title:
Ideal charge density wave order in the high-field state of
  superconducting YBCO

abstract:
  The existence of charge density wave (CDW) correlations in cuprate
superconductors has now been established. However, the nature of the ground
state order has remained uncertain because disorder and the presence of
superconductivity typically limit the CDW correlation lengths to a dozen unit
cells or less. Here we explore the CDW correlations in YBa2Cu3Ox (YBCO)
ortho-II and ortho-VIII crystals, which belong to the cleanest available
cuprate family, at magnetic fields in excess of the resistive upper critical
field (Hc2) where the superconductivity is heavily suppressed. We find an
incommensurate, unidirectional CDW with a well-defined onset at a critical
field strength that is proportional to Hc2. It is related to but distinct from
the short-range bidirectional CDW that exists at zero magnetic field. The
unidirectional CDW possesses a long inplane correlation length as well as
significant correlations between neighboring CuO2 planes, yielding a
correlation volume that is at least 2 - 3 orders of magnitude larger than that
of the zero-field CDW. This is by far the largest CDW correlation volume
observed in any cuprate crystal and so is presumably representative of the
high-field ground-state of an "ideal" disorder-free cuprate.


title: Higher Spin Black Holes with Soft Hair

abstract:
  We construct a new set of boundary conditions for higher spin gravity,
inspired by a recent "soft Heisenberg hair"-proposal for General Relativity on
three-dimensional Anti-de Sitter. The asymptotic symmetry algebra consists of a
set of affine $\hat u(1)$ current algebras. Its associated canonical charges
generate higher spin soft hair. We focus first on the spin-3 case and then
extend some of our main results to spin-$N$, many of which resemble the spin-2
results: the generators of the asymptotic $W_3$ algebra naturally emerge from
composite operators of the $\hat u(1)$ charges through a twisted Sugawara
construction; our boundary conditions ensure regularity of the Euclidean
solutions space independently of the values of the charges; solutions, which we
call "higher spin black flowers", are stationary but not necessarily
spherically symmetric. Finally, we derive the entropy of higher spin black
flowers, and find that for the branch that is continuously connected to the BTZ
black hole, it depends only on the affine purely gravitational zero modes.
Using our map to $W$-algebra currents we recover well-known expressions for
higher spin entropy. We also address higher spin black flowers in the metric
formalism and achieve full consistency with previous results.


title: Low Mach Number Fluctuating Hydrodynamics for Electrolytes

abstract:
  We formulate and study computationally the low Mach number fluctuating
hydrodynamic equations for electrolyte solutions. We are interested in studying
transport in mixtures of charged species at the mesoscale, down to scales below
the Debye length, where thermal fluctuations have a significant impact on the
dynamics. Continuing our previous work on fluctuating hydrodynamics of
multicomponent mixtures of incompressible isothermal miscible liquids (A.
Donev, et al., Physics of Fluids, 27, 3, 2015), we now include the effect of
charged species using a quasielectrostatic approximation. Localized charges
create an electric field, which in turn provides additional forcing in the mass
and momentum equations. Our low Mach number formulation eliminates sound waves
from the fully compressible formulation and leads to a more computationally
efficient quasi-incompressible formulation. We demonstrate our ability to model
saltwater (NaCl) solutions in both equilibrium and nonequilibrium settings. We
show that our algorithm is second-order in the deterministic setting, and for
length scales much greater than the Debye length gives results consistent with
an electroneutral/ambipolar approximation. In the stochastic setting, our model
captures the predicted dynamics of equilibrium and nonequilibrium fluctuations.
We also identify and model an instability that appears when diffusive mixing
occurs in the presence of an applied electric field.


title: Inflation and Cyclotron Motion

abstract:
  We consider, in the context of a braneworld cosmology, the motion of the
universe coupled to a four-form gauge field, with constant field strength,
defined in higher dimensions. It is found, under rather general initial
conditions, that in this situation there is a period of exponential inflation
combined with cyclotron motion in the inflaton field space. The main effect of
the cyclotron motion is that conditions on the flatness of the inflaton
potential, which are typically necessary for exponential inflation, can be
evaded. There are Landau levels associated with the four-form gauge field, and
these correspond to quantum excitations of the inflaton field.


title:
Optical properties of amorphous alumina dust in the envelopes around
  O-rich AGB stars

abstract:
  We investigate optical properties of amorphous alumina (Al_2O_3) dust grains
in the envelopes around O-rich asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars considering
the laboratory measured optical data. We derive the optical constants of
amorphous alumina in a wide wavelength range that satisfy the Kramers-Kronig
relation and reproduce the laboratory measured data. Using the amorphous
alumina and silicate dust, we compare the radiative transfer model results with
the observed spectral energy distributions. Comparing the theoretical models
with the observations on various IR two-color diagrams for a large sample
O-rich AGB stars, we find that the amorphous alumina dust (about 10-40 %) mixed
with amorphous silicate can reproduce much more observed points for the O-rich
AGB stars with thin dust envelopes.


title: Moving frames and the characterization of curves that lie on a surface

abstract:
  In this work we are interested in the characterization of curves that belong
to a given surface. To the best of our knowledge, there is no known general
solution to this problem. Indeed, a solution is only available for a few
examples: planes, spheres, or cylinders. Generally, the characterization of
such curves, both in Euclidean ($E^3$) and in Lorentz-Minkowski ($E_1^3$)
spaces, involves an ODE relating curvature and torsion. However, by equipping a
curve with a relatively parallel moving frame, Bishop was able to characterize
spherical curves in $E^3$ through a linear equation relating the coefficients
which dictate the frame motion. Here we apply these ideas to surfaces that are
implicitly defined by a smooth function, $\Sigma=F^{-1}(c)$, by reinterpreting
the problem in the context of the metric given by the Hessian of $F$, which is
not always positive definite. So, we are naturally led to the study of curves
in $E_1^3$. We develop a systematic approach to the construction of Bishop
frames by exploiting the structure of the normal planes induced by the casual
character of the curve, present a complete characterization of spherical curves
in $E_1^3$, and apply it to characterize curves that belong to a non-degenerate
Euclidean quadric. We also interpret the casual character that a curve may
assume when we pass from $E^3$ to $E_1^3$ and finally establish a criterion for
a curve to lie on a level surface of a smooth function, which reduces to a
linear equation when the Hessian is constant.


title:
Relativistic iron lines in accretion disks: the contribution of higher
  order images in the strong deflection limit

abstract:
  The shapes of relativistic iron lines observed in spectra of candidate black
holes carry the signatures of the strong gravitational fields in which the
accretion disks lie. These lines result from the sum of the contributions of
all images of the disk created by gravitational lensing, with the direct and
first-order images largely dominating the overall shapes. Higher order images
created by photons tightly winding around the black holes are often neglected
in the modeling of these lines, since they require a substantially higher
computational effort. With the help of the strong deflection limit, we present
the most accurate semi-analytical calculation of these higher order
contributions to the iron lines for Schwarzschild black holes. We show that two
regimes exist depending on the inclination of the disk with respect to the line
of sight. Many useful analytical formulae can be also derived in this
framework.


title:
SUSY breaking after inflation in supergravity with inflaton in a massive
  vector multiplet

abstract:
  We propose a limited class of models, describing interacting chiral
multiplets with a non-minimal coupling to a vector multiplet, in curved
superspace of $N=1$ supergravity. Those models are suitable for the
inflationary model building in supergravity with inflaton assigned to a massive
vector multiplet and spontaneous SUSY breaking in Minkowski vacuum after
inflation, for any values of the inflationary parameters $n_s$ and $r$, and any
scale of SUSY breaking.


title:
Quantum teleportation from light beams to vibrational states of a
  macroscopic diamond

abstract:
  With the recent development of optomechanics, the vibration in solids,
involving collective motion of trillions of atoms, gradually enters into the
realm of quantum control. Built on the recent remarkable progress in optical
control of motional states of diamonds, here we report an experimental
demonstration of quantum teleportation from light beams to vibrational states
of a macroscopic diamond under ambient conditions. Through quantum process
tomography, we demonstrate average teleportation fidelity (90.6+/- 1.0)%,
clearly exceeding the classical limit of 2/3. The experiment pushes the target
of quantum teleportation to the biggest object so far, with interesting
implications for optomechanical quantum control and quantum information
science.


title:
An Empirical Evaluation of doc2vec with Practical Insights into Document
  Embedding Generation

abstract:
  Recently, Le and Mikolov (2014) proposed doc2vec as an extension to word2vec
(Mikolov et al., 2013a) to learn document-level embeddings. Despite promising
results in the original paper, others have struggled to reproduce those
results. This paper presents a rigorous empirical evaluation of doc2vec over
two tasks. We compare doc2vec to two baselines and two state-of-the-art
document embedding methodologies. We found that doc2vec performs robustly when
using models trained on large external corpora, and can be further improved by
using pre-trained word embeddings. We also provide recommendations on
hyper-parameter settings for general purpose applications, and release source
code to induce document embeddings using our trained doc2vec models.


title: A Multi-task Deep Network for Person Re-identification

abstract:
  Person re-identification (ReID) focuses on identifying people across
different scenes in video surveillance, which is usually formulated as a binary
classification task or a ranking task in current person ReID approaches. In
this paper, we take both tasks into account and propose a multi-task deep
network (MTDnet) that makes use of their own advantages and jointly optimize
the two tasks simultaneously for person ReID. To the best of our knowledge, we
are the first to integrate both tasks in one network to solve the person ReID.
We show that our proposed architecture significantly boosts the performance.
Furthermore, deep architecture in general requires a sufficient dataset for
training, which is usually not met in person ReID. To cope with this situation,
we further extend the MTDnet and propose a cross-domain architecture that is
capable of using an auxiliary set to assist training on small target sets. In
the experiments, our approach outperforms most of existing person ReID
algorithms on representative datasets including CUHK03, CUHK01, VIPeR, iLIDS
and PRID2011, which clearly demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed
approach.


title: Spin and helicity of massive particles

abstract:
  It is a well-known fact that helicity is a Lorentz-invariant for massless but
not for massive particles. Nevertheless, a satisfactory proof of this fact and
a detailed analysis on the relative orientation between spin and the momentum
are not readily available. One such analysis was presented by Wigner where a
formula for the angle between the spin and the momentum is derived for massive
particle states undergoing two successive boosts in orthogonal directions. In
this note, using the Wigner rotation, an alternative derivation is provided.


title: Superconductivity in CeOBiS2 with cerium valence fluctuation

abstract:
  Resistivities of single-crystalline as well as poly-crystalline samples of
CeOBiS2 without fluorine doping were measured at temperatures down to 0.13 K,
and were compared with those of poly-crystalline LaOBiS2 and PrOBiS2. Both
poly-crystalline and single-crystalline CeOBiS2 exhibited zero resistivity
below 1.2 K while poly-crystalline LaOBiS2 and PrOBiS2 did not show zero
resistivity down to 0.13 K. Superconducting transition temperature of CeOBiS2
was reduced by increasing the applied current density. The superconductivity of
CeOBiS2 without chemical doping is likely triggered by the carriers induced by
the valence fluctuation between Ce3+ and Ce4+.


title:
Uniformly continuous orbit equivalence of Markov shifts and gauge
  actions on Cuntz-Krieger algebras

abstract:
  We introduce a notion of uniformly continuous orbit equivalence as a
subequivalence relation of continuous orbit equivalence of one-sided
topological Markov shifts. It is described in terms of gauge actions on the
associated Cuntz-Krieger algebras and continuous full groups of the Markov
shifts.


title: Nuclear constraints on gravitational waves from deformed pulsars

abstract:
  The recent direct detection of gravitational waves (GWs) from binary black
hole mergers (2016, Phys. Rev. Lett. 116, no. 6, 061102; no. 24, 241103) opens
up an entirely new non-electromagnetic window into the Universe making it
possible to probe physics that has been hidden or dark to electromagnetic
observations. In addition to cataclysmic events involving black holes, GWs can
be triggered by physical processes and systems involving neutron stars.
Properties of neutron stars are largely determined by the equation of state
(EOS) of neutron-rich matter, which is the major ingredient in calculating the
stellar structure and properties of related phenomena, such as gravitational
wave emission from elliptically deformed pulsars and neutron star binaries.
Although the EOS of neutron-rich matter is still rather uncertain mainly due to
the poorly known density dependence of nuclear symmetry energy at high
densities, significant progress has been made recently in constraining the
symmetry energy using data from terrestrial nuclear laboratories. These
constraints could provide useful information on the limits of GWs expected from
neutron stars. Here after briefly reviewing our previous work on constraining
gravitational radiation from elliptically deformed pulsars with terrestrial
nuclear laboratory data in light of the recent gravitational wave detection, we
estimate the maximum gravitational wave strain amplitude, using an optimistic
value for the breaking strain of the neutron star crust, for 15 pulsars at
distances 0.16 kpc to 0.91 kpc from Earth, and find it to be in the range of
$\sim[0.2-31.1]\times 10^{-24}$, depending on the details of the EOS used to
compute the neutron star properties. Implications are discussed.


title: On Lipschitz continuity of solutions of hyperbolic Poisson's equation

abstract:
  In this paper, we investigate solutions of the hyperbolic Poisson equation
$\Delta_{h}u(x)=\psi(x)$, where $\psi\in L^{\infty}(\mathbb{B}^{n},
\mathbb{R}^n)$ and \[ \Delta_{h}u(x)= (1-|x|^2)^2\Delta
u(x)+2(n-2)(1-|x|^2)\sum_{i=1}^{n} x_{i} \frac{\partial u}{\partial x_{i}}(x)
\] is the hyperbolic Laplace operator in the $n$-dimensional space
$\mathbb{R}^n$ for $n\ge 2$. We show that if $n\geq 3$ and $u\in
C^{2}(\mathbb{B}^{n},\mathbb{R}^n) \cap
C(\overline{\mathbb{B}^{n}},\mathbb{R}^n )$ is a solution to the hyperbolic
Poisson equation, then it has the representation $u=P_{h}[\phi]-G_{ h}[\psi]$
provided that $u\mid_{\mathbb{S}^{n-1}}=\phi$ and
$\int_{\mathbb{B}^{n}}(1-|x|^{2})^{n-1} |\psi(x)|\,d\tau(x)<\infty$. Here
$P_{h}$ and $G_{h}$ denote Poisson and Green integrals with respect to
$\Delta_{h}$, respectively. Furthermore, we prove that functions of the form
$u=P_{h}[\phi]-G_{h}[\psi]$ are Lipschitz continuous.


title:
Fractional Wishart Processes and $\varepsilon$-Fractional Wishart
  Processes with Applications

abstract:
  In this paper, we introduce two new matrix stochastic processes: fractional
Wishart processes and $\varepsilon$-fractional Wishart processes with integer
indices which are based on the fractional Brownian motions and then extend
$\varepsilon$-fractional Wishart processes to the case with non-integer
indices. Both of two kinds of processes include classic Wishart processes when
the Hurst index $H$ equals $\frac{1}{2}$ and present serial correlation of
stochastic processes. Applying $\varepsilon$-fractional Wishart processes to
financial volatility theory, the financial models account for the stochastic
volatilities of the assets and for the stochastic correlations not only between
the underlying assets' returns but also between their volatilities and for
stochastic serial correlation of the relevant assets.


title: The Problem of Infra-marginality in Outcome Tests for Discrimination

abstract:
  Outcome tests are a popular method for detecting bias in lending, hiring, and
policing decisions. These tests operate by comparing the success rate of
decisions across groups. For example, if loans made to minority applicants are
observed to be repaid more often than loans made to whites, it suggests that
only exceptionally qualified minorities are granted loans, indicating
discrimination. Outcome tests, however, are known to suffer from the problem of
infra-marginality: even absent discrimination, the repayment rates for minority
and white loan recipients might differ if the two groups have different risk
distributions. Thus, at least in theory, outcome tests can fail to accurately
detect discrimination. We develop a new statistical test of
discrimination---the threshold test---that mitigates the problem of
infra-marginality by jointly estimating decision thresholds and risk
distributions via a hierarchical Bayesian latent variable model. Applying our
test to a dataset of 4.5 million police stops in North Carolina, we find that
the problem of infra-marginality is more than a theoretical possibility, and
can cause the outcome test to yield misleading results in practice.


title:
Modeling the source of GW150914 with targeted numerical-relativity
  simulations

abstract:
  In fall of 2015, the two LIGO detectors measured the gravitational wave
signal GW150914, which originated from a pair of merging black holes. In the
final 0.2 seconds (about 8 gravitational-wave cycles) before the amplitude
reached its maximum, the observed signal swept up in amplitude and frequency,
from 35 Hz to 150 Hz. The theoretical gravitational-wave signal for merging
black holes, as predicted by general relativity, can be computed only by full
numerical relativity, because analytic approximations fail near the time of
merger. Moreover, the nearly-equal masses, moderate spins, and small number of
orbits of GW150914 are especially straightforward and efficient to simulate
with modern numerical-relativity codes. In this paper, we report the modeling
of GW150914 with numerical-relativity simulations, using black-hole masses and
spins consistent with those inferred from LIGO's measurement. In particular, we
employ two independent numerical-relativity codes that use completely different
analytical and numerical methods to model the same merging black holes and to
compute the emitted gravitational waveform; we find excellent agreement between
the waveforms produced by the two independent codes. These results demonstrate
the validity, impact, and potential of current and future studies using
rapid-response, targeted numerical-relativity simulations for better
understanding gravitational-wave observations.


title:
Improved Measurement of the Reactor Antineutrino Flux and Spectrum at
  Daya Bay

abstract:
  A new measurement of the reactor antineutrino flux and energy spectrum by the
Daya Bay reactor neutrino experiment is reported. The antineutrinos were
generated by six 2.9~GW$_{\mathrm{th}}$ nuclear reactors and detected by eight
antineutrino detectors deployed in two near (560~m and 600~m flux-weighted
baselines) and one far (1640~m flux-weighted baseline) underground experimental
halls. With 621 days of data, more than 1.2 million inverse beta decay (IBD)
candidates were detected. The IBD yield in the eight detectors was measured,
and the ratio of measured to predicted flux was found to be $0.946\pm0.020$
($0.992\pm0.021$) for the Huber+Mueller (ILL+Vogel) model. A 2.9~$\sigma$
deviation was found in the measured IBD positron energy spectrum compared to
the predictions. In particular, an excess of events in the region of 4-6~MeV
was found in the measured spectrum, with a local significance of 4.4~$\sigma$.
A reactor antineutrino spectrum weighted by the IBD cross section is extracted
for model-independent predictions.


title: Randall-Sundrum brane-world in modified gravity

abstract:
  We modify Randall-Sundrum model of brane-world (with two branes) by adding
the scalar curvature squared term in five dimensions. We find that it does not
destabilize Randall-Sundrum solution to the hierarchy problem of the Standard
Model in particle physics.


title:
Data-Driven Sensitivity Inference for Thomson Scattering Electron
  Density Measurement Systems

abstract:
  We developed a method to infer the calibration parameters of multichannel
measurement systems, such as channel variations of sensitivity and noise
amplitude, from experimental data. We regard such uncertainties of the
calibration parameters as dependent noise. The statistical properties of the
dependent noise and that of the latent functions were modeled and implemented
in the Gaussian process kernel. Based on their statistical difference, both
parameters were inferred from the data.
  We applied this method to the electron density measurement system by Thomson
scattering for Large Helical Device plasma, which is equipped with 141 spatial
channels. Based on the 210 sets of experimental data, we evaluated the
correction factor of the sensitivity and noise amplitude for each channel. The
correction factor varies by $\approx$ 10\%, and the random noise amplitude is
$\approx$ 2\%, i.e., the measurement accuracy increases by a factor of 5 after
this sensitivity correction. The certainty improvement in the spatial
derivative inference was demonstrated.


title:
Dimensional modulation of spontaneous magnetic order in
  quasi-two-dimensional quantum antiferromagnets

abstract:
  Spontaneous symmetry breaking is deeply related to dimensionality of system.
The Neel order going with spontaneous breaking of $U(1)$ symmetry is safely
allowed at any temperature for three-dimensional systems but allowed only at
zero temperature for purely two-dimensional systems. We closely investigate how
smoothly the ordering process of the three-dimensional system is modulated into
that of the two-dimensional one with reduction of dimensionality, considering
spatially anisotropic quantum antiferromagnets. We first show that the N\'eel
temperature is kept finite even in the two-dimensional limit although the
N\'eel order is greatly suppressed for low-dimensionality. This feature of the
N\'eel temperature is highly nontrivial, which dictates how the order parameter
is squashed under the reduction of dimensionality. Next we investigate this
dimensional modulation of the order parameter. We develop our argument taking
as example a coupled spin-ladder system relevant for experimental studies. The
ordering process is investigated multidirectionally using theoretical
techniques of a mean-field method combined with analytical (exact solutions of
quantum field theories) or numerial (density-matrix renormalization-group)
method, a variational method, a renormalization-group study, linear spin-wave
theory, and quantum Monte-Carlo simulation. We show that these methods
independent of each other lead to the same conclusion about the dimensional
modulation.


title: Transportation dynamics on coupled networks with limited bandwidth

abstract:
  The communication networks in real world often couple with each other to save
costs, which results in any network does not have a stand-alone function and
efficiency. To investigate this, in this paper we propose a transportation
model on two coupled networks with bandwidth sharing. We find that the
free-flow state and the congestion state can coexist in the two coupled
networks, and the free-flow path and congestion path can coexist in each
network. Considering three bandwidth-sharing mechanisms, random, assortative
and disassortative couplings, we also find that the transportation capacity of
the network only depends on the coupling mechanism, and the fraction of coupled
links only affects the performance of the system in the congestion state, such
as the traveling time. In addition, with assortative coupling, the
transportation capacity of the system will decrease significantly. However, the
disassortative coupling has little influence on the transportation capacity of
the system, which provides a good strategy to save bandwidth. Furthermore, a
theoretical method is developed to obtain the bandwidth usage of each link,
based on which we can obtain the congestion transition point exactly.


title:
The clustering of luminous red galaxies at z $\sim$ 0.7 from eBOSS and
  BOSS data

abstract:
  We present the first scientific results from the luminous red galaxy sample
(LRG) of the extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (eBOSS). We
measure the small and intermediate scale clustering from a sample of more than
61,000 galaxies in the redshift range $0.6 < z < 0.9$. We interpret these
measurements in the framework of the Halo Occupation Distribution. The bias of
eBOSS LRGs is $2.30 \pm 0.03$, with a satellite fraction of $13\pm3$\% and a
mean halo mass of $2.5\times10^{13}h^{-1}M_{\odot}$. These results are
consistent with expectations, demonstrating that eBOSS galaxies will be
reliable tracers of large scale structure at $z\sim 0.7$. The eBOSS galaxy bias
implies a scatter of luminosity at fixed halo mass, $\sigma_{\log L}$, of 0.19
dex. Using the clustering of massive galaxies from BOSS-CMASS, BOSS-LOWZ, and
SDSS, we find that $\sigma_{\log L}=0.19$ is consistent with observations over
the full redshift range that these samples cover. The addition of eBOSS to
previous surveys allows investigation of the evolution of massive galaxies over
the past $\sim 7$ Gyr.


title:
Field induced topological phase transition from a three-dimensional Weyl
  semimetal to a two-dimensional massive Dirac metal in ZrTe5

abstract:
  Symmetry protected Dirac semimetals can be transformed into Weyl semimetals
by breaking the protecting symmetry, leading to many exotic quantum phenomena
such as chiral anomaly and anomalous Hall effect. Here we show that, due to the
large Zeeman g factor and small band width along b-axis in Dirac semimetal
ZrTe5, a magnetic field of about 8 T along b-axis direction may annihilate the
Weyl points and open up a two-dimensional (2D) Dirac mass gap, when the Zeeman
splitting exceeds the band width along b-axis. This is manifested by a sharp
drop of magnetoresistance (MR) above 8 T, which is probably due to additional
carriers induced by the orbital splitting of the zeroth Landau level associated
with the 2D Dirac point, which is descendant of the original Weyl points.
Further evidence of the additional carriers is provided by the Hall effect and
different anisotropic magnetoresistance (AMR) in low and high field regions.
Our experiment reveals a probable topological quantum phase transition of field
induced Weyl points annihilation in Dirac semimetal ZrTe5 and gives an
alternative explanation for the drop of MR at high field.


title:
Sensitivity of the Fe K-alpha Compton shoulder to the geometry and
  variability of the X-ray illumination of cosmic objects

abstract:
  In an X-ray reflection spectrum, a tail-like spectral feature generated via
Compton down-scattering, known as a Compton shoulder (CS), appears at the
low-energy side of the iron K$\alpha$ line. Despite its great diagnostic
potential, its use as a spectral probe of the reflector has been seriously
limited due to observational difficulties and modelling complexities. We
revisit the basic nature of the CS by systematic investigation into its
dependence on spatial and temporal parameters. The calculations are performed
by Monte-Carlo simulations for sphere and slab geometries. The dependence is
obtained in a two-dimensional space of column density and metal abundance,
demonstrating that the CS solves parameter degeneration between them which was
seen in conventional spectral analysis using photoelectric absorption and
fluorescence lines. Unlike the iron line, the CS does not suffer from any
observational dependence on the spectral hardness. The CS profile is highly
dependent on the inclination angle of the slab geometry unless the slab is
Compton-thick, and the time evolution of the CS is shown to be useful to
constrain temporal information on the source if the intrinsic radiation is
variable. We also discuss how atomic binding of the scattering electrons in
cold matter blurs the CS profile, finding that the effect is practically
similar to thermal broadening in a plasma with a moderate temperature of
$\sim$5 eV. Spectral diagnostics using the CS is demonstrated with grating data
of X-ray binary GX 301$-$2, and will be available in future with
high-resolution spectra of active galactic nuclei obtained by
microcalorimeters.


title: Phase modulation of hormonal oscillations

abstract:
  Dynamic equilibrium is maintained by counter-regulating elements in living
systems. The pancreatic {\alpha} and {\beta} cells produce glucagon and insulin
for glucose homeostasis. They exist in multiple micro-organs, the islets of
Langerhans, not in a single gigantic organ, in which the two reciprocal cells
interact to each other, and also with an additional cell type, {\delta} cell.
We found that the positive/negative interactions between the islet cells are
designed not only to reduce the wasteful zero-sum action of glucagon and
insulin, but also to enhance/suppress synchronization of hormone secretions
between islets under high/normal glucose conditions. Thus we suggest that the
anti-symmetric interaction between three cell populations can organize an
effective network motif for controlling network synchronization.


title:
Generating Images Part by Part with Composite Generative Adversarial
  Networks

abstract:
  Image generation remains a fundamental problem in artificial intelligence in
general and deep learning in specific. The generative adversarial network (GAN)
was successful in generating high quality samples of natural images. We propose
a model called composite generative adversarial network, that reveals the
complex structure of images with multiple generators in which each generator
generates some part of the image. Those parts are combined by alpha blending
process to create a new single image. It can generate, for example, background
and face sequentially with two generators, after training on face dataset.
Training was done in an unsupervised way without any labels about what each
generator should generate. We found possibilities of learning the structure by
using this generative model empirically.


title: Developing spatiotemporal solitons in step-index multimode fibers

abstract:
  Spatiotemporal solitons (STSs) are localized solitary waves in both space and
time that involve complex linear and nonlinear processes. Optical STSs have
been observed in various media, but they are difficult to be realized in
multimode fibers due to their large modal dispersion. Here, we report STS
mode-locking and spatiotemporal nonlinear dynamics in a step-index multimode
fiber mediated by gain. Gain competition and energy redistribution among
different spatial modes help nonlinearity effectively cancel both temporal
splitting and spatial diffracting of the entire pulse (multicomponent soliton)
and thereby maintain its shape during propagation. Optical STSs in multimode
fibers therefore open a new way to clarify the fundamental science of
spatiotemporal solitary waves and also imply important applications in
multi-channel communications, optical switches and mode-area power scaling of
fiber laser pulses.


title: Structural Order and Melting of a Quasi-One-Dimensional Electron System

abstract:
  We investigate the influence of confinement on the positional order of a
quasi-1D electron system trapped on the surface of liquid helium. We find
evidence that the melting of the Wigner solid (WS) depends on the confinement
strength, as well as electron density and temperature. A reentrant
solid-liquid-solid transition is observed for increasing electron density under
constant electrostatic confinement. As the electron row number $N_y$ changes,
varying commensurability results in a modulation of the WS order, even when
$N_y$ is large (several tens). This is confirmed by Monte Carlo simulations.


title:
Genetic Transfer or Population Diversification? Deciphering the Secret
  Ingredients of Evolutionary Multitask Optimization

abstract:
  Evolutionary multitasking has recently emerged as a novel paradigm that
enables the similarities and/or latent complementarities (if present) between
distinct optimization tasks to be exploited in an autonomous manner simply by
solving them together with a unified solution representation scheme. An
important matter underpinning future algorithmic advancements is to develop a
better understanding of the driving force behind successful multitask
problem-solving. In this regard, two (seemingly disparate) ideas have been put
forward, namely, (a) implicit genetic transfer as the key ingredient
facilitating the exchange of high-quality genetic material across tasks, and
(b) population diversification resulting in effective global search of the
unified search space encompassing all tasks. In this paper, we present some
empirical results that provide a clearer picture of the relationship between
the two aforementioned propositions. For the numerical experiments we make use
of Sudoku puzzles as case studies, mainly because of their feature that
outwardly unlike puzzle statements can often have nearly identical final
solutions. The experiments reveal that while on many occasions genetic transfer
and population diversity may be viewed as two sides of the same coin, the wider
implication of genetic transfer, as shall be shown herein, captures the true
essence of evolutionary multitasking to the fullest.


title: The sinusoidal periodicity nature for M>=5 global earthquakes

abstract:
  By using the M>=5 global earthquake data for Jan. 1950 to Dec. 2015, we
performed statistical analyses for the parameters magnitude, time, and depth on
a yearly scale. The magnitude spectrum, which is the earthquake number
accumulated at different magnitudes, had an exponential distribution. For the
first time, we report a very significant characteristic of the sinusoidal
periodic variation in the spectral index. The cycle of the sine function
fitting was 30.98 years. The concept of annual equivalent total magnitude
(AETM) of total released energy for each year was introduced and the trend
variation of AETM year by year was studied. Overall, the global AETM of
earthquakes with M>=5 displayed a certain upward trend as the years elapsed. At
the same time, the change of the average epicenter depth of the global
earthquakes (M>=5) in each year was analyzed.


title: Extremal anti-forcing numbers of perfect matchings of graphs

abstract:
  The anti-forcing number of a perfect matching $M$ of a graph $G$ is the
minimal number of edges not in $M$ whose removal to make $M$ as a unique
perfect matching of the resulting graph. The set of anti-forcing numbers of all
perfect matchings of $G$ is the anti-forcing spectrum of $G$. In this paper, we
characterize the plane elementary bipartite graph whose minimum anti-forcing
number is one. We show that the maximum anti-forcing number of a graph is at
most its cyclomatic number. In particular, we characterize the graphs with the
maximum anti-forcing number achieving the upper bound, such extremal graphs are
a class of plane bipartite graphs. Finally, we determine the anti-forcing
spectrum of an even polygonal chain in linear time.


title:
On the low dimensional cohomology groups of the IA-automorphism group of
  a free group of rank three

abstract:
  In this paper we study the structure of the rational cohomology groups of the
IA-automorphism group $\mathrm{IA}_3$ of a free group of rank three by using
combinatorial group theory and representation theory. In particular, we detect
non-trivial irreducible component in the second cohomology group of
$\mathrm{IA}_3$, which does not contained in the image of the cup product map
of the first cohomology groups. We also show that the image of the triple cup
product map of the first cohomology groups in the third cohomology group is
trivial. As a corollary, we obtain that the fourth term of the lower central
series of $\mathrm{IA}_3$ has finite index in that of the Andreadakis-Johnson
filtration.


title: Fields of definition of elliptic curves with prescribed torsion

abstract:
  We prove that all elliptic curves over quadratic fields with a subgroup
isomorphic to $C_{16}$, as well as all elliptic curves over cubic fields with a
subgroup isomorphic to $C_2\times C_{14}$, are base changes of elliptic curves
defined over $\Q$. We obtain these results by studying geometric properties of
modular curves and maps between modular curves, and then obtaining a modular
description of these curves and maps.


title:
Phase diagram of Kondo-Heisenberg model on honeycomb lattice with
  geometrical frustration

abstract:
  We calculated the phase diagram of the Kondo-Heisenberg model on
two-dimensional honeycomb lattice with both nearest-neighbor and
next-nearest-neighbor antiferromagnetic spin exchanges, to investigate the
interplay between RKKY and Kondo interactions at presence of magnetic
frustration. Within a mean-field decoupling technology in slave-fermion
representation, we derived the zero-temperature phase diagram as a function of
Kondo coupling $J_k$ and frustration strength $Q$. The geometrical frustration
can destroy the magnetic order, driving the original antiferromagnetic (AF)
phase to non-magnetic valence bond state (VBS). In addition, we found two
distinct VBS. As $J_k$ is increased, a phase transition from AF to Kondo
paramagnetic (KP) phase occurs, without the intermediate phase coexisting AF
order with Kondo screening found in square lattice systems. In the KP phase,
the enhancement of frustration weakens the Kondo screening effect, resulting in
a phase transition from KP to VBS. We also found a process to recover the AF
order from VBS by increasing $J_k$ in a wide range of frustration strength. Our
work may provide deeper understanding for the phase transitions in
heavy-fermion materials, particularly for those exhibiting triangular
frustration.


title: Binary Hashing with Semidefinite Relaxation and Augmented Lagrangian

abstract:
  This paper proposes two approaches for inferencing binary codes in two-step
(supervised, unsupervised) hashing. We first introduce an unified formulation
for both supervised and unsupervised hashing. Then, we cast the learning of one
bit as a Binary Quadratic Problem (BQP). We propose two approaches to solve
BQP. In the first approach, we relax BQP as a semidefinite programming problem
which its global optimum can be achieved. We theoretically prove that the
objective value of the binary solution achieved by this approach is well
bounded. In the second approach, we propose an augmented Lagrangian based
approach to solve BQP directly without relaxing the binary constraint.
Experimental results on three benchmark datasets show that our proposed methods
compare favorably with the state of the art.


title: Multidimensional Dynamic Pricing for Welfare Maximization

abstract:
  We study the problem of a seller dynamically pricing $d$ distinct types of
indivisible goods, when faced with the online arrival of unit-demand buyers
drawn independently from an unknown distribution. The goods are not in limited
supply, but can only be produced at a limited rate and are costly to produce.
The seller observes only the bundle of goods purchased at each day, but nothing
else about the buyer's valuation function. Our main result is a dynamic pricing
algorithm for optimizing welfare (including the seller's cost of production)
that runs in time and a number of rounds that are polynomial in $d$ and the
approximation parameter. We are able to do this despite the fact that (i) the
price-response function is not continuous, and even its fractional relaxation
is a non-concave function of the prices, and (ii) the welfare is not observable
to the seller.
  We derive this result as an application of a general technique for optimizing
welfare over \emph{divisible} goods, which is of independent interest. When
buyers have strongly concave, H\"older continuous valuation functions over $d$
divisible goods, we give a general polynomial time dynamic pricing technique.
We are able to apply this technique to the setting of unit demand buyers
despite the fact that in that setting the goods are not divisible, and the
natural fractional relaxation of a unit demand valuation is not strongly
concave. In order to apply our general technique, we introduce a novel price
randomization procedure which has the effect of implicitly inducing buyers to
"regularize" their valuations with a strongly concave function. Finally, we
also extend our results to a limited-supply setting in which the number of
copies of each good cannot be replenished.


title:
What causes the increase in aggregation as a parasite moves up a food
  chain?

abstract:
  General laws in ecological parasitology are scarce. Here we evaluate data
published by over 100 authors to determine whether the number of hosts in a
life cycle is associated with the degree of aggregation of fish parasites at
different stages. Parasite species were grouped taxonomically to produce 20 or
more data points per group as far as possible. Most parasites that remained at
one trophic level were less aggregated than those that had passed up a food
chain. We use a stochastic model to show that high parasite overdispersion in
predators can be solely the result of the accumulation of parasites in their
prey. The model is further developed to show that a change in the predators
feeding behaviour with age may further increase parasite aggregation.


title:
Antiferromagnetism, charge density wave, and d-wave superconductivity in
  the extended $t$--$J$--$U$ model: role of intersite Coulomb interaction and a
  critical overview of renormalized mean field theory

abstract:
  In the first part of the paper, we study the stability of antiferromagnetic
(AF), charge density wave (CDW), and superconducting (SC) states within the
$t$-$J$-$U$-$V$ model of strongly correlated electrons by using the
statistically consistent Gutzwiller approximation (SGA). We concentrate on the
role of the intersite Coulomb interaction term $V$ in stabilizing the CDW
phase. In particular, we show that the charge ordering appears only above a
critical value of $V$ in a limited hole-doping range $\delta$. The effect of
the $V$ term on SC and AF phases is that a strong interaction suppresses SC,
whereas the AF order is not significantly influenced by its presence. In the
second part, separate calculations for the case of pure SC phase have been
carried out within an extended approach (the diagrammatic expansion for the
Gutzwiller wave function, DE-GWF) in order to analyze the influence of the
intersite Coulomb repulsion on the SC phase with the higher-order corrections
included beyond the SGA method. In the Appendices we discuss the ambiguity
connected with the choice of the Gutzwiller renormalization factors within the
renormalized mean filed theory when either AF or CDW orders are considered. At
the end we overview briefly the possible extensions of the current models to
make description of the SC, AF, and CDW states on equal footing.


title:
Deriving the properties of space time using the non-compressible
  solutions of the Navier-Stokes Equations

abstract:
  Recent observations of gravitational waves by the Laser Interferometer
Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) has confirmed one of the last outstanding
predictions in general relativity and in the process opened up a new frontier
in astronomy and astrophysics. Additionally the observation of gravitational
waves has also given us the data needed to deduce the physical properties of
space time. Bredberg et al have shown in their 2011 paper titled From
Navier-Stokes to Einstein, that for every solution of the incompressible
Navier-Stokes equation in p + 1 dimensions, there is a uniquely associated
dual" solution of the vacuum Einstein equations in p + 2 dimensions. The author
shows that the physical properties of space time can be deduced using the
recent measurements from the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave
Observatory and solutions from the incompressible Navier-Stokes equation.


title:
Information Theoretic Inequalities as Bounds in Superconformal Field
  Theory

abstract:
  An information theoretic approach to bounds in superconformal field theories
is proposed. It is proved that the supersymmetric R\'enyi entropy $\bar
S_\alpha$ is a monotonically decreasing function of $\alpha$ and
$(\alpha-1)\bar S_\alpha$ is a concave function of $\alpha$. Under the
assumption that the thermal entropy associated with the "replica trick" time
circle is bounded from below by the charge at $\alpha\to\infty$, it is further
proved that both ${\alpha-1\over \alpha}\bar S_\alpha$ and $(\alpha-1)\bar
S_\alpha$ monotonically increase as functions of $\alpha$. Because $\bar
S_\alpha$ enjoys universal relations with the Weyl anomaly coefficients in
even-dimensional superconformal field theories, one therefore obtains a set of
bounds on these coefficients by imposing the inequalities of $\bar S_\alpha$.
Some of the bounds coincide with Hofman-Maldacena bounds and the others are
new. We also check the inequalities for examples in odd-dimensions.


title: Web Based Teleoperation of a Humanoid Robot

abstract:
  The Cloud-based Advanced Robotics Laboratory (CARL) integrates a whole body
controller and web-based teleoperation to enable any device with a web browser
to access and control a humanoid robot. By integrating humanoid robots with the
cloud, they are accessible from any Internet-connected device. Increased
accessibility is important because few people have access to state-of-the-art
humanoid robots limiting their rate of development. CARL's implementation is
based on modern software libraries, frameworks, and middleware including
Node.js, Socket.IO, ZMQ, ROS, Robot Web Tools, and ControlIt! Feasibility is
demonstrated by having inexperienced human operators use a smartphone's
web-browser to control Dreamer, a torque-controlled humanoid robot based on
series elastic actuators, and make it perform a dual-arm manipulation task. The
implementation serves as a proof-of-concept and foundation upon which many
advanced humanoid robot technologies can be researched and developed.


title: Towards gauge unified, supersymmetric hidden strong dynamics

abstract:
  We consider a class of models with extra complex scalars that are charged
under both the Standard Model and a hidden strongly coupled $SU(N)_H$ gauge
sector, and discuss the scenarios where the new scalars are identified as the
messenger fields that mediate the spontaneously broken supersymmetries from the
hidden sector to the visible sector. The new scalars are embedded into 5-plets
and 10-plets of an $SU(5)_V$ gauge group that potentially unifies the Standard
Model gauge groups. The Higgs bosons remain as elementary particles. In the
supersymmetrized version of this class of models, vector-like fermions whose
left-handed components are superperpartners of the new scalars are introduced.
Due to the hidden strong force, the new low-energy scalars hadronize before
decaying and thus evade the common direct searches of the supersymmetric
squarks. This can be seen as a gauge mediation scenario with the scalar
messenger fields forming low-energy bound states. We also discuss the
possibility that among the tower of bound states formed under hidden strong
dynamics (at least the TeV scale) one of them is the dark matter candidate, as
well as the collider signatures (e.g. diphoton, diboson or dijet) of the models
that may show up in the near future.


title: Quantum singular value decomposition of non-sparse low-rank matrices

abstract:
  In this work, we present a method to exponentiate non-sparse indefinite
low-rank matrices on a quantum computer. Given an operation for accessing the
elements of the matrix, our method allows singular values and associated
singular vectors to be found quantum mechanically in a time exponentially
faster in the dimension of the matrix than known classical algorithms. The
method extends to non-Hermitian and non-square matrices via embedding matrices.
In the context of the generic singular value decomposition of a matrix, we
discuss the Procrustes problem of finding a closest isometry to a given matrix.


title: Hair on non-extremal D1-D5 bound states

abstract:
  We consider a truncation of type IIB supergravity on four-torus where in
addition to the Ramond-Ramond 2-form field, the Ramond-Ramond axion (w) and the
NS-NS 2-form field (B) are also retained. In the (w, B) sector we construct a
linearised perturbation carrying only left moving momentum on two-charge
non-extremal D1-D5 geometries of Jejjala, Madden, Ross and Titchener. The
perturbation is found to be smooth everywhere and normalizable. It is
constructed by matching to leading order solutions of the perturbation
equations in the inner and outer regions of the geometry.


title:
Galaxy-Galaxy Weak Lensing Measurements from SDSS: I. Image Processing
  and Lensing signals

abstract:
  As the first paper in a series on the study of the galaxy-galaxy lensing from
Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 7 (SDSS DR7), we present our image
processing pipeline that corrects the systematics primarily introduced by the
Point Spread Function (PSF). Using this pipeline, we processed SDSS DR7 imaging
data in $r$ band and generated a background galaxy catalog containing the shape
information of each galaxy. Based on our own shape measurements of the galaxy
images from SDSS DR7, we extract the galaxy-galaxy (GG) lensing signals around
foreground spectroscopic galaxies binned in different luminosity and stellar
mass. The overall signals are in good agreement with those obtained by
\citet{Mandelbaum2005, Mandelbaum2006} from the SDSS DR4. The results in this
paper with higher signal to noise ratio is due to the larger survey area than
SDSS DR4, confirm that more luminous/massive galaxies bear stronger GG lensing
signal. We also divide the foreground galaxies into red/blue and star
forming/quenched subsamples and measured their GG lensing signals,
respectively. We find that, at a specific stellar mass/luminosity, the
red/quenched galaxies have relatively stronger GG lensing signals than their
counterparts especially at large radii. These GG lensing signals can be used to
probe the galaxy-halo mass relations and their environmental dependences in the
halo occupation or conditional luminosity function framework.


title:
Longitudinal magnetoconductivity and magnetodielectric effect in bilayer
  graphene

abstract:
  It was recently shown that a finite imbalance between electron densities in
the $\mathbf{K}$ and $\mathbf{K}'$ valleys of bilayer graphene induces a
magnetoelectric coupling. Here we explore ramifications of this electronically
tunable magnetoelectric effect for the optical conductivity and dielectric
permittivity of this material. Our results augment current understanding of
longitudinal magnetoresistance and magnetocapacitance in unconventional
materials.


title:
Discriminating between similar languages in Twitter using label
  propagation

abstract:
  Identifying the language of social media messages is an important first step
in linguistic processing. Existing models for Twitter focus on content
analysis, which is successful for dissimilar language pairs. We propose a label
propagation approach that takes the social graph of tweet authors into account
as well as content to better tease apart similar languages. This results in
state-of-the-art shared task performance of $76.63\%$, $1.4\%$ higher than the
top system.


title:
Hereditary Effects in Eccentric Compact Binary Inspirals to Third
  Post-Newtonian Order

abstract:
  While there has been much success in understanding the orbital dynamics and
gravitational wave emission of eccentric compact binaries in the post-Newtonian
formalism, some problems still remain. The largest of these concerns hereditary
effects: non-linear phenomena related to the scattering off of the background
curved spacetime (tails) and to the generation of gravitational waves by
gravitational waves (memory). Currently, these hereditary effects are only
known numerically for arbitrary eccentricity through infinite sums of Bessel
functions, with closed-form, analytic results only available in the small
eccentricity limit. We here calculate, for the first time, closed-form,
analytic expressions for all hereditary effects to third post-Newtonian order
in binaries with arbitrary eccentricity. For the tails, we first asymptotically
expand all Bessel functions in high eccentricity and find a superasymptotic
series for each enhancement factor, accurate to better than $10^{-3}$ relative
to post-Newtonian numerical calculations at all eccentricities. We further
improve the small-eccentricity behavior of the superasymptotic series by
generating hyperasymptotic expressions for each enhancement factor, typically
accurate to better than $10^{-8}$ at all eccentricities. For the memory, we
discuss its computation within the context of an osculating approximation of
the binary's orbit and the difficulties that arise. Our closed-form analytic
expressions for the hereditary fluxes allow us to numerically compute orbital
phases that are identical to those found using an infinite sum of Bessel
functions to double numerical precision.


title: Modelling non-paradoxical loss of information in black hole evaporation

abstract:
  We give general overview of a novel approach, recently developed by us, to
address the issue black hole information paradox. This alternative viewpoint is
based on theories involving modifications of standard quantum theory, known as
"spontaneous dynamical state reduction" or "wave-function collapse models"
which were historically developed to overcome the notorious foundational
problems of quantum mechanics known as the "measurement problem". We show that
these proposals, when appropriately adapted and refined for this context,
provide a self-consistent picture where loss of information in the evaporation
of black holes is no longer paradoxical.


title:
On the graded quotients of the $\mathrm{SL}(m,\C)$-representation
  algebras of groups

abstract:
  In this paper, we consider certain descending filtrations of the
$\mathrm{SL}(m,\C)$-representation algebras of free groups and free abelian
groups. By using it, we introduce analogs of the Johnson homomorphisms of the
automorphism groups of free groups. We show that the first homomorphisms are
extended to the automorphism groups of free groups as crossed homomorphisms.
Furthermore we show that the extended crossed homomorphisms induce Kawazumi's
cocycles and Morita's cocycles. This works are generalization of our previous
results for the $\mathrm{SL}(2,\C)$-representation algebras.


title: Grounded Fixpoints and Active Integrity Constraints

abstract:
  The formalism of active integrity constraints was introduced as a way to
specify particular classes of integrity constraints over relational databases
together with preferences on how to repair existing inconsistencies. The
rule-based syntax of such integrity constraints also provides algorithms for
finding such repairs that achieve the best asymptotic complexity. However, the
different semantics that have been proposed for these integrity constraints all
exhibit some counter-intuitive examples. In this work, we look at active
integrity constraints using ideas from algebraic fixpoint theory. We show how
database repairs can be modeled as fixpoints of particular operators on
databases, and study how the notion of grounded fixpoint induces a
corresponding notion of grounded database repair that captures several natural
intuitions, and in particular avoids the problems of previous alternative
semantics. In order to study grounded repairs in their full generality, we need
to generalize the notion of grounded fixpoint to non-deterministic operators.
We propose such a definition and illustrate its plausibility in the database
context.


title:
Dissipative preparation of tripartite singlet state in coupled arrays of
  cavities via quantum feedback control

abstract:
  We propose an experimentally feasible scheme for dissipative preparation of
tripartite entangled state with atoms separately trapped in an array of three
coupled cavities. The combination of coherent driving fields and
quantum-jump-based feedback control will drive the system into a
non-equilibrium steady state, which has a nearly perfect overlap with the
genuine three-atom singlet state. Different control strategies are investigated
and the corresponding optimal parameters are confirmed. Moreover, the fidelity
of target state is insensitive to detection inefficiencies, and it oversteps
90\% for a wide range of decoherence parameters as long as the single-atom
cooperativity parameter $C\equiv g^2/(\gamma\kappa)>350$.


title:
Advantages of Multi-photon Detection Revealed by Fisher Information In
  Resolving Incoherent Sources

abstract:
  With the progress of optical detection technology, the classical diffraction
limit raised a hundred years ago has been continuously broken through. In
previous experiments within fluorescence sources, one of the techniques used is
detecting auto-correlation functions. The image is reconstructed by
single-photon and multi-photon detecting intensities. By taking the joint
intensity of more than one single-photon detectors into consideration, the
point spread function of each photon emitter can be resolved even when the
distance of their central position is below the classical diffraction limit.
However, the measurement precision is not considered. In actual detecting
process the detectors are imperfect, they have quantum detecting efficiency
$\eta$ and even can not count the photon numbers during one absorbing process.
Therefore, we analyze the detecting intensity of each detector separately and
use the total Fisher information to depict the resolution. Higher Fisher
information is obtained when second order correlation function is considered
and higher detecting efficiency is beneficial to the Fisher information
enhancement, meanwhile the Cram\`er-Rao bound for an effective distance
resolving is lower than the classical diffraction limits. Furthermore, when the
emitted photons are coherent states, the resolution ability can be enhanced
with infinite single-photon detectors.


title:
Variable selection and structure identification for varying coefficient
  Cox models

abstract:
  We consider varying coefficient Cox models with high-dimensional covariates.
We apply the group Lasso method to these models and propose a variable
selection procedure. Our procedure copes with variable selection and structure
identification from a high dimensional varying coefficient model to a
semivarying coefficient model simultaneously. We derive an oracle inequality
and closely examine restrictive eigenvalue conditions, too. In this paper, we
give the details for Cox models with time-varying coefficients. The theoretical
results on variable selection can be easily extended to some other important
models and we briefly mention those models since those models can be treated in
the same way. The models considered in this paper are the most popular models
among structured nonparametric regression models. The results of a small
numerical study are also given.


title:
Superconducting Energy Scales and Anomalous Dissipative Conductivity in
  Thin Films of Molybdenum Nitride

abstract:
  We report investigations of molybdenum nitride (MoN) thin films with
different thickness and disorder and with superconducting transition
temperature 9.89 K $\ge{T_c}\ge$ 2.78 K. Using terahertz frequency-domain
spectroscopy we explore the normal and superconducting charge carrier dynamics
for frequencies covering the range from 3 to 38 cm$^{-1}$ (0.1 to 1.1 THz). The
superconducting energy scales, i.e. the critical temperature $T_c$, the pairing
energy $\Delta$, and the superfluid stiffness $J$, and the superfluid density
$n_s$ can be well described within the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer theory for
conventional superconductors. At the same time, we find an anomalously large
dissipative conductivity, which cannot be explained by thermally excited
quasiparticles, but rather by a temperature-dependent normal-conducting
fraction, persisting deep into the superconducting state. Our results on this
disordered system constrain the regime, where discernible effects stemming from
the disorder-induced superconductor-insulator transition possibly become
relevant, to MoN films with a transition temperature lower than at least 2.78
K.


title:
Spline Galerkin methods for the double layer potential equations on
  contours with corners

abstract:
  Spline Galerkin methods for the double layer potential equation on contours
with corners are studied. The stability of the method depends on the
invertibility of some operators $R_{\tau}$ associated with the corner points
$\tau$. The operators $R_{\tau}$ do not depend on the shape of the contour but
only on the opening angles of the corner points $\tau$. The invertibility of
these operators is studied numerically via the stability of the method on model
curves, all corner points of which have the same opening angle. The case of the
splines of order $0,1$ and $2$ is considered. It is shown that no opening angle
located in the interval $[0.1\pi,1.9\pi]$ can cause the instability of the
method. This result is in strong contrast with the Nystr{\"o}m method, which
has four instability angles in the interval mentioned. Numerical experiments
show a good convergence of the methods even if the right-hand side of the
equation has discontinuities located at the corner points of the contour.


title: Runtime Configurable Deep Neural Networks for Energy-Accuracy Trade-off

abstract:
  We present a novel dynamic configuration technique for deep neural networks
that permits step-wise energy-accuracy trade-offs during runtime. Our
configuration technique adjusts the number of channels in the network
dynamically depending on response time, power, and accuracy targets. To enable
this dynamic configuration technique, we co-design a new training algorithm,
where the network is incrementally trained such that the weights in channels
trained in earlier steps are fixed. Our technique provides the flexibility of
multiple networks while storing and utilizing one set of weights. We evaluate
our techniques using both an ASIC-based hardware accelerator as well as a
low-power embedded GPGPU and show that our approach leads to only a small or
negligible loss in the final network accuracy. We analyze the performance of
our proposed methodology using three well-known networks for MNIST, CIFAR-10,
and SVHN datasets, and we show that we are able to achieve up to 95% energy
reduction with less than 1% accuracy loss across the three benchmarks. In
addition, compared to prior work on dynamic network reconfiguration, we show
that our approach leads to approximately 50% savings in storage requirements,
while achieving similar accuracy.


title:
Symplectic geometry and spectral properties of classical and quantum
  coupled angular momenta

abstract:
  We give a detailed study of the symplectic geometry of a family of integrable
systems obtained by coupling two angular momenta in a non trivial way. These
systems depend on a parameter t $\in$ [0, 1] and exhibit different behaviors
according to its value. For a certain range of values, the system is semitoric,
and we compute some of its symplectic invariants. Even though these invariants
have been known for almost a decade, this is to our knowledge the first example
of their computation in the case of a non-toric semitoric system on a compact
manifold (the only invariant of toric systems is the image of the momentum
map). In the second part of the paper we quantize this system, compute its
joint spectrum, and describe how to use this joint spectrum to recover
information about the symplectic invariants.


title: Reconstruction Algorithms for Sums of Affine Powers

abstract:
  In this paper we study sums of powers of affine functions in (mostly) one
variable. Although quite simple, this model is a generalization of two
well-studied models: Waring decomposition and sparsest shift. For these three
models there are natural extensions to several variables, but this paper is
mostly focused on univariate polynomials. We present structural results which
compare the expressive power of the three models; and we propose algorithms
that find the smallest decomposition of f in the first model (sums of affine
powers) for an input polynomial f given in dense representation. We also begin
a study of the multivariate case. This work could be extended in several
directions. In particular, just as for Sparsest Shift and Waring decomposition,
one could consider extensions to "supersparse" polynomials and attempt a fuller
study of the multi-variate case. We also point out that the basic univariate
problem studied in the present paper is far from completely solved: our
algorithms all rely on some assumptions for the exponents in an optimal
decomposition, and some algorithms also rely on a distinctness assumption for
the shifts. It would be very interesting to weaken these assumptions, or even
to remove them entirely. Another related and poorly understood issue is that of
the bit size of the constants appearing in an optimal decomposition: is it
always polynomially related to the bit size of the input polynomial given in
dense representation?


title: On the estimation of the mean of a random vector

abstract:
  We study the problem of estimating the mean of a multivariatedistribution
based on independent samples. The main result is the proof of existence of an
estimator with a non-asymptotic sub-Gaussian performance for all distributions
satisfying some mild moment assumptions.


title:
A Novel Information Theoretic Framework for Finding Semantic Similarity
  in WordNet

abstract:
  Information content (IC) based measures for finding semantic similarity is
gaining preferences day by day. Semantics of concepts can be highly
characterized by information theory. The conventional way for calculating IC is
based on the probability of appearance of concepts in corpora. Due to data
sparseness and corpora dependency issues of those conventional approaches, a
new corpora independent intrinsic IC calculation measure has evolved. In this
paper, we mainly focus on such intrinsic IC model and several topological
aspects of the underlying ontology. Accuracy of intrinsic IC calculation and
semantic similarity measure rely on these aspects deeply. Based on these
analysis we propose an information theoretic framework which comprises an
intrinsic IC calculator and a semantic similarity model. Our approach is
compared with state of the art semantic similarity measures based on corpora
dependent IC calculation as well as intrinsic IC based methods using several
benchmark data set. We also compare our model with the related Edge based,
Feature based and Distributional approaches. Experimental results show that our
intrinsic IC model gives high correlation value when applied to different
semantic similarity models. Our proposed semantic similarity model also
achieves significant results when embedded with some state of the art IC models
including ours.


title:
Training Skinny Deep Neural Networks with Iterative Hard Thresholding
  Methods

abstract:
  Deep neural networks have achieved remarkable success in a wide range of
practical problems. However, due to the inherent large parameter space, deep
models are notoriously prone to overfitting and difficult to be deployed in
portable devices with limited memory. In this paper, we propose an iterative
hard thresholding (IHT) approach to train Skinny Deep Neural Networks (SDNNs).
An SDNN has much fewer parameters yet can achieve competitive or even better
performance than its full CNN counterpart. More concretely, the IHT approach
trains an SDNN through following two alternative phases: (I) perform hard
thresholding to drop connections with small activations and fine-tune the other
significant filters; (II)~re-activate the frozen connections and train the
entire network to improve its overall discriminative capability. We verify the
superiority of SDNNs in terms of efficiency and classification performance on
four benchmark object recognition datasets, including CIFAR-10, CIFAR-100,
MNIST and ImageNet. Experimental results clearly demonstrate that IHT can be
applied for training SDNN based on various CNN architectures such as NIN and
AlexNet.


title:
Assessing the similarity of dose response and target doses in two
  non-overlapping subgroups

abstract:
  We consider two problems that are attracting increasing attention in clinical
dose finding studies. First, we assess the similarity of two non-linear
regression models for two non-overlapping subgroups of patients over a
restricted covariate space. To this end, we derive a confidence interval for
the maximum difference between the two given models. If this confidence
interval excludes the equivalence margins, similarity of dose response can be
claimed. Second, we address the problem of demonstrating the similarity of two
target doses for two non-overlapping subgroups, using again a confidence
interval based approach. We illustrate the proposed methods with a real case
study and investigate their operating characteristics (coverage probabilities,
Type I error rates, power) via simulation.


title:
Performance Comparison of Dual Connectivity and Hard Handover for LTE-5G
  Tight Integration

abstract:
  Communications at frequencies above 10 GHz (the mmWave band) are expected to
play a major role for the next generation of cellular networks (5G), because of
the potential multi-gigabit, ultra-low latency performance of this technology.
mmWave frequencies however suffer from very high isotropic pathloss, which may
result in cells with a much smaller coverage area than current LTE macrocells.
High directionality techniques will be used to improve signal quality and
extend coverage area, along with a high density deployment of mmWave base
stations (BS). However, when propagation conditions are hard and it is
difficult to provide high quality coverage with mmWave BS, it is necessary to
rely on previous generation LTE base stations, which make use of lower
frequencies (900 MHz - 3.5 GHz), which are less sensitive to blockage and
experience lower pathloss. In order to provide ultra-reliable services to
mobile users there is a need for network architectures that tightly and
seamlessly integrate the LTE and mmWave Radio Access Technologies. In this
paper we will present two possible alternatives for this integration and show
how simulation tools can be used to assess and compare their performance.


title:
Mutually Quadratically Invariant Information Structures in Two-Team
  Stochastic Dynamic Games

abstract:
  We formulate a two-team linear quadratic stochas- tic dynamic game featuring
two opposing teams each with decentralized information structures. We introduce
the concept of mutual quadratic invariance (MQI), which, analogously to
quadratic invariance in (single team) decentralized control, defines a class of
interacting information structures for the two teams under which optimal linear
feedback control strate- gies are easy to compute. We show that, for zero-sum
two- team dynamic games, structured state feedback Nash (saddle- point)
equilibrium strategies can be computed from equivalent structured disturbance
feedforward saddle point equilibrium strategies. However, for nonzero-sum games
we show via a counterexample that a similar equivalence fails to hold. The
results are illustrated with a simple yet rich numerical example that
illustrates the importance of the information structure for dynamic games.


title:
Trunk-Branch Ensemble Convolutional Neural Networks for Video-based Face
  Recognition

abstract:
  Human faces in surveillance videos often suffer from severe image blur,
dramatic pose variations, and occlusion. In this paper, we propose a
comprehensive framework based on Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) to
overcome challenges in video-based face recognition (VFR). First, to learn
blur-robust face representations, we artificially blur training data composed
of clear still images to account for a shortfall in real-world video training
data. Using training data composed of both still images and artificially
blurred data, CNN is encouraged to learn blur-insensitive features
automatically. Second, to enhance robustness of CNN features to pose variations
and occlusion, we propose a Trunk-Branch Ensemble CNN model (TBE-CNN), which
extracts complementary information from holistic face images and patches
cropped around facial components. TBE-CNN is an end-to-end model that extracts
features efficiently by sharing the low- and middle-level convolutional layers
between the trunk and branch networks. Third, to further promote the
discriminative power of the representations learnt by TBE-CNN, we propose an
improved triplet loss function. Systematic experiments justify the
effectiveness of the proposed techniques. Most impressively, TBE-CNN achieves
state-of-the-art performance on three popular video face databases: PaSC, COX
Face, and YouTube Faces. With the proposed techniques, we also obtain the first
place in the BTAS 2016 Video Person Recognition Evaluation.


title:
A highly efficient semismooth Newton augmented Lagrangian method for
  solving Lasso problems

abstract:
  We develop a fast and robust algorithm for solving large scale convex
composite optimization models with an emphasis on the $\ell_1$-regularized
least squares regression (Lasso) problems. Despite the fact that there exist a
large number of solvers in the literature for the Lasso problems, we found that
no solver can efficiently handle difficult large scale regression problems with
real data. By leveraging on available error bound results to realize the
asymptotic superlinear convergence property of the augmented Lagrangian
algorithm, and by exploiting the second order sparsity of the problem through
the semismooth Newton method, we are able to propose an algorithm, called {\sc
Ssnal}, to efficiently solve the aforementioned difficult problems. Under very
mild conditions, which hold automatically for Lasso problems, both the primal
and the dual iteration sequences generated by {\sc Ssnal} possess a fast linear
convergence rate, which can even be superlinear asymptotically. Numerical
comparisons between our approach and a number of state-of-the-art solvers, on
real data sets, are presented to demonstrate the high efficiency and robustness
of our proposed algorithm in solving difficult large scale Lasso problems.


title:
Waveform Relaxation for the Computational Homogenization of Multiscale
  Magnetoquasistatic Problems

abstract:
  This paper proposes the application of the waveform relaxation method to the
homogenization of multiscale magnetoquasistatic problems. In the monolithic
heterogeneous multiscale method, the nonlinear macroscale problem is solved
using the Newton--Raphson scheme. The resolution of many mesoscale problems per
Gauss point allows to compute the homogenized constitutive law and its
derivative by finite differences. In the proposed approach, the macroscale
problem and the mesoscale problems are weakly coupled and solved separately
using the finite element method on time intervals for several waveform
relaxation iterations. The exchange of information between both problems is
still carried out using the heterogeneous multiscale method. However, the
partial derivatives can now be evaluated exactly by solving only one mesoscale
problem per Gauss point.


title:
Efficient semiparametric estimation and model selection for
  multidimensional mixtures

abstract:
  In this paper, we consider nonparametric multidimensional finite mixture
models and we are interested in the semiparametric estimation of the population
weights. Here, the i.i.d. observations are assumed to have at least three
components which are independent given the population. We approximate the
semiparametric model by projecting the conditional distributions on step
functions associated to some partition. Our first main result is that if we
refine the partition slowly enough, the associated sequence of maximum
likelihood estimators of the weights is asymptotically efficient, and the
posterior distribution of the weights, when using a Bayesian procedure,
satisfies a semiparametric Bernstein von Mises theorem. We then propose a
cross-validation like procedure to select the partition in a finite horizon.
Our second main result is that the proposed procedure satisfies an oracle
inequality. Numerical experiments on simulated data illustrate our theoretical
results.


title: Word Equations I: Pairs and their Makanin-Razborov Diagrams

abstract:
  This paper is the first in a sequence on the structure of sets of solutions
to systems of equations over a free semigroup. To describe the structure, we
present a Makanin-Razborov diagram that encodes the set of solutions to such
system of equations. In the sequel we show how this diagram, and the tools that
are used in constructing it, can be applied to analyze fragments of the first
order theory of free semigroups.


title:
Nested Kriging predictions for datasets with large number of
  observations

abstract:
  This work falls within the context of predicting the value of a real function
at some input locations given a limited number of observations of this
function. The Kriging interpolation technique (or Gaussian process regression)
is often considered to tackle such a problem but the method suffers from its
computational burden when the number of observation points is large. We
introduce in this article nested Kriging predictors which are constructed by
aggregating sub-models based on subsets of observation points. This approach is
proven to have better theoretical properties than other aggregation methods
that can be found in the literature. Contrarily to some other methods it can be
shown that the proposed aggregation method is consistent. Finally, the
practical interest of the proposed method is illustrated on simulated datasets
and on an industrial test case with $10^4$ observations in a 6-dimensional
space.


title: Null-controllability of non-autonomous Ornstein-Uhlenbeck equations

abstract:
  We study the null-controllability of parabolic equations associated to
non-autonomous Ornstein-Uhlenbeck operators. When a Kalman type condition holds
for some positive time $T>0$, these parabolic equations are shown to enjoy a
Gevrey regularizing effect at time $T>0$. Thanks to this regularizing effect,
we prove by adapting the Lebeau-Robbiano method that these parabolic equations
are null-controllable in time greater than or equal to $T>0$ from control
regions, for which null-controllability is classically known to hold in the
case of the heat equation.


title: Selfish Cops and Passive Robber: Qualitative Games

abstract:
  Several variants of the cops and robbers (CR) game have been studied in the
past. In this paper we examine a novel variant, which is played between two
cops, each one independently trying to catch a "passive robber". We will call
this the Selfish Cops and Passive Robber {SCPR} game. In short, SCPR is a
stochastic two-player, zero-sum game where the opponents are the two cop
players. We study sequential and concurrent versions of the SCPR game. For both
cases we prove the existence of value and optimal strategies and present
algorithms for the computation of these.


title:
Detector-device-independent QKD: security analysis and fast
  implementation

abstract:
  One of the most pressing issues in quantum key distribution (QKD) is the
problem of detector side- channel attacks. To overcome this problem,
researchers proposed an elegant "time-reversal" QKD protocol called
measurement-device-independent QKD (MDI-QKD), which is based on time-reversed
entanglement swapping. However, MDI-QKD is more challenging to implement than
standard point- to-point QKD. Recently, an intermediary QKD protocol called
detector-device-independent QKD (DDI-QKD) has been proposed to overcome the
drawbacks of MDI-QKD, with the hope that it would eventually lead to a more
efficient detector side-channel-free QKD system. Here, we analyze the security
of DDI-QKD and elucidate its security assumptions. We find that DDI-QKD is not
equivalent to MDI-QKD, but its security can be demonstrated with reasonable
assumptions. On the more practical side, we consider the feasibility of DDI-QKD
and present a fast experimental demonstration (clocked at 625 MHz), capable of
secret key exchange up to more than 90 km.


title:
Analytical studies of the complex Langevin equation with a Gaussian
  Ansatz and multiple solutions in the unstable region

abstract:
  We investigate a simple model using the numerical simulation in the complex
Langevin equation (CLE) and the analytical approximation with the Gaussian
Ansatz. We find that the Gaussian Ansatz captures the essential and even
quantitative features of the CLE results quite well including unwanted behavior
in the unstable region where the CLE converges to a wrong answer. The Gaussian
Ansatz is therefore useful for looking into this convergence problem and we
find that the exact answer in the unstable region is nicely reproduced by
another solution that is naively excluded from the stability condition. We
consider the Gaussian probability distributions corresponding to multiple
solutions along the Lefschetz thimble to discuss the stability and the
locality. Our results suggest a prescription to improve the convergence of the
CLE simulation to the exact answer.


title: Flavor physics induced by light $Z'$ from SO(10) GUT

abstract:
  In this paper, we investigate predictions of the SO(10) Grand Unified Theory
(GUT), where an extra U(1)$^\prime$ gauge symmetry remains up to the
supersymmetry (SUSY) breaking scale. The minimal setup of SO(10) GUT unifies
quarks and leptons into a ${\bf 16}$-representational field in each
generations. The setup, however, suffers from the realization of the realistic
Yukawa couplings at the electroweak scale. In order to solve this problem, we
introduce ${\bf 10}$-representational matter fields, and then the two kinds of
matter fields mix with each other at the SUSY breaking scale, where the extra
U(1)$^\prime$ gauge symmetry breaks down radiatively. One crucial prediction is
that the Standard Model quarks and leptons are given by the linear combinations
of the fields with two different U(1)$^\prime$ charges. The mixing also depends
on the flavor. Consequently, the U(1)$^\prime$ interaction becomes flavor
violating, and the flavor physics is the smoking-gun signal of our GUT model.
The flavor violating $Z'$ couplings are related to the fermion masses and the
CKM matrix, so that we can derive some explicit predictions in flavor physics.
We especially discuss $K$-$\overline{K}$ mixing, $B_{(s)}$-$\overline{B_{(s)}}$
mixing, and the (semi)leptonic decays of $K$ and $B$ in our model. We also
study the flavor violating $\mu$ and $\tau$ decays and discuss the correlations
among the physical observables in this SO(10) GUT framework.


title: Continuous information flow fluctuations

abstract:
  Information plays a pivotal role in the thermodynamics of nonequilibrium
processes with feedback. However, much remains to be learned about the nature
of information fluctuations in small scale devices and their relation with
fluctuations in other thermodynamics quantities, like heat and work. Here we
derive a series of fluctuation theorems for information flow and partial
entropy production in a Brownian particle model of feedback cooling and extend
them to arbitrary driven diffusion processes. We then analyze the long-time
behavior of the feedback-cooling model in detail. Our results provide insights
into the structure and origin of large deviations of information and
thermodynamic quantities in autonomous Maxwell's demons.


title:
Nonautonomous Ornstein-Uhlenbeck operators in weighted spaces of
  continuous functions

abstract:
  We consider the nonautonomous Ornstein-Uhlenbeck operator in some weighted
spaces of continuous functions in $\R^N$. We prove sharp uniform estimates for
the spatial derivatives of the associated evolution operator $\OU$, which we
use to prove optimal Schauder estimates for the solution to some nonhomogeneous
parabolic Cauchy problems associated with the Ornstein-Uhlenbeck operator. We
also prove that, for any $t>s$, the evolution operator $P_{s,t}$ is compact in
the previous weighted spaces.


title: Collaborative Layer-wise Discriminative Learning in Deep Neural Networks

abstract:
  Intermediate features at different layers of a deep neural network are known
to be discriminative for visual patterns of different complexities. However,
most existing works ignore such cross-layer heterogeneities when classifying
samples of different complexities. For example, if a training sample has
already been correctly classified at a specific layer with high confidence, we
argue that it is unnecessary to enforce rest layers to classify this sample
correctly and a better strategy is to encourage those layers to focus on other
samples.
  In this paper, we propose a layer-wise discriminative learning method to
enhance the discriminative capability of a deep network by allowing its layers
to work collaboratively for classification. Towards this target, we introduce
multiple classifiers on top of multiple layers. Each classifier not only tries
to correctly classify the features from its input layer, but also coordinates
with other classifiers to jointly maximize the final classification
performance. Guided by the other companion classifiers, each classifier learns
to concentrate on certain training examples and boosts the overall performance.
Allowing for end-to-end training, our method can be conveniently embedded into
state-of-the-art deep networks. Experiments with multiple popular deep
networks, including Network in Network, GoogLeNet and VGGNet, on scale-various
object classification benchmarks, including CIFAR100, MNIST and ImageNet, and
scene classification benchmarks, including MIT67, SUN397 and Places205,
demonstrate the effectiveness of our method. In addition, we also analyze the
relationship between the proposed method and classical conditional random
fields models.


title:
The Power of Diversity: Data-Driven Robust Predictive Control for Energy
  Efficient Buildings and Districts

abstract:
  The cooperative energy management of aggregated buildings has recently
received a great deal of interest due to substantial potential energy savings.
These gains are mainly obtained in two ways: (i) Exploiting the load shifting
capabilities of the cooperative buildings; (ii) Utilizing the expensive but
energy efficient equipment that is commonly shared by the building community
(e.g., heat pumps, batteries and photovoltaics). Several deterministic and
stochastic control schemes that strive to realize these savings, have been
proposed in the literature. A common difficulty with all these methods is
integrating knowledge about the disturbances affecting the system. In this
context, the underlying disturbance distributions are often poorly
characterized based on historical data. In this paper, we address this issue by
exploiting the historical data to construct families of distributions which
contain these underlying distributions with high confidence. We then employ
tools from data-driven robust optimization to formulate a multistage stochastic
optimization problem which can be approximated by a finite-dimensional linear
program. The proposed method is suitable for tackling large scale systems since
its complexity grows polynomially with respect to the system variables. We
demonstrate its efficacy in a numerical study, in which it is shown to
outperform, in terms of energy cost savings and constraint violations,
established solution techniques from the literature. We conclude this study by
showing the significant energy gains that are obtained by cooperatively
managing a collection of buildings with heterogeneous characteristics.


title: Density and metallicity of the Milky-Way circumgalactic gas

abstract:
  The halo of the Milky-Way circumgalactic gas extends up to the virial radius
of the Galaxy, ~250 kpc. The halo properties may be deduced from X-ray
spectroscopic observations and from studies of the ram-pressure stripping of
satellite dwarf galaxies. The former method is more precise but its results
depend crucially on the assumed metallicity of the circumgalactic gas; the
latter one does not need these assumptions. Here, the information from both
approaches is combined to constrain observationally the gas metallicity and
density as functions of the galactocentric distance. It is demonstrated that
the two kinds of data could be reconciled if the metallicity decreased to
Z~0.1Z_Sun in the outer parts of the extended halo. The corresponding gas
density profile is rather flat, falling as r^{-(0.45...0.75)} at large
galactocentric distances r.


title: Beginner's Luck: A Language for Property-Based Generators

abstract:
  Property-based random testing a la QuickCheck requires building efficient
generators for well-distributed random data satisfying complex logical
predicates, but writing these generators can be difficult and error prone. We
propose a domain-specific language in which generators are conveniently
expressed by decorating predicates with lightweight annotations to control both
the distribution of generated values and the amount of constraint solving that
happens before each variable is instantiated. This language, called Luck, makes
generators easier to write, read, and maintain.
  We give Luck a formal semantics and prove several fundamental properties,
including the soundness and completeness of random generation with respect to a
standard predicate semantics. We evaluate Luck on common examples from the
property-based testing literature and on two significant case studies, showing
that it can be used in complex domains with comparable bug-finding
effectiveness and a significant reduction in testing code size compared to
handwritten generators.


title: Dynamical Casimir effect in curved spacetime

abstract:
  A boundary undergoing relativistic motion can create particles from quantum
vacuum fluctuations in a phenomenon known as the dynamical Casimir effect. We
examine the creation of particles, and more generally the transformation of
quantum field states, due to boundary motion in curved spacetime. We provide a
novel method enabling the calculation of the effect for a wide range of
trajectories and spacetimes. We apply this to the experimental scenario used to
detect the dynamical Casimir effect, now adopting the Schwarzschild metric, and
find novel resonances in particle creation as a result of the spacetime
curvature. Finally, we discuss a potential enhancement of the effect for the
phonon field of a Bose-Einstein condensate.


title:
The modified first laws of thermodynamics of anti-de Sitter and de
  Sitter space-times

abstract:
  We modify the first laws of thermodynamics of a Reissner-Nordstrom anti-de
Sitter black hole and a pure de Sitter space-time by the surface tensions. The
corresponding Smarr relations are obeyed. The cosmological constants are first
treated as fixed constants, and then as variables associated to the pressures.
For the black hole, the law is written as $\delta E = T \delta S - \sigma\delta
A$ when the cosmological constant is fixed, where $E$ is the Misner-Sharp mass
and $\sigma$ is the surface tension. Adopting the varied constant, we modify
the law as $\delta E_0 = T \delta S - \sigma_{eff}\delta A +V\delta P$, where
$E_0=M-\frac{Q^2}{2r_+}$ is the enthalpy. The thermodynamical properties are
investigated. For the de Sitter space-time, the expressions of the modified
laws are different from these of the black hole. The differential way to derive
the law is discussed.


title: The FCC-ee Interaction Region Magnet Design

abstract:
  The design of the region close to the interaction point of the FCC-ee
experiments is especially challenging. The beams collide at an angle (+-15
mrad) in the high-field region of the detector solenoid. Moreover, the very low
vertical beta_y* of the machine necessitates that the final focusing
quadrupoles have a distance from the IP (L*) of around 2 m and therefore are
inside the main detector solenoid. The beams should be screened from the effect
of the detector magnetic field, and the emittance blow-up due to vertical
dispersion in the interaction region should be minimized, while leaving enough
space for detector components. Crosstalk between the two final focus
quadrupoles, only about 6 cm apart at the tip, should also be minimized.


title:
On Differentiating Parameterized Argmin and Argmax Problems with
  Application to Bi-level Optimization

abstract:
  Some recent works in machine learning and computer vision involve the
solution of a bi-level optimization problem. Here the solution of a
parameterized lower-level problem binds variables that appear in the objective
of an upper-level problem. The lower-level problem typically appears as an
argmin or argmax optimization problem. Many techniques have been proposed to
solve bi-level optimization problems, including gradient descent, which is
popular with current end-to-end learning approaches. In this technical report
we collect some results on differentiating argmin and argmax optimization
problems with and without constraints and provide some insightful motivating
examples.


title:
Exponentially Stabilizing Continuous-Time Controllers for multi-domain
  hybrid systems with application to 3D bipdeal walking

abstract:
  This paper presents a systematic approach to exponentially stabilize the
periodic orbits of multi-domain hybrid systems arising from 3D bipedal walking.
Firstly, the method of Poincare sections is extended to the hybrid systems with
multiple domains. Then, based on the properties of the Poincare maps, a
continuous piecewise feedback control strategy is presented, and three methods
are furthermore given to design the controller parameters based on the
developed theorems. By those design methods, the controller parameters in each
continuous phase can be designed independently, which allows the strategy to be
applied to hybrid systems with multiple domains. Finally, the proposed strategy
is illustrated by a simulation example. To show that the proposed strategy is
not limited to bipedal robots with left-right symmetry property which is
assumed in some previous works, an underactuated 3D bipedal robot with
asymmetric walking gait is considered.


title:
The circumstellar disk of FS Tau B - A self-consistent model based on
  observations in the mid-infrared with NACO -

abstract:
  Protoplanetary disks are a byproduct of the star formation process. In the
dense mid-plane of these disks, planetesimals and planets are expected to form.
The first step in planet formation is the growth of dust particles from
submicrometer-sized grains to macroscopic mm-sized aggregates. The grain growth
is accompanied by radial drift and vertical segregation of the particles within
the disk. To understand this essential evolutionary step, spatially resolved
multi-wavelength observations as well as photometric data are necessary which
reflect the properties of both disk and dust. We present the first spatially
resolved image obtained with NACO at the VLT in the L$_\text{p}$ band of the
near edge-on protoplanetary disk FS Tau B. Based on this new image, a
previously published Hubble image in H band and the spectral energy
distribution from optical to millimeter wavelengths, we derive constraints on
the spatial dust distribution and the progress of grain growth. For this
purpose we perform a disk modeling using the radiative transfer code MC3D.
Radial drift and vertical sedimentation of the dust are not considered. We find
a best-fit model which features a disk extending from $2\,\text{AU}$ to several
hundreds AU with a moderately decreasing surface density and
$M_\text{disk}=2.8\,\times\,10^{-2}\,\text{M}_\odot$. The inclination amounts
to $i=80^\circ$. Our findings indicate that substantial dust grain growth has
taken place and that grains of a size equal to or larger than $1\,\text{mm}$
are present in the disk. In conclusion, the parameters describing the vertical
density distribution are better constrained than those describing the radial
disk structure.


title: Non-geometric branes are DFT monopoles

abstract:
  The double field theory monopole solution by Berman and Rudolph is shown to
reproduce non-geometric backgrounds with non-vanishing Q- and R-flux upon an
appropriate choice of physical and dual coordinates. The obtained backgrounds
depend non-trivially on dual coordinates and have only trivial monodromies.
Upon smearing the solutions along the dual coordinates one reproduces the known
$5^2_2$ solution for the Q-brane and co-dimension 1 solution for the R-brane.
The T-duality invariant magnetic charge is explicitly calculated for all these
backgrounds and is found to be equal to the magnetic charge of (unsmeared)
NS5-brane.