title: Complete Monopole Dominance of the Yang-Mills Confining Potential

abstract:
  We continue our investigation of quark confinement using a particular variant
of the Cho-Duan-Ge gauge independent Abelian decomposition. The decomposition
splits the gauge field into a restricted Abelian part and a coloured part in a
way that preserves gauge covariance. The restricted part of the gauge field can
be divided into a Maxwell term and a topological term. Previously, we showed
that by a particular choice of this decomposition we could fully describe the
confining potential using only the restricted gauge field. We proposed that
various topological objects (a form of magnetic monopole) could arise in the
restricted field which would drive confinement. Our mechanism does not
explicitly refer to a dual Meissner effect, nor does it use centre vortices. We
did not need to gauge fix or introduce any new dynamical fields.
  We show that if we do gauge fix as well as performing the Abelian
decomposition then it is possible to ensure that the topological part of the
restricted field fully accounts for the confining potential. Our relationship
is exact: there is no approximation or model involved. This isolates the
objects responsible for confinement from non-confining contributions to the
gauge field, allowing a direct search for our proposed topological objects.
Using numerical studies in SU(2), we confirm that our proposed monopoles are
present in the field, and the winding number associated with these monopoles is
a key factor driving quark confinement.
  In SU(2), our monopoles are described by two parameters. We show that it is
possible to re-parametrise the Yang Mills action and the functional integration
measure in terms of these variables (plus the necessary additional parameters).
We can thus treat the monopoles as dynamical variables in the functional
integral. This might be the first step in a future analytical computation to
complement our numerical results.


title: Discrete Quantum Gravity and Quantum Field Theory

abstract:
  We introduce a discrete 4-dimensional module over the integers that appears
to have maximal symmetry. By adjoining the usual Minkowski distance, we obtain
a discrete 4-dimensional Minkowski space. Forming universe histories in this
space and employing the standard causal order, the histories become causal
sets. These causal sets increase in size rapidly and describe an inflationary
period for the early universe. We next consider the symmetry group $G$ for the
module. We show that $G$ has order 24 and we construct its group table. In a
sense $G$ is a discrete approximation to the Lorentz group. However, we note
that it contains no boosts and is essentially a rotation group. Unitary
representations of $G$ are constructed. The energy-momentum space dual to the
discrete module is obtained and a quantum formalism is derived. A discrete Fock
space is introduced on this structure and free quantum fields are considered.
Finally, we take the first step in a study of interacting quantum fields.


title:
The order versions of the Hahn--Banach Theorem and envelopes. I.
  Homogeneous functions

abstract:
  We present here the General formulation of the problem of existence and
construction of upper and lower envelope for an arbitrary function with values
from the completion of the ordered set ${\rm S}$ for a certain class of
functions with values in ${\rm S}$. The task is parsed only for the simplest
case of model class of homogeneous functions. Consider only order-algebraic
version without the involvement of the topology.


title: The Laplace transform and polynomial approximation in L2

abstract:
  This short note gives a sufficient condition for having the class of
polynomials dense in the space of square integrable functions with respect to a
finite measure dominated by the Lebesgue measure in the real line, here denoted
by $L^2$. It is shown that if the Laplace transform of the measure in play is
bounded in a neighbourhood of the origin, then the moments of all order are
finite and the class of polynomials is dense in $L^2$. The existence of the
moments of all orders is well known for the case where the measure is
concentrated in the positive real line (see Feller, 1966), but the result
concerning the polynomial approximation is original, even thought the proof is
relatively simple. Additionally, an alternative stronger condition easier to be
verified not involving the calculation of the Laplace transform is given. The
condition essentially says that the density of the measure should have
exponential decaying tails. The tools presented are of interest for
constructing semiparametric extensions of classic parametric models.


title: Accuracy Assessment for High-dimensional Linear Regression

abstract:
  This paper considers point and interval estimation of the $\ell_q$ loss of an
estimator in high-dimensional linear regression with random design. We
establish the minimax rate for estimating the $\ell_{q}$ loss and the minimax
expected length of confidence intervals for the $\ell_{q}$ loss of rate-optimal
estimators of the regression vector, including commonly used estimators such as
Lasso, scaled Lasso, square-root Lasso and Dantzig Selector. Adaptivity of the
confidence intervals for the $\ell_{q}$ loss is also studied. Both the setting
of known identity design covariance matrix and known noise level and the
setting of unknown design covariance matrix and unknown noise level are
studied. The results reveal interesting and significant differences between
estimating the $\ell_2$ loss and $\ell_q$ loss with $1\le q <2$ as well as
between the two settings.
  New technical tools are developed to establish rate sharp lower bounds for
the minimax estimation error and the expected length of minimax and adaptive
confidence intervals for the $\ell_q$ loss. A significant difference between
loss estimation and the traditional parameter estimation is that for loss
estimation the constraint is on the performance of the estimator of the
regression vector, but the lower bounds are on the difficulty of estimating its
$\ell_q$ loss. The technical tools developed in this paper can also be of
independent interest.


title: Information Flow in Logical Environments

abstract:
  This paper describes information flow within logical environments. The theory
of information flow, the logic of distributed systems, was first defined by
Barwise and Seligman (Information Flow: The Logic of Distributed Systems.
1997). Logical environments are a semantic-oriented version of institutions.
The theory of institutions, which was initiated by Goguen and Burstall
(Institutions: Abstract Model Theory for Specification and Programming. 1992),
is abstract model theory. Information flow is the flow of information in
channels over distributed systems. The semantic integration of distributed
systems, be they ontologies, databases or other information resources, can be
defined in terms of the channel theory of information flow. As originally
defined, the theory of information flow uses only a specific logical
environment in order to discuss information flow. This paper shows how
information flow can be defined in an arbitrary logical environment.


title: Infrared Dynamics of Cold Atoms on Hot Graphene Membranes

abstract:
  We study the infrared dynamics of low-energy atoms interacting with a sample
of suspended graphene at finite temperature. The dynamics exhibits severe
infrared divergences order by order in perturbation theory as a result of the
singular nature of low-energy flexural phonon emission. Our model can be viewed
as a two-channel generalization of the independent boson model with asymmetric
atom-phonon coupling. This allows us to take advantage of the exact
non-perturbative solution of the independent boson model in the stronger
channel while treating the weaker one perturbatively. In the low-energy limit,
the exact solution can be viewed as a resummation (exponentiation) of the most
divergent diagrams in the perturbative expansion. As a result of this
procedure, we obtain the atom's Green function which we use to calculate the
atom damping rate, a quantity equal to the quantum sticking rate. A
characteristic feature of our results is that the Green's function retains a
weak, infrared cutoff dependence that reflects the reduced dimensionality of
the problem. As a consequence, we predict a measurable dependence of the
sticking rate on graphene sample size. We provide detailed predictions for the
sticking rate of atomic hydrogen as a function of temperature and sample size.
The resummation yields an enhanced sticking rate relative to the conventional
Fermi golden rule result (equivalent to the one-loop atom self-energy), as
higher-order processes increase damping at finite temperature.


title:
Stability Analysis of Networked Systems Containing Damped and Undamped
  Nodes

abstract:
  This paper answers the question if a qualitatively heterogeneous passive
networked system containing damped and undamped nodes shows consensus in the
output of the nodes in the long run. While a standard Lyapunov analysis shows
that the damped nodes will always converge to a steady-state value, the
convergence of the undamped nodes is much more delicate and depends on the
parameter values of the network as well as on the topology of the graph. A
complete stability analysis is presented based on an eigenvector analysis
involving the mass values and the topology of both the original graph and the
reduced graph obtained by a Kron reduction that eliminates the damped nodes.


title: Surveying Graduate Students' Attitudes and Approaches to Problem Solving

abstract:
  Students' attitudes and approaches to problem solving in physics can
profoundly influence their motivation to learn and development of expertise. We
developed and validated an Attitudes and Approaches to Problem Solving survey
by expanding the Attitudes towards Problem Solving survey of Marx and Cummings
and administered it to physics graduate students. Comparison of their responses
to the survey questions about problem solving in their own graduate level
courses vs. problem solving in the introductory physics courses provides
insight into their expertise in introductory and graduate level physics. The
physics graduate students' responses to the survey questions were also compared
with those of introductory physics and astronomy students and physics faculty.
We find that, even for problem solving in introductory physics, graduate
students' responses to some survey questions are less expert-like than those of
the physics faculty. Comparison of survey responses of graduate students and
introductory students for problem solving in introductory physics suggests that
graduate students' responses are in general more expert-like than those of
introductory students. However, survey responses suggest that graduate-level
problem solving by graduate students on several measures has remarkably similar
trends to introductory-level problem solving by introductory students.


title: Free energy of ligand-receptor systems forming multimeric complexes

abstract:
  Ligand-receptor interactions are ubiquitous in biology and have become
popular in materials in view of their applications to programmable
self-assembly. Although, complex functionalities often emerge from the
simultaneous interaction of more than just two linker molecules, state of art
theoretical frameworks enable the calculation of the free energy only in
systems featuring one-to-one ligand/receptor binding. In this communication we
derive a general formula to calculate the free energy of a system featuring
simultaneous direct interaction between an arbitrary number of linkers. To
exemplify the potential and generality of our approach we apply it to the
systems recently introduced by Parolini et al. [ACS Nano 10, 2392 (2016)] and
Halverson et al. [J. Chem. Phys. 144, 094903 (2016)], both featuring
functioanlized Brownian particles interacting via three-linker complexes.


title: A Numerical Framework for Sobolev Metrics on the Space of Curves

abstract:
  Statistical shape analysis can be done in a Riemannian framework by endowing
the set of shapes with a Riemannian metric. Sobolev metrics of order two and
higher on shape spaces of parametrized or unparametrized curves have several
desirable properties not present in lower order metrics, but their
discretization is still largely missing. In this paper, we present algorithms
to numerically solve the geodesic initial and boundary value problems for these
metrics. The combination of these algorithms enables one to compute Karcher
means in a Riemannian gradient-based optimization scheme and perform principal
component analysis and clustering. Our framework is sufficiently general to be
applicable to a wide class of metrics. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our
approach by analyzing a collection of shapes representing HeLa cell nuclei.


title: A Simple and Effective Inequality Measure

abstract:
  Ratios of quantiles are often computed for income distributions as rough
measures of inequality, and inference for such ratios have recently become
available. The special case when the quantiles are symmetrically chosen; that
is, when the p/2 quantile is divided by the (1-p/2), is of special interest
because the graph of such ratios, plotted as a function of p over the unit
interval, yields an informative inequality curve. The area above the curve and
less than the horizontal line at one is an easily interpretable coefficient of
inequality. The advantages of these concepts over the traditional Lorenz curve
and Gini coefficient are numerous: they are defined for all positive income
distributions, they can be robustly estimated and distribution-free confidence
intervals for the inequality coefficient are easily found. Moreover the
inequality curves satisfy a median-based transference principle and are convex
for many commonly assumed income distributions.


title: Predicting Chroma from Luma with Frequency Domain Intra Prediction

abstract:
  This paper describes a technique for performing intra prediction of the
chroma planes based on the reconstructed luma plane in the frequency domain.
This prediction exploits the fact that while RGB to YUV color conversion has
the property that it decorrelates the color planes globally across an image,
there is still some correlation locally at the block level. Previous proposals
compute a linear model of the spatial relationship between the luma plane (Y)
and the two chroma planes (U and V). In codecs that use lapped transforms this
is not possible since transform support extends across the block boundaries and
thus neighboring blocks are unavailable during intra-prediction. We design a
frequency domain intra predictor for chroma that exploits the same local
correlation with lower complexity than the spatial predictor and which works
with lapped transforms. We then describe a low-complexity algorithm that
directly uses luma coefficients as a chroma predictor based on gain-shape
quantization and band partitioning. An experiment is performed that compares
these two techniques inside the experimental Daala video codec and shows the
lower complexity algorithm to be a better chroma predictor.


title: Sum of exit times in a series of two metastable states

abstract:
  We consider the problem of non degenerate in energy metastable states forming
a series in the framework of reversible finite state space Markov chains. We
assume that starting from the state at higher energy the system necessarily
visits the second one before reaching the stable state. In this framework, we
give a sharp estimate of the exit time from the metastable state at higher
energy and, on the proper exponential time scale, we prove an addition rule. As
an application of the theory, we study the Blume-Capel model in the zero
chemical potential case.


title: Bayesian Nonparametric Conditional Copula Estimation of Twin Data

abstract:
  Several studies on heritability in twins aim at understanding the different
contribution of environmental and genetic factors to specific traits.
Considering the National Merit Twin Study, our purpose is to correctly analyse
the influence of the socioeconomic status on the relationship between twins'
cognitive abilities. Our methodology is based on conditional copulas, which
allow us to model the effect of a covariate driving the strength of dependence
between the main variables. We propose a flexible Bayesian nonparametric
approach for the estimation of conditional copulas, which can model any
conditional copula density. Our methodology extends the work of Wu et al (2015)
by introducing dependence from a covariate in an infinite mixture model. Our
results suggest that environmental factors are more influential in families
with lower socio-economic position.


title: Nanometer-scale Exchange Interactions Between Spin Centers in Diamond

abstract:
  Exchange interactions between isolated pairs of spin centers in diamond have
been calculated, based on an accurate atomistic electronic structure for
diamond and any impurity atoms, for spin-center separations up to 2~nm. The
exchange interactions exceed dipolar interactions for spin center separations
less than 3~nm. NV$^-$ spin centers, which are extended defects, interact very
differently depending on the relative orientations of the symmetry axis of the
spin center and the radius vector connecting the pair. Exchange interactions
between transition-metal dopants behave similarly to those of NV$^-$ centers.
The Mn\---Mn exchange interaction decays with a much longer length scale than
the Cr\---Cr and Ni\---Ni exchange interactions, exceeding dipolar interactions
for Mn\---Mn separations less than 5~nm. Calculations of these highly
anisotropic and spin-center-dependent interactions provide the potential for
design of the spin-spin interactions for novel nanomagnetic structures.


title:
Electron-energy-loss and time-dependent density functional theory study
  on the plasmon dispersion in 2H-NbS2

abstract:
  We examine the experimental and theoretical electron-energy loss spectra in
2$H$-Cu$_{0.2}$NbS$_2$ and find that the 1 eV plasmon in this material does not
exhibit the regular positive quadratic plasmon dispersion that would be
expected for a normal broad-parabolic-band system. Instead we find a nearly
non-dispersing plasmon in the momentum-transfer range $q<0.35$ \AA$^{-1}$. We
argue that for a stoichiometric pure 2$H$-NbS$_2$ the dispersion relation is
expected to have a negative slope as is the case for other transition-metal
dichalcogenides. The presence of Cu impurities, required to stabilize the
crystal growth, tends to shift the negative plasmon dispersion into a positive
one, but the doping level in the current system is small enough to result in a
nearly-non-dispersing plasmon. We conclude that a negative-slope plasmon
dispersion is not connected with the existence of a charge-density-wave order
in transition metal dichalcogenides.


title:
Magnetotransport study of the pressure-induced antiferromagnetic phase
  in FeSe

abstract:
  The resistivity $\rho$ and Hall resistivity $\rho_H$ are measured on FeSe at
pressures up to $P$ = 28.3 kbar in magnetic fields up to $B$ = 14.5 T. The
$\rho(B)$ and $\rho_H(B)$ curves are analyzed with multicarrier models to
estimate the carrier density and mobility as a function of $P$ and temperature
($ T\leqslant$ 110 K). It is shown that the pressure-induced antiferromagnetic
transition is accompanied by an abrupt reduction of the carrier density and
scattering. This indicates that the electronic structure is reconstructed
significantly by the antiferromagnetic order.


title:
Proceedings of the First Workshop on Program Transformation for
  Programmability in Heterogeneous Architectures

abstract:
  This volume contains the proceedings of PROHA 2016, the first workshop on
Program Transformation for Programmability in Heterogeneous Architectures, held
on March 12, 2016 in Barcelona, Spain, as an affiliated workshop of CGO 2016,
the 14th International Symposium on Code Generation and Optimization.
Developing and maintaining high-performance applications and libraries for
heterogeneous architectures while preserving its semantics and with a
reasonable efficiency is a time-consuming task which is often only possible for
experts. It often requires manually adapting sequential, platform-agnostic code
to different infrastructures, and keeping the changes in all of these
infrastructures in sync. These program modification tasks are costly and
error-prone. Tools to assist in and, if possible, automate such transformations
are of course of great interest. However, such tools may need significant
reasoning and knowledge processing capabilities, including, for example, being
able to process machine-understandable descriptions of the semantics of a piece
of code is expected to do; to perform program transformations inside a context
in which they are applicable; to use strategies to identify the sequence of
transformations leading to the best resulting code; and others.


title: The KdV hierarchy in optics

abstract:
  There is a well explored relationship between quantum mechanical scattering
from a potential and the Korteweg-de Vries (KdV) equation of fluid dynamics: if
the potential is 'evolved' according to the KdV equation then it will have the
same reflectivity and transmissivity as a function of energy, for each snapshot
in time. In this work we explore this connection in optics, where the
permittivity plays the role of the potential. We begin by deriving the
relationship between the Helmholtz equation and the KdV equation in terms of
the current induced in a material when a permittivity profile is changed
slightly. It is then shown that the KdV equation can be used to design a
plethora of bounded complex potentials that are relfectionless from both sides
for all angles of incidence, and planar periodic media that exhibit a real
Bloch vector for all angles of propagation. Finally we apply the KdV equation
to reduce the reflection of a wave from an interface between two media of
differing refractive indices.


title:
A Unifying Formalism for Shortest Path Problems with Expensive Edge
  Evaluations via Lazy Best-First Search over Paths with Edge Selectors

abstract:
  While the shortest path problem has myriad applications, the computational
efficiency of suitable algorithms depends intimately on the underlying problem
domain. In this paper, we focus on domains where evaluating the edge weight
function dominates algorithm running time. Inspired by approaches in robotic
motion planning, we define and investigate the Lazy Shortest Path class of
algorithms which is differentiated by the choice of an edge selector function.
We show that several algorithms in the literature are equivalent to this lazy
algorithm for appropriate choice of this selector. Further, we propose various
novel selectors inspired by sampling and statistical mechanics, and find that
these selectors outperform existing algorithms on a set of example problems.


title: Bayesian Opponent Exploitation in Imperfect-Information Games

abstract:
  Two fundamental problems in computational game theory are computing a Nash
equilibrium and learning to exploit opponents given observations of their play
(opponent exploitation). The latter is perhaps even more important than the
former: Nash equilibrium does not have a compelling theoretical justification
in game classes other than two-player zero-sum, and for all games one can
potentially do better by exploiting perceived weaknesses of the opponent than
by following a static equilibrium strategy throughout the match. The natural
setting for opponent exploitation is the Bayesian setting where we have a prior
model that is integrated with observations to create a posterior opponent model
that we respond to. The most natural, and a well-studied prior distribution is
the Dirichlet distribution. An exact polynomial-time algorithm is known for
best-responding to the posterior distribution for an opponent assuming a
Dirichlet prior with multinomial sampling in normal-form games; however, for
imperfect-information games the best known algorithm is based on approximating
an infinite integral without theoretical guarantees. We present the first exact
algorithm for a natural class of imperfect-information games. We demonstrate
that our algorithm runs quickly in practice and outperforms the best prior
approaches. We also present an algorithm for the uniform prior setting.


title:
Element Abundances in a Gas-rich Galaxy at z = 5: Clues to the Early
  Chemical Enrichment of Galaxies

abstract:
  Element abundances in high-redshift quasar absorbers offer excellent probes
of the chemical enrichment of distant galaxies, and can constrain models for
population III and early population II stars. Recent observations indicate that
the sub-damped Lyman-alpha (sub-DLA) absorbers are more metal-rich than DLA
absorbers at redshifts 0$<$$z$$<$3. It has also been suggested that the DLA
metallicity drops suddenly at $z$$>$4.7. However, only 3 DLAs at $z$$>$4.5 and
none at $z$$>$3.5 have "dust-free" metallicity measurements of undepleted
elements. We report the first quasar sub-DLA metallicity measurement at
$z$$>$3.5, from detections of undepleted elements in high-resolution data for a
sub-DLA at $z$=5.0. We obtain fairly robust abundances of C, O, Si, and Fe,
using lines outside the Lyman-alpha forest. This absorber is metal-poor, with
O/H]=-2.00$\pm$0.12, which is $\gtrsim$4$\sigma$ below the level expected from
extrapolation of the trend for $z$$<$3.5 sub-DLAs. The C/O ratio is
1.8$^{+0.4}_{-0.3}$ times lower than in the Sun. More strikingly, Si/O is
3.2$^{+0.6}_{-0.5}$ times lower than in the Sun, while Si/Fe is nearly
(1.2$^{+0.4}_{-0.3}$ times) solar. This absorber does not display a clear
alpha/Fe enhancement. Dust depletion may have removed more Si from the gas
phase than is common in the Milky Way interstellar medium, which may be
expected if high-redshift supernovae form more silicate-rich dust. C/O and Si/O
vary substantially between different velocity components, indicating spatial
variations in dust depletion and/or early stellar nucleosynethesis (e.g.,
population III star initial mass function). The higher velocity gas may trace
an outflow enriched by early stars.


title:
Multiple stellar populations in Magellanic Cloud clusters. IV. The
  double main sequence of the young cluster NGC1755

abstract:
  Nearly all the star clusters with ages of ~1-2 Gyr in both Magellanic Clouds
exhibit an extended main-sequence turn off (eMSTO) whose origin is under
debate. The main scenarios suggest that the eMSTO could be either due to
multiple generations of stars with different ages or to coeval stellar
populations with different rotation rates.
  In this paper we use Hubble-Space-Telescope images to investigate the ~80-Myr
old cluster NGC1755 in the LMC. We find that the MS is split with the blue and
the red MS hosting about the 25% and the 75% of the total number of MS stars,
respectively. Moreover, the MSTO of NGC1755 is broadened in close analogy with
what is observed in the ~300-Myr-old NGC1856 and in most intermediate-age
Magellanic-Cloud clusters. We demonstrate that both the split MS and the eMSTO
are not due to photometric errors, field-stars contamination, differential
reddening, or non-interacting binaries. These findings make NGC1755 the
youngest cluster with an eMSTO.
  We compare the observed CMD with isochrones and conclude that observations
are not consistent with stellar populations with difference in age, helium, or
metallicity only. On the contrary, the split MS is well reproduced by two
stellar populations with different rotation, although the fit between the
observed eMSTO and models with different rotation is not fully satisfactory. We
speculate whether all stars in NGC1755 were born rapidly rotating, and a
fraction has slowed down on a rapid timescale, or the dichotomy in rotation
rate was present already at star formation. We discuss the implication of these
findings on the interpretation of eMSTO in young and intermediate-age clusters.


title:
Spatial distribution of ultra-diffuse galaxies within large-scale
  structures

abstract:
  Taking advantage of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Stripe82 data, we have
explored the spatial distribution of ultra-diffuse galaxies (UDGs) within an
area of 8$\times$8 Mpc$^2$ centred around the galaxy cluster Abell 168 ($z$ =
0.045). This intermediate massive cluster ($\sigma$ = 550 km s$^{-1}$) is
surrounded by a complex large-scale structure. Our work confirms the presence
of UDGs in the cluster and in the large-scale structure that surrounds it, and
it is the first detection of UDGs outside clusters. Approximately 50 per cent
of the UDGs analysed in the selected area inhabit the cluster region ($\sim$11
$\pm$ 5 per cent in the core and $\sim$39 $\pm$ 9 per cent in the outskirts),
whereas the remaining UDGs are found outside the main cluster structure
($\sim$50 $\pm$ 11 per cent). The colours and the spatial distribution of the
UDGs within this large-scale structure are more similar to the dwarf galaxies
than to L$_\star$ galaxies, suggesting that most of UDGs could be bona fide
dwarf galaxies.


title: Continuous Molecular Communication in one dimensional situation

abstract:
  Molecular Communication as the most potential methods to solve the
communication in nano scale, for it's derived from nature, and it becomes more
and more prevalent. Though molecular communication happens in three dimensional
situation, there are also some situation that are in the one dimensional
situation, especially when considering the transmitters and the receivers are
in extremely short distance or in long slim pipe. In this paper, we introduce
the one dimensional situation, and studied how the continuous information
molecules transmitted in this situation, also introduced how to encode and
decode the information molecules, and based on the molecular communication
model, we studied some metrics of it, such as the distance between transmitter
and receiver, the emitting frequency of transmitter. Through the research we
know that the distance and frequency are important metrics to the successful
communication, which can direct us how to place the nano transmitters and
receivers in the future nano network environment.


title: A generalized quadratic estimate for random field nonstationarity

abstract:
  In this paper, we attempt to shed light on a new class of nonstationary
random fields which exhibit, what we call, local invariant nonstationarity. We
argue that the local invariant property has a special interaction with a new
generalized quadratic estimate---also derived here---which extends an estimate
originally developed for gravitational lensing of the Cosmic Microwave
Background in Cosmology \cite{hu2001mapping, hu2002mass}. The nature of this
interaction not only encourages low estimation bias but also enables accurate
(and fast) quantification of Frequentist mean square error quantification of
the estimated nonstationarity. These quadratic estimates are interesting, in
their own right, as they detect and estimate nonstationarity by probing
correlation among Fourier frequencies, the absence of which is the
characterizing feature of weak stationarity (by Bochner's Theorem). Moreover,
this generalized quadratic estimate can be computed with a Fourier
characterization that runs in $\mathcal O(n\log n)$ time when observing the
field on a uniform grid of size $n$ in $\Bbb R^d $. Finally, the work presented
here partially addresses two other problems associated with the statistical
theory of nonstationarity: 1) estimating the phase of a spatially varying
modulated stationary random field and 2) identifying a larger class of
nonstationary random fields which admit an extension of the quadratic estimator
of gravitational lensing that extends the same attractive statistical
properties.


title: The Flattening of Dust Attenuation Curve to z=2.5

abstract:
  We examine the evolution of dust attenuation curve using a sample of 9504
disk star-forming galaxies (SFGs) selected from the CANDELS and 3D-HST surveys
and a new technique relying on the fact that disk SFGs of similar stellar
masses at the same cosmic epoch are statistically identical in stellar
populations. We attribute the discrepancy in median magnitude between face-on
(b/a>0.7) and edge-on (b/a<=0.4) subsamples solely to dust attenuation, and
obtain the average attenuation in the rest-frame UV and optical as functions of
stellar mass and redshift out to z=2.5. Our results show that the attenuation
curve becomes remarkably flatter at increasing redshift for both massive and
low-mass disk SFGs, and remains likely unchanged with galaxy stellar mass at a
fixed epoch within uncertainties. Compared with the Calzetti law, our dust
attenuation curves appear to be slightly steeper at 0.5<z<1.4 and remarkably
flatter at 1.4<z<2.5. Our findings are consistent with a picture in which the
evolution of dust grain size distribution is mainly responsible for the
evolution of the dust attenuation curve in SFGs; dust shattering becomes a
dominant process at z<~1.4, resulting in an enrichment of small dust grains and
consequently a steeper attenuation curve. We stress that extinction correction
for high-z galaxies should be done using mass- and redshift-dependent
attenuation curves.


title: A remark on imaginary part of resonance points

abstract:
  In this paper we prove for rank one perturbations that negative two times
reciprocal of the imaginary part of resonance point is equal to the rate of
change of the scattering phase as a function of the coupling constant, where
the coupling constant is equal to the real part of the resonance point. This
equality is in agreement with Breit-Wigner formula from quantum scattering
theory.
  For general relatively trace class perturbations, we also give a formula for
the spectral shift function in terms of resonance points, non-real and real.


title:
SU(1,1) and SU(2) Approaches to the Radial Oscillator: Generalized
  Coherent States and Squeezing of Variances

abstract:
  It is shown that each one of the Lie algebras su(1,1) and su(2) determine the
spectrum of the radial oscillator. States that share the same orbital angular
momentum are used to construct the representation spaces of the non-compact Lie
group SU(1,1). In addition, three different forms of obtaining the
representation spaces of the compact Lie group SU(2) are introduced, they are
based on the accidental degeneracies associated with the spherical symmetry of
the system as well as on the selection rules that govern the transitions
between different energy levels. In all cases the corresponding generalized
coherent states are constructed and the conditions to squeeze the involved
quadratures are analyzed.


title:
Degeneracy between Lensing and Occultation in the Analysis of
  Self-lensing Phenomena

abstract:
  More than 40 years after the first discussion, it was recently reported the
detection of a self-lensing phenomenon within a binary system where the
brightness of a background star is magnified by its foreground companion. It is
expected that the number of self-lensing binary detections will be increased in
a wealth of data from current and future survey experiments. In this paper, we
introduce a degeneracy in the interpretation of self-lensing light curves. The
degeneracy is intrinsic to self-lensing binaries for which both magnification
by lensing and de-magnification by occultation occur simultaneously and is
caused by the difficulty in separating the contribution of the lensing-induced
magnification from the observed light curve. We demonstrate the severity of the
degeneracy by presenting example self-lensing light curves suffering from the
degeneracy. We also present the relation between the lensing parameters of the
degenerate solutions. The degeneracy would pose as an important obstacle in
accurately determine self-lensing parameters and thus to characterize binaries.


title:
AccConF: An Access Control Framework for Leveraging In-Network Cached
  Data in ICNs

abstract:
  The fast-growing Internet traffic is increasingly becoming content-based and
driven by mobile users, with users more interested in data rather than its
source. This has precipitated the need for an information-centric Internet
architecture. Research in information-centric networks (ICNs) have resulted in
novel architectures, e.g., CCN/NDN, DONA, and PSIRP/PURSUIT; all agree on named
data based addressing and pervasive caching as integral design components. With
network-wide content caching, enforcement of content access control policies
become non-trivial. Each caching node in the network needs to enforce access
control policies with the help of the content provider. This becomes
inefficient and prone to unbounded latencies especially during provider
outages.
  In this paper, we propose an efficient access control framework for ICN,
which allows legitimate users to access and use the cached content directly,
and does not require verification/authentication by an online provider
authentication server or the content serving router. This framework would help
reduce the impact of system down-time from server outages and reduce delivery
latency by leveraging caching while guaranteeing access only to legitimate
users. Experimental/simulation results demonstrate the suitability of this
scheme for all users, but particularly for mobile users, especially in terms of
the security and latency overheads.


title:
Checkpointing to minimize completion time for Inter-dependent Parallel
  Processes on Volunteer Grids

abstract:
  Volunteer computing is being used successfully for large scale scientific
computations. This research is in the context of Volpex, a programming
framework that supports communicating parallel processes in a volunteer
environment. Redundancy and checkpointing are combined to ensure consistent
forward progress with Volpex in this unique execution environment characterized
by heterogeneous failure prone nodes and interdependent replicated processes.
An important parameter for optimizing performance with Volpex is the frequency
of checkpointing. The paper presents a mathematical model to minimize the
completion time for inter-dependent parallel processes running in a volunteer
environment by finding a suitable checkpoint interval. Validation is performed
with a sample real world application running on a pool of distributed volunteer
nodes. The results indicate that the performance with our predicted checkpoint
interval is fairly close to the best performance obtained empirically by
varying the checkpoint interval.


title:
The Infinitesimal Phase Response Curves of Oscillators in Piecewise
  Smooth Dynamical Systems

abstract:
  The asymptotic phase $\theta$ of an initial point $x$ in the stable manifold
of a limit cycle identifies the phase of the point on the limit cycle to which
the flow $\phi_t(x)$ converges as $t\to\infty$. The infinitesimal phase
response curve (iPRC) quantifies the change in timing due to a small
perturbation of a limit cycle trajectory. For a stable limit cycle in a smooth
dynamical system the iPRC is the gradient $\nabla_x(\theta)$ of the phase
function, which can be obtained via the adjoint of the variational equation.
For systems with discontinuous dynamics, the standard approach to obtaining the
iPRC fails. We derive a formula for the infinitesimal phase response curves
(iPRCs) of limit cycles occurring in piecewise smooth (Filipov) dynamical
systems of arbitrary dimension, subject to a transverse flow condition.
Discontinuous jumps in the iPRC can occur at the boundaries separating
subdomains, and are captured by a linear matching condition. The matching
matrix, $M$, can be derived from the saltation matrix arising in the associated
variational problem. For the special case of linear dynamics away from
switching boundaries, we obtain an explicit expression for the iPRC. We present
examples from cell biology (Glass networks) and neuroscience (central pattern
generator models). We apply the iPRCs obtained to study synchronization and
phase-locking in piecewise smooth limit cycle systems in which synchronization
arises solely due to the crossing of switching manifolds.


title:
The Flipped SU(5) String Vacua Classification: A Variation Of The SO(10)
  Breaking Basis Vector

abstract:
  In this paper, an extension of the classification of flipped SU(5)
heterotic-string vacua from [1] with a variation of the SO(10) breaking
$\alpha$ basis vector is presented. A statistical sampling in the space of
$2^{45}$ flipped SU(5) vacua is explored, where $10^{11}$ distinct GGSO
projection configurations are scanned in comparison to the $10^{12}$ GGSO
distinct coefficients scanned in the space of $2^{44}$ vacua in [1]. A JAVA
code, akin to the one used for the classification in [1], was implemented to
explore these. Results presented here indicate that no three generation
exophobic vacua exist, which was also found to be the case in [1] as all odd
generations were projected out. This paper will also study the details on the
comparison between the two classifications achieved and then reflect on future
directions in the quest for finding three generation exophobic flipped SU(5)
heterotic-string models.


title: Sorting with Asymmetric Read and Write Costs

abstract:
  Emerging memory technologies have a significant gap between the cost, both in
time and in energy, of writing to memory versus reading from memory. In this
paper we present models and algorithms that account for this difference, with a
focus on write-efficient sorting algorithms. First, we consider the PRAM model
with asymmetric write cost, and show that sorting can be performed in
$O\left(n\right)$ writes, $O\left(n \log n\right)$ reads, and logarithmic depth
(parallel time). Next, we consider a variant of the External Memory (EM) model
that charges $\omega > 1$ for writing a block of size $B$ to the secondary
memory, and present variants of three EM sorting algorithms (multi-way
mergesort, sample sort, and heapsort using buffer trees) that asymptotically
reduce the number of writes over the original algorithms, and perform roughly
$\omega$ block reads for every block write. Finally, we define a variant of the
Ideal-Cache model with asymmetric write costs, and present write-efficient,
cache-oblivious parallel algorithms for sorting, FFTs, and matrix
multiplication. Adapting prior bounds for work-stealing and
parallel-depth-first schedulers to the asymmetric setting, these yield parallel
cache complexity bounds for machines with private caches or with a shared
cache, respectively.


title:
Fluctuation theorem for entropy production of a partial system in the
  weak coupling limit

abstract:
  Small systems in contact with a heat bath evolve by stochastic dynamics. Here
we show that, when one such small system is weakly coupled to another one, it
is possible to infer the presence of such weak coupling by observing the
violation of the steady state fluctuation theorem for the partial entropy
production of the observed system. We give a general mechanism due to which the
violation of the fluctuation theorem can be significant, even for weak
coupling. We analytically demonstrate on a realistic model system that this
mechanism can be realized by applying an external random force to the system.
In other words, we find a new fluctuation theorem for the entropy production of
a partial system, in the limit of weak coupling.

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


title:
All-Dielectric Nanophotonic Structures: Exploring the Magnetic Component
  of Light

abstract:
  We discuss nanophotonic structures composed of high-index dielectric
nanoparticles and present several basic approaches for numerical study of their
collective optical response. We also provide comparison on the collective
optical properties of dielectric and plasmonic structures, and review
experimental demonstrations of Fano resonances in all-dielectric nanoparticle
oligomers.


title: A Trisectrix from a Carpenter's Square

abstract:
  In 1928 Henry Scudder described how to use a carpenter's square to trisect an
angle. We use the ideas behind Scudder's technique to define a trisectrix---a
curve that can be used to trisect an angle. We also describe a compass that
could be used to draw the curve.


title: Monomial ideals and independence of $\mathrm{I}\Sigma_2$

abstract:
  We show that a miniaturised version of Maclagan's theorem on monomial ideals
is equivalent to $\mathrm{1}{-}\mathrm{Con}(\mathrm{I}\Sigma_2)$ and classify a
phase transition threshold for this theorem. This work highlights the
combinatorial nature of Maclagan's theorem.


title: Adaptive Component-wise Multiple-Try Metropolis Sampling

abstract:
  One of the most widely used samplers in practice is the component-wise
Metropolis-Hastings (CMH) sampler that updates in turn the components of a
vector valued Markov chain using accept-reject moves generated from a proposal
distribution. When the target distribution of a Markov chain is irregularly
shaped, a `good' proposal distribution for one part of the state space might be
a `poor' one for another part of the state space. We consider a component-wise
multiple-try Metropolis (CMTM) algorithm that can automatically choose from a
set of candidate moves sampled from different distributions. The computational
efficiency is increased using an adaptation rule for the CMTM algorithm that
dynamically builds a better set of proposal distributions as the Markov chain
runs. The ergodicity of the adaptive chain is demonstrated theoretically. The
performance is studied via simulations and real data examples.


title:
A Set Theoretic Approach for Knowledge Representation: the
  Representation Part

abstract:
  In this paper, we propose a set theoretic approach for knowledge
representation. While the syntax of an application domain is captured by set
theoretic constructs including individuals, concepts and operators, knowledge
is formalized by equality assertions. We first present a primitive form that
uses minimal assumed knowledge and constructs. Then, assuming naive set theory,
we extend it by definitions, which are special kinds of knowledge.
Interestingly, we show that the primitive form is expressive enough to define
logic operators, not only propositional connectives but also quantifiers.


title:
A Semi-Markov Algorithm for Continuous Time Random Walk Limit
  Distributions

abstract:
  The Semi-Markov property of Continuous Time Random Walks (CTRWs) and their
limit processes is utilized, and the probability distributions of the bivariate
Markov process $(X(t),V(t))$ are calculated: $X(t)$ is a CTRW limit and $V(t)$
a process tracking the age, i.e. the time since the last jump. For a given CTRW
limit process $X(t)$, a sequence of discrete CTRWs in discrete time is given
which converges to $X(t)$ (weakly in the Skorokhod topology). Master equations
for the discrete CTRWs are implemented numerically, thus approximating the
distribution of $X(t)$. A consequence of the derived algorithm is that any
distribution of initial age can be assumed as an initial condition for the CTRW
limit dynamics. Four examples with different temporal scaling are discussed:
subdiffusion, tempered subdiffusion, the fractal mobile/immobile model and the
tempered fractal mobile/immobile model.


title: The ultimate absorption at light scattering by a single obstacle

abstract:
  Based on fundamental properties of light scattering by a particle we reveal
the existence of the ultimate upper limit for the light absorption by any
partial mode. First, we obtain this result for scattering of a plane wave by a
symmetric spherical or infinite cylindrical structure of an arbitrary radius.
Then, we generalize it to an arbitrary finite obstacle. Importantly, the result
is true for any polarization, any angle of incidence of the plane wave and any
type of the structure (homogeneous, stratified, or with smoothly variable
refractive index). The corresponding maximal partial cross- section is a
universal quantity, which does not depend on the optical constants of the
scatterer its radius, and even its shape.


title: Structure-Preserving Model Reduction of Forced Hamiltonian Systems

abstract:
  This paper reports a development in the proper symplectic decomposition (PSD)
for model reduction of forced Hamiltonian systems. As an analogy to the proper
orthogonal decomposition (POD), PSD is designed to build a symplectic subspace
to fit empirical data. Our aim is two-fold. First, to achieve computational
savings for large-scale Hamiltonian systems with external forces. Second, to
simultaneously preserve the symplectic structure and the forced structure of
the original system. We first reformulate d'Alembert's principle in the
Hamiltonian form. Corresponding to the integral and local forms of d'Alembert's
principle, we propose two different structure-preserving model reduction
approaches to reconstruct low-dimensional systems, based on the variational
principle and on the structure-preserving projection, respectively. These two
approaches are proven to yield the same reduced system. Moreover, by
incorporating the vector field into the data ensemble, we provided several
algorithms for energy preservation. In a special case when the external force
is described by the Rayleigh dissipative function, the proposed method
automatically preserves the dissipativity, boundedness, and stability of the
original system. The stability, accuracy, and efficiency of the proposed method
are illustrated through numerical simulations of a dissipative wave equation.


title:
Near-Optimal Active Learning of Halfspaces via Query Synthesis in the
  Noisy Setting

abstract:
  In this paper, we consider the problem of actively learning a linear
classifier through query synthesis where the learner can construct artificial
queries in order to estimate the true decision boundaries. This problem has
recently gained a lot of interest in automated science and adversarial reverse
engineering for which only heuristic algorithms are known. In such
applications, queries can be constructed de novo to elicit information (e.g.,
automated science) or to evade detection with minimal cost (e.g., adversarial
reverse engineering). We develop a general framework, called dimension coupling
(DC), that 1) reduces a d-dimensional learning problem to d-1 low dimensional
sub-problems, 2) solves each sub-problem efficiently, 3) appropriately
aggregates the results and outputs a linear classifier, and 4) provides a
theoretical guarantee for all possible schemes of aggregation. The proposed
method is proved resilient to noise. We show that the DC framework avoids the
curse of dimensionality: its computational complexity scales linearly with the
dimension. Moreover, we show that the query complexity of DC is near optimal
(within a constant factor of the optimum algorithm). To further support our
theoretical analysis, we compare the performance of DC with the existing work.
We observe that DC consistently outperforms the prior arts in terms of query
complexity while often running orders of magnitude faster.


title:
An $\ell_{\infty}$ Eigenvector Perturbation Bound and Its Application to
  Robust Covariance Estimation

abstract:
  In statistics and machine learning, people are often interested in the
eigenvectors (or singular vectors) of certain matrices (e.g. covariance
matrices, data matrices, etc). However, those matrices are usually perturbed by
noises or statistical errors, either from random sampling or structural
patterns. One usually employs Davis-Kahan $\sin \theta$ theorem to bound the
difference between the eigenvectors of a matrix $A$ and those of a perturbed
matrix $\widetilde{A} = A + E$, in terms of $\ell_2$ norm. In this paper, we
prove that when $A$ is a low-rank and incoherent matrix, the $\ell_{\infty}$
norm perturbation bound of singular vectors (or eigenvectors in the symmetric
case) is smaller by a factor of $\sqrt{d_1}$ or $\sqrt{d_2}$ for left and right
vectors, where $d_1$ and $d_2$ are the matrix dimensions. The power of this new
perturbation result is shown in robust covariance estimation, particularly when
random variables have heavy tails. There, we propose new robust covariance
estimators and establish their asymptotic properties using the newly developed
perturbation bound. Our theoretical results are verified through extensive
numerical experiments.


title: The Nainital-Cape Survey-IV

abstract:
  The Nainital-Cape survey is a dedicated ongoing survey programme to search
for and study pulsational variability in chemically peculiar (CP) stars to
understand their internal structure and evolution. The main aims of this survey
are to find new pulsating Ap and Am stars in the northern and southern
hemisphere and to perform asteroseismic studies of these new pulsators. The
survey is conducted using high-speed photometry. The candidate stars were
selected on the basis of having Stromgren photometric indices similar to those
of known pulsating CP stars. Over the last decade a total of 337 candidate
pulsating CP stars were observed for the Nainital-Cape survey, making it one of
the longest ground-based surveys for pulsation in CP stars in terms of time
span and sample size. The previous papers of this series presented seven new
pulsating variables and 229 null results. In this paper we present the light
curves, frequency spectra and the various astrophysical parameters of the 108
additional CP stars observed since the last reported results. We have also
tabulated the basic physical parameters of the known roAp stars. As part of
establishing the detection limits in the Nainital-Cape survey, we investigated
the scintillation noise level at the two observing sites used in this survey,
Sutherland and Nainital, by comparing the combined frequency spectra stars
observed from each location. Our analysis shows that both the sites permit the
detection of variations on the order of 0.6 milli-magnitude (mmag) in the
frequency range 1-4 mHz, with Sutherland being marginally better, on average.


title:
High-dimensional Black-box Optimization via Divide and Approximate
  Conquer

abstract:
  Divide and Conquer (DC) is conceptually well suited to high-dimensional
optimization by decomposing a problem into multiple small-scale sub-problems.
However, appealing performance can be seldom observed when the sub-problems are
interdependent. This paper suggests that the major difficulty of tackling
interdependent sub-problems lies in the precise evaluation of a partial
solution (to a sub-problem), which can be overwhelmingly costly and thus makes
sub-problems non-trivial to conquer. Thus, we propose an approximation
approach, named Divide and Approximate Conquer (DAC), which reduces the cost of
partial solution evaluation from exponential time to polynomial time.
Meanwhile, the convergence to the global optimum (of the original problem) is
still guaranteed. The effectiveness of DAC is demonstrated empirically on two
sets of non-separable high-dimensional problems.


title: Cycle and flow trusses in directed networks

abstract:
  When we represent real-world systems as networks, the directions of links
often convey valuable information. Finding module structures that respect link
directions is one of the most important tasks for analyzing directed networks.
Although many notions of a directed module have been proposed, no consensus has
been reached. This lack of consensus results partly because there might exist
distinct types of modules in a single directed network, whereas most previous
studies focused on an independent criterion for modules. To address this issue,
we propose a generic notion of the so-called truss structures in directed
networks. Our definition of truss is able to extract two distinct types of
trusses, named the cycle truss and the flow truss, from a unified framework. By
applying the method for finding trusses to empirical networks obtained from a
wide range of research fields, we find that most real networks contain both
cycle and flow trusses. In addition, the abundance of (and the overlap between)
the two types of trusses may be useful to characterize module structures in a
wide variety of empirical networks. Our findings shed light on the importance
of simultaneously considering different types of modules in directed networks.


title:
On Euclidean and Hermitian Self-Dual Cyclic Codes over
  $\mathbb{F}_{2^r}$

abstract:
  Cyclic and self-dual codes are important classes of codes in coding theory.
Jia, Ling and Xing \cite{Jia} as well as Kai and Zhu \cite{Kai} proved that
Euclidean self-dual cyclic codes of length $n$ over $\mathbb{F}_q$ exist if and
only if $n$ is even and $q=2^r$, where $r$ is any positive integer. For $n$ and
$q$ even, there always exists an $[n, \frac{n}{2}]$ self-dual cyclic code with
generator polynomial $x^{\frac{n}{2}}+1$ called the \textit{trivial self-dual
cyclic code}. In this paper we prove the existence of nontrivial self-dual
cyclic codes of length $n=2^\nu \cdot \bar{n}$, where $\bar{n}$ is odd, over
$\mathbb{F}_{2^r}$ in terms of the existence of a nontrivial splitting $(Z,
X_0, X_1)$ of $\mathbb{Z}_{\bar{n}}$ by $\mu_{-1}$, where $Z, X_0,X_1$ are
unions of $2^r$-cyclotomic cosets mod $\bar{n}.$ We also express the formula
for the number of cyclic self-dual codes over $\mathbb{F}_{2^r}$ for each $n$
and $r$ in terms of the number of $2^r$-cyclotomic cosets in $X_0$ (or in
$X_1$).
  We also look at Hermitian self-dual cyclic codes and show properties which
are analogous to those of Euclidean self-dual cyclic codes. That is, the
existence of nontrivial Hermitian self-dual codes over $\mathbb{F}_{2^{2
\ell}}$ based on the existence of a nontrivial splitting $(Z, X_0, X_1)$ of
$\mathbb{Z}_{\bar{n}}$ by $\mu_{-2^\ell}$, where $Z, X_0,X_1$ are unions of
$2^{2 \ell}$-cyclotomic cosets mod $\bar{n}.$ We also determine the lengths at
which nontrivial Hermitian self-dual cyclic codes exist and the formula for the
number of Hermitian self-dual cyclic codes for each $n$.


title: Cosmic Constraints to wCDM Model from Strong Gravitational Lensing

abstract:
  In this paper, we study the cosmic constraint to $w$CDM model via $118$
strong gravitational lensing systems which are complied from SLACS, BELLS, LSD
and SL2S surveys, where the ratio between two angular diameter distances
$D^{obs} = D_A(z_l,z_s)/D_A(0,z_s)$ is taken as a cosmic observable. To obtain
this ratio, we adopt two strong lensing models: one is the singular isothermal
sphere model (SIS), the other one is the power-law density profile (PLP) model.
Via the Markov Chain Mote Carlo method, the posterior distribution of the
cosmological model parameters space is obtained. The results show that the
cosmological model parameters are not sensitive to the parameterized forms of
the power-law index $\gamma$. Furthermore, the PLP model gives a relative
tighter constraint to the cosmological parameters than that of the SIS model.
The predicted value of $\Omega_m=0.31^{+0.44}_{-0.24}$ by SIS model is
compatible with that obtained by {\it Planck}2015: $\Omega_{m}=0.313\pm0.013$.
However, the value of $\Omega_m=0.15^{+0.13}_{-0.11}$ based on the PLP model is
smaller and has $1.25\sigma$ tension with that obtained by {\it Planck}2015
result. This discrepancy maybe come from the systematic errors.


title:
Classification of spectra of the Neumann-Poincar\'e operator on planar
  domains with corners by resonance

abstract:
  We study spectral properties of the Neumann-Poincar\'e operator on planar
domains with corners with particular emphasis on existence of continuous
spectrum and pure point spectrum. We show that the rate of resonance at
continuous spectrum is different from that at eigenvalues, and then derive a
method to distinguish continuous spectrum from eigenvalues. We perform
computational experiments using the method to see whether continuous spectrum
and pure point spectrum appear on domains with corners. For the computations we
use a modification of the Nystr\"om method which makes it possible to construct
high-order convergent discretizations of the Neumann-Poincar\'e operator on
domains with corners. The results of experiments show that all three possible
spectra, absolutely continuous spectrum, singularly continuous spectrum, and
pure point spectrum, may appear depending on domains. We also prove rigorously
two properties of spectrum which are suggested by numerical experiments:
symmetry of spectrum (including continuous spectrum), and existence of
eigenvalues on rectangles of high aspect ratio.


title: Cluster Structures on Higher Teichmuller Spaces for Classical Groups

abstract:
  Let $S$ be a surface, $G$ a simply-connected classical group, and $G'$ the
associated adjoint form of the group. We show that the spaces of moduli spaces
of framed local systems $\X_{G',S}$ and $\A_{G,S}$, which were constructed by
Fock and Goncharov (\cite{FG1}), have the structure of cluster varieties, and
thus together form a cluster ensemble. This simplifies some of the proofs in
\cite{FG1}, and also allows one to quantize higher Teichmuller space following
the formalism of \cite{FG2}, \cite{FG3}, and \cite{FG5}, which was previously
only possible when $G$ was of type $A$.


title:
Baryon content and dynamic state of galaxy clusters: XMM-Newton
  observations of A1095 and A1926

abstract:
  We have initiated a program to study the baryon content and dynamic state of
galaxy clusters. Here we present results primarily from XMM-Newton observations
of two optically-selected galaxy clusters, A1095 ($z \simeq 0.210$) and A1926
($z \simeq 0.136$). We find that both of them are actually cluster pairs at
similar redshifts. We characterize the temperatures of these individual
clusters through X-ray spectral fits and then estimate their gravitational
masses. We show a rich set of substructures, including large position offsets
between the diffuse X-ray centroids and the brightest galaxies of the clusters,
which suggests that they are dynamically young. For both A1095 and A1926, we
find that the mass required for the cluster pairs to be bound is smaller than
the total gravitational mass. Thus both cluster pairs appear to be ongoing
major mergers. Incorporating SDSS and NVSS/FIRST data, we further examine the
large-scale structure environment and radio emission of the clusters to probe
their origins, which also leads to the discovery of two additional
X-ray-emitting clusters ($z \simeq 0.097$ and $z \simeq 0.147$) in the field of
A1926. We estimate the hot gas and stellar masses of each cluster, which
compared with the expected cosmological baryonic mass fraction, leave ample
room for warm gas.


title: Novel Charge Ordering in the Trimer Iridium Oxide BaIrO3

abstract:
  We have prepared polycrystalline samples of the trimer Ir oxide BaIrO3 with
face-shared Ir3O12 trimers, and have investigated the origin of the phase
transition at 182 K by measuring resistivity, thermopower, magnetization and
synchrotron x-ray diffraction. We propose a possible electronic model and
transition mechanism, starting from a localized electron picture on the basis
of the Rietveld refinement. Within this model, BaIrO3 can be basically regarded
as a Mott insulator, when the Ir3O12 trimer is identified to one pseudo-atom or
one lattice site. The transition can be viewed as a transition from the Mott
insulator phase to a kind of charge ordered insulator phase.


title: Cycles in graphs of fixed girth with large size

abstract:
  Consider a family of graphs having a fixed girth and a large size. We give an
optimal lower asymptotic bound on the number of even cycles of any constant
length, as the order of the graphs tends to infinity.


title: Rotation Sets of Billiards with N Obstacles on a Torus

abstract:
  For billiards with $N$ obstacles on a torus, we study the behavior of
specific kind of its trajectories, \emph{the so called admissible
trajectories}. Using the methods developed in \cite{1}, we prove that the
\emph{admissible rotation set} is convex, and the periodic trajectories of
admissible type are dense in the admissible rotation set. In addition, we show
that the admissible rotation set is a proper subset of the general rotation
set.


title: Integrability of Nonholonomic Heisenberg Type Systems

abstract:
  We show that some modern geometric methods of Hamiltonian dynamics can be
directly applied to the nonholonomic Heisenberg type systems. As an example we
present characteristic Killing tensors, compatible Poisson brackets, Lax
matrices and classical $r$-matrices for the conformally Hamiltonian vector
fields obtained in a process of reduction of Hamiltonian vector fields by a
nonholonomic constraint associated with the Heisenberg system.


title: A Capture-gated Fast Neutron Detection Method

abstract:
  To address the problem of the shortage of neutron detectors used in radiation
portal monitors (RPMs), caused by the 3He supply crisis, research on a
cadmium-based capture-gated fast neutron detector is presented in this paper.
The detector is composed of many 1 cm * 1 cm * 20 cm plastic scintillator
cuboids covered by 0.1 mm thick film of cadmium. The detector uses cadmium to
absorb thermal neutrons and produce capture gamma-rays to indicate the
detection of neutrons, and uses plastic scintillator to moderate neutrons and
register gamma-rays. This design removes the volume competing relationship in
traditional 3He counter-based fast neutron detectors, which hinders enhancement
of the neutron detection efficiency. Detection efficiency of 21.66 +- 1.22% has
been achieved with a 40.4 cm * 40.4 cm * 20 cm overall detector volume. This
detector can measure both neutrons and gamma-rays simultaneously. A small
detector (20.2 cm * 20.2 cm * 20 cm) demonstrated a 3.3 % false alarm rate for
a 252Cf source with a neutron yield of 1841 n/s from 50 cm away within 15
seconds measurement time. It also demonstrated a very low (< 0.06%) false alarm
rate for a 3.21 * 105 Bq 137Cs source. This detector offers a potential
single-detector replacement for both neutron and the gamma-ray detectors in RPM
systems.


title:
A Vertical Channel Model of Molecular Communication based on Alcohol
  Molecules

abstract:
  The study of Molecular Communication(MC) is more and more prevalence, and
channel model of MC plays an important role in the MC System. Since different
propagation environment and modulation techniques produce different channel
model, most of the research about MC are in horizontal direction,but in nature
the communications between nano machines are in short range and some of the
information transportation are in the vertical direction, such as transpiration
of plants, biological pump in ocean, and blood transportation from heart to
brain. Therefore, this paper we propose a vertical channel model which
nano-machines communicate with each other in the vertical direction based on
pure diffusion. We first propose a vertical molecular communication model, we
mainly considered the gravity as the factor, though the channel model is also
affected by other main factors, such as the flow of the medium, the distance
between the transmitter and the receiver, the delay or sensitivity of the
transmitter and the receiver. Secondly, we set up a test-bed for this vertical
channel model, in order to verify the difference between the theory result and
the experiment data. At last, we use the data we get from the experiment and
the non-linear least squares method to get the parameters to make our channel
model more accurate.


title: Tellurium-bridged two-leg spin ladder in Ba$_2$CuTeO$_6$

abstract:
  We present single-crystal growth and magnetic property studies of
tellurium-bridged copper spin-1/2 system Ba$_2$CuTeO$_6$. The spin-exchange
interaction among copper spins via Cu-O-Te-O-Cu super-superexchange route leads
to a novel two-leg spin ladder system. Spin susceptibility $\chi$(T) data
indicates that the triclinic Ba$_2$CuTeO$_6$ undergoes a stepwise crossover for
exchange couplings revealed by a broad maximum near T$_{max}$$\sim$75~K and an
anisotropic cusp in $\frac{d\chi}{dT}$(T) to signify a three dimensional (3D)
antiferromagnetic long-range ordering (LRO). The 3D LRO has been suggested from
the anisotropic behavior of $\chi$(T) with strong c-axis spin anisotropy and
the signature of spin flop transition from the isothermal magnetization below
$T_N$. Analysis of magnetic heat capacity (Cm) at $T_N$~15 K indicates that
most of the spin entropy (~92% ) has already been released above $T_N$, which
supports the picture of consecutive spin entropy reduction upon cooling with
Te-bridged two-leg spin ladder system with strong intraladder and interladder
couplings. Theoretical DFT+U calculations have been performed to search for the
ground state magnetic configuration and also to evaluate exchange coupling
constants that support the magnetic model deduced from the combined spin
susceptibility and crystal structure symmetry analysis.


title:
Regularization to orthogonal-polynomials fitting with application to
  magnetization data

abstract:
  An obstacle encountered in applying orthogonal-polynomials fitting is how to
select out the proper fitting expression. By adding a Laplace term to the error
expression and introducing the concept of overfitting degree, a regularization
and corresponding cross validation scheme is proposed for two-variable
polynomials fitting. While the Fortran implementation of above scheme is
applied to magnetization data, a satisfactory fitting precision is reached, and
overfitting problem can be quantitatively assessed, which therefore offers the
quite reliable base for future comprehensive investigations of magnetocaloric
and phase-transition properties of magnetic functional materials.


title: Stateless Code Model Checking of Information Flow Security

abstract:
  Observational determinism is a security property that characterizes secure
information flow for multithreaded programs. Most of the methods that have been
used to verify observational determinism are based on either type systems or
conventional model checking techniques. A conventional model checker is
stateful and often verifies a system model usually constructed manually. As
these methods are based on stateful model checking, they are confronted with
the state space explosion problem. In order to verify and test computer
programs, stateless code model checking is more appropriate than conventional
techniques. It is an effective method for systematic testing of large and
complicated concurrent programs, and for exploring the state space of such
programs. In this paper, we propose a new method for verifying information flow
security in concurrent programs. For the first time, we use stateless code
model checking to verify observational determinism.


title: All 2-positive linear maps from M3 to M3 are decomposable

abstract:
  Following an idea of Choi, we obtain a decomposition theorem for k-positive
linear maps from Mm to Mn, where 2<=k<min{m,n}. As a consequence, we give an
affirmative answer to Kye's conjecture (also solved independently by Choi) that
every 2-positive linear map from M3 to M3 is decomposable.


title: A New Approach to Stateless Model Checking of LTL Properties

abstract:
  Verification of large and complicated concurrent programs is an important
issue in the software world. Stateless model checking is an appropriate method
for systematically and automatically testing of large programs, which has
proved its power in verifying code of large programs. Another well-known method
in this area is runtime verification. Both stateless model checking and runtime
verification are similar in some ways. One common approach in runtime
verification is to construct runtime monitors for properties expressed in
linear temporal logic. Currently, there are some semantics to check linear
temporal logic formulae on finite paths proposed in the field of runtime
verification, which can also be applied to stateless model checking. However,
existing stateless model checkers do not support LTL formulae. In some
settings, it is more advantageous to make use of stateless model checking
instead of runtime verification. This paper proposes a novel encoding of one of
the recent LTL semantics on finite paths into an actor-based system. We take a
truly parallel approach without saving any program states or traces, which not
only addresses important problems in runtime verification, but can also be
applied to stateless model checking.


title: DSCMC: Distributed Stateless Code Model Checker

abstract:
  Stateless code model checking is an effective verification technique, which
is more applicable than stateful model checking to the software world. Existing
stateless model checkers support the verification of neither LTL formulae nor
the information flow security properties. This paper proposes a distributed
stateless code model checker (DSCMC) designed based on the Actor model, and has
the capability of verifying code written in different programming languages.
This tool is implemented using Erlang, which is an actor-based programming
language. DSCMC is able to detect deadlocks, livelocks, and data races
automatically. In addition, the tool can verify information flow security and
the properties specified in LTL. Thanks to its actor-based architecture, DSCMC
provides a wide range of capabilities. The parallel architecture of the tool
exploiting the rich concurrency model of Erlang is suited to the time-intensive
process of stateless code model checking.


title:
Measurement of the $B_{1g}$ and $B_{2g}$ components of the
  elastoresistivity tensor for tetragonal materials via transverse resistivity
  configurations

abstract:
  The elastoresistivity tensor $m_{ij,kl}$ relates changes in resistivity to
strains experienced by a material. As a fourth-rank tensor, it contains
considerably more information about the material than the simpler (second-rank)
resistivity tensor; in particular, for a tetragonal material, the $B_{1g}$ and
$B_{2g}$ components of the elastoresistivity tensor ($m_{xx,xx}-m_{xx,yy}$ and
$2m_{xy,xy}$, respectively) can be related to its nematic susceptibility.
Previous experimental probes of this quantity have focused exclusively on
differential longitudinal elastoresistance measurements, which determine the
induced resistivity anisotropy arising from anisotropic in-plane strain based
on the difference of two longitudinal resistivity measurements. Here we
describe a complementary technique based on \textit{transverse}
elastoresistance measurements. This new approach is advantageous because it
directly determines the strain-induced resistivity anisotropy from a single
transverse measurement. To demonstrate the efficacy of this new experimental
protocol, we present transverse elastoresistance measurements of the
$2m_{xy,xy}$ elastoresistivity coefficient of BaFe$_2$As$_2$, a representative
iron-pnictide that has previously been characterized via differential
longitudinal elastoresistance measurements.


title:
Asymptotic Optimal Strategy for Portfolio Optimization in a Slowly
  Varying Stochastic Environment

abstract:
  In this paper, we study the portfolio optimization problem with general
utility functions and when the return and volatility of underlying asset are
slowly varying. An asymptotic optimal strategy is provided within a specific
class of admissible controls under this problem setup. Specifically, we first
establish a rigorous first order approximation of the value function associated
to a fixed zeroth order suboptimal trading strategy, which is given by the
heuristic argument in [J.-P. Fouque, R. Sircar and T. Zariphopoulou, {\it
Mathematical Finance}, 2016]. Then, we show that this zeroth order suboptimal
strategy is asymptotically optimal in a specific family of admissible trading
strategies. Finally, we show that our assumptions are satisfied by a particular
fully solvable model.


title:
Suppression of galactic outflows by cosmological infall and
  circumgalactic medium

abstract:
  We investigate the relative importance of two galactic outflow suppression
mechanisms : a) Cosmological infall of the intergalactic gas onto the galaxy,
and b) the existence of a hot circumgalactic medium (CGM). Considering only
radial motion, the infall reduces the speed of outflowing gas and even halts
the outflow, depending on the mass and redshift of the galaxy. For star forming
galaxies there exists an upper mass limit beyond which outflows are suppressed
by the gravitational field of the galaxy. We find that infall can reduce this
upper mass limit approximately by a factor of two (independent of the
redshift). Massive galaxies ($\gtrsim 10^{12} M_{\odot}$) host large reservoir
of hot, diffuse CGM around the central part of the galaxy. The CGM acts as a
barrier between the infalling and outflowing gas and provides an additional
source of outflow suppression. We find that at low redshifts ($z\lesssim3.5$),
the CGM is more effective than the infall in suppressing the outflows.
Together, these two processes give a mass range in which galaxies are unable to
have effective outflows. We also discuss the impact of outflow suppression on
the enrichment history of the galaxy and its environment.


title:
Radiation Pressure Acceleration: the factors limiting maximum attainable
  ion energy

abstract:
  Radiation pressure acceleration (RPA) is a highly efficient mechanism of
laser-driven ion acceleration, with with near complete transfer of the laser
energy to the ions in the relativistic regime. However, there is a fundamental
limit on the maximum attainable ion energy, which is determined by the group
velocity of the laser. The tightly focused laser pulses have group velocities
smaller than the vacuum light speed, and, since they offer the high intensity
needed for the RPA regime, it is plausible that group velocity effects would
manifest themselves in the experiments involving tightly focused pulses and
thin foils. However, in this case, finite spot size effects are important, and
another limiting factor, the transverse expansion of the target, may dominate
over the group velocity effect. As the laser pulse diffracts after passing the
focus, the target expands accordingly due to the transverse intensity profile
of the laser. Due to this expansion, the areal density of the target decreases,
making it transparent for radiation and effectively terminating the
acceleration. The off-normal incidence of the laser on the target, due either
to the experimental setup, or to the deformation of the target, will also lead
to establishing a limit on maximum ion energy.


title: Watch-n-Patch: Unsupervised Learning of Actions and Relations

abstract:
  There is a large variation in the activities that humans perform in their
everyday lives. We consider modeling these composite human activities which
comprises multiple basic level actions in a completely unsupervised setting.
Our model learns high-level co-occurrence and temporal relations between the
actions. We consider the video as a sequence of short-term action clips, which
contains human-words and object-words. An activity is about a set of
action-topics and object-topics indicating which actions are present and which
objects are interacting with. We then propose a new probabilistic model
relating the words and the topics. It allows us to model long-range action
relations that commonly exist in the composite activities, which is challenging
in previous works. We apply our model to the unsupervised action segmentation
and clustering, and to a novel application that detects forgotten actions,
which we call action patching. For evaluation, we contribute a new challenging
RGB-D activity video dataset recorded by the new Kinect v2, which contains
several human daily activities as compositions of multiple actions interacting
with different objects. Moreover, we develop a robotic system that watches
people and reminds people by applying our action patching algorithm. Our
robotic setup can be easily deployed on any assistive robot.


title:
Completeness of the Bethe states for the rational, spin-1/2
  Richardson--Gaudin system

abstract:
  Establishing the completeness of a Bethe Ansatz solution for an exactly
solved model is a perennial challenge, which is typically approached on a case
by case basis. For the rational, spin-1/2 Richardson--Gaudin system it will be
argued that, for generic values of the system's coupling parameters, the Bethe
states are complete. This method does not depend on knowledge of the
distribution of Bethe roots, such as a string hypothesis, and is generalisable
to a wider class of systems.


title: Communities in Preference Networks: Refined Axioms and Beyond

abstract:
  Borgs et al. [2016] investigated essential requirements for communities in
preference networks. They defined six axioms on community functions, i.e.,
community detection rules. Though having elegant properties, the practicality
of this axiom system is compromised by the intractability of checking two
critical axioms, so no nontrivial consistent community function was reported
inBorgs et al. [2016] By adapting the two axioms in a natural way, we propose
two new axioms that are efficiently-checkable. We show that most of the
desirable properties of the original axiom system are preserved. More
importantly, the new axioms provide a general approach to constructing
consistent community functions. We further find a natural consistent community
function that is also enumerable and samplable, answering an open problem in
the literature.


title: Optimal search strategies of run-and-tumble walks

abstract:
  The run-and-tumble walk, consisting in randomly reoriented ballistic
excursions, models phenomena ranging from gas kinetics to bacteria motility. We
evaluate the mean time required for this walk to find a fixed target within a
2D or 3D spherical confinement. We find that the mean search time admits a
minimum as a function of the mean run duration for various types of boundary
conditions and run duration distributions (exponential, power-law,
deterministic). Our result stands in sharp contrast to the pure ballistic
motion, which is predicted to be the optimal search strategy in the case of
Poisson distributed targets.


title:
The clumpy torus around type II AGN as revealed by X-ray fluorescent
  lines

abstract:
  The reflection spectrum of the torus around AGN is characterized by X-ray
fluorescent lines, which are most prominent for type II AGN. A clumpy torus
allows photons reflected from the back-side of the torus to leak through the
front free-of-obscuration regions. Therefore, the observed X-ray fluorescent
lines are sensitive to the clumpiness of the torus. We analyse a sample of type
II AGN observed with Chandra HETGS, and measure the fluxes for the Si Ka and Fe
Ka lines. The measured Fe Ka/Si Ka ratios, spanning a range between $5-60$, are
far smaller than the ratios predicted from simulations of smooth tori,
indicating that the tori of the studied sources have clumpy distributions
rather than smooth ones. Compared with simulation results of clumpy tori with a
half-opening angle of 60$^{\circ}$, the Circinus galaxy has a Fe Ka/Si Ka ratio
of $\sim60$, which is close to the simulation results for $N=5$, where $N$ is
the average number of clumps along the line of sight. The Fe Ka/Si Ka ratios of
the other sources are all below the simulation results for $N=2$. Overall, it
shows that the non-Fe fluorescent lines in the soft X-ray band are a
potentially powerful probe of the clumpiness of the torus around AGN.


title:
A proposed new diagnostic for Herbig disc geometry: FWHM versus J of CO
  ro-vibrational lines

abstract:
  Aims. CO ro-vibrational lines observed from Herbig group II discs are seen to
be often broad while the same lines observed from group I discs are often
narrow. This difference is not well understood. In this paper we explore the
underlying cause for this difference and provide a pathway for a better
understanding of the geometry and structure of the inner discs around Herbig
Ae/Be stars. Methods. High-spectral-resolution infrared spectra of CO
ro-vibrational emission from six Herbig Ae/Be candidate stars were taken with
CRIRES (CRyogenic high-resolution InfraRed Echelle Spectrograph) at the VLT
(Very Large Telescope). From these spectra, we produce individual and co-added
CO ro-vibrational line profiles. We investigate line profile shape differences,
and we explore the FWHM (Full Width Half Maximum) variations with J quantum
number in the context of disc geometry. Furthermore, we put our new sources
into the context of earlier observed sources to study a large sample. For
comparison, we also investigate the FWHM variations with J of modelled CO
ro-vibrational lines from two typical disc geometries produced with the
thermo-chemical disc modelling code ProDiMo. Results. - abbreviated - Comparing
dust and gas inner disc geometries (inferred by SED and CO ro-vibrational
emission) for the expanded sample of observed Herbig discs, we find no clear
correspondence between the SED groups of the sources and their inner CO radius.
Conclusions. The FWHM versus J is a potential new gas diagnostic for the inner
disc with e.g. a constant FWHM versus J indicating the presence of a large gas
hole or gap. Both models and observations indicate the potential of this new
diagnostic. - abbreviated -


title: Two Definite Integrals Involving Products of Four Legendre Functions

abstract:
  The definite integrals $ \int_{-1}^1x[P_\nu(x)]^4\,\mathrm{d} x$ and $
\int_{0}^1x[P_\nu(x)]^2\{[P_\nu(x)]^2-[P_\nu(-x)]^2\}\,\mathrm{d} x$ are
evaluated in closed form, where $ P_\nu$ stands for the Legendre function of
degree $ \nu\in\mathbb C$. Special cases of these integral formulae have
appeared in arithmetic studies of automorphic Green's functions and Epstein
zeta functions.


title:
On the emitting region of X-ray fluorescent lines around Compton-thick
  AGN

abstract:
  X-ray fluorescent lines are unique features of the reflection spectrum of the
torus when irradiated by the central AGN. Their intrinsic line width can be
used to probe the line-emitting region. Previous studies have focused on the Fe
Ka line at 6.4 keV, which is the most prominent fluorescent line. These
studies, however, are limited by the spectral resolution of currently available
instruments, the best of which is $\sim1860$ km s$^{-1}$ afforded by the
Chandra High-Energy Grating (HEG). The HEG spectral resolution is improved by a
factor of 4 at 1.74 keV, where the Si Ka line is located. We measured the FWHM
of the Si Ka line for Circinus, Mrk 3, and NGC 1068, which are $570\pm240$,
$730\pm320$, and $320\pm280$ km s$^{-1}$, respectively. They are $3-5$ times
smaller than those measured with the Fe Ka line previously. It shows that the
intrinsic widths of the Fe Ka line are most likely to be over-estimated. The
measured widths of the Si Ka line put the line-emitting region outside the dust
sublimation radius in these galaxies. It indicates that for Compton-thick AGN,
the X-ray fluorescence material are likely to be the same as the dusty torus
emitting in the infrared.


title:
New measurement of $\theta_{13}$ via neutron capture on hydrogen at Daya
  Bay

abstract:
  This article reports an improved independent measurement of neutrino mixing
angle $\theta_{13}$ at the Daya Bay Reactor Neutrino Experiment. Electron
antineutrinos were identified by inverse $\beta$-decays with the emitted
neutron captured by hydrogen, yielding a data-set with principally distinct
uncertainties from that with neutrons captured by gadolinium. With the final
two of eight antineutrino detectors installed, this study used 621 days of data
including the previously reported 217-day data set with six detectors. The
dominant statistical uncertainty was reduced by 49%. Intensive studies of the
cosmogenic muon-induced $^9$Li and fast neutron backgrounds and the
neutron-capture energy selection efficiency, resulted in a reduction of the
systematic uncertainty by 26%. The deficit in the detected number of
antineutrinos at the far detectors relative to the expected number based on the
near detectors yielded $\sin^22\theta_{13} = 0.071 \pm 0.011$ in the
three-neutrino-oscillation framework. The combination of this result with the
gadolinium-capture result is also reported.


title: The information content of cosmic microwave background anisotropies

abstract:
  The cosmic microwave background (CMB) contains perturbations that are close
to Gaussian and isotropic. This means that its information content, in the
sense of the ability to constrain cosmological models, is closely related to
the number of modes probed in CMB power spectra. Rather than making forecasts
for specific experimental setups, here we take a more pedagogical approach and
ask how much information we can extract from the CMB if we are only limited by
sample variance. We show that, compared with temperature measurements, the
addition of E-mode polarization doubles the number of modes available out to a
fixed maximum multipole, provided that all of the TT, TE, and EE power spectra
are measured. However, the situation in terms of constraints on particular
parameters is more complicated, as we explain and illustrate graphically. We
also discuss the enhancements in information that can come from adding B-mode
polarization and gravitational lensing. We show how well one could ever
determine the basic cosmological parameters from CMB data compared with what
has been achieved with Planck, which has already probed a substantial fraction
of the TT information. Lastly, we look at constraints on neutrino mass as a
specific example of how lensing information improves future prospects beyond
the current 6-parameter model.


title: The three primary colors of mobile systems

abstract:
  In this paper, we present the notion of "mobile 3C systems in which the
"Communications", "Computing", and "Caching" (i.e., 3C) make up the three
primary resources/funcationalties, akin to the three primary colors, for a
mobile system. We argue that in future mobile networks, the roles of computing
and caching are as intrinsic and essential as communications, and only the
collective usage of these three primary resources can support the sustainable
growth of mobile systems. By defining the 3C resources in their canonical
forms, we reveal the important fact that "caching" affects the mobile system
performance by introducing non-causality into the system, whereas "computing"
achieves capacity gains by performing logical operations across mobile system
entities. Many existing capacity-enhancing techniques such as coded multicast,
collaborative transmissions, and proactive content pushing can be cast into the
native 3C framework for analytical tractability. We further illustrate the
mobile 3C concepts with practical examples, including a system on
broadcast-unicast convergence for massive media content delivery. The mobile 3C
design paradigm opens up new possibilities as well as key research problems
bearing academic and practice significance.


title:
Stripping syntax from complexity: An information-theoretical perspective
  on complex systems

abstract:
  Claude Shannons information theory (1949) has had a revolutionary impact on
communication science. A crucial property of his framework is that it decouples
the meaning of a message from the mechanistic details from the actual
communication process itself, which opened the way to solve long-standing
communication problems. Here we argue that a similar impact could be expected
by applying information theory in the context of complexity science to answer
long-standing, cross-domain questions about the nature of complex systems. This
happens by decoupling the domain-specific model details (e.g., neuronal
networks, ecosystems, flocks of birds) from the cross-domain phenomena that
characterize complex systems (e.g., criticality, robustness, tipping points).
This goes beyond using information theory as a non-linear correlation measure,
namely it allows describing a complex system entirely in terms of the storage,
transfer, and modification of informational bits. After all, a phenomenon that
does not depend on model details should best be studied in a framework that
strips away all such details. We highlight the first successes of
information-theoretic descriptions in the recent complexity literature, and
emphasize that this type of research is still in its infancy. Finally we sketch
how such an information-theoretic description may even lead to a new type of
universality among complex systems, with a potentially tremendous impact. The
goal of this perspective article is to motivate a paradigm shift in the young
field of complexity science using a lesson learnt in communication science.


title: On the Euler characteristic of a relative hypersurface

abstract:
  We derive a general formula for the Euler characteristic of a fibration of
projective hypersurfaces in terms of invariants of an arbitrary base variety.
When the general fiber is an elliptic curve, such formulas have appeared in the
physics literature in the context of calculating D-brane charge for M-/F-theory
and type-IIB compactifications of string vacua. While there are various methods
for computing Euler characteristics of algebraic varieties, we prove a
base-independent pushforward formula which reduces the computation of the Euler
characteristic of relative hypersurfaces to simple algebraic manipulations of
rational expressions determined by its divisor class in a projective bundle. We
illustrate our methods by applying them to an explicit family of relative
hypersurfaces whose fibers are of arbitrary dimension and degree.


title: Heegner points on Hijikata-Pizer-Shemanske curves

abstract:
  We study Heegner points on elliptic curves, or more generally modular abelian
varieties, coming from uniformization by Shimura curves attached to a rather
general type of quaternionic or- ders closely related to those introduced by
Hijikata{Pizer{Shemanske in the 80's. We address several questions arising from
the Birch and Swinnerton-Dyer (BSD) conjecture in this general context. In par-
ticular, under mild technical conditions, we show the existence of non-torsion
Heegner points on elliptic curves in all situations in which the BSD conjecture
predicts their existence.


title:
Efficient and pure femtosecond-pulse-length source of
  polarization-entangled photons

abstract:
  We present a source of polarization entangled photon pairs based on
spontaneous parametric downconversion engineered for frequency uncorrelated
telecom photon generation. Our source provides photon pairs that display,
simultaneously, the key properties for high-performance quantum information and
fundamental quantum science tasks. Specifically, the source provides for high
heralding efficiency, high quantum state purity and high entangled state
fidelity at the same time. Among different tests we apply to our source we
observe almost perfect non-classical interference between photons from
independent sources with a visibility of $(100\pm5)\%$.


title:
Analytic classification of a class of cuspidal foliations in $({\mathbb
  C}^3,0)$

abstract:
  In this article we study the analytic classification of certain types of
quasi-homogeneous cuspidal holomorphic foliations in $(\CC^3,{\bf 0})$ via the
essential holonomy defined over one of the components of the exceptional
divisor that appears in the reduction of the singularities of the foliation.


title:
The minimum number of vertices in uniform hypergraphs with given
  domination number

abstract:
  The \textit{domination number} $\gamma(\mathcal{H})$ of a hypergraph
$\mathcal{H}=(V(\mathcal{H}),E(\mathcal{H})$ is the minimum size of a subset
$D\subset V(\mathcal{H}$ of the vertices such that for every $v\in
V(\mathcal{H})\setminus D$ there exist a vertex $d \in D$ and an edge $H\in
E(\mathcal{H})$ with $v,d\in H$. We address the problem of finding the minimum
number $n(k,\gamma)$ of vertices that a $k$-uniform hypergraph $\mathcal{H}$
can have if $\gamma(\mathcal{H})\ge \gamma$ and $\mathcal{H}$ does not contain
isolated vertices. We prove that $$n(k,\gamma)=k+\Theta(k^{1-1/\gamma})$$ and
also consider the $s$-wise dominating and the distance-$l$ dominating version
of the problem. In particular, we show that the minimum number
$n_{dc}(k,\gamma, l)$ of vertices that a connected $k$-uniform hypergraph with
distance-$l$ domination number $\gamma$ can have is roughly $\frac{k\gamma
l}{2}$


title:
Positive simplicial volume implies virtually positive Seifert volume for
  $3$-manifolds

abstract:
  In this paper, it is shown that for any closed orientable $3$-manifold with
positive simplicial volume, the growth of the Seifert volume of its finite
covers is faster than the linear rate. In particular, each closed orientable
$3$-manifold with positive simplicial volume has virtually positive Seifert
volume. The result reveals certain fundamental difference between the
representation volume of the hyperbolic type and the Seifert type. The proof is
based on developments and reactions of recent results on virtual domination and
on virtual representation volumes of $3$-manifolds.


title: Alfv\'en-dynamo balance and magnetic excess in MHD turbulence

abstract:
  3D Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulent flows with initially magnetic and
kinetic energies at equipartition spontaneously develop a magnetic excess (or
residual energy), as well in numerical simulations and in the solar wind.
Closure equations obtained in 1983 describe the residual spectrum as being
produced by a dynamo source proportional to the total energy spectrum, balanced
by a linear Alfv\'en damping term. A good agreement was found in 2005 with
incompressible simulations; however, recent solar wind measurements disagree
with these results. The previous dynamo-Alfv\'en theory is generalized to a
family of models, leading to simple relations between residual and total energy
spectra. We want to assess these models in detail against MHD simulations and
solar wind data. The family of models is tested against compressible decaying
MHD simulations with low Mach number, low cross-helicity, zero mean magnetic
field, without or with expansion terms (EBM or expanding box model). A single
dynamo-Alfv\'en model is found to describe correctly both solar wind scalings
and compressible simulations without or with expansion. It is equivalent to the
1983-2005 closure equation but with critical balance of nonlinear turnover and
linear Alfv\'en times, while the dynamo source term remains unchanged. The
discrepancy with previous incompressible simulations is elucidated. The model
predicts a linear relation between the spectral slopes of total and residual
energies $m_R = -1/2 + 3/2 m_T$. Examining the solar wind data as in
\cite{2013ApJ...770..125C}, our relation is found to be valid whatever the
cross-helicity, even better so at high cross-helicity, with the total energy
slope varying from $1.7$ to $1.55$.