title:
Understanding transport simulations of heavy-ion collisions at 100 and
  400 AMeV: Comparison of heavy ion transport codes under controlled conditions

abstract:
  Transport simulations are very valuable for extracting physics information
from heavy-ion collision experiments. With the emergence of many different
transport codes in recent years, it becomes important to estimate their
robustness in extracting physics information from experiments. We report on the
results of a transport code comparison project. 18 commonly used transport
codes were included in this comparison: 9 Boltzmann-Uehling-Uhlenbeck-type
codes and 9 Quantum-Molecular-Dynamics-type codes. These codes have been
required to simulate Au+Au collisions using the same physics input for mean
fields and for in-medium nucleon-nucleon cross sections, as well as the same
initialization set-up, the impact parameter, and other calculational parameters
at 100 and 400 AMeV incident energy. Among the codes we compare one-body
observables such as rapidity and transverse flow distributions. We also monitor
non-observables such as the initialization of the internal states of colliding
nuclei and their stability, the collision rates and the Pauli blocking. We find
that not completely identical initializations constitute partly for different
evolutions. Different strategies to determine the collision probabilities, and
to enforce the Pauli blocking, also produce considerably different results.
There is a substantial spread in the predictions for the observables, which is
much smaller at the higher incident energy. We quantify the uncertainties in
the collective flow resulting from the simulation alone as about $30\%$ at 100
AMeV and $13\%$ at 400 AMeV, respectively. We propose further steps within the
code comparison project to test the different aspects of transport simulations
in a box calculation of infinite nuclear matter. This should, in particular,
improve the robustness of transport model predictions at lower incident
energies where abundant amounts of data are available.


title: Data-Driven Dynamic Decision Models

abstract:
  This article outlines a method for automatically generating models of dynamic
decision-making that both have strong predictive power and are interpretable in
human terms. This is useful for designing empirically grounded agent-based
simulations and for gaining direct insight into observed dynamic processes. We
use an efficient model representation and a genetic algorithm-based estimation
process to generate simple approximations that explain most of the structure of
complex stochastic processes. This method, implemented in C++ and R, scales
well to large data sets. We apply our methods to empirical data from human
subjects game experiments and international relations. We also demonstrate the
method's ability to recover known data-generating processes by simulating data
with agent-based models and correctly deriving the underlying decision models
for multiple agent models and degrees of stochasticity.


title: Binary search trees and rectangulations

abstract:
  We revisit the classical problem of searching in a binary search tree (BST)
using rotations, and present novel connections of this problem to a number of
geometric and combinatorial structures. In particular, we show that the
execution trace of a BST that serves a sequence of queries is in close
correspondence with the flip-sequence between two rectangulations.
(Rectangulations are well-studied combinatorial objects also known as mosaic
floorplans.) We also reinterpret Small Manhattan Network, a problem with known
connections to the BST problem, in terms of flips in rectangulations. We apply
further transformations to the obtained geometric model, to arrive at a
particularly simple view of the BST problem that resembles sequences of
edge-relaxations in a shortest path algorithm.
  Our connections yield new results and observations for all structures
concerned. In this draft we present some preliminary findings. BSTs with
rotations are among the most fundamental and most thoroughly studied objects in
computer science, nonetheless they pose long-standing open questions, such as
the dynamic optimality conjecture of Sleator and Tarjan (STOC 1983). Our hope
is that the correspondences presented in this paper provide a new perspective
on this old problem and bring new tools to the study of dynamic optimality.


title: How useful is photo-realistic rendering for visual learning?

abstract:
  Data seems cheap to get, and in many ways it is, but the process of creating
a high quality labeled dataset from a mass of data is time-consuming and
expensive.
  With the advent of rich 3D repositories, photo-realistic rendering systems
offer the opportunity to provide nearly limitless data. Yet, their primary
value for visual learning may be the quality of the data they can provide
rather than the quantity. Rendering engines offer the promise of perfect labels
in addition to the data: what the precise camera pose is; what the precise
lighting location, temperature, and distribution is; what the geometry of the
object is.
  In this work we focus on semi-automating dataset creation through use of
synthetic data and apply this method to an important task -- object viewpoint
estimation. Using state-of-the-art rendering software we generate a large
labeled dataset of cars rendered densely in viewpoint space. We investigate the
effect of rendering parameters on estimation performance and show realism is
important. We show that generalizing from synthetic data is not harder than the
domain adaptation required between two real-image datasets and that combining
synthetic images with a small amount of real data improves estimation accuracy.


title: Rainbow Arithmetic Progressions in Finite Abelian Groups

abstract:
  For positive integers $n$ and $k$, the \emph{anti-van der Waerden number} of
$\mathbb{Z}_n$, denoted by $aw(\mathbb{Z}_n,k)$, is the minimum number of
colors needed to color the elements of the cyclic group of order $n$ and
guarantee there is a rainbow arithmetic progression of length $k$. Butler et
al. showed a reduction formula for $aw(\mathbb{Z}_{n},3) = 3$ in terms of the
prime divisors of $n$. In this paper, we analagously define the anti-van der
Waerden number of a finite abelian group $G$ and show $aw(G,3)$ is determined
by the order of $G$ and the number of groups with even order in a direct sum
isomorphic to $G$. The \emph{unitary anti-van der Waerden number} of a group is
also defined and determined.


title: Tori and Heegaard splittings

abstract:
  Haken showed that the Heegaard splittings of reducible 3-manifolds are
reducible, that is, a reducing 2-sphere can be found which intersects the
Heegaard surface in a single simple closed curve. When the genus of the
"interesting" surface increases from zero, more complicated phenomena occur.
Kobayashi showed that if a 3-manifold $M^3$ contains an essential torus $T$,
then it contains one which can be isotoped to intersect a strongly irreducible
Heegaard splitting surface $F$ in a collection of simple closed curves which
are essential in $T$ and in $F$. In general there is no global bound on the
number of curves in this collection. We give conditions under which a global
bound can be obtained.


title: Perceptual Losses for Real-Time Style Transfer and Super-Resolution

abstract:
  We consider image transformation problems, where an input image is
transformed into an output image. Recent methods for such problems typically
train feed-forward convolutional neural networks using a \emph{per-pixel} loss
between the output and ground-truth images. Parallel work has shown that
high-quality images can be generated by defining and optimizing
\emph{perceptual} loss functions based on high-level features extracted from
pretrained networks. We combine the benefits of both approaches, and propose
the use of perceptual loss functions for training feed-forward networks for
image transformation tasks. We show results on image style transfer, where a
feed-forward network is trained to solve the optimization problem proposed by
Gatys et al in real-time. Compared to the optimization-based method, our
network gives similar qualitative results but is three orders of magnitude
faster. We also experiment with single-image super-resolution, where replacing
a per-pixel loss with a perceptual loss gives visually pleasing results.


title: A class of random Cantor measures, with applications

abstract:
  We survey some of our recent results on the geometry of spatially independent
martingales, in a more concrete setting that allows for shorter, direct proofs,
yet is general enough for several applications and contains the well-known
fractal percolation measure. We study self-convolutions and Fourier decay of
measures in our class, and present applications of these results to the
restriction problem for fractal measures, and the connection between arithmetic
structure and Fourier decay.


title: Gravitational waves and electrodynamics: New perspectives

abstract:
  Given the recent direct measurement of gravitational waves (GWs) by the
LIGO-VIRGO collab- oration, the coupling between electromagnetic fields and
gravity have a special relevance since it opens new perspectives for future GW
detectors and also potentially provides information on the physics of highly
energetic GW sources. We explore such couplings using the field equations of
electrodynamics on (pseudo) Riemann manifolds and apply it to the background of
a GW, seen as a linear perturbation of Minkowski geometry. Electric and
magnetic oscillations are induced that propagate as electromagnetic waves and
contain information about the GW which generates them. The most relevant
results are the presence of longitudinal modes and dynamical polarization
patterns of electromagnetic radiation induced by GWs. These effects might be
amplified using appropriate resonators, effectively improving the signal to
noise ratio around a specific frequency. We also briefly address the generation
of charge density fluctuations induced by GWs and the implications for
astrophysics.


title: CHY formula and MHV amplitudes

abstract:
  In this paper, we study the relation between the Cachazo-He-Yuan (CHY)
formula and the maximal-helicity-violating (MHV) amplitudes of Yang-Mills and
gravity in four dimensions. We prove that only one special rational solution of
the scattering equations found by Weinzierl support the MHV amplitudes. Namely,
localized at this solution, the integrated CHY formula reproduces the
Parke-Taylor formula for Yang-Mills amplitudes as well as the Hodges formula
for gravitational amplitudes. This is achieved by developing techniques, in a
manifestly M\"obius covariant formalism, to explicitly compute relevant reduced
Pfaffians/determinants. We observe and prove two interesting properties (or
identities), which facilitate the computations. We also check that all the
other $(n-3)!-1$ solutions to the scattering equations do not support the MHV
amplitudes, and prove analytically that this is indeed true for the other
special rational solution proposed by Weinzierl, that actually supports the
anti-MHV amplitudes.


title:
Evolution of network architecture in a granular material under
  compression

abstract:
  As a granular material is compressed, the particles and forces within the
system arrange to form complex heterogeneous structures. Force chains are a
prime example and are thought to constrain bulk properties such as mechanical
stability and acoustic transmission. However, characterizing the dynamic nature
of mesoscale architectures in granular systems can be challenging. A growing
body of work has shown that graph theoretic approaches may provide a useful
foundation for tackling these problems. Here, we extend current approaches by
utilizing multilayer networks as a framework for directly quantifying the
evolution of mesoscale architecture in a compressed granular system. We examine
a quasi-two-dimensional aggregate of photoelastic disks, subject to biaxial
compression through a series of small, quasistatic steps. Treating particles as
network nodes and inter-particle forces as network edges, we construct a
multilayer network by linking together the series of static force networks that
exist at each strain step. We then extract the inherent mesoscale structure
from the system by using a generalization of community detection methods, and
we define quantitative measures to characterize the reconfiguration and
evolution of this structure throughout compression. By separately considering
the network of normal and tangential forces, we find that they display
different structural evolution. To test the sensitivity of the network model to
particle properties, we examine whether the method can distinguish a subsystem
of low-friction particles within a bath of higher-friction particles. We find
that this can be done by considering the network of tangential forces. The
results discussed throughout this study suggest that these novel network
science techniques may provide a direct way to compare and classify data from
systems under different external conditions or with different physical makeup.


title:
A Model of Charge Transfer Excitons: Diffusion, Spin Dynamics, and
  Magnetic Field Effects

abstract:
  In this letter we explore how the microscopic dynamics of charge transfer
(CT) excitons are influenced by the presence of an external magnetic field in
disordered molecular semiconductors. This influence is driven by the dynamic
interplay between the spin and spatial degrees of freedom of the electron-hole
pair. To account for this interplay we have developed a numerical framework
that combines a traditional model of quantum spin dynamics with a
coarse-grained model of stochastic charge transport. This combination provides
a general and efficient methodology for simulating the effects of magnetic
field on CT state dynamics, therefore providing a basis for revealing the
microscopic origin of experimentally observed magnetic field effects. We
demonstrate that simulations carried out on our model are capable of
reproducing experimental results as well as generating theoretical predictions
related to the efficiency of organic electronic materials.


title: VolumeDeform: Real-time Volumetric Non-rigid Reconstruction

abstract:
  We present a novel approach for the reconstruction of dynamic geometric
shapes using a single hand-held consumer-grade RGB-D sensor at real-time rates.
Our method does not require a pre-defined shape template to start with and
builds up the scene model from scratch during the scanning process. Geometry
and motion are parameterized in a unified manner by a volumetric representation
that encodes a distance field of the surface geometry as well as the non-rigid
space deformation. Motion tracking is based on a set of extracted sparse color
features in combination with a dense depth-based constraint formulation. This
enables accurate tracking and drastically reduces drift inherent to standard
model-to-depth alignment. We cast finding the optimal deformation of space as a
non-linear regularized variational optimization problem by enforcing local
smoothness and proximity to the input constraints. The problem is tackled in
real-time at the camera's capture rate using a data-parallel flip-flop
optimization strategy. Our results demonstrate robust tracking even for fast
motion and scenes that lack geometric features.


title: Minimal Cubature rules and polynomial interpolation in two variables II

abstract:
  As a complement to \cite{X12}, minimal cubature rules of degree $4m+1$ for
the weight functions $$ \mathcal{W}_{\alpha,\beta ,\pm \frac12}(x,y) =
|x+y|^{2\alpha+1} |x-y|^{2\beta+1} ((1-x^2)(1-y^2))^{\pm \frac12} $$ on
$[-1,1]^2$ are shown to exist and near minimal cubature rules of the same
degree with one node more than minimal are constructed explicitly. The Lagrange
interpolation polynomials on the nodes of the near minimal cubature rules are
also studied.


title:
Regularization Parameter Selection for a Bayesian Multi-Level Group
  Lasso Regression Model with Application to Imaging Genomics

abstract:
  We investigate the choice of tuning parameters for a Bayesian multi-level
group lasso model developed for the joint analysis of neuroimaging and genetic
data. The regression model we consider relates multivariate phenotypes
consisting of brain summary measures (volumetric and cortical thickness values)
to single nucleotide polymorphism (SNPs) data and imposes penalization at two
nested levels, the first corresponding to genes and the second corresponding to
SNPs. Associated with each level in the penalty is a tuning parameter which
corresponds to a hyperparameter in the hierarchical Bayesian formulation.
Following previous work on Bayesian lassos we consider the estimation of tuning
parameters through either hierarchical Bayes based on hyperpriors and Gibbs
sampling or through empirical Bayes based on maximizing the marginal likelihood
using a Monte Carlo EM algorithm. For the specific model under consideration we
find that these approaches can lead to severe overshrinkage of the regression
parameter estimates in the high-dimensional setting or when the genetic effects
are weak. We demonstrate these problems through simulation examples and study
an approximation to the marginal likelihood which sheds light on the cause of
this problem. We then suggest an alternative approach based on the widely
applicable information criterion (WAIC), an asymptotic approximation to
leave-one-out cross-validation that can be computed conveniently within an MCMC
framework.


title:
High resolution Kerr microscopy study of exchange bias phenomena in
  FePt/Fe exchange spring magnets

abstract:
  Magnetization and magnetic microstructure of top soft magnetic layer (Fe),
which is exchange spring coupled to bottom hard magnetic layer ($L1_0$ FePt) is
studied using high resolution Kerr microscopy. When the sample (FePt/Fe) is at
remanent condition of hard magnetic layer, considerable shifting of Fe layer
hysteresis loop from centre i.e., exchange bias phenomena is observed. It is
observed that one can tune the magnitude of exchange bias shift by reaching the
remanent state from different saturating fields ($H_{SAT}$) and also by varying
the angle between measuring field and $H_{SAT}$. The M-H loops and domain
images of top soft Fe layer demonstrates unambiguously that soft magnetic layer
at remanent state in such exchange coupled system is having unidirectional
anisotropy. An analogy is drawn and the observations are explained in terms of
the mostly accepted models of exchange bias phenomena exhibited by bilayers
consisting of ferromagnetic(FM) and anti-ferromagnetic (AFM) layers, when the
AFM layer is field cooled across $N\acute{e}el$ transition temperature.


title: The Lindeberg theorem for Gibbs-Markov dynamics

abstract:
  A dynamical array consists of a family of functions $\{f_{n,i}: 1\le i\le
k(n), n\ge 1\}$ and a family of initial times $\{\tau_{n,i}: 1\le i\le k(n),
n\ge 1\}$. For a dynamical system $(X,T)$ we identify distributional limits for
sums of the form $$ S_n= \frac 1{s_n}\sum_{i=1}^{k(n)} [f_{n,i}\circ
T^{\tau_{n,i}}-a_{n,i}]\qquad n\ge 1$$ for suitable (non-random) constants
$s_n>0$ and $a_{n,i}\in \mathbb R$, where the functions $f_{n,i}$ are locally
Lipschitz continuous. Although our results hold for more general dynamics, we
restrict to Gibbs-Markov dynamical systems for convenience. In particular, we
derive a Lindeberg-type central limit theorem for dynamical arrays.
Applications include new central limit theorems for functions which are not
locally Lipschitz continuous and central limit theorems for statistical
functions of time series obtained from Gibbs-Markov systems.


title: Smooth analytic functions and model subspaces

abstract:
  The main themes of this survey are as follows: (a) the canonical
(Riesz--Nevanlinna) factorization in various classes of analytic functions on
the disk that are smooth up to its boundary, and (b) model subspaces (i.e.,
invariant subspaces of the backward shift) in the Hardy spaces $H^p$ and in
BMOA. It is the interrelationship and a peculiar cross-fertilization between
the two topics that we wish to highlight.


title: Embedding algorithms and applications to differential equations

abstract:
  Algorithms for embedding certain types of nilpotent subalgebras in maximal
subalgebras of the same type are developed, using methods of real algebraic
groups. These algorithms are applied to determine non-conjugate subalgebras of
the symmetry algebra of the wave equation, which in turn are used to determine
a large class of invariant solutions of the wave equation. The algorithms are
also illustrated for the symmetry algebra of a classical system of differential
equations considered by Cartan in the context of contact geometry.


title:
Intermediate disorder directed polymers and the multi-layer extension of
  the stochastic heat equation

abstract:
  We consider directed polymer models involving multiple non-intersecting
random walks moving through a space-time disordered environment in one spatial
dimension. For a single random walk, Alberts, Khanin and Quastel proved that
under intermediate disorder scaling (in which time and space are scaled
diffusively, and the strength of the environment is scaled to zero in a
critical manner) the polymer partition function converges to the solution to
the stochastic heat equation with multiplicative white noise. In this paper we
prove the analogous result for multiple non-intersecting random walks started
and ended grouped together. The limiting object now is the multi-layer
extension of the stochastic heat equation introduced by O'Connell and Warren.


title: Robust Optimization of Credit Portfolios

abstract:
  We introduce a dynamic credit portfolio framework where optimal investment
strategies are robust against misspecifications of the reference credit model.
The risk-averse investor models his fear of credit risk misspecification by
considering a set of plausible alternatives whose expected log likelihood
ratios are penalized. We provide an explicit characterization of the optimal
robust bond investment strategy, in terms of default state dependent value
functions associated with the max-min robust optimization criterion. The value
functions can be obtained as the solutions of a recursive system of HJB
equations. We show that each HJB equation is equivalent to a suitably truncated
equation admitting a unique bounded regular solution. The truncation technique
relies on estimates for the solution of the master HJB equation that we
establish.


title: The space of hyperk\"ahler metrics on a 4-manifold with boundary

abstract:
  Let X be a compact 4-manifold with boundary. We study the space of
hyperk\"ahler triples on X, modulo diffeomorphisms which are the identity on
the boundary. We prove that this moduli space is a smooth infinite-dimensional
manifold and describe the tangent space in terms of triples of closed
anti-self-dual 2-forms. We also explore the corresponding boundary value
problem: a hyperk\"ahler triple restricts to a closed framing of the bundle of
2-forms on the boundary; we identify the infinitesimal deformations of this
closed framing that can be filled in to hyperk\"ahler deformations of the
original triple. Finally we study explicit examples coming from gravitational
instantons with isometric actions of SU(2).


title:
Riesz transforms associated with higher-order Schr\"odinger type
  operators

abstract:
  In this paper, let $L=L_{0}+V$ be a Schr\"{o}dinger type operator where
$L_{0}$ is higher order elliptic operator with complex coefficients in
divergence form and $V$ is signed measurable function, under the strongly
subcritical assumption on $V$, the authors study the $L^{q}$ boundedness of
Riesz transforms $\nabla^{m}L^{-1/2}$ for $q\leq 2$ and obtain a sharp result.
Furthermore, the authors impose extra regularity assumptions on $V$ to obtain
the $L^{q}$ boundedness of Riesz transforms $\nabla^{m}L^{-1/2}$ for $q>2$. As
an application, the main results can be applied to the operator
$L=(-\Delta)^{m}-\gamma|x|^{-2m}$ for suitable $\gamma$


title: Probability of Boundary Conditions in Quantum Cosmology

abstract:
  One of the main interest in quantum cosmology is to determine boundary
conditions for the wave function of the universe which can predict
observational data of our universe. For this purpose, we solve the
Wheeler-DeWitt equation for a closed universe with a scalar field numerically
and evaluate probabilities for boundary conditions of the wave function of the
universe. To impose boundary conditions of the wave function, we use exact
solutions of the Wheeler-DeWitt equation with a constant scalar field
potential. These exact solutions include wave functions with well known
boundary condition proposals, the no-boundary proposal and the tunneling
proposal. We specify the exact solutions by introducing two real parameters to
discriminate boundary conditions, and obtain the probability for these
parameters under the requirement of sufficient e-foldings of the inflation. The
probability distribution of boundary conditions prefers the tunneling boundary
condition to the no-boundary boundary condition. Furthermore, for large values
of a model parameter related to the inflaton mass and the cosmological
constant, the probability of boundary conditions selects an unique boundary
condition different from the tunneling type.


title:
Multipartite Gaussian steering: monogamy constraints and quantum
  cryptography applications

abstract:
  We derive laws for the distribution of quantum steering among different
parties in multipartite Gaussian states under Gaussian measurements. We prove
that a monogamy relation akin to the generalized Coffman-Kundu-Wootters
inequality holds quantitatively for a recently introduced measure of Gaussian
steering. We then define the residual Gaussian steering, stemming from the
monogamy inequality, as an indicator of collective steering-type correlations.
For pure three-mode Gaussian states, the residual acts a quantifier of genuine
multipartite steering, and is interpreted operationally in terms of the
guaranteed key rate in the task of secure quantum secret sharing. Optimal
resource states for the latter protocol are identified, and their possible
experimental implementation discussed. Our results pin down the role of
multipartite steering for quantum communication.

categories: quant-ph cond-mat.stat-mech math-ph math.MP physics.optics


title:
To Follow or Not to Follow: Analyzing the Growth Patterns of the
  Trumpists on Twitter

abstract:
  In this paper, we analyze the growth patterns of Donald Trump's followers
(Trumpists, henceforth) on Twitter. We first construct a random walk model with
a time trend to study the growth trend and the effects of public debates. We
then analyze the relationship between Trump's activity on Twitter and the
growth of his followers. Thirdly, we analyze the effects of such controversial
events as calling for Muslim ban and his 'schlonged' remark.


title:
A glimpse into continuous combinatorics of posets, polytopes, and
  matroids

abstract:
  This is both an expository and research paper where we advocate a systematic
study of continuous analogues of finite partially ordered sets, convex
polytopes, oriented matroids, arrangements of subspaces, finite simplicial
complexes, and other combinatorial structures. Among the illustrative examples
are an Euler formula for a class of `continuous convex polytopes' (conjectured
by Kalai and Wigderson), a duality result for a class of `continuous matroids',
a calculation of the Euler characteristic of ideals in the Grassmannian poset
(related to a problem of Gian-Carlo Rota), an exposition of the `homotopy
complementation formula' for topological posets and its relation to the results
of Kallel and Karoui about `weighted barycenter spaces' and a conjecture of
Vassiliev about simplicial resolutions of singularities. We also include an
extension of the index inequality (Sarkaria's inequality) based on interpreting
diagrams of spaces as continuous posets.


title:
Relative entropy for hyperbolic-parabolic systems and application to the
  constitutive theory of thermoviscoelasticity

abstract:
  We extend the relative entropy identity to the class of hyperbolic-parabolic
systems whose hyperbolic part is symmetrizable. The resulting identity, in the
general theory, is useful to provide stability of viscous solutions and yields
a convergence result in the zero-viscosity limit to smooth solutions in an
$L^p$ framework. Also it provides measure valued weak versus strong uniqueness
theorems for the hyperbolic problem. The relative entropy identity is also
developed for the system of gas dynamics for viscous and heat conducting gases,
and for the system of thermoviscoelasticity with viscosity and heat-conduction.
Existing differences in applying the relative entropy method between the
general hyperbolic-parabolic theory and the examples are underlined.


title: Planning Problems for Sophisticated Agents with Present Bias

abstract:
  Present bias, the tendency to weigh costs and benefits incurred in the
present too heavily, is one of the most widespread human behavioral biases. It
has also been the subject of extensive study in the behavioral economics
literature. While the simplest models assume that the agents are naive,
reasoning about the future without taking their bias into account, there is
considerable evidence that people often behave in ways that are sophisticated
with respect to present bias, making plans based on the belief that they will
be present-biased in the future. For example, committing to a course of action
to reduce future opportunities for procrastination or overconsumption are
instances of sophisticated behavior in everyday life.
  Models of sophisticated behavior have lacked an underlying formalism that
allows one to reason over the full space of multi-step tasks that a
sophisticated agent might face. This has made it correspondingly difficult to
make comparative or worst-case statements about the performance of
sophisticated agents in arbitrary scenarios. In this paper, we incorporate the
notion of sophistication into a graph-theoretic model that we used in recent
work for modeling naive agents. This new synthesis of two formalisms -
sophistication and graph-theoretic planning - uncovers a rich structure that
wasn't apparent in the earlier behavioral economics work on this problem.
  In particular, our graph-theoretic model makes two kinds of new results
possible. First, we give tight worst-case bounds on the performance of
sophisticated agents in arbitrary multi-step tasks relative to the optimal
plan. Second, the flexibility of our formalism makes it possible to identify
new phenomena that had not been seen in prior literature: these include a
surprising non-monotonic property in the use of rewards to motivate
sophisticated agents and a framework for reasoning about commitment devices.


title: Fermions on the Worldsheet of Effective Strings via Coset Construction

abstract:
  In this paper the detailed CCWZ procedure for introducing fermions on the
world sheet of a string propagating in flat space-time is presented. The theory
of nonlinear realizations is used to derive the transformation as well as the
interactions of fermionic matter fields under arbitrary spinorial
representations of the unbroken subgroup. This demonstrates that even for
non-supersymmetric spinors, the interactions are still severely restricted by
the nonlinearly realized symmetry. We also explain how supersymmetric models
provide an example for this construction with Goldstinos as matter fields, and
how one can use the $\kappa$-symmetry of the Green Schwarz action in
particular, to verify this nonlinear transformation for a specific matter field
representation. We finally restrict the target space dimension without
reference to supersymmetry, but rather by imposing one-loop integrability on a
fermionic string that nonlinearly realizes Poincare symmetry. This singles out
the critical dimension $D=10$ for heterotic, GS and RNS supersymmetric strings.


title:
Channel Hopping Sequences for Maximizing Rendezvous Diversity in
  Cognitive Radio Networks

abstract:
  In cognitive radio networks (CRNs), establishing a communication link between
a pair of secondary users (SUs) requires them to rendezvous on a common channel
which is not occupied by primary users (PUs). Under time-varying PU traffic,
asynchronous sequence-based channel hopping (CH) with the maximal rendezvous
diversity is a representative technique to guarantee an upper bounded
time-torendezvous (TTR) for delay-sensitive services in CRNs, without requiring
global clock synchronization. Maximum TTR (MTTR) and maximum conditional TTR
(MCTTR) are two commonly considered metrics for evaluating such CH sequences,
and minimizing these two metrics is the primary goal in the sequence design of
various paper reported in the literature. In this paper, to investigate the
fundamental limits of these two metrics, we first derive lower bounds on the
MCTTR and MTTR, and then propose an asymmetric design which has the minimum
MCTTR and an improvement on MTTR than other previously known algorithms.
Moreover, when the number of licensed channels is odd, our proposed design
achieves the minimum MTTR. We also present the TTR performance of the proposed
design via simulation.


title: Electrodynamics and spacetime geometry: Astrophysical applications

abstract:
  After a brief review of the foundations of (pre-metric) electromagnetism, we
explore some physical consequences of electrodynamics in curved spacetime. In
general, new electromagnetic couplings and related phenomena are induced by the
spacetime curvature. The applications of astrophysical interest considered here
correspond essentially to the following geometries: the Schwarzschild spacetime
and the spacetime around a rotating spherical mass in the weak field and slow
rotation regime. In the latter, we use the Parameterised Post-Newtonian (PPN)
formalism. We also explore the hypothesis that the electric and magnetic
properties of vacuum reflect the spacetime isometries. Therefore, the
permittivity and permeability tensors should not be considered homogeneous and
isotropic a priori. For spherical geometries we consider the effect of relaxing
the homogeneity assumption in the constitutive relations between the fields and
excitations. This affects the generalized Gauss and Maxwell-Amp\`{e}re laws
where the electric permittivity and magnetic permeability in vacuum depend on
the radial coordinate in accordance with the local isometries of space. For the
axially symmetric geometries we relax both the assumptions of homogeneity and
isotropy. We explore simple solutions and discuss the physical implications
related to different phenomena such as: the decay of electromagnetic fields in
the presence of gravity, magnetic terms in Gauss law due to the
gravitomagnetism of the spacetime around rotating objects, a frame-dragging
effect on electric fields and the possibility of a spatial (radial) variability
of the velocity of light in vacuum around spherical astrophysical objects for
strong gravitational fields.


title: Skew Monoidales in $Span$

abstract:
  This article consists of an interesting characterisation of a skew monoidale
in the monoidal bicategory $Span$. After discussing the shift or decalage
functor on simplicial sets we characterise these skew monoidales as categories
$\mathbb C$ together with a functor $R \colon Dec(\mathbb C) \longrightarrow
\mathbb C$ which satisfies two conditions and give an example where the unit of
the skew monoidale is not of a restricted type.


title: 3DMatch: Learning Local Geometric Descriptors from RGB-D Reconstructions

abstract:
  Matching local geometric features on real-world depth images is a challenging
task due to the noisy, low-resolution, and incomplete nature of 3D scan data.
These difficulties limit the performance of current state-of-art methods, which
are typically based on histograms over geometric properties. In this paper, we
present 3DMatch, a data-driven model that learns a local volumetric patch
descriptor for establishing correspondences between partial 3D data. To amass
training data for our model, we propose a self-supervised feature learning
method that leverages the millions of correspondence labels found in existing
RGB-D reconstructions. Experiments show that our descriptor is not only able to
match local geometry in new scenes for reconstruction, but also generalize to
different tasks and spatial scales (e.g. instance-level object model alignment
for the Amazon Picking Challenge, and mesh surface correspondence). Results
show that 3DMatch consistently outperforms other state-of-the-art approaches by
a significant margin. Code, data, benchmarks, and pre-trained models are
available online at http://3dmatch.cs.princeton.edu


title:
Formal Deformation Quantization for Super Poisson Structures on Super
  Calabi-Yau Twistor Spaces

abstract:
  It is known that Wolf constructed a lot of examples of Super Calabi-Yau
twistor spaces. We would like to introduce super Poisson structures on them via
super twistor double fibrations. Moreover we define the structure of
deformation quantization for such super Poisson manifolds.


title:
Permutation-like Matrix Groups with a Maximal Cycle of Length Power of
  Two

abstract:
  If every element of a matrix group is similar to a permutation matrix, then
it is called a permutation-like matrix group. References [4], [5] and [6]
showed that, if a permutation-like matrix group contains a maximal cycle such
that the maximal cycle generates a normal subgroup and the length of the
maximal cycle equals to a prime, or a square of a prime, or a power of an odd
prime, then the permutation-like matrix group is similar to a permutation
matrix group. In this paper, we prove that if a permutation-like matrix group
contains a maximal cycle such that the maximal cycle generates a normal
subgroup and the length of the maximal cycle equals to any power of 2, then it
is similar to a permutation matrix group.


title:
Using gravitational lensed images to investigate the intrinsic AGN
  variability

abstract:
  We discuss about how the relative flux densities among the images of
gravitationally-lensed active galactic nuclei, AGN, can be used to study the
intrinsic AGN variability with high accuracy. Multi-frequency monitoring
observations of resolved gravitational lenses can allow us to detect signals of
very weak variability and also provide information about the jet opacity and
structure. As an example, we investigate the variability of the flux-density
ratio between the two lensed images of the blazar B0218+357, using
dual-frequency cm-wave observations. Similar to our previously reported
submm-wave observations of the lensed blazar PKS1830-211, we observe a clear
chromatic variability, starting short before an increase in the flux-density of
the blazar. The evolution of the flux-density ratios between the blazar images
shows a more clear and rich structure than that of the mere lightcurves of each
individual image. The accuracy in the ratio measurements is allowing us to see
variability episodes in the blazar that are weaker than the natural scatter in
the absolute flux-density measurements. A simple opacity model in the jet is
used to consistently explain the difference between the flux-density-ratio
evolution at the two frequencies.


title: Bourn-normal monomorphisms in regular Mal'tsev categories

abstract:
  Normal monomorphisms in the sense of Bourn describe the equivalence classes
of an internal equivalence relation. Although the definition is given in the
fairly general setting of a category with finite limits, later investigations
on this subject often focus on protomodular settings, where normality becomes a
property. This paper clarifies the connections between internal equivalence
relations and Bourn-normal monomorphisms in regular Mal'tesv categories with
pushouts of split monomorphisms along arbitrary morphisms, whereas a full
description is achieved for quasi-pointed regular Mal'tsev categories with
pushouts of split monomorphisms along arbitrary morphisms.


title: Triple parton scattering in collinear approximation of perturbative QCD

abstract:
  Revised formulas for the inclusive cross section of a triple parton
scattering process in a hadron collision are suggested basing on the modified
collinear three-parton distributions. The possible phenomenological issues are
discussed.


title:
The Random Frequency Diverse Array: A New Antenna Structure for
  Uncoupled Direction-Range Indication in Active Sensing

abstract:
  In this paper, we propose a new type of array antenna, termed the Random
Frequency Diverse Array (RFDA), for an uncoupled indication of target direction
and range with low system complexity. In RFDA, each array element has a narrow
bandwidth and a randomly assigned carrier frequency. The beampattern of the
array is shown to be stochastic but thumbtack-like, and its stochastic
characteristics, such as the mean, variance, and asymptotic distribution are
derived analytically. Based on these two features, we propose two kinds of
algorithms for signal processing. One is matched filtering, due to the
beampattern's good characteristics. The other is compressive sensing, because
the new approach can be regarded as a sparse and random sampling of target
information in the spatial-frequency domain. Fundamental limits, such as the
Cram\'er-Rao bound and the observing matrix's mutual coherence, are provided as
performance guarantees of the new array structure. The features and
performances of RFDA are verified with numerical results.


title: On Clutter Ranks of Frequency Diverse Radar Waveforms

abstract:
  Frequency diverse (FD) radar waveforms are attractive in radar research and
practice. By combining two typical FD waveforms, the frequency diverse array
(FDA) and the stepped-frequency (SF) pulse train, we propose a general FD
waveform model, termed the random frequency diverse multi-input-multi-output
(RFD-MIMO) in this paper. The new model can be applied to specific FD waveforms
by adapting parameters. Furthermore, by exploring the characteristics of the
clutter covariance matrix, we provide an approach to evaluate the clutter rank
of the RFD-MIMO radar, which can be adopted as a quantitive metric for the
clutter suppression potentials of FD waveforms. Numerical simulations show the
effectiveness of the clutter rank estimation method, and reveal helpful results
for comparing the clutter suppression performance of different FD waveforms.


abstract:
  A sufficiently general definition for the future and past boundaries of the
chronology violating region is given. In comparison to previous studies, this
work does not assume that the complement of the chronology violating set is
globally hyperbolic. The boundary of the chronology violating set is studied
and several propositions are obtained which confirm the reasonability of the
definition. Some singularity theorems related to chronology violation are
considered. Among the other results we prove that compactly generated horizons
are compactly constructed.


title: Belief Propagation on replica symmetric random factor graph models

abstract:
  According to physics predictions, the free energy of random factor graph
models that satisfy a certain "static replica symmetry" condition can be
calculated via the Belief Propagation message passing scheme [Krzakala et al.,
PNAS 2007]. Here we prove this conjecture for two general classes of random
factor graph models, namely Poisson random factor graphs and random regular
factor graphs. Specifically, we show that the messages constructed just as in
the case of acyclic factor graphs asymptotically satisfy the Belief Propagation
equations and that the free energy density is given by the Bethe free energy
formula.


title: The Proper Dissipative Extensions of a Dual Pair

abstract:
  Let $A$ and $(-\widetilde{A})$ be dissipative operators on a Hilbert space
$\mathcal{H}$ and let $(A,\widetilde{A})$ form a dual pair, i.e.
$A\subset\widetilde{A}^*$, resp.\ $\widetilde{A}\subset A^*$. We present a
method of determining the proper dissipative extensions $\widehat{A}$ of this
dual pair, i.e. $A\subset \widehat{A}\subset\widetilde{A}^*$ provided that
$\mathcal{D}(A)\cap\mathcal{D}(\widetilde{A})$ is dense in $\mathcal{H}$.
  Applications to symmetric operators, symmetric operators perturbed by a
relatively bounded dissipative operator and more singular differential
operators are discussed.
  Finally, we investigate the stability of the numerical range of the different
dissipative extensions.


title:
New Constraints On Cosmic Polarization Rotation Including SPTpol B-mode
  Polarization Observations

abstract:
  We present an update of the cosmic polarization rotation (CPR) constraint
from the recent SPTpol measurements of sub-degree B-mode polarization in the
cosmic microwave background (CMB) of 100 square degrees of sky. Our previous
CPR fluctuation constraint from the joint ACTpol-BICEP2-POLARBEAR polarization
data is 23.7 mrad (1.36{\deg}). With new SPTpol data included, the CPR
fluctuation constraint is updated to 17 mrad (1{\deg}) with the scalar to
tensor ratio r = - 0.05 +- 0.1


title:
On the radial solutions of a system with weights under the
  Keller--Osserman condition

abstract:
  In this paper, we establish conditions on the weights that are necessary and
sufficient for the existence of positive solutions, bounded and unbounded, of a
semilinear elliptic system.


title:
Two-atom interaction energies with one atom in an excited state: van der
  Waals potentials vs. level shifts

abstract:
  I revisit the problem of the interaction between two dissimilar atoms with
one atom in an excited state, recently addressed by the authors of Refs.[1-3],
and for which precedent approaches have given conflicting results. In the first
place, I discuss to what extent Refs.[1], [2] and [3] provide equivalent
results. I show that the phase-shift rate of the two-atom wave function
computed in Ref.[1], the van der Waals potential of the excited atom in Ref.[2]
and the level shift of the excited atom in Ref.[3] possess equivalent
expressions in the quasistationary approximation. In addition, I show that the
level shift of the ground state atom computed in Ref.[3] is equivalent to its
van der Waals potential. A diagrammatic representation of all those quantities
is provided. The equivalences among them are however not generic. In
particular, it is found that for the case of the interaction between two
identical atoms excited, the phase-shift rate and the van der Waals potentials
differ. Concerning the conflicting results of previous approaches in regards to
the spatial oscillation of the interactions, I conclude in agreement with
Refs.[1,3] that they refer to different physical quantities. The impacts of
free-space dissipation and finite excitation rates on the dynamics of the
potentials are analyzed. In contrast to Ref.[3], the oscillatory versus
monotonic spatial forms of the potentials of each atom are found not to be
related to the reversible versus irreversible nature of the excitation transfer
involved.


title:
General tradeoff relations of quantum nonlocality in the
  Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt scenario

abstract:
  General tradeoff relations present in nonlocal correlations of bipartite
systems are studied, regardless of any specific quantum states and measuring
directions. Extensions to multipartite scenarios are possible and very
promising. Tsirelson's bound can be derived out in particular. The close
connection with uncertainty relations is also presented and discussed.


title:
Percolation threshold gold films on columnar coatings: characterisation
  for SERS applications

abstract:
  Percolation of gold films of ~15 nm thickness was controlled to achieve the
largest openings during Au deposition. Gold was evaporated on 300-nm-thick
films of nanostructured porous and columnar SiO2, TiO2 and MgF2 which were
deposited by controlling the angle, rotation speed during film formation and
ambient pressure. The gold films were tested for SERS performance using
thiophenol reporter molecules which form a stable self-assembled monolayer on
gold. The phase retardation of these SERS substrates was up to 5% for
wavelengths in the visible spectral range, as measured by Stokes polarimetry.
The SERS intensity on gold percolation films can reach 10^3 counts/(mW.s) for
tight focusing in air, while back-side excitation through the substrate has
shown the presence of an additional SERS enhancement via the Fresnel near-field
mechanism.


title: Tiling directed graphs with tournaments

abstract:
  The Hajnal--Szemer\'edi theorem states that for any integer $r \ge 1$ and any
multiple $n$ of $r$, if $G$ is a graph on $n$ vertices and $\delta(G) \ge (1 -
1/r)n$, then $G$ can be partitioned into $n/r$ vertex-disjoint copies of the
complete graph on $r$ vertices. We prove a very general analogue of this result
for directed graphs: for any integer $r \ge 4$ and any sufficiently large
multiple $n$ of $r$, if $G$ is a directed graph on $n$ vertices and every
vertex is incident to at least $2(1 - 1/r)n - 1$ directed edges, then $G$ can
be partitioned into $n/r$ vertex-disjoint subgraphs of size $r$ each of which
contain every tournament on $r$ vertices. A related Tur\'an-type result is also
proven.


title: Recurrent Mixture Density Network for Spatiotemporal Visual Attention

abstract:
  In many computer vision tasks, the relevant information to solve the problem
at hand is mixed to irrelevant, distracting information. This has motivated
researchers to design attentional models that can dynamically focus on parts of
images or videos that are salient, e.g., by down-weighting irrelevant pixels.
In this work, we propose a spatiotemporal attentional model that learns where
to look in a video directly from human fixation data. We model visual attention
with a mixture of Gaussians at each frame. This distribution is used to express
the probability of saliency for each pixel. Time consistency in videos is
modeled hierarchically by: 1) deep 3D convolutional features to represent
spatial and short-term time relations and 2) a long short-term memory network
on top that aggregates the clip-level representation of sequential clips and
therefore expands the temporal domain from few frames to seconds. The
parameters of the proposed model are optimized via maximum likelihood
estimation using human fixations as training data, without knowledge of the
action in each video. Our experiments on Hollywood2 show state-of-the-art
performance on saliency prediction for video. We also show that our attentional
model trained on Hollywood2 generalizes well to UCF101 and it can be leveraged
to improve action classification accuracy on both datasets.


title:
MOL-D: A Collisional Database and Web Service within the Virtual Atomic
  and Molecular Data Center

abstract:
  MOL-D database is a collection of cross-sections and rate coefficients for
specific collisional processes and a web service within the Serbian Virtual
Observatory (SerVO) and the Virtual Atomic and Molecular Data Center (VAMDC).
This database contains photo-dissociation cross-sections for the individual
ro-vibrational states of the diatomic molecular ions and rate coefficients for
the atom-Rydberg atom chemi-ionization and inverse electron-ion-atom
chemi-recombination processes. At the moment it contains data for
photodissociation cross-sections of hydrogen H2+ and helium He2+ molecular ions
and the corresponding averaged thermal photodissociation cross-sections. The
ro-vibrational energy states and the corresponding dipole matrix elements are
provided as well. Hydrogen and helium molecular ion data are important for
calculation of solar and stellar atmosphere models and for radiative transport,
as well as for kinetics of other astrophysical and laboratory plasma (i.e.
early Universe).


title:
On Arrangements of Six, Seven, and Eight Spheres: Maximal Bonding of
  Monatomic Ionic Compounds

abstract:
  Let $C(n)$ be the solution to the contact number problem, i.e., the maximum
number of touching pairs among any packing of $n$ congruent spheres in
$\mathbb{R}^3$. We prove the long conjectured values of $C(6)=12, C(7)=15$, and
$C(8)=18$. The proof strategy generalizes under an extensive case analysis to
$C(9)=21, C(10) = 25, C(11) = 29, C(12) = 33$, and $C(13) = 36$. These results
have great importance for condensed matter physics, materials science,
crystallography, organic and physical chemistry of interfaces.


title: Sahlqvist theory for impossible worlds

abstract:
  We extend unified correspondence theory to Kripke frames with impossible
worlds and their associated regular modal logics. These are logics the modal
connectives of which are not required to be normal: only the weaker properties
of additivity and multiplicativity are required. Conceptually, it has been
argued that their lacking necessitation makes regular modal logics better
suited than normal modal logics at the formalization of epistemic and deontic
settings. From a technical viewpoint, regularity proves to be very natural and
adequate for the treatment of algebraic canonicity J\'onsson-style. Indeed,
additivity and multiplicativity turn out to be key to extend J\'onsson's
original proof of canonicity to the full Sahlqvist class of certain regular
distributive modal logics naturally generalizing Distributive Modal Logic. Most
interestingly, additivity and multiplicativity are key to J\'onsson-style
canonicity also in the original (i.e. normal) DML. Our contributions include:
the definition of Sahlqvist inequalities for regular modal logics on a
distributive lattice propositional base; the proof of their canonicity
following J\'onsson's strategy; the adaptation of the algorithm ALBA to the
setting of regular modal logics on two non-classical (distributive lattice and
intuitionistic) bases; the proof that the adapted ALBA is guaranteed to succeed
on a syntactically defined class which properly includes the Sahlqvist one;
finally, the application of the previous results so as to obtain proofs,
alternative to Kripke's, of the strong completeness of Lemmon's epistemic
logics E2-E5 with respect to elementary classes of Kripke frames with
impossible worlds.


title:
Thermoelectric properties of half-Heusler $\mathrm{ZrNiPb}$ by using
  first principles calculations

abstract:
  We investigate electronic structures and thermoelectric properties of recent
synthetic half-Heusler $\mathrm{ZrNiPb}$ by using generalized gradient
approximation (GGA) and GGA plus spin-orbit coupling (GGA+SOC). Calculated
results show that $\mathrm{ZrNiPb}$ is a indirect-gap semiconductor. Within the
constant scattering time approximation, semi-classic transport coefficients are
performed through solving Boltzmann transport equations. It is found that the
SOC has more obvious influence on power factor in p-type doping than in n-type
doping, leading to a detrimental effect in p-type doping. These can be
explained by considering the SOC influences on the valence bands and conduction
bands near the Fermi level. The lattice thermal conductivity as a function of
temperature is calculated, and the corresponding lattice thermal conductivity
is 14.5 $\mathrm{W m^{-1} K^{-1}}$ at room temperature. By comparing the
experimental transport coefficients with calculated ones, the scattering time
is attained for 0.333 $\times$ $10^{-14}$ s. Finally, the thermoelectric figure
of merit $ZT$ can be attained, and the $ZT$ value can be as high as 0.30 at
high temperature by choosing appropriate doping level. It is possible to reduce
lattice thermal conductivity by point defects and boundaries, and make
half-Heusler $\mathrm{ZrNiPb}$ become potential candidate for efficient
thermoelectricity.


title: Unified Correspondence as a Proof-Theoretic Tool

abstract:
  The present paper aims at establishing formal connections between
correspondence phenomena, well known from the area of modal logic, and the
theory of display calculi, originated by Belnap. These connections have been
seminally observed and exploited by Marcus Kracht, in the context of his
characterization of the modal axioms (which he calls primitive formulas) which
can be effectively transformed into `analytic' structural rules of display
calculi. In this context, a rule is `analytic' if adding it to a display
calculus preserves Belnap's cut-elimination theorem. In recent years, the
state-of-the-art in correspondence theory has been uniformly extended from
classical modal logic to diverse families of nonclassical logics, ranging from
(bi-)intuitionistic (modal) logics, linear, relevant and other substructural
logics, to hybrid logics and mu-calculi. This generalization has given rise to
a theory called unified correspondence, the most important technical tools of
which are the algorithm ALBA, and the syntactic characterization of
Sahlqvist-type classes of formulas and inequalities which is uniform in the
setting of normal DLE-logics (logics the algebraic semantics of which is based
on bounded distributive lattices). We apply unified correspondence theory, with
its tools and insights, to extend Kracht's results and prove his claims in the
setting of DLE-logics. The results of the present paper characterize the space
of properly displayable DLE-logics.


title:
On global dynamics of three dimensional magnetohydrodynamics: nonlinear
  stability of Alfv\'en waves

abstract:
  We construct and study global solutions for the 3-dimensional incompressible
MHD systems with arbitrary small viscosity. In particular, we provide a
rigorous justification for the following dynamical phenomenon observed in many
contexts: the solution initially behaves like non-dispersive waves and the
shape of the solution persists for a very long time (proportional to the
Reynolds number), thereafter, the solution will be damped due to the long-time
accumulation of the diffusive effects, eventually, the total energy of the
system becomes extremely small compared to the viscosity so that the diffusion
takes over and the solution afterwards decays fast in time.
  We do not assume any condition on the symmetry or on the vorticity. The size
of data and the a priori estimates do not depend on viscosity. The proof is
builded upon a novel use of the basic energy identity and a geometric study of
the characteristic hypersurfaces. The approach is partly inspired by
Christodoulou-Klainerman's proof of the nonlinear stability of Minkowski space
in general relativity.


title: An Abstract Algebraic Logic View on Judgment Aggregation

abstract:
  In the present paper, we propose Abstract Algebraic Logic (AAL) as a general
logical framework for Judgment Aggregation. Our main contribution is a
generalization of Herzberg's algebraic approach to characterization results in
on judgment aggregation and propositional-attitude aggregation, characterizing
certain Arrovian classes of aggregators as Boolean algebra and MV-algebra
homomorphisms, respectively. The characterization result of the present paper
applies to agendas of formulas of an arbitrary selfextensional logic. This
notion comes from AAL, and encompasses a vast class of logics, of which
classical, intuitionistic, modal, many-valued and relevance logics are special
cases. To each selfextensional logic $\Sm$, a unique class of algebras
$\Alg\Sm$ is canonically associated by the general theory of AAL. We show that
for any selfextensional logic $\Sm$ such that $\Alg\Sm$ is closed under direct
products, any algebra in $\Alg\Sm$ can be taken as the set of truth values on
which an aggregation problem can be formulated. In this way, judgment
aggregation on agendas formalized in classical, intuitionistic, modal,
many-valued and relevance logic can be uniformly captured as special cases.
This paves the way to the systematic study of a wide array of "realistic
agendas" made up of complex formulas, the propositional connectives of which
are interpreted in ways which depart from their classical interpretation. This
is particularly interesting given that, as observed by Dietrich, nonclassical
(subjunctive) interpretation of logical connectives can provide a strategy for
escaping impossibility results.


title:
Repeating Fast Radio Bursts from Highly Magnetized Pulsars Travelling
  through Asteroid Belts

abstract:
  Very recently Spitler et al. (2016) and Scholz et al. (2016) reported their
detections of sixteen additional bright bursts from the direction of the fast
radio burst (FRB) 121102. This repeating FRB is inconsistent with all the
catastrophic event models put forward previously for hypothetically
non-repeating FRBs. Here we propose a different model, in which highly
magnetized pulsars travel through asteroid belts of other stars. We show that a
repeating FRB could originate from such a pulsar encountering lots of asteroids
in the belt. During each pulsar-asteroid impact, an electric field induced
outside the asteroid has such a large component parallel to the stellar
magnetic field that electrons are torn off the asteroidal surface and
accelerated to ultra-relativistic energies instantaneously. Subsequent movement
of these electrons along magnetic field lines will cause coherent curvature
radiation, which can account for all the properties of an FRB. In addition,
this model can self-consistently explain the typical duration, luminosity, and
repetitive rate of the seventeen bursts of FRB 121102. The predicted occurrence
rate of repeating FRB sources may imply that our model would be testable in the
next few years.


title:
Probing the Birth of Post-merger Millisecond Magnetars by X-ray and
  Gamma-ray Emission

abstract:
  There is growing evidence that a stable magnetar could be formed from the
coalescence of double neutron stars. In previous papers, we investigated the
signature of formation of stable millisecond magnetars in radio and
optical/ultraviolet bands by assuming that the central rapidly rotating
magnetar deposits its rotational energy in the form of a relativistic
leptonized wind. We found that the optical transient PTF11agg could be the
first evidence for the formation of post-merger millisecond magnetars. To
enhance the probability of finding more evidence for the post-merger magnetar
formation, it is better to extend the observational channel to other photon
energy bands. In this paper we propose to search the signature of post-merger
magnetar formation in X-ray and especially gamma-ray bands. We calculate the
SSC emission of the reverse shock powered by post-merger millisecond magnetars.
We find that the SSC component peaks at $1\,{\rm GeV}$ in the spectral energy
distribution and extends to $\gtrsim 10\,{\rm TeV}$ for typical parameters.
These energy bands are quite suitable for Fermi/LAT and CTA, which, with their
current observational sensitivities, can detect the SSC emission powered by
post-merger magnetars up to $1\,{\rm Gpc}$. NuSTAR, sensible in X-ray bands,
can detect the formation of post-merger millisecond magnetars at redshift
$z\sim 1$. Future improvement in sensitivity of CTA can also probe the birth of
post-merger millisecond magnetars at redshift $z\sim 1$. However, because of
the $\gamma$-$\gamma$ collisions, strong high-energy emission is clearly
predicted only for ejecta masses lower than $10^{-3}M_\odot$.


title: A non-PSLQ route to BBP-type formulas

abstract:
  BBP-type formulas are usually discovered experimentally, through computer
searches. In this paper, however, starting with two simple generators, and
hence without doing any computer searches, we derive a wide range of BBP-type
formulas in general bases. Many previously discovered BBP-type formulas turn
out to be particular cases of the formulas derived here.


title:
Asymptotic Behavior of Solutions for the Cauchy Problem of a Dissipative
  Boussinesq-Type Equation

abstract:
  We consider the Cauchy problem for an evolution equation modeling
bidirectional surface waves in a convecting fluid. Under small condition on the
initial value, the existence and asymptotic behavior of global solutions in
some time weighted spaces are established by the contraction mapping principle.


title:
On the origin of the discrepancy between the expected and observed
  results at KamLAND

abstract:
  After a logically clear and simple solution of the solar neutrino problem on
the basis of the hypothesis about the existence of a new interaction involving
electron neutrinos and nucleons, the question arose about the origin of the
distinction between the expected and observed results of the experiment with
reactor antineutrino at KamLAND. In the present work, a significant attenuation
of light during its propagation in the KamLAND liquid scintillator is noted,
the effect of which on the observability of the expected inverse beta-decay
events and on the reconstruction of their characteristics has not been
adequately analyzed. Because of this, we do not consider the declared results
of the KamLAND experiment as reliable.


title: Human Pose Estimation using Deep Consensus Voting

abstract:
  In this paper we consider the problem of human pose estimation from a single
still image. We propose a novel approach where each location in the image votes
for the position of each keypoint using a convolutional neural net. The voting
scheme allows us to utilize information from the whole image, rather than rely
on a sparse set of keypoint locations. Using dense, multi-target votes, not
only produces good keypoint predictions, but also enables us to compute
image-dependent joint keypoint probabilities by looking at consensus voting.
This differs from most previous methods where joint probabilities are learned
from relative keypoint locations and are independent of the image. We finally
combine the keypoints votes and joint probabilities in order to identify the
optimal pose configuration. We show our competitive performance on the MPII
Human Pose and Leeds Sports Pose datasets.


title: Generating reversible circuits from higher-order functional programs

abstract:
  Boolean reversible circuits are boolean circuits made of reversible
elementary gates. Despite their constrained form, they can simulate any boolean
function. The synthesis and validation of a reversible circuit simulating a
given function is a difficult problem. In 1973, Bennett proposed to generate
reversible circuits from traces of execution of Turing machines. In this paper,
we propose a novel presentation of this approach, adapted to higher-order
programs. Starting with a PCF-like language, we use a monadic representation of
the trace of execution to turn a regular boolean program into a
circuit-generating code. We show that a circuit traced out of a program
computes the same boolean function as the original program. This technique has
been successfully applied to generate large oracles with the quantum
programming language Quipper.


title: Separating a chart

abstract:
  In this paper, we shall show a condition for that a chart is C-move
equivalent to the product of two charts, the union of two charts $\Gamma^*$ and
$\Gamma^{**}$ which are contained in disks $D^*$ and $D^{**}$ with $D^*\cap
D^{**}=\emptyset$.


title: Hydrophobic repulsion and its origin

abstract:
  The fundamental role of hydrophobic interactions in nature and technology has
motivated decades long research aimed at measuring the distance-dependent
hydrophobic force and identifying its origin. This quest has nevertheless
proved more elusive than anticipated and the nature of the interaction at
distances shorter than 2-3 nanometers, or even its sign, have never been
conclusively determined. Employing an ultra-high resolution
frequency-modulation atomic force microscope (FM-AFM) we succeeded in measuring
the interaction at all distances and discovered that the commonly observed
attraction at 3-10 nanometer distances turns into pronounced repulsion below
0.3-3 nanometers, depending on the hydrophobicity of the AFM tip and the
surface. This generic short-range repulsion disproves the prevailing dogma that
hydrophobic interactions are attractive at all distances, hence bearing on
practically all biological and technological hydrophobic phenomena. The
short-range repulsion, as well as the mid-range attraction, are traced by
experiment and theory to the prevalent air accumulation near hydrophobic
surfaces.


title: A Flexible Galerkin Scheme for Option Pricing in L\'evy Models

abstract:
  One popular approach to option pricing in L\'evy models is through solving
the related partial integro differential equation (PIDE). For the numerical
solution of such equations powerful Galerkin methods have been put forward e.g.
by Hilber et al. (2013). As in practice large classes of models are maintained
simultaneously, flexibility in the driving L\'evy model is crucial for the
implementation of these powerful tools. In this article we provide such a
flexible finite element Galerkin method. To this end we exploit the Fourier
representation of the infinitesimal generator, i.e. the related symbol, which
is explicitly available for the most relevant L\'evy models. Empirical studies
for the Merton, NIG and CGMY model confirm the numerical feasibility of the
method.


title:
Two-Dimensional Wide-Band-Gap II-V Semiconductors with a Dilated
  Graphene-like Structure

abstract:
  Since the advent of graphene, two-dimensional (2D) materials become very
attractive and there is growing interest to explore new 2D beyond graphene.
Here, through density functional theory (DFT) calculations, we predict 2D
wide-band-gap II-V semiconductor materials of M$_3$X$_2$ (M=Zn, Cd and X=N, P,
As) with a dilated graphene-like honeycomb structure. The structure features
that the group-V X atoms form two X-atomic planes symmetrically astride the
centering group-IIB M atomic plane. The 2D Zn$_3$N$_2$, Zn$_3$P$_2$, and
Zn$_3$As$_2$ are shown to have direct band gaps of 2.87, 3.81, and 3.55 eV,
respectively, and the 2D Cd$_3$N$_2$, Cd$_3$P$_2$, and Cd$_3$As$_2$ exhibit
indirect band gaps of 2.74, 3.51, and 3.29 eV, respectively. Each of the six 2D
materials is shown to have effective carrier (either hole or electron) masses
down to $0.03\sim 0.05$ $m_0$. The structural stability and feasibility of
experimental realization of these 2D materials has been shown in terms of DFT
phonon spectra and total energy comparison with related existing bulk
materials. On the experimental side, there already are many similar
two-coordinate structures of Zn and other transition metals in various organic
materials, which can be considered to support our DFT prediction. Therefore,
these 2D semiconductors can enrich the family of 2D electronic materials and
may have promising potential for achieving novel transistors and optoelectronic
devices.


title: Monolayer MXenes: promising half-metals and spin gapless semiconductors

abstract:
  Half-metals and spin gapless semiconductors are promising candidates for
spintronic applications due to the complete (100%) spin polarization of
electrons around the Fermi level. Based on recent experimental and theoretical
findings of graphene-like monolayer transition metal carbides and nitrides
(also known as MXenes), we demonstrate from first-principles calculations that
monolayer Ti2C and Ti2N exhibit nearly half-metallic ferromagnetism with the
magnetic moments of 1.91 and 1.00 UB per formula unit, respectively, while
monolayer V2C is a metal with instable antiferromagnetism, and monolayer V2N is
a nonmagnetic metal. Interestingly, under a biaxial strain, there is a phase
transition from nearly half-metal to truly half-metal, spin gapless
semiconductor, and metal for monolayer Ti2C. Monolayer Ti2N is still a nearly
half-metal under a proper biaxial strain. Large magnetic moments can be induced
by the biaxial tensile and compressive strains for monolayer V2C and V2N,
respectively. We also show that the structures of these four monolayer MXenes
are stable according to the calculated formation energy and phonon spectrum.
Our investigations suggest that, unlike monolayer graphene, monolayer MXenes
Ti2C and Ti2N without vacancy, doping or external electric field exhibit
intrinsic magnetism, especially the half-metallic ferromagnetism and spin
gapless semiconductivity, which will stimulate further studies on possible
spintronic applications for new two-dimensional materials of MXenes.


title:
On conclusive eavesdropping and measures of mutual information in
  quantum key distribution

abstract:
  We address the question of quantifying eavesdropper's information gain in an
individual attack on systems of quantum key distribution. It is connected with
the concept of conclusive eavesdropping introduced by Brandt. Using the BB84
protocol, we examine the problem of estimating a performance of conclusive
entangling probe. The question of interest depends on the choice of a
quantitative measure of eavesdropper's information about the error-free sifted
bits. The Fuchs--Peres--Brandt probe realizes a very powerful individual attack
on the BB84 scheme. In the usual formulation, Eve utilizes the Helstrom scheme
in distinguishing between the two output probe states. In conclusive
eavesdropping, the unambiguous discrimination is used. Comparing these two
versions allows to demonstrate serious distinctions between widely used
quantifiers of mutual information. In particular, the so-called R\'{e}nyi
mutual information does not seem to be a completely legitimate measure of an
amount of mutual information. It is brightly emphasized with the example of
conclusive eavesdropping.


title: Sahlqvist via Translation

abstract:
  In recent years, unified correspondence has been developed as a generalized
Sahlqvist theory which applies uniformly to all signatures of normal and
regular (distributive) lattice expansions. This includes a general definition
of the Sahlqvist and inductive formulas and inequalities in every such
signature, based on order theory. This definition covers in particular all
(bi-)intuitionistic modal logics. The theory of these logics has been
intensively studied over the past seventy years in connection with classical
polyadic modal logics, using suitable versions of Goedel-McKinsey-Tarski
translations as main tools. It is therefore natural to ask (1) whether a
general perspective on Goedel-McKinsey-Tarski translations can be attained,
also based on order-theoretic principles like those underlying the general
definition of Sahlqvist and inductive formulas and inequalities, which accounts
for the known Goedel-McKinsey-Tarski translations and applies uniformly to all
signatures of normal (distributive) lattice expansions; (2) whether this
general perspective can be used to transfer correspondence and canonicity
theorems for Sahlqvist and inductive formulas and inequalities in all
signatures described above under Goedel-McKinsey-Tarski translations.
  In the present paper, we set out to answer these questions. We answer (1) in
the affirmative; as to (2), we prove the transfer of the correspondence theorem
for inductive inequalities of arbitrary signatures of normal distributive
lattice expansions. We also prove the transfer of canonicity for inductive
inequalities, but only restricted to arbitrary normal modal expansions of
bi-intuitionistic logic. We also analyze the difficulties involved in obtaining
the transfer of canonicity outside this setting, and indicate a route to extend
the transfer of canonicity to all signatures of normal distributive lattice
expansions.


title:
Lattice Boltzmann simulation of separation phenomenon in a binary
  gaseous flow through a microchannel

abstract:
  Gas separation of a binary gaseous mixture is one of characteristic phenomena
in the micro-scale flows that differ from the conventional size flows. In this
work, the separation in a binary gas mixture flows through a microchannel is
investigated by the lattice Boltzmann method with a diffuse-bounce-back (DBB)
boundary condition. The separation degree and rate are measured in the He--Ar
and Ne--Ar systems for different mole fractions, pressure ratios, and Knudsen
numbers. The results show that the separation phenomenon in the He--Ar mixture
is more obvious than that in the Ne--Ar mixture at the same mole fraction owing
to the larger molecular mass ratio. In addition, the increase in the pressure
ratio reduces the difference in the molecular velocities between the two
species, and the separation phenomenon becomes weaker. However, the gas
separation is enhanced with an increase in the Knudsen number. This is because
the resulting rarefaction effect reduces the interactions between the gas
molecules of the two species, and thus increases the difference in the
molecular velocity.


title:
Nano-domain formation in charged membranes: Beyond Debye-Huckel
  approximation

abstract:
  We investigate the microphase separation in a membrane composed of charged
lipid, by taking into account explicitly the electrostatic potential and the
ion densities in the surrounding solvent. While the overall (membrane and
solvent) charge neutrality is assumed, the membrane can have a non-zero net
charge. The static structure factor in the homogeneous state is analytically
obtained without using the Debye-Huckel approximation and is found to have a
peak at an intermediate wave number. For a binary membrane composed of anionic
and neutral lipids, the characteristic wave number corresponds to a scale from
several to tens of nanometers. Our numerical calculation further predicts the
existence of nano-domains in charged membranes.


title: Linearization and categorification

abstract:
  We discuss the notion of linearization through examples, which include the
Price map, PageRank, representation theory, the Euler characteristic and
quantum invariants. We also review categorification, which adds an additional
layer of structure, in the context of the last two examples.


title: Orbital Circularization of Hot and Cool Kepler Eclipsing Binaries

abstract:
  The rate of tidal circularization is predicted to be faster for relatively
cool stars with convective outer layers, compared to hotter stars with
radiative outer layers. Observing this effect is challenging, because it
requires large and well-characterized samples including both hot and cool
stars. Here we seek evidence for the predicted dependence of circularization
upon stellar type, using a sample of 945 eclipsing binaries observed by Kepler.
This sample complements earlier studies of this effect, which employed smaller
samples of better-characterized stars. For each Kepler binary we measure
$e\cos\omega$ based on the relative timing of the primary and secondary
eclipses. We examine the distribution of $e\cos\omega$ as a function of period
for binaries composed of hot stars, cool stars, and mixtures of the two types.
At the shortest periods, hot-hot binaries are most likely to be eccentric; for
periods shorter than 4 days, significant eccentricities occur frequently for
hot-hot binaries, but not for hot-cool or cool-cool binaries. This is in
qualitative agreement with theoretical expectations based on the slower
dissipation rates of hot stars. However, the interpretation of our results is
complicated by the largely unknown ages and evolutionary states of the stars in
our sample.


title:
A Wiener Lemma for the discrete Heisenberg group: Invertibility criteria
  and applications to algebraic dynamics

abstract:
  This article contains a Wiener Lemma for the convolution algebra
$\ell^1(\mathbb H,\mathbb C)$ and group $C^\ast$-algebra $C^\ast(\mathbb H)$ of
the discrete Heisenberg group $\mathbb H$. At first, a short review of Wiener's
Lemma in its classical form and general results about invertibility in group
algebras of nilpotent groups will be presented. The known literature on this
topic suggests that invertibility investigations in the group algebras of
$\mathbb H$ rely on the complete knowledge of $\widehat{\mathbb H}$ -- the dual
of $\mathbb H$, i.e., the space of unitary equivalence classes of irreducible
unitary representations. We will describe the dual of ${\mathbb H}$ explicitly
and discuss its structure. Wiener's Lemma provides a convenient condition to
verify invertibility in $\ell^1(\mathbb H,\mathbb C)$ and $C^\ast(\mathbb H)$
which bypasses $\widehat{\mathbb H}$. The proof of Wiener's Lemma for $\mathbb
H$ relies on local principles and can be generalised to countable nilpotent
groups. As our analysis shows, the main representation theoretical objects to
study invertibility in group algebras of nilpotent groups are the corresponding
primitive ideal spaces. Wiener's Lemma for $\mathbb H$ has interesting
applications in algebraic dynamics and Time-Frequency Analysis which will be
presented in this article as well.


title: Exploring Dense and Cold QCD in Magnetic Fields

abstract:
  Strong magnetic fields are commonly generated in off-central relativistic
heavy-ion collisions in the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) at
Brookhaven National Lab and in the Large Hadron Collider at CERN and have been
used to probe the topological configurations of the QCD vacua. A strong
magnetic field can affect the character and location of the QCD critical point,
influence the QCD phases, and lead to anomalous transport of charge. To take
advantage of the magnetic field as a probe of QCD at higher baryon densities,
we are going to need experiments capable to scan the lower energy region. In
this context, the nuclotron-based ion collider facility (NICA) at JINR offers a
unique opportunity to explore such a region and complement alternative programs
at RHIC and other facilities. In this paper we discuss some relevant problems
of the interplay between QCD and magnetic fields and the important role the
experiments at NICA can play in tackling them.


title:
Distribution of the trace of Frobenius on average for rank 2 Drinfeld
  modules

abstract:
  Let $q$ be an odd prime power, $a \in \mathbb{F}_q[T]$ and $u \in
\mathbb{F}_q^*$. Provided $q \geq 17$, we compute the average number of primes
$p$ for which the characteristic polynomial of the Frobenius at $p$ is $X^2 -
aX + up$ over a family of rank 2 Drinfeld $ \mathbb{F}_q[T]$-modules. Our
results give asymptotic formulas in the $x$-limit.


title:
A global fit of the $\gamma$-ray galactic center excess within the
  scalar singlet Higgs portal model

abstract:
  We analyse the excess in the $\gamma$-ray emission from the center of our
galaxy observed by Fermi-LAT in terms of dark matter annihilation within the
scalar Higgs portal model. In particular, we include the astrophysical
uncertainties from the dark matter distribution and allow for unspecified
additional dark matter components. We demonstrate through a detailed numerical
fit that the strength and shape of the $\gamma$-ray spectrum can indeed be
described by the model in various regions of dark matter masses and couplings.
Constraints from invisible Higgs decays, direct dark matter searches, indirect
searches in dwarf galaxies and for $\gamma$-ray lines, and constraints from the
dark matter relic density reduce the parameter space to dark matter masses near
the Higgs resonance. We find two viable regions: one where the Higgs-dark
matter coupling is of ${\cal O}(10^{-2})$, and an additional dark matter
component beyond the scalar WIMP of our model is preferred, and one region
where the Higgs-dark matter coupling may be significantly smaller, but where
the scalar WIMP constitutes a significant fraction or even all of dark matter.
Both viable regions are hard to probe in future direct detection and collider
experiments.


title: Evolution of One-Dimensional Wind-Driven Sea Spectra

abstract:
  We analyze modern operational models of wind wave prediction on the subject
for compliance dissipation. Our numerical simulations from the "first
principle" demonstrate that heuristic formulas for damping rate of free wind
sea due to "white capping" (or wave breaking) dramatically exaggerates the role
of this effect in these models.


title:
The normal order of of the divisor-counting function for invariants of
  rank 2 Drinfeld modules

abstract:
  We compute the first and second moments of the divisor-counting function for
the Euler-Poincar\'{e} characteristic and the trace of Frobenius for the
reductions modulo $p$ of a rank 2 Drinfeld module with nontrivial endomorphism
ring, as the prime $p$ varies over the primes of ordinary reduction of the
Drinfeld module. From these moments we derive the normal order of the number of
prime divisors of these invariants.


title: A Polyhedral Study of the Static Probabilistic Lot-Sizing Problem

abstract:
  We study the polyhedral structure of the static probabilistic lot-sizing
problem and propose valid inequalities that integrate information from the
chance constraint and the binary setup variables. We prove that the proposed
inequalities subsume existing inequalities for this problem, and they are
facet-defining under certain conditions. In addition, we show that they give
the convex hull description of a related stochastic lot-sizing problem. We
propose a new formulation that exploits the simple recourse structure, which
significantly reduces the number of variables and constraints of the
deterministic equivalent program. This reformulation can be applied to general
chance-constrained programs with simple recourse. The computational results
show that the proposed inequalities and the new formulation are effective for
the the static probabilistic lot-sizing problems.


title: The block-Poisson estimator for optimally tuned exact subsampling MCMC

abstract:
  Speeding up Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) for datasets with many
observations by data subsampling has recently received considerable attention.
A pseudo-marginal MCMC method is proposed that estimates the likelihood by data
subsampling using a block-Poisson estimator. The estimator is a product of
Poisson estimators, allowing us to update a single block of subsample
indicators in each MCMC iteration so that a desired correlation is achieved
between the logs of successive likelihood estimates. This is important since
pseudo-marginal MCMC with positively correlated likelihood estimates can use
substantially smaller subsamples without adversely affecting the sampling
efficiency. The block-Poisson estimator is unbiased but not necessarily
positive, so the algorithm runs the MCMC on the absolute value of the
likelihood estimator and uses an importance sampling correction to obtain
consistent estimates of the posterior mean of any function of the parameters.
Our article derives guidelines to select the optimal tuning parameters for our
method and shows that it compares very favourably to regular MCMC without
subsampling, and to two other recently proposed exact subsampling approaches in
the literature.


title:
Evolution of active categorical image classification via saccadic eye
  movement

abstract:
  Pattern recognition and classification is a central concern for modern
information processing systems. In particular, one key challenge to image and
video classification has been that the computational cost of image processing
scales linearly with the number of pixels in the image or video. Here we
present an intelligent machine (the "active categorical classifier," or ACC)
that is inspired by the saccadic movements of the eye, and is capable of
classifying images by selectively scanning only a portion of the image. We
harness evolutionary computation to optimize the ACC on the MNIST hand-written
digit classification task, and provide a proof-of-concept that the ACC works on
noisy multi-class data. We further analyze the ACC and demonstrate its ability
to classify images after viewing only a fraction of the pixels, and provide
insight on future research paths to further improve upon the ACC presented
here.


title:
The Global Evolution of States of a Continuum Kawasaki Model with
  Repulsion

abstract:
  An infinite system of point particles performing random jumps in
$\mathds{R}^d$ with repulsion is studied. The states of the system are
probability measures on the space of particle's configurations. The result of
the paper is the construction of the global in time evolution of states with
the help of the corresponding correlation functions. It is proved that for each
initial sub-Poissonian state $\mu_0$, the constructed evolution $\mu_0 \mapsto
\mu_t$ preserves this property. That is, $\mu_t$ is sub-Poissonian for all
$t>0$.


title:
Shape optimisation with nonsmooth cost functions: from theory to
  numerics

abstract:
  This paper is concerned with the study of a class of nonsmooth cost functions
subject to a quasi-linear PDE in Lipschitz domains in dimension two. We derive
the Eulerian semi-derivative of the cost function by employing the averaged
adjoint approach and maximal elliptic regularity. Furthermore we characterise
stationary points and show how to compute steepest descent direc- tions
theoretically and practically. Finally, we present some numerical results for a
simple toy problem and compare them with the smooth case. We also compare the
convergence rates and obtain higher rates in the nonsmooth case.


title: Improving the Performance of Nested Lattice Codes Using Concatenation

abstract:
  A fundamental problem in coding theory is the design of an efficient coding
scheme that achieves the capacity of the additive white Gaussian (AWGN)
channel. The main objective of this short note is to point out that by
concatenating a capacity-achieving nested lattice code with a suitable
high-rate linear code over an appropriate finite field, we can achieve the
capacity of the AWGN channel with polynomial encoding and decoding complexity.
Specifically, we show that using inner Construction-A lattice codes and outer
Reed-Solomon codes, we can obtain capacity-achieving codes whose encoding and
decoding complexities grow as $O(N^2)$, while the probability of error decays
exponentially in $N$, where $N$ denotes the blocklength. Replacing the outer
Reed-Solomon code by an expander code helps us further reduce the decoding
complexity to $O(N\log^2N)$. This also gives us a recipe for converting a
high-complexity nested lattice code for a Gaussian channel to a low-complexity
concatenated code without any loss in the asymptotic rate. As examples, we
describe polynomial-time coding schemes for the wiretap channel, and the
compute-and-forward scheme for computing integer linear combinations of
messages.


title: Representation rings for fusion systems and dimension functions

abstract:
  We define the representation ring of a saturated fusion system $\mathcal F$
as the Grothendieck ring of the semiring of $\mathcal F$-stable
representations, and study the dimension functions of $\mathcal F$-stable
representations using the transfer map induced by the characteristic idempotent
of $\mathcal F$. We find a list of conditions for an $\mathcal F$-stable super
class function to be realized as the dimension function of an $\mathcal
F$-stable virtual representation. We also give an application of our results to
constructions of finite group actions on homotopy spheres.


title: The way forward

abstract:
  For the last few decades the study of disks around stars young and old and of
different types have progressed significantly. During the same time a
completely new discipline, the study of exoplanets, planets orbiting stars
other than our Sun, have emerged. Both these fields, which are interconnected,
have benefited from the development of new instrumentation, and especially by
telescopes and detectors deployed in space. In this chapter we are describing
the state of the art of such instruments and make an inventory of what is being
currently developed. We also state some of the requirements of the next steps
and what type of instruments will lead the way forward.


title: Grain-size dependent demagnetizing factors in permanent magnets

abstract:
  The coercive field of permanent magnets decreases with increasing grain size.
The grain size dependence of coercivity is explained by a size dependent
demagnetizing factor. In Dy free Nd$_2$Fe$_{14}$B magnets the size dependent
demagnetizing factor ranges from 0.2 for a grain size of 55 nm to 1.22 for a
grain size of 8300 nm. The comparison of experimental data with micromagnetic
simulations suggests that the grain size dependence of the coercive field in
hard magnets is due to the non-uniform magnetostatic field in polyhedral
grains.


title:
DeLight-Net: Decomposing Reflectance Maps into Specular Materials and
  Natural Illumination

abstract:
  In this paper we are extracting surface reflectance and natural environmental
illumination from a reflectance map, i.e. from a single 2D image of a sphere of
one material under one illumination. This is a notoriously difficult problem,
yet key to various re-rendering applications. With the recent advances in
estimating reflectance maps from 2D images their further decomposition has
become increasingly relevant.
  To this end, we propose a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) architecture to
reconstruct both material parameters (i.e. Phong) as well as illumination (i.e.
high-resolution spherical illumination maps), that is solely trained on
synthetic data. We demonstrate that decomposition of synthetic as well as real
photographs of reflectance maps, both in High Dynamic Range (HDR), and, for the
first time, on Low Dynamic Range (LDR) as well. Results are compared to
previous approaches quantitatively as well as qualitatively in terms of
re-renderings where illumination, material, view or shape are changed.


title: Induced rotation from de Sitter-Godel-de Sitter phase transition

abstract:
  Therotationofthecosmicobjectsisauniversalphenomenonanditsoriginisstillanopenquestion.Here
a model for the origin of rotation is presented. After an investigation of the
phase transition of a scalar field in de Sitter and G\"odel backgrounds, the
motion of a test particle during the phase transitions is studied. Then using
computer simulation for a congruence of particles, we show that although the
local induced rotation is nonzero, the global rotation is below the
observational limit.


title: The Marshall-Olkin extended generalized Gompertz distribution

abstract:
  A new four-parameter model called the Marshall-Olkin extended generalized
Gompertz distribution is introduced. Its hazard rate function can be constant,
increasing, decreasing, upside-down bathtub or bathtub-shaped depending on its
parameters. Some mathematical properties of this model such as expansion for
the density function, moments, moment generating function, quantile function,
mean deviations, mean residual life, order statistics and R\'enyi entropy are
derived. The maximum likelihood technique is used to estimate the unknown model
parameters and the observed information matrix is determined. The applicability
of the proposed model is shown by means of a real data set.


title: Sensitivity of iterated function systems

abstract:
  The present work is concerned with the eqiucontinuity and sensitivity of
iterated function systems (IFSs). Here, we consider more general case of IFSs,
i.e. the IFSs generated by a family of relations. We generalize the concepts of
transitivity, sensitivity and equicontinuity to these kinds of systems. This
note investigates the relationships between these concepts. Then, several
sufficient conditions for sensitivity of IFSs are presented. We introduce the
notion of weak topologically exact for IFSs generated by a family of relations.
It is proved that non-minimal weak topologically exact IFSs are sensitive. That
yields to different examples of non-minimal sensitive systems which are not an
M-system. Moreover, some interesting examples are given which provide some
facts about the sensitive property of IFSs.


title: Identification via the Broadcast Channel

abstract:
  The identification (ID) capacity region of the two-receiver broadcast channel
(BC) is shown to be the set of rate-pairs for which, for some distribution on
the channel input, each receiver's ID rate does not exceed the mutual
information between the channel input and the channel output that it observes.
Moreover, the capacity region's interior is achieved by codes with
deterministic encoders. The results are obtained under the average-error
criterion, which requires that each receiver reliably identify its message
whenever the message intended for the other receiver is drawn at random. They
hold also for channels whose transmission capacity region is to-date unknown.
Key to the proof is a new ID code construction for the single-user channel.
Extensions to the BC with one-sided feedback and the three-receiver BC are also
discussed: inner bounds on their ID capacity regions are obtained, and those
are shown to be in some cases tight.


title: Trading Strategies Generated by Lyapunov Functions

abstract:
  Functional portfolio generation, initiated by E.R. Fernholz almost twenty
years ago, is a methodology for constructing trading strategies with controlled
behavior. It is based on very weak and descriptive assumptions on the
covariation structure of the underlying market model, and needs no estimation
of model parameters. In this paper, the corresponding generating functions $G$
are interpreted as Lyapunov functions for the vector process $\mu(\cdot)$ of
market weights; that is, via the property that $G(\mu(\cdot))$ is a
supermartingale under an appropriate change of measure. This point of view
unifies, generalizes, and simplifies several existing results, and allows the
formulation of conditions under which it is possible to outperform the market
portfolio over appropriate time-horizons. From a probabilistic point of view,
the present paper yields results concerning the interplay of stochastic
discount factors and concave transformations of semimartingales on compact
domains.


title:
Timed Automata Approach for Motion Planning Using Metric Interval
  Temporal Logic

abstract:
  In this paper, we consider the robot motion (or task) planning problem under
some given time bounded high level specifications. We use metric interval
temporal logic (MITL), a member of the temporal logic family, to represent the
task specification and then we provide a constructive way to generate a timed
automaton and methods to look for accepting runs on the automaton to find a
feasible motion (or path) sequence for the robot to complete the task.