclusively,
non-radial pulsation and small scale magnetic fields. Of these, it is well
possible that all are realized: In different stars, different processes may be
acting. Once the material has been lifted into Keplerian orbit, memory of the
details of the ejection process is lost, and the material is governed by
viscosity. The disks are fairly well understood in the theoretical framework of
the viscous decretion disk model. This is not only true for the disk structure,
but as well for its variability, both cyclic and secular. Be binaries are
reviewed under the aspect of the various types of interactions a companion can
have with the circumstellar disk. Finally, extragalactic Be stars, at lower
metallicities, seem more common and more rapidly rotating.