title:
Cooperativity and the freezing of molecular motion at the glass
  transition

abstract:
  The slowing down of molecular dynamics when approaching the glass transition
generally proceeds much stronger than expected for thermally activated motions.
This strange phenomenon can be formally ascribed to a temperature-dependent
activation energy E(T). In the present work, via measurements of the
third-order nonlinear dielectric susceptibility, we deduce the increase of the
number of correlated molecules Ncorr when approaching the glass transition and
find a surprisingly simple correlation of E(T) and Ncorr(T). This provides
strong evidence that the non-canonical temperature development of glassy
dynamics is caused by a temperature-dependent energy barrier arising from the
cooperative motion of ever larger numbers of molecules at low temperatures.


title: Table of Content detection using Machine Learning

abstract:
  Table of content (TOC) detection has drawn attention now a day because it
plays an important role in digitization of multipage document. Generally book
document is multipage document. So it becomes necessary to detect Table of
Content page for easy navigation of multipage document and also to make
information retrieval faster for desirable data from the multipage document.
All the Table of content pages follow the different layout, different way of
presenting the contents of the document like chapter, section, subsection etc.
This paper introduces a new method to detect Table of content using machine
learning technique with different features. With the main aim to detect Table
of Content pages is to structure the document according to their contents.


title: Satellite operators as group actions on knot concordance

abstract:
  Any knot in a solid torus, called a pattern or satellite operator, acts on
knots in the 3-sphere via the satellite construction. We introduce a
generalization of satellite operators which form a group (unlike traditional
satellite operators), modulo a generalization of concordance. This group has an
action on the set of knots in homology spheres, using which we recover the
recent result of Cochran and the authors that satellite operators with strong
winding number $\pm 1$ give injective functions on topological concordance
classes of knots, as well as smooth concordance classes of knots modulo the
smooth 4--dimensional Poincare Conjecture. The notion of generalized satellite
operators yields a characterization of surjective satellite operators, as well
as a sufficient condition for a satellite operator to have an inverse. As a
consequence, we are able to construct infinitely many non-trivial satellite
operators P such that there is a satellite operator $\overline{P}$ for which
$\overline{P}(P(K))$ is concordant to K (topologically as well as smoothly in a
potentially exotic $S^3\times [0,1]$) for all knots K; we show that these
satellite operators are distinct from all connected-sum operators, even up to
concordance, and that they induce bijective functions on topological
concordance classes of knots, as well as smooth concordance classes of knots
modulo the smooth 4--dimensional Poincare Conjecture.


title: A Fuzzy Based Approach to Text Mining and Document Clustering

abstract:
  Fuzzy logic deals with degrees of truth. In this paper, we have shown how to
apply fuzzy logic in text mining in order to perform document clustering. We
took an example of document clustering where the documents had to be clustered
into two categories. The method involved cleaning up the text and stemming of
words. Then, we chose m number of features which differ significantly in their
word frequencies (WF), normalized by document length, between documents
belonging to these two clusters. The documents to be clustered were represented
as a collection of m normalized WF values. Fuzzy c-means (FCM) algorithm was
used to cluster these documents into two clusters. After the FCM execution
finished, the documents in the two clusters were analysed for the values of
their respective m features. It was known that documents belonging to a
document type, say X, tend to have higher WF values for some particular
features. If the documents belonging to a cluster had higher WF values for
those same features, then that cluster was said to represent X. By fuzzy logic,
we not only get the cluster name, but also the degree to which a document
belongs to a cluster.


title:
Surface electronic structure of a topological Kondo insulator candidate
  SmB6: insights from high-resolution ARPES

abstract:
  The Kondo insulator SmB6 has long been known to exhibit low temperature (T <
10K) transport anomaly and has recently attracted attention as a new
topological insulator candidate. By combining low-temperature and high
energy-momentum resolution of the laser-based ARPES technique, for the first
time, we probe the surface electronic structure of the anomalous conductivity
regime. We observe that the bulk bands exhibit a Kondo gap of 14 meV and
identify in-gap low-lying states within a 4 meV window of the Fermi level on
the (001)-surface of this material. The low-lying states are found to form
electron-like Fermi surface pockets that enclose the X and the Gamma points of
the surface Brillouin zone. These states disappear as temperature is raised
above 15K in correspondence with the complete disappearance of the 2D
conductivity channels in SmB6. While the topological nature of the in-gap
metallic states cannot be ascertained without spin (spin-texture) measurements
our bulk and surface measurements carried out in the
transport-anomaly-temperature regime (T < 10K) are consistent with the
first-principle predicted Fermi surface behavior of a topological Kondo
insulator phase in this material.


title: Towards Multistage Design of Modular Systems

abstract:
  The paper describes multistage design of composite (modular) systems (i.e.,
design of a system trajectory). This design process consists of the following:
(i) definition of a set of time/logical points; (ii) modular design of the
system for each time/logical point (e.g., on the basis of combinatorial
synthesis as hierarchical morphological design or multiple choice problem) to
obtain several system solutions; (iii) selection of the system solution for
each time/logical point while taking into account their quality and the quality
of compatibility between neighbor selected system solutions (here,
combinatorial synthesis is used as well). Mainly, the examined time/logical
points are based on a time chain. In addition, two complicated cases are
considered: (a) the examined logical points are based on a tree-like structure,
(b) the examined logical points are based on a digraph. Numerical examples
illustrate the approach.


title:
Effective Translation of LTL to Deterministic Rabin Automata: Beyond the
  (F,G)-Fragment

abstract:
  Some applications of linear temporal logic (LTL) require to translate
formulae of the logic to deterministic omega-automata. There are currently two
translators producing deterministic automata: ltl2dstar working for the whole
LTL and Rabinizer applicable to LTL(F,G) which is the LTL fragment using only
modalities F and G. We present a new translation to deterministic Rabin
automata via alternating automata and deterministic transition-based
generalized Rabin automata. Our translation applies to a fragment that is
strictly larger than LTL(F,G). Experimental results show that our algorithm can
produce significantly smaller automata compared to Rabinizer and ltl2dstar,
especially for more complex LTL formulae.


title: Conformal Tensors via Lovelock Gravity

abstract:
  Constructs from conformal geometry are important in low dimensional gravity
models, while in higher dimensions the higher curvature interactions of
Lovelock gravity are similarly prominent. Considering conformal invariance in
the context of Lovelock gravity leads to natural, higher-curvature
generalizations of the Weyl, Schouten, Cotton and Bach tensors, with properties
that straightforwardly extend those of their familiar counterparts. As a first
application, we introduce a new set of conformally invariant gravity theories
in D=4k dimensions, based on the squares of the higher curvature Weyl tensors.


title: Demonstration and resolution of the Gibbs paradox of the first kind

abstract:
  The Gibbs paradox of the first kind (GP1) refers to the false increase in
entropy which, in statistical mechanics, is calculated from the process of
combining two gas systems S1 and S2 consisting of distinguishable particles.
Presented in a somewhat modified form, the GP1 manifests as a contradiction to
the second law of thermodynamics. Contrary to popular belief, this
contradiction affects not only classical but also quantum statistical
mechanics. The present paper resolves the GP1 by considering two effects: 1.
The uncertainty about which particles are located in S1 and which in S2
contributes to the entropies of S1 and S2. 2. S1 and S2 are correlated by the
fact that if a certain particle is located in one system, it cannot be located
in the other. As a consequence, the entropy of the total system consisting of
S1 and S2 is not the sum of the entropies of S1 and S2.


title: Jamming graphs: A local approach to global mechanical rigidity

abstract:
  We revisit the concept of minimal rigidity as applied to soft repulsive,
frictionless sphere packings in two-dimensions with the introduction of the
jamming graph. Minimal rigidity is a purely combinatorial property encoded via
Laman's theorem in two-dimensions. It constrains the global, average
coordination number of the graph, for example. However, minimal rigidity does
not address the geometry of local mechanical stability. The jamming graph
contains both properties of global mechanical stability at the onset of jamming
and local mechanical stability. We demonstrate how jamming graphs can be
constructed using local moves via the Henneberg construction such that these
graphs fall under the jurisdiction of correlated percolation. We then probe how
jamming graphs destabilize, or become unjammed, by deleting a bond and
computing the resulting rigid cluster distribution. We also study how the
system restabilizes with the addition of new contacts and how a jamming graph
with extra/redundant contacts destabilizes. The latter endeavor allows us to
probe a disc packing in the rigid phase and uncover a potentially new diverging
lengthscale associated with the random deletion of contacts as compared to the
study of cut-out (or frozen in) subsystems.


title: Stratified Sampling for the Ising Model: A Graph-Theoretic Approach

abstract:
  We present a new approach to a classical problem in statistical physics:
estimating the partition function and other thermodynamic quantities of the
ferromagnetic Ising model. Markov chain Monte Carlo methods for this problem
have been well-studied, although an algorithm that is truly practical remains
elusive. Our approach takes advantage of the fact that, for a fixed bond
strength, studying the ferromagnetic Ising model is a question of counting
particular subgraphs of a given graph. We combine graph theory and heuristic
sampling to determine coefficients that are independent of temperature and
that, once obtained, can be used to determine the partition function and to
compute physical quantities such as mean energy, mean magnetic moment, specific
heat, and magnetic susceptibility.


title:
Hamiltonians representing equations of motion with damping due to
  friction

abstract:
  Suppose that $H(q,p)$ is a Hamiltonian on a manifold $M$, and $\tilde
L(q,\dot q)$, the Rayleigh dissipation function, satisfies the same hypotheses
as a Lagrangian on the manifold $M$. We provide a Hamiltonian framework that
gives the equation $\dot q = \frac{\partial H}{\partial p}(q,p), \quad \dot p =
- \frac{\partial H}{\partial q}(q,p) - \frac{\partial \tilde L}{\partial \dot
q}(q,\dot q)$. The method is to embed $M$ into a larger framework where the
motion drives a wave equation on the negative half line, where the energy in
the wave represents heat being carried away from the motion. We obtain a
version of N\"other's Theorem that is valid for dissipative systems. We also
show that this framework fits the widely held view of how Hamiltonian dynamics
can lead to the "arrow of time."


title: When does TMAO fold a polymer chain and urea unfold it?

abstract:
  Longstanding mechanistic questions about the role of protecting osmolyte
trimethylamine N- oxide (TMAO) which favors protein folding and the denaturing
osmolyte urea are addressed by studying their effects on the folding of
uncharged polymer chains. Using atomistic molecular dynamics simulations, we
show that 1-M TMAO and 7-M urea solutions act dramatically differently on these
model polymer chains. Their behaviors are sensitive to the strength of the
attractive dispersion interactions of the chain with its environment: when
these dispersion interactions are high enough, TMAO suppresses the formation of
extended conformations of the hydrophobic polymer as compared to water, while
urea promotes formation of extended conformations. Similar trends are observed
experimentally on real protein systems. Quite surprisingly, we find that both
protecting and denaturing osmolytes strongly interact with the polymer,
seemingly in contrast with existing explanations of the osmolyte effect on
proteins. We show that what really matters for a protective osmolyte is its
effective depletion as the polymer conformation changes, which leads to a
negative change in the preferential binding coefficient. For TMAO, there is a
much more favorable free energy of insertion of a single osmolyte near
collapsed conformations of the polymer than near extended conformations. By
contrast, urea is preferentially stabilized next to the extended conformation
and thus has a denaturing effect.


title: Maximal commutative subrings and simplicity of partial skew group rings

abstract:
  In this article, we show that for a partial skew group ring R*G, where R is a
commutative ring, each non-zero ideal of R*G intersects R non-trivially if and
only if R is a maximal commutative subring of R*G. As a consequence, we obtain
necessary and sufficient conditions for simplicity; the partial skew group ring
R*G is simple if and only if R is a G-simple and maximal commutative subring of
R*G. We thereby generalize our previous results for skew group rings, to
partial skew group rings which are not necessarily unital.


title:
Electroweak Precision Observables, New Physics and the Nature of a 126
  GeV Higgs Boson

abstract:
  We perform the fit of electroweak precision observables within the Standard
Model with a 126 GeV Higgs boson, compare the results with the theoretical
predictions and discuss the impact of recent experimental and theoretical
improvements. We introduce New Physics contributions in a model-independent way
and fit for the S, T and U parameters, for the $\epsilon_{1,2,3,b}$ ones, for
modified $Zb\bar{b}$ couplings and for a modified Higgs coupling to vector
bosons. We point out that composite Higgs models are very strongly constrained.
Finally, we compute the bounds on dimension-six operators relevant for the
electroweak fit.


title: Elko Spinor Fields and Massive Magnetic Like Monopoles

abstract:
  In this paper we recall that by construction Elko spinor fields of {\lambda}
and {\rho} types satisfy a coupled system of first order partial differential
equations (csfopde) that once interacted leads to Klein-Gordon equations for
the {\lambda} and {\rho} type fields. Since the csfopde is the basic one and
since the Klein-Gordon equations for {\lambda} and {\rho} possess solutions
that are not solutions of the csfopde for {\lambda} and {\rho} we infer that it
is legitimate to attribute to those fields mass dimension 3/2 (as is the case
of Dirac spinor fields) and not mass dimension 1 as previously suggested in
recent literature (see list of references). A proof of this fact is offered by
deriving the csfopde for the {\lambda} and {\rho} from a Lagrangian where these
fields have indeed mass dimension 3/2. Taking seriously the view that Elko
spinor fields due to its special properties given by their bilinear invariants
may be the description of some kind of particles in the real world a question
then arises: what is the physical meaning of these fields? Here we proposed
that the fields {\lambda} and {\rho} serve the purpose of building the fields K
and M (see Eq.(38))which are Clifford valued multiform fields representing
spinor fields in the Clifford bundle. They are electrically neutral and do not
couple to the electromagnetic field but carry magnetic like charges which
permit them to couple to a su(2) valued potential. If the potential is of short
range the particles described by the K and M fields may be interacting and
forming condensates of zero spin particles analogous to dark matter, in the
sense that they do not couple with the electromagnetic field (generated by
charged particles) and are thus invisible. We calculate the correct propagators
for the K and M fields. We discuss also the main difference between Elko and
Majorana spinor fields.


title: Yet Another Snapshot of Foundational Attitudes Toward Quantum Mechanics

abstract:
  A survey probing respondents' views on various foundational issues in quantum
mechanics was recently created by Schlosshauer, Kofler, and Zeilinger
[arXiv:1301.1069] and then given to 33 participants at a quantum foundations
conference. Here we report the results of giving this same survey to the
attendees at another recent quantum foundations conference. While it is rather
difficult to conclude anything of scientific significance from the poll, the
results do strongly suggest several interesting cultural facts -- for example,
that there exist, within the broad field of "quantum foundations",
sub-communities with quite different views, and that (relatedly) there is
probably even significantly more controversy about several fundamental issues
than the already-significant amount revealed in the earlier poll.


title: Cloaking via change of variables in elastic impedance tomography

abstract:
  We discuss the concept of cloaking for elastic impedance tomography, in
which, we seek information on the elasticity tensor of an elastic medium from
the knowledge of measurements on its boundary. We derive some theoretical
results illustrated by some numerical simulations.


title: Simplicity of partial skew group rings and maximal commutativity

abstract:
  Let R0 be a commutative associative ring (not necessarily unital), G a group
and alpha a partial action by ideals that contain local units. We show that R0
is maximal commutative in the partial skew group ring R0*G if and only if R0
has the ideal intersection property in R0*G. From this we derive a criterion
for simplicity of R0*G in terms of maximal commutativity and $G-$simplicity of
R0 and apply this to two examples, namely to partial actions by clopen subsets
of a compact set and to give a new proof of the simplicity criterion for
Leavitt path algebras. A new proof of the Cuntz-Krieger uniqueness theorem for
Leavitt path algebras is also provided.


title: On the characteristic polynomial of Laplacian Matrices of Caterpillars

abstract:
  The characteristic polynomials of the adjacency matrix of line graphs of
caterpillars and then the characteristic polynomials of their Laplacian or
signless Laplacian matrices are characterized, using recursive formulas.
Furthermore, the obtained results are applied on the determination of upper and
lower bounds on the algebraic connectivity of these graphs.


title:
Stochastic Majorization-Minimization Algorithms for Large-Scale
  Optimization

abstract:
  Majorization-minimization algorithms consist of iteratively minimizing a
majorizing surrogate of an objective function. Because of its simplicity and
its wide applicability, this principle has been very popular in statistics and
in signal processing. In this paper, we intend to make this principle scalable.
We introduce a stochastic majorization-minimization scheme which is able to
deal with large-scale or possibly infinite data sets. When applied to convex
optimization problems under suitable assumptions, we show that it achieves an
expected convergence rate of $O(1/\sqrt{n})$ after $n$ iterations, and of
$O(1/n)$ for strongly convex functions. Equally important, our scheme almost
surely converges to stationary points for a large class of non-convex problems.
We develop several efficient algorithms based on our framework. First, we
propose a new stochastic proximal gradient method, which experimentally matches
state-of-the-art solvers for large-scale $\ell_1$-logistic regression. Second,
we develop an online DC programming algorithm for non-convex sparse estimation.
Finally, we demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach for solving
large-scale structured matrix factorization problems.


title:
Nonlocal formalism for nanoplasmonics: phenomenological and
  semi-classical considerations

abstract:
  The plasmon response of metallic nanostructures is anticipated to exhibit
nonlocal dynamics of the electron gas when exploring the true nanoscale. We
extend the local-response approximation (based on Ohm's law) to account for a
general short-range nonlocal response of the homogeneous electron gas. Without
specifying further details of the underlying physical mechanism we show how
this leads to a Laplacian correction term in the electromagnetic wave equation.
Within the hydrodynamic model we demonstrate this explicitly and we identify
the characteristic nonlocal range to be vF/omega where vF is the Fermi velocity
and omega is the optical angular frequency. For noble metals this gives
significant corrections when characteristic device dimensions approach ~1-10
nm, whereas at more macroscopic length scales plasmonic phenomena are well
accounted for by the local Drude response.


title: Finding and Solving Contradictions of False Positives in Virus Scanning

abstract:
  False positives are equally dangerous as false negatives. Ideally the false
positive rate should remain 0 or very close to 0. Even a slightest increase in
false positive rate is considered as undesirable.
  Although the specific methods provide very accurate scanning by comparing
viruses with their exact signatures, they fail to detect the new and unknown
viruses. On the other hand the generic methods can detect even new viruses
without using virus signatures. But these methods are more likely to generate
false positives. There is a positive correlation between the capability to
detect new and unknown viruses and false positive rate.
  While a traditional approach tries to achieve a right balance between false
positives and false negatives a TRIZ approach looks forward to achieve the
Ideal Final Result. The Ideal final result is to 'detect and prevent viruses
with full certainty. The chances of error should be nil and the method should
not raise any false positive or false negative.' The article shows many
contradictions relating to false positives and their solutions.


title: Multiarmed Bandits With Limited Expert Advice

abstract:
  We solve the COLT 2013 open problem of \citet{SCB} on minimizing regret in
the setting of advice-efficient multiarmed bandits with expert advice. We give
an algorithm for the setting of K arms and N experts out of which we are
allowed to query and use only M experts' advices in each round, which has a
regret bound of \tilde{O}\bigP{\sqrt{\frac{\min\{K, M\} N}{M} T}} after T
rounds. We also prove that any algorithm for this problem must have expected
regret at least \tilde{\Omega}\bigP{\sqrt{\frac{\min\{K, M\} N}{M}T}}, thus
showing that our upper bound is nearly tight.


title:
One-dimensional long-range Diffusion Limited Aggregation II: the
  transient case

abstract:
  We examine diffusion-limited aggregation for a one-dimensional random walk
with long jumps. We achieve upper and lower bounds on the growth rate of the
aggregate as a function of the number of moments a single step of the walk has.
In this paper we handle the case of transient walks.


title: Light top partners and precision physics

abstract:
  We analyze the corrections to the precision EW observables in minimal
composite Higgs models by using a general effective parametrization which also
includes the lightest fermionic resonances. A new, possibly large,
logarithmically divergent contribution to S is identified, which comes purely
from the strong dynamics. It can be interpreted as a running of S induced by
the non-renormalizable Higgs interactions due to the non-linear sigma-model
structure. As expected, the corrections to the T parameter coming from fermion
loops are finite and dominated by the contributions of the lightest composite
states. The fit of the oblique parameters suggests a rather stringent lower
bound on the sigma-model scale f > 750GeV. The corrections to the Z bL bL
vertex coming from the lowest-order operators in the effective Lagrangian are
finite and somewhat correlated to the corrections to T. Large additional
contributions are generated by contact interactions with 4 composite fermions.
In this case a logarithmic divergence can be generated and the correlation with
T is removed. We also analyze the tree-level corrections to the top couplings,
which are expected to be large due to the sizable degree of compositeness of
the third generation quarks. We find that for a moderate amount of tuning the
deviation in Vtb can be of order 5% while the distortion of the Z tL tL vertex
can be 10%.


title:
Near-Infrared Spectroscopy of Infrared-Excess Stellar Objects in the
  Young Supernova Remnant G54.1+0.3

abstract:
  We present the results of broadband near-infrared spectroscopic observations
of the recently discovered mysterious stellar objects in the young supernova
remnant G54.1+0.3. These objects, which show significant mid-infrared excess
emission, are embedded in a diffuse loop structure of ~1 arcmin in radius.
Their near-infrared spectra reveal characteristics of late O- or early B-type
stars with numerous H and He I absorption lines, and we classify their spectral
types to be between O9 and B2 based on an empirical relation derived here
between the equivalent widths of the H lines and stellar photospheric
temperatures. The spectral types, combined with the results of spectral energy
distribution fits, constrain the distance to the objects to be 6.0 +/- 0.4 kpc.
The photometric spectral types of the objects are consistent with those from
the spectroscopic analyses, and the extinction distributions indicate a local
enhancement of matter in the western part of the loop. If these objects
originate via triggered formation by the progenitor star of G54.1+0.3, then
their formations likely began during the later evolutionary stages of the
progenitor, although a rather earlier formation may still be possible. If the
objects and the progenitor belong to the same cluster of stars, then our
results constrain the progenitor mass of G54.1+0.3 to be between 18 and ~35
M_sun and suggest that G54.1+0.3 was either a Type IIP supernova or, with a
relatively lower possibility, Type Ib/c from a binary system.


title:
Finite state space non parametric Hidden Markov Models are in general
  identifiable

abstract:
  In this paper, we prove that finite state space non parametric hidden Markov
models are identifiable as soon as the transition matrix of the latent Markov
chain has full rank and the emission probability distributions are linearly
independent. We then propose several non parametric likelihood based estimation
methods, which we apply to models used in applications. We finally show on
examples that the use of non parametric modeling and estimation may improve the
classification performances.


title:
Dynamical instability of white dwarfs and breaking of spherical symmetry
  under the presence of extreme magnetic fields

abstract:
  Massive, highly magnetized white dwarfs with fields up to $10^9$ G have been
observed and theoretically used for the description of a variety of
astrophysical phenomena. Ultramagnetized white dwarfs with uniform interior
fields up to $10^{18}$ G, have been recently purported to obey a new maximum
mass limit, $M_{\rm max}\approx 2.58~M_\odot$, which largely overcomes the
traditional Chandrasekhar value, $M_{\rm Ch}\approx 1.44~M_\odot$. Such a much
larger limit would make these astrophysical objects viable candidates for the
explanation of the superluminous population of type Ia supernovae. We show that
several macro and micro physical aspects such as gravitational, dynamical
stability, breaking of spherical symmetry, general relativity, inverse
$\beta$-decay, and pycnonuclear fusion reactions are of most relevance for the
self-consistent description of the structure and assessment of stability of
these objects. It is shown in this work that the first family of magnetized
white dwarfs indeed satisfy all the criteria of stability, while the
ultramagnetized white dwarfs are very unlikely to exist in nature since they
violate minimal requests of stability. Therefore, the canonical Chandrasekhar
mass limit of white dwarfs has to be still applied.


title: One diagonal texture or cofactor zero of the neutrino mass matrix

abstract:
  In view of the recent measurement of nonzero $\theta_{13}$, we carry out a
systematic study of a simple class of neutrino models that has one diagonal
texture or cofactor zero in the mass matrix. There are seven free parameters in
the model and five of them are already measured by neutrino oscillation
experiments; some cases for the normal or inverted hierarchy are excluded and
for the rest we obtain the preferred values for the lightest neutrino mass and
Dirac CP phase. We find that there are strong similarities between one diagonal
texture zero models with one mass hierarchy and one diagonal cofactor zero
models with the opposite mass hierarchy. We also make predictions for
neutrinoless double beta decay for these models. For the one cofactor zero
models, we present a simple realization based on a new U(1) gauge symmetry.


title: Contradictions in Improving Speed of Virus Scanning

abstract:
  Although everything in computing industry moves faster including the
processor, memory speed, memory size, storage space etc. there is no
improvement in virus scanning time. Although the processing speed has
substantially increased, a typical full scanning is still taking several hours
for an average computer. There is a serious need to improve the scanning time.
  Contradiction is a stage of problem solving where the nature of the actual
problem is clearly explained in terms of at least two parameters, one improving
and another worsening. While emphasizing one parameter strengthens the system
position emphasizing another parameter weakens the system.
  In conventional methods a problem solver has to make a perfect balance
between these conflicting parameters, where the situation is neither too much
on one side nor too much on the other. The results of those methods, although
increase the speed of virus scanning, results in disadvantages like load on
processor, increase in false positives and compromise on security. The
objective of TRIZ is not to accept a tradeoff between the speed of scanning and
those other difficulties but to resolve the contradictions so that the speed of
scanning increases without compromising with security and other harmful
results.


title:
Wave functions of the Q.Q interaction in terms of unitary 9-j
  coefficients

abstract:
  We obtain wave functions for 2 protons and 2 neutrons in the g_{9/2} shell
expressed as column vectors with amplitudes D(J_{p},J_{n}). When we use a
quadrupole-quadrupole interaction (Q.Q) we get, in many cases, a very strong
overlap with wave functions given by a single set of unitary 9j coefficients
--U9j= ((jj)^{2j} (jj^{J_{B}} \ (jj)^{J_{p}} (jj)^{J_{n}})^{I}. Here J_{B}=9
for even I T =0 states. For both even and odd T=1 states we take JB equal to 8
whilst for odd I, T=0 we take JB to be 7. We compare the Q.Q results with those
of a more realistic interaction.

categories: nucl-th nucl-ex physics.atom-ph quant-ph


title: Inflection Point Quintessence

abstract:
  We examine models in which the accelerated expansion of the universe is
driven by a scalar field rolling near an inflection point in the potential. For
the simplest such models, in which the potential is of the form V(\phi) = V_0 +
V_3 (\phi-\phi_0)^3, the scalar field can either evolve toward \phi = \phi_0 at
late times, yielding an asymptotic de Sitter expansion, or it can transition
through the inflection point, producing a transient period of acceleration. We
determine the parameter ranges which produce each of these two possibilities
and also map out the region in parameter space for which the equation of state
of the scalar field is close to -1 at all times up to the present, mimicking
\LambdaCDM. We show that the latter can be consistent with either eternal or
transient acceleration. More complicated inflection point models are also
investigated.


title: Modeling the Pollution of Pristine Gas in the Early Universe

abstract:
  We conduct a comprehensive theoretical and numerical investigation of the
pollution of pristine gas in turbulent flows, designed to provide new tools for
modeling the evolution of the first generation of stars. The properties of such
Population III (Pop III) stars are thought to be very different than later
generations, because cooling is dramatically different in gas with a
metallicity below a critical value Z_c, which lies between ~10^-6 and 10^-3
solar value. Z_c is much smaller than the typical average metallicity, <Z>, and
thus the mixing efficiency of the pristine gas in the interstellar medium plays
a crucial role in the transition from Pop III to normal star formation. The
small critical value, Z_c, corresponds to the far left tail of the probability
distribution function (PDF) of the metallicity. Based on closure models for the
PDF formulation of turbulent mixing, we derive equations for the fraction of
gas, P, lying below Z_c, in compressible turbulence. Our simulation data shows
that the evolution of the fraction P can be well approximated by a generalized
self-convolution model, which predicts dP/dt = -n/tau_con P (1-P^(1/n)), where
n is a measure of the locality of the PDF convolution and the timescale tau_con
is determined by the rate at which turbulence stretches the pollutants. Using a
suite of simulations with Mach numbers ranging from M = 0.9 to 6.2, we provide
accurate fits to n and tau_con as a function of M, Z_c/<Z>, and the scale, L_p,
at which pollutants are added to the flow. For P>0.9, mixing occurs only in the
regions surrounding the pollutants, such that n=1. For smaller P, n is larger
as mixing becomes more global. We show how the results can be used to construct
one-zone models for the evolution of Pop III stars in a single high-redshift
galaxy, as well as subgrid models for tracking the evolution of the first stars
in large cosmological simulations.


title: Efficient Two-Stage Group Testing Algorithms for Genetic Screening

abstract:
  Efficient two-stage group testing algorithms that are particularly suited for
rapid and less-expensive DNA library screening and other large scale biological
group testing efforts are investigated in this paper. The main focus is on
novel combinatorial constructions in order to minimize the number of individual
tests at the second stage of a two-stage disjunctive testing procedure.
Building on recent work by Levenshtein (2003) and Tonchev (2008), several new
infinite classes of such combinatorial designs are presented.


title:
Variability of the Spin Period of the White Dwarf in the Intermediate
  Polar V405 Aur: Low-Mass Third Body or Precession ?

abstract:
  We present the results of photometric CCD observations of the magnetic
cataclysmic variable V405 Aurigae (RX J0558.0+5353 = 1RXS J055800.7+535358)
obtained using different instruments. We analysed variability of the spin
period of the white dwarf in the V405 Aur (RX J0558.0+5353) system using our
observations and previously published maxima timings. The spin period of the
system in 2010-2012 is $P=545.4558163(94)$s. As we have gaps in observational
data, we present 2 hypotheses of the spin period variability of this system - a
cubic ephemeris which may be interpreted by a precession of the magnetic white
dwarf or a periodic change with a period of 6.2 years and semi-amplitude of
$17.2\pm1.8$ sec. The periodic variations may be interpreted by a light-time
effect caused by a low-mass star ($M_3\ge0.09M_\odot$). In this case, the
system belongs to a rare class of cataclysmic variables with a third body.


title: Methods of Repairing Virus Infected Files, A TRIZ based Analysis

abstract:
  Most viruses are capable of fixing up the first few bytes and repair the
original program because they have to return the control back to the infected
program. This fact is used by a heuristic cleaner to clean the infected file.
As the virus knows how to repair the it uses the same virus to repair the
infected file.
  There are some infections where parts of the files are damaged by the virus.
These types of infections are caused by 'file modifying viruses'. In these
cases, the chance of recovery is less, but the anti-virus has to apply various
methods with hope. The virus cleaner must know the characteristics of a virus
in order to remove that virus. It cannot remove an unknown virus whose methods
of infection are not known. If a virus is wrongly detected to be a different
virus, then the cleaner will do wrong operations and build a garbage file.


title: Exact Lagrangian caps and non-uniruled Lagrangian submanifolds

abstract:
  We make the elementary observation that the Lagrangian submanifolds of
$\mathbb{C}^n$, for each $n \ge 3$, constructed by Ekholm, Eliashberg, Murphy
and Smith are non-uniruled and moreover have infinite relative Gromov width.
The construction of these submanifolds use exact Lagrangian caps, which
obviously are non-uniruled in themselves. This property is also used to show
that if a Legendrian submanifold inside a 1-jet space admits an exact
Lagrangian cap then its Legendrian contact homology DGA is acyclic.


title:
A quasi-linear spin-torque nano-oscillator via enhanced negative
  feedback of power fluctuations

abstract:
  We report an approach to improving the performance of spin torque
nano-oscillators (STNOs) that utilizes power-dependent negative feedback to
achieve a significantly enhanced dynamic damping. In combination with a
sufficiently slow variation of frequency with power this can result in a
quasi-linear STNO, with very weak non-linear coupling of power and phase
fluctuations over a range of bias current and field. An implementation of this
approach that utilizes a non-uniform spin-torque demonstrates that highly
coherent room temperature STNOs can be achieved while retaining a significant
tunability.


title: Complex Spinors and Unified Theories

abstract:
  In this paper delivered by Murray Gell-Mann at the Stony Brook Supergravity
Workshop in 1979, several paths to unification are discussed, from N=8
supergravity to $SU_5$, $SO_{10}$, and $E_6$. Generalizations of $SO_{10}$ to
spinor representations of larger groups are introduced. A natural mechanism for
generating tiny neutrino masses is proposed in the context of $SO_{10}$, and
finally, focus on $SU_3$ rather than $SU_2$ or $SO_3$ family symmetries is
noted.


title:
Intrinsic equations for a relaxed elastic line of second kind in
  Minkowski 3-space

abstract:
  Let $\alpha $ be an arc on a connected oriented surface $S$ in Minkowski
3-space, parameterized by arc length $s$, with torsion $\tau $ and length $l$.
The total square torsion $H$ of $\alpha $ is defined by $% H=\int_{0}^{l}\tau
^{2}ds$. The arc is called a relaxed elastic line of second kind if it is an
extremal for the variational problem of minimizing the value of $H$ within the
family of all arcs of length $l$ on $S$ having the same initial point and
initial direction as $\alpha $. In this study, we obtain differential equation
and boundary conditions for a relaxed elastic line of second kind on an
oriented surface in Minkowski 3-space.


title: Charmonium Exotic States

abstract:
  In this thesis, the QCD sum rules approach has been used to study the nature
of the following charmonium resonances: Y(3930), Y(4140), X(4350), Y(4260),
Y(4360) and Y(4660). There is a strong evidence that these states have
non-conventional (or exotic) hadronic structures since their respective masses
and decay channels observed experimentally are inconsistent with expected for a
conventional charmonium state. The same phenomenon occurs on the bottomonium
sector, where new states like Yb(10890) and Yb(11020) observed recently could
indicate the existence of new bottomonium exotic states. In this way, one
verifies that the Y(4140) state could be described as a D*sD*s (0++) molecular
state or even as a mixture of D*sD*s (0++) and D*D* (0++) molecular states. For
the Y(3930) and X(4350) states, both cannot be described as a D*D* (0++) and
D*sD*s0 (1-+), respectively. From the sum rule point of view, the Y(4660) state
could be described as a \psi' f0(980) molecular state. The extension to the
bottomonium sector is done in a straightforward way to demonstrate that the
\Upsilon' f0(980) molecular state is a good candidate for describing the
structure of the Yb(10890) state. In the following, one estimates the mass of
the exotic Bc-like molecular states using the sum rule approach, where these
new exotic states would correspond to bound states of D(*) and B(*) mesons. All
of these mass predictions could (or not) be checked in a near future
experiments at LHC. A large study using the Double Ratio of Sum Rules approach
has been evaluated for studying the heavy baryon masses in QCD. The obtained
results for the unobserved heavy baryons, with one (Qqq) and two (QQq) heavy
quarks will be an excellent test for the capability of the sum rule approach in
predicting their masses.


title: A Novel Approach for Intelligent Robot Path Planning

abstract:
  Path planning of Robot is one of the challenging fields in the area of
Robotics research. In this paper, we proposed a novel algorithm to find path
between starting and ending position for an intelligent system. An intelligent
system is considered to be a device/robot having an antenna connected with
sensor-detector system. The proposed algorithm is based on Neural Network
training concept. The considered neural network is Adapti ve to the knowledge
bases. However, implementation of this algorithm is slightly expensive due to
hardware it requires. From detailed analysis, it can be proved that the
resulted path of this algorithm is efficient.


title: Atmospheric Heat Redistribution on Hot Jupiters

abstract:
  Infrared lightcurves of transiting hot Jupiters present a trend in which the
atmospheres of the hottest planets are less efficient at redistributing the
stellar energy absorbed on their daysides---and thus have a larger day-night
temperature contrast---than colder planets. No predictive atmospheric model has
been published that identifies which dynamical mechanisms determine the
atmospheric heat redistribution efficiency on tidally locked exoplanets. Here
we present a two-layer shallow water model of the atmospheric dynamics on
synchronously rotating planets that explains the observed trend. Our model
shows that planets with weak friction and weak irradiation exhibit a banded
zonal flow with minimal day-night temperature differences, while models with
strong irradiation and/or strong friction exhibit a day-night flow pattern with
order-unity fractional day-night temperature differences. To interpret the
model, we develop a scaling theory that shows that the timescale for gravity
waves to propagate horizontally over planetary scales, t_wave, plays a dominant
role in controlling the transition from small to large temperature contrasts.
This implies that heat redistribution is governed by a wave-like process,
similar to the one responsible for the weak temperature gradients in the
Earth's tropics. When atmospheric drag can be neglected, the transition from
small to large day-night temperature contrasts occurs when t_wave ~
sqrt(t_rad/Omega), where t_rad is the radiative relaxation time and Omega is
the planetary rotation frequency. Alternatively, this transition criterion can
be expressed as t_rad ~ t_vert, where t_vert is the timescale for a fluid
parcel to move vertically over the difference in day-night thickness. These
results subsume the commonly used timescale comparison for estimating heat
redistribution efficiency between t_rad and the global horizontal advection
timescale, t_adv.


title:
ARCONS: A 2024 Pixel Optical through Near-IR Cryogenic Imaging
  Spectrophotometer

abstract:
  We present the design, construction, and commissioning results of ARCONS, the
Array Camera for Optical to Near-IR Spectrophotometry. ARCONS is the first
ground-based instrument in the optical through near-IR wavelength range based
on Microwave Kinetic Inductance Detectors (MKIDs). MKIDs are revolutionary
cryogenic detectors, capable of detecting single photons and measuring their
energy without filters or gratings, similar to an X-ray microcalorimeter. MKIDs
are nearly ideal, noiseless photon detectors, as they do not suffer from read
noise or dark current and have nearly perfect cosmic ray rejection. ARCONS is
an Integral Field Spectrograph (IFS) containing a lens-coupled 2024 pixel MKID
array yielding a 20"x20" field of view, and has been deployed on the Palomar
200" and Lick 120" telescopes for 24 nights of observing. We present initial
results showing that ARCONS and its MKID arrays are now a fully operational and
powerful tool for astronomical observations.


title:
Source-position transformation -- an approximate invariance in strong
  gravitational lensing

abstract:
  The main obstacle for gravitational lensing to determine accurate masses of
deflectors, or to determine precise estimates for the Hubble constant, is the
degeneracy of lensing observables with respect to the mass-sheet transformation
(MST). The MST is a global modification of the mass distribution which leaves
all image positions, shapes and flux ratios invariant, but which changes the
time delay. Here we show that another global transformation of lensing mass
distributions exists which almost leaves image positions and flux ratios
invariant, and of which the MST is a special case. Whereas for axi-symmetric
lenses this source position transformation exactly reproduces all strong
lensing observables, it does so only approximately for more general lens
situations. We provide crude estimates for the accuracy with which the
transformed mass distribution can reproduce the same image positions as the
original lens model, and present an illustrative example of its performance.
This new invariance transformation most likely is the reason why the same
strong lensing information can be accounted for with rather different mass
models.


title: The Scale of Dark QCD

abstract:
  Most of the mass of ordinary matter has its origin from quantum
chromodynamics (QCD). A similar strong dynamics, dark QCD, could exist to
explain the mass origin of dark matter. Using infrared fixed points of the two
gauge couplings, we provide a dynamical mechanism that relates the dark QCD
confinement scale to our QCD scale, and hence provides an explanation for
comparable dark baryon and proton masses. Together with a mechanism that
generates equal amounts of dark baryon and ordinary baryon asymmetries in the
early universe, the similarity of dark matter and ordinary matter energy
densities can be naturally explained. For a large class of gauge group
representations, the particles charged under both QCD and dark QCD, necessary
ingredients for generating the infrared fixed points, are found to have masses
at one to two TeV, which sets the scale for dark matter direct detection and
novel collider signatures involving visible and dark jets.


title: Thermal and non-thermal production of dark matter via Z'-portal(s)

abstract:
  We study the genesis of dark matter in the primordial Universe for
representative classes of Z'-portals models. For weak-scale Z' mediators we
compute the range of values of the kinetic mixing allowed by WMAP/PLANCK
experiments corresponding to a FIMP regime. We show that very small values of
the kinetic coupling (1.e-12 < delta < 1.e-11) are sufficient to produce the
right amount of dark matter. We also analyse the case of very massive gauge
mediators, whose mass is larger than the reheating temperature, "T_RH", with a
weak-scale coupling to ordinary matter. Relic abundance constraints then impose
a direct correlation between T_RH and the effective scale "Lambda" of the
interactions: Lambda ~ 1.e3--1.e5 * T_RH. Finally we describe in some detail
the process of dark thermalisation and study its consequences on the
computation of the relic abundance.


title:
Fractional spinon excitations in the quantum Heisenberg
  antiferromagnetic chain

abstract:
  Assemblies of interacting quantum particles often surprise us with properties
that are difficult to predict. One of the simplest quantum many-body systems is
the spin 1/2 Heisenberg antiferromagnetic chain, a linear array of interacting
magnetic moments. Its exact ground state is a macroscopic singlet entangling
all spins in the chain. Its elementary excitations, called spinons, are
fractional spin 1/2 quasiparticles; they are created and detected in pairs by
neutron scattering. Theoretical predictions show that two-spinon states exhaust
only 71% of the spectral weight while higher-order spinon states, yet to be
experimentally located, are predicted to participate in the remaining. Here, by
accurate absolute normalization of our inelastic neutron scattering data on a
compound realizing the model, we account for the full spectral weight to within
99(8)%. Our data thus establish and quantify the existence of higher-order
spinon states. The observation that within error bars, the entire weight is
confined within the boundaries of the two-spinon continuum, and that the
lineshape resembles a rescaled two-spinon one, allow us to develop a simple
physical picture for understanding multi-spinon excitations.


title:
Population III Star Formation In Large Cosmological Simulations I. Halo
  Temporal and Physical Environment

abstract:
  We present a semi-analytic, computationally inexpensive model to identify
halos capable of forming a Population III star in cosmological simulations
across a wide range of times and environments. This allows for a much more
complete and representative set of Population III star forming halos to be
constructed, which will lead to Population III star formation simulations that
more accurately reflect the diversity of Population III stars, both in time and
halo mass. This model shows that Population III and chemically enriched stars
coexist beyond the formation of the first generation of stars in a cosmological
simulation until at least z~10, and likely beyond, though Population III stars
form at rates that are 4-6 orders of magnitude lower than chemically enriched
stars by z=10. A catalog of more than 40,000 candidate Population III forming
halos were identified, with formation times temporally ranging from z=30 to
z=10, and ranging in mass from 2.3x10^5 M_sun to 1.2x10^10 M_sun. At early
times, the environment that Population III stars form in is very similar to
that of halos hosting chemically enriched star formation. At later times
Population III stars are found to form in low-density regions that are not yet
chemically polluted due to a lack of previous star formation in the area.
Population III star forming halos become increasingly spatially isolated from
one another at later times, and are generally closer to halos hosting
chemically enriched star formation than to another halo hosting Population III
star formation by z~10.


title:
Asymmetric Ferromagnetic Resonance, Universal Walker Breakdown, and
  Counterflow Domain Wall Motion in the Presence of Multiple Spin-Orbit Torques

abstract:
  We study the motion of several types of domain wall profiles in spin-orbit
coupled magnetic nanowires and also the influence of spin-orbit interaction on
the ferromagnetic resonance of uniform magnetic films. We extend previous
studies by fully considering not only the field-like contribution from the
spin-orbit torque, but also the recently derived Slonczewski-like spin-orbit
torque. We show that the latter interaction affects both the domain wall
velocity and the Walker breakdown threshold non-trivially, which suggests that
it should be accounted in experimental data analysis. We find that the presence
of multiple spin-orbit torques may render the Walker breakdown to be universal
in the sense that the threshold is completely independent on the
material-dependent Gilbert damping, non-adiabaticity, and the chirality of the
domain wall. We also find that domain wall motion against the current injection
is sustained in the presence of multiple spin-orbit torques and that the wall
profile will determine the qualitative influence of these different types of
torques (e.g. field-like and Slonczewski-like). In addition, we consider a
uniform ferromagnetic layer under a current bias, and find that the resonance
frequency becomes asymmetric against the current direction in the presence of
Slonczewski-like spin-orbit coupling. This is in contrast with those cases
where such an interaction is absent, where the frequency is found to be
symmetric with respect to the current direction. This finding shows that
spin-orbit interactions may offer additional control over pumped and absorbed
energy in a ferromagnetic resonance setup by manipulating the injected current
direction.


title: Novel Gamma-ray Spectral Features in the Inert Doublet Model

abstract:
  The inert doublet model contains a neutral stable particle which is an
excellent dark matter candidate. We discuss in this paper the indirect
signatures of this model in gamma-rays when the dark matter mass is larger than
the $W$ boson mass. We show that, in addition to the featureless gamma-ray
spectrum produced in the annihilations into two weak gauge bosons, the model
generically predicts a distinctive spectral feature from the internal
bremsstrahlung process $H^0 H^0 \rightarrow W^+ W^- \gamma$. We discuss under
which conditions the spectral feature is generated and we construct a number of
benchmark points, compatible with the observed relic density and all other
direct and indirect detection experiments, which lead to a sharp gamma-ray
feature from internal bremsstrahlung.


title: Holographic entanglement beyond classical gravity

abstract:
  The Renyi entropies and entanglement entropy of 1+1 CFTs with gravity duals
can be computed by explicit construction of the bulk spacetimes dual to
branched covers of the boundary geometry. At the classical level in the bulk
this has recently been shown to reproduce the conjectured Ryu-Takayanagi
formula for the holographic entanglement entropy. We study the one-loop bulk
corrections to this formula. The functional determinants in the bulk geometries
are given by a sum over certain words of generators of the Schottky group of
the branched cover. For the case of two disjoint intervals on a line we obtain
analytic answers for the one-loop entanglement entropy in an expansion in small
cross-ratio. These reproduce and go beyond anticipated universal terms that are
not visible classically in the bulk. We also consider the case of a single
interval on a circle at finite temperature. At high temperatures we show that
the one-loop contributions introduce expected finite size corrections to the
entanglement entropy that are not present classically. At low temperatures, the
one-loop corrections capture the mixed nature of the density matrix, also not
visible classically below the Hawking-Page temperature.


title: Conclusive Exclusion of Quantum States

abstract:
  In the task of quantum state exclusion we consider a quantum system, prepared
in a state chosen from a known set. The aim is to perform a measurement on the
system which can conclusively rule that a subset of the possible preparation
procedures can not have taken place. We ask what conditions the set of states
must obey in order for this to be possible and how well we can complete the
task when it is not. The task of quantum state discrimination forms a subclass
of this set of problems. Within this paper we formulate the general problem as
a Semidefinite Program (SDP), enabling us to derive sufficient and necessary
conditions for a measurement to be optimal. Furthermore, we obtain a necessary
condition on the set of states for exclusion to be achievable with certainty
and give a construction for a lower bound on the probability of error. This
task of conclusively excluding states has gained importance in the context of
the foundations of quantum mechanics due to a result of Pusey, Barrett and
Rudolph (PBR). Motivated by this, we use our SDP to derive a bound on how well
a class of hidden variable models can perform at a particular task, proving an
analogue of Tsirelson's bound for the PBR experiment and the optimality of a
measurement given by PBR in the process. We also introduce variations of
conclusive exclusion, including unambiguous state exclusion, and state
exclusion with worst case error.


title:
Cosmological parameters from weak lensing power spectrum and bispectrum
  tomography: including the non-Gaussian errors

abstract:
  We re-examine a genuine power of weak lensing bispectrum tomography for
constraining cosmological parameters, when combined with the power spectrum
tomography, based on the Fisher information matrix formalism. To account for
the full information at two- and three-point levels, we include all the power
spectrum and bispectrum information built from all-available combinations of
tomographic redshift bins, multipole bins and different triangle configurations
over a range of angular scales (up to lmax=2000 as our fiducial choice). For
the parameter forecast, we use the halo model approach in Kayo, Takada & Jain
(2013) to model the non-Gaussian error covariances as well as the
cross-covariance between the power spectrum and the bispectrum, including the
halo sample variance or the nonlinear version of beat-coupling. We find that
adding the bispectrum information leads to about 60% improvement in the dark
energy figure-of-merit compared to the lensing power spectrum tomography alone,
for three redshift-bin tomography and a Subaru-type survey probing galaxies at
typical redshift of zs~1. The improvement is equivalent to a 1.6 larger survey
area. Thus our results show that the bispectrum or more generally any
three-point correlation based statistics carries complementary information on
cosmological parameters to the power spectrum. However, the improvement is
modest compared to the previous claim derived using the Gaussian error
assumption, and therefore our results imply less additional information in even
higher-order moments such as the four-point correlation function.


title: Structure of solar coronal loops: from miniature to large-scale

abstract:
  We will use new data from the High-resolution Coronal Imager (Hi-C) with
unprecedented spatial resolution of the solar corona to investigate the
structure of coronal loops down to 0.2 arcsec. During a rocket flight Hi-C
provided images of the solar corona in a wavelength band around 193 A that is
dominated by emission from Fe XII showing plasma at temperatures around 1.5 MK.
We analyze part of the Hi-C field-of-view to study the smallest coronal loops
observed so far and search for the a possible sub-structuring of larger loops.
We find tiny 1.5 MK loop-like structures that we interpret as miniature coronal
loops. These have length of the coronal segment above the chromosphere of only
about 1 Mm and a thickness of less than 200 km. They could be interpreted as
the coronal signature of small flux tubes breaking through the photosphere with
a footpoint distance corresponding to the diameter of a cell of granulation. We
find loops that are longer than 50 Mm to have a diameter of about 2 arcsec or
1.5 Mm, consistent with previous observations. However, Hi-C really resolves
these loops with some 20 pixels across the loop. Even at this greatly improved
spatial resolution the large loops seem to have no visible sub-structure.
Instead they show a smooth variation in cross-section. The fact that the large
coronal loops do not show a sub-structure at the spatial scale of 0.1 arcsec
per pixel implies that either the densities and temperatures are smoothly
varying across these loops or poses an upper limit on the diameter of strands
the loops might be composed of. We estimate that strands that compose the 2
arcsec thick loop would have to be thinner than 15 km. The miniature loops we
find for the first time pose a challenge to be properly understood in terms of
modeling.


title:
Cosmological Constraints from Galaxy Clustering and the Mass-to-Number
  Ratio of Galaxy Clusters: Marginalizing over the Physics of Galaxy Formation

abstract:
  Many approaches to obtaining cosmological constraints rely on the connection
between galaxies and dark matter. However, the distribution of galaxies is
dependent on their formation and evolution as well as the cosmological model,
and galaxy formation is still not a well-constrained process. Thus, methods
that probe cosmology using galaxies as a tracer for dark matter must be able to
accurately estimate the cosmological parameters without knowing the details of
galaxy formation a priori. We apply this reasoning to the method of obtaining
$\Omega_m$ and $\sigma_8$ from galaxy clustering combined with the
mass-to-number ratio of galaxy clusters. To test the sensitivity of this method
to variations due to galaxy formation, we consider several different models
applied to the same cosmological dark matter simulation. The cosmological
parameters are then estimated using the observables in each model,
marginalizing over the parameters of the Halo Occupation Distribution (HOD). We
find that for models where the galaxies can be well represented by a
parameterized HOD, this method can successfully extract the desired
cosmological parameters for a wide range of galaxy formation prescriptions.


title:
Discriminating antiferromagnetic signatures in ultracold fermions by
  tunable geometric frustration

abstract:
  Recently, it has become possible to tune optical lattices continuously
between square and triangular geometries. We compute thermodynamics and spin
correlations in the corresponding Hubbard model using determinant quantum Monte
Carlo and show that the frustration effects induced by the variable hopping
terms can be clearly separated from concomitant bandwidth changes by a proper
rescaling of the interaction. An enhancement of the double occupancy by
geometric frustration signals the destruction of nontrivial antiferromagnetic
correlations at weak coupling and entropy $s\lesssim \ln(2)$ (and restores
Pomeranchuk cooling at strong frustration), paving the way to the long-sought
experimental detection of antiferromagnetism in ultracold fermions on optical
lattices.


title: The Newton polygon of a planar singular curve and its subdivision

abstract:
  Let a planar algebraic curve $C$ be defined over a valuation field by an
equation $F(x,y)=0$. Valuations of the coefficients of $F$ define a subdivision
of the Newton polygon $\Delta$ of the curve $C$.
  If a given point $p$ is of multiplicity $m$ for $C$, then the coefficients of
$F$ are subject to certain linear constraints. These constraints can be
visualized on the above subdivision of $\Delta$. Namely, we find a
distinguished collection of faces of the above subdivision, with total area at
least $\frac{3}{8}m^2$. In a sense, the union of these faces in "the region of
influence" of the singular point $p$ on the subdivision of $\Delta$. Also, we
discuss three different definitions of a tropical point of multiplicity $m$.


title: On the anti-canonical ring and varieties of Fano type

abstract:
  We study the anti-canonical ring of a projective variety and we characterise
varieties of log Fano type depending on the singularities of these models.


title:
Model Reduction with MapReduce-enabled Tall-and-Skinny Singular Value
  Decomposition

abstract:
  We present a method for computing reduced-order models of parameterized
partial differential equation solutions. The key analytical tool is the
singular value expansion of the parameterized solution, which we approximate
with a singular value decomposition of a parameter snapshot matrix. To evaluate
the reduced-order model at a new parameter, we interpolate a subset of the
right singular vectors to generate the reduced-order model's coefficients. We
employ a novel method to select this subset that uses the parameter gradient of
the right singular vectors to split the terms in the expansion yielding a mean
prediction and a prediction covariance---similar to a Gaussian process
approximation. The covariance serves as a confidence measure for the reduce
order model. We demonstrate the efficacy of the reduced-order model using a
parameter study of heat transfer in random media. The high-fidelity simulations
produce more than 4TB of data; we compute the singular value decomposition and
evaluate the reduced-order model using scalable MapReduce/Hadoop
implementations. We compare the accuracy of our method with a scalar response
surface on a set of temperature profile measurements and find that our model
better captures sharp, local features in the parameter space.


title: Radar Cross Section of Moving Objects

abstract:
  I investigate the effects of movement on radar cross section calculations.
The results show that relativistic effects (the constant velocity case) can
change the RCS of moving targets by changing the incident plane wave field
vectors. As in the Doppler effect, the changes in the fields are proportional
to $\frac{v}{c}$. For accelerated objects, using the Newtonian equations of
motion yields an effective electric field (or effective current density) on the
object due to the finite mass of the conducting electrons. The results indicate
that the magnetic moment of an accelerated object is different from that of an
un-accelerated object, and this difference can change the RCS of the object.
Results for moving sphere and non-uniformly rotating sphere are given and
compared with static (\textbf{v}=0) case.


title: The sedimentation of flexible filaments

abstract:
  The dynamics of a flexible filament sedimenting in a viscous fluid are
explored analytically and numerically. Compared to the well-studied case of
sedimenting rigid rods, the introduction of filament compliance is shown to
cause a significant alteration in the long-time sedimentation orientation and
filament geometry. A model is developed by balancing viscous, elastic, and
gravitational forces in a slender-body theory for zero-Reynolds-number flows,
and the filament dynamics are characterized by a dimensionless
elasto-gravitation number. Filaments of both non-uniform and uniform
cross-sectional thickness are considered. In the weakly flexible regime, a
multiple-scale asymptotic expansion is used to obtain expressions for filament
translations, rotations, and shapes. These are shown to match excellently with
full numerical simulations. Furthermore, we show that trajectories of
sedimenting flexible filaments, unlike their rigid counterparts, are restricted
to a cloud whose envelope is determined by the elasto-gravitation number. In
the highly flexible regime we show that a filament sedimenting along its long
axis is susceptible to a buckling instability. A linear stability analysis
provides a dispersion relation, illustrating clearly the competing effects of
the compressive stress and the restoring elastic force in the buckling process.
The instability travels as a wave along the filament opposite the direction of
gravity as it grows and the predicted growth rates are shown to compare
favorably with numerical simulations. The linear eigenmodes of the governing
equation are also studied, which agree well with the finite-amplitude buckled
shapes arising in simulations.


title: Some Properties of Bilayer Graphene Nanoribbons

abstract:
  In this work the tight binding model calculations are carried out for
AA-Bilayer Graphene nanoribbons as an example of bilayer systems. The effects
of edges, NNN hopping, and impurities of a single layer are introduced
numerically as a change in the elements of the relevant block diagonal matrix
appearing in the direct diagonalization method. The direct interlayer hopping
between the top and the bottom single layers is constructed in the generalized
direct diagonalization method by the off-diagonal block matrices in which the
strength of the interlayer hopping is included.


title:
N-body simulation insights into the X-shaped bulge of the Milky Way:
  Kinematics and distance to the Galactic Centre

abstract:
  Using simulations of box/peanut- (B/P-) shaped bulges, we explore the nature
of the X-shape of the Milky Way's bulge. An X-shape can be associated with a
B/P-shaped bulge driven by a bar. By comparing in detail the simulations and
the observations we show that the principal kinematic imprint of the X-shape is
a minimum in the difference between the near and far side mean line-of-sight
velocity along the minor axis. This minimum occurs at around |b| = 4{\deg},
which is close to the lower limit at which the X-shape can be detected. No
coherent signature of an X-shape can be found in Galactocentric azimuthal
velocities, vertical velocities, or any of the dispersions. After scaling our
simulations, we find that a best fit to the BRAVA data leads to a bar angle of
15{\deg}. We also explore a purely geometric method for determining the
distance to the Galactic Centre by tracing the arms of the X-shape. We find
that we are able to determine this ill-known distance to an accuracy of about
5% per cent with sufficiently accurate distance measurements for the red clump
stars in the arms.


title: On codimension one foliations with prescribed cuspidal separatrix

abstract:
  In this paper, we will construct a pre-normal form for germs of codimension
one holomorphic foliation having a particular type of separatrix, of cuspidal
type. We will also give a sufficient condition, in the quasi-homogeneous,
three-dimensional case, for these foliations to be of generalized surface type.


title: Weyl Phases in Point-Group Symmetric Superconductors

abstract:
  We study superconductivity in a Weyl semimetal with broken time-reversal
symmetry and stabilized by a point-group symmetry. The resulting
superconducting phase is characterized by topologically protected bulk nodes
and surface states with Fermi arcs. The topological invariant governing the
system is calculated using changes in eigenvalues of the point-group operator
along high-symmetry momentum lines. We show that this invariant is determined
by the Fermi surface topology of the Weyl semimetal. We discuss the effect of
surface orientation and $C_4$-breaking strain as possible experimental
consequences.


title: On Zariski Decomposition with and without support

abstract:
  In this paper we study Zariski Decomposition with support in a negative
definite cycle, a variation introduced by Y. Miyaoka. We provide two extensions
of the original statement, which was originally meant for effective
$\Q$-divisors: we can either state it for any $\Q$-divisor, or we can take the
support to be in any cycle. Ultimately, we present a new approach to Zariski
Decomposition of pseudo-effective $\Q$-divisors, which consists in iterating
Zariski Decomposition with support.


title:
Dependence of e-cloud on the longitudinal bunch profile: studies in the
  PS & extension to the HL-LHC

abstract:
  Recent studies have shown that the prospects for significantly increasing
bunch intensities in the LHC for the luminosity upgrade (HL-LHC) may be
severely limited by the available cryogenic cooling capacity and the
electron-cloud (EC) driven beam instability. However, it is planned that during
the HL-LHC era the bunch intensities in the LHC will go up by nearly a factor
of two compared to the LHC-design values. This motivates the exploration of
additional EC mitigation techniques that can be adopted in addition to those
already in place. Preliminary simulations indicated that long flat bunches can
be beneficial over Gaussian bunches to reduce the EC build up. Rigorous studies
using realistic bunch profiles have never been done. Therefore, we have
undertaken an in-depth investigation in the CERN 26 GeV PS to see if we can
validate the previous findings and, in particular, if flattening the bunch can
mitigate the EC. Here we present the results from dedicated EC measurements in
the PS using a variety of bunch shapes and a comparison with simulations.
Finally, we investigate if reshaping the bunch profiles using a 2nd harmonic rf
cavity can mitigate EC in the HL-LHC.


title: Isomorphs, hidden scale invariance, and quasiuniversality

abstract:
  This paper first establishes an approximate scaling property of the
potential-energy function of a classical liquid with good isomorphs (a
Roskilde-simple liquid). This "pseudohomogeneous" property makes explicit that
- and in which sense - such a system has a hidden scale invariance. The second
part gives a potential-energy formulation of the quasiuniversality of monatomic
Roskilde-simple liquids, which was recently rationalized in terms of the
existence of a quasiuniversal single-parameter family of reduced-coordinate
constant-potential-energy hypersurfaces [J. C. Dyre, Phys. Rev. E 87, 022106
(2013)]. The new formulation involves a quasiuniversal reduced-coordinate
potential-energy function. A few consequences of this are discussed.


title:
Energetic stability of coreless vortices in spin-1 Bose-Einstein
  condensates with conserved magnetization

abstract:
  We show that conservation of longitudinal magnetization in a spinor
condensate provides a stabilizing mechanism for a coreless vortex
phase-imprinted on a polar condensate. The stable vortex can form a composite
topological defect with distinct small- and large-distance topology: the inner
ferromagnetic coreless vortex continuously deforms toward an outer singular,
singly quantized polar vortex. A similar mechanism can also stabilize a
nonsingular nematic texture in the polar phase. A weak magnetization is shown
to destabilize a coreless vortex in the ferromagnetic phase.


title: Using Two Measures Theory to Approach Bags and Confinement

abstract:
  We consider the question of bags and confinement in the framework of a theory
which uses two volume elements $\sqrt{-{g}}d^{4}x$ and $\Phi d^{4}x$, where
$\Phi $ is a metric independent density. For scale invariance a dilaton field
$\phi$ is considered. Using the first order formalism, curvature ($\Phi R$ and
$\sqrt{-g}R^{2}$) terms, gauge field term($\Phi\sqrt {- F_{\mu \nu}^{a}\,
F^{a}_{\alpha\beta}g^{\mu\alpha}g^{\nu\beta}}$ and $\sqrt{-g} F_{\mu \nu}^{a}\,
F^{a}_{\alpha\beta}g^{\mu\alpha}g^{\nu\beta}$) and dilaton kinetic terms are
introduced in a conformally invariant way. Exponential potentials for the
dilaton break down (softly) the conformal invariance down to global scale
invariance, which also suffers s.s.b. after integrating the equations of
motion. The model has a well defined flat space limit. As a result of the
s.s.b. of scale invariance phases with different vacuum energy density appear.
Inside the bags the gauge dynamics is normal, that is non confining, while for
the outside, the gauge field dynamics is confining.


title: On the problem of quark-lepton families

abstract:
  The problem of quark-lepton families is discussed in the "bottom-up"
phenomenological approach to the extensions of the Standard model. It provides
the possibility of the {\it Horizontal unification} of the three known families
on the basis of horizontal gauge flavor $SU(3)_H$ symmetry. The new generations
of quarks and leptons can exist. If unstable and mixed with light fermions,
they should contribute the CKM matrix. If stable and decoupled from known
families, new generations can provide new candidates for dark matter.


title: Dwarf Spheroidal Satellite Formation in a Reionized Local Group

abstract:
  Dwarf spheroidal satellite galaxies have emerged a powerful probe of
small-scale dark matter clustering and of cosmic reionization. They exhibit
structural and chemical continuity with dwarf irregular galaxies in the field
and with spheroidal galaxies in high-density environments. By combining
empirical constraints derived for star formation at low gas column densities
and metallicities in the local universe with a model for dark matter and
baryonic mass assembly, we provide an analytical description of how the dwarf
spheroidals acquired their stellar content. Their progenitors formed stars
until the gas content, initially reduced from the cosmic average by the thermal
pressure of the reionized intergalactic medium, was finally ram pressure
stripped during the progenitors' accretion on to the host galaxy. Dwarf
spheroidal satellites of differing luminosities seem to share very similar most
massive progenitor histories that reach thresholds for gas cooling by atomic
line emission at epochs at which the Lagrangian volume of the Local Group
should have been reionized. We hypothesize that dwarf spheroidals formed the
bulk of their stars in partially rotationally supported HI disks in a reionized
universe. This model provides an explanation for the "common mass scale"
relation and reproduces the empirical luminosity-size and
luminosity-metallicity relations. Explosive feedback phenomena, such as
outflows driven by the concerted action of supernovae, need not have been
significant in the dwarf spheroidals' formation. We further speculate that the
true pre-reionization fossils should exhibit a structure distinct from that of
the dwarf spheroidals, e.g., in the form of dense isolated or nuclear star
clusters.


title: The cosmic $e^\pm$ anomaly

abstract:
  Via a Bayesian likelihood analysis using 219 recent cosmic ray spectral data
points we extract the anomalous part of the cosmic $e^\pm$ flux. First we show
that a significant tension exists between the $e^\pm$ related and the rest of
the fluxes. Interpreting this tension as the presence of an anomalous component
in the $e^\pm$ related data, we then infer the values of selected cosmic ray
propagation parameters excluding the anomalous data sample from the analysis.
Based on these values we calculate background predictions with theoretical
uncertainties for PAMELA and Fermi-LAT. We find a statistically significant
deviation between the Fermi-LAT $e^-+e^+$ data and the predicted background
even when (systematic) uncertainties are taken into account. Identifying this
deviation as an anomalous $e^\pm$ contribution, we make an attempt to
distinguish between various sources that may be responsible for the anomalous
$e^\pm$ flux.


title:
Semilinear wave equations on asymptotically de Sitter, Kerr-de Sitter
  and Minkowski spacetimes

abstract:
  In this paper we show the small data solvability of suitable semilinear wave
and Klein-Gordon equations on geometric classes of spaces, which include
so-called asymptotically de Sitter and Kerr-de Sitter spaces, as well as
asymptotically Minkowski spaces. These spaces allow general infinities, called
conformal infinity in the asymptotically de Sitter setting; the Minkowski type
setting is that of non-trapping Lorentzian scattering metrics introduced by
Baskin, Vasy and Wunsch. Our results are obtained by showing the global
Fredholm property, and indeed invertibility, of the underlying linear operator
on suitable L^2-based function spaces, which also possess appropriate algebra
or more complicated multiplicative properties. The linear framework is based on
the b-analysis, in the sense of Melrose, introduced in this context by Vasy to
describe the asymptotic behavior of solutions of linear equations. An
interesting feature of the analysis is that resonances, namely poles of the
inverse of the Mellin transformed b-normal operator, which are `quantum' (not
purely symbolic) objects, play an important role.


title:
Superfluidity of a spin-imbalanced Fermi gas in a three-dimensional
  optical lattice

abstract:
  We study fermion pairing in a population-imbalanced mixture of $^{6}$Li
atomic gas loaded in a three-dimensional lattice at very low temperatures.
Using the number equation for each population, the gap equation and the
equation for the Helmholtz free energy, we determine the gap, chemical
potentials and pair-momentum as functions of polarization. These parameters
define the stability regions for: a Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov phase; a
phase separation region where BCS and normal phases coexist; a Sarma phase when
the pair-momentum vanishes, and the transition to the normal phase when the gap
disappears. The collective-mode energies are then calculated using a
Bethe-Salpeter approach in the generalized random phase approximation assuming
that the system is well described by the single-band Hubbard model. A novel
result is that this fermionic gas has a superfluid phase revealed by rotonlike
minima in the asymmetric collective-mode energy spectrum.


title: Optimized norm-conserving Vanderbilt pseudopotentials

abstract:
  Fully-nonlocal two-projector norm-conserving pseudopotentials are shown to be
compatible with a systematic approach to the optimization of convergence with
the size of the plane-wave basis. A new formulation of the optimization is
developed, including the ability to apply it to positive-energy atomic
scattering states, and to enforce greater continuity in the pseudopotential.
The generalization of norm-conservation to multiple projectors is reviewed and
recast for the present purposes. Comparisons among the results of all-electron
and one- and two-projector norm-conserving pseudopotential calculations of
lattice constants and bulk moduli are made for a group of solids chosen to
represent a variety of types of bonding and a sampling of the periodic table.


title: Testing and Modeling Dependencies Between a Network and Nodal Attributes

abstract:
  Network analysis is often focused on characterizing the dependencies between
network relations and node-level attributes. Potential relationships are
typically explored by modeling the network as a function of the nodal
attributes or by modeling the attributes as a function of the network. These
methods require specification of the exact nature of the association between
the network and attributes, reduce the network data to a small number of
summary statistics, and are unable provide predictions simultaneously for
missing attribute and network information. Existing methods that model the
attributes and network jointly also assume the data are fully observed. In this
article we introduce a unified approach to analysis that addresses these
shortcomings. We use a latent variable model to obtain a low dimensional
representation of the network in terms of node-specific network factors and use
a test of dependence between the network factors and attributes as a surrogate
for a test of dependence between the network and attributes. We propose a
formal testing procedure to determine if dependencies exists between the
network factors and attributes. We also introduce a joint model for the network
and attributes, for use if the test rejects, that can capture a variety of
dependence patterns and be used to make inference and predictions for missing
observations.


title:
Lateral migration of living cells in inertial microfluidic systems
  explored by fully three-dimensional numerical simulation

abstract:
  The effects of cell size and deformability on the lateral migration and
deformation of living cells flowing through a rectangular microchannel has been
numerically investigated and compared with the inertial-microfluidics data on
detection and separation of cells. The results of this work indicate that the
cells move closer to the centerline if they are bigger and/or more deformable
and that their equilibrium position is largely determined by the solvent
(cytosol) viscosity, which is much less than the polymer (cytoskeleton)
viscosity measured in most rheological systems. Simulations also suggest that
decreasing channel dimensions leads to larger differences in equilibrium
position for particles of different viscoelastic properties, giving design
guidance for the next generation of microfluidic cell separation chips.


title: Update on scalar singlet dark matter

abstract:
  One of the simplest models of dark matter is that where a scalar singlet
field S comprises some or all of the dark matter, and interacts with the
standard model through an HHSS coupling to the Higgs boson. We update the
present limits on the model from LHC searches for invisible Higgs decays, the
thermal relic density of S, and dark matter searches via indirect and direct
detection. We point out that the currently allowed parameter space is on the
verge of being significantly reduced with the next generation of experiments.
We discuss the impact of such constraints on possible applications of scalar
singlet dark matter, including a strong electroweak phase transition, and the
question of vacuum stability of the Higgs potential at high scales.


title:
Subgroup decomposition in $\text{Out}(F_n)$, Part IV: Relatively
  irreducible subgroups

abstract:
  This is the fourth and last in a series of four papers (with research
announcement posted on this arXiv) that develop a decomposition theory for
subgroups of $\text{Out}(F_n)$. In this paper we develop general ping-pong
techniques for the action of $\text{Out}(F_n)$ on the space of lines of $F_n$.
Using these techniques we prove the main results stated in the research
announcement, Theorem C and its special case Theorem I, the latter of which
says that for any finitely generated subgroup $\mathcal H$ of $\text{Out}(F_n)$
that acts trivially on homology with $\mathbb{Z}/3$ coefficients, and for any
free factor system $\mathcal F$ that does not consist of (the conjugacy classes
of) a complementary pair of free factors of $F_n$ nor of a rank $n-1$ free
factor, if $\mathcal H$ is fully irreducible relative to $\mathcal F$ then
$\mathcal H$ has an element that is fully irreducible relative to $\mathcal F$.
We also prove Theorem J which, under the additional hypothesis that $\mathcal
H$ is geometric relative to $\mathcal F$, describes a strong relation between
$\mathcal H$ and a mapping class group of a surface.
  v3 and 4: Strengthened statements of the main theorems, highlighting the role
of the finite generation hypothesis, and providing an alternative hypothesis.
Strengthened proofs of lamination ping-pong, and a strengthened conclusion in
Theorem J, for further applications.


title:
Subgroup decomposition in $\text{Out}(F_n)$, Part III: Weak attraction
  theory

abstract:
  This is the third in a series of four papers (with research announcement
posted on this arXiv) that develop a decomposition theory for subgroups of
$\text{Out}(F_n)$.
  In this paper, given an outer automorphism of $F_n$ and an
attracting-repelling lamination pair, we study which lines and conjugacy
classes in $F_n$ are weakly attracted to that lamination pair under forward and
backward iteration respectively. For conjugacy classes, we prove Theorem F from
the research annoucement, which exhibits a unique vertex group system called
the "nonattracting subgroup system" having the property that the conjugacy
classes it carries are characterized as those which are not weakly attracted to
the attracting lamination under forward iteration, and also as those which are
not weakly attracted to the repelling lamination under backward iteration. For
lines in general, we prove Theorem G that characterizes exactly which lines are
weakly attracted to the attracting lamination under forward iteration and which
to the repelling lamination under backward iteration. We also prove Theorem H
which gives a uniform version of weak attraction of lines.
  v3: Contains a stronger proof of Lemma 2.19 (part of the proof of Theorem G)
for purposes of further applications.


title: From Principles to Practice with Class in the First Year

abstract:
  We propose a bridge between functional and object-oriented programming in the
first-year curriculum. Traditionally, curricula that begin with functional
programming transition to a professional, usually object-oriented, language in
the second course. This transition poses obstacles for students, and often
results in confusing the details of development environments, syntax, and
libraries with the fundamentals of OO programming that the course should focus
on. Instead, we propose to begin the second course with a sequence of custom
teaching languages which minimize the transition from the first course, and
allow students to focus on core ideas. After working through the sequence of
pedagogical languages, we then transition to Java, at which point students have
a strong command of the basic principles. We have 3 years of experience with
this course, with notable success.


title: Penetration Testing == POMDP Solving?

abstract:
  Penetration Testing is a methodology for assessing network security, by
generating and executing possible attacks. Doing so automatically allows for
regular and systematic testing without a prohibitive amount of human labor. A
key question then is how to generate the attacks. This is naturally formulated
as a planning problem. Previous work (Lucangeli et al. 2010) used classical
planning and hence ignores all the incomplete knowledge that characterizes
hacking. More recent work (Sarraute et al. 2011) makes strong independence
assumptions for the sake of scaling, and lacks a clear formal concept of what
the attack planning problem actually is. Herein, we model that problem in terms
of partially observable Markov decision processes (POMDP). This grounds
penetration testing in a well-researched formalism, highlighting important
aspects of this problem's nature. POMDPs allow to model information gathering
as an integral part of the problem, thus providing for the first time a means
to intelligently mix scanning actions with actual exploits.


title:
Distinguishing Color-Octet and Color-Singlet Resonances at the Large
  Hadron Collider

abstract:
  Di-jet resonance searches are simple, yet powerful and model-independent,
probes for discovering new particles at hadron colliders. Once such a resonance
has been discovered it is important to determine the mass, spin, couplings,
chiral behavior and color properties to determine the underlying theoretical
structure. We propose a new variable which, in the absence of decays of the
resonance into new non-standard states, distinguishes between color-octet and
color-singlet resonances. To keep our study widely applicable we study
phenomenological models of color-octet and color-singlet resonances in flavor
universal as well as flavor non-universal scenarios. We present our analysis
for a wide range of mass (2.5 - 6 TeV), couplings and flavor scenarios for the
LHC with center of mass energy of 14 TeV and varying integrated luminosities of
30, 100, 300 and 1000 ${\rm fb}^{-1}$. We find encouraging results to
distinguish color-octet and color-singlet resonances for different flavor
scenarios at the LHC.


title:
How many-body effects modify the van der Waals interaction between
  graphene sheets

abstract:
  Undoped graphene (Gr) sheets at low temperatures are known, via Random Phase
Approximation (RPA) calculations, to exhibit unusual van der Waals (vdW)
forces. Here we show that graphene is the first known system where effects
beyond the RPA make qualitative changes to the vdW force. For large
separations, $D \gtrsim 10$nm where only the $\pi_z$ vdW forces remain, we find
the Gr-Gr vdW interaction is substantially reduced from the RPA prediction. Its
$D$ dependence is very sensitive to the form of the long-wavelength many-body
enhancement of the velocity of the massless Dirac fermions, and may provide
independent confirmation of the latter via direct force measurements.


title:
Coherent quantum dynamics in donor-bridge-acceptor systems: Beyond the
  hopping and super-exchange mechanisms

abstract:
  The population transfer dynamics of model donor-bridge-acceptor systems is
studied by comparing a recently developed polaron-transformed quantum master
equation (PQME) with the well-known Redfield and Forster theories of quantum
transport. We show that the PQME approach reduces to these two theories in
their respective limits of validity and naturally interpolates between them as
a function of the system-bath coupling strength. By exploring the parameter
space of our model problem, we identify novel regimes of transport dynamics in
bridged systems like those encountered in biological and organic energy
transfer problems. Furthermore, we demonstrate that three-level systems like
the ones studied herein represent ideal minimal models for the identification
of quantum coherent transport as embodied in super-exchange phenomena that
cannot be captured by Forster-like hopping approaches.


title:
Scattering Approach for Fluctuation--Induced Interactions at Fluid
  Interfaces

abstract:
  We develop the scattering formalism to calculate the interaction between
colloidal particles trapped at a fluid interface. Since, in addition to the
interface, the colloids may also fluctuate in this system, we implement the
fluctuation of the boundaries into the scattering formalism and investigate how
the interaction between colloids is modified by their fluctuations. This
general method can be applied to any number of colloids with various geometries
at an interface. We apply the formalism derived in this work to a system of
spherical colloids at the interface between two fluid phases. For two spherical
colloids, this method very effectively reproduces the previous known results.
For three particles we find analytical expressions for the large separation
asymptotic energies and numerically calculate the Casimir interaction at all
separations. Our results show an interesting three body effect for fixed and
fluctuating colloids. While the three body effect strengthens the attractive
interaction between fluctuating colloids, it diminishes the attractive force
between colloids fixed at an interface.


title:
Beyond boundaries of redshift surveys: assessing mass fluctuations on
  "super-survey" scales

abstract:
  The observed density field in redshift space is directly affected by the
radial motions generated from mass fluctuations outside the volume occupied by
a given galaxy redshift survey. These motions introduce redshift space
anisotropies which are more pronounced at larger distances from the survey's
center, thus offering clues to the nature of mass fluctuations on super-survey
scales. Furthermore, we note that all estimates of the growth factor derived
from redshift space distortions are based on relations which explicitly assume
that the velocity field is generated by mass fluctuations inside the survey
volume. This may cause uncertainties in these estimates which are on the order
of a few percent.


title: Crystal Growth Inside an Octant

abstract:
  We study crystal growth inside an infinite octant on a cubic lattice. The
growth proceeds through the deposition of elementary cubes into inner corners.
After re-scaling by the characteristic size, the interface becomes
progressively more deterministic in the long-time limit. Utilizing known
results for the crystal growth inside a two-dimensional corner, we propose a
hyperbolic partial differential equation for the evolution of the limiting
shape. This equation is interpreted as a Hamilton-Jacobi equation which helps
in finding an analytical solution. Simulations of the growth process are in
excellent agreement with analytical predictions. We then study the evolution of
the sub-leading correction to the volume of the crystal, the asymptotic growth
of the variance of the volume of the crystal, and the total number of inner and
outer corners. We also show how to generalize the results to arbitrary spatial
dimension.

categories: cond-mat.stat-mech math-ph math.MP math.PR


title:
On Localization of A Non-Cooperative Target with Non-Coherent Binary
  Detectors

abstract:
  Localization of a non-cooperative target with binary detectors is considered.
A general expression for the Fisher information for estimation of target
location and power is developed. This general expression is then used to derive
closed-form approximations for the Cramer-Rao bound for the case of
non-coherent detectors. Simulations show that the approximations are quite
consistent with the exact bounds.


title:
SPIDER IX - Classifying Galaxy Groups according to their Velocity
  Distribution

abstract:
  We introduce a new method to study the velocity distribution of galaxy
systems, the Hellinger Distance (HD) - designed for detecting departures from a
Gaussian velocity distribution. We define a relaxed galactic system as the one
with unimodal velocity distribution and a normality deviation below a critical
value (HD<0.05). In this work, we study the gaussian nature of the velocity
distribution of the Berlind group sample, and of the FoF groups from the
Millennium simulation. For the Berlind group sample (z<0.1), 67% of the systems
are classified as relaxed, while for the Millennium sample we find 63% (z=0).
We verify that in multimodal groups the average mass of modes in high
multiplicity (N >= 20) systems are significantly larger than in low
multiplicity ones (N<20), suggesting that groups experience a mass growth at an
increasing virialization rate towards z=0, with larger systems accreting more
massive subunits. We also investigate the connection between galaxy properties
([Fe/H], Age, eClass, g-r, R_petro and <mu_petro>) and the gaussianity of the
velocity distribution of the groups. Bright galaxies (M_r <=-20.7) residing in
the inner and outer regions of groups, do not show significant differences in
the listed quantities regardless if the group has a Gaussian (G) or a
Non-Gaussian (NG) velocity distribution. However, the situation is
significantly different when we examine the faint galaxies (-20.7<M_r<=-17.9).
In G groups, there is a remarkable difference between the galaxy properties of
the inner and outer galaxy populations, testifying how the environment is
affecting the galaxies. Instead, in NG groups there is no segregation between
the properties of galaxies in the inner and outer regions, showing that the
properties of these galaxies still reflect the physical processes prevailing in
the environment where they were found earlier.