title:
An alternative derivation of ring-polymer molecular dynamics
  transition-state theory

abstract:
  In a previous article [J. Chem. Phys. 138, 084108 (2013)], we showed that the
$t\to 0_+$ limit of ring-polymer molecular dynamics (RPMD) rate-theory is also
the $t\to 0_+$ limit of a new type of quantum flux-side time-correlation
function, in which the dividing surfaces are invariant to imaginary-time
translation; in other words, that RPMD transition-state theory (RPMD-TST) is a
$t\to 0_+$ quantum transition-state theory (QTST). Recently, Jang and Voth [J.
Chem. Phys. 144, 084110 (2016)] rederived this quantum $t\to 0_+$ limit, and
claimed that it gives instead the centroid-density approximation. Here we show
that the $t\to 0_+$ limit derived by Jang and Voth is in fact RPMD-TST.


title: Fluctuations of Omega-killed spectrally negative L\'evy processes

abstract:
  In this paper we solve the exit problems for (reflected) spectrally negative
L\'evy processes, which are exponentially killed with a killing intensity
dependent on the present state of the process and analyze respective
resolvents. All identities are given in terms of new generalizations of scale
functions. For the particular cases $\omega(x)=q$ and $\omega(x)=q
\mathbf{1}_{(a,b)}(x)$, we obtain results for the classical exit problems and
the Laplace transforms of the occupation times in a given interval, until first
passage times, respectively. Our results can also be applied to find the
bankruptcy probability in the so-called Omega model, where bankruptcy occurs at
rate $\omega(x)$ when the L\'evy surplus process is at level $x<0$. Finally, we
apply the these results to obtain some exit identities for a spectrally
positive self-similar Markov processes. The main method throughout all the
proofs relies on the classical fluctuation identities for L\'evy processes, the
Markov property and some basic properties of a Poisson process.


title: Architecting three-dimensional ZnO nanorods

abstract:
  The fabrication of nanostructures with controlled assembly and architecture
is significant for the development of novel nanomaterials-based devices. In
this work we demonstrate that laser techniques coupled with low-temperature
hydrothermal growth enable complex three-dimensional ZnO nanorods patterning on
various types of substrates and geometries. The suggested methodology is based
on a procedure involving the 3D scaffold fabrication using Multi-Photon
Lithography of a photosensitive material, followed by Zn seeded Aqueous
Chemical Growth of ZnO nanorods. 3D, uniformly aligned ZnO nanorods are
produced, exhibiting electrical conductance and highly efficient photocatalytic
performance, providing a path to applications in a diverse field of
technologies.


title:
Rigorous derivation of Lindblad equations from quantum jumps processes
  in 1D

abstract:
  We are interested by the behaviour of a 1D single heavy particle, interacting
with an environment made of very fast particles in a thermal state. Assuming
that the interactions are instantaneous, we construct an appropriate quantum
jump process for the density operator of the heavy particle. In a weak-coupling
limit (many interactions with few effect), we show that the solutions of jump
process converge in law in the appropriate space towards the solution of a
Lindbald master equation. To the best of our knowledge, it seems to be the
first rigorous derivation of a dissipative quantum evolution equation.


title:
Spectral Bounds in Random Graphs Applied to Spreading Phenomena and
  Percolation

abstract:
  In this paper, we derive nonasymptotic theoretical bounds for the influence
in random graphs that depend on the spectral radius of a particular matrix,
called the Hazard matrix. We also show that these results are generic and valid
for a large class of random graphs displaying correlation at a local scale,
called the LPC random graphs. In particular, they lead to tight and novel
bounds in percolation, epidemiology and information cascades. The main result
of the paper states that the influence in the sub-critical regime for LPC
random graphs is at most of the order of $O(\sqrt{n})$ where $n$ is the size of
the network, and of $O(n^{2/3})$ in the critical regime, where the epidemic
thresholds are driven by the size of the spectral radius of the Hazard matrix
with respect to 1. As a corollary, it is also shown that such bounds hold for
the size of the giant component in inhomogeneous percolation, the SIR model in
epidemiology, as well as for the long-term influence of a node in the
Independent Cascade Model.


title: Eigenfunction expansions in the imaginary Lobachevsky space

abstract:
  Eigenfunctions of the Schrodinger equation with the Coulomb potential in the
imaginary Lobachevsky space are studied in two coordinate systems admitting
solutions in terms of hypergeometric functions. Normalization and coefficients
of mutual expansions for some sets of solutions are found.


title: Modulated bimaximal neutrino mixing

abstract:
  The present article is an endeavor to look into some fruitful frameworks
based on "Bi-maximal" neutrino mixing, from a model independent stand. The
possibilities involving the correction or attenuation of the original BM mixing
matrix, followed by GUT-inspired charged lepton correction are invoked. The
"symmetry-basis" thus constructed, accentuates some interesting facets such as:
a modified QLC relation,
$\theta_{12}+\theta_{c}\approx\frac{\pi}{4}-\theta_{13}\cos(n\pi-\delta_{CP})$,
a possible link up between neutrino and charged lepton sectors,
$\theta_{13}^{\nu}=\theta_{12}^{l}\sim\mathcal{O}(\theta_{C})$ or that between
neutrinos and quarks, $\theta_{13}^{\nu}=\theta_{C}$. The study vindicates the
relevance of the Bi-maximal mixing as a first approximation.


title:
The quantum ferromagnetic transition in a clean Kondo lattice is
  discontinuous

abstract:
  The Kondo-lattice model, which couples a lattice of localized magnetic
moments to conduction electrons, is often used to describe heavy-fermion
systems. Because of the interplay between Kondo physics and magnetic order it
displays very complex behavior and is notoriously hard to solve. The
ferromagnetic Kondo-lattice model, with a ferromagnetic coupling between the
local moments, describes a phase transition from a paramagnetic phase to a
ferromagnetic one as a function of either temperature or the ferromagnetic
local-moment coupling. At zero temperature, this is a quantum phase transition
that has received considerable attention. It has been theoretically described
to be continuous, or second order. Here we show that this belief is mistaken;
in the absence of quenched disorder the quantum phase transition is first
order, in agreement with experiments, as is the corresponding transition in
other metallic ferromagnets.


title: On the negative-one shift functor for FI-modules

abstract:
  We show that the negative-one shift functor on the category of FI-modules is
a left adjoint of the shift functor and a right adjoint of the derivative
functor. We also describe how the coinduction functor is related to the
negative-one shift functor.


title:
Finite-size effects on the Bose-Einstein condensation critical
  temperature in a harmonic trap

abstract:
  We obtain second and higher order corrections to the shift of the
Bose-Einstein critical temperature due to finite-size effects. The confinement
is that of a harmonic trap with general anisotropy. Numerical work shows the
high accuracy of our expressions. We draw attention to a subtlety involved in
the consideration of experimental values of the critical temperature in
connection with analytical expressions for the finite-size corrections.


title: Radiation of Charged Black Holes and Modified Dispersion Relation

abstract:
  We investigate the effects of a modified dispersion relation proposed by
Majhi and Vagenas on the Reissner-Nordstrom black hole thermodynamics in a
universe with large extra dimensions. It is shown that entropy, temperature and
heat capacity receive new corrections and charged black holes in this framework
have less degrees of freedom and decay faster compared to black holes in the
Hawking picture. We also study the emission rate of black hole and compare our
results with other quantum gravity approaches. In this regard, the existence of
the logarithmic prefactor and the relation between dimensions and charge are
discussed. This procedure is not only valid for a single horizon spacetime but
it is also valid for the spacetimes with inner and outer horizons.


title:
Large spin pumping effect in antisymmetric precession of
  Ni$_{79}$Fe$_{21}$/Ru/Ni$_{79}$Fe$_{21}$

abstract:
  In magnetic trilayer structures, a contribution to the Gilbert damping of
ferromagnetic resonance arises from spin currents pumped from one layer to
another. This contribution has been demonstrated for layers with weakly
coupled, separated resonances, where magnetization dynamics are excited
predominantly in one layer and the other layer acts as a spin sink. Here we
show that trilayer structures in which magnetizations are excited
simultaneously, antisymmetrically, show a spin-pumping effect roughly twice as
large. The antisymmetric (optical) mode of antiferromagnetically coupled
Ni$_{79}$Fe$_{21}$(8nm)/Ru/Ni$_{79}$Fe$_{21}$(8nm) trilayers shows a Gilbert
damping constant greater than that of the symmetric (acoustic) mode by an
amount as large as the intrinsic damping of Py ($\Delta
\alpha\simeq\textrm{0.006}$). The effect is shown equally in field-normal and
field-parallel to film plane geometries over 3-25 GHz. The results confirm a
prediction of the spin pumping model and have implications for the use of
synthetic antiferromagnets (SAF)-structures in GHz devices.


title:
Invariance Principles for Dependent Processes Indexed by Besov Classes
  with an Application to a Hausman Test for Linearity

abstract:
  This paper considers functional central limit theorems for stationary
absolutely regular mixing processes. Bounds for the entropy with bracketing are
derived using recent results in Nickl and P\"otscher (2007). More specifically,
their bracketing metric entropy bounds are extended to a norm defined in
Doukhan, Massart and Rio (1995, henceforth DMR) that depends both on the
marginal distribution of the process and on the mixing coefficients. Using
these bounds, and based on a result in DMR, it is shown that for the class of
weighted Besov spaces polynomially decaying tail behavior of the function class
is sufficient to obtain a functional central limit theorem under minimal
conditions. A second class of functions that allow for a functional central
limit theorem under minimal conditions are smooth functions defined on bounded
sets. Similarly, a functional CLT for polynomially explosive tail behavior is
obtained under additional moment conditions that are easy to check. An
application to a Hausman specification test illustrates the theory.


title: Flat Directions and Leptogenesis in a "New" $\mu \nu$SSM

abstract:
  In this paper, we give a brief review of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard
Model (MSSM) and "$\mu$ from $\nu$" Supersymmetric Standard Model ($\mu
\nu$SSM). Then we propose a generalization of $\mu \nu$SSM in order to explain
the recent ATLAS, CMS and LHCb results. This "new" $\mu \nu$SSM generalizes the
superpotential $W_{suppot}$ of $\mu \nu$SSM by including two terms that
generate a mixing among leptons, gauginos and higgsinos while keeping the
charginos and neutralinos masses unchanged. Also, it is potentially interesting
for cosmological applications as it displays flat directions of the
superpotential and a viable leptogenesis mechanism.


title: Developing Quantum Annealer Driven Data Discovery

abstract:
  Machine learning applications are limited by computational power. In this
paper, we gain novel insights into the application of quantum annealing (QA) to
machine learning (ML) through experiments in natural language processing (NLP),
seizure prediction, and linear separability testing. These experiments are
performed on QA simulators and early-stage commercial QA hardware and compared
to an unprecedented number of traditional ML techniques. We extend QBoost, an
early implementation of a binary classifier that utilizes a quantum annealer,
via resampling and ensembling of predicted probabilities to produce a more
robust class estimator. To determine the strengths and weaknesses of this
approach, resampled QBoost (RQBoost) is tested across several datasets and
compared to QBoost and traditional ML. We show and explain how QBoost in
combination with a commercial QA device are unable to perfectly separate binary
class data which is linearly separable via logistic regression with shrinkage.
We further explore the performance of RQBoost in the space of NLP and seizure
prediction and find QA-enabled ML using QBoost and RQBoost is outperformed by
traditional techniques. Additionally, we provide a detailed discussion of
algorithmic constraints and trade-offs imposed by the use of this QA hardware.
Through these experiments, we provide unique insights into the state of quantum
ML via boosting and the use of quantum annealing hardware that are valuable to
institutions interested in applying QA to problems in ML and beyond.


title: Experimental Analysis of Algorithms for Coflow Scheduling

abstract:
  Modern data centers face new scheduling challenges in optimizing job-level
performance objectives, where a significant challenge is the scheduling of
highly parallel data flows with a common performance goal (e.g., the shuffle
operations in MapReduce applications). Chowdhury and Stoica introduced the
coflow abstraction to capture these parallel communication patterns, and
Chowdhury et al. proposed effective heuristics to schedule coflows efficiently.
In our previous paper, we considered the strongly NP-hard problem of minimizing
the total weighted completion time of coflows with release dates, and developed
the first polynomial-time scheduling algorithms with O(1)-approximation ratios.
  In this paper, we carry out a comprehensive experimental analysis on a
Facebook trace and extensive simulated instances to evaluate the practical
performance of several algorithms for coflow scheduling, including the
approximation algorithms developed in our previous paper. Our experiments
suggest that simple algorithms provide effective approximations of the optimal,
and that the performance of our approximation algorithms is relatively robust,
near optimal, and always among the best compared with the other algorithms, in
both the offline and online settings.


title: Dual Field Theories of Quantum Computation

abstract:
  Given two quantum states of N q-bits we are interested to find the shortest
quantum circuit consisting of only one- and two- q-bit gates that would
transfer one state into another. We call it the quantum maze problem for the
reasons described in the paper. We argue that in a large N limit the quantum
maze problem is equivalent to the problem of finding a semiclassical trajectory
of some lattice field theory (the dual theory) on an N+1 dimensional space-time
with geometrically flat, but topologically compact spatial slices. The spatial
fundamental domain is an N dimensional hyper-rhombohedron, and the temporal
direction describes transitions from an arbitrary initial state to an arbitrary
target state. We first consider a complex Klein-Gordon field theory and argue
that it can only be used to study the shortest quantum circuits which do not
involve generators composed of tensor products of multiple Pauli Z matrices.
Since such situation is not generic we call it the Z-problem. On the dual field
theory side the Z-problem corresponds to massless excitations of the phase
(Goldstone modes) that we attempt to fix using Higgs mechanism. The simplest
dual theory which does not suffer from the massless excitation (or from the
Z-problem) is the Abelian-Higgs model which we argue can be used for finding
the shortest quantum circuits. Since every trajectory of the field theory is
mapped directly to a quantum circuit, the shortest quantum circuits are
identified with semiclassical trajectories. We also discuss the complexity of
an actual algorithm that uses a dual theory prospective for solving the quantum
maze problem and compare it with a geometric approach. We argue that it might
be possible to solve the problem in sub-exponential time in 2^N, but for that
we must consider the Klein-Gordon theory on curved spatial geometry and/or more
complicated (than N-torus) topology.


title:
Formation of proto-cluster: a virialized structure from gravo-turbulent
  collapse II. A two-dimensional analytical model for rotating and accreting
  system

abstract:
  Most stars are born in the gaseous proto-cluster environment. The knowledge
of this intermediate stage gives more accurate constraints on star formation
characteristics. We demonstrate that a virialized globally supported structure,
in which star formation happens, is formed out of a collapsing molecular cloud,
and derive a mapping from the parent cloud parameters to the proto-cluster to
predict its properties, with a view to confront analytical calculations with
observations and simulations. The virial theorem is decomposed into two
dimensions to account for the rotation and the flattened geometry. Equilibrium
is found by balancing rotation, turbulence and self-gravity, while turbulence
is maintained by accretion driving and dissipates in one crossing time. The
angular momentum and the accretion rate of the proto-cluster are estimated from
the parent cloud properties. The two-dimensional virial model predicts the size
and velocity dispersion given the mass of the proto-cluster and that of the
parent cloud. The gaseous proto-clusters lie on a sequence of equilibrium with
the trend $R \sim M^{0.5}$, with limited variations depending on the
evolutionary stage, the parent cloud, and the parameters not well known like
turbulence driving efficiency by accretion and the turbulence anisotropy. The
model reproduces successfully observations and simulation results. The
properties of proto-clusters follow universal relations and they can be derived
from that of the parent cloud. Using simple estimates to infer the peak
position of the core mass function (CMF) we find a weak dependence on the
cluster mass suggesting that the physical conditions inside proto-clusters may
contribute to set a CMF, and by extension an IMF, that looks independent of the
environment.


title:
Networked Constrained Cyber-Physical Systems subject to malicious
  attacks: a resilient set-theoretic control approach

abstract:
  In this paper a novel set-theoretic control framework for Networked
Constrained Cyber-Physical Systems is presented. By resorting to set-theoretic
ideas and the physical watermarking concept, an anomaly detector module and a
control remediation strategy are formally derived with the aim to contrast
severe cyber attacks affecting the communication channels. The resulting scheme
ensures Uniformly Ultimate Boundedness and constraints fulfillment regardless
of any admissible attack scenario. Simulation results show the effectiveness of
the proposed strategy both against Denial of Service and False Data Injection
attacks.


title:
WISEA J114724.10-204021.3: A Free-Floating Planetary Mass Member of the
  TW Hya Association

abstract:
  We present WISEA J114724.10$-$204021.3, a young, low-mass, high probability
member of the TW Hya association. WISEA J114724.10$-$204021.3 was discovered
based on its red AllWISE color (W1$-$W2 = 0.63 mag) and extremely red 2MASS
$J-K_{\rm S}$ color ($>$ 2.64 mag), the latter of which is confirmed with
near-infrared photometry from the VISTA Hemisphere Survey ($J-K_{\rm S}$ =
2.57$\pm$0.03). Follow-up near-infrared spectroscopy shows a spectral type of
L7 $\pm$ 1 as well as several spectroscopic indicators of youth. These include
a peaked $H$-band shape and a steeper $K$-band slope, traits typically
attributed to low surface gravity. The sky position, proper motion, and
distance estimates of WISEA J114724.10$-$204021.3 are all consistent with
membership in the $\sim$10 Myr old TW Hya association. Using the age of the TW
Hya association and evolutionary models, we estimate the mass of WISEA
J114724.10$-$204021.3 to be 5$-$13 $M_{\rm Jup}$, making it one of the youngest
and lowest mass free-floating objects yet discovered in the Solar neighborhood.


title: Schr\"odinger's Cat: Where Does The Entanglement Come From?

abstract:
  Schr\"odinger's cat is one of the most striking paradoxes of quantum
mechanics that reveals the counterintuitive aspects of the microscopic world.
Here, I discuss the paradox in the framework of quantum information. Using a
quantum networks formalism, I analyse the information flow between the atom and
the cat. This reveals that the atom and the cat are connected only through a
classical information channel: the detector clicks $\rightarrow$ the poison is
released $\rightarrow$ the cat is killed. No amount of local operations and
classical communication can entangle the atom and the cat, which are initially
in a separable state. This casts a new light on the paradox.


title:
Inference in Dynamic Discrete Choice Problems under Local
  Misspecification

abstract:
  Single-agent dynamic discrete choice models are typically estimated using
heavily parametrized econometric frameworks, making them susceptible to model
misspecification. This paper investigates how misspecification affects the
results of inference in these models. Specifically, we consider a local
misspecification framework in which specification errors are assumed to vanish
at an arbitrary and unknown rate with the sample size. Relative to global
misspecification, the local misspecification analysis has two important
advantages. First, it yields tractable and general results. Second, it allows
us to focus on parameters with structural interpretation, instead of
"pseudo-true" parameters.
  We consider a general class of two-step estimators based on the K-stage
sequential policy function iteration algorithm, where K denotes the number of
iterations employed in the estimation. This class includes Hotz and Miller
(1993)'s conditional choice probability estimator, Aguirregabiria and Mira
(2002)'s pseudo-likelihood estimator, and Pesendorfer and Schmidt-Dengler
(2008)'s asymptotic least squares estimator.
  We show that local misspecification can affect the asymptotic distribution
and even the rate of convergence of these estimators. In principle, one might
expect that the effect of the local misspecification could change with the
number of iterations K. One of our main findings is that this is not the case,
i.e., the effect of local misspecification is invariant to K. In practice, this
means that researchers cannot eliminate or even alleviate problems of model
misspecification by changing K.


title: An extension problem related to inverse fractional operators

abstract:
  It is well known from the work of Caffarelli and Silvestre that the
fractional Laplacian $(-\Delta_x)^{\frac{\sigma}{2}}$ for $\sigma \in (0,2)$
can be obtained as a Dirichlet-to-Neumann map through an extension problem to
the upper half space. In this paper we emphasize that the inverse fractional
Laplacian $(-\Delta_x)^{-\frac{\sigma}{2}}$ has a similar property: it can be
obtained as a Neumann-to-Dirichlet map via an extension problem to the upper
half space. We also show an explicit formula for the solution of the extension
problem. Moreover, we deal with powers of a more general class of second order
differential operators defined in open subsets of $\mathbb{R}^N$ using the
results of Stinga and Torrea. From this characterization we show possible
applications among which we mention the numerical analysis of a wide class of
nonlinear and nonlocal equations.


title: Magnon edge states in hardcore-Bose-Hubbard model

abstract:
  Quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) simulation has uncovered nonzero Berry curvature
and bosonic edge states in hardcore-Bose-Hubbard model on the gapped honeycomb
lattice. The competition between the chemical potential and staggered onsite
potential leads to an interesting quantum phase diagram comprising superfluid
phase, Mott insulator, and charge density wave insulator. In this paper, we
present a semiclassical perspective of this system by mapping to a spin-$1/2$
quantum XY model. We give an explicit analytical origin of the quantum phase
diagram, the Berry curvatures, and the edge states using semiclassical
approximations. We find very good agreements between the semiclassical analyses
and the QMC results. Our results show that the topological properties of
hardcore-Bose-Hubbard model are the same as those of magnon in the
corresponding quantum spin system. Our results are applicable to systems of
ultracold bosonic atoms trapped in honeycomb optical lattices.


title:
Modeling and Resource Allocation for HD Videos over WiMAX Broadband
  Wireless Networks

abstract:
  Mobile video is considered a major upcoming application and revenue generator
for broadband wireless networks like WiMAX and LTE. Therefore, it is important
to design a proper resource allocation scheme for mobile video, since video
traffic is both throughput consuming and delay sensitive.


title:
A Markov Chain Algorithm for Compression in Self-Organizing Particle
  Systems

abstract:
  In systems of programmable matter, we are given a collection of simple
computation elements (or particles) with limited (constant-size) memory. We are
interested in when they can self-organize to solve system-wide problems of
movement, configuration and coordination. Here, we initiate a stochastic
approach to developing robust distributed algorithms for programmable matter
systems using Markov chains. We are able to leverage the wealth of prior work
in Markov chains and related areas to design and rigorously analyze our
distributed algorithms and show that they have several desirable properties.
  We study the compression problem, in which a particle system must gather as
tightly together as possible, as in a sphere or its equivalent in the presence
of some underlying geometry. More specifically, we seek fully distributed,
local, and asynchronous algorithms that lead the system to converge to a
configuration with small boundary. We present a Markov chain-based algorithm
that solves the compression problem under the geometric amoebot model, for
particle systems that begin in a connected configuration. The algorithm takes
as input a bias parameter $\lambda$, where $\lambda > 1$ corresponds to
particles favoring having more neighbors. We show that for all $\lambda >
2+\sqrt{2}$, there is a constant $\alpha > 1$ such that eventually with all but
exponentially small probability the particles are $\alpha$-compressed, meaning
the perimeter of the system configuration is at most $\alpha \cdot p_{min}$,
where $p_{min}$ is the minimum possible perimeter of the particle system.
Surprisingly, the same algorithm can also be used for expansion when $0 <
\lambda < 2.17$, and we prove similar results about expansion for values of
$\lambda$ in this range. This is counterintuitive as it shows that particles
preferring to be next to each other ($\lambda > 1$) is not sufficient to
guarantee compression.


title:
Altmetrics of "altmetrics" using Google Scholar, Twitter, Mendeley,
  Facebook, Google-plus, CiteULike, Blogs and Wiki

abstract:
  We measure the impact of "altmetrics" field by deploying altmetrics
indicators using the data from Google Scholar, Twitter, Mendeley, Facebook,
Google-plus, CiteULike, Blogs and Wiki during 2010- 2014. To capture the social
impact of scientific publications, we propose an index called alt-index,
analogues to h-index. Across the deployed indices, our results have shown high
correlation among the indicators that capture social impact. While we observe
medium Pearson's correlation (\r{ho}= .247) among the alt-index and h-index, a
relatively high correlation is observed between social citations and scholarly
citations (\r{ho}= .646). Interestingly, we find high turnover of social
citations in the field compared with the traditional scholarly citations, i.e.
social citations are 42.2 % more than traditional citations. The social mediums
such as Twitter and Mendeley appear to be the most effective channels of social
impact followed by Facebook and Google-plus. Overall, altmetrics appears to be
working well in the field of "altmetrics".


title: Anomalous Transport Due to the Conformal Anomaly

abstract:
  We show that the scale (conformal) anomaly in field theories leads to new
anomalous transport effects that emerge in an external electromagnetic field in
an inhomogeneous gravitational background. In inflating geometry the QED scale
anomaly locally generates an electric current that flows in opposite direction
with respect to background electric field (the scale electric effect). In a
static spatially inhomogeneous gravitational background the dissipationless
electric current flows transversely both to the magnetic field axis and to the
gradient of the inhomogeneity (the scale magnetic effect). The anomalous
currents are proportional to the beta function of the theory.


title: Microscopic theory of spin-orbit torques and skyrmion dynamics

abstract:
  We formulate a general microscopic approach to spin-orbit torques in thin
ferromagnet/heavy-metal bilayers in linear response to electric current or
electric field. The microscopic theory we develop avoids the notion of spin
currents and spin-Hall effect. Instead, the torques are directly related to a
local spin polarization of conduction electrons, which is computed from
generalized Kubo-St\v{r}eda formulas. A symmetry analysis provides a one-to-one
correspondence between polarization susceptibility tensor components and
different torque terms in the Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert equation for
magnetization dynamics. The spin-orbit torques arising from Rashba or
Dresselhaus type of spin-orbit interaction are shown to have different
symmetries. We analyze these spin-orbit torques microscopically for a generic
electron model in the presence of an arbitrary smooth magnetic texture. For a
model with spin-independent disorder we find a major cancelation of the
torques. In this case the only remaining torque corresponds to the
magnetization-independent Edelstein effect. Furthermore, our results are
applied to analyze the dynamics of a Skyrmion under the action of electric
current.


title: Characterizing Interest Aggregation in Content-Centric Networks

abstract:
  The Named Data Networking (NDN) and Content-Centric Networking (CCN)
architectures advocate Interest aggregation as a means to reduce end-to-end
latency and bandwidth consumption. To enable these benefits, Interest
aggregation must be realized through Pending Interest Tables (PIT) that grow in
size at the rate of incoming Interests to an extent that may eventually defeat
their original purpose. A thorough analysis is provided of the Interest
aggregation mechanism using mathematical arguments backed by extensive
discrete-event simulation results. We present a simple yet accurate analytical
framework for characterizing Interest aggregation in an LRU cache, and use our
model to develop an iterative algorithm to analyze the benefits of Interest
aggregation in a network of interconnected caches. Our findings reveal that,
under realistic assumptions, an insignificant fraction of Interests in the
system benefit from aggregation, compromising the effectiveness of using PITs
as an integral component of Content-Centric Networks.


title: Control of photon transport properties in nanocomposite nanowires

abstract:
  Active nanowires and nanofibers can be realized by the electric-field induced
stretching of polymer solutions with sufficient molecular entanglements. The
resulting nanomaterials are attracting an increasing attention in view of their
application in a wide variety of fields, including optoelectronics, photonics,
energy harvesting, nanoelectronics, and microelectromechanical systems.
Realizing nanocomposite nanofibers is especially interesting in this respect.
In particular, methods suitable for embedding inorganic nanocrystals in
electrified jets and then in active fiber systems allow for controlling
light-scattering and refractive index properties in the realized fibrous
materials. We here report on the design, realization, and morphological and
spectroscopic characterization of new species of active, composite nanowires
and nanofibers for nanophotonics. We focus on the properties of
light-confinement and photon transport along the nanowire longitudinal axis,
and on how these depend on nanoparticle incorporation. Optical losses
mechanisms and their influence on device design and performances are also
presented and discussed.


title:
Robust Nonnegative Sparse Recovery and the Nullspace Property of 0/1
  Measurements

abstract:
  We investigate recovery of nonnegative vectors from non-adaptive compressive
measurements in the presence of noise of unknown power. In the absence of
noise, existing results in the literature identify properties of the
measurement that assure uniqueness in the non-negative orthant. By linking such
uniqueness results to nullspace properties, we deduce uniform and robust
compressed sensing guarantees for nonnegative least squares. No
l1-regularization is required. As an important proof of principle, we establish
that m x n random i.i.d. 0/1-valued Bernoulli matrices obey the required
conditions with overwhelming probability provided that m=O(slog(n/s)). We
achieve this by establishing the robust nullspace property for random
0/1-matrices - a novel result in its own right. Our analysis is motivated by
applications in wireless network activity detection.


title:
Friction from Reflectance: Deep Reflectance Codes for Predicting
  Physical Surface Properties from One-Shot In-Field Reflectance

abstract:
  Images are the standard input for vision algorithms, but one-shot infield
reflectance measurements are creating new opportunities for recognition and
scene understanding. In this work, we address the question of what reflectance
can reveal about materials in an efficient manner. We go beyond the question of
recognition and labeling and ask the question: What intrinsic physical
properties of the surface can be estimated using reflectance? We introduce a
framework that enables prediction of actual friction values for surfaces using
one-shot reflectance measurements. This work is a first of its kind
vision-based friction estimation. We develop a novel representation for
reflectance disks that capture partial BRDF measurements instantaneously. Our
method of deep reflectance codes combines CNN features and fisher vector
pooling with optimal binary embedding to create codes that have sufficient
discriminatory power and have important properties of illumination and spatial
invariance. The experimental results demonstrate that reflectance can play a
new role in deciphering the underlying physical properties of real-world
scenes.


title:
Emergent Transport Properties of Molecular Motor Ensemble Affected by
  Single Motor Mutations

abstract:
  Intracellular transport is an essential function in eucaryotic cells,
facilitated by motor proteins - proteins converting chemical energy into
kinetic energy. It is known that motor proteins work in teams enabling
unidirectional and bidirectional transport of intracellular cargo over long
distances. Disruptions of the underlying transport mechanisms, often caused by
mutations that alter single motor characteristics, are known to cause
neurodegenerative diseases. For example, phosphorylation of kinesin motor
domain at the serine residue is implicated in Huntington's disease, with a
recent study of phosphorylated and phosphomimetic serine residues indicating
lowered single motor stalling forces. In this article we report the effects of
mutations of this nature on transport properties of cargo carried by multiple
wild-type and mutant motors. Results indicate that mutants with altered stall
forces might determine the average velocity and run-length even when they are
outnumbered by wild type motors in the ensemble. It is shown that mutants gain
a competitive advantage and lead to an increase in expected run-length when
load on the cargo is in the vicinity of the mutant's stalling force or a
multiple of its stalling force. A separate contribution of this article is the
development of a semi-analytic method to analyze transport of cargo by multiple
motors of multiple types. The technique determines transition rates between
various relative configurations of motors carrying the cargo using the
transition rates between various absolute configurations. This enables exact
computation of average velocity and run-length. It can also be used to
introduce alterations of various single motor parameters to model a mutation
and to deduce effects of such alterations on the transport of a common cargo by
multiple motors. Our method is easily implementable and we provide a software
package for general use.


title: On the Higgs cross section at N$^3$LO+N$^3$LL and its uncertainty

abstract:
  We consider the inclusive production of a Higgs boson in gluon-fusion and we
study the impact of threshold resummation at next-to-next-to-next-to-leading
logarithmic accuracy (N$^3$LL) on the recently computed fixed-order prediction
at next-to-next-to-next-to-leading order (N$^3$LO). We propose a conservative,
yet robust way of estimating the perturbative uncertainty from missing higher
(fixed- or logarithmic-) orders. We compare our results with two other
different methods of estimating the uncertainty from missing higher orders: the
Cacciari-Houdeau Bayesian approach to theory errors, and the use of algorithms
to accelerate the convergence of the perturbative series. We confirm that the
best convergence happens at $\mu_R=\mu_F=m_H\,/\,2$, and we conclude that a
reliable estimate of the uncertainty from missing higher orders on the Higgs
cross section at 13 TeV is approximately $\pm4$%.


title: Floquet Time Crystals

abstract:
  We define what it means for time translation symmetry to be spontaneously
broken in a quantum system, and show with analytical arguments and numerical
simulations that this occurs in a large class of many-body-localized driven
systems with discrete time-translation symmetry.

categories: cond-mat.dis-nn cond-mat.stat-mech cond-mat.str-el quant-ph


title:
Simplified Models vs. Effective Field Theory Approaches in Dark Matter
  Searches

abstract:
  In this review we discuss and compare the usage of simplified models and
Effective Field Theory (EFT) approaches in dark matter searches. We provide a
state of the art description on the subject of EFTs and simplified models,
especially in the context of collider searches for dark matter, but also with
implications for direct and indirect detection searches, with the aim of
constituting a common language for future comparisons between different
strategies. The material is presented in a form that is as self-contained as
possible, so that it may serve as an introductory review for the newcomer as
well as a reference guide for the practitioner.


title:
Luminous and Variable Stars in M31 and M33. III. The Yellow and Red
  Supergiants and Post-Red Supergiant Evolution

abstract:
  Recent supernova and transient surveys have revealed an increasing number of
non-terminal stellar eruptions. Though the progenitor class of these eruptions
includes the most luminous stars, little is known of the pre-supernova
mechanics of massive stars in their most evolved state, thus motivating a
census of possible progenitors. From surveys of evolved and unstable luminous
star populations in nearby galaxies, we select a sample of yellow and red
supergiant candidates in M31 and M33 for review of their spectral
characteristics and spectral energy distributions. Since the position of
intermediate and late-type supergiants on the color-magnitude diagram can be
heavily contaminated by foreground dwarfs, we employ spectral classification
and multi-band photometry from optical and near-infrared surveys to confirm
membership. Based on spectroscopic evidence for mass loss and the presence of
circumstellar dust in their SEDs, we find that $30-40\%$ of the yellow
supergiants are likely in a post-red supergiant state. Comparison with
evolutionary tracks shows that these mass-losing, post-RSGs have initial masses
between $20-40\,M_{\odot}$. More than half of the observed red supergiants in
M31 and M33 are producing dusty circumstellar ejecta. We also identify two new
warm hypergiants in M31, J004621.05+421308.06 and J004051.59+403303.00, both of
which are likely in a post-RSG state.


title: Asymptotically AdS spacetimes with a timelike Kasner singularity

abstract:
  Exact solutions to Einstein's equations for holographic models are presented
and studied. The IR geometry has a timelike cousin of the Kasner singularity,
which is the less generic case of the BKL (Belinski-Khalatnikov-Lifshitz)
singularity, and the UV is asymptotically AdS. This solution describes a
holographic RG flow between them. The solution's appearance is an interpolation
between the planar AdS black hole and the AdS soliton. The causality constraint
is always satisfied. The entanglement entropy and Wilson loops are discussed.
The boundary condition for the current-current correlation function and the
Laplacian in the IR is examined. There is no infalling wave in the IR, but
instead, there is a normalizable solution in the IR. In a special case, a
hyperscaling-violating geometry is obtained after a dimensional reduction.


title: Circumstellar Debris Disks: Diagnosing the Unseen Perturber

abstract:
  The first indication of the presence of a circumstellar debris disk is
usually the detection of excess infrared emission from the population of small
dust grains orbiting the star. This dust is short-lived, requiring continual
replenishment, and indicating that the disk must be excited by an unseen
perturber. Previous theoretical studies have demonstrated that an eccentric
planet orbiting interior to the disk will stir the larger bodies in the belt
and produce dust via interparticle collisions. However, motivated by recent
observations, we explore another possible mechanism for heating a debris disk:
a stellar-mass perturber orbiting exterior to and inclined to the disk and
exciting the disk particles' eccentricities and inclinations via the
Kozai-Lidov mechanism. We explore the consequences of an exterior perturber on
the evolution of a debris disk using secular analysis and collisional N-body
simulations. We demonstrate that a Kozai-Lidov excited disk can generate a dust
disk via collisions and we compare the results of the Kozai-Lidov excited disk
with a simulated disk perturbed by an interior eccentric planet. Finally, we
propose two observational tests of a dust disk that can distinguish whether the
dust was produced by an exterior brown dwarf or stellar companion or an
interior eccentric planet.


title:
Impact of continuous particle injection on generation and decay of the
  magnetic field in collisionless shocks

abstract:
  We present numerical simulations of the magnetic field turbulence in
collisionless electron-positron plasma with continuous injection of new pairs,
which maintains anisotropy in the particle distribution over long time. {With
these simulations we follow evolution of a small (and therefore uniform) region
in the fluid comoving frame modelling} generation and decay of the magnetic
field in shocks, where the upstream is modified by two-photon pair production
due to self-absorption of the shock's high-energy radiation. We find that the
overall picture of magnetic field build-up is consistent with development of
Weibel instability. However, the long-term injection of anisotropic pairs in
the upstream leads to formation of large-scale structures in the magnetic
field, while the small-scale structures are almost absent. We find that being
amplified at the shock front this magnetic field mostly preserves its large
spatial scale and then slowly decays in the downstream on a timescale
approximately equal to duration of the injection phase. The observed decay of
the magnetic field is in exceptionally good agreement with predictions of the
so-called phase mixing model. Generation of the long-lived magnetic field in
relativistic collisionless shocks with injection-modified upstream explains how
they can efficiently produce the synchrotron radiation in Gamma-Ray Bursts.


title:
Gravitational torque-driven black hole growth and feedback in
  cosmological simulations

abstract:
  We investigate black hole-host galaxy scaling relations in cosmological
simulations with a self-consistent black hole growth and feedback model. The
sub-grid accretion model captures the key scalings governing angular momentum
transport from galactic scales down to parsec scales, while our kinetic
feedback implementation enables the injection of outflows with properties
chosen to match observed nuclear outflows. We show that "quasar mode" feedback
can have a large impact on the thermal properties of the intergalactic medium
and the growth of galaxies and massive black holes for kinetic feedback
efficiencies as low as 0.1% relative to the bolometric luminosity. Nonetheless,
our simulations suggest that the black hole-host scaling relations are only
weakly dependent on the effects of black hole feedback on galactic scales,
owing to feedback suppressing the growth of galaxies and massive black holes by
a similar amount. In contrast, the rate at which gravitational torques feed the
central black hole relative to the host galaxy star formation rate governs the
slope and normalization of the black hole-host correlations. Our results
suggest that a common gas supply regulated by gravitational torques is the
primary driver of the observed co-evolution of black holes and galaxies.


title:
Making Planet Nine: Pebble Accretion at 250--750 AU in a Gravitationally
  Unstable Ring

abstract:
  We investigate the formation of icy super-Earth mass planets within a
gravitationally unstable ring of solids orbiting at 250-750 AU around a 1 solar
mass star. Coagulation calculations demonstrate that a system of a few large
oligarchs and a swarm of pebbles generates a super-Earth within 100-200 Myr at
250 AU and within 1-2 Gyr at 750 AU. Systems with more than ten oligarchs fail
to yield super-Earths over the age of the solar system. As these systems
evolve, destructive collisions produce detectable debris disks with
luminosities of $10^{-5}$ to $10^{-3}$ relative to the central star.


title: Characterizing spiral arm and interarm star formation

abstract:
  Interarm star formation contributes significantly to a galaxy's star
formation budget, and provides an opportunity to study stellar birthplaces
unperturbed by spiral arm dynamics. Using optical integral field spectroscopy
of the nearby galaxy NGC 628 with VLT/MUSE, we construct Halpha maps including
detailed corrections for dust extinction and stellar absorption to identify 391
HII regions at 35pc resolution over 12 kpc^2. Using tracers sensitive to the
underlying gravitational potential, we associate HII regions with either arm
(271) or interarm (120) environments. Using our full spectral coverage of each
region, we find that most HII region physical properties (luminosity, size,
metallicity, ionization parameter) are independent of environment. We calculate
the fraction of Halpha luminosity due to the diffuse ionized gas (DIG)
background contaminating each HII region, and find the DIG surface brightness
to be higher within HII regions compared to the surroundings, and slightly
higher within arm HII regions. Use of the temperature sensitive [SII]/Halpha
line ratio map instead of the Halpha surface brightness to identify HII region
boundaries does not change this result. Using the dust attenuation as a tracer
of the gas, we find depletion times consistent with previous work (2 x 10^9 yr)
with no differences between the arm and interarm, however this is very
sensitive to the DIG correction. Unlike molecular clouds, which can be
dynamically affected by the galactic environment, we see fairly consistent HII
region properties in both arm and interarm environments. This suggests either a
difference in arm star formation and feedback, or a decoupling of dense star
forming clumps from the more extended surrounding molecular gas.


title: Making Planet Nine: A Scattered Giant in the Outer Solar System

abstract:
  Correlations in the orbits of several minor planets in the outer solar system
suggest the presence of a remote, massive Planet Nine. With at least ten times
the mass of the Earth and a perihelion well beyond 100 AU, Planet Nine poses a
challenge to planet formation theory. Here we expand on a scenario in which the
planet formed closer to the Sun and was gravitationally scattered by Jupiter or
Saturn onto a very eccentric orbit in an extended gaseous disk. Dynamical
friction with the gas then allowed the planet to settle in the outer solar
system. We explore this possibility with a set of numerical simulations.
Depending on how the gas disk evolves, scattered super-Earths or small gas
giants settle on a range of orbits, with perihelion distances as large as 300
AU. Massive disks that clear from the inside out on million-year time scales
yield orbits that allow a super-Earth or gas giant to shepherd the minor
planets as observed. A massive planet can achieve a similar orbit in a
persistent, low-mass disk over the lifetime of the solar system.


title:
Star-formation history and X-ray binary populations: the case of the
  Large Magellanic Cloud

abstract:
  In the present work we investigate the link between high-mass X-ray binaries
(HMXBs) and star formation in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), our nearest
star-forming galaxy. Using optical photometric data, we identify the most
likely counterpart of 44 X-ray sources. Among the 40 HMXBs classified in this
work, we find 33 Be/X-ray binaries, and 4 supergiant XRBs. Using this census
and the published spatially resolved star-formation history map of the LMC, we
find that the HMXBs (and as expected the X-ray pulsars) are present in regions
with star-formation bursts $\sim$6-25 Myr ago, in contrast to the Small
Magellanic Cloud (SMC), for which this population peaks at later ages
($\sim$25-60 Myr ago). We also estimate the HMXB production rate to be equal to
1 system per $\sim43.5\times10^{-3}$ Mo/yr, or 1 system per $\sim$143 Mo of
stars formed during the associated star-formation episode. Therefore, the
formation efficiency of HMXBs in the LMC is $\sim$17 times lower than that in
the SMC. We attribute this difference primarily in the different ages and
metallicity of the HMXB populations in the two galaxies. We also set limits on
the kicks imparted on the neutron star during the supernova explosion. We find
that the time elapsed since the supernova kick is $\sim$3 times shorter in the
LMC than the SMC. This in combination with the average offsets of the HMXBs
from their nearest star clusters results in $\sim$4 times faster transverse
velocities for HMXBs in the LMC than in the SMC.


title:
All-order existence of and recursion relations for the operator product
  expansion in Yang-Mills theory

abstract:
  We prove the existence of the operator product expansion (OPE) in Euclidean
Yang-Mills theories as a short-distance expansion, to all orders in
perturbation theory. We furthermore show that the Ward identities of the
underlying gauge theory are reflected in the OPE; especially, the OPE of an
arbitrary number of gauge-invariant composite operators only involves
gauge-invariant composite operators. Moreover, we derive recursion relations
which allow to construct the OPE coefficients, the quantum BRST differential
and the quantum antibracket order by order in perturbation theory, starting
from the known free-theory objects. These relations are completely finite from
the start, and do not need any further renormalisation as is usually the case
in other approaches. Our results underline the importance of the OPE as a
general structure underlying quantum field theories. The proofs are obtained
within the framework of the Wilson-Wegner-Polchinski-Wetterich renormalisation
group flow equations, and generalise similar results recently obtained for
scalar field theories [J. Holland and S. Hollands, Commun. Math. Phys. 336
(2015) 1555; J. Holland and S. Hollands, J. Math. Phys. 56 (2015) 122303].
Combining their results with our recursion formula, we also obtain
associativity of the OPE coefficients.


title:
Optimization of electrospinning techniques for the realization of
  nanofiber plastic lasers

abstract:
  Electrospinning technologies for the realization of active polymeric
nanomaterials can be easily up-scaled, opening perspectives to industrial
exploitation, and due to their versatility they can be employed to finely
tailor the size, morphology and macroscopic assembly of fibers as well as their
functional properties. Light-emitting or other active polymer nanofibers, made
of conjugated polymers or of blends embedding chromophores or other functional
dopants, are suitable for various applications in advanced photonics and
sensing technologies. In particular, their almost one-dimensional geometry and
finely tunable composition make them interesting materials for developing novel
lasing devices. However, electrospinning techniques rely on a large variety of
parameters and possible experimental geometries, and they need to be carefully
optimized in order to obtain suitable topographical and photonic properties in
the resulting nanostructures. Targeted features include smooth and uniform
fiber surface, dimensional control, as well as filament alignment, enhanced
light emission, and stimulated emission. We here present various optimization
strategies for electrospinning methods which have been implemented and
developed by us for the realization of lasing architectures based on polymer
nanofibers. The geometry of the resulting nanowires leads to peculiar
light-scattering from spun filaments, and to controllable lasing
characteristics.


title:
Sensor Deployment with Limited Communication Range in Homogeneous and
  Heterogeneous Wireless Sensor Networks

abstract:
  We study the heterogeneous wireless sensor networks (WSNs) and propose the
necessary condition of the optimal sensor deployment. Similar to that in
homogeneous WSNs, the necessary condition implies that every sensor node
location should coincide with the centroid of its own optimal sensing region.
Moreover, we discuss the dynamic sensor deployment in both homogeneous and
heterogeneous WSNs with limited communication range for the sensor nodes. The
purpose of sensor deployment is to improve sensing performance, reflected by
distortion and coverage. We model the sensor deployment problem as a source
coding problem with distortion reflecting sensing accuracy. Traditionally,
coverage is the area covered by the sensor nodes. However, when the
communication range is limited, a WSN may be divided into several disconnected
sub-graphs. Under such a scenario, neither the conventional distortion nor the
coverage represents the sensing performance as the collected data in
disconnected sub-graphs cannot be communicated with the access point. By
defining an appropriate distortion measure, we propose a Restrained Lloyd (RL)
algorithm and a Deterministic Annealing (DA) algorithm to optimize sensor
deployment in both homogeneous and heterogeneous WSNs. Our simulation results
show that both DA and RL algorithms outperform the existing Lloyd algorithm
when communication range is limited.


title:
On Determining the Fair Bandwidth Share for ABR Connections in ATM
  Networks

abstract:
  In a multi-service network such as ATM, adaptive data services(such as ABR)
share the bandwidth unused by higher priority services. The network indicates
to the ABR sources the fair and efficient rates at which they should transmit
to minimize their cell loss. In this paper, we propose a new method for
determining the "effective" number of active connections, and the fair
bandwidth share for each connection.


title: Classifying Syntactic Regularities for Hundreds of Languages

abstract:
  This paper presents a comparison of classification methods for linguistic
typology for the purpose of expanding an extensive, but sparse language
resource: the World Atlas of Language Structures (WALS) (Dryer and Haspelmath,
2013). We experimented with a variety of regression and nearest-neighbor
methods for use in classification over a set of 325 languages and six syntactic
rules drawn from WALS. To classify each rule, we consider the typological
features of the other five rules; linguistic features extracted from a
word-aligned Bible in each language; and genealogical features (genus and
family) of each language. In general, we find that propagating the majority
label among all languages of the same genus achieves the best accuracy in label
pre- diction. Following this, a logistic regression model that combines
typological and linguistic features offers the next best performance.
Interestingly, this model actually outperforms the majority labels among all
languages of the same family.


title:
Thermally Controlled Comb Generation and Soliton Modelocking in
  Microresonators

abstract:
  We report the first demonstration of thermally controlled soliton modelocked
frequency comb generation in microresonators. By controlling the electric
current through heaters integrated with silicon nitride microresonators, we
demonstrate a systematic and repeatable pathway to single- and multi-soliton
modelocked states without adjusting the pump laser wavelength. Such an approach
could greatly simplify the generation of modelocked frequency combs and
facilitate applications such as chip-based dual-comb spectroscopy.


title: Survivability in IP over WDM networks

abstract:
  The Internet is emerging as the new universal telecommunication medium. IP
over WDM has been envisioned as one of the most attractive architectures for
the new Internet. Consequently survivability is a crucial concern in designing
IP over WDM networks. This paper presents a survey of the survivability
mechanisms for IP over WDM networks and thus is intended to provide a summary
of what has been done in this area and help further research. A number of
optical layer protection techniques have been discussed. They are examined from
the point of view of cost, complexity, and application. Survivability
techniques are being made available at multiple layers of the network. This
paper also studies the recovery features of each network layer and explains the
impact of interaction between layers on survivability. The advantages and
issues of multi-layer survivability have been identified. The main idea is that
the optical layer can provide fast protection while the higher layers can
provide intelligent restoration. With this idea in mind, a new scheme of
carrying IP over WDM using MPLS or Multi Protocol Lambda-Switching has been
discussed. Finally, an architecture is suggested by means of which the optical
layer can perform an automatic protection switch, with priority considerations
with the help of signaling from the higher layers.


title:
Achieving QoS for TCP Traffic in Satellite Networks with Differentiated
  Services

abstract:
  Satellite networks play an indispensable role in providing global Internet
access and electronic connectivity. To achieve such a global communications,
provisioning of quality of service (QoS) within the advanced satellite systems
is the main requirement. One of the key mechanisms of implementing the quality
of service is traffic management. Traffic management becomes a crucial factor
in the case of satellite network because of the limited availability of their
resources. Currently, Internet Protocol (IP) only has minimal traffic
management capabilities and provides best effort services. In this paper, we
present broadband satellite network QoS model and simulated performance
results. In particular, we discuss the TCP flow aggregates performance for
their good behavior in the presence of competing UDP flow aggregates in the
same assured forwarding. We identify several factors that affect the
performance in the mixed environments and quantify their effects using a full
factorial design of experiment methodology.


title: Multimedia Satellite Networks and TCP/IP Traffic Transport

abstract:
  To meet an increasing demand for multimedia services and electronic
connectivity across the world, satellite networks will play an indispensable
role in the deployment of global networks. The new services gaining momentum
include mobile services, private intranets and high data rate internet access
carried over integrated satellite-fiber networks. Several performance issues
need to be addressed before a transport layer protocol, like TCP can
satisfactorily work over satellite ATM for large delay-bandwidth networks. In
this paper, we review the proposed satellite systems and discuss challenges
such as, traffic management and QoS requirements for broadband satellite ATM
networks. The performance results of TCP enhancements for Unspecified Bit Rate
over ATM (ATM-UBR+) for large bandwidth-delay environments with various end
system policies and drop policies for several buffer sizes are presented.


title: The phenomenology of trapped inflation

abstract:
  Trapped inflation is a mechanism in which particle production from the moving
inflaton is the main source of friction in the inflaton equation of motion. The
produced fields source inflaton perturbations, which dominate over the vacuum
ones. We employ the set of equations for the inflaton zero mode and its
perturbations which was developed in the original work on trapped inflation,
and which we extend to second order in the perturbations. We build on this
study by updating the experimental constraints, and by replacing the existing
approximate solutions with more accurate ones. We obtain a different numerical
value for the amplitude of the scalar power spectrum, and a parametrically
different result for the bispectrum. This has implications for the allowed
region of parameter space in models of trapped inflation, and for some of the
phenomenological results obtained in this region. The main results in the
allowed region are the following: monomial inflaton potentials, such as $V
\propto \varphi ,\, \varphi^2$ can be compatible with the data, and (in a
portion of the allowed region) the inflaton can be sub-Planckian over all the
"observable" stage of inflation; gravitational waves from this mechanism are
too small to be observed in the foreseeable future; a non-gaussianity parameter
$-60 < f_{\rm NL} < -20 $ is obtained in the allowed region for exactly
equilateral configurations, with a mild dependence on the parameters of the
model and of the inflaton potential.


title:
Orthogonal Magnetization and Symmetry Breaking in Pyrochlore Iridate
  Eu2Ir2O7

abstract:
  Electrons in the pyrochore iridates experience a large interaction energy in
addition to a strong spin-orbit interaction. Both features make the iridates
promising for realizing novel states such as the Topological Mott Insulator.
The pyrochlore iridate Eu$_2$Ir$_2$O$_7$ shows a metal-insulator transition at
$T_N \sim$ 120 K below which a magnetically ordered state develops. Using
torque magnetometry, we uncover a highly unusual magnetic response. A magnetic
field $\bf H$ applied in its $a$-$b$ plane produces a nonlinear magnetization
$M_\perp$ orthogonal to the plane. $M_\perp$ displays a $d$-wave field-angle
pattern consistent with octupolar order, with a handedness dictated by field
cooling, leading to symmetry breaking of the chirality $\omega$. A surprise is
that the lobe orientation of the $d$-wave pattern is sensitive to the direction
of the field when the sample is field-cooled below $T_N$, suggestive of an
additional order parameter $\eta$ already present at 300 K.


title:
How NOT To Evaluate Your Dialogue System: An Empirical Study of
  Unsupervised Evaluation Metrics for Dialogue Response Generation

abstract:
  We investigate evaluation metrics for dialogue response generation systems
where supervised labels, such as task completion, are not available. Recent
works in response generation have adopted metrics from machine translation to
compare a model's generated response to a single target response. We show that
these metrics correlate very weakly with human judgements in the non-technical
Twitter domain, and not at all in the technical Ubuntu domain. We provide
quantitative and qualitative results highlighting specific weaknesses in
existing metrics, and provide recommendations for future development of better
automatic evaluation metrics for dialogue systems.


title:
Efficient implementation of the hybrid method for stochastic simulation
  of biochemical systems

abstract:
  Stochastic effect in cellular systems has been an important topic in systems
biology. Stochastic modeling and simulation methods are important tools to
study stochastic effect. Given the low efficiency of stochastic simulation
algorithms, the hybrid method, which combines an ordinary differential equation
(ODE) system with a stochastic chemically reacting system, shows its unique
advantages in the modeling and simulation of biochemical systems. The
efficiency of hybrid method is usually limited by reactions in the stochastic
subsystem, which are modeled and simulated using Gillespie's framework and
frequently interrupt the integration of the ODE subsystem. In this paper we
develop an efficient implementation approach for the hybrid method coupled with
traditional ODE solvers. We also compare the efficiency of hybrid methods with
three widely used ODE solvers RADAU5, DASSL, and DLSODAR. Numerical experiments
with three biochemical models are presented. A detailed discussion is presented
for the performances of three ODE solvers.


title:
An Internet of Things Framework for Smart Energy in Buildings: Designs,
  Prototype, and Experiments

abstract:
  Smart energy in buildings is an important research area of Internet of Things
(IoT). Buildings as important parts of the smart grids, their energy efficiency
is vital for the environment and global sustainability. Using a
LEED-gold-certificated green office building, we built a unique IoT
experimental testbed for our energy efficiency and building intelligence
research. We first monitor and collect one-year-long building energy usage data
and then systematically evaluate and analyze them. The results show that due to
the centralized and static building controls, the actual running of green
buildings may not be energy efficient even though they may be "green" by
design. Inspired by "energy proportional computing" in modern computers, we
propose a IoT framework with smart location-based automated and networked
energy control, which uses smartphone platform and cloud computing technologies
to enable multi-scale energy proportionality including building-, user-, and
organizational-level energy proportionality. We further build a
proof-of-concept IoT network and control system prototype and carried out
real-world experiments which demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed
solution. We envision that the broad application of the proposed solution has
not only led to significant economic benefits in term of energy saving,
improving home/office network intelligence, but also bought in a huge social
implication in terms of global sustainability.


title:
Energy Sensing and Monitoring Framework with an Integrated Communication
  Backbone in the Energy Efficient Intelligent Buildings

abstract:
  Building environments are significant sources of global energy consumption.
To create energy efficient buildings, the first step is to sense and monitor
all the energy-consuming appliances in the buildings and record all the energy
consumption information. After that, appropriate energy saving policies can be
decided and the instructions can be sent to the control devices to apply the
energy saving adjustments. To do that, in-building two-way communication
networks are needed to connect all the sensors to collect information as well
as to send control instructions. However, most of the current devices are
provided by separate manufacturers and with separate network infrastructures
and so there is not much integration and interaction among different
subsystems. In this paper, we envision a new energy sensing and monitoring
framework with integrated communication backbone in the intelligent building
environments. Specifically, through comprehensive comparisons and
investigations, we study different candidate communicating media and protocols
like wireline, wireless, and power-line communications technologies that
potentially can be used in the intelligent buildings to realize the goals of
coordination, integration, and energy efficiency. Also, we propose an extension
"smart box" for integration of the devices before the maturity of the
standardization process. Cloud computing and smart phone technologies are also
introduced to realize the goals of improving energy efficiency and promote
global sustainability.


title:
A Scheduler for Unsolicited Grant Service (UGS) in IEEE 802.16e Mobile
  WiMAX Networks

abstract:
  Most of the IEEE 802.16e Mobile WiMAX scheduling proposals for real-time
traffic using Unsolicited Grant Service (UGS) focus on the throughput and the
guaranteed latency. The delay variation or delay jitter and the effect of burst
overhead have not yet been investigated. This paper introduces a new technique
called Swapping Min-Max (SWIM) for UGS scheduling that not only meets the delay
constraint with optimal throughput, but also minimizes the delay jitter and
burst overhead.


title:
On the Simultaneous Preservation of Privacy and Community Structure in
  Anonymized Networks

abstract:
  We consider the problem of performing community detection on a network, while
maintaining privacy, assuming that the adversary has access to an auxiliary
correlated network. We ask the question "Does there exist a regime where the
network cannot be deanonymized perfectly, yet the community structure could be
learned?." To answer this question, we derive information theoretic converses
for the perfect deanonymization problem using the Stochastic Block Model and
edge sub-sampling. We also provide an almost tight achievability result for
perfect deanonymization.
  We also evaluate the performance of percolation based deanonymization
algorithm on Stochastic Block Model data-sets that satisfy the conditions of
our converse. Although our converse applies to exact deanonymization, the
algorithm fails drastically when the conditions of the converse are met.
Additionally, we study the effect of edge sub-sampling on the community
structure of a real world dataset. Results show that the dataset falls under
the purview of the idea of this paper. There results suggest that it may be
possible to prove stronger partial deanonymizability converses, which would
enable better privacy guarantees.


title: Resnet in Resnet: Generalizing Residual Architectures

abstract:
  Residual networks (ResNets) have recently achieved state-of-the-art on
challenging computer vision tasks. We introduce Resnet in Resnet (RiR): a deep
dual-stream architecture that generalizes ResNets and standard CNNs and is
easily implemented with no computational overhead. RiR consistently improves
performance over ResNets, outperforms architectures with similar amounts of
augmentation on CIFAR-10, and establishes a new state-of-the-art on CIFAR-100.


title:
Electronic Transport Properties of Chemically Modified Double-Walled
  Carbon Nanotubes

abstract:
  We present a study on the quantum transport properties of chemically
functionalized metallic double-walled carbon nanotubes (DWNTs) with lengths
reaching the micrometer scale. First-principles calculations evidence that, for
coaxial tubes separated by the typical graphitic van der Waals-bond distance,
the chemical modification of the outer wall with sp$^3$-type defects affects
the electronic structure of both the outer and the inner tube, which reduces
significantly the charge transport capability of the DWNT. For larger spacing
between sidewalls, the conductivity of the outer wall decreases with increasing
functional group coverage density while charge transport in the inner tube is
equivalent to that of a pristine nanotube. Additionally, chemical attachment of
CCl$_2$ onto the outer DWNT sidewall barely affect the conjugated $\pi$-network
of the double-wall and charge transport remains in the quasi-ballistic regime.
These results indicate an efficient route for tailoring electronic transport in
DWNTs provided inner shell geometry and functional groups are properly chosen.


title: An optical transmission spectrum of the giant planet WASP-36 b

abstract:
  We present broad-band photometry of five transits in the planetary system
WASP-36, totaling 17 high-precision light curves. Four of the transits were
simultaneously observed in four passbands (g, r, i, z), using the
telescope-defocussing technique, and achieving scatters of less than 1 mmag per
observation. We used these data to improve the measured orbital and physical
properties of the system, and obtain an optical transmission spectrum of the
planet. We measured a decreasing radius from bluer to redder passbands with a
confidence level of more than 5 sigma. The radius variation is roughly 11
pressure scale heights between the g and the z bands. This is too strong to be
Rayleigh scattering in the planetary atmosphere, and implies the presence of a
species which absorbs strongly at bluer wavelengths.


title:
Production of NaCa$^+$ molecular ions in the ground state from cold
  atom-ion mixtures by photoassociation via an intermediate state

abstract:
  We present a theoretical analysis of optical pathways for formation of cold
Ca($^1$S)Na$^+$($^1$S) molecular ions via an intermediate state. The formation
schemes are based on ab initio potential energy curves and transition dipole
moments calculated using effective-core-potential methods of quantum chemistry.
In the proposed approach, starting from a mixture of cold trapped Ca$^+$ ions
immersed into an ultracold gas of Na atoms, (NaCa)$^+$ molecular ions are
photoassociated in the excited E$^{1}\Sigma^+$ electronic state and allowed to
spontaneously decay either to the ground electronic state or an intermediate
state from which the population is transferred to the ground state via an
additional optical excitation. By analyzing all possible pathways, we find that
the efficiency of a two-photon scheme, via either B$^{1}\Sigma^+$ or
C$^{1}\Sigma^+$ potential, is sufficient to produce significant quantities of
ground state (NaCa)$^+$ molecular ions. A single-step process results in lower
formation rates that would require either a high density sample or a very
intense photoassociation laser to be viable.


title:
Antiferromagnetic and Orbital Ordering on a Diamond Lattice Near Quantum
  Criticality

abstract:
  We present neutron scattering measurements on powder samples of the spinel
FeSc2S4 that reveal a previously unobserved magnetic ordering transition
occurring at 11.8(2)~K. Magnetic ordering occurs subsequent to a subtle
cubic-to-tetragonal structural transition which distorts Fe coordinating sulfur
tetrahedra lifting the orbital degeneracy. The application of 1~GPa hydrostatic
pressure appears to destabilize this N\'eel state, reducing the transition
temperature to 8.6(8)~K and redistributing magnetic spectral weight to higher
energies. The relative magnitudes of ordered $\langle m \rangle^2\!=\!3.1(2)$
and fluctuating moments $\langle \delta m \rangle^2\!=\!13(1)$ show that the
magnetically ordered ground state of FeSc2S4 is drastically renormalized and in
proximity to criticality.


title: An Extended Pruess Method for Sturm-Liouville Problems

abstract:
  A new version of the piecewise approximation (Pruess) method is developed for
calculating eigenvalues of Sturm-Liouville problems. The usual piecewise
constant or piecewise linear potential approximations are replaced by
translates of $2/cos^2(x)$, whose corresponding eigenvalue equation has
elementary solutions.


title: On kernel methods for covariates that are rankings

abstract:
  Permutation-valued features arise in a variety of applications, either in a
direct way when preferences are elicited over a collection of items, or an
indirect way in which numerical ratings are converted to a ranking. To date,
there has been relatively limited study of regression, classification, and
testing problems based on permutation-valued features, as opposed to
permutation-valued responses. This paper studies the use of reproducing kernel
Hilbert space methods for learning from permutation-valued features. These
methods embed the rankings into an implicitly defined function space, and allow
for efficient estimation of regression and test functions in this richer space.
Our first contribution is to characterize both the feature spaces and spectral
properties associated with two kernels for rankings, the Kendall and Mallows
kernels. Using tools from representation theory, we explain the limited
expressive power of the Kendall kernel by characterizing its degenerate
spectrum, and in sharp contrast, we prove that Mallows' kernel is universal and
characteristic. We also introduce families of polynomial kernels that
interpolate between the Kendall (degree one) and Mallows' (infinite degree)
kernels. We show the practical effectiveness of our methods via applications to
Eurobarometer survey data as well as a Movielens ratings dataset.


title:
Hyperbolic saddle measures and laminarity for holomorphic endomorphisms
  of $P^2C$

abstract:
  We study the laminarity of the Green current of endomorphisms of $P^2C$ near
hyperbolic measures of saddle type. When these measures are supported by
attracting sets, we prove that the Green current is laminar in the basin of
attraction and we obtain new ergodic properties. This generalizes some results
of Bedford and Jonsson on regular polynomial mappings in $C^2$.


title:
On the Detection of Mixture Distributions with applications to the Most
  Biased Coin Problem

abstract:
  This paper studies the trade-off between two different kinds of pure
exploration: breadth versus depth. The most biased coin problem asks how many
total coin flips are required to identify a "heavy" coin from an infinite bag
containing both "heavy" coins with mean $\theta_1 \in (0,1)$, and "light" coins
with mean $\theta_0 \in (0,\theta_1)$, where heavy coins are drawn from the bag
with probability $\alpha \in (0,1/2)$. The key difficulty of this problem lies
in distinguishing whether the two kinds of coins have very similar means, or
whether heavy coins are just extremely rare. This problem has applications in
crowdsourcing, anomaly detection, and radio spectrum search. Chandrasekaran et.
al. (2014) recently introduced a solution to this problem but it required
perfect knowledge of $\theta_0,\theta_1,\alpha$. In contrast, we derive
algorithms that are adaptive to partial or absent knowledge of the problem
parameters. Moreover, our techniques generalize beyond coins to more general
instances of infinitely many armed bandit problems. We also prove lower bounds
that show our algorithm's upper bounds are tight up to $\log$ factors, and on
the way characterize the sample complexity of differentiating between a single
parametric distribution and a mixture of two such distributions. As a result,
these bounds have surprising implications both for solutions to the most biased
coin problem and for anomaly detection when only partial information about the
parameters is known.


title:
Test of the Glauber Formula for Nucleon-Deuteron Scattering at
  Intermediate Energies

abstract:
  A high-precision test of the Glauber formula for the amplitude of
nucleon-deuteron scattering is performed. Nucleon-nucleon amplitudes used in
the calculations depend on the spins of interacting particles, phase shifts,
and mixing parameters. These amplitudes were derived by using the Nijmegen
potentials. The differential cross sections for nucleon-deuteron scattering
were calculated for the projectile-nucleon energies of 65, 95, 135, 150, 190,
and 250~MeV, and the results of these calculations were compared with
experimental data.


title:
An Empirical Study of Dimensional Reduction Techniques for Facial Action
  Units Detection

abstract:
  Biologically inspired features, such as Gabor filters, result in very high
dimensional measurement. Does reducing the dimensionality of the feature space
afford advantages beyond computational efficiency? Do some approaches to
dimensionality reduction (DR) yield improved action unit detection? To answer
these questions, we compared DR approaches in two relatively large databases of
spontaneous facial behavior (45 participants in total with over 2 minutes of
FACS-coded video per participant). Facial features were tracked and aligned
using active appearance models (AAM). SIFT and Gabor features were extracted
from local facial regions. We compared linear (PCA and KPCA), manifold (LPP and
LLE), supervised (LDA and KDA) and hybrid approaches (LSDA) to DR with respect
to AU detection. For further comparison, a no-DR control condition was included
as well. Linear support vector machine classifiers with independent train and
test sets were used for AU detection. AU detection was quantified using area
under the ROC curve and F1. Baseline results for PCA with Gabor features were
comparable with previous research. With some notable exceptions, DR improved AU
detection relative to no-DR. Locality embedding approaches proved vulnerable to
\emph{out-of-sample} problems. Gradient-based SIFT lead to better AU detection
than the filter-based Gabor features. For area under the curve, few differences
were found between linear and other DR approaches. For F1, results were mixed.
For both metrics, the pattern of results varied among action units. These
findings suggest that action unit detection may be optimized by using specific
DR for specific action units. PCA and LDA were the most efficient approaches;
KDA was the least efficient.


title: The AllWISE Motion Survey, Part 2

abstract:
  We use the AllWISE Data Release to continue our search for WISE-detected
motions. In this paper, we publish another 27,846 motion objects, bringing the
total number to 48,000 when objects found during our original AllWISE motion
survey are included. We use this list, along with the lists of confirmed
WISE-based motion objects from the recent papers by Luhman and by Schneider et
al. and candidate motion objects from the recent paper by Gagne et al. to
search for widely separated, common-proper-motion systems. We identify 1,039
such candidate systems. All 48,000 objects are further analyzed using
color-color and color-mag plots to provide possible characterizations prior to
spectroscopic follow-up. We present spectra of 172 of these, supplemented with
new spectra of 23 comparison objects from the literature, and provide
classifications and physical interpretations of interesting sources. Highlights
include: (1) the identification of three G/K dwarfs that can be used as
standard candles to study clumpiness and grain size in nearby molecular clouds
because these objects are currently moving behind the clouds, (2) the
confirmation/discovery of several M, L, and T dwarfs and one white dwarf whose
spectrophotometric distance estimates place them 5-20 pc from the Sun, (3) the
suggestion that the Na 'D' line be used as a diagnostic tool for interpreting
and classifying metal-poor late-M and L dwarfs, (4) the recognition of a triple
system including a carbon dwarf and late-M subdwarf, for which model fits of
the late-M subdwarf (giving [Fe/H] ~ -1.0) provide a measured metallicity for
the carbon star, and (5) a possible 24-pc-distant K5 dwarf + peculiar red L5
system with an apparent physical separation of 0.1 pc.


title: The Haber Process Made Efficient by Hydroxylated Graphene

abstract:
  The Haber-Bosch process is the main industrial method for producing ammonia
from diatomic nitrogen and hydrogen. Very demanding energetically, it uses an
iron catalyst, and requires high temperature and pressure. Any improvement of
the Haber process will have an extreme scientific and economic impact. We
report a significant increase of ammonia production using hydroxylated
graphene. Exploiting the polarity difference between N2/H2 and NH3, as well as
the universal proton acceptor behavior of NH3, we demonstrate a strong shift of
the equilibrium of the Haber-Bosch process towards ammonia. Hydroxylated
graphene provides the polar environment favoring the forward reaction, and
remain stable under the investigated thermodynamic conditions. Ca. 50 kJ mol-1
enthalpy gain and ca. 60-70 kJ mol-1 free energy gain are achieved at 298-1300
K and 1-1000 bar, strongly shifting the reaction equilibrium towards the
product. A clear microscopic interpretation of the observed phenomenon is given
using electronic structure calculations and real-time reactive simulations. The
demonstrated principle can be applied with many polar groups functionalizing a
substrate with a high surface area, provided that the system is chemically
inert to H2, N2 and NH3. The modified Haber-Bosch process is of significant
importance to the chemical industry, since it provides a substantial increase
of the reaction yield while decreasing the temperature and pressure, thereby,
reducing the cost.


title:
On the Compression of Recurrent Neural Networks with an Application to
  LVCSR acoustic modeling for Embedded Speech Recognition

abstract:
  We study the problem of compressing recurrent neural networks (RNNs). In
particular, we focus on the compression of RNN acoustic models, which are
motivated by the goal of building compact and accurate speech recognition
systems which can be run efficiently on mobile devices. In this work, we
present a technique for general recurrent model compression that jointly
compresses both recurrent and non-recurrent inter-layer weight matrices. We
find that the proposed technique allows us to reduce the size of our Long
Short-Term Memory (LSTM) acoustic model to a third of its original size with
negligible loss in accuracy.


title: Approximate Analytic Solutions to Coupled Nonlinear Dirac Equations

abstract:
  We consider the coupled nonlinear Dirac equations (NLDE's) in 1+1 dimensions
with scalar-scalar self interactions $\frac{ g_1^2}{2} ( {\bpsi} \psi)^2 +
\frac{ g_2^2}{2} ( {\bphi} \phi)^2 + g_3^2 ({\bpsi} \psi) ( {\bphi} \phi)$ as
well as vector-vector interactions of the form $\frac{g_1^2 }{2} (\bpsi
\gamma_{\mu} \psi)(\bpsi \gamma^{\mu} \psi)+ \frac{g_2^2 }{2} (\bphi
\gamma_{\mu} \phi)(\bphi \gamma^{\mu} \phi) + g_3^2 (\bpsi \gamma_{\mu}
\psi)(\bphi \gamma^{\mu} \phi ). $ Writing the two components of the assumed
solitary wave solution of these equations in the form $\psi = e^{-i \omega_1 t}
\{R_1 \cos \theta, R_1 \sin \theta \}$, $\phi = e^{-i \omega_2 t} \{R_2 \cos
\eta, R_2\sin \eta \}$, and assuming that $ \theta(x),\eta(x)$ have the {\it
same} functional form they had when $g_3$=0, which is an approximation
consistent with the conservation laws, we then find approximate analytic
solutions for $R_i(x)$ which are valid for small values of $g_3^2/ g_2^2 $ and
$g_3^2/ g_1^2$. In the nonrelativistic limit we show that both of these coupled
models go over to the same coupled nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation for which
we obtain two exact pulse solutions vanishing at $x \rightarrow \pm \infty$.


title:
Derivations of the Lie algebra of strictly block upper triangular
  matrices

abstract:
  Let ${\mathcal N}$ be the Lie algebra of all $n\times n$ strictly block upper
triangular matrices over a field ${\mathbb F}$ relative to a given partition.
In this paper, we give an explicit description of all derivations of ${\mathcal
N}$.


title: A Generalization of Hermite-Hadamard's Inequality

abstract:
  In literature the Hermite-Hadamard inequality was eligible for many reasons,
one of the most surprising and interesting that the Hermite-Hadamard inequality
combine the midpoint and trapezoid formulae in an inequality. In this work, a
Hermite-Hadamard like inequality that combines the composite trapezoid and
composite midpoint formulae is proved. So that, the classical Hermite-Hadamard
inequality becomes a special case of the presented result. Some Ostrowski's
type inequalities for convex functions are proved as well.


title:
Dark matter annihilation and decay from non-spherical dark halos in the
  Galactic dwarf satellites

abstract:
  The dwarf spheroidal galaxies (dSphs) in the Milky Way are the primary
targets in the indirect searches for particle dark matter. To set robust
constraints on candidate of dark matter particles, understanding the dark halo
structure of these systems is of substantial importance. In this paper, we
first evaluate the astrophysical factors for dark matter annihilation and decay
for 24 dSphs, with taking into account a non-spherical dark halo, using
generalized axisymmetric mass models based on axisymmetric Jeans equations.
First, from a fitting analysis of the most recent kinematic data available, our
axisymmetric mass models are a much better fit than previous spherical ones,
thus, our work should be the most realistic and reliable estimator for
astrophysical factors. Secondly, we find that among analysed dSphs, the
ultra-faint dwarf galaxies Triangulum II and Ursa Major II are the most
promising but large uncertain targets for dark matter annihilation while the
classical dSph Draco is the most robust and detectable target for dark matter
decay. It is also found that the non-sphericity of luminous and dark components
influences the estimate of astrophysical factors, even though these factors
largely depend on the sample size, the prior range of parameters and the
spatial extent of the dark halo. Moreover, owing to these effects, the
constraints on the dark matter annihilation cross-section are more conservative
than those of previous spherical works. These results are important for
optimizing and designing dark matter searches in current and future
multi-messenger observations by space and ground-based telescopes.


title:
Persistent self-supervised learning principle: from stereo to monocular
  vision for obstacle avoidance

abstract:
  Self-Supervised Learning (SSL) is a reliable learning mechanism in which a
robot uses an original, trusted sensor cue for training to recognize an
additional, complementary sensor cue. We study for the first time in SSL how a
robot's learning behavior should be organized, so that the robot can keep
performing its task in the case that the original cue becomes unavailable. We
study this persistent form of SSL in the context of a flying robot that has to
avoid obstacles based on distance estimates from the visual cue of stereo
vision. Over time it will learn to also estimate distances based on monocular
appearance cues. A strategy is introduced that has the robot switch from stereo
vision based flight to monocular flight, with stereo vision purely used as
'training wheels' to avoid imminent collisions. This strategy is shown to be an
effective approach to the 'feedback-induced data bias' problem as also
experienced in learning from demonstration. Both simulations and real-world
experiments with a stereo vision equipped AR drone 2.0 show the feasibility of
this approach, with the robot successfully using monocular vision to avoid
obstacles in a 5 x 5 room. The experiments show the potential of persistent SSL
as a robust learning approach to enhance the capabilities of robots. Moreover,
the abundant training data coming from the own sensors allows to gather large
data sets necessary for deep learning approaches.


title:
"Did I Say Something Wrong?" A Word-Level Analysis of Wikipedia Articles
  for Deletion Discussions

abstract:
  This thesis focuses on gaining linguistic insights into textual discussions
on a word level. It was of special interest to distinguish messages that
constructively contribute to a discussion from those that are detrimental to
them. Thereby, we wanted to determine whether "I"- and "You"-messages are
indicators for either of the two discussion styles. These messages are nowadays
often used in guidelines for successful communication. Although their effects
have been successfully evaluated multiple times, a large-scale analysis has
never been conducted.
  Thus, we used Wikipedia Articles for Deletion (short: AfD) discussions
together with the records of blocked users and developed a fully automated
creation of an annotated data set. In this data set, messages were labelled
either constructive or disruptive. We applied binary classifiers to the data to
determine characteristic words for both discussion styles. Thereby, we also
investigated whether function words like pronouns and conjunctions play an
important role in distinguishing the two.
  We found that "You"-messages were a strong indicator for disruptive messages
which matches their attributed effects on communication. However, we found
"I"-messages to be indicative for disruptive messages as well which is contrary
to their attributed effects. The importance of function words could neither be
confirmed nor refuted. Other characteristic words for either communication
style were not found. Yet, the results suggest that a different model might
represent disruptive and constructive messages in textual discussions better.


title:
Cerenkov light identification with Si low-temperature detectors with
  Neganov-Luke effect-enhanced sensitivity

abstract:
  A new generation of cryogenic light detectors exploiting Neganov-Luke effect
to enhance the thermal signal has been used to detect the Cherenkov light
emitted by the electrons interacting in TeO$_{2}$ crystals. With this mechanism
a high significance event-by-event discrimination between alpha and beta/gamma
interactions at the $^{130}$Te neutrino-less double beta decay Q-value -
(2527.515 $\pm$ 0.013) keV - has been demonstrated. This measurement opens the
possibility of drastically reducing the background in cryogenic experiments
based on TeO$_{2}$.


title:
Sparsity and Parallel Acquisition: Optimal Uniform and Nonuniform
  Recovery Guarantees

abstract:
  The problem of multiple sensors simultaneously acquiring measurements of a
single object can be found in many applications. In this paper, we present the
optimal recovery guarantees for the recovery of compressible signals from
multi-sensor measurements using compressed sensing. In the first half of the
paper, we present both uniform and nonuniform recovery guarantees for the
conventional sparse signal model in a so-called distinct sensing scenario. In
the second half, using the so-called sparse and distributed signal model, we
present nonuniform recovery guarantees which effectively broaden the class of
sensing scenarios for which optimal recovery is possible, including to the
so-called identical sampling scenario. To verify our recovery guarantees we
provide several numerical results including phase transition curves and
numerically-computed bounds.


title:
Generating a hexagonal lattice wave-field with a gradient basis
  structure

abstract:
  We present a new, single step approach for generating a hexagonal lattice
wave-field with a gradient local basis structure. We incorporate this by
coherently superposing two (or more) hexagonal lattice wave-fields which differ
in their basis structures. The basis of the resultant lattice wave-field is
highly dependent on the relative strengths of constituent wave-fields and a
desired spatial modulation of basis structure is thus obtained by controlling
the spatial modulation of relative strengths of constituent wave-fields. The
experimental realization of gradient lattice is achieved by using a phase only
spatial light modulator (SLM) in an optical 4f Fourier filter setup where the
SLM is displayed with numerically calculated gradient phase mask. The presented
method is wavelength independent and is completely scalable making it very
promising for micro-fabrication of corresponding structures.


title: Effective Majorana neutrino decay

abstract:
  We study the decay of heavy sterile Majorana neutrinos according to the
interactions obtained from an effective general theory. We describe the two and
three-body decays for a wide range of neutrino masses. The results obtained and
presented in this work could be useful for the study of the production and
detection of this particles in a variety of high energy physics experiments and
astrophysical observations. We show in different figures the dominant branching
ratios and the total decay width.


title: Direct frequency comb laser cooling and trapping

abstract:
  Continuous wave (CW) lasers are the enabling technology for producing
ultracold atoms and molecules through laser cooling and trapping. The resulting
pristine samples of slow moving particles are the de facto starting point for
both fundamental and applied science when a highly-controlled quantum system is
required. Laser cooled atoms have recently led to major advances in quantum
information, the search to understand dark energy, quantum chemistry, and
quantum sensors. However, CW laser technology currently limits laser cooling
and trapping to special types of elements that do not include highly abundant
and chemically relevant atoms such as hydrogen, carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen.
Here, we demonstrate that Doppler cooling and trapping by optical frequency
combs may provide a route to trapped, ultracold atoms whose spectra are not
amenable to CW lasers. We laser cool a gas of atoms by driving a two-photon
transition with an optical frequency comb, an efficient process to which every
comb tooth coherently contributes. We extend this technique to create a
magneto-optical trap (MOT), an electromagnetic beaker for accumulating the
laser-cooled atoms for further study. Our results suggest that the efficient
frequency conversion offered by optical frequency combs could provide a key
ingredient for producing trapped, ultracold samples of nature's most abundant
building blocks, as well as antihydrogen. As such, the techniques demonstrated
here may enable advances in fields as disparate as molecular biology and the
search for physics beyond the standard model.