title:
Master equation for the probability distribution functions of forces in
  soft particle packings

abstract:
  Employing molecular dynamics simulations of jammed soft particles, we study
microscopic responses of force-chain networks to quasi-static isotropic
(de)compressions. We show that not only contacts but also interparticle gaps
between the nearest neighbors must be considered for the stochastic evolution
of the probability distribution functions (PDFs) of forces, where the mutual
exchange of contacts and interparticle gaps, i.e. opening and closing contacts,
are also crucial to the incremental system behaviors. By numerically
determining the transition rates for all changes of contacts and gaps, we
formulate a Master equation for the PDFs of forces, where the insight one gets
from the transition rates is striking: The mean change of forces reflects
non-affine system response, while their fluctuations obey uncorrelated Gaussian
statistics. In contrast, interparticle gaps are reacting mostly affine in
average, but imply multi-scale correlations according to a wider stable
distribution function.


title:
Achievable Rate Regions for Two-Way Relay Channel using Nested Lattice
  Coding

abstract:
  This paper studies Gaussian Two-Way Relay Channel where two communication
nodes exchange messages with each other via a relay. It is assumed that all
nodes operate in half duplex mode without any direct link between the
communication nodes. A compress-and-forward relaying strategy using nested
lattice codes is first proposed. Then, the proposed scheme is improved by
performing a layered coding : a common layer is decoded by both receivers and a
refinement layer is recovered only by the receiver which has the best channel
conditions. The achievable rates of the new scheme are characterized and are
shown to be higher than those provided by the decode-and-forward strategy in
some regions.


title: On the Hausdorff dimension of the Rauzy gasket

abstract:
  In this paper, we prove that the Hausdorff dimension of the Rauzy gasket is
less than 2. By this result, we answer a question addressed by Pierre Arnoux.
Also, this question is a very particular case of the conjecture stated by S.P.
Novikov and A. Ya. Maltsev in 2003.


title:
Coverage by Pairwise Base Station Cooperation under Adaptive Geometric
  Policies

abstract:
  We study a cooperation model where the positions of base stations follow a
Poisson point process distribution and where Voronoi cells define the planar
areas associated with them. For the service of each user, either one or two
base stations are involved. If two, these cooperate by exchange of user data
and reduced channel information (channel phase, second neighbour interference)
with conferencing over some backhaul link. The total user transmission power is
split between them and a common message is encoded, which is coherently
transmitted by the stations. The decision for a user to choose service with or
without cooperation is directed by a family of geometric policies. The
suggested policies further control the shape of coverage contours in favor of
cell-edge areas. Analytic expressions based on stochastic geometry are derived
for the coverage probability in the network. Their numerical evaluation shows
benefits from cooperation, which are enhanced when Dirty Paper Coding is
applied to eliminate the second neighbour interference.


title:
Mathematical Model of a pH-gradient Creation at Isoelectrofocusing. Part
  III: Numerical Solution of the Non-stationary Problem

abstract:
  The mathematical model describing the non-stationary natural pH-gradient
arising under the action of an electric field in an aqueous solution of
ampholytes (amino acids) is constructed and investigated. The model is part of
a more general model of the isoelectrofocusing (IEF) process. To numerical
study of the model we use the finite elements method that allows to
significantly reduce the computation time. We also examine the influence of the
different effects (taking into account the water ions, the various forms of
Ohm's law, the difference between isoelectric and isoionic points of the
substances) on the process IEF.


title: AdS Chern-Simons Gravity induces Conformal Gravity

abstract:
  The leitmotif of this paper is the question of whether four- and higher
even-dimensional Conformal Gravities do have a Chern-Simons pedigree. We show
that Weyl gravity can be obtained as dimensional reduction of a
five-dimensional Chern-Simons action for a suitable (gauged-fixed,
tractor-like) five-dimensional AdS connection. The gauge-fixing and dimensional
reduction program admits a readily generalization to higher dimensions for the
case of certain conformal gravities obtained by contractions of the Weyl
tensor.


title:
Atomic force microscope based indentation stiffness tomography - An
  asymptotic model

abstract:
  The so-called indentation stiffness tomography technique for detecting the
interior mechanical properties of an elastic sample with an inhomogeneity is
analyzed in the framework of the asymptotic modeling approach under the
assumption of small size of the inhomogeneity. In particular, it is assumed
that the inhomogeneity size and the size of contact area under the indenter are
small compared with the distance between them. By the method of matched
asymptotic expansions, the first-order asymptotic solution to the corresponding
frictionless unilateral contact problem is obtained. The case of an elastic
half-space containing a small spherical inhomogeneity has been studied in
detail. Based on the grid indentation technique, a procedure for solving the
inverse problem of extracting the inhomogeneity parameters is proposed.


title: Detection of Correlations with Adaptive Sensing

abstract:
  The problem of detecting correlations from samples of a high-dimensional
Gaussian vector has recently received a lot of attention. In most existing
work, detection procedures are provided with a full sample. However, following
common wisdom in experimental design, the experimenter may have the capacity to
make targeted measurements in an on-line and adaptive manner. In this work, we
investigate such adaptive sensing procedures for detecting positive
correlations. It it shown that, using the same number of measurements, adaptive
procedures are able to detect significantly weaker correlations than their
non-adaptive counterparts. We also establish minimax lower bounds that show the
limitations of any procedure.


title:
Thermal Correction of Astigmatism in the Gravitational Wave Observatory
  GEO 600

abstract:
  The output port of GEO 600 is dominated by unwanted high order modes (HOMs).
The current thermal actuation system, a ring heater behind one of the folding
mirrors, causes a significant amount of astigmatism, which produces HOMs. We
have built and installed an astigmatism correction system, based on heating
this folding mirror at the sides (laterally). With these side heaters and the
ring heater behind the mirror, it is possible to tune its radius of curvature
in the horizontal and the vertical degree of freedom. We use this system to
match the mirrors in the two arms of GEO 600 to each other, thereby reducing
the contrast defect. The use of the side heaters reduces the power of the HOMs
at the output of GEO 600 by approximately 37%.


title:
1SXPS: A deep Swift X-ray Telescope point source catalog with light
  curves and spectra

abstract:
  We present the 1SXPS (Swift-XRT Point Source) catalog of 151,524 X-ray
point-sources detected by the Swift-XRT in 8 years of operation. The catalog
covers 1905 square degrees distributed approximately uniformly on the sky. We
analyze the data in two ways. First we consider all observations individually,
for which we have a typical sensitivity of ~3e-13 erg/cm2/s (0.3--10 keV). Then
we co-add all data covering the same location on the sky: these images have a
typical sensitivity of ~9e-14 erg/cm2/s (0.3--10 keV). Our sky coverage is
nearly 2.5 times that of 3XMM-DR4, although the catalog is a factor of ~1.5
less sensitive. The median position error is 5.5" (90% confidence), including
systematics. Our source detection method improves on that used in previous XRT
catalogs and we report >68,000 new X-ray sources. The goals and observing
strategy of the Swift satellite allow us to probe source variability on
multiple timescales, and we find ~30,000 variable objects in our catalog. For
every source we give positions, fluxes, time series (in four energy bands and
two hardness ratios), estimates of the spectral properties, spectra and
spectral fits for the brightest sources, and variability probabilities in
multiple energy bands and timescales.


title:
Branching random walks and multi-type contact-processes on the
  percolation cluster of ${\mathbb{Z}}^{d}$

abstract:
  In this paper we prove that, under the assumption of quasi-transitivity, if a
branching random walk on ${{\mathbb{Z}}^d}$ survives locally (at arbitrarily
large times there are individuals alive at the origin), then so does the same
process when restricted to the infinite percolation cluster
${{\mathcal{C}}_{\infty}}$ of a supercritical Bernoulli percolation. When no
more than $k$ individuals per site are allowed, we obtain the $k$-type contact
process, which can be derived from the branching random walk by killing all
particles that are born at a site where already $k$ individuals are present. We
prove that local survival of the branching random walk on ${{\mathbb{Z}}^d}$
also implies that for $k$ sufficiently large the associated $k$-type contact
process survives on ${{\mathcal{C}}_{\infty}}$. This implies that the strong
critical parameters of the branching random walk on ${{\mathbb{Z}}^d}$ and on
${{\mathcal{C}}_{\infty}}$ coincide and that their common value is the limit of
the sequence of strong critical parameters of the associated $k$-type contact
processes. These results are extended to a family of restrained branching
random walks, that is, branching random walks where the success of the
reproduction trials decreases with the size of the population in the target
site.


title:
Direct observation of high temperature superconductivity in
  one-unit-cell FeSe films

abstract:
  Heterostructure based interface engineering has been proved an effective
method for finding new superconducting systems and raising superconductivity
transition temperature (TC). In previous work on one unit-cell (UC) thick FeSe
films on SrTiO3 (STO) substrate, a superconducting-like energy gap as large as
20 meV, was revealed by in situ scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy
(STM/STS). Angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) further revealed a
nearly isotropic gap of above 15 meV, which closes at a temperature of ~ 65 K.
If this transition is indeed the superconducting transition, then the 1-UC FeSe
represents the thinnest high TC superconductor discovered so far. However, up
to date direct transport measurement of the 1-UC FeSe films has not been
reported, mainly because growth of large scale 1-UC FeSe films is challenging
and the 1-UC FeSe films are too thin to survive in atmosphere. In this work, we
successfully prepared 1-UC FeSe films on insulating STO substrates with
non-superconducting FeTe protection layers. By direct transport and magnetic
measurements, we provide definitive evidence for high temperature
superconductivity in the 1-UC FeSe films with an onset TC above 40 K and a
extremely large critical current density JC ~ 1.7*106 A/cm2 at 2 K. Our work
may pave the way to enhancing and tailoring superconductivity by interface
engineering.


title: Quantum Breathing Mode of Trapped Systems in One and Two Dimensions

abstract:
  We investigate the quantum breathing mode (monopole oscillation) of trapped
fermionic particles with Coulomb and dipole interaction in one and two
dimensions. This collective oscillation has been shown to reveal detailed
information on the many-particle state of interacting trapped systems and is
thus a sensitive diagnostics for a variety of finite systems, including cold
atomic and molecular gases in traps and optical lattics, electrons in metal
clusters and in quantum confined semiconductor structures or nanoplasmas. An
improved sum rule formalism allows us to accurately determine the breathing
frequencies from the ground state of the system, avoiding complicated
time-dependent simulations. In combination with the Hartree-Fock and the
Thomas-Fermi approximations this enables us to extend the calculations to large
particle numbers $N$ on the order of several million. Tracing the breathing
frequency to large $N$ as a function of the coupling parameter of the system
reveals a surprising difference of the asymptotic behavior of one-dimensional
and two-dimensional harmonically trapped Coulomb systems.


title: Pl\"unnecke inequalities for countable abelian groups

abstract:
  We establish in this paper a new form of Pl\"unnecke-type inequalities for
ergodic probability measure-preserving actions of any countable abelian group.
Using a correspondence principle for product sets, this allows us to deduce
lower bounds on the upper and lower Banach densities of any product set in
terms of the upper Banach density of an iterated product set of one of its
addends. These bounds are new already in the case of the integers. We also
introduce the notion of an ergodic basis, which is parallel, but significantly
weaker than the analogous notion of an additive basis, and deduce Pl\"unnecke
bounds on their impact functions with respect to both the upper and lower
Banach densities on any countable abelian group.


title: Three-body bound states in dipole-dipole interacting Rydberg atoms

abstract:
  We show that the dipole-dipole interaction between three identical Rydberg
atoms can give rise to bound trimer states. The microscopic origin of these
states is fundamentally different from Efimov physics. Two stable trimer
configurations exist where the atoms form the vertices of an equilateral
triangle in a plane perpendicular to a static electric field. The triangle edge
length typically exceeds $R\approx 2\,\mu\text{m}$, and each configuration is
two-fold degenerate due to Kramers' degeneracy. The depth of the potential
wells and the triangle edge length can be controlled by external parameters. We
establish the Borromean nature of the trimer states, analyze the quantum
dynamics in the potential wells and describe methods for their production and
detection.


title:
Shape effects in nonlinear Thomson and Compton processes: the quest for
  MeV high-order harmonics

abstract:
  Spectra of Thomson and Compton radiation, emitted during electron scattering
off an intense laser beam, are calculated using the frameworks of classical and
strong-field quantum electrodynamics, respectively. Both approaches use a
plane-wave-fronted pulse approximation regarding the driving laser beam. Within
this approximation, a very good agreement between Thomson and Compton frequency
distributions is observed provided that frequencies of the emitted radiation is
relatively low. The dependence of frequency spectra on the laser pulse envelope
is analyzed. This becomes important in the context of ultra-short pulse
generation, as illustrated by numerical examples.

categories: physics.atom-ph hep-ph physics.optics physics.plasm-ph


title: On the convergence of arithmetic orbifolds

abstract:
  We discuss the geometry of some arithmetic orbifolds locally isometric to a
product of real hyperbolic spaces of dimension two and three, and prove that
certain sequences of non-uniform orbifolds are convergent to this space in a
geometric ("Benjamini--Schramm") sense for hyperbolic three--space and a
product of hyperbolic planes. We also deal with arbitrary sequences of maximal
arithmetic three--dimensional hyperbolic lattices defined over a quadratic or
cubic field. A motivating application is the study of Betti numbers of Bianchi
groups.


title:
PAPR Constrained Power Allocation for Iterative Frequency Domain
  Multiuser SIMO Detector

abstract:
  Peak to average power ratio (PAPR) constrained power allocation in single
carrier multiuser (MU) single-input multiple-output (SIMO) systems with
iterative frequency domain (FD) soft cancelation (SC) minimum mean squared
error (MMSE) equalization is considered in this paper. To obtain full benefit
of the iterative receiver, its convergence properties need to be taken into
account also at the transmitter side. In this paper, we extend the existing
results on the area of convergence constrained power allocation (CCPA) to
consider the instantaneous PAPR at the transmit antenna of each user. In other
words, we will introduce a constraint that PAPR cannot exceed a predetermined
threshold. By adding the aforementioned constraint into the CCPA optimization
framework, the power efficiency of a power amplifier (PA) can be significantly
enhanced by enabling it to operate on its linear operation range. Hence, PAPR
constraint is especially beneficial for power limited cell-edge users. In this
paper, we will derive the instantaneous PAPR constraint as a function of
transmit power allocation. Furthermore, successive convex approximation is
derived for the PAPR constrained problem. Numerical results show that the
proposed method can achieve the objectives described above.


title:
Numerical Simulation of Spectral and Timing Properties of a Two
  Component Advective Flow around a Black Hole

abstract:
  We study the spectral and timing properties of a two component advective flow
(TCAF) around a black hole by numerical simulation. Several cases have been
simulated by varying the Keplerian disk rate and the resulting spectra and
lightcurves have been produced for all the cases. The dependence of the
spectral states and quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO) frequencies on the flow
parameters is discussed. We also find the earlier explanation of arising of
QPOs as the resonance between infall time scale and cooling time scale remain
valid even for Compton cooling.


title: Retrieving and Routing Quantum Information in a Quantum Network

abstract:
  In extant quantum secret sharing protocols, once the secret is shared in a
quantum network (\textsc{qnet}) it can not be retrieved back, even if the
dealer wishes that her secret no longer be available in the network. For
instance, if the dealer is part of two \textsc{qnet}s, say $\mathcal{Q}_1$ and
$\mathcal{Q}_2$ and subsequently finds that $\mathcal{Q}_2$ is more reliable
than $\mathcal{Q}_1$, the dealer may wish to transfer all her secrets from
$\mathcal{Q}_1$ to $\mathcal{Q}_2$. In this work we address this problem by
designing a protocol that enables the source/dealer to bring back the
information shared in the network, if desired. Unlike classical revocation,
no-cloning-theorem automatically ensures that the secret is no longer shared in
the network.
  The implications of our results are multi-fold. One interesting implication
of our technique is the possibility of routing qubits in asynchronous
\textsc{qnets}. By asynchrony we mean that the requisite data/resources are
intermittently available (but not necessarily simultaneously) in the
\textsc{qnet}. For example, we show that a source $S$ can send quantum
information to a destination $R$ even though (a) $S$ and $R$ share no quantum
resource, (b) $R$'s identity is {\em unknown}\/ to $S$ initially, (c) $S$
herself can be $R$ at a later date and/or in a different location to bequeath
her information and (d) the path chosen for routing the secret may hit a
dead-end due to resource constraints. Another implication of our technique is
the possibility of using {\em insecure}\/ resources. For instance, it may
safely store its private information with a neighboring organization without
revealing data to the host and losing control over retrieving the data.
  Putting the two implications together, namely routing and secure storage, it
is possible to envision applications like quantum mail (qmail) as an outsourced
service.


title:
Magnetization Enhancement in Magnetite Nanoparticles Capped with Alginic
  Acid

abstract:
  We report on the effect of organic acid capping on the behavior of magnetite
nanoparticles. The nanoparticles of magnetite were obtained using microwave
activated process, and the magnetic properties as well as the electron magnetic
resonance behavior were studied for the Fe3O4 nanoparticles capped with alginic
acid. The capped nanoparticles exhibit improved crystalline structure of the
surface which leads to an enhanced magnetization. The saturation magnetization
Ms increases to ~75% of the bulk magnetization. The improved structure also
facilitates quantization of spin-wave spectrum in the finite size nanoparticles
and this in turn is responsible for unconventional behavior at low
temperatures. In magnetic resonance these anomalies are manifested as an
unusual increase in the resonant field Hr(T) and also as a maximum of the
spectroscopic splitting geff parameter at low temperatures. The unconventional
behavior of the nanoparticles also leads to pronounced upturn of magnetization
at low temperatures and a deviation from the Bloch law M(T) T^3/2.


title:
Probabilistic Mortality Forecasting with Varying Age-Specific Survival
  Improvements

abstract:
  We propose a probabilistic mortality forecasting model that can be applied to
derive forecasts for populations with regular and irregular mortality
developments. Our model (1) uses rates of mortality improvement to model
dynamic age patterns of mortality change and it can (2) optionally complement
the mortality trend of a country of interest with that of at least one
reference country. Retrospective mortality forecasts for British and Danish
women from 1991 to 2011 suggest that our model can generate smaller forecast
errors than other widely accepted approaches like, for instance, the Lee-Carter
model or the UN Bayesian approach.


title: AGB yields and Galactic Chemical Evolution: last updated

abstract:
  We study the s-process abundances at the epoch of the Solar-system formation
as the outcome of nucleosynthesis occurring in AGB stars of various masses and
metallicities. The calculations have been performed with the Galactic chemical
evolution (GCE) model presented by Travaglio et al. (1999, 2004). With respect
to previous works, we used updated solar meteoritic abundances, a neutron
capture cross section network that includes the most recent measurements, and
we implemented the $s$-process yields with an extended range of AGB initial
masses. The new set of AGB yields includes a new evaluation of the 22Ne(alpha,
n)25Mg rate, which takes into account the most recent experimental information.


title: Analysis of Wireless Power Transmission

abstract:
  The advent of various wireless technologies have revolutionized the
communication infrastructure and consequently changed the entire world into a
global village. Use of wireless technology has also been made for transmission
of electric power wirelessly. It increases the portability of power systems and
integrates the communication technologies and electric power to the same
platform. This paper presents a comprehensive review and detailed analysis of
various techniques used for wireless power transmission. Feasibility,
implementations, operations, results and comparison among different methods
have also been covered in order to identify the favorable and economical method
for low power and small distance applications.


title: Occupation times of exclusion processes with conductances

abstract:
  We obtain the fluctuations for the occupation time of one-dimensional
symmetric exclusion processes with speed change, where the transition rates
(conductances) are driven by a general function W. The approach does not
require sharp bounds on the spectral gap of the system nor the jump rates to be
bounded from above or below. We present some examples and for one of them, we
observe that the fluctuations of the current are trivial, but the fluctuations
of the occupation time are given by a fractional Brownian Motion. This shows
that, in general, the fluctuations of the current and of the occupation time
are not of same order.


title:
Global analysis of the ground-state wrapping conformation of a charged
  polymer on an oppositely charged nano-sphere

abstract:
  We investigate the wrapping conformations of a strongly adsorbed polymer
chain on an oppositely charged nano-sphere by employing a reduced
(dimensionless) representation of a primitive chain-sphere model. This enables
us to determine the global phase behavior of the chain conformation in a wide
range of values for the system parameters including the chain contour length,
its linear charge density and persistence length as well as the nano-sphere
charge and radius, and also the salt concentration in the bathing solution. The
phase behavior of a charged chain-sphere complex can be described in terms of a
few distinct conformational symmetry classes (phases) separated by continuous
or discontinuous transition lines which are determined by means of
appropriately defined (order) parameters. Our results can be applied to a wide
class of strongly coupled polymer-sphere complexes including, for instances,
complexes that comprise a mechanically flexible or semiflexible polymer chain
or an extremely short or long chain and, as a special case, include the
previously studied example of DNA-histone complexes.

categories: cond-mat.soft cond-mat.mes-hall cond-mat.stat-mech physics.bio-ph


title: Home Energy Management in Smart Grid

abstract:
  A significant amount of research has been conducted in order to make home
appliances more efficient in terms of energy usage. Various techniques have
been designed and implemented in order to control the power demand and supply.
This paper encompasses reviews of different research works on a wide range of
energy management techniques for smart homes aimed at reducing energy
consumption and minimizing energy wastage. The idea of smart home is elaborated
followed by a review of existing energy management methods.


title: CEMP-s and CEMP-s/r stars: last update

abstract:
  We provide an updated discussion of the sample of CEMP-s and CEMP-s/r stars
collected from the literature. Observations are compared with the theoretical
nucleosynthesis models of asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars presented by
Bisterzo et al. (2010, 2011, 2012), in the light of the most recent
spectroscopic results.


title:
Wave patterns generated by a flow of two-component Bose-Einstein
  condensate with spin-orbit interaction past a localized obstacle

abstract:
  It is shown that spin-orbit interaction leads to drastic changes in wave
patterns generated by a flow of two-component Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC)
past an obstacle. The combined Rashba and Dresselhaus spin-orbit interaction
affects in different ways two types of excitations---density and polarization
waves---which can propagate in a two-component BEC. We show that the density
and polarization "ship wave" patterns rotate in opposite directions around the
axis located at the obstacle position and the angle of rotation depends on the
strength of spin-orbit interaction. This rotation is accompanied by narrowing
of the Mach cone. The influence of spin-orbit coupling on density solitons and
polarization breathers is studied numerically.


title:
Cryogenic infrared filter made of alumina for use at millimeter
  wavelength

abstract:
  We propose a high thermal conductivity infrared (IR) filter using alumina for
use in millimeter wave detection systems. We constructed a prototype two-layer
anti-reflection (AR) coated alumina filter with a diameter of 100mm and a
thickness of 2mm, and characterized its thermal and optical properties. The
transmittance of this filter at 95GHz and 150GHz is 97% and 95% while the
estimated 3dB cutoff frequency is at 450GHz. The high thermal conductivity of
alumina minimizes thermal gradients. We measure a differential temperature of
only 0.21K between the center and the edge of the filter when it is mounted on
a thermal anchor of 77K. We also constructed a thermal model based on the
prototype filter and analyzed the scalability of the filter diameter. We
conclude that temperature increase at the center of alumina IR filter is less
than 6K even with a large diameter of 500mm, when the temperature at the edge
of the filter is 50K. This is suitable for an application to a large-throughput
next-generation cosmic microwave background (CMB) polarization experiment, such
as POLARBEAR-2 (PB-2).


title: Isotropization from Color Field Condensate in heavy ion collisions

abstract:
  The expanding fireball shortly after a heavy ion collision may be
qualitatively described by a condensate of color fields or gluons which is
analogous to Bose-Einstein-condensation for massive bosonic particles. This
condensate is a transient non-equilibrium phenomenon and breaks Lorentz-boost
symmetry. The dynamics of color field condensates involves collective
excitations and is rather different from the perturbative scattering of gluons.
In particular, it provides for an efficient mechanism to render the local
pressure approximately isotropic after a short time of 0.2 fm/c. We suggest
that an isotropic color field condensate may play a central role for a simple
description of prethermalization and isotropization in the early stages of the
collision.


title: Small circulant complex Hadamard matrices of Butson type

abstract:
  We study the circulant complex Hadamard matrices of order $n$ whose entries
are $l$-th roots of unity. For $n=l$ prime we prove that the only such matrix,
up to equivalence, is the Fourier matrix, while for $n=p+q,l=pq$ with $p,q$
distinct primes there is no such matrix. We then provide a list of equivalence
classes of such matrices, for small values of $n,l$.


title:
Giant optical rotation in a three-dimensional semiconductor chiral
  photonic crystal

abstract:
  Optical rotation is experimentally demonstrated in a semiconductor-based
three-dimensional chiral photonic crystal (PhC) at a telecommunication
wavelength. We design a rotationally-stacked woodpile PhC structure, where
neighboring layers are rotated by 45 degrees and four layers construct a single
helical unit. The mirror-asymmetric PhC made from GaAs with sub-micron
periodicity is fabricated by a micro-manipulation technique. The linearly
polarized light incident on the structure undergoes optical rotation during
transmission. The obtained results show good agreement with numerical
simulations. The measurement demonstrates the largest optical rotation angle as
large as 23 degrees at 1300 nm wavelength for a single helical unit.


title:
Hydrodynamic equations for electrons in graphene obtained from the
  maximum entropy principle

abstract:
  The maximum entropy principle is applied to the formal derivation of
isothermal, Euler-like equations for semiclassical fermions (electrons and
holes) in graphene. After proving general mathematical properties of the
equations so obtained, their asymptotic form corresponding to significant
physical regimes is investigated. In particular, the diffusive regime, the
Maxwell-Boltzmann regime (high temperature), the collimation regime and the
degenerate gas limit (vanishing temperature) are considered.


title:
Bose-Einstein Condensation and Many-Body Localization of Rotational
  Excitations of Polar Molecules

abstract:
  We study theoretically the collective dynamics of rotational excitations of
polar molecules loaded into an optical lattice in two dimensions. These
excitations behave as hard-core bosons with a relativistic energy dispersion
arising from the dipolar coupling between molecules. This has interesting
consequences for the collective many-body phases. The rotational excitations
can form a Bose-Einstein condensate at non-zero temperature, manifesting itself
as a divergent $T_2$ coherence time of the rotational transition even in the
presence of inhomogeneous broadening. The dynamical evolution of a dense gas of
rotational excitations shows regimes of non-ergodicity, characteristic of
many-body localization and localization protected quantum order.


title: The dynamics of a class of quasi-periodic Schr\"odinger cocycles

abstract:
  Let $f:\mathbb{T}\to\mathbb{R}$ be a Morse function of class $C^2$ with
exactly two critical points, let $\omega\in\mathbb{T}$ be Diophantine, and let
$\lambda>0$ be sufficiently large (depending on $f$ and $\omega$). For any
value of the parameter $E\in \mathbb{R}$ we make a careful analysis of the
dynamics of the skew-product map $$\Phi_E(\theta,r)=\left(\theta+\omega,\lambda
f(\theta)-E-1/r\right),$$ acting on the "torus"
$\mathbb{T}\times\widehat{\mathbb{R}}$. The map $\Phi_E$ is intimately related
to the quasi-periodic Schr\"odinger cocycle $(\omega,A_E): \mathbb{T}\times
\mathbb{R}^2 \to \mathbb{T}\times \mathbb{R}^2$, $(\theta,x)\mapsto
(\theta+\omega, A_E(\theta)\cdot x)$, where $A_E:\mathbb{T}\to
\text{SL}(2,\mathbb{R})$ is given by $A_{E}(\theta)=\left(\begin{matrix}0 & 1
\\ -1 & \lambda f(\theta)-E \end{matrix} \right), \quad E\in \mathbb{R}. $ More
precisely, $(\omega,A_E)$ naturally acts on the space
$\mathbb{T}\times\widehat{\mathbb{R}}$, and $\Phi_E$ is the map thus obtained.
The analysis of $\Phi_E$ allows us to derive three main results: (1) The
(maximal) Lyapunov exponent of the Schr\"odinger cocycle $(\omega,A_E)$ is
$\gtrsim \log \lambda$, uniformly in $E\in \mathbb{R}$. This implies that the
map $\Phi_E$ has exactly two ergodic probability measures for all $E\in
\mathbb{R}$; (2) If $E$ is on the edge of an open gap in the spectrum
$\sigma(H)$ of the associated Schr\"odinger operator $H_\theta$, then there
exist a phase $\theta\in\mathbb{T}$ and a vector $u\in l^2(\mathbb{Z})$,
exponentially decaying at $\pm\infty$, such that $H_\theta u=Eu$; (3) The map
$\Phi_E$ is minimal iff $E\in \sigma(H)\setminus\{\text{edges of open gaps}\}$.
In particular, $\Phi_E$ is minimal for all $E$ for which the fibered rotation
number $\alpha(E)$ associated to $(\omega,A_E)$ is irrational with respect to
$\omega$.


title:
Logarithmic operator intervals in the boundary theory of critical
  percolation

abstract:
  We consider the sub-sector of the $c=0$ logarithmic conformal field theory
(LCFT) generated by the boundary condition changing (bcc) operator in two
dimensional critical percolation. This operator is the zero weight Kac operator
$\phi_{1,2}$, identified with the growing hull of the SLE$_6$ process.
  We identify percolation configurations with the significant operators in the
theory. We consider operators from the first four bcc operator fusions: the
identity and bcc operator; the stress tensor and its logarithmic partner; the
derivative of the bcc operator and its logarithmic partner; and the
pre-logarithmic operator $\phi_{1,3}$.
  We construct several intervals in the percolation model, each associated to
one of the LCFT operators we consider, allowing us to calculate crossing
probabilities and expectation values of crossing cluster numbers. We review the
Coulomb gas, which we use as a method of calculating these quantities when the
number of bcc operator makes a direct solution to the system of differential
equations intractable.
  Finally we discuss the case of the six-point correlation function, which
applies to crossing probabilities between the sides of a conformal hexagon.
Specifically we introduce an integral result that allows one to identify the
probability that a single percolation cluster touches three alternating sides a
hexagon with free boundaries. We give results of the numerical integration for
the case of a regular hexagon.

categories: cond-mat.stat-mech hep-th math-ph math.MP


title: Quivers with loops and Lagrangian subvarieties

abstract:
  In this article we define a generalization of Lusztig Lagrangian varieties in
the case of arbitrary quivers, possibly carrying loops. As opposed to the
Lagrangian varieties constructed by Lusztig, which consisted in nilpotent
representations, we have to consider here slightly more general
representations. That this is necessary is already clear from the Jordan quiver
case. Our proof of the Lagrangian character is based on induction, but with non
trivial first steps, consisting in the study of quivers with one vertex but
possible loops. From our proof emerges a new combinatorial structure on the set
of irreducible components, which is more general than the usual crystals, in
that there are now more operators associated to a vertex with loops. We finally
consider a convolution algebra of constructible functions on our varieties, and
construct a family of constructible functions naturally attached to the
irreducible components.


title: Little Rip and Pseudo Rip Phenomena from Coupled Dark Energy

abstract:
  We consider Little Rip (LR) and Pseudo Rip (PR) cosmological models with two
interacting ideal fluids, corresponding to dark energy and dark matter. The
interaction between the dark energy and the dark matter fluid components is
described in terms of the parameters in the equations of state for the LR and
PR universes. In contrast to a model containing only a pure dark energy, the
presence of the interaction term between the fluid components in the
gravitational equations leads to a modification of the equation of state
parameters. The properties of the early universe in this formalism are pointed
out.


title: QCD Factorization of Semi-inclusive DIS process at Operator Level

abstract:
  The operator level proof of factorization theorem exhibited in [1] is
extended to the semi-inclusive deep inelastic scattering process(SIDIS).
Factorization theorem can be proved at operator level if there are not detected
soft hadrons.


title:
Weighted norm inequalities for Weyl multipliers and Fourier multipliers
  on the Heisenberg group

abstract:
  In this paper we prove weighted norm inequalities for Weyl multipliers
satisfying Mauceri's condition. As applications of this we obtain some
estimates for $L^p$ multipliers on the Heisenberg group and also show in the
context of a theorem of Weis on operator valued Fourier multipliers that the
R-boundedness of the derivative of the multiplier is not necessary for the
boundedness of the multiplier transform.


title: Fourier algebras of parabolic subgroups

abstract:
  We study the following question: given a locally compact group when does its
Fourier algebra coincide with the subalgebra of the Fourier-Stieltjes algebra
consisting of functions vanishing at infinity? We provide sufficient conditions
for this to be the case.
  As an application, we show that when P is the minimal parabolic subgroup in
one of the classical simple Lie groups of real rank one or the exceptional such
group, then the Fourier algebra of P coincides with the subalgebra of the
Fourier-Stieltjes algebra of P consisting of functions vanishing at infinity.
In particular, the regular representation of P decomposes as a direct sum of
irreducible representations although P is not compact.


title: Clustering and Relational Ambiguity: from Text Data to Natural Data

abstract:
  Text data is often seen as "take-away" materials with little noise and easy
to process information. Main questions are how to get data and transform them
into a good document format. But data can be sensitive to noise oftenly called
ambiguities. Ambiguities are aware from a long time, mainly because polysemy is
obvious in language and context is required to remove uncertainty. I claim in
this paper that syntactic context is not suffisant to improve interpretation.
In this paper I try to explain that firstly noise can come from natural data
themselves, even involving high technology, secondly texts, seen as verified
but meaningless, can spoil content of a corpus; it may lead to contradictions
and background noise.


title: Virialization-induced curvature versus dark energy

abstract:
  The concordance model is successful in explaining numerous observable
phenomena at the price of introducing an exotic source of unknown origin: dark
energy. Dark energy dominance occurs at recent epochs, when we expect most
cosmological structures to have already formed, and thus, when the error
induced by forcing the homogeneous FLRW metric onto the data is expected to be
the most significant. We propose a way to quantify the impact of deviations
from homogeneity on the evolution of cosmological parameters. Using a
multi-scale partitioning approach and the virialization fraction estimated from
numerical simulations in an Einstein-de Sitter model, we obtain an
observationally realistic distance modulus over redshifts 0 < z < 3 by a
relativistic correction of the FLRW metric.


title: Loop formulation of the supersymmetric nonlinear O(N) sigma model

abstract:
  We derive the fermion loop formulation for the supersymmetric nonlinear
O$(N)$ sigma model by performing a hopping expansion using Wilson fermions. In
this formulation the fermionic contribution to the partition function becomes a
sum over all possible closed non-oriented fermion loop configurations. The
interaction between the bosonic and fermionic degrees of freedom is encoded in
the constraints arising from the supersymmetry and induces flavour changing
fermion loops. For $N \ge 3$ this leads to fermion loops which are no longer
self-avoiding and hence to a potential sign problem. Since we use Wilson
fermions the bare mass needs to be tuned to the chiral point. For $N=2$ we
determine the critical point and present boson and fermion masses in the
critical regime.


title:
Tight-binding calculations of image charge effects in colloidal
  nanoscale platelets of CdSe

abstract:
  CdSe nanoplatelets show perfectly quantized thicknesses of few monolayers.
They present a situation of extreme, yet well defined quantum confinement. Due
to large dielectric contrast between the semiconductor and its ligand
environment, interaction between carriers and their dielectric images strongly
renormalize bare single particle states. We discuss the electronic properties
of this original system in an advanced tight-binding model, and show that
Coulomb interactions, including self-energy corrections and enhanced
electron-hole interaction, lead to exciton binding energies up to several
hundred meVs.


title:
A good and computationally efficient polynomial approximation to the
  Maier-Saupe nematic free energy

abstract:
  A new computational strategy is proposed to approximate, with a simple but
accurate expression, the Maier- Saupe free energy for nematic order. Instead of
the traditional approach of expanding the free energy with a truncated Taylor
series, we employ a least-squares fitting to obtain the coefficients of a
polynomial expression. Both methods are compared, and the fitting with at most
five polynomial terms is shown to provide a satisfactory fitting, and to give
much more accurate results than the traditional Taylor expansion. We perform
the analysis in terms of the tensor order parameter, so the results are valid
in uniaxial and biaxial states.


title: A Unified SVM Framework for Signal Estimation

abstract:
  This paper presents a unified framework to tackle estimation problems in
Digital Signal Processing (DSP) using Support Vector Machines (SVMs). The use
of SVMs in estimation problems has been traditionally limited to its mere use
as a black-box model. Noting such limitations in the literature, we take
advantage of several properties of Mercer's kernels and functional analysis to
develop a family of SVM methods for estimation in DSP. Three types of signal
model equations are analyzed. First, when a specific time-signal structure is
assumed to model the underlying system that generated the data, the linear
signal model (so called Primal Signal Model formulation) is first stated and
analyzed. Then, non-linear versions of the signal structure can be readily
developed by following two different approaches. On the one hand, the signal
model equation is written in reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces (RKHS) using the
well-known RKHS Signal Model formulation, and Mercer's kernels are readily used
in SVM non-linear algorithms. On the other hand, in the alternative and not so
common Dual Signal Model formulation, a signal expansion is made by using an
auxiliary signal model equation given by a non-linear regression of each time
instant in the observed time series. These building blocks can be used to
generate different novel SVM-based methods for problems of signal estimation,
and we deal with several of the most important ones in DSP. We illustrate the
usefulness of this methodology by defining SVM algorithms for linear and
non-linear system identification, spectral analysis, nonuniform interpolation,
sparse deconvolution, and array processing. The performance of the developed
SVM methods is compared to standard approaches in all these settings. The
experimental results illustrate the generality, simplicity, and capabilities of
the proposed SVM framework for DSP.


title: On Interpolation and Curvature via Wasserstein Geodesics

abstract:
  In this article, a proof of the interpolation inequality along geodesics in
$p$-Wasserstein spaces is given. This interpolation inequality was the main
ingredient to prove the Borel-Brascamp-Lieb inequality for general Riemannian
and Finsler manifolds and led Lott-Villani and Sturm to define an abstract
Ricci curvature condition. Following their ideas, a similar condition can be
defined and for positively curved spaces one can prove a Poincar\'e inequality.
Using Gigli's recently developed calculus on metric measure spaces, even a
$q$-Laplacian comparison theorem holds on $q$-infinitesimal convex spaces. In
the appendix, the theory of Orlicz-Wasserstein spaces is developed and
necessary adjustments to prove the interpolation inequality along geodesics in
those spaces are given.


title: Quantum Exact Non-Abelian Vortices in Non-relativistic Theories

abstract:
  Non-Abelian vortices arise when a non-Abelian global symmetry is exact in the
ground state but spontaneously broken in the vicinity of their cores. In this
case, there appear (non-Abelian) Nambu-Goldstone (NG) modes confined and
propagating along the vortex. In relativistic theories, the
Coleman-Mermin-Wagner theorem forbids the existence of a spontaneous symmetry
breaking, or a long-range order, in 1+1 dimensions: quantum corrections restore
the symmetry along the vortex and the NG modes acquire a mass gap. We show that
in non-relativistic theories NG modes with quadratic dispersion relation
confined on a vortex can remain gapless at quantum level. We provide a concrete
and experimentally realizable example of a three-component Bose-Einstein
condensate with U(1) x U(2) symmetry. We first show, at the classical level,
the existence of S^3 = S^1 |x S^2 (S^1 fibered over S^2) NG modes associated to
the breaking U(2) -> U(1) on vortices, where S^1 and S^2 correspond to type I
and II NG modes, respectively. We then show, by using a Bethe ansatz technique,
that the U(1) symmetry is restored, while the SU(2) symmery remains broken
non-pertubatively at quantum level. Accordingly, the U(1) NG mode turns into a
c=1 conformal field theory, the Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid, while the S^2 NG
mode remains gapless, describing a ferromagnetic liquid. This allows the vortex
to be genuinely non-Abelian at quantum level.


title: Breakdown of Bose-Einstein distribution in photonic crystals

abstract:
  In the last two decades, considerable advances have been made in the
investigation of nano-photonics in photonic crystals. Previous theoretical
investigations of photon dynamics were carried out at zero temperature. Here,
we investigate micro/nano cavity photonics in photonic crystals at finite
temperature. Due to photonic-band-gap-induced non-Markovian dynamics, we
discover that cavity photons in photonic crystals do not obey the standard
Bose-Einstein statistical distribution. Within the photonic band gap and in the
vicinity of the band edge, cavity photons combine nontrivial quantum
dissipation with thermal fluctuations to form photon states that can memorize
the initial cavity state information. As a result, Bose-Einstein distribution
is completely broken down in these regimes, even if the thermal energy is
larger than the photonic band gap.


title:
Experimental Demonstration of Quasi-Resonant Absorption in Silicon Thin
  Films for Enhanced Solar Light Trapping

abstract:
  We experimentally demonstrate that the addition of partial lattice disorder
to a thin-film micro-crystalline silicon photonic crystal results in the
controlled spectral broadening of its absorption peaks to form quasi
resonances; increasing light trapping over a wide bandwidth while also reducing
sensitivity to the angle of incident radiation. Accurate computational
simulations are used to design the active-layer photonic crystal so as to
maximize the number of its absorption resonances over the broadband interval
where micro-crystalline silicon is weakly absorbing before lattice disorder
augmented with fabrication-induced imperfections are applied to further boost
performance. Such a design strategy may find practical use for increasing the
efficiency of thin-film silicon photovoltaics.


title: Automated data reduction workflows for astronomy

abstract:
  Data from complex modern astronomical instruments often consist of a large
number of different science and calibration files, and their reduction requires
a variety of software tools. The execution chain of the tools represents a
complex workflow that needs to be tuned and supervised, often by individual
researchers that are not necessarily experts for any specific instrument. The
efficiency of data reduction can be improved by using automatic workflows to
organise data and execute the sequence of data reduction steps. To realize such
efficiency gains, we designed a system that allows intuitive representation,
execution and modification of the data reduction workflow, and has facilities
for inspection and interaction with the data. The European Southern Observatory
(ESO) has developed Reflex, an environment to automate data reduction
workflows. Reflex is implemented as a package of customized components for the
Kepler workflow engine. Kepler provides the graphical user interface to create
an executable flowchart-like representation of the data reduction process. Key
features of Reflex are a rule-based data organiser, infrastructure to re-use
results, thorough book-keeping, data progeny tracking, interactive user
interfaces, and a novel concept to exploit information created during data
organisation for the workflow execution. Reflex includes novel concepts to
increase the efficiency of astronomical data processing. While Reflex is a
specific implementation of astronomical scientific workflows within the Kepler
workflow engine, the overall design choices and methods can also be applied to
other environments for running automated science workflows.


title:
Fast orbital decays of black hole X-ray binaries: XTE J1118+480 and
  A0620--00

abstract:
  We present new 10.4m-GTC/OSIRIS spectroscopic observations of the black hole
X-ray binary \mbox{XTE J1118+480} that confirm the orbital period decay at
$\dot P=-1.90\pm0.57$ ms yr$^{-1}$. This corresponds to a period change of
$-0.88\pm0.27$ $\mu $s per orbital cycle. We have also collected observations
of the black hole X-ray binary A0620--00 to derive an orbital period derivative
of $\dot P=-0.60\pm0.08$ ms yr$^{-1}$ ($-0.53\pm0.07$ $\mu $s/cycle). Angular
momentum losses due to gravitational radiation are unable to explain these
large orbital decays in these two short-period black hole binaries. The orbital
period decay measured in A0620--00 is very marginally consistent with the
predictions of conventional models including magnetic braking, although
significant mass loss ($\dot M_{\rm BH} / \dot M_2 \le 20\%$) from the system
is required. The fast spiral-in of the star in XTE J1118+480, however, does not
fit any standard model and may be driven by magnetic braking under extremely
high magnetic fields and/or may require an unknown process or non-standard
theories of gravity. This result may suggest an evolutionary sequence in which
the orbital period decay begins to speed up as the orbital period decreases.
This scenario may have an impact on the evolution and lifetime of black hole
X-ray binaries.


title:
Influence of $s_{\pm}$ symmetry on unconventional superconductivity in
  pnictides above the Pauli limit -- two-band model study

abstract:
  The theoretical analysis of the Cooper pair susceptibility shows the two-band
Fe-based superconductors (FeSC) to support the existence of the phase with
nonzero Cooper pair momentum (called the Fulde--Ferrel--Larkin--Ovchinnikov
phase or shortly FFLO), regardless of the order parameter symmetry. Moreover
this phase for the FeSC model with $s_{\pm}$ symmetry is the ground state of
the system near the Pauli limit. This article discusses the phase diagram $h-T$
for FeSC in the two-band model and its physical consequences. We compare the
results for the superconducting order parameter with s-wave and $s_{\pm}$-wave
symmetry -- in first case the FFLO phase can occur in both bands, while in
second case only in one band. We analyze the resulting order parameter in real
space -- showing that the FeSC with $s_{\pm}$-wave symmetry in the Pauli limit
have typical properties of one-band systems, such as oscillations of the order
parameter in real space with constant amplitude, whereas with s-wave symmetry
the oscillations have an amplitude modulation. Discussing the free energy in
the superconducting state we show that in absence of orbital effects, the phase
transition from the BCS to the FFLO state is always first order, whereas from
the FFLO phase to normal state is second order.


title: Computational Complexity of Smooth Differential Equations

abstract:
  The computational complexity of the solutions $h$ to the ordinary
differential equation $h(0)=0$, $h'(t) = g(t, h(t))$ under various assumptions
on the function $g$ has been investigated. Kawamura showed in 2010 that the
solution $h$ can be PSPACE-hard even if $g$ is assumed to be Lipschitz
continuous and polynomial-time computable. We place further requirements on the
smoothness of $g$ and obtain the following results: the solution $h$ can still
be PSPACE-hard if $g$ is assumed to be of class $C^1$; for each $k\ge2$, the
solution $h$ can be hard for the counting hierarchy even if $g$ is of class
$C^k$.


title:
Equivariant K-Theory of Central Extensions and Twisted Equivariant
  K-theory: Sl3(Z) and St3(Z)

abstract:
  We compare twisted Equivariant K-theory of Sl3Z with untwisted equivariant
K-Theory of its universal central extension, St3Z. Using universal coefficient
theorems by the authors, the computations explained here give the domain of
Baum-Connes assembly maps landing on the topological K-theory of twisted group
C*-algebras related to Sl3Z, for which a version of Poincar\'e Duality studied
previously by Echterhoff, Emerson and Kim is verified.


title:
Jamming of Frictional Particles: a Non-equilibrium First Order Phase
  Transition

abstract:
  We propose a phase diagram for the shear flow of dry granular particles in
two dimensions based on simulations and a phenomenological Landau-theory for a
nonequilibrium first order phase transition. Our approach incorporates both
frictional as well as frictionless particles. The most important feature of the
frictional phase diagram is re-entrant flow and a critical jamming point at
finite stress. In the frictionless limit the regime of re-entrance vanishes and
the jamming transition is continuous with a critical point at zero stress. The
jamming phase diagrams derived from the model agree with the experiments of Bi
et al. (Nature (2011)) and brings together previously conflicting numerical
results.


title:
General Privacy-Preserving Verifiable Incentive Mechanism for
  Crowdsourcing Markets

abstract:
  In crowdsourcing markets, there are two different type jobs, i.e. homogeneous
jobs and heterogeneous jobs, which need to be allocated to workers. Incentive
mechanisms are essential to attract extensive user participating for achieving
good service quality, especially under a given budget constraint condition. To
this end, recently, Singer et al. propose a novel class of auction mechanisms
for determining near-optimal prices of tasks for crowdsourcing markets
constrained by the given budget. Their mechanisms are very useful to motivate
extensive user to truthfully participate in crowdsourcing markets. Although
they are so important, there still exist many security and privacy challenges
in real-life environments. In this paper, we present a general
privacy-preserving verifiable incentive mechanism for crowdsourcing markets
with the budget constraint, not only to exploit how to protect the bids and
assignments' privacy, and the chosen winners' privacy in crowdsourcing markets
with homogeneous jobs and heterogeneous jobs and identity privacy from users,
but also to make the verifiable payment between the platform and users for
crowdsourcing applications. Results show that our general privacy-preserving
verifiable incentive mechanisms achieve the same results as the generic one
without privacy preservation.


title:
Rotational response of superconductors: magneto-rotational isomorphism
  and rotation-induced vortex lattice

abstract:
  The analysis of nonclassical rotational response of superfluids and
superconductors was performed by Onsager (in 1949) \cite{Onsager} and London
(in 1950) \cite{London} and crucially advanced by Feynman (in 1955)
\cite{Feynman}. It was established that, in thermodynamic limit, neutral
superfluids rotate by forming---without any threshold---a vortex lattice. In
contrast, the rotation of superconductors at angular frequency ${\bf
\Omega}$---supported by uniform magnetic field ${\bf B}_L\propto {\bf \Omega}$
due to surface currents---is of the rigid-body type (London Law). Here we show
that, neglecting the centrifugal effects, the behavior of a rotating
superconductor is identical to that of a superconductor placed in a uniform
fictitious external magnetic filed $\tilde{\bf H}=- {\bf B}_L$. In particular,
the isomorphism immediately implies the existence of two critical rotational
frequencies in type-2 superconductors.


title:
Against Absolute Actualization: Three "Non-Localities" and Failure of
  Model-External Randomness made easy with Many-Worlds Models including
  Stronger Bell-Violation and Correct QM Probability

abstract:
  Experimental violation of Bell-inequalities proves actualization of many
futures (~ many-worlds); I show that this is not mere interpretation. To show
this self-contained pedagogically, I resolve the EPR paradox by starting with a
visually intuitive non-quantum many-worlds model that already has apparent
non-locality. A modification leads to a classical-to-quantum transition model.
Model-external randomness (a ghost outside the universe throwing a pebble on
state-space) stays unchanged, but the modeled observers witness strong
Bell-violation. I derive the quantum probability P from classical-to-quantum
consistency. Model-internal probability (~ subjective Bayesianism) is derived
as a measure of surprise (~ Deutsch's rational expectation). The model shows
how absolute actualization, say by real hidden variables, fails. Models with P
and standard Bell-violation are supplied for completeness. The transition model
is the first touchable, interactive science-outreach exhibit teaching correct
quantum physics. The discussion reinterprets the transition model, defends
Einstein-locality, rejects "realism" etc., to the conclusion that the models
teach the necessity of "many worlds/minds", rejecting probability concepts with
random-randomness regress. The models teach how EPR empirically excludes
certain realisms.


title:
${\bf B_s\to K^{(*)} \ell\bar \nu}$, Angular Analysis, S-wave
  Contributions and ${\bf |V_{ub}|}$

abstract:
  We analyse the $\overline B_s^0\to K^+l^-\bar \nu$ and $\overline B_s^0\to
K^{*+}(\to K\pi)
  \ell^-\bar \nu$ decays that are valuable for extracting the CKM matrix
element $|V_{ub}|$. We calculate the differential and integrated partial widths
in units of $|V_{ub}|^2$ based on various calculations of hadronic form factors
and in particular the latest Lattice QCD calculation of the $B_s\to K^*$ form
factors. For the decay $\overline B_s^0 \to K\pi \ell\bar \nu$, we formulate
the general angular distributions with the inclusion of the various
partial-wave $K\pi$ contributions. Using the results for the $K\pi$ scalar form
factor calculated from unitarized chiral perturbation theory, we explore the
S-wave effects on angular distribution variables and demonstrate that they may
not be negligible, considering the high precision expected in future
measurements. We also briefly discuss the impact of the S-wave $\pi\pi$
contributions in the $B^-\to \pi^+\pi^-\ell \bar \nu$ decay and provide
estimates for the mode $B^-\to K^+K^-\ell \bar \nu$. The studies of these
channels in future can not only be used to determine $|V_{ub}|$, but may also
provide valuable information on the $K\pi$ and $\pi\pi$ phase shifts.


title:
A Rubber-Modified Thermoplastic where the Morphology Produced by
  Phase-Separation Induced by Polymerization Disappears at High Conversions

abstract:
  An unexpected experimental finding is reported where the primary morphology
developed during polymerization-induced phase separation in a rubber-modified
thermoplastic disappears at high conversions. This process was evidenced by
light scattering (LS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) for a particular
composition of solutions of polyisobutylene oligomers (PIB) in
isobornylmethacrylate (IBoMA), during the free-radical polymerization of the
monomer. The primary phase separation produced a dispersion of domains rich in
PIB containing significant amounts of the monomer (IBoMA). Polymerization of
the monomer in these domains occurred at high overall conversions producing the
filling of dispersed domains with a PIBoMA-PIB blend. Under these conditions
the final material had the appearance of a homogeneous blend. The process might
be adapted to produce new types of rubber-modified thermoplastics where rubber
particles are replaced by rubber-rich domains that do not exhibit definite
boundaries. Keywords:


title:
Sparse Overlapping Sets Lasso for Multitask Learning and its Application
  to fMRI Analysis

abstract:
  Multitask learning can be effective when features useful in one task are also
useful for other tasks, and the group lasso is a standard method for selecting
a common subset of features. In this paper, we are interested in a less
restrictive form of multitask learning, wherein (1) the available features can
be organized into subsets according to a notion of similarity and (2) features
useful in one task are similar, but not necessarily identical, to the features
best suited for other tasks. The main contribution of this paper is a new
procedure called Sparse Overlapping Sets (SOS) lasso, a convex optimization
that automatically selects similar features for related learning tasks. Error
bounds are derived for SOSlasso and its consistency is established for squared
error loss. In particular, SOSlasso is motivated by multi- subject fMRI studies
in which functional activity is classified using brain voxels as features.
Experiments with real and synthetic data demonstrate the advantages of SOSlasso
compared to the lasso and group lasso.


title:
Double gauge invariance and covariantly-constant vector fields in Weyl
  geometry

abstract:
  The wave equation and equations of covariantly-constant vector fields (CCVF)
in spaces with Weyl nonmetricity turn out to possess, in addition to the
canonical conformal-gauge, a gauge invariance of another type. On a Minkowski
metric background, the CCVF system alone allows us to pin down the Weyl
4-metricity vector, identified herein with the electromagnetic potential. The
fundamental solution is given by the ordinary Lienard-Wiechert field, in
particular, by the Coulomb distribution for a charge at rest. Unlike the
latter, however, the magnitude of charge is necessarily unity, "elementary",
and charges of opposite signs correspond to retarded and advanced potentials
respectively, thus establishing a direct connection between the
particle/antiparticle asymmetry and the "arrow of time".


title:
Dimensional Regularization in Position Space, and a Forest Formula for
  Epstein-Glaser Renormalization

abstract:
  We reformulate dimensional regularization as a regularization method in
position space and show that it can be used to give a closed expression for the
renormalized time-ordered products as solutions to the induction scheme of
Epstein-Glaser. For scalar fields the resulting renormalization method is
always applicable, we compute several examples. We also analyze the Hopf
algebraic aspects of the combinatorics. Our starting point is the Main Theorem
of Renormalization of Stora and Popineau and the arising renormalization group
as originally defined by Stueckelberg and Petermann.


title:
Electrostatic correlations on the ionic selectivity of cylindrical
  membrane nanopores

abstract:
  We characterize the role of electrostatic fluctuations on the charge
selectivity of cylindrical nanopores confining electrolyte mixtures. To this
end, we develop an extended one-loop theory that can account for correlation
effects induced by the surface charge, nanoconfinement of the electrolyte, and
interfacial polarization charges associated with the low permittivity membrane.
We validate the quantitative accuracy of the theory by comparisons with
previously obtained Monte-Carlo simulation data from the literature, and
scrutinize in detail the underlying forces driving the ionic selectivity of the
nanopore. In the biologically relevant case of electrolytes with divalent
cations such as CaCl2 in negatively charged nanopores, electrostatic
correlations associated with the dense counterion layer in the channel result
in an increase of the pore coion density with the surface charge. This
peculiarity analogous to the charge inversion phenomenon remains intact for
dielectrically inhomogeneous pores, which indicates that the effect should be
observable in nanofiltration membranes or DNA-blocked nanopores characterized
by a low membrane permittivity. Our results show that a quantitatively accurate
consideration of correlation effects is necessary to determine the ionic
selectivity of nanopores in the presence of electrolytes with multivalent
counterions.


title:
Sonification Abstraite/Sonification Concr\`ete: An 'Aesthetic
  Perspective Space' for Classifying Auditory Displays in the Ars Musica Domain

abstract:
  This paper discusses {\ae}sthetic issues of sonifications and the
relationships between sonification (ars informatica) and music & sound art (ars
musica). It is posited that many sonifications have suffered from poor internal
ecological validity which makes listening more difficult, thereby resulting in
poorer data extraction and inference on the part of the listener. Lessons are
drawn from the electroacoustic music and musique concr\`ete communities as it
is argued that it is not instructive to distinguish between sonifications and
music/sound art.


title: Complexity measurement of natural and artificial languages

abstract:
  We compared entropy for texts written in natural languages (English, Spanish)
and artificial languages (computer software) based on a simple expression for
the entropy as a function of message length and specific word diversity. Code
text written in artificial languages showed higher entropy than text of similar
length expressed in natural languages. Spanish texts exhibit more symbolic
diversity than English ones. Results showed that algorithms based on complexity
measures differentiate artificial from natural languages, and that text
analysis based on complexity measures allows the unveiling of important aspects
of their nature. We propose specific expressions to examine entropy related
aspects of tests and estimate the values of entropy, emergence,
self-organization and complexity based on specific diversity and message
length.

categories: cs.CL cs.IT math.IT nlin.AO physics.soc-ph


title: Mesoscopic twin boundaries in epitaxial Ni-Mn-Ga films

abstract:
  Twin boundaries play an essential role in the use of magnetic shape memory
alloy Ni-Mn-Ga as active material. Only if twin boundaries can be moved by an
external magnetic field, high strain values of up to 10 % can be obtained.
Therefore, understanding the observed twin microstructure of thin films is
crucial for future application. We exemplarily present two different
microstructural pattern, type X and type Y microstructure, using the example of
two Ni-Mn-Ga films with similar film thickness and composition. The analysis of
microstructure and structure of the thin films shows that both, type X and type
Y pattern, are formed by mesoscopic 14M twin boundaries. The mesoscopic 14M
twin boundaries are either tilted from the substrate surface in case of type X
pattern or they are perpendicular to the surface for type Y pattern. Based on a
recently proposed scenario for the nucleation of martensite in austenite, we
can trace back the difference in twin boundary orientation to differently
oriented martensitic nuclei.


title:
Elliptic flow of heavy-flavour decay electrons in Pb-Pb collision at
  $\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}}$ = 2.76 TeV with ALICE

abstract:
  We present the elliptic flow $v_{2}$ of electrons from the semi-leptonic
decays of heavy-flavour hadrons at mid-rapidity for semi-central ($20-40%$
centrality) Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}}$ = 2.76 TeV measured with
the ALICE detector. A positive $v_{2}$ is observed at low $p_\mathrm{T}$ in
semi-central collisions. Comparisons with previous measurements obtained at
lower collision energy at RHIC in Au-Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}}$ =
0.2 TeV and with theoretical models are also presented.


title:
Weighted Least Squares Fit of an Ellipse to Describe Complete or Spotty
  Diffraction Rings on a Planar 2D Detector

abstract:
  We present a procedure for fitting an ellipse to powder diffraction patterns
recorded on a planar 2D detector, which uses the peak intensities as weights.
This procedure works for complete and spotty diffraction rings. We outline all
the steps required: the interpolation of Cartesian pixel data into polar
co-ordinates based upon an approximate ellipse centre; the identification of
peak locations along each radial direction of a diffraction ring; and the
weighted least squares algebraic fit of an ellipse to that diffraction ring.
The performance of the procedure is assessed by characterising a complete
diffraction ring from a powder standard, and a spotty ring generated from a
complete ring of the standard. The fit of an ellipse to a spotty ring from an
alkane complex is also shown. Agreement in the calculated parameters for the
two rings is good. This procedure is implemented as part of an X-ray beam
energy and 2D detector calibration routine which is currently in use at
Beamline I12 (Diamond Light Source, UK).


title:
Analysis of the Phase Separation Induced by a Free-Radical
  Polymerization in Solutions of Polyisobutylene in Isobornyl Methacrylate

abstract:
  We analyze a polymerization-induced phase separation taking place in
solutions of a polymer dissolved in a vinyl monomer undergoing an isothermal
free-radical polymerization. The selected system was a solution of
polyisobutylene (PIB) in isobornyl methacrylate (IBoMA). Cloud-point curves for
PIBs of different molar masses were fitted with the Flory-Huggins equation
stated for a 3-component system. Phase separation was analyzed for two
different PIBs at off-critical compositions. Comparing experimental values of
the volume fraction of dispersed phase with those predicted by the coexistence
curves it was found that the system evolved close to equilibrium during an
initial stage. But phase separation stopped at intermediate monomer conversions
as assessed by scanning electron micrographs of partially converted materials.
The evolution of the size distribution of dispersed domains was obtained from
the fitting of light scattering (LS) spectra. Average sizes predicted by LS and
measured in scanning electron micrographs were in rough agreement.


title:
On relativistic symmetry of Finsler spaces with mutually opposite
  preferred directions

abstract:
  It is shown that in Minkowski space there exist transformations of the
coordinates of events alternative to the 3-parameter Lorentz boosts. However,
in contrast to the boosts, they constitute a 3-parameter noncompact group
which, in turn, is a subgroup of the homogeneous 6-parameter Lorentz group.
Moreover, in the same space, there exists another 3-parameter noncompact group
isomorphic to above-mentioned one. As we shall see, these two 3-parameter
noncompact groups are rudiments of the 3-parameter groups of relativistic
symmetry of the axially symmetric Finslerian spaces with the preferred
directions $\boldsymbol\nu$ and $-\boldsymbol\nu$, respectively. Finally, it
will be also demonstrated that inversion of the preferred direction
$\boldsymbol\nu$ in the axially symmetric Finslerian space-time does not change
the Lobachevski geometry of 3-velocity space. However, this leads to an
inversion of the corresponding family of horospheres of the space.


title: Anomalous Microwave Surface Resistance of CeCu6

abstract:
  We present surface resistance measurements of the archetypical heavy-fermion
compound CeCu6 for frequencies between 3.7 and 18 GHz and temperatures from 1.2
to 6 K. The measurements were performed with superconducting stripline
resonators that allow simultaneous measurements at multiple frequencies. The
surface resistance of CeCu6 exhibits a pronounced decrease below 3 K, in
consistence with dc resistivity. The low-temperature frequency dependence of
the surface resistance follows a power law with exponent 2/3. While for
conventional metals this would be consistent with the anomalous skin effect, we
discuss the present situation of a heavy-fermion metal, where this frequency
dependence might instead stem from the influence of electronic correlations.


title: The Well-tempered Compiler? The Aesthetics of Program Auralization

abstract:
  In this chapter we are concerned with external auditory representations of
programs, also known as program auralization. As program auralization systems
tend to use musical representations they are necessarily affected by artistic
and aesthetic considerations. Therefore, it is instructive to explore program
auralization in the light of aesthetic computing principles.


title: Buckling dynamics of a solvent-stimulated stretched elastomeric sheet

abstract:
  When stretched uniaxially, a thin elastic sheet may exhibit buckling. The
occurrence of buckling depends on the geometrical properties of the sheet and
the magnitude of the applied strain. Here we show that an elastomeric sheet
initially stable under uniaxial stretching can destabilize when exposed to a
solvent that swells the elastomer. We demonstrate experimentally and
computationally that the features of the buckling pattern depend on the
magnitude of stretching, and this observation offers a new way for controlling
the shape of a swollen homogeneous thin sheet.


title: Finite compactifications of $\omega^* \setminus \{x\}$

abstract:
  We prove that under [CH], finite compactifications of $\omega^* \setminus
\{x\}$ are homeomorphic to $\omega^*$. Moreover, in each case, the remainder
consists almost exclusively of $P$-points, apart from possibly one point.
  Similar results are obtained for other, related classes of spaces, amongst
them $S_\kappa$, the $\kappa$-Parovi\v{c}enko space of weight $\kappa$. Also,
some parallels are drawn to the Cantor set and the Double Arrow space.


title:
L4Fe2As2Te1-xO4-yFy (L = Pr, Sm, Gd): a layered oxypnictide
  superconductor with Tc up to 45 K

abstract:
  The synthesis, structural and physical properties of iron lanthanide
oxypnictide superconductors, L4Fe2As2Te1-xO4 (L = Pr, Sm, Gd), with transition
temperature at ~ 25 K are reported. Single crystals have been grown at high
pressure using cubic anvil technique. The crystal structure consists of layers
of L2O2 tetrahedra separated by alternating layers of chains of Te and of
Fe2As2 tetrahedra: -L2O2-Te-L2O2-Fe2As2-L2O2-Te-L2O2- (space group: I4/mmm, a ~
4.0, c ~ 29.6 {\AA}). Substitution of oxygen by fluorine increases the critical
temperature, e.g. in Gd4Fe2As2Te1-xOyF4-y up to 45 K. Magnetic torque
measurements reveal an anisotropy of the penetration depths of ~31.


title: Different Charges in the Same Bunch Train at the European XFEL

abstract:
  In this paper we have investigated the possibility of the operation of
different charges in the bunch train for the nominal design of the XFEL
injector and for the case that it is extended by an additional laser system on
the cathode. We have examined the problem of similarity of beam optical
functions for different bunch charges in a train. We report also about the
sensitivity of the beam optical functions on the chosen compression scenario
and give an overview over the working points for the settings at the injector
for single charge operation as well as combined working points for different
bunch pairs.


title:
Nanostructured epoxies based on the self-assembly of block copolymers: a
  new miscible block that can be tailored to different epoxy formulations

abstract:
  Nanostructured thermosets may be obtained by self-assembly of amphiphilic
block copolymers in a reactive solvent and fixation of the morphologies by the
cross-linking reaction. Nanostructuration requires the presence of a bock that
remains miscible in the polymer during polymerization. The selection of the
miscible block depends on the particular system and in some cases (e.g., for
epoxy-amine network based on diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A, and 4,4'-
diaminodiphenylsulfone) it is very difficult to find such a block. In this
manuscript it is shown that random copolymers of methyl methacrylate (MMA) and
N,N-dimethylacrylamide (DMA) containing different molar fractions of DMA, can
be used as a miscible block for the nanostructuration of epoxies. The
miscibility of the random copolymer during formation of the epoxy network was
first analyzed determining cloud-point conversions as a function of the molar
fraction of DMA in the copolymer. A thermodynamic model of the phase separation
was performed using the Flory-Huggins model and taking the polydispersities of
both polymers into account. A single expression of the interaction parameter
based on the theory of random copolymers provided a reasonable fitting of the
experimental cloud-point curves. The significant increase in the miscibility
produced by using small DMA molar fractions in the copolymer was explained by
the high negative value of the binary interaction energy between DMA and the
epoxy-amine solvent, associated to the positive value of the interaction energy
between DMA and MMA units. Block copolymers with poly(n-butyl acrylate) as the
immiscible block and the random copolymer P(MMA-co-DMA) as the miscible block
were used for the nanostructuration of epoxy networks. The necessary molar
fraction of DMA in the miscible block to stabilize a dispersion of nanosize
domains depended on the fraction of the immiscible block.


title:
Textures in Polygonal Arrangements of Square Nanoparticles in Nematic
  Liquid Crystals Matrices

abstract:
  A systematic analysis of defect textures in facetted nanoparticles with
polygonal configurations embedded in a nematic matrix is performed using the
Landau-de Gennes model, homeotropic strong anchoring in a square domain with
uniform alignment in the outer boundaries. Defect and textures are analyzed as
functions of temperature T, polygon size R, and polygon number N. For nematic
nanocomposites, the texture satisfies a defect charge balance equation between
bulk and surface (particle corner) charges. Upon decreasing the temperature,
the central bulk defects split and together with other -1/2 bulk defects, are
absorbed by the nanoparticle's corners. Increasing the lattice size decreases
confinement and eliminates bulk defects. Increasing the polygon number
increases the central defect charge at high temperature and the number of
surface defects at lower temperatures. The excess energy per particle is lower
in even than in odd polygons, and it is minimized for a square particle
arrangement. These discrete modeling results show for first time that even
under strong anchoring, defects are attached to particles as corner defects,
leaving behind a low energy homogeneous orientation field that favors
nanoparticle ordering in nematic matrices. These new insights are consistent
with recent thermodynamic approaches to nematic nanocomposites that predict the
existence of novel nematic/crystal phases and can be used to design
nanocomposites with orientational and positional order.


title:
Thermodynamic Analysis of a Polymerization-Induced Phase Separation in
  Nanoparticle-Monomer-Polymer Blends

abstract:
  We perform a thermodynamic analysis of the polymerization-induced phase
separation in nanoparticle-monomer-polymer blends using a simple model recently
proposed by V. V. Ginzburg (Macromolecules 2005, 38, 2362.). The model was
adapted for ternary blends constituted by nanoparticles, a monomer and a linear
polymer, where the relative fractions of polymer and monomer determine the
conversion in the polymerization reaction. The analysis showed that phase
separation can occur in the course of polymerization for a large range of
values of the relevant parameters (interaction parameter, and polymer and
particle sizes). This possibility has to be considered when the intention is to
fix a uniform dispersion of nanoparticles in a monomer through its
polymerization.


title:
Thermodynamic Model of Liquid-Liquid Phase Equilibrium in Solutions of
  Alkanethiol-Coated Nanoparticles

abstract:
  A thermodynamic model for a mixture of alkanethiol-coated nanoparticles (NPs)
and low molecular weight (non-polymeric) solvent is developed, and calculations
of liquid-liquid phase equilibrium for different values of NP core radius,
alkanethiol chain length, solvent molar volume and alkanethiol-solvent
interaction parameter, are presented. The model takes into account the swelling
of the organic coronas and the dispersion of particles with swollen coronas in
the solvent. The energetic interaction between alkyl chains and solvent is
considered, both within the corona and between the outer alkyl segments and
free solvent. Swelling involves mixing of alkanethiol chains and solvent in the
corona and stretching of the organic chains. Dispersion considers an entropic
contribution based on Carnahan Starling equation of state and an enthalpic term
calculated considering the surface contacts between alkyl segments placed in
the external boundary of the corona and the molecules of free solvent. Two
different kinds of phase equilibrium are found. One of them, observed at high
values of the interaction parameter, is the typical liquid-liquid equilibrium
for compact NPs in a poor solvent where a complete phase separation is observed
when cooling (increasing the interaction parameter). The second liquid-liquid
equilibrium is observed at low values of the interaction parameter, where
swelling of coronas is favored. In this region two different phases co-exist,
one more concentrated in NPs that exhibit relatively compact coronas and the
other one more diluted in NPs with extended coronas. In diluted solutions of
NPs the deswelling of the fully extended coronas takes place abruptly in a very
small temperature range, leading to a solution of compact NPs. This critical
transition might find practical applications similar to those found for the
abrupt shrinkage of hydrogels at a critical temperature.


title: Radio detection of the young binary HD 160934

abstract:
  Precise determination of dynamical masses of pre-main-sequence (PMS) stars is
essential to calibrate stellar evolution models that are widely used to derive
theoretical masses of young low-mass objects. Binary stars in young, nearby
loose associations are particularly good candidates for this calibration since
all members share a common age. Interestingly, some of these young binaries
present a persistent and compact radio emission, which makes them excellent
targets for astrometric VLBI studies. We aim to monitor the orbital motion of
the binary system HD 160934, a member of the AB Doradus moving group. We
observed HD 160934 with the Very Large Array and the European VLBI Network at
8.4 and 5 GHz, respectively. The orbital information derived from these
observations was analyzed along with previously reported orbital measurements.
We show that the two components of the binary, HD 160934 A and HD 160934 c,
display compact radio emission at VLBI scales, providing precise information on
the relative orbit. Revised orbital elements were estimated. Future VLBI
monitoring of this pair should determine precise model-independent mass
estimates for the A and c components, which will serve as calibration tests for
PMS evolutionary models.


title:
Kinetics of the Free-Radical Polymerization of Isobornyl Methacrylate in
  the Presence of Polyisobutylenes of Different Molar Masses

abstract:
  The effect of a linear polymer dissolved in a reactive monomer on the
kinetics of free-radical polymerization is studied. The selected system was a
solution of polyisobutylene (PIB) in isobornyl methacrylate (IBoMA). Ternary
phase diagrams of PIB, IBoMA and poly(isobornyl methacrylate) (PIBoMA) were
built at 80C. They were shifted to lower conversions when increasing the molar
mass of PIB. Different PIBs exhibiting CPC at advanced conversions were
selected for the kinetic study performed employing differential scanning
calorimetry (DSC) at 80C. A simple kinetic model for free-radical
polymerizations describing the relevant termination rate constant in terms of
the free-volume theory, provided a consistent fitting of the polymerization
rates in the conversion range where the solution remained homogeneous.
Increasing the molar mass of PIB led to an increase in polymerization rate due
to the decrease in free volume and the corresponding decrease of the
termination rate. Increasing the amount of a particular PIB in the initial
formulation led to a less marked gel effect, explained by the smaller relative
variation of free volume with conversion. The dimensionless free volume of PIB
obtained from the kinetic model was found to increase with the volume
concentration of chain ends, as expected. Under conditions where phase
separation took place at very low conversions, the overall polymerization rate
exhibited the presence of two maxima (gel effects), representing the
polymerization in two different phases. The first maximum was associated to the
polymerization taking place in the phase lean in PIB and the second maximum was
associated to the polymerization of the monomer that was initially fractionated
with PIB.


title: Invariants of the heat equation for non-minimal operators

abstract:
  A special class of non-minimal operators which are relevant for quantum field
theory is introduced. The general form of the heat kernel coefficients of these
operators on manifolds without boundary is described. New results are presented
for the traces of the first two heat kernel coefficients for vector, Yang-Mills
and perturbative gravity. It is argued that non-minimal operators can be used
to define gauge-fixing independent actions and solve the conformal mode problem
in quantum gravity.


title: Stochastic neural field equations: A rigorous footing

abstract:
  We extend the theory of neural fields which has been developed in a
deterministic framework by considering the influence spatio-temporal noise. The
outstanding problem that we here address is the development of a theory that
gives rigorous meaning to stochastic neural field equations, and conditions
ensuring that they are well-posed. Previous investigations in the field of
computational and mathematical neuroscience have been numerical for the most
part. Such questions have been considered for a long time in the theory of
stochastic partial differential equations, where at least two different
approaches have been developed, each having its advantages and disadvantages.
It turns out that both approaches have also been used in computational and
mathematical neuroscience, but with much less emphasis on the underlying
theory. We present a review of two existing theories and show how they can be
used to put the theory of stochastic neural fields on a rigorous footing. We
also provide general conditions on the parameters of the stochastic neural
field equations under which we guarantee that these equations are well-posed.
In so doing we relate each approach to previous work in computational and
mathematical neuroscience. We hope this will provide a reference that will pave
the way for future studies (both theoretical and applied) of these equations,
where basic questions of existence and uniqueness will no longer be a cause for
concern.


title: Reducing Linear Programs into Min-max Problems

abstract:
  We show how to reduce a general, strictly-feasible LP problem, into a min-max
problem, which can be solved by the algorithm from the third section of my
thesis.


title:
Presence of Two Maxima in the Isothermal Free-Radical Polymerization
  Rate of Isobornyl Methacrylate Retarded by Oxygen

abstract:
  The kinetics of the free-radical polymerization of isobornyl methacrylate
(IBoMA) at 80C, initiated by benzoyl peroxide (BPO), was determined by
differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), using sample pans previously sealed in
air or in nitrogen. The polymerization was arrested by vitrification at a final
conversion close to 0.80. The kinetics in nitrogen could be fitted using
initiation and propagation rate constants reported in the literature, a
functionality of the termination rate constant controlled by translational
diffusion based on the free-volume model, and an efficiency factor for the
initiator decomposition that decreased with conversion in the medium-high
conversion range. The presence of oxygen led to a significant decrease in the
polymerization rate, an effect that was enhanced when decreasing the sample
size (increasing the surface-to-volume ratio). The original finding was the
presence of two maxima in the isothermal polymerization rate (a double gel
effect), a fact that was confirmed by replicating experiences in two different
DSC devices and changing the amount of initiator in the formulation. The first
maximum in the polymerization rate was explained by the decrease of the
diffusion rate of macromolecular radicals to the oxygen-rich boundary, an
effect that starts at low conversions. The second maximum was related to the
decrease in the solubility/diffusion of oxygen in the reaction medium, a
phenomenon that is particularly severe at high conversions.


title:
Semi-classical measures on Quantum Graphs and the Gauss map of the
  determinant manifold

abstract:
  In this paper, I describe the weak limits of the measures associated to the
eigenfunctions of the Laplacian on a Quantum graph for a generic metric in
terms of the Gauss map of the determinant manifold. I describe also all the
limits with minimal support (the "scars").


title: Resummation of scalar correlator in higher spin black hole background

abstract:
  We consider the proposal that predicts holographic duality between certain 2D
minimal models at large central charge and Vasiliev 3D higher spin gravity with
a single complex field. We compute the scalar correlator in the background of a
higher spin black hole at order $\mathcal O(\alpha^{5})$ in the chemical
potential $\alpha$ associated with the spin-3 charge. The calculation is
performed at generic values of the symmetry algebra $\mbox{hs}[\lambda]$
parameter $\lambda$ and for the scalar in three different representations. We
then study the perturbative data in the large $\lambda$ limit and discover
remarkable regularities. This leads to formulate a closed formula for the
resummation of the leading and subleading terms that scale like $\mathcal
O(\alpha^{n}\lambda^{2n})$ and $\mathcal O(\alpha^{n}\,\lambda^{2n-1})$
respectively.


title: Charge-dependent azimuthal correlations from AuAu to UU collisions

abstract:
  We study the charge-dependent azimuthal correlations in relativistic heavy
ion collisions, as motivated by the search for the Chiral Magnetic Effect (CME)
and the investigation of related background contributions. In particular we aim
to understand how these correlations induced by various proposed effects evolve
from collisions with AuAu system to that with UU system. To do that, we
quantify the generation of magnetic field in UU collisions at RHIC energy and
its azimuthal correlation to the matter geometry using event-by-event
simulations. Taking the experimental data for charge-dependent azimuthal
correlations from AuAu collisions and extrapolating to UU with reasonable
assumptions, we examine the resulting correlations to be expected in UU
collisions and compare them with recent STAR measurements. Based on such
analysis we discuss the viability for explaining the data with a combination of
the CME-like and flow-induced contributions.


title:
Miscibility of blends of poly(methyl methacrylate) and oligodiols based
  on a bisphenol A nucleus and ethylene oxide or propylene oxide branches

abstract:
  Cloud-point curves of blends of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) with a
series of oligodiols based on a bisphenol A nucleus and short branches of
poly(ethylene oxide) or poly(propylene oxide) (BPA-EO or BPA-PO), and with PEO
and PPO oligomers, were obtained using a light transmission device.
Experimental results were fitted with the Flory- Huggins model using an
interaction parameter depending on both temperature and composition. For
PMMA/PEO and PMMA/PPO blends, the miscibility increased when increasing the
size of the diol, due to the significant decrease in the entropic and enthalpic
terms contributing to the interaction parameter. This reflected the decrease in
the selfassociation of solvent molecules and in the contribution of terminal OH
groups to the mismatching of solubility parameters. For PMMA/BPA-EO blends, a
decrease of the entropic contribution to the interaction parameter when
increasing the size of the oligodiol was also found. However, the effect was
counterbalanced by the opposite contribution of combinatorial terms leading to
cloud-point curves located in approximately the same temperature range. For
PMMA/BPA-PO blends, the interaction parameter exhibited a very low value. In
this case, the effect of solvent size was much more important on combinatorial
terms than on the interaction parameter, leading to an increase in miscibility
when decreasing the oligodiol size. For short BPA-PO oligodiols no phase
separation was observed. The entropic contribution of the interaction parameter
exhibited an inverse relationship with the size of the oligodiols, independent
of the nature of the chains bearing the hydroxyls and the type of OH groups
(primary or secondary). This indicates that the degree of self-association of
solvent molecules through their OH terminal groups, was mainly determined by
their relative sizes.


title:
Effect of annealing on spinodally decomposed Co2CrAl grown via floating
  zone technique

abstract:
  Among the large class of Heusler compounds, Co2CrAl is predicted to be 100 %
spin polarized and is hence, a potential candidate for application in
spintronics. So far, the predicted properties have not been experimentally
realized which may be attributed to the phase segregated nature of samples.
This phase segregation is avoided using floating zone growth. However, the
grown sample was found to have undergone phase transformation via spinodal
decomposition at low temperatures. In the present work, thermal annealing has
been done on the spinodally decomposed samples and its effect on
microstructure, crystallographic structure and magnetic properties has been
studied. Annealing experiments were done and analyzed in order to understand
the extent of the solid state miscibility gap. With regards to the phase
diagram, the two-phase regime was found to extend till 1000 {\deg}C. Even at
1250 {\deg}C, we are still inside the immiscibility region. The thermodynamic
miscibility gap was thus found to exist until high temperatures and alternate
routes might be required to obtain a single phase sample with the desired high
spin polarization and Curie temperature in the Co-Cr-Al system.


title: A Deuring criterion for abelian varieties

abstract:
  We give several generalisations of the Deuring reduction criterion for
elliptic curves to abelian varieties of higher dimension. In particular the
Newton polygon of the reduction of an abelian variety A with complex
multiplication by F at a prime above p can be explicitly computed in terms of
the CM type of A and the decomposition group of a suitable prime above p in a
Galois closure of F. Conversely, it is shown that the formal isogeny type of
the reduction of A at a prime above p places certain restrictions on the
decomposition of p in F.


title:
NLO QCD Corrections to Electroweak Higgs Boson Plus Three Jet Production
  at the LHC

abstract:
  The implementation of the full next-to-leading order (NLO) QCD corrections to
electroweak Higgs boson plus three jet production at hadron colliders such as
the LHC within the Matchbox NLO framework of the Herwig++ event generator is
discussed. We present numerical results for integrated cross sections and
kinematic distributions.


title:
Knotted and linked products of recombination on $T(2,n)\#T(2,m)$
  substrates

abstract:
  We develop a topological model of site-specific recombination that applies to
substrates which are the connected sum of two torus links of the form
$T(2,n)\#T(2,m)$. Then we use our model to prove that all knots and links that
can be produced by site-specific recombination on such substrates are contained
in one of two families, which we illustrate.