title: Fluid Dynamics and Entropic Gravity

abstract:
  A new entropic gravity inspired derivation of general relativity from
thermodynamics is presented. This generalizes, within Einstein gravity, the
"Thermodynamics of Spacetime" approach by T. Jacobson, which relies on the
Raychaudhuri evolution equation. Here the rest of the first law of
thermodynamics is incorporated by using the Damour-Navier-Stokes equation,
known from the membrane paradigm for describing fluid dynamics on the horizon.


title:
Inspecting non-perturbative contributions to the Entanglement Entropy
  via wavefunctions

abstract:
  In this paper, we would like to systematically explore the implications of
non-perturbative effects on entanglement in a many body system. Instead of
pursuing the usual path-integral method in a singular space, we attempt to
study the wavefunctions in detail. We begin with a toy model of multiple
particles whose interaction potential admits multiple minima. We study the
entanglement of the true ground state after taking the tunnelling effects into
account and find some simple patterns. Notably, in the case of multiple
particle interactions, entanglement entropy generically decreases with
increasing number of minima. The knowledge of the subsystem actually increases
with the number of minima. The reduced density matrix can also be seen to have
close connections with graph spectra. In a more careful study of the two-well
tunnelling system, we also extract the exponentially suppressed tail
contribution, the analogues of instantons. To understand the effects of
multiple minima in a field theory, it inspires us to inspect wavefunctions in a
toy model of bosonic field describing quasi-particles of two different
condensates related by Bogoliubov transformations. We find that the area law is
naturally preserved. This is probably a useful set of perspectives that promise
wider applications.

categories: hep-th cond-mat.stat-mech cond-mat.str-el quant-ph


title: Existence of Modeling Limits for Sequences of Sparse Structures

abstract:
  A sequence of graphs is FO-convergent if the probability of satisfaction of
every first-order formula converges. A graph modeling is a graph, whose domain
is a standard probability space, with the property that every definable set is
Borel. It was known that FO-convergent sequence of graphs do not always admit a
modeling limit, and it was conjectured that this is the case if the graphs in
the sequence are sufficiently sparse. Precisely, two conjectures were proposed:
  * If a FO-convergent sequence of graphs is residual, that is if for every
integer $d$ the maximum relative size of a ball of radius $d$ in the graphs of
the sequence tends to zero, then the sequence has a modeling limit.
  * A monotone class of graphs $\mathcal C$ has the property that every
FO-convergent sequence of graphs from $\mathcal C$ has a modeling limit if and
only if $\mathcal C$ is nowhere dense, that is if and only if for each integer
$p$ there is $N(p)$ such that no graph in $\mathcal C$ contains the $p$th
subdivision of a complete graph on $N(p)$ vertices as a subgraph.


title: Attention Span For Personalisation

abstract:
  A click on an item is arguably the most widely used feature in recommender
systems. However, a click is one out of 174 events a browser can trigger. This
paper presents a framework to effectively collect and store data from event
streams. A set of mining methods is provided to extract user engagement
features such as: attention span, scrolling depth and visible impressions. In
this work, we present an experiment where recommendations based on attention
span drove 340% higher click-through-rate than clicks.


title:
Multi-task Learning with Weak Class Labels: Leveraging iEEG to Detect
  Cortical Lesions in Cryptogenic Epilepsy

abstract:
  Multi-task learning (MTL) is useful for domains in which data originates from
multiple sources that are individually under-sampled. MTL methods are able to
learn classification models that have higher performance as compared to
learning a single model by aggregating all the data together or learning a
separate model for each data source. The performance of these methods relies on
label accuracy. We address the problem of simultaneously learning multiple
classifiers in the MTL framework when the training data has imprecise labels.
We assume that there is an additional source of information that provides a
score for each instance which reflects the certainty about its label. Modeling
this score as being generated by an underlying ranking function, we augment the
MTL framework with an added layer of supervision. This results in new MTL
methods that are able to learn accurate classifiers while preserving the domain
structure provided through the rank information. We apply these methods to the
task of detecting abnormal cortical regions in the MRIs of patients suffering
from focal epilepsy whose MRI were read as normal by expert neuroradiologists.
In addition to the noisy labels provided by the results of surgical resection,
we employ the results of an invasive intracranial-EEG exam as an additional
source of label information. Our proposed methods are able to successfully
detect abnormal regions for all patients in our dataset and achieve a higher
performance as compared to baseline methods.


title: Boundedness of generalized Riesz potentials on the variable Hardy spaces

abstract:
  We study the boundedness from Hp(.) into Lq(.) of certain generalized Riesz
potentials and the Hp(.)-Hq(.) boundedness of the Riesz potential. Both results
are achieved via the finite atomic decomposition developed in [4].


title: The Distribution of Path Lengths On Directed Weighted Graphs

abstract:
  We consider directed weighted graphs and define various families of path
counting functions. Our main results are explicit formulas for the main term of
the asymptotic growth rate of these counting functions, under some
irrationality assumptions on the lengths of all closed orbits on the graph. In
addition we assign transition probabilities to such graphs and compute
statistics of the corresponding random walks. Some examples and applications
are reviewed.


title: Hawking Radiation and Entropic Gravity

abstract:
  I present a new derivation of Hawking radiation by applying the Crooks
fluctuation theorem to the laws of black hole thermodynamics. Then, by analogy
with the quantum fluctuation theorem, this allows one to identify microstates
contributing to the black hole entropy. These microstates have an evolution
operator on the horizon between initial and final states that is related to the
entropic gravity proposal. Their full calculation perhaps requires a deeper
understanding of nonperturbative Hawking radiation.


title: The mathematics of taffy pullers

abstract:
  We describe a number of devices for pulling candy, called taffy pullers,that
are related to pseudo-Anosov maps of punctured spheres. Though the mathematical
connection has long been known for the two most common taffy puller models, we
unearth a rich variety of early designs from the patent literature, and
introduce a new one.


title:
The 750 GeV LHC diphoton excess from a baryon number conserving string
  model

abstract:
  We propose an explanation of the LHC data excess resonance of 750 GeV in the
diphoton distribution using D-brane models, with gauged baryon number, which
accommodate the Standard Model together with vector like exotics. We identify
the 750 GeV scalar as either the sneutrino (${\tilde \nu}_R$) or as an axion.
Using a bottom-up approch, ${\tilde \nu}_R$ is produced via gluon fusion when
scalar (supersymmetric) partners of vector like quarks and leptons are
generated by demanding that the corresponding intersections respect N=1
supersymmetry. When we generate the value of ${\tilde \nu}_R$ at 750 GeV, by
varying the complex structure of the torus, the string scale is limited to be
in the range $ 10^{14} < M_s < 10^{19}$ GeV. Also, generating the Higgs scalars
by imposing N=1 supersymmetry on intersections fixes naturally, to zero, the
coupling of the axion to SU(2) gauge bosons $\propto F_b \wedge F_b$ and in
photon-photon fusion also decouples its coupling from $G^2$ of color SU(3) by
simultaneously generating the superpartners of $q_L$, $U_R$, $l_L$, $\nu_R$
quarks and leptons.


title:
Focusing Waves Through a Randomly Scattering Medium in the White-Noise
  Paraxial Regime

abstract:
  When waves propagate through a complex or heterogeneous medium the wave field
is corrupted by the heterogeneities. Such corruption limits the performance of
imaging or communication schemes. One may then ask the question: is there an
optimal way of encoding a signal so as to counteract the corruption by the
medium? In the ideal situation the answer is given by time reversal: for a
given target or focusing point, in a first step let the target emit a signal
and then record the signal transmitted to the source antenna, time reverse this
and use it as the source trace at the source antenna in a second step. This
source will give a sharply focused wave at the target location if the source
aperture is large enough. Here we address this scheme in the more practical
situation with a limited aperture, time-harmonic signal, and finite-sized
elements in the source array. Central questions are then the focusing
resolution and signal-to-noise ratio at the target, their dependence on the
physical parameters, and the capacity to focus selectively in the neighborhood
of the target point and therefore to transmit images. Sharp results are
presented for these questions.


title:
The coupon collector urn model with unequal probabilities in ecology and
  evolution

abstract:
  The sequential sampling of populations with unequal probabilities and with
replacement in a closed population is a recurrent problem in ecology and
evolution. Many of these questions can be reformulated as urn problems, often
as special cases of the coupon collector problem, most simply expressed as the
number of coupons that must be collected to have a complete set. We aimed to
apply the coupon collector model in a comprehensive manner to one example
-hosts (balls) being searched (draws) and parasitized (ball color change) by
parasitic wasps- to evaluate the influence of differences in sampling
probabilities between items on collection speed.
  Based on the model of a complete multinomial process over time, we define the
distribution, distribution function, expectation and variance of the number of
hosts parasitized after a given time, as well as the inverse problem,
estimating the sampling effort. We develop the relationship between the risk
distribution on the set of hosts and the speed of parasitization and propose a
more elegant proof of the weak stochastic dominance among speed of
parasitization, using the concept of Schur convexity and the "Robin Hood
transfer" numerical operation.
  Numerical examples are provided and a conjecture about strong dominance is
proposed. The speed at which new items are discovered is a function of the
entire shape of the sampling probability distribution. The sole comparison of
values of variances is not sufficient to compare speeds associated to two
different distributions, as generally assumed in ecological studies.


title: Power-type cancellation for the simplex Hilbert transform

abstract:
  We prove $\mathrm{L}^p$ bounds for the truncated simplex Hilbert transform
which grow with a power less than one of the truncation range in the
logarithmic scale.


title:
$\tau$-Norm-Perfect and $\tau$-Perfect Eisenstein Integers for
  $\tau=\omega+2$ and $2$

abstract:
  Using Robert Spira's \cite{D} definitions of complex Mersenne numbers and the
complex sum-of-divisors function, we characterize $(\omega+2)$-norm-perfect and
$(\omega+2)$-perfect numbers that are divisble by $\omega+2$ and prove the
nonexistence of $2$-norm-perfect numbers that are divisible by $2$ in the
Eisenstein integers.


title:
Some relations on Fourier coefficients of degree 2 Siegel forms of
  arbitrary level

abstract:
  We extend some recent work of D. McCarthy, proving relations among some
Fourier coefficients of a degree 2 Siegel modular form $F$ with arbitrary level
and character, provided there are some primes $q$ so that $F$ is an eigenform
for the Hecke operators $T(q)$ and $T_1(q^2)$.


title:
Learning Tree-Structured Detection Cascades for Heterogeneous Networks
  of Embedded Devices

abstract:
  In this paper, we present a new approach to learning cascaded classifiers for
use in computing environments that involve networks of heterogeneous and
resource-constrained, low-power embedded compute and sensing nodes. We present
a generalization of the classical linear detection cascade to the case of
tree-structured cascades where different branches of the tree execute on
different physical compute nodes in the network. Different nodes have access to
different features, as well as access to potentially different computation and
energy resources. We concentrate on the problem of jointly learning the
parameters for all of the classifiers in the cascade given a fixed cascade
architecture and a known set of costs required to carry out the computation at
each node.To accomplish the objective of joint learning of all detectors, we
propose a novel approach to combining classifier outputs during training that
better matches the hard cascade setting in which the learned system will be
deployed. This work is motivated by research in the area of mobile health where
energy efficient real time detectors integrating information from multiple
wireless on-body sensors and a smart phone are needed for real-time monitoring
and delivering just- in-time adaptive interventions. We apply our framework to
two activity recognition datasets as well as the problem of cigarette smoking
detection from a combination of wrist-worn actigraphy data and respiration
chest band data.


title:
Twists and shear maps in nonlinear elasticity: explicit solutions and
  vanishing Jacobians

abstract:
  In this paper we study constrained variational problems that are principally
motivated by nonlinear elasticity theory. We examine in particular the
relationship between the positivity of the Jacobian $\det \nabla u$ and the
uniqueness and regularity of energy minimizers $u$ that are either twist maps
or shear maps. We exhibit \emph{explicit} twist maps, defined on
two-dimensional annuli, that are stationary points of an appropriate energy
functional and whose Jacobian vanishes on a set of positive measure in the
annulus. Within the class of shear maps we precisely characterize the unique
global energy minimizer $u_{\sigma}: \Omega\to \mathbb{R}^2$ in a model,
two-dimensional case. The shear map minimizer has the properties that (i) $\det
\nabla u_{\sigma}$ is strictly positive on one part of the domain $\Omega$,
(ii) $\det \nabla u_{\sigma} = 0$ necessarily holds on the rest of $\Omega$,
and (iii) properties (i) and (ii) combine to ensure that $\nabla u_{\sigma}$ is
not continuous on the whole domain.


title: Localizing and Orienting Street Views Using Overhead Imagery

abstract:
  In this paper we aim to determine the location and orientation of a
ground-level query image by matching to a reference database of overhead (e.g.
satellite) images. For this task we collect a new dataset with one million
pairs of street view and overhead images sampled from eleven U.S. cities. We
explore several deep CNN architectures for cross-domain matching --
Classification, Hybrid, Siamese, and Triplet networks. Classification and
Hybrid architectures are accurate but slow since they allow only partial
feature precomputation. We propose a new loss function which significantly
improves the accuracy of Siamese and Triplet embedding networks while
maintaining their applicability to large-scale retrieval tasks like image
geolocalization. This image matching task is challenging not just because of
the dramatic viewpoint difference between ground-level and overhead imagery but
because the orientation (i.e. azimuth) of the street views is unknown making
correspondence even more difficult. We examine several mechanisms to match in
spite of this -- training for rotation invariance, sampling possible rotations
at query time, and explicitly predicting relative rotation of ground and
overhead images with our deep networks. It turns out that explicit orientation
supervision also improves location prediction accuracy. Our best performing
architectures are roughly 2.5 times as accurate as the commonly used Siamese
network baseline.


title:
Sublattice dynamics and quantum state transfer of doublons in
  two-dimensional lattices

abstract:
  We study the dynamics of two strongly-interacting fermions moving in 2D
lattices under the action of a periodic electric field, both with and without a
magnetic flux. Due to the interaction, these particles bind together forming a
doublon. We derive an effective Hamiltonian that permits us to understand the
interplay between the interaction and the driving, revealing surprising effects
that constrain the movement of the doublons. We show that it is possible to
confine doublons to just the edges of the lattice, and also to a particular
sublattice, if different sites in the unit cell have different coordination
numbers. Contrary to what happens in 1D systems, here we observe the
coexistence of both topological and Shockley-like edge states when the system
is in a non-trivial phase.


title: Community detection in networks: A user guide

abstract:
  Community detection in networks is one of the most popular topics of modern
network science. Communities, or clusters, are usually groups of vertices
having higher probability of being connected to each other than to members of
other groups, though other patterns are possible. Identifying communities is an
ill-defined problem. There are no universal protocols on the fundamental
ingredients, like the definition of community itself, nor on other crucial
issues, like the validation of algorithms and the comparison of their
performances. This has generated a number of confusions and misconceptions,
which undermine the progress in the field. We offer a guided tour through the
main aspects of the problem. We also point out strengths and weaknesses of
popular methods, and give directions to their use.


title:
Observational Selection Effects with Ground-based Gravitational Wave
  Detectors

abstract:
  Ground-based interferometers are not perfectly all-sky instruments, and it is
important to account for their behavior when considering the distribution of
detected events. In particular, the LIGO detectors are most sensitive to
sources above North America and the Indian Ocean and, as the Earth rotates, the
sensitive regions are swept across the sky. However, because the detectors do
not acquire data uniformly over time, there is a net bias on detectable
sources' right ascensions. Both LIGO detectors preferentially collect data
during their local night; it is more than twice as likely to be local midnight
than noon when both detectors are operating. We discuss these selection effects
and how they impact LIGO's observations and electromagnetic follow-up. Beyond
galactic foregrounds associated with seasonal variations, we find that
equatorial observatories can access over $80\%$ of the localization
probability, while mid-latitudes will access closer to $70\%$. Facilities
located near the two LIGO sites can observe sources closer to their zenith than
their analogs in the South, but the average observation will still be no closer
than $44^\circ$ from zenith. We also find that observatories in Africa or the
South Atlantic will wait systematically longer before they can begin observing
compared to the rest of the world, although there is a preference for
longitudes near the LIGOs. These effects, along with knowledge of the LIGO
antenna pattern, can inform electromagnetic follow-up activities and
optimization, including the possibility of directing observations even before
gravitational-wave events occur.


title: Dark Energy Oscillations in Mimetic $F(R)$ Gravity

abstract:
  In this paper we address the problem of dark energy oscillations in the
context of mimetic $F(R)$ gravity with potential. The issue of dark energy
oscillations can be a problem in some models of ordinary $F(R)$ gravity and a
remedy that can make the oscillations milder is to introduce additional
modifications in the functional form of the $F(R)$ gravity. As we demonstrate
the power-law modifications are not necessary in the mimetic $F(R)$ case, and
by appropriately choosing the mimetic potential and the Lagrange multiplier, it
is possible to make the oscillations almost to vanish at the end of the matter
domination era and during the late-time acceleration era. We examine the
behavior of the dark energy equation of state parameter and of the total
effective equation of state parameter as functions of the redshift and we
compare the resulting picture with the ordinary $F(R)$ gravity case. As we also
show, the present day values of the dark energy equation of state parameter and
of the total effective equation of state parameter are in better agreement with
the observational data, in comparison to the ordinary $F(R)$ gravity case.
Finally, we study the evolution of the growth factor as a function of the
redshift for all the mimetic models we shall use.


title: A remarkable identity in class numbers of cubic rings

abstract:
  In 1997, Y. Ohno empirically stumbled on an astoundingly simple identity
relating the number of cubic rings $h(D)$ of a given discriminant $D$, over the
integers, to the number of cubic rings $h'(D)$ of discriminant $-27D$ in which
every element has trace divisible by 3: $h'(D) = h(D)$, if $D < 0$, and $h'(D)
= 3h(D)$ if $D > 0$, where in each case, rings are weighted by the reciprocal
of their number of automorphisms. This allows the functional equations
governing the analytic continuation of the Shintani zeta functions (the
Dirichlet series built from the values of $h$ and $h'$) to be put in
self-reflective form. In 1998, J. Nakagawa verified Ohno's conjecture. We
present a new proof of the identity that uses the main ingredients of
Nakagawa's proof (binary cubic forms, recursions, and class field theory), as
well as one of Bhargava's celebrated higher composition laws, while aiming to
stay true to the stark elegance of the identity.


title: Aggregation models on hypergraphs

abstract:
  Following a newly introduced approach by Rasetti and Merelli we investigate
the possibility to extract topological information about the space where
interacting systems are modelled. From the statistical datum of their
observable quantities, like the correlation functions, we show how to
reconstruct the activities of their constitutive parts which embed the
topological information. The procedure is implemented on a class of polymer
models on hypergraphs with hard-core interactions. We show that the model
fulfils a set of iterative relations for the partition function that generalise
those introduced by Heilmann and Lieb for the monomer-dimer case. After
translating those relations into structural identities for the correlation
functions we use them to test the precision and the robustness of the inverse
problem. Finally the possible presence of a further interaction of peer-to-peer
type is considered and a criterion to discover it is identified.

categories: cond-mat.stat-mech math-ph math.MP physics.data-an


title:
Sparse vs. Non-sparse: Which One Is Better for Practical Visual
  Tracking?

abstract:
  Recently, sparse representation based visual tracking methods have attracted
increasing attention in the computer vision community. Although achieve
superior performance to traditional tracking methods, however, a basic problem
has not been answered yet --- that whether the sparsity constrain is really
needed for visual tracking? To answer this question, in this paper, we first
propose a robust non-sparse representation based tracker and then conduct
extensive experiments to compare it against several state-of-the-art sparse
representation based trackers. Our experiment results and analysis indicate
that the proposed non-sparse tracker achieved competitive tracking accuracy
with sparse trackers while having faster running speed, which support our
non-sparse tracker to be used in practical applications.


title: A short summary on the search of trineutron and tetraneutron

abstract:
  In light of a new experiment which claims an identification of tetraneutron
[3], we discuss the results of experimental search of trineutron and
tetraneutron in different nuclear reactions. A summary of theoretical studies
for trineutron and tetraneutron within variety of approaches such as
variational methods, the method of Faddeev and Faddeev-Yakubovsky equations,
and the method of hyperspherical harmonics are presented.


title: A formula for crossing probabilities of critical systems inside polygons

abstract:
  In this article, we generalize known formulas for crossing probabilities.
Prior crossing results date back to J. Cardy's prediction of a formula for the
probability that a percolation cluster in two dimensions connects the left and
right sides of a rectangle at the percolation critical point in the continuum
limit. Here, we predict a new formula for crossing probabilities of a continuum
limit loop-gas model on a planar lattice inside a $2N$-sided polygon. In this
model, boundary loops exit and then re-enter the polygon through its vertices,
with exactly one loop passing once through each vertex, and these loops join
the vertices pairwise in some specified connectivity through the polygon's
exterior. The boundary loops also connect the vertices through the interior,
which we regard as a crossing event. For particular values of the loop
fugacity, this formula specializes to FK cluster (resp. spin cluster) crossing
probabilities of a critical $Q$-state random cluster (resp. Potts) model on a
lattice inside the polygon in the continuum limit. This includes critical
percolation as the $Q=1$ random cluster model. These latter crossing
probabilities are conditioned on a particular side-alternating free/fixed
(resp. fluctuating/fixed) boundary condition on the polygon's perimeter,
related to how the boundary loops join the polygon's vertices pairwise through
the polygon's exterior in the associated loop-gas model. For $Q\in\{2,3,4\}$,
we compare our predictions of these random cluster (resp. Potts) model crossing
probabilities in a rectangle ($N=2$) and in a hexagon ($N=3$) with
high-precision computer simulation measurements. We find that the measurements
agree with our predictions very well for $Q\in\{2,3\}$ and reasonably well if
$Q=4$.


title: Integer-valued polynomials on commutative rings and modules

abstract:
  The ring of integer-valued polynomials on an arbitrary integral domain is
well-studied. In this paper we initiate and provide motivation for the study of
integer-valued polynomials on commutative rings and modules. Several examples
are computed, including the integer-valued polynomials over the ring
$R[T_1,\ldots, T_n]/(T_1(T_1-r_1), \ldots, T_n(T_n-r_n))$ for any commutative
ring $R$ and any elements $r_1, \ldots, r_n$ of $R$, as well as the
integer-valued polynomials over the Nagata idealization $R(+)M$ of $M$ over
$R$, where $M$ is an $R$-module such that every non-zerodivisor on $M$ is a
non-zerodivisor of $R$.


title: Homological unimodularity and Calabi-Yau condition for Poisson algebras

abstract:
  In this paper, we show that the twisted Poincar\'e duality between Poisson
homology and cohomology can be derived from the Serre invertible bimodule. This
gives another definition of a unimodular Poisson algebra in terms of its
Poisson Picard group. We also achieve twisted Poincar\'e duality for Hochschild
(co)homology of Poisson bimodules using rigid dualizing complex. For a smooth
Poisson affine variety with the trivial canonical bundle, we prove that its
enveloping algebra is a Calabi-Yau algebra if the Poisson structure is
unimodular.


title:
Quantum motion of a spinless particle in curved space: A viewpoint of
  scattering theory

abstract:
  In this work, we study the scattering of a spinless charged particle
constrained to move on a curved surface in the presence of the Aharonov-Bohm
potential. We begin with the equations of motion for the surface and transverse
dynamics previously obtained in the literature (Ferrari G. and Cuoghi G., Phys.
Rev. Lett. \textbf{100}, 230403 (2008)) and describe the surface with
non-trivial curvature in terms of linear defects such as dislocations and
disclinations. Expressions for the modified phase shift, S--matrix and
scattering amplitude are determined by applying a suitable boundary condition
at the origin, which comes from the self-adjoint extension theory. We also
discuss the presence of a bound state obtained from the pole of the S--matrix.
Finally, we claim that the bound state, the additional scattering and the
dependence of the scattering amplitude with energy are solely due to the
curvature effects.


title: Dirac e il monopolo magnetico

abstract:
  In 1931, Dirac advanced a startling prediction about the existence of a new
elementary particle, characterized by a magnetic charge of a single polarity:
the magnetic monopole. This prediction, that was not based on experimental
reasons but on mathematical consistency considerations and the generalization
of the formalism of quantum mechanics, illustrates emblematically the Dirac
conception of the relationship between physics and mathematics.
  -----
  Nel 1931 Dirac avanz\`o una sorprendente previsione circa l'esistenza di una
nuova particella elementare, caratterizzata da una carica magnetica di un'unica
polarit\`a: il monopolo magnetico. Questa previsione, che non era fondata su
ragioni sperimentali ma su considerazioni di consistenza matematica e sulla
generalizzazione del formalismo della meccanica quantistica, illustra
emblematicamente la concezione di Dirac del rapporto tra fisica e matematica.


title:
Theoretical estimates of maximum fields in superconducting resonant
  radio frequency cavities: Stability theory, disorder, and laminates

abstract:
  Theoretical limits to the performance of superconductors in high magnetic
fields parallel to their surfaces are of key relevance to current and future
accelerating cavities, especially those made of new higher-Tc materials such as
Nb$_3$Sn, NbN, and MgB$_2$. Indeed, beyond the so-called superheating field
$H_{\mathcal{sh}}$, flux will spontaneously penetrate even a perfect
superconducting surface and ruin the performance. We present intuitive
arguments and simple estimates for $H_{\mathcal{sh}}$, and combine them with
our previous rigorous calculations, which we summarize. We briefly discuss
experimental measurements of the superheating field, comparing to our
estimates. We explore the effects of materials anisotropy and the danger of
disorder in nucleating vortex entry. Will we need to control surface
orientation in the layered compound MgB$_2$? Can we estimate theoretically
whether dirt and defects make these new materials fundamentally more
challenging to optimize than niobium? Finally, we discuss and analyze recent
proposals to use thin superconducting layers or laminates to enhance the
performance of superconducting cavities. Flux entering a laminate can lead to
so-called pancake vortices; we consider the physics of the dislocation motion
and potential re-annihilation or stabilization of these vortices after their
entry.


title:
Reply to Els\"asser's Comment on "How many principles does it take to
  change a light bulb ... into a laser?"

abstract:
  In his Comment, Els\"asser claims that the answer to my titular question is
one, not four as I have it. He goes on to give the singular principle that
supposedly captures the difference between a light-bulb and a laser:
$g^{(2)}(\tau=0)=1$. His claim is unconsidered and wrong, his proposed
principle is impossible to apply and, when corrected, redundant (it then
becomes one of the four I list already), his arguments are manifestly
misdirected. My paper stands as is.


title:
Proceedings Cassting Workshop on Games for the Synthesis of Complex
  Systems and 3rd International Workshop on Synthesis of Complex Parameters

abstract:
  This volume contains the joint proceedings of the Workshop on Games for the
Synthesis of Complex Systems (CASSTING'16) and of the 3rd International
Workshop on Synthesis of Complex Parameters (SynCoP'16). The workshops were
held in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, as satellite events of the 19th European
Joint Conferences on Theory and Practice of Software (ETAPS'16). Both workshops
are closely related in their topics as well as target audience and they shared
a joint invited talk given by Giorgio Delzanno.


title:
Rigged modules I: modules over dual operator algebras and the Picard
  group

abstract:
  In a previous paper we generalized the theory of W*-modules to the setting of
modules over nonselfadjoint dual operator algebras, obtaining the class of
weak*-rigged modules. At that time we promised a forthcoming paper devoted to
other aspects of the theory. We fulfill this promise in the present work and
its sequel "Rigged modules II", giving many new results about weak*-rigged
modules and their tensor products. We also discuss the Picard group of weak*
closed subalgebras of a commutative algebra. For example, we compute the weak
Picard group of $H^{\infty}(D)$, and prove that for a weak* closed function
algebra A, the weak Picard group of A is a semidirect product of the
automorphism group of A, and the subgroup consisting of symmetric equivalence
bimodules.


title: Rigged modules II: multipliers and duality

abstract:
  In a previous paper with Kashyap we generalized the theory of $W^*$-modules
to the setting of modules over nonselfadjoint dual operator algebras, obtaining
the class of weak*-rigged modules. The present paper and its contemporaneous
predecessor comprise the sequel which we promised at that time would be
forthcoming. We give many new results about rigged and weak*-rigged modules and
their tensor products, such as an Eilenberg-Watts type theorem.


title: Local Testing for Membership in Lattices

abstract:
  Motivated by the structural analogies between point lattices and linear
error-correcting codes, and by the mature theory on locally testable codes, we
initiate a systematic study of local testing for membership in lattices.
Testing membership in lattices is also motivated in practice, by applications
to integer programming, error detection in lattice-based communication, and
cryptography.
  Apart from establishing the conceptual foundations of lattice testing, our
results include the following:
  1. We demonstrate upper and lower bounds on the query complexity of local
testing for the well-known family of code formula lattices. Furthermore, we
instantiate our results with code formula lattices constructed from Reed-Muller
codes, and obtain nearly-tight bounds.
  2. We show that in order to achieve low query complexity, it is sufficient to
design one-sided non-adaptive canonical tests. This result is akin to, and
based on an analogous result for error-correcting codes due to Ben-Sasson et
al. (SIAM J. Computing 35(1) pp1-21).


title: Mori's program for the moduli space of conics in Grassmannian

abstract:
  We complete Mori's program for Kontsevich's moduli space of degree 2 stable
maps to Grassmannian of lines. We describe all birational models in terms of
moduli spaces (of curves and sheaves), incidence varieties, and Kirwan's
partial desingularization.


title: Deep FisherNet for Object Classification

abstract:
  Despite the great success of convolutional neural networks (CNN) for the
image classification task on datasets like Cifar and ImageNet, CNN's
representation power is still somewhat limited in dealing with object images
that have large variation in size and clutter, where Fisher Vector (FV) has
shown to be an effective encoding strategy. FV encodes an image by aggregating
local descriptors with a universal generative Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM). FV
however has limited learning capability and its parameters are mostly fixed
after constructing the codebook. To combine together the best of the two
worlds, we propose in this paper a neural network structure with FV layer being
part of an end-to-end trainable system that is differentiable; we name our
network FisherNet that is learnable using backpropagation. Our proposed
FisherNet combines convolutional neural network training and Fisher Vector
encoding in a single end-to-end structure. We observe a clear advantage of
FisherNet over plain CNN and standard FV in terms of both classification
accuracy and computational efficiency on the challenging PASCAL VOC object
classification task.


title:
High-momentum distribution with subleading $k^{-3}$ tail in the odd-wave
  interacting one-dimensional Fermi gases

abstract:
  We study the odd-wave interacting identical fermions in one-dimension with
finite effective range. We show that to fully describe the high-momentum
distribution $\rho(k)$ up to $k^{-4}$, one needs four parameters characterizing
the properties when two particles {\it contact} with each other. Two parameters
are related to the variation of energy with respect to the odd-wave scattering
length and the effective range, respectively, determining the $k^{-2}$ tail and
part of $k^{-4}$ tail in $\rho(k)$. The other two parameters are related to the
center-of-mass motion of the system, respectively determining the $k^{-3}$ tail
and the other part of $k^{-4}$ tail. We point out that the unusual $k^{-3}$
tail, which has not been discovered before in atomic systems, is an intrinsic
component to complete the general form of $\rho(k)$ and also realistically
detectable under certain experimental conditions. Various other universal
relations are also derived in terms of those contact parameters, and finally
the results are confirmed through the exact solution of a two-body problem.


title:
Episodic Model For Star Formation History and Chemical Abundances in
  Giant and Dwarf Galaxies

abstract:
  In search for a synthetic understanding, a scenario for the evolution of the
star formation rate and the chemical abundances in galaxies is proposed,
combining gas infall from galactic halos, outflow of gas by supernova
explosions, and an oscillatory star formation process. The oscillatory star
formation model is a consequence of the modelling of the fractional masses
changes of the hot, warm and cold components of the interstellar medium. The
observed periods of oscillation vary in the range $(0.1-3.0)\times10^{7}$\,yr
depending on various parameters existing from giant to dwarf galaxies. The
evolution of metallicity varies in giant and dwarf galaxies and depends on the
outflow process. Observed abundances in dwarf galaxies can be reproduced under
fast outflow together with slow evaporation of cold gases into hot gas whereas
slow outflow and fast evaporation is preferred for giant galaxies. The
variation of metallicities in dwarf galaxies supports the fact that low rate of
SNII production in dwarf galaxies is responsible for variation in metallicity
in dwarf galaxies of similar masses as suggested by various authors.


title:
Dynamics of a spatially homogeneous Vicsek model for oriented particles
  on the plane

abstract:
  We consider a spatially homogeneous Kolmogorov-Vicsek model in two
dimensions, which describes the alignment dynamics of self-driven stochastic
particles that move on the plane at a constant speed, under space-homogeneity.
In \cite{F-K-M}, Alessio Figalli and the authors have shown the existence of
global weak solutions for this two-dimensional model. However, no
time-asymptotic behavior has been obtained for the two-dimensional case, due to
the failure of the celebrated Bakery and Emery condition for the logarithmic
Sobolev inequality. We prove exponential convergence (with quantitative rate)
of the weak solutions towards a Fisher-von Mises distribution, using a new
condition for the logarithmic Sobolev inequality.


title:
Statistical properties of superflares on solar-type stars with Kepler
  data

abstract:
  Superflares are flares that release total energy 10$\sim$10$^{4}$ times
greater than that of the biggest solar flares with energy of $\sim$10$^{32}$
erg. We searched superflares on solar-type stars (G-type main sequence stars)
using the Kepler 30-min (long) and 1-min (short) cadence data. We found more
than 1500 superflares on 279 stars from 30-min cadence data (Q0-6) and 187
superflares on 23 stars from 1-min cadence data (Q0-17). The bolometric energy
of detected superflares ranges from the order of 10$^{32}$ erg to 10$^{36}$
erg. Using these data, we found that the occurrence frequency ($dN/dE$) of
superflares is expressed as a power-law function of flare energy ($E$) with the
index of -1.5 for $10^{33}<E<10^{36}$erg. Most of the superflare stars show
quasi-periodic light variations with the amplitude of a few percent, which can
be explained by the rotation of the star with large starspots. The bolometric
energy released by flares is consistent with the magnetic energy stored around
such large starspots. Furthermore, our analyses indicate that the occurrence
frequency of superflares depends on the rotation period, and that the flare
frequency increases as the rotation period decreases. However, the energy of
the largest flares observed in a given period bin does not show any clear
correlation with the rotation period. We also found that the duration of
superflares increases with the flare energy as $E^{0.39+/-0.03}$. This can be
explained if we assume the time-scale of flares is determined by the
Alfv$\acute{\rm{e}}$n time.


title: Visual Relationship Detection with Language Priors

abstract:
  Visual relationships capture a wide variety of interactions between pairs of
objects in images (e.g. "man riding bicycle" and "man pushing bicycle").
Consequently, the set of possible relationships is extremely large and it is
difficult to obtain sufficient training examples for all possible
relationships. Because of this limitation, previous work on visual relationship
detection has concentrated on predicting only a handful of relationships.
Though most relationships are infrequent, their objects (e.g. "man" and
"bicycle") and predicates (e.g. "riding" and "pushing") independently occur
more frequently. We propose a model that uses this insight to train visual
models for objects and predicates individually and later combines them together
to predict multiple relationships per image. We improve on prior work by
leveraging language priors from semantic word embeddings to finetune the
likelihood of a predicted relationship. Our model can scale to predict
thousands of types of relationships from a few examples. Additionally, we
localize the objects in the predicted relationships as bounding boxes in the
image. We further demonstrate that understanding relationships can improve
content based image retrieval.


title: Completely semi-$\varphi$-maps

abstract:
  We introduce completely semi-$\varphi$-maps on Hilbert $C^*$-modules as a
generalization of $\varphi$-maps. This class of maps provides examples of
CP-extendable maps which are not CP-H-extendable, in Skeide-Sumesh's sense.
Using the CP-extendability of completely semi-$\varphi$-maps, we give a
representation theorem, similar to Stinespring's representation theorem, for
this class of maps which can be considered as strengthened and generalized form
of Asadi's and Bhat-Ramesh-Sumesh's analogues of Stinespring representation
theorem for $\varphi$-maps.
  We also define an order relation on the set of all completely
semi-$\varphi$-maps and establish a Radon-Nikodym type theorem for this class
of maps in terms of their representations.


title: Operator Valued Maps on Hilbert $C^*$-Modules

abstract:
  We provide a characterization for operator valued completely bounded linear
maps on Hilbert $C^*$-modules in terms of $\varphi$-maps. Also, we show that
for every operator valued completely positive map $\varphi$ on a $C^*$-algebra
$\mathcal{A}$, there is a unique (up to multiplication by a unitary operator)
non-degenerate $\varphi$-map on each Hilbert $\mathcal{A}$-module.


title: On the extendability of some classes of maps on Hilbert $C^*$-modules

abstract:
  In this paper, we show that every completely semi-$\phi$-map on a submodule
of a Hilbert $C^*$-module has a completely semi-$\phi$-map extension on the
whole of module. We also investigate the extendability of $\phi$-maps and
provide examples of $\phi$-maps which has no $\phi$-map extension. Finally, we
introduce a category of Hilbert $C^*$-module and determine injective objects in
this category.


title:
New MDS codes with small sub-packetization and near-optimal repair
  bandwidth

abstract:
  An $(n, M)$ vector code $\mathcal{C} \subseteq \mathbb{F}^n$ is a collection
of $M$ codewords where $n$ elements (from the field $\mathbb{F}$) in each of
the codewords are referred to as code blocks. Assuming that $\mathbb{F} \cong
\mathbb{B}^{\ell}$, the code blocks are treated as $\ell$-length vectors over
the base field $\mathbb{B}$. Equivalently, the code is said to have the
sub-packetization level $\ell$. This paper addresses the problem of
constructing MDS vector codes which enable exact reconstruction of each code
block by downloading small amount of information from the remaining code
blocks. The repair bandwidth of a code measures the information flow from the
remaining code blocks during the reconstruction of a single code block. This
problem naturally arises in the context of distributed storage systems as the
node repair problem [4]. Assuming that $M = |\mathbb{B}|^{k\ell}$, the repair
bandwidth of an MDS vector code is lower bounded by $\big(\frac{n - 1}{n -
k}\big)\cdot \ell$ symbols (over the base field $\mathbb{B}$) which is also
referred to as the cut-set bound [4]. For all values of $n$ and $k$, the MDS
vector codes that attain the cut-set bound with the sub-packetization level
$\ell = (n-k)^{\lceil{{n}/{(n-k)}}\rceil}$ are known in the literature [23,
35].
  This paper presents a construction for MDS vector codes which simultaneously
ensures both small repair bandwidth and small sub-packetization level. The
obtained codes have the smallest possible sub-packetization level $\ell = O(n -
k)$ for an MDS vector code and the repair bandwidth which is at most twice the
cut-set bound. The paper then generalizes this code construction so that the
repair bandwidth of the obtained codes approach the cut-set bound at the cost
of increased sub-packetization level. The constructions presented in this paper
give MDS vector codes which are linear over the base field $\mathbb{B}$.


title: Game Theoretic Control of Multi-Agent Systems

abstract:
  Control of multi-agent systems via game theory is investigated. Assume a
system level object is given, the utility functions for individual agents are
designed to convert a multi-agent system into a potential game. First, for
fixed topology, a necessary and sufficient condition is given to assure the
existence of local information based utility functions. Then using local
information the system can converge to a maximum point of the system object,
which is a Nash equilibrium. It is also proved that a networked evolutionary
potential game is a special case of this multi-agent system. Second, for
time-varying topology, the state based potential game is utilized to design the
optimal control. A strategy based Markov state transition process is proposed
to assure the existence of state based potential function. As an extension of
the fixed topology case, a necessary and sufficient condition for the existence
of state depending utility functions using local information is also presented.
It is also proved that using better reply with inertia strategy, the system
converges to a maximum strategy of the state based system object, which is
called the recurrent state equilibrium.


title:
New Weighted Partition Theorems with the Emphasis on the Smallest Part
  of Partitions

abstract:
  We use the $q$-binomial theorem, the $q$-Gauss sum, and the ${}_2\phi_1
\rightarrow {}_2\phi_2$ transformation of Jackson to discover and prove many
new weighted partition identities. These identities involve unrestricted
partitions, overpartitions, and partitions with distinct even parts. Smallest
part of the partitions plays an important role in our analysis. This work was
motivated in part by the research of Krishna Alladi.


title:
The Nature of Electron Transport and visible light absorption in
  Strontium Niobate -- A Plasmonic Water Splitter

abstract:
  Semiconductor compounds are widely used for water splitting applications,
where photo-generated electron-hole pairs are exploited to induce catalysis.
Recently, powders of a metallic oxide (Sr$_{1-x}$NbO$_3$, 0.03 < x < 0.20) have
shown competitive photocatalytic efficiency, opening up the material space
available for finding optimizing performance in water-splitting applications.
The origin of the visible light absorption in these powders was reported to be
due to an interband transition and the charge carrier separation was proposed
to be due to the high carrier mobility of this material. In the current work we
have prepared epitaxial thin films of Sr$_{0.94}$NbO$_{3+{\delta}}$ and found
that the bandgap of this material is ~4.1 eV, which is very large. Surprisingly
the carrier density of the conducting phase reaches 10$^{22}$ cm$^{-3}$, which
is only one order smaller than that of elemental metals and the carrier
mobility is only 2.47 cm$^2$/(V$\cdot$s). Contrary to earlier reports, the
visible light absorption at 1.8 eV (~688 nm) is due to the bulk plasmon
resonance, arising from the large carrier density, instead of an interband
transition. Excitation of the plasmonic resonance results in a multifold
enhancement of the lifetime of charge carriers. Thus we propose that the hot
charge carriers generated from decay of plasmons produced by optical absorption
is responsible for the water splitting efficiency of this material under
visible light irradiation.


title: Asynchronous Optimization over Weakly Coupled Renewal Systems

abstract:
  This paper considers optimization over multiple renewal systems coupled by
time average constraints. These systems act asynchronously over variable length
frames. For each system, at the beginning of each renewal frame, it chooses an
action which affects the duration of its own frame, the penalty, and the
resource expenditure throughout the frame. The goal is to minimize the overall
time average penalty subject to several overall time average resource
constraints which couple these systems. This problem has applications to task
processing networks, coupled Markov decision processes(MDPs) and so on. We
propose a distributed algorithm so that each system can make its own decision
after observing a global multiplier which is updated slot-wise. We show that
this algorithm satisfies the desired constraints and achieves
$\mathcal{O}(\varepsilon)$ near optimality with $\mathcal{O}(1/\varepsilon^2)$
convergence time.


title: An Approximation Algorithm for Maximum Internal Spanning Tree

abstract:
  Given a graph G, the {\em maximum internal spanning tree problem} (MIST for
short) asks for computing a spanning tree T of G such that the number of
internal vertices in T is maximized. MIST has possible applications in the
design of cost-efficient communication networks and water supply networks and
hence has been extensively studied in the literature. MIST is NP-hard and hence
a number of polynomial-time approximation algorithms have been designed for
MIST in the literature. The previously best polynomial-time approximation
algorithm for MIST achieves a ratio of 3/4. In this paper, we first design a
simpler algorithm that achieves the same ratio and the same time complexity as
the previous best. We then refine the algorithm into a new approximation
algorithm that achieves a better ratio (namely, 13/17) with the same time
complexity. Our new algorithm explores much deeper structure of the problem
than the previous best. The discovered structure may be used to design even
better approximation or parameterized algorithms for the problem in the future.


title:
Thermodynamics of a spin-1/2 XYZ Heisenberg chain with a
  Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction

abstract:
  We study the thermodynamics of an XYZ Heisenberg chain with
Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction, which describes the low-energy behaviors of
a one-dimensional spin-orbit-coupled bosonic model in the deep insulating
region. The entropy and the specific heat are calculated numerically by the
quasi-exact transfer-matrix renormalization group. In particular, in the limit
$U^\prime/U\rightarrow\infty$, our model is exactly solvable and thus serves as
a benchmark for our numerical method. From our data, we find that for
$U^\prime/U>1$ a quantum phase transition between an (anti)ferromagnetic phase
and a Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid phase occurs at a finite $\theta$, while for
$U^\prime/U<1$ a transition between a ferromagnetic phase and a paramagnetic
phase happens at $\theta=0$. A refined ground-state phase diagram is then
deduced from their low-temperature behaviors. Our findings provide an
alternative way to detect those distinguishable phases experimentally.


title:
Existence of localizing solutions in plasticity via geometric singular
  perturbation theory

abstract:
  Shear bands are narrow zones of intense shear observed during plastic
deformations of metals at high strain rates. Because they often precede
rupture, their study attracted attention as a mechanism of material failure.
Here, we aim to reveal the onset of localization into shear bands using a
simple model developed from viscoplasticity. We exploit the properties of scale
invariance of the model to construct a family of self-similar focusing
solutions that capture the nonlinear mechanism of shear band formation. The key
step is to de-singularize a reduced system of singular ordinary differential
equations and reduce the problem into the construction of a heteroclinic orbit
for an autonomous system of three first-order equations. The associated
dynamical system has fast and slow time scales, forming a singularly perturbed
problem. The geometric singular perturbation theory is applied to this problem
to achieve an invariant surface. The flow on the invariant surface is analyzed
via the Poincar\'{e}-Bendixson theorem to construct a heteroclinic orbit.


title:
A Data-driven Approach for Human Pose Tracking Based on Spatio-temporal
  Pictorial Structure

abstract:
  In this paper, we present a data-driven approach for human pose tracking in
video data. We formulate the human pose tracking problem as a discrete
optimization problem based on spatio-temporal pictorial structure model and
solve this problem in a greedy framework very efficiently. We propose the model
to track the human pose by combining the human pose estimation from single
image and traditional object tracking in a video. Our pose tracking objective
function consists of the following terms: likeliness of appearance of a part
within a frame, temporal displacement of the part from previous frame to the
current frame, and the spatial dependency of a part with its parent in the
graph structure. Experimental evaluation on benchmark datasets (VideoPose2,
Poses in the Wild and Outdoor Pose) as well as on our newly build ICDPose
dataset shows the usefulness of our proposed method.


title: Edge of a cliff

abstract:
  We discuss the neutrino flavor structures in the Occam's razor approach for
the Dirac neutrino mass matrices. We assume that the charged lepton mass matrix
takes a diagonal base, while the right-handed Majorana neutrino mass matrix is
also diagonal and we consider nine patterns of the four zero textures for the
Dirac neutrinos mass matrices. We numerically analyze the left-handed Majorana
neutrino mass matrices for nine patterns of the Dirac neutrino mass matrices
and we found two interesting patterns where both normal and inverted neutrino
mass hierarchies can be realized. We also found if the neutrino mass is normal
hierarchy, this scenario will be likely to be excluded by the measurements of
the Dirac CP violating phase in the T2K and NO$\nu $A neutrino experiments, for
instance. On the other hand, if the neutrino mass is inverted hierarchy, this
scenario will be also likely to be excluded by the measurements of neutrinoless
double beta decay experiments, e.g., KamLAND-Zen experiment.


title:
Measuring mode indices of a partially coherent vortex beam with HBT type
  experiment

abstract:
  It is known that the cross-correlation function (CCF) of a partially coherent
vortex (PCV) beam shows a robust link with the radial and azimuthal mode
indices. However, the previous proposals are difficult to measure the CCF in
practical system, especially in the case of astronomical objects. In this
letter, we demonstrate experimentally that the Hanbury Brown and Twiss effect
can be used to measure the mode indices of the original vortex beam and
investigate the relationship between the spatial coherent width and the
characterization of CCF of a PCV beam. The technique we exploit is quite
efficient and robust, and it may be useful in the field of free space
communication and astronomy which are related to the photon's orbital angular
momentum.


title:
Theoretical analysis and experimental verification on optical rotational
  Doppler effect

abstract:
  We present a theoretical model to sufficiently investigate the optical
rotational Doppler effect based on modal expansion method. We find that the
frequency shift content is only determined by the surface of spinning object
and the reduced Doppler shift is linear to the difference of mode index between
input and output orbital angular momentum (OAM) light, and linear to the
rotating speed of spinning object as well. An experiment is carried out to
verify the theoretical model. We explicitly suggest that the spatial spiral
phase distribution of spinning object determines the frequency content. The
theoretical model makes us better understand the physical processes of
rotational Doppler effect, and thus has many related application fields, such
as detection of rotating bodies, imaging of surface and measurement of OAM
light.


title:
Automatic 3D Point Set Reconstruction from Stereo Laparoscopic Images
  using Deep Neural Networks

abstract:
  In this paper, an automatic approach to predict 3D coordinates from stereo
laparoscopic images is presented. The approach maps a vector of pixel
intensities to 3D coordinates through training a six layer deep neural network.
The architectural aspects of the approach is presented and in detail and the
method is evaluated on a publicly available dataset with promising results.


title: Exceptional Points and Asymmetric Mode Switching in Plasmonic Waveguides

abstract:
  We investigate the exceptional points (EPs) in a non-Hermitian system
composed of a pair of graphene sheets with different losses. There are two
surface plasmon polaritons (SPP) modes in the graphene waveguide. By varying
the distance between two graphene sheets and chemical potential of graphene,
the EPs appear as the eigenvalues, that is, the wave vectors of the two modes
coalesce. The cross conversion of eigenmodes and variation of geometric phase
can be observed by encircling the EP in the parametric space formed by the
geometric parameters and chemical potential of graphene. At the same time, a
certain input SPP mode may lead to completely different output. The study paves
a way to the development of nanoscale sensitive optical switches and sensors.


title: Bohr's Relational Holism and the classical-quantum Interaction

abstract:
  In this paper I present and critically discuss the main strategies that Bohr
used and could have used to fend off the charge that his interpretation does
not provide a clear-cut distinction between the classical and the quantum
domain. In particular, in the first part of the paper I reassess the main
arguments used by Bohr to advocate the indispensability of a classical
framework to refer to quantum phenomena. In this respect, by using a
distinction coming from an apparently unrelated philosophical corner, we could
say that Bohr is not a revisionist philosopher of physics but rather a
descriptivist one in the sense of Strawson. I will then go on discussing the
nature of the holistic link between classical measurement apparatuses and
observed system that he also advocated. The oft-repeated conclusion that Bohr's
interpretation of the quantum formalism is untenable can only be established by
giving his arguments as much force as possible, which is what I will try to do
in the following by remaining as faithful as possible to his published work.


title:
An exact, cache-localized algorithm for the sub-quadratic convolution of
  hypercubes

abstract:
  Fast multidimensional convolution can be performed naively in quadratic time
and can often be performed more efficiently via the Fourier transform; however,
when the dimensionality is large, these algorithms become more challenging. A
method is proposed for performing exact hypercube convolution in sub-quadratic
time. The method outperforms FFTPACK, called via numpy, and FFTW, called via
pyfftw) for hypercube convolution. Embeddings in hypercubes can be paired with
sub-quadratic hypercube convolution method to construct sub-quadratic
algorithms for variants of vector convolution.


title: Learning deep representation from coarse to fine for face alignment

abstract:
  In this paper, we propose a novel face alignment method that trains deep
convolutional network from coarse to fine. It divides given landmarks into
principal subset and elaborate subset. We firstly keep a large weight for
principal subset to make our network primarily predict their locations while
slightly take elaborate subset into account. Next the weight of principal
subset is gradually decreased until two subsets have equivalent weights. This
process contributes to learn a good initial model and search the optimal model
smoothly to avoid missing fairly good intermediate models in subsequent
procedures. On the challenging COFW dataset [1], our method achieves 6.33% mean
error with a reduction of 21.37% compared with the best previous result [2].


title:
Equations For Parseval's Frame Wavelets In $L^2(\R^d)$ With Compact
  Supports

abstract:
  Let $d\geq 1$ be a natural number and $A_0$ be a $d\times d$ expansive
integral matrix with determinant $\pm 2.$ Then $A_0$ is integrally similar to
an integral matrix $A$ with certain additional properties. A finite solution to
the system of equations associated with the matrix $A$ will result in an
iterated sequence $\{\Psi^k \chi_{[0,1)^d}\}$ that converges to a function
$\varphi_A$ in $L^2(\R^d)$-norm. With this (scaling) function $\varphi_A,$ we
will construct the Parseval's wavelet function $\psi$ with compact support
associated with matrix $A_0.$


title:
Asymmetric Degrees of Freedom of the Full-Duplex MIMO 3-Way Channel with
  Unicast and Broadcast Messages

abstract:
  In this paper, we characterize the asymmetric total degrees of freedom (DoF)
of a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) 3-way channel. Each node has a
separate-antenna full-duplex MIMO transceiver with a different number of
antennas, where each antenna can be configured for either signal transmission
or reception. We study this system under two message configurations; the first
configuration is when each node has two unicast messages to be delivered to the
two other nodes, while the second configuration is when each node has two
unicast messages as well as one broadcast message to be delivered to the two
other nodes. For each configuration, we first derive upper bounds on the total
DoF of the system. Cut-set bounds in conjunction with genie-aided bounds are
derived to characterize the achievable total DoF. Afterwards, we analytically
derive the optimal number of transmit and receive antennas at each node to
maximize the total DoF of the system, subject to the total number of antennas
at each node. Finally, the achievable schemes for each configuration are
constructed. The proposed schemes are mainly based on zero-forcing and
null-space transmit beamforming.


title:
The first photometric analysis of the overcontact binary MQ UMa with an
  additional component

abstract:
  The first V Rc Ic bands light curves of MQ UMa are presented and analyzed
using the Wilson-Devinney (W-D) program. It is discovered that MQ UMa is an
A-subtype contact binary with a high fill-out (f=82 %) and a low mass ratio (q
= 0:195), which indicates that it is in the late evolutionary stage of latetype
tidal-locked binary stars. The mass of the primary and secondary stars are
estimated and the evolutionary status of the two components are placed in the
H-R diagram. The W-D solutions also indicates that MQ UMa may be a triple
system with an F5V type additional component. A sample of sixteen high fillout,
low mass ratio overcontact binaries are collected and their possible evolution
scenarios are discussed. Using the five times of light minimum recently
observed together with those collected from literatures, the authors find that
the observedcalculate (O-C) curve exhibits a cyclic period variation. The
cyclic period change also reveals the presence of a tertiary component, which
may play an important role in the formation and evolution of this binary system
by drawing angular momentum from the central system.


title:
Wick calculus for noncommutative white noise corresponding to
  $q$-deformed commutation relations

abstract:
  We derive the Wick calculus for test and generalized functionals of
noncommutative white noise corresponding to $q$-deformed commutation relations
with $q\in(-1,1)$. We construct a Gel'fand triple centered at the $q$-deformed
Fock space in which both the test, nuclear space and its dual space are
algebras with respect to the addition and the Wick multiplication. Furthermore,
we prove a V\r{a}ge-type inequality for the Wick product on the dual space.


title: Optimal Distance Labeling Schemes for Trees

abstract:
  Labeling schemes seek to assign a short label to each node in a network, so
that a function on two nodes can be computed by examining their labels alone.
For the particular case of trees, optimal bounds (up to low order terms) were
recently obtained for adjacency labeling [FOCS'15], nearest common ancestor
labeling [SODA'14], and ancestry labeling [SICOMP'06]. In this paper we obtain
optimal bounds for distance labeling. We present labels of size
$1/4\log^2n+o(\log^2n)$, matching (up to low order terms) the recent
$1/4\log^2n-O(\log n)$ lower bound [ICALP'16].
  Prior to our work, all distance labeling schemes for trees could be
reinterpreted as universal trees. A tree $T$ is said to be universal if any
tree on $n$ nodes can be found as a subtree of $T$. A universal tree with $|T|$
nodes implies a distance labeling scheme with label size $\log |T|$. In 1981,
Chung et al. proved that any distance labeling scheme based on universal trees
requires labels of size $1/2\log^2 n-\log n\cdot\log\log n+O(\log n)$. Our
scheme is the first to break this lower bound, showing a separation between
distance labeling and universal trees.
  The $\Theta(\log^2 n)$ barrier has led researchers to consider distances
bounded by $k$. The size of such labels was improved from $\log n+O(k\sqrt{\log
n})$ [WADS'01] to $\log n+O(k^2(\log(k\log n))$ [SODA'03] and then to $\log
n+O(k\log(k\log(n/k)))$ [PODC'07]. We show how to construct labels whose size
is $\min\{\log n+O(k\log((\log n)/k)),O(\log n\cdot\log(k/\log n))\}$. We
complement this with almost tight lower bounds of $\log n+\Omega(k\log(\log
n/(k\log k)))$ and $\Omega(\log n\cdot\log(k/\log n))$. Finally, we consider
$(1+\varepsilon)$-approximate distances. We show that the labeling scheme of
[ICALP'16] can be easily modified to obtain an $O(\log(1/\varepsilon)\cdot\log
n)$ upper bound and we prove a $\Omega(\log(1/\varepsilon)\cdot\log n)$ lower
bound.


title:
Self-organization in a distributed coordination game through heuristic
  rules

abstract:
  In this paper we consider a distributed coordination game played by a large
number of agents with finite information sets, which characterizes emergence of
a single dominant attribute out of a large number of competitors. Formally, $N$
agents play a coordination game repeatedly which has exactly $N$ Nash
equilibria and all of the equilibria are equally preferred by the agents. The
problem is to select one equilibrium out of $N$ possible equilibria in the
least number of attempts. We propose a number of heuristic rules based on
reinforcement learning to solve the coordination problem. We see that the
agents self-organize into clusters with varying intensities depending on the
heuristic rule applied although all clusters but one are transitory in most
cases. Finally, we characterize a trade-off in terms of the time requirement to
achieve a degree of stability in strategies and the efficiency of such a
solution.


title: Near-Optimal Self-Stabilising Counting and Firing Squads

abstract:
  Consider a fully-connected synchronous distributed system consisting of $n$
nodes, where up to $f$ nodes may be faulty and every node starts in an
arbitrary initial state. In the synchronous $C$-counting problem, all nodes
need to eventually agree on a counter that is increased by one modulo $C$ in
each round for given $C>1$. In the self-stabilising firing squad problem, the
task is to eventually guarantee that all non-faulty nodes have simultaneous
responses to external inputs: if a subset of the correct nodes receive an
external "go" signal as input, then all correct nodes should agree on a round
(in the not-too-distant future) in which to jointly output a "fire" signal.
Moreover, no node should generate a "fire" signal without some correct node
having previously received a "go" signal as input.
  We present a framework reducing both tasks to binary consensus at very small
cost. For example, we obtain a deterministic algorithm for self-stabilising
Byzantine firing squads with optimal resilience $f<n/3$, asymptotically optimal
stabilisation and response time $O(f)$, and message size $O(\log f)$. As our
framework does not restrict the type of consensus routines used, we also obtain
efficient randomised solutions, and it is straightforward to adapt our
framework for other types of permanent faults.


title: Stable discrete representation of relativistically drifting plasmas

abstract:
  Representing the electrodynamics of relativistically drifting particle
ensembles in discrete, co-propagating Galilean coordinates enables the
derivation of a Particle-in-Cell algorithm that is intrinsically free of the
Numerical Cherenkov Instability, for plasmas flowing at a uniform velocity.
Application of the method is shown by modeling plasma accelerators in a
Lorentz-transformed optimal frame of reference.


title: Multifractal analysis of random weak Gibbs measures

abstract:
  We describe the multifractal nature of random weak Gibbs measures on some
class of attractors associated with $C^1$ random dynamics semi-conjugate to a
random subshift of finite type. This includes the validity of the multifractal
formalism, the calculation of Hausdorff and packing dimensions of the so-called
level sets of divergent points, and a $0$-$\infty$ law for the Hausdorff and
packing measures of the level sets of the local dimension.


title:
Existence and regularity of solutions for a class of singular
  (p(x),q(x))- Laplacian systems

abstract:
  In this paper we study the existence of positive smooth solutions for a class
of singular (p(x),q(x))- Laplacian systems by using sub and supersolution
methods.


title:
Hyperparameter Transfer Learning through Surrogate Alignment for
  Efficient Deep Neural Network Training

abstract:
  Recently, several optimization methods have been successfully applied to the
hyperparameter optimization of deep neural networks (DNNs). The methods work by
modeling the joint distribution of hyperparameter values and corresponding
error. Those methods become less practical when applied to modern DNNs whose
training may take a few days and thus one cannot collect sufficient
observations to accurately model the distribution. To address this challenging
issue, we propose a method that learns to transfer optimal hyperparameter
values for a small source dataset to hyperparameter values with comparable
performance on a dataset of interest. As opposed to existing transfer learning
methods, our proposed method does not use hand-designed features. Instead, it
uses surrogates to model the hyperparameter-error distributions of the two
datasets and trains a neural network to learn the transfer function. Extensive
experiments on three CV benchmark datasets clearly demonstrate the efficiency
of our method.


title:
On an equality for the iterated weighted spherical mean and its
  applications

abstract:
  Spherical means are well-known useful tool in the theory of partial
differential equations with applications to solving hyperbolic and
ultrahyperbolic equations and problems of integral geometry, tomography and
Radon transforms. We generalize iterated spherical means to weighted ones based
on generalized translation operators and consider applications to B-hyperbolic
equations and transmission tomography problems.


title:
Learning Robust Features using Deep Learning for Automatic Seizure
  Detection

abstract:
  We present and evaluate the capacity of a deep neural network to learn robust
features from EEG to automatically detect seizures. This is a challenging
problem because seizure manifestations on EEG are extremely variable both
inter- and intra-patient. By simultaneously capturing spectral, temporal and
spatial information our recurrent convolutional neural network learns a general
spatially invariant representation of a seizure. The proposed approach exceeds
significantly previous results obtained on cross-patient classifiers both in
terms of sensitivity and false positive rate. Furthermore, our model proves to
be robust to missing channel and variable electrode montage.


title: Okounkov bodies associated to pseudoeffective divisors II

abstract:
  We first prove some basic properties of Okounkov bodies, and give a
characterization of Nakayama and positive volume subvarieties of a
pseudoeffective divisor in terms of Okounkov bodies. Next, we show that each
valuative and limiting Okounkov bodies of a pseudoeffective divisor which
admits the birational good Zariski decomposition is a rational polytope with
respect to some admissible flag. This is an extension of the result of
Anderson-K\"{u}ronya-Lozovanu about the rational polyhedrality of Okounkov
bodies of big divisors with finitely generated section rings.


title: 3D Printing & the Artists Known As the Fauves

abstract:
  In this short, chatty paper, I describe how my attempt to use mathematics to
create a 3D print of a school portrait led me a group of early 20th century
French artists known as the Fauves.


title: Entropy production inequalities for the Kac Walk

abstract:
  Mark Kac introduced what is now called 'the Kac Walk' with the aim of
investigating the spatially homogeneous Boltzmann equation by probabilistic
means. Much recent work, discussed below, on Kac's program has run in the other
direction: using recent results on the Boltzmann equation, or its
one-dimensional analog, the non-linear Kac-Boltzmann equation, to prove results
for the Kac Walk. Here we investigate new functional inequalities for the Kac
Walk pertaining to entropy production, and introduce a new form of
`chaoticity'. We then show how these entropy production inequalities imply
entropy production inequalities for the Kac-Boltzmann equation. This results
validate Kac's program for proving results on the non-linear Boltzmann equation
via analysis of the Kac Walk, and they constitute a partial solution to the
`Almost' Cercignani Conjecture on the sphere.


title: Local form-subordination condition and Riesz basisness of root systems

abstract:
  We exploit the so called form-local subordination in the analysis of
non-symmetric perturbations of unbounded self-adjoint operators with isolated
simple positive eigenvalues. If the proper condition relating the size of gaps
between the unperturbed eigenvalues and the strength of perturbation, measured
by the form-local subordination, is satisfied, the root system of the perturbed
operator contains a Riesz basis and usual asymptotic formulas for perturbed
eigenvalues and eigenvectors hold. The power of the abstract perturbation
results is demonstrated particularly on Schr\"odinger operators with possibly
unbounded or singular complex potential perturbations.


title:
The twofold diabatization of the KRb $(1\sim 2)^1\Pi$ complex in the
  framework of \emph{ab initio} and deperturbation approaches

abstract:
  We performed a diabatization of the mutually perturbed $1^1\Pi$ and $2^1\Pi$
states of KRb based on both electronic structure calculation and direct
coupled-channel deperturbation analysis of experimental energies. The potential
energy curves (PECs) of the diabatic states and their scalar coupling were
constructed from the \textit{ab initio} adiabatic PECs by analytically
integrating the radial $\langle \psi_1^{ad}|\partial /\partial
R|\psi_2^{ad}\rangle$ matrix element obtained by a finite-difference method.
The diabatic potentials and electronic coupling function were refined by the
least squares fitting of the rovibronic termvalues of the $1^1\Pi\sim 2^1\Pi$
complex. The empirical PECs combined with the coupling function as well as the
diabatized spin-orbit coupling and transition dipole matrix elements are useful
for further deperturbation treatment of both singlet and triplet states
manifold.


title: On scalar propagators of three-dimensional higher-spin black holes

abstract:
  We explore some aspects of three-dimensional higher-spin holography by
studying scalar fluctuations in the background of higher-spin black holes. We
furnish an independent derivation of the bulk-boundary propagator by purely
invoking a well-known infinite dimensional matrix representation of
$hs[\lambda]$ algebra related to its construction as a quotient of the
universal enveloping algebra of $sl(2)$, thus evading the need in previous
literature to perform an analytic continuation from some integer to $\lambda$.
The propagator and the boundary two-point functions are derived for black hole
solutions in $hs[\lambda]\times hs[\lambda]$ Chern-Simons theory with spin-3
and spin-4 charges up to second-order in the potentials. We match them with
three- and four-point torus correlation functions of the putative dual
conformal field theory which has $\mathcal{W}_\infty [\lambda]$ symmetry and is
deformed by higher-spin currents.


title:
Elimination of Numerical Cherenkov Instability in flowing-plasma
  Particle-In-Cell simulations by using Galilean coordinates

abstract:
  Particle-In-Cell (PIC) simulations of relativistic flowing plasmas are of key
interest to several fields of physics (including e.g. laser-wakefield
acceleration, when viewed in a Lorentz-boosted frame), but remain sometimes
infeasible due to the well-known numerical Cherenkov instability (NCI). In this
article, we show that, for a plasma drifting at a uniform relativistic
velocity, the NCI can be eliminated by simply integrating the PIC equations in
Galilean coordinates that follow the plasma (also sometimes known as comoving
coordinates) within a spectral analytical framework. The elimination of the NCI
is verified empirically and confirmed by a theoretical analysis of the
instability. Moreover, it is shown that this method is applicable both to
Cartesian geometry and to cylindrical geometry with azimuthal Fourier
decomposition.


title: Bulk-edge correspondence for topological photonic continua

abstract:
  Here, building on our previous work [Phys. Rev. B, 92, 125153, (2015)], it is
shown that the propagation of unidirectional gapless edge states at an
interface of two topologically distinct electromagnetic continua with a
well-behaved asymptotic electromagnetic response is rigorously predicted by the
bulk-edge correspondence principle. We work out detailed examples demonstrating
that when the spatial-cut off of the nonreciprocal part of the material
response is considered self-consistently in the solution of the relevant
electromagnetic problem, the number of unidirectional gapless edge modes is
identical to the difference of the Chern numbers of the bulk materials.
Furthermore, it is shown how the role of the spatial cut-off can be imitated in
realistic systems using a tiny air gap with a specific thickness. This theory
provides a practical roadmap for the application of topological concepts to
photonic platforms formed by nonreciprocal electromagnetic continua.


title:
Data-Driven Background Subtraction Algorithm for in-Camera Acceleration
  in Thermal Imagery

abstract:
  Detection of moving objects in videos is a crucial step towards successful
surveillance and monitoring applications. A key component for such tasks is
called background subtraction and tries to extract regions of interest from the
image background for further processing or action. For this reason, its
accuracy and real-time performance is of great significance. Although,
effective background subtraction methods have been proposed, only a few of them
take into consideration the special characteristics of thermal imagery. In this
work, we propose a background subtraction scheme, which models the thermal
responses of each pixel as a mixture of Gaussians with unknown number of
components. Following a Bayesian approach, our method automatically estimates
the mixture structure, while simultaneously it avoids over/under fitting. The
pixel density estimate is followed by an efficient and highly accurate updating
mechanism, which permits our system to be automatically adapted to dynamically
changing operation conditions. We propose a reference implementation of our
method in reconfigurable hardware achieving both adequate performance and low
power consumption. Adopting a High Level Synthesis design, demanding floating
point arithmetic operations are mapped in reconfigurable hardware;
demonstrating fast-prototyping and on-field customization at the same time.


title:
Application of Malliavin calculus to exact and approximate option
  pricing under stochastic volatility

abstract:
  The article is devoted to models of financial markets with stochastic
volatility, which is defined by a functional of Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process or
Cox-Ingersoll-Ross process. We study the question of exact price of European
option. The form of the density function of the random variable, which
expresses the average of the volatility over time to maturity is established
using Malliavin calculus.The result allows calculate the price of the option
with respect to minimum martingale measure when the Wiener process driving the
evolution of asset price and the Wiener process, which defines volatility, are
uncorrelated.


title: Groups with a nontrivial nonideal kernel

abstract:
  We classify finite groups $G$, such that the group algebra, $\mathbb{Q}G$
(over the field of rational numbers $\mathbb{Q}$), is the direct product of the
group algebra $\mathbb{Q}[G/N]$ of a proper factor group $G/N$, and some
division rings.


title: Long Period Variables: questioning the pulsation paradigm

abstract:
  Long period variables, among them Miras, are thought to be pulsating. Under
this approach the whole star inflates and deflates along a period that can vary
from 100 to 900 days; that pulsation is assumed to produce shock waves on the
outer layers of the star that propagate into the atmosphere and could account
for the increase in luminosity and the presence of emission lines in the
spectra of these stars. However, this paradigm can seriously be questioned from
a theoretical point of view. First, in order to maintain a radial pulsation,
the spherical symmetry of the star must be preserved: how can it be reconciled
with the large convective cells present in these stars? or when close
companions are detected? Secondly, how different radial and non-radial
pulsation modes of a sphere could be all damped except one radial mode? These
problems have no solution and significantly weigh on the pulsation paradigm.
Acknowledging this inconsistency, we show that a close companion around these
stars could account for the star variability. To support this assertion we
study the observed light curves, their shapes at different wavelengths and
their changes over time.


title:
Direct probe of the inner accretion flow around the supermassive black
  hole in NGC 2617

abstract:
  NGC 2617 is a nearby ($z\sim 0.01$) active galaxy that recently switched from
being a Seyfert 1.8 to be a Seyfert 1.0. At the same time, it underwent a
strong increase of X-ray flux by one order of magnitude with respect to
archival measurements. We characterise the X-ray spectral and timing properties
of NGC 2617 with the aim of studying the physics of a changing-look active
galactic nucleus (AGN). We performed a comprehensive timing and spectral
analysis of two XMM-Newton pointed observations spaced by one month,
complemented by archival quasi-simultaneous INTEGRAL observations. We found
that, to the first order, NGC 2617 looks like a type 1 AGN in the X-ray band
and, with the addition of a modest reflection component, its continuum can be
modelled well either with a power law plus a phenomenological blackbody, a
partially covered power law, or a double Comptonisation model. Independent of
the continuum adopted, in all three cases a column density of a few $10^{23}$
cm$^{-2}$ of neutral gas covering 20-40\% of the continuum source is required
by the data. Most interestingly, absorption structures due to highly ionised
iron have been detected in both observations with a redshift of about $0.1c$
with respect to the systemic redshift of the host galaxy. The redshifted
absorber can be ascribed to a failed wind/aborted jets component, to
gravitational redshift effects, and/or to matter directly falling towards the
central supermassive black hole. In either case, we are probing the innermost
accretion flow around the central supermassive black hole of NGC 2617 and might
be even watching matter in a direct inflow towards the black hole itself.


title: Gram Spectrahedra

abstract:
  Representations of nonnegative polynomials as sums of squares are central to
real algebraic geometry and the subject of active research. The sum-of-squares
representations of a given polynomial are parametrized by the convex body of
positive semidefinite Gram matrices, called the Gram spectrahedron. This is a
fundamental object in polynomial optimization and convex algebraic geometry. We
summarize results on sums of squares that fit naturally into the context of
Gram spectrahedra, present some new results, and highlight related open
questions. We discuss sum-of-squares representations of minimal length and
relate them to Hermitian Gram spectrahedra and point evaluations on toric
varieties.


title:
Optimization of Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing demultiplexer
  with 25GHz uniform channel spacing

abstract:
  In this paper,we propose a four channel Dense Wavelength Division
Multiplexing demultiplexer with two dimensional photonic crystal square
resonant cavity that fulfill the ITU-T recommendation of G.694.1 DWDM
systems.DWDM demultiplexer consists of a waveguide and Microscopic Square
Resonant (MSR) cavity to enable filtering of the desired wavelength. The MSR
cavity design has inner rods, outer rods and coupling rods. As the radius of
the inner rod in MSR cavity changes, the cavity has the ability to filter
different ITU.T G.6941 standard wavelengths like 1555.3 nm, 1555.5 nm, 1555.7
nm, and 1555.9 nm with 0.2 nm / 25 GHz channel spacing. From the simulation of
various wavelengths, helps achievement of the quality factor of 8000, uniform
spectral linewidth of 0.2 nm, transmission efficiency of 100 %, crosstalk of
-42 dB and footprint is about 395 micro meter square.


title: Minimizing Sum of Truncated Convex Functions and Its Applications

abstract:
  In this paper, we study a class of problems where the sum of truncated convex
functions is minimized. In statistical applications, they are commonly
encountered when $\ell_0$-penalized models are fitted and usually lead to
NP-Hard non-convex optimization problems. In this paper, we propose a general
algorithm for the global minimizer in low-dimensional settings. We also extend
the algorithm to high-dimensional settings, where an approximate solution can
be found efficiently. We introduce several applications where the sum of
truncated convex functions is used, compare our proposed algorithm with other
existing algorithms in simulation studies, and show its utility in
edge-preserving image restoration on real data.


title:
Effects of Domain Walls in Quantum Anomalous Hall
  Insulator/Superconductor Heterostructures

abstract:
  In a recent experiment, half-quantized longitudinal conductance plateaus
(HQCPs) of height $\frac{e^2}{2h}$ have been observed in quantum anomalous Hall
(QAH) insulator/superconductor heterostructure transport measurements. It was
predicted that these HQCPs are signatures of chiral Majorana edge states. The
HQCPs are supposed to appear in the regimes where the Hall conductance
$\sigma_{xy}$ is quantized. However, experimentally, a pair of the HQCPs appear
when the Hall conductance $\sigma_{xy}$ is only 80% of the quantized value when
dissipative channels appear in the bulk. The dissipative channels in the bulk
are expected to induce Andreev reflections and ruin the HQCPs. In this work, we
explain how domain walls can cause $\sigma_{xy}$ to deviate from its quantized
value and at the same time maintain the quantization of HQCPs. Our work
supports the claim that the experimentally observed HQCPs are indeed caused by
chiral Majorana modes in the QAH insulator/superconductor heterostructure.


title:
Constituent counting rule for exclusive production of heavy
  quarkoniumlike exotic resonance and a light hadron

abstract:
  The exclusive processes are considered, where a point-like source of heavy
quark-antiquark pairs $Q \bar Q$, e.g. their electromagnetic current, produces
a pair consisting of a heavy quarkoniumlike exotic meson (tetraquark) or baryon
(pentaquark) and a light meson or an antibaryon. For a sufficiently large mass
of the heavy quark $m_Q$ there is a range of the energy $E$ above the $Q \bar
Q$ threshold, where $E \ll m_Q$ and still the energy is large compared to the
strong interaction scale, $E \gg \Lambda_{QCD}$. It is shown that in this
energy range, where the heavy quarks are nonrelelativistic, a specific
`intermediate asymptotic' behavior sets in determined by the number $n$ of the
pairs of constituent quarks, with the rate scaling as $E^{1-n}$.


title: Adaptive Video Streaming over LTE Unlicensed

abstract:
  In this paper we consider the problem of adaptive video streaming over an
LTE-A network that utilizes Licensed Assisted Access (LAA) which is an instance
of LTE Unlicensed. With LTE Unlicensed users of the LTE-A network opportunisti-
cally access radio resources from unlicensed and licensed carriers through
Carrier Aggregation (CA). Our objective is to select the highest possible video
quality for each LTE-A user while also try to deliver video data in time for
playback, and thus avoid buffer under-run events that deteriorate viewing
experience. However, the unpredictable nature of the wireless channel, as well
as the unknown utilization of the unlicensed carrier by other unlicensed users,
result in a challenging optimization problem. We first focus on developing an
accurate system model of the adaptive streaming system, LTE-A, and the
stochastic availability of unlicensed resources. Then, the formulated problem
is solved in two stages: First, we calculate a proportionally fair video
quality for each user, and second we execute resource allocation on a shorter
time scale compatible with LTE-A. We compare our framework with the typical
proportional fair scheduler as well as a state-of-the-art LTE-A adaptive video
streaming framework in terms of average segment quality and number of buffer
under- run events. Results show that the proposed quality selection and
scheduling algorithms, not only achieve higher video segment quality in most
cases, but also minimize the amount and duration of video freezes as a result
of buffer under-run events.


title:
A Data-Driven Analytic Model for Proton Acceleration by Large-Scale
  Solar Coronal Shocks

abstract:
  We have recently studied the development of an eruptive filament-driven,
large-scale off-limb coronal bright front (OCBF) in the low solar corona
(Kozarev et al. 2015), using remote observations from Solar Dynamics
Observatory's Advanced Imaging Assembly EUV telescopes. In that study, we
obtained high-temporal resolution estimates of the OCBF parameters regulating
the efficiency of charged particle acceleration within the theoretical
framework of diffusive shock acceleration (DSA). These parameters include the
time-dependent front size, speed, and strength, as well as the upstream coronal
magnetic field orientations with respect to the front's surface normal
direction. Here we present an analytical particle acceleration model,
specifically developed to incorporate the coronal shock/compressive front
properties described above, derived from remote observations. We verify the
model's performance through a grid of idealized case runs using input
parameters typical for large-scale coronal shocks, and demonstrate that the
results approach the expected DSA steady-state behavior. We then apply the
model to the event of May 11, 2011 using the OCBF time-dependent parameters
derived in Kozarev et al. (2015). We find that the compressive front likely
produced energetic particles as low as 1.3 solar radii in the corona. Comparing
the modeled and observed fluences near Earth, we also find that the bulk of the
acceleration during this event must have occurred above 1.5 solar radii. With
this study we have taken a first step in using direct observations of shocks
and compressions in the innermost corona to predict the onsets and intensities
of SEP events.


title: Search for CPT and Lorentz-Symmetry Violation in Entangled Neutral Kaons

abstract:
  The neutral-kaon system constitutes a fantastic and unique laboratory for the
study of CPT symmetry and the basic principles of quantum mechanics, and a
$\phi$-factory represents a unique opportunity to push forward these studies.
The experimental results show no deviation from the expectations of quantum
mechanics and CPT symmetry, while the extreme precision of the measure- ments,
in some cases, reaches the interesting Planck-scale region. At present the
KLOE-2 experiment is collecting data with an upgraded detector with the aim of
significantly improving these kinds of experimental tests.


title:
Input-Output Non-Linear Dynamical Systems applied to Physiological
  Condition Monitoring

abstract:
  We present a non-linear dynamical system for modelling the effect of drug
infusions on the vital signs of patients admitted in Intensive Care Units
(ICUs). More specifically we are interested in modelling the effect of a widely
used anaesthetic drug (Propofol) on a patient's monitored depth of anaesthesia
and haemodynamics. We compare our approach with one from the
Pharmacokinetics/Pharmacodynamics (PK/PD) literature and show that we can
provide significant improvements in performance without requiring the
incorporation of expert physiological knowledge in our system.


title: A distribution on triples with maximum entropy marginal

abstract:
  We construct an $S_3$-symmetric probability distribution on $\{(a,b,c) \in
\mathbb{Z}_{\geq 0}^3 \: : \: a+b+c =n \}$ such that its marginal achieves the
maximum entropy among all probability distributions on $\{0,1,\ldots,n\}$ with
mean $n/3$. Existence of such a distribution verifies a conjecture of
Kleinberg, Sawin and Speyer, which is motivated by the study of sum-free sets.


title:
Viability of Variable Generalised Chaplygin gas - a thermodynamical
  approach

abstract:
  The viability of the variable generalised Chaplygin gas (VGCG) model is
analysed from the standpoint of its thermodynamical stability criteria with the
help of an equation of state, $P = - \frac{B}{\rho^{\alpha}}$, where $B =
B_{0}V^{-\frac{n}{3}}$. Here $B_{0}$ is assumed to be a positive universal
constant, $n$ is a constant parameter and $V$ is the volume of the cosmic
fluid. We get the interesting result that if the well-known stability
conditions of a fluid is adhered to, the values of $n$ are constrained to be
negative definite to make $ \left(\frac{\partial P}{\partial V}\right)_{S} <0$
\& $ \left(\frac{\partial P}{\partial V}\right)_{T} <0$ throughout the
evolution. Moreover the positivity of thermal capacity at constant volume
$c_{V}$ as also the validity of the third law of thermodynamics are ensured in
this case. For the particular case $n = 0$ the effective equation of state
reduces to $\Lambda$CDM model in the late stage of the universe while for $n
<0$ it mimics a phantom-like cosmology which is in broad agreement with the
present SNe Ia constraints like VGCG model. The thermal equation of state is
discussed and the EoS parameter is found to be an explicit function of
temperature only. Further for large volume the thermal equation of state
parameter is identical with the caloric equation of state parameter when $ T
\rightarrow 0$. It may also be mentioned that like Santos et al our model does
not admit of any critical points. We also observe that although the earlier
model of Lu explains many of the current observational findings of different
probes it fails to explain the crucial tests of thermodynamical stability.


title: Spin resonance peak in Fe-based superconductors with unequal gaps

abstract:
  We study the spin resonance in superconducting state of iron-based materials
within multiband models with two unequal gaps, $\Delta_L$ and $\Delta_S$, on
different Fermi surface pockets. We show that due to the indirect nature of the
gap entering the spin susceptibility at the nesting wave vector $\mathbf{Q}$
the total gap $\tilde\Delta$ in the bare susceptibility is determined by the
sum of gaps on two different Fermi surface sheets connected by $\mathbf{Q}$.
For the Fermi surface geometry characteristic to the most of iron pnictides and
chalcogenides, the indirect gap is either $\tilde\Delta = \Delta_L + \Delta_S$
or $\tilde\Delta = 2\Delta_L$. In the $s_{++}$ state, spin excitations below
$\tilde\Delta$ are absent unless additional scattering mechanisms are assumed.
The spin resonance appears in the $s_\pm$ superconducting state at frequency
$\omega_R \leq \tilde\Delta$. Comparison with available inelastic neutron
scattering data confirms that what is seen is the true spin resonance and not a
peak inherent to the $s_{++}$ state.